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| AHYMSIN Newsletter, Issue - September 2012 | |||||
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Sadhana in Applied Spiritualityby Swami Veda Bharati(Please note that Swami Veda has indicated that this document has been in refinement for a long time and will continue to be refined. We will attempt to keep an updated version of this document on the website at: “Sadhana in Applied Spirituality”) Dear Affectionate members of our spiritual family, and our leaders, teachers, Next Five Years Sadhana: Guidelines As the time is approaching fast for me to enter silence, also as the current life crosses the threshold of 80 years, it is time to give you all reminders of the principles by which you will continue the relationships within the family to make our mission of serving the Guru continuously more successful. The attached papers [see below] are sent with great concern that some of us may forget these ancient principles and their practical applications in making long term or day to day decisions about the Ashram and the spiritual family. It is by neglecting these principles, after this self is silenced by meditation or by death, that divisions could occur and our service to the ancient Mission of the Gurus would suffer. It is to prevent such occurrence that the attached compositions are presented to you. Sadhana of sitting down with eyes closed is easy to undertake. The sadhana of applying yamas, niyamas and chitta-prasadanam in daily practical life is a more difficult one.Let the attached presentations form the theme for group discussions during our gathering in SRSG in February-March 2013. For those who are unable to come to this event, wherever you are please (a) contemplate (b) discuss (c) undertake this sadhana. With love and blessings in Gurudeva
Swami Veda Bharati 2In our children’s and youths retreat at SRSG in December 2011 we were able to develop a core of younger very responsible and capable leaders. They are now conferring among themselves and working on their progress in spiritual practices and knowledge of the Tradition. The ancient Tradition requires that no king die on the throne; that a person of the world pass on his/her responsibilities to the younger generation and then renounce. Just as I am renouncing my responsibilities to you, I ask you all that you please take the opportunity of the Feb-March 2013 event at SRSG to get to know these younger leaders and start sharing responsibilities with them. You may work out the details of these developments in meetings with them. 3For those who are not managing to come to the satsanga of February-March 2013: Please still study, contemplate and absorb the messages sent herewith, as your personal sadhana for the next five years – or life-long. Please share this message with others in your community and the centre. Do bear in mind that my forthcoming silence is not the end of the teaching but the beginning of the true teaching. Do plan to come to SRSG later for study, sadhana, silence. Love and blessings—svb Sadhana in Applied Spirituality (Applied in family, relationships, economics, management and within Reverently and with immense gratitude surrendered
Table of Contents
Impractical?!There is excessive ungentleness in the world, and display of pride and arrogance. We speak looking down upon the ‘lesser ones’, sometimes gently but that also patronisingly. We do so towards ‘lower castes’ towards ‘have-nots’, towards children, towards ‘employees’, towards people of other nations, religions, skin colours, cultures, languages --- but we expect these ‘lesser ones’ to practise humility towards us. This continues till they rebel and we quash the rebellions equally insensitively and arrogantly because, well, ‘we are the senior ones’!! We shout slogans against nuclear wars without controlling and pacifying our personal angers in daily life – how would we then prevent wars without individual peace in each mind? At the same time we are always in denial about our individual violence, ungentleness, harshness, personal anger, pride and arrogance. Let someone say, ‘you are being ungentle’, we immediately blurt our defensiveness: ‘What? I am so gentle! I am so humble!!’; ‘there is no ego in me!’; ‘angry? who? me? you are imagining!!’; ‘you are always unfairly criticising me!’– and so on. A spiritual guide makes us confront our inner ‘demons’ and exorcise them. This document is an invitation to constant
Please respond to the invitation.
Are the suggestions being made in this document impractical when one is working in and interacting with modern societies? Nothing can be achieved in a day. Change has to begin somewhere; even at a snail’s pace. Just as one keeps one’s spirituality private when interacting with daily routines of business, government and employment situations, but maintains it as a well-guarded treasure, so also one may apply the principles suggested here slowly in the outside world, examining where they may be acceptable without excessive resistance from others. If you made the experimentation, you would be surprised at the positive results you would obtain in your company, your offices, with your ‘employees’. And at home with your family. It saddens me and aches me each day to see harshness, ungentlenss, arrogance in our own spiritual family. The principles suggested here are very practical and easiest to apply in one’s family life, among one’s friends, and, for the most part, in the management and relationships within our AHYMSIN and SRSG families. Apply them with full force here. I wish you success in Chitta-pra-shamanam, chitta-prasaadanam Spiritual Polity and EconomyThe Himalayan Tradition in Polity and Economy In 4th century B.C. the Indian empire, then as large as the Roman Empire that came several centuries later, was ruled by the emperor Chandragupta, Sandrogottos, the Greek, chronicles. Chandragupta’s prime minister, named Chanakya lived in a small hermitage, following the tradition of the Brahmin philosophers. It was the emperor who would dismount from the chariot several miles away and walk to his mentor and minister’s hut to receive counsel and advice. The major work of this prime minister, titled the artha-shastra (Science of Polity and Economy), is a classic in the science of polity. An appendix to this is titled Chanakya’s Niti-sutras, containing five hundred and seventy-one sutras, that is, maxims on the essential principles of polity. The first few sutras are as follows:
The word artha incorporates all the worldly affairs that provide the means for living, thus it includes polity and economy which are considered inseparable in ancient Indian political science. However, we can see from the above maxims that the core of success is in conquest of senses, self-control, humility and discipline imbibed by serving the wise and the elders. On the basis of this teaching we can examine the modern day approach to artha and determine where it fails in following these ancient ideals. One can write a very detailed thesis to discuss this approach to modern problems in the business and the political world. How much of (a) self-control and conquest of senses, (b) humility, (c) discipline at the feet of elders and the wise is practised to train ourselves for success? How much experiential wisdom actually serves to guide us in our business affairs? What exactly is meant by experiential wisdom? This word, vi-jnana, often occurs coupled with jnana (knowledge) in the texts like the Bhagavad-gita. The great Shankaracharya translates jnana as theoretical and textual knowledge, and vi-jnana as experiential wisdom. Here, however, “experiential” does not mean that which we gain from our daily life experiences. It means a spiritual experience which opens up our intuitive faculty. This is where yoga and meditation become relevant. It is not possible to learn to exercise self-control and to conquer one’s senses without the practice of meditation. It is also not possible to reduce one’s ego, to practise humility, without meditation. It is through meditation that one learns that the elders who have gained intuitive wisdom may be honoured. Then, through meditation one gains access to one’s own inner gates of wisdom. What does all this conquest of senses, humility, intuitive wisdom have to do with success in the business world where we always have to push, compete, assert, fight? The wisdom of the ages says that it is not necessary to take such aggressive stance in order to succeed. Here is the story of a Moghul emperor, Akbar, and his wise minister named Virbal. All the courtiers were jealous of Virbal because he was obviously the emperor’s most favourite. They asked the emperor why? What is it that he has and we do not have? The emperor promised to answer the question on some other day. One morning, as the courtiers arrived in the court, the emperor posed a question to them. He drew a line on a board and asked them to “make the line shorter”. Well, such a simple desire was easy to be fulfilled. Everyone tried to get up and rush to the blackboard, and one of them managed to erase a part of the line. The emperor said: “No, No. Do shorten the line but do not touch it!” Well, that was indeed a puzzle. Nobody could solve the problem. The emperor finally beckoned Virbal, to come “make my line shorter without touching it”. Virbal quietly got up, took the chalk or whatever, and drew a longer parallel line.
In this there is no competition with another’s line. Only that one goes deep within oneself, and without looking at somebody else’s accomplishment, applies one’s total ability to the task at hand. If one is fully restrained, in possession of one’s senses and emotions, acts constructively in all humility, learns from the wise, there can be no doubt in his or her “success without competing”. We can say much more about the topic but that will make a whole book. Here, we can come to the question about the right system of meditation for accomplishing such a personal self that can successfully guide itself on the path suggested above. There are many systems of meditation. Which one should one choose? We propose and teach the Himalayan system. None of the authentic traditions of meditation are excluded from the Himalayan system. All of the other major systems are parts that fit in the right spaces in the jigsaw puzzle of the Himalayan system. For example, Vipassana system teaches to concentrate on the breath flow and body awareness, to start with, but does not use a mantra for a focus. The Transcendental Meditation uses only the mantra and not the breath awareness. Zen has a certain way of dealing with random thoughts. In the Himalayan system we use all of these, and more, to make the complete picture. Someone trained in this tradition has been taught as to the right place for each technique and where it fits in the larger frame. Here, you may refer to this author’s previous short writings entitled: (1) “Beginning Meditation”, and (2) “The Himalayan Tradition of Yoga Meditation”, for a complete description of the basic practice of meditation according to the Himalayan system. Even the first reading of these booklets will show that this is the most comprehensive and all-inclusive system. One of its major strengths is that a well-trained teacher is familiar with many other systems of meditation. Starting from the basic steps s/he may lead a student on a specialized path as needed according to the particular individual needs. For example, a person needing emotional strength will be advised to concentrate on the cardiac centre, whereas an intellectually inclined person may focus on the centre between the eyebrows. It can be safely stated that the majority of the meditation systems are derived from this system. They may be called specialized paths within the single comprehensive system. For example, it is well known that the famous Shao Lin monastery was established as a midway stopping point for the Indian monks travelling on the silk road when they were bringing the meditation tradition to China. The earliest word for meditation from the Vedic times (? 2000 BC) is dhyana. The Buddha pronounced this Sanskrit language word in his Pali language as jhana. Travelling to China, it became known as Ch’an. The Chinese teachers taught the system to the Koreans who pronounced it as son. The Chinese and the Korean teachers brought it to the Japanese who pronounced it as Zen. All of the elements of the Zen school, as also of the Vipassana or TM are known to the Himalayan dhyana school but not vice versa. Who is the founder of the Himalayan system of meditation, historically we cannot say. However, there have been many great names in the last four thousand or more years. These names will not interest an average beginner in the West, so, no need to list these here. Suffice it to give one illustration of this system’s antiquity and of the long line of spiritual experience. The modern western scholars surmise that the ancient text, Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad is dated around 14th century BC. This text gives the names of sixty-nine generations of teachers up to that time as to who taught whom. The lineage has continued unbroken to this day. Whatever specialized developments have taken place in the tradition in all of these centuries have been given different names and then they further developed their lore and pedagogy independently. But the main stream still continues and nurtures and nourishes the schools, as well as each newly arisen civilization according to its need. It teaches in the language and terminology of any current century, and its contemporary civilization. Its universality makes it so resilient. To give an example, let us take the most ancient method of breath awareness in the Himalayan dhyana tradition, it is the basic method in the Tibetan (Mahayana Buddhist) meditation, in the Chinese Ch’an, Japanese Zen, in Vipassana as taught in the thera-vada Buddhist meditation system in Southeast Asian countries. It is the Zikr of the Sufis, and the most important component of the Christian meditative tradition of hesychia, or the practice of stillness and prayer of the heart. As we have said above, the teachers of the tradition have gathered enormous experience and expertise in the past forty or more centuries, and are able to guide people of all religions, of all civilizations, and of all meditative traditions. If one has been practising meditation under a different guide using a different system, the teachers of the Himalayan dhyana-yoga tradition know how to include and incorporate that method into the larger set of practices. It is considered most important that a meditation guide should avoid creating conflict in a student’s mind, and should reconcile into one what on the surface might appear to be two different methods. What does all this have to do with the maxims of Chanakya quoted earlier? The Himalayan dhyana-yoga tradition works on a personality in all its different components,
The meditation changes the way the mind looks at the world and interacts with it. For example, in the basic beginners exercise,
The first of these, breath awareness, then helps one to interpret the world – whether in the form of one’s spouse or a business colleague or a different country – with a more positive sentiment. This, then, brings a positive response from the other and the marital life or a business deal goes ever more smoothly. After a while, with constant self-observation, it makes a person irresistible to others who, then, think of him/her in friendlier, more favourable terms. In the original ancient terminology, we may say that this will help an establishment develop its business and organizational policies on the basis of the principles of:
The second, the use of a single verbal thought flowing with the breath, helps with concentration, not only on a specific task at a given moment but in the overall patterns of life. The breath awareness practice, coupled with methodical relaxation exercises, changes the common beta brain wave pattern into an alpha wave one; and the focus on a certain sound leads one to the theta brain wave. The dominance of alpha wave invokes in one a non-violent response to a possibly violence-producing situation; whether such violence is verbal or physical, or worse still mental. Mental violence leads a human being to malicious and conspiratorial attitudes and efforts which can destroy the harmony within a family as well as within a business establishment. Try to get even five per cent of the people meditating in a company and see the human resources invariably improve dramatically within three to six months. The part of the practice leading to theta brain wave activity of the brain will help the members of an establishment to (a) concentrate deeply and clearly on a given task, and (b) improve imaginative, inventive creativity. Try to get even five per cent of the people meditating in a company and see the productivity of the entire establishment rise within three months. I call this: Succeeding without really competing. The improvements in the psychological profiles of the meditative members of an establishment will diminish the need for embittering, hurtful, frustrating, stress-producing over assertiveness and negativity among negotiators and work partners. It has been found that a twenty-minute siesta in the day-time helps with concentration and productivity of the workers. The Himalayan dhyana-yoga system teaches two other ways which can be even more effective:
Here, an anecdote. Many years back in USA, my receptionist called me in my chamber saying that someone, NN, wanted to speak to me. I picked up the phone. The caller turned out to be a meditation student whom I had not seen for several years. He said that he had called to thank me. “For what?” I asked. He explained,
It is thus that comfort and happiness are rooted in virtue, in a virtue like peacefulness of mind generated through meditation. This virtue is further enhanced when one sees that it generates not merely some other-worldly mystical state but shows its effect in the greater success in economy and polity, artha, which is rooted in good governance, rajya. All of this requires channeling the energies of our senses, which we can accomplish through self-control and discipline. In a meditative society, greater regard will be paid to the elders not only in the family, but also in the society and in a business establishment. The role of a wise mentor will be emphasized, and younger members of the staff will feel happy being compassionately and affectionately guided by the elder ones. Here, permit me to give an example from one segment of the economic history of the world. Up to the end of the 17th century one of the most successful economies of the world was that of India. That is why, when the Ottoman Empire blocked Europe’s trade routes to India there was such a concentrated endeavour to find new routes to that part of the world (initially leading to the discovery of America). Cicero the Roman senator, in one of his speeches, lamented the drain of twenty million (what was its value in that century?) Roman coins per year to India to dress the Roman ladies with Indian textiles. Nineteen centuries later, in the 17th century the prosperity continued and India was producing 24.5 per cent of all of the world’s goods. Its currency was the strongest in the world. India has no silver mines but Today’s India owns twenty-five per cent of the world’s silver – by earning it in the international trade for all of those thousands of years. This success was rooted in its meditative tradition which imparted the qualities of personality that we have hinted at, above, and which, in addition, gave it the temperament that makes people amenable to seek to control the senses, to be humble and thereby seek the guidance of elders and the wise in any area. Today’s “guru” phenomenon, the idea of service to a spiritual guide, is only a small part of that tradition. This has led to the methods of training a business leader. The family groups that had made India the millenniums-long success story in business still continue to train their business heirs in the same way as they did two thousand years ago, and three centuries ago, except that computers have been introduced and the MBA degrees are prized – but without losing the ancient time tested family traditions. These include not only the practice of daily meditative prayer but that the apprentice lives in the house of the business magnate as a family member (in what is known as the guru-kula system) and learns in humility, with self-restraint, the traditional art. Slowly he is given little responsibility, then some more, then supplied with capital and sent to run an existing establishment or to start a new one. Life long, the person maintains an attitude of humility towards his mentors. He may become more successful than them but in their presence he retains an attitude of reverence. It is a part of the general sentiment that the success has come to him not merely from what he has learnt as a method, but by the blessings of the wise elders. If, after only sixty-five years of independence India is on the verge of recovering her ancient economic strength, it is because of the personality traits that a meditative inclination generates, leading to positive attitudes, behavior patterns free of frustrations and interpersonal stress, rooted in right relationships. (However, lately I notice a major loss of values in India in many public spheres but at the same time its continuity in other spheres.) Japan became an economic giant also by the same route of merging the tradition with modernity, and India is well on her way. That is the Asian miracle. In other words, we need not limit ourselves to examining the scientific studies done in research laboratories to prove the efficacy of meditation. We better look at the economic history of the world in which the last two centuries of the West’s economic dominance are a tiny fragment. History shows the effectiveness and success of the societies in which meditation, but more so the meditative attitudes leading to certain relationships, have been the basis of civilization. The rate at which the Asian societies have taken to the computer, the internet and so forth from the West without losing their traditional values proves that the Western business has stiff competition coming in the forthcoming decades and centuries. Just as Asia has taken up the West’s computer, better that the West takes up Asia’s meditation. Taking it merely as twenty minutes a day technique would not suffice. It is the attitudes generated by meditation that create relationships within the society and within a business establishment. The acceptance of this will ensure the survival of the West in a world where Asia has taken the best of the West and retained the best of the East. Let the West retain the best of the West and take up the best of the East to ensure the continuity of its success. It will help to prove Kaiserling and Oswald Spengler wrong. To summarize:
Meditation is the art and science of self-governance. The Himalayan tradition of dhyana-yoga does not merely provide the technique for meditation but teaches the methods whereby one’s meditation practice may be applied to cultivate, enhance, beautify one’s personality, leading to very practical benefits in personal, interpersonal and corporate life. Management as Spiritual SadhanaHere we use the term ‘management’ in a very wide perspective of all social, economic, political relationships and interactions. Point by point, as follows. There is a fourfold definition of purushartha, purpose of the human. The four aspects are:
Artha and kama are sandwiched between dharma and moksha. The purpose of artha and kama is thus to support dharma and moksha. Thus, too, (a) all economic relationships (pay scales etc.) among various members of management order (b) all social relationships such as ‘hiring’, ‘firing’. ‘Management hierarchies and mutual expectations among them’ are to be based on this scheme. Based on this concept of purushartha, now we come to general economic interactions. Prakrti, all Matter, is a gift of God to the human to fulfill the purushartha. It does not have a price. What is the price of a glass of water if one is sitting in a boat in a clear lake of drinkable water? What is the price of water in a desert hundred miles from an oasis? Can you actually pay a suitable price for quenching your thirst? Then there is the principle of nish-kama karma, altruistic action, all action performed without seeking a benefit. As we shall see below, This is not an impossible principle to practice in daily life. It has to do with the mental value we place on our transactions, and not on the act itself. On these principles of purushartha I present the following thoughts. The principles have to be applied to all our transactions. How does nishkama karma work in our buying and selling potatoes in a market place? In our altruistic mental system of economic relationships, the potato seller is making us a loving gift of the product of his labour. This is priceless. He is giving us this gift because we need it. We are giving him some money altruistically because he needs it. So, at mental level, it is not an exchange of ‘this much’ for ‘that much’. The same applies in an organization (especially like ours). There are no paid employees. They are giving us service because it is needed for our Mission. We are fulfilling their needs, in a limited way, in order to enable them to give us that service. Elsewhere they could be receiving more, or less. But we are trying to balance between what they need and how much we have at our disposal to offer. It is not an employer-employee relationship; it is an interpersonal love relationship. All family leaders need to cultivate that mental attitude. This is the path of spiritual purity in economic relationships. Thus, in the relationships within the organizational family of sadhakas,
Here some more additional points to train oneself into.
This is not the philosophy of polarities – which causes all conflicts in the families and organisations and wars among nations – all one and the same. It is the philosophy of unity in One. One should take constant pains to explain to all in the spiritual family the principles by which the family is being run and the habitual thinking brought from the outside world must be slowly changed by communication and sharing of these and such principles. These principles may not be possible to practice in the modern government structures or the habitual norms of the corporate world but
Saintly CEOsI have recently written a letter to some of our closest friends suggesting that perhaps a workshop is needed in which I can teach:
I recently read in Time magazine an article about the French temperament that always seeks the abstract. It started with a bit of humour, something like this: A capable and experienced business planner prepared a plan and showed to a French CEO. The CEO looked at it and remarked, “this looks good in practical terms but is it good in theory?” I will have to keep reminding my best friends who are indeed great business planners: “your plan is great in practical terms but is it in accordance with the philosophy?”. The topic of the workshop I have suggested also extends to our normal day to day communication. When you communicate orally, do you remember
What is the tone of your voice? Does it express humility? A suggestion and request rather than an instruction and a command? Did the other party in communication resist and resent? That means you were not speaking with humility and saumyataa. Make yourself effective by being a person, speaking (writing a letter or business document) in a manner, that no one can say “NO” to you. For this, keep a journal nightly. “krtam smara” (Yajur-veda) : remember what you did during the day; to whom you spoke? To whom you wrote? Did that communication reflect
What was the response you received? What mood did you generate when you told someone that a room is needed in the gurukulam building...? Did the person resent? Resist? Got into a bad mood? Went away from the ashram feeling hurt? That means that in order to be effective you did not use the right tools of
Do not condemn yourself. In the next paragraphs write down : What tone of voice you could have used? What body language? What facial expression? No---no---no: What emotion you would have generated in yourself before communicating. Was that emotion impelled by
Write down as to next time which of these emotions you will generate in yourself before communicating and in the mode of communication. Every now and then look though these journals and continue to renew your sankalpa. Do not say it straight if it can be said curved. Curved by philosophy and poetry. Curved so as to reconcile differences. As in a circle beginning becomes the end as opposites merge, so also in a curved statement. [In some world cultures that is the norm – so as not to create conflict, not to create opposition.] Use of words like ‘NO’ and ‘NOT’ is anti-spiritual. Instead of saying ‘I will not approve it’ or ‘I will not do it’, you may say it curved such as: “if there were a possibility that this could be done, I would have certainly done it but at this time the possibility looks very remote” or some such statement. Do bear in mind, in (a) speaking, (b) writing (c) lectures and teaching, the three principles of communication:
I want to see in my family this new category of ‘Saintly CEO’. That is what will ensure the continuity of Gurudeva’s Mission into the next century. Otherwise I expect dissensions that occur after the founder’s death – sorry but that is the reality. Dissentions are generated not as often by differences on policies but more often by modes of communication and tones used. People
habitually by the mode that is common worldwide. They think that is ‘normal’ because they have been presented with no other model. Not having been raised in the current civilization, I wish to present to you a different model, not from Mars but from Venus. How about a workshop titled: ‘saintly CEOs’? Or, shall we call it ‘CEOs from Venus’? When? Where? Whom and whom to invite? Who is to do the inviting? --- Shri-gurdeva-sevayam, Principles of Communication in AdministrationBe gentle in disagreements. Make the unpleasant pleasant first, and only then communicate. Round off the sharp corners, circle the word-squares, change tones to tunes. Sharpen love, blunt the sharpnesses. Evoke a YES response. Let others FEEL that they are leading and you are merely suggesting; that is the way you naturally and easefully receive the honour of being a leader. Lead without leading; command without commanding; Wield authority without authority -- that nobody detects that authority was wielded.
We have been teaching on this verse and on Y S 1.33 in detail and so we are not presenting a translation here. These are the basics of our administrative philosophy. In the 42 years at the Meditation Center we have never fired anyone. We only relocate the people after examining the best way (1) they would progress spiritually and (2) would serve our family better. We try to follow the same principles in our Rishikesh Ashram. Please check how many paragraphs in your e-mail or other communications are beginning with the pronoun ‘I’. Reduce the incidence of ‘I’. We avoid ordering and commanding by a tone like, ‘do it this way’. We prefer, ‘let us do it this way’, ‘what if we did it this way, what would be the difficulties from your point of view?’ – and such expressions. We avoid expressions like, ‘this is all wrong’. Instead we prefer ‘for such and such reason (give background story if it is not confidential) it would be better if we did it this way instead’. We avoid generating the moods like ‘why didn’t you do it on time?’. We prefer, ‘I am wondering what difficulties caused you not be able to finish this on time? You see, not getting it done could cause such and such harm and discomfort’. Words like no, not, refuse, reject, forbid, deny, confront, challenge, terminate ‘fired’, ‘my view’, ‘my stand’ –etc. are not part of our administrative vocabulary. These words are never found in the letters this self dictates or writes. nor are such words used in discussions where this self is instrumental. Home work: the above sentence in bold could be rewritten to conform better to the philosophy stated above. It has a deficiency. (A) State what is the shortage in that sentence in conforming to the philosophy. (B) Rewrite the sentence to conform fully. (C) Practice speaking and writing all sentences in daily life to be in conformity with the above philosophy and sentiments. About Honest Communicationthat is, sending in the cruise missiles In the entire history of the teachings of philosophy and psychology the philosophers have admonished fellow human beings to conquer base emotions and seek to develop a personal self to be as close to the divine attributes as possible. Certain contemporary dominant schools of psychology in the West, especially in USA, are an exception. They seek to justify human weaknesses, blocking human progress in refinement by teaching phrases like: this is the way I am; you have to accept me as I am (that is, I am not going to refine myself and I feel no need to do so). Justifying anger, harsh words and encouraging confrontational – rather than consensual – behaviour. One of the buzzwords is ‘honest communication’. Hurt others with the belief that it will save you from being hurt. Look somebody hard in the eye and say a loud NO. I, however, come from the school of YESmen (Taoist, Upanishadic) that says: the best defence is non-defence. That is why hardly anyone says NO to me. The philosophy of making a fast draw, sending in the marines –oops, that is old now – sending in the cruise missiles at everyone you have a disagreement with does not fit into any spiritual ideal. The ideal of sensitive communication is diametrically opposite to the above confrontational view. The sensitive communication, (a) saving the other party’s honour and (b) yet having one’s position understood is the common way of many cultures even today. Here I give an example of a conversation in Asia.
A very common form of communication in Asia and Africa (Hindu, Buddhist AND Muslim) goes like this:
Note that the answer is not “No, Sir”. OR :
The listener brought up in the culture of ‘sensitive communication’ understands that the other person is asking to be relieved of the burden of organising a meeting at his home in his wife’s absence. Next day, you call him and tell him – so grateful for your kind offer to host us, you are always so generous. For this time, another member has asked to be given a chance. We hope it would be alright with you if we accept. Everybody’s honour is kept in this way. But it requires humility and the ability to hear the unspoken word. The Master yogis train their disciples into much subtler levels of ‘sensitive hearing’. Such communication is possible only in societies that do believe in non-violence at least to the extent they are able to practise it. It requires a sensitivity of the soul and the heart to communicate in this way. Speaking of many cultures, examples: I love the Thailand culture where ‘anger’ is considered bad manners; Japanese culture where everyone apologises repeatedly all the time. And so also many other examples from cultures. There is enough confrontation among nations, religions, communities – all part of ‘honest communication’, the main cause of the failures of diplomacy of many countries, because often there is failure in working with the people where ‘sensitive communication’ is the norm. Those brought up in these aggressive and arrogant societies do not know how much they show what is perceived by others as disrespect, insensitivity and an attempt to dishonour, or to obtain results by ‘barking orders’. But it is not just one country; we find the same phenomenon in many other lands and communities (to my great disappointment, more and more in India now). Some countries stand out because of their uncontrollable show-off of power. Let us constantly remember that the universe will serve to us what we pour into the universe. We wish to oppose nuclear weapons but we pour into the collective mind of the planet the confrontational thoughts and words. We choose to consider the universe an adversary instead of ourselves as partners thereof. Be not an adversary. One thing I have said often : If you have a problem with someone, solve the problem s/he has with you. Do not demand rights; do loving duties selflessly. ‘Sensitive communication’ is a very fine art, rooted in deep spiritual philosophies. It cannot be learnt in a day. But please make start not by trying to write another chapter in the textbook of the theory of communication. This is not part of the theory of communication but of the principle of non-violence, non-anger, non-hurtfulness, humility, rejoicing at every opportunity one has to make oneself small. May I request that all those who work in association in our organizational family learn such sensitivity and non-violence, please. I am deeply hurt when anyone of you hurts any other one of you.
May you develop the ambition to become the smallest, most minute of God’s creation and thereby become a sharer in His grandeur. Be ambitious!
Signs of Spiritual Progress Over a decade back I taught a course titled Marks of Spiritual Progress at our Ashram in Rishikesh (CDs available). Here is an addition. One of the marks of spiritual progress is as follows:
If you are facing problems, figure out where your spiritual progress is lacking. The other extremely important part in our sadhana is the reverence towards women. Our tradition is different from ritual Hinduism and from other religions’ taboos in these matters. According to the Law Book of Manu, the first law-giver in the Indian tradition, all parts and aspects of a woman’s body and being are pure and sacred at all times. One of the rules of japa etc. observances in the tradition is:
It is believed that prayers offered by women are heard more readily. Women are considered incarnations of Mother Kundalini-shakti. As we are followers of the right hand tantra path, reverence towards women is most important. One or twice a year on days sacred to Divine Mother I wash the feet of nine ‘under-age’ forms of Maatri-shakti ), nine kanyaa devees and worship them. The tantric rule is that a man should appear in the presence of a woman, any woman, well-kempt, well-dressed, good-mannered. Also, that if a man is passing a group of women standing somewhere or casually chatting, he must pay them mental reverence as he is passing by. In Ramayana:
Since we are talking of creating a feminine organization, we must (1) inspire all boys and men to follow above principles, and (2) apply feminine temperaments in solving administrative problems; What is to be women’s response to such reverence? That is for the incarnations of Kundalini-shakti to (a) contemplate and (b) implement. Who are men to teach them!! All the principles being enunciated in this document are principles of a feminine organization. In a spiritual economics or in a spiritual organizational family, therefore, the conveniences of women’s temperament and needs will be given priority as to such issues as working hours and so on. Fortunately, at times this self has been called by women ‘our bearded mother’ – the greatest compliment I could aspire for. Do not expect management from me, only motherhood. Both WaysWhen Faced With a Conflict Of Choices Between Two Opposites, Simply put, as in the Hindi proverb, have dono haathon me laddoo! (sweet balls in both hands!) The statement as the title of this writing has a sound philosophical basis and practical applications thereof. The truth of the matter is: there are no conflicting or contradictory forces in the universe. All is complementary. Quantum physics also proves this: (a) a force is both a photon particle or a light wave; (b) an atomic particle is in two places at the same time, and so forth. There are only continua, only complementary forces. I often trick my audiences. In the middle of a lecture, I ask what is the time? Someone in the audience kindly tells me the time. I then ask the same person to ask me what is the time? S/he asks me the same question, I counter-question: where? Right now, is it night or is it day? Answer is both. Here it is day, in America it is night -- or vice versa.  A philosopher is a planetary citizen; s/he cannot be partial to one hemisphere (of the earth or of the brain). That is how you have it both ways. I would go to my Master with a question like : “Maharaj ji, should I do such and such this way or that other way?”. He would look at me and reply in a deep voice coming from the heart, Yeeesss. That was often his only answer. I had to contemplate deeply and resolve the apparent contradictions between the two choices and arrive at an answer in which the positive elements of both choices would be included. That is how you have it both ways. Yoga Masters (masters, not those who are declared to be masters by PR companies) often present the disciples with contradictory choices in daily and practical life and the disciple has to develop the spiritual skill to resolve the apparent contradictions, and reach samadhana, a resolving, bringing together the apparent conflicting factors and parts, and thereby arrive at a holistic reality, as I have said elsewhere :
This is
This device is only a small part of age old systems of wise sages. The riddles in the Vedas, ulat-baansiyaan of Kabir, all such, are part of the same liberating systems. So also is the vast repertoire of koans, in Japanese pronunciation of Chinese gong-an (pin-yin) 公案/公安 as taught in the Chinese Ch’an school, Japanese Zen, Korean Son, Vietnamese Thien, ( derived from Pali jhana which is derived from Sanskrit dhyana) schools of meditation, especially in the Soto and Rinzai Zen. A koan forces one to come out of set grooves, mental habituations and dichotomous conditionings. For example, the well known koan :
The master forces the disciple not only to study the answers given by previous masters but to find his/her own answer in all-absorbing meditations. The system is based, among others, on the principle that between two opposites there is a third option lurking, much like the way Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s thesis and antithesis produce a synthesis. If you cannot decide in which of two companies you should invest your funds, take the best qualities of both and invest in a company that has those combined qualities. This is just a simplified answer. I know CEOs among my disciples who have followed such advice in making their business decisions and have succeeded. Here a short story. Long ago I was learning American English by reading regularly the magazine Readers Digest while living in British Guiana in South America. There was an anecdote, based on common stereotyped perceptions, which I cannot produce exactly verbatim, but somewhat like this:
My take on this has been : the anecdote writer did not ask as to what will happen if they are Indian? The answer is that the woman will adopt one of the men as dharma-bhai, ‘brother-in-virtue’ (how else does one translate this sentiment into English?), who will give her away as a bride to the other. So she receives different kind of affection from each. That is how you have it both ways 2。 Dono haathon me laddoo! Sweet balls in both hands!! How?How is one to succeed in practising the principles suggested here?
These are the ways of all sadhana. Svasti panthaam anu-charema (Veda): may you walk on the path of svasti (su+asti= ‘all beautiful and harmonious’. ‘Is’). 1 Blessings, ahymsinpublishers@gmail.com . 2 Please inquire for CDs of a lecture series by this writer titled “Contradictions and Conflicts”, given in Napa Valley, California, 1983. Ahymsinpublishers@gmail.com Editor’s Note:Swamiji says that the document has been in refinement for a long time and will continue to be refined. We will attempt to keep an updated version of this document on the website at: http://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/Swami-Veda-Bharati/sadhana-in-applied-spirituality.html Please see also Swamiji’s writing “Marks of Spirituality” at http://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/Swami-Veda-Bharati/marks-of-spiritual-progress.html and “Mind Field: The Playground of Gods” at http://www.ahymsin.org/main/index.php/Swami-Veda-Bharati/mind-field.html
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