Teachings of Shri Mahayogi
Satsangha
Fukuoka, Imabari, Kyoto, Osaka, New York
2001 – 2019
Religion and Society
• The Acquisition of Perfect Freedom
• The Stance of Yoga and its View on Religions
• The Confusion of the World and Yoga
• Yoga and Environmental Issues
• Make Universal Love and Peace Be Your Own Ideal
• The Understanding of Sexual Violence and Life
Testimonies from Actual Practitioners
• An Encounter with the Ancient Yoga
by Sananda
Kyoto, Japan
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Teachings of Shri Mahayogi
Translation of Satsangha
Religion and Society
“If you see the world through the mind, the world is various.
Yet through the True Eye, the world is One.”
—Satguru Shri Mahayogi Paramahansa
Eternal Truth
Wednesday, November 29, 2006, Fukuoka
Q: Most wars have arisen due to differences among religions. I think that, naturally, religion ought to help people; so then, according to the view of Yoga, what is the mistake here?
MASTER: Certainly, religion is believed to be a consolation for the minds of the people, however, that’s actually not the case. Even though you say it in one word, religion, there are many levels contained within it. Here in Fukuoka prefecture, there is the Zadaifu Tenman-gu, [a Shinto shrine established in 905]. I have memories of visiting it a few times when I was little. And the place where I live (Mahayogi Ashrama) in Kyoto is close to Kitano Tenman-gu, [a Shinto shrine established in 947] where Michizane, [a scholar and politician, is also enshrined]; and so when the season comes for the entrance examination into schools or universities, many people visit in order to pray to get into [their desired school, since Michizane is known as the god of learning, culture and arts]. People visit other shrines or temples to pray for illness to be healed, for the fulfillment of their wishes and for other desires. This too is one of the forms—human beings turn to God only when they are in trouble, that is to say, “I pray for this, so please grant it to me”—this is placed as the bottom rung of religion, since this too is praying for one’s own wishes.
And further, each religion also conducts prayers that are not just for personal wishes, but for universal peace, for love for humanity and universal brotherhood, for world prosperity, such that these prayers are not just selfish and egoistic, but they cover a bit of a wider realm. However, that is about as far as it goes. And there, each religion holds a discriminatory sense that their own religion is the best and the others are inferior. Naturally, this creates a conflict between races and religions. These conflicts have been going for more than a thousand years. There is something very deeply rooted there. That is, as I just said, it is due to the mistaken discriminatory sense, or the consciousness of superiority that “only we are right, others are wrong.” Therefore, unless the religions themselves reflect on their own mistake and learn from it, world peace will not be attained. If that is the condition of this world, or if the religions are causing the world to be like that, then it’s better not to have them.
Yoga does not particularly assert itself as religion. Yet, in India, it is considered to be the pinnacle, the culmination of religion. There are many religions in India. In general, the major one is what is called Hinduism; there is Islam, there is Christianity, and Buddhism; and not only the major religions but numerous faiths and other religions exist there. However, if you liken it to a mountain, they are all only the foothills of the mountain. Just like when you cross over a mountain peak, there you see the next peak, and unless you reach the summit, they cannot all be integrated due to the fact that when on each hillside you can’t see the others. This religion that is at the summit is specifically called Sanatana Dharma, Eternal Religion, or Eternal Truth. Yoga belongs to that. I always think about how great it would be if the religions of the world would come to learn Yoga.
Observe the World Well
Saturday, January 19, 2013, Kyoto
Q: Swami Vivekananda said, “the term ‘social progress’ has as much meaning as ‘hot ice.’ There is no such thing, ultimately, as ‘social progress.’” How should we understand this?
MASTER: The view of the Yoga Sutra is that even if one Purusha (true Self) awakens into It, the world does not change—for the world is shared in common with others. That is to say, since many people, namely, others, hold various illusions there and see this world, and since this world is created through that, the chaotic state of this world inevitably proceeds as it is.
Q: So then, for what purpose does Satori exist?
MASTER: Even though the world is in chaos, it is not the world itself that is troubled, what is troubled and in suffering is each individual’s mind. Therefore, what needs to be healed is each individual person. Each and every person must be saved.
There is no such thing as hot ice—these are the words that he dared to say in criticizing the utopian thinking that has spread in America and Europe. This is an idea that some of the sects of Christianity advocate even in this modern time, yet they say it is rooted, of course, in the Bible from about two thousand years ago; according to the Old Testament, when the world was at its end, God told Noah to evacuate, so Noah built the ark and he was able to escape from the fall of the world, and thus humans and animals were able to be revived—as the legend goes—and what is believed is that the same kind of thing will happen again, Armageddon1 will happen and then after that only the chosen people will be able to survive, which is usually called millenarianism. This is simply elitism, and it is simply a way of thinking that is full of ignorance, very immature. Even now, many religions inflict fear on people, and solicit [based on the notion] that only they can be saved, while [those in power] foolishly try to indulge their own pleasures in this world. This is not religion at all, and to put it bluntly, these are just scam groups. This has been happening, borrowing the name of various existing religions like Christianity and Buddhism, it is a miserable plight. This is the world!
In order to sound the alarm, Swami Vivekananda dared to tell us to observe the world well, that this is the state of the world in the past, the present and the future, but even so, the one who is suffering is each individual person, therefore the suffering of each person must be healed and each person must be saved. I infer that this is why Swami Vivekananda put a Yoga-like spur to the people to observe the world, but rather than the external, to see oneself.
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[1] The place of the decisive battle between the forces of good and evil that will occur, and by extension, the end of the world, as written in the New Testament, in the Revelation of St. John the Divine, 16:16.
The Acquisition of Perfect Freedom
Sunday, March 31, 2002, Osaka
MASTER: In Vivekananda’s time, at the end of the 19th century, he said at some point that the number of people who don’t have religion has increased—seeing this as a sign heralding the 20th century, so to speak. And he said that it’s a good thing. The reason is that the religions of the past restricted the people but did not liberate them. Whether it was Christianity or Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam, whatever religion it was, it tied the people down according to their race and ethnic group, and became linked to particular nations, and they didn’t provide the happiness and freedom that religions ought to bring people. If that’s the case, then it would be better to abandon religion and have no religion—that is one of his sarcastic views. At the same time, in India it is a natural thing that God or the Truth can be realized without necessarily practicing a particular religion. Why? Because there are examples of Yoga practitioners. Yoga practitioners [in the past] were not necessarily brahmin (the priest caste), they were and are the ones who have sought to attain perfect freedom, they practiced spiritual disciplines with wild abandon, and then acquired complete and perfect freedom. Therefore, whatever it was, they rejected any bonds that came from being in that state; no matter what nominal titles there were, they didn’t want them. Because the completely naked, pristine state is what most resembles Freedom.
Furthermore, Vivekananda even said about his view of religion: there will be as many sects as human beings. In other words, perhaps this means that religion is something that each person cultivates within their own heart and mind. Faith isn’t something that is given; and also, in a way, some kinds of benefits, worldly benefits, are associated with the mainstream religions, yet as long as one is begging for something, true religion, true faith, cannot arise, because that is simply bargaining. However, since the ones who have been doing this are these religions themselves, manipulating the ignorant minds of the people, and through doing so putting people into bondage, this itself might be the sin of religions, I dare say. It might be said of all of the old religions.
However, what Yoga says is completely different—such religions are irrelevant, because whether one has faith or not, Truth is One; so therefore, verify it yourself, you can find it by yourself. Yoga is very bold in that regard; no knowledge is necessary; simply your passion for wanting to know the Truth—whether God really does exist, who the Self really is—it is to seek out such simple, yet most important, answers. In this changing, transient world, what is True? We think we are living, but what is the sense of really living, what is the sense of existing? This, as I just said, is something led by each person’s inquiry. And Yoga has always been conveyed in such a way, and it is conveyed in this way even now.
Therefore, in the 20th century, there was a further shift away from religion compared to the 19th century, and now we have entered into the 21st century—from now on and into the future, there will be a greater shift away from existing religions. However, as Vivekananda said, this is an opportunity. Because you don’t need to be swayed by such mistaken teachings. And therefore, you will be able to find through Yoga the Truth that is more humble, more simple than anything, within you, yourself. I think that it’s a fortunate thing that Yoga does not assert a sect of Yoga or a Yoga Religion. Perhaps, that is its greatest aspect, that through the name Yoga, both people who have various religious backgrounds and people who don’t can accept Yoga.
The Stance of Yoga and its View on Religions
Saturday, May 23, 2016, Imabari
MASTER: What are considered to be the world religions today are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and many others. Historically, they’ve developed within a respective ethnic group for a long period of one to two thousand years of history. When you look around at world history, the way countries were in the olden times and the way they are now has changed greatly. We are now in an era where East and West are interacting more closely, and their economies and cultures are influenced by one another. Even in religion, there are fewer and fewer religions that are proceeding as before. Also, in becoming a mere façade and losing the substance within each respective religion, the way religions originally ought to be has been lost. Even so, people are suffering in their lives and seeking salvation, and seeking a guidepost within some religion. At this time, we’ve come to the point where the existing religions can no longer solve this problem. If you view it from a different angle, it seems that due to the religions themselves having become corrupted, or having remained only in name, they cannot guide the hearts and minds of the people.
On the other hand, science has had an effect on the technology and economy of the world, and thus on the way people live. Religion cannot easily influence others with the ideology of one sect alone. I think that what that means is that religion needs to go back to the origin of religion, the Universal Truth. The Universal Truth does not contradict science, and furthermore, It has to have content that can be shared in any time, with any ethnic culture, just like science.
Yoga is the means of finding out the Truth, which can be referred to as a science that has been sought and studied hard in India since ancient times, for more than three thousand years. Therefore, Yoga does not need anything like a principal deity that specific religions advance. Rather, Yoga understands that that which is Truth, the Existence of Truth, That alone is absolute, and That is the Existence qualified to be called God. Now, where does this sacred Existence exist? It is not above the clouds but It exists within each person’s chest. Not only within human beings, but within plants and flowers, within animals, within earth and soil, within air, within water—the Existence that exists within the entire universe is the same Existence. In olden times, It was called the Soul, or it was called God. Rather than seeking that Truth somewhere far, to find It within your own self, and to know It—this is the ultimate point, the culmination, of all religions.
It has been less than a hundred years since this idea, this way of thinking, or its concrete methods became known to the world. It has been less than just fifty years since it has become practicable. That is a fact of its history. Of course, since in India, as I mentioned earlier, Yoga has some thousands of years of history, the Lord Buddha was Enlightened through Yoga, and there is a theory that Jesus Christ also practiced in India and then preached the teachings.
Anyhow, Yoga has been offering the same things whether the age was three thousand years ago or a thousand years ago, or even today, or even a thousand years from now. That is because the Existence of Truth is changeless; It never changes. Since our physical bodies were born, they will eventually die and disappear. The states of this world keep changing from moment to moment. The entire universe was born at some point in time, and it keeps changing—it is in a progressive form. One day, the time will eventually come that the universe itself will cease to exist; even so, it will come to be revived again. This is the same in human beings; it means that the universe too is born to incarnate repeatedly—reincarnation. These are just forms of change, forms of the universe, or forms of the physical body, or forms of the mind, the ways of the mind. However, there is something that exists within this that never changes. That is the soul, the essence. That is what Yoga teaches, and the concrete means to realize the Self—the asana and meditation that you have been practicing are exactly that; to awaken into the Truth of your own Self is the supreme command of Yoga, or the principal teaching.
Since these ways of thinking are not present in existing religions, those who are in the West today who have grown up in Christianity, as well as those who have grown up in various other religions, have been learning Yoga with great interest. Through learning Yoga, one will be able to know the essence of one’s own religion. It seems that the content of most of the existing religions is dualistic, that is to say, focused on worldly benefits. In duality, you cannot fill the gap between God and human beings. However, in Yoga, or the view of Yoga, is that there is no such thing as duality, but rather there is non-duality—(putting his hand to his chest) if God exists, then It exists within; That exists within everyone, everywhere, there is only That; That alone exists—it is not dual; That alone is the Truth. This is what Yoga teaches. That is the stance of Yoga and its view toward other religions.
What Religion Can Do
Sunday, May 18, 2008, Osaka
Q: In the teaching of Buddhism, especially in the Lotus Sutra, there are many metaphors about the unconditional love of a mother toward her child; however, in this present time, there are various tragic cases happening and I have a doubt about whether these metaphors make sense anymore. Also, while disasters such as great earthquakes or floods are happening, what can religion really do?
MASTER: Certainly, in the present time, big earthquakes and disasters are happening, and I am aware of that. And, on the news there are truly tragic cases, which can be considered to be crime, that are rampant, and I am aware of that. But then, can you think that these issues did not exist in the age of Buddha, two thousand five hundred years ago, or in other ages? I don’t think you can say that they didn’t exist. As long as people live, or if you think about nature, there are good times and there are also times when nature brings about natural disasters. One thing is that you cannot help but acknowledge that we have both, there is that duality, that is the way of this world; at the same time, surely you want to avoid tragedy as much as you can. It would have been nice if that Lotus Sutra were effective, because if you think about why it is not effective anymore, I think it is that, right now, we are forced to taste the result of modern civilization, of having scorned the way of humanity, [the way of things] such as religions, morals or ethics.
What can religion actually do? That is the current state. As long as religion is involved in rituals and marriage ceremonies or funerals, I think there’s nothing religion can do, rather, it will only continue to degenerate. If that is religion, then let it ruin itself. True religion is the Truth that is eternally unbreakable, and It exists within everything. Everyone and all things are given that precious and sacred Life. If one can simply know that as it is, that each one is precious and sacred, people will not quarrel and will no longer fight against one another. And when it comes to the urgency of being in hardship, just like in the parable of the Samaritan of Jesus,1 even if it is a foreigner, you cannot help but offer a helping hand.
Every time when such cases arise, I think that we roughly say “this society” or “the world,” but if you go further, every single person is contained within that; therefore, if you want to make the world or society better, then there is nothing but for each individual to make oneself better. Even in this current society of information, you may rarely hear to do this but you make changes to yourself, bravely and courageously, and go forward and put that into action. By having a backbone like this, or by having such a belief, you can help others, your thoughts toward your children, toward everything, will change. As long as each individual person does not come to change, then nothing will change. May it truly be [that each individual will make oneself better and change oneself], so that a better society will open up.
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[1] The Good Samaritan: A Jew was attacked by thieves, and his countrymen did not try to help. But one of the Samaritans, who were in a relation of abhorrence with the Jews, saved that Jew and took care of him. This is a parable that indicates to “love your neighbor as you love yourself,” just like this Samaritan.
Cultivate Spirituality
Saturday, May 11, 2019, Kyoto
Q: Compared to economic activities, the activities of Yoga can be said to be non-productive. I’ve heard that when Shri Mahayogi was in his teenage years, during meditation, Shri Mahayogi had physically sensed and experienced the scene in which a farmer asked Buddha, “Why do you go about asking for alms when you don’t even plow?” Please tell us about the essence you experienced from that.
MASTER: Certainly, the way Yoga practitioners live may not be productive. However, I myself, too, when I was a teenager, when I envisioned what the ideal would be of the way to live as a yogi, there was a time a thought flittered through my mind about whether it was really okay not to work by the sweat of my brow, which generally indicates “being engaged in production.” Then, I thought about Buddha, and concentrated on the points of how he conquered this issue, and how he found the answer, and that led to the meditation in which I experienced something like having a glimpse of his actions, of the way he lived.
Certainly, since matter is the only thing that we can perceive in this world with the five senses, it is not easy to understand the invisible, that is, the spiritual world or spiritual activities. However, in order to live, we cannot live only by matter. Certainly, although what sustains the physical body is matter, what lies at the root is the way of the mind, or spirituality, and rather, that spirituality becomes the core, and then the material situations outside of that are also necessary.
So in this sense, it is exactly how it was pointed out to Buddha by the farmer, “you wander around aimlessly in the daytime without working,” but Buddha responded, pointing to the farmer’s chest, “I am cultivating.” That is, Buddha meant he was cultivating the mind—by Buddha implying such an answer, the farmer was reminded of this spirituality; then he became a disciple of Buddha and worked very hard on spiritual practice. I found out about this story later.
In this way, externally, Yoga practitioners may appear to be non-productive, yet by cultivating what’s at the center, the spirituality, one can live without depending on material things, and rather, live on the essence—that is where you can find the real meaning of “living” in the truest sense of it. I understood it this way, as I recall.
I had been doing such meditation during my teenage years, yet due to various circumstances, as well as in order to support this body in the reality [of the world], I did an ordinary job for a bit, so I did produce things a little. It was something like that.
The Confusion of the World and Yoga
Saturday, October 12, 2013, Kyoto
Q (from a high school student): Japan is full of things, but there is no war—in this sense, Japan is a very fortunate and peaceful country. However, in other countries, far away from Japan, conflict has arisen, there are many problems, and people who are somehow born in a country like that are killed due to the conflict, or leave this world without knowing the meaning of what it is to live. There are people living in this world, but there is no equality, and there are people who don’t even know the aim of life. We, who are living in peace, can make other creatures suffer, or we cannot stop taking action even though we know it may be an action of destruction. Why is this?
MASTER: Indeed. In the Bible of Christianity, it states that God created humans in His image, and in the thinking of India, God himself becomes human—so there are ways of thinking about that manifestation of God. But then, if that is so, you wonder and inquire, why is there no equality, why is there no peace? People in the past also seemed to think about similar things; Lord Buddha, or Christ, had the same thoughts, and as the result of thinking about the cause of this, it came to be considered that when a false idea enters into the human mind, a man forgets that the self is a manifestation of God, or that he is a child of God, and therefore believes that the world that the eyes can see is everything. It is considered that for this reason, incorrect desires arise quickly—such as, since we will die one day anyway, then we can indulge in pleasures—and such desires result in spreading confusion and suffering throughout the world. The cause of this suffering is desire and pleasures, and then the root cause of that is the wrong way of thinking, having forgotten the true thing and therefore not knowing—and that is the cause that needs to be eliminated. Then, the original pure state of the mind should be born and one should be able to love others and live in peace. However, even if you tell that to people, the situation can be that the false has become so big that people cannot necessarily agree with it, so there is no other way but for each person who recognizes it, to realize it respectively. Then, one more person, another person, another person, as it increases, the mistake becomes less, and then goes away, then the world will surely become a good world, I think.
Yoga is to learn these things again, in other words, it is to learn what is true, and to learn what is false and mistaken, and if there are mistakes and falsehoods in your own mind, acknowledge them as mistakes and then get rid of them. And then, by planting the right things in the mind, and by each person realizing the Truth, the surroundings also get better little by little. Therefore, first you yourself realize It firsthand—then surely things will get better.
Yoga is not a difficult thing at all, it is to know again that which is a very natural thing, or Yoga is really simple in that it is something in which you can feel and think guilelessly and humbly of that very natural thing, as it is.
Charitable Work and Yoga
Saturday, September 29, 2001, Kyoto
Q: Swami Adbhutananda (a direct disciple of Shri Ramakrishna) said that humanitarian work only becomes meaningful if we accept the Existence of God. There are many people who do charitable works in many different ways in this world. Please teach us the difference between being engaged in charitable or humanitarian work with or without the continuous application of the teachings of Yoga in action.
MASTER: Even when you say “charitable work” or “humanitarian work” as one word [or concept], the contents are various. Charitable, humanitarian work that is in accordance with the age and conditions is what’s contained in that. In its most obvious sense, it may refer to work that serves others from a humanitarian point of view. Now, if you say that it is the “humanitarian point of view,” what is humanitarian? Perhaps, in this current age, it refers to something that helps the weak and suffering in accordance with the idea of equality based on the preciousness of life. However, this world is full of inequality, and it is full of contradictions. Indeed, everything is equal and life is precious. However, if you ask why, the answer is not clear. Even if you say, living this life is precious, living will come to end one day, sooner or later. This too is inequality in terms of time. If you investigate further about why life is precious, why life is equal, then unless you have understood beforehand that the life of everything is the manifestation of God, Atman, or the Soul—that precious and sacred Existence—and if instead it comes only from understanding life at the superficial level, or from the superficial view of equality, then that humanitarian work ends up remaining on the surface. That is why God is first more than anything else. And it is only by seeing God in everything that one can do something for the sake of God that is in suffering, for God that is in sorrow, for God that is being trampled upon, which is the stance of humanitarian work. I think that’s what Adbhutananda was saying.
Yoga and Environmental Issues
Saturday, January 26, 2008, Kyoto
MASTER: The environmental issues that have been under the spotlight nowadays can be considered as the accumulation of the karma of human history itself, and the results received from it—that it is to say, the destruction of nature caused by seeking happiness, namely comfort, the confusion in society, crime is another one, which includes personal crimes and also war, which is a huge crime—I think that all are vices brought about by causes. Even though we say humanity in one word, humanity is a group of people, so there is nothing we can do but to lessen and bring to an end each individual’s karma. Since Yoga is precisely the task that brings karma to an end, and since Yogi are the ones who are one with nature, who are one with the universe more than anything else, I think the Yogi hold a clue for these environmental issues as well. To train oneself in order to get rid of useless desires and to practice contentment, which is to know the meaning of “enough,” and further, to accumulate virtuous actions, called devoted service—these are all the main pillars of Yoga as well.
It is important to save one single person through Yoga, that is a great thing indeed, but to save the wider realm, nature, is the same great thing. Environmental issues, especially, seem to be current social issues as well, so I think that to respond to this by you yourself living as a yogi or a yogini is the best message.
Make a Revolution
Saturday, October 5, 2016, Osaka
Q: I would like to take action to resist social issues, such as nuclear power plants, for example, yet I don’t have enough strength, so I feel frustrated and I also have a pessimistic view toward the whole society, or a feeling of resignation. How should I understand the practice of going closer to the Truth and the relation between myself and society?
MASTER: When it comes to society or the world at large, people just tend to see it from a rough view; however, if you examine it closely, you can recognize that it is an extension of each single person. In short, for each individual to make a revolution in oneself is the most important thing. What revolution is in this context indicates the sacred revolution of Yoga—Satori. Through that, even though you may not utter a word, your thought will be delivered, and even if you don’t move your feet, your action will be realized. This does not mean to become passive or cowardly towards the unreasonable events or structures of this world. Rather, this is a fight. As a strong man in the true sense, first you start the revolution of the soul. And then, if needed, you just have to put it into action, as concrete action.
Make Universal Love and Peace Be Your Own Ideal
Saturday, September 3, 2004, New York
Q: It’s heartbreaking that our government in the U.S.A. is bringing suffering and death to the people in the world. How should we stop this? Please give me advice on this.
MASTER: Various events that are occurring on earth right now are making sorrow even greater. The ego of various countries is precisely the cause. It would be good if the heads of each country, or the president or prime minister, learn Yoga, though they seem to fulfill their own desires rather than bring peace.
What can we really do? I think that it is for each single person to live righteously, and further, with having the world be filled with universal Love and Peace as the ideal, to heighten [the quality of] one’s own self—this is the foundation. Next is finding the opportunity to protest. I think this is the basis of democracy. What is important is to not get shaken or greatly disturbed. The thought within the mind is stronger than the words that are verbalized or the actions. Always fill the mind with peace and love, and unity.
The Understanding of Sexual Violence and Life
Saturday, November 26, 2005, Kyoto
Q: Due to the nature of my profession, I was asked for a legal consultation on sexual violence, however, is sex is something especially important and different from all other things? Or is it thought to be so due to society or one’s own karma?
MASTER: Certainly, violence must not be accepted, and it leaves big scars in the mind. There are cases that have arisen due to a causal relationship, there are cases that formed within conditions that seem to be completely random or accidental. In either case, of course, if one side hurts the other side, it is very much against the natural order. The power that allows it to happen is nothing but ego and ignorance. And, it doesn’t end at that. That means that it leaves a grudge, and brings about the suffering of both the attacker and the victim in great measure. Even so, not only human beings, but each and every living being is inevitably existing within the chain of such violence.
Therefore, on the one hand, defense needs to be intensified, and on the other hand, education is needed so that this violence will not arise—I think it boils down to education. This crucial education has not been done, and that is the present situation. In the past, restraint was a socially accepted idea, the limits of which came from religions, or such boundaries from ethics and morals were probably at work, but today, when such old orders have been dismantled in the world, the condition is that violence has run rampant.
Among them, what is called sexual harassment between men and women, and the violence associated with this, is a truly contemptible act. I think this is because, since sex has to do with the [internal] organ that governs life, the instinct at the base of life energy, receiving violence of a sexual nature is far worse than the violence received at other parts of the body, so that damage becomes even bigger. That is the lack of understanding toward life; then, not understanding life—that everyone is living—that is what underlies it. Nobody has thought about the meaning of the fact that one is born, as if it is a natural thing; not only that, I think that the mere act of resorting to violence for one’s own selfishness is rampant, creating a terrible situation. I feel that the same is true of those who have been victimized and have not yet fully understood that the pain comes from the root of human existence, and that it manifests itself in other ways, like hurting one’s own self even more in a self-abusive way, or losing faith in all and everything, and becoming nihilistic.
The issue is that those who have been affected by such a disaster, unfortunately do not recover quickly. It will not be solved by oneself randomly. I think that for such people, it is very helpful to have them learn this Yoga.
Q: Practically, how should these people learn Yoga?
MASTER: Well, to practice Yoga—that is to say, to actually attend when there is an opportunity like this, or to spend a lot of time with your comrades of Yoga, the good comrades, and to deepen the practice through these connections is what leads to concrete practice. In this way, you cannot expect that wound to be healed only by words.
Q: In sum, it is an issue that relates to the foundation of life.
MASTER: Yes, it is. Since, as long as the soul exists, it is just like the fire that is burning in the depths of the heart, and if one gets the opportunity to connect to the great flame of immortality called Yoga, I think that the power of recovery will surely appear within you one day.
The Light of Hope
Saturday, April 16, 2011, Kyoto
MASTER: In any era, in any place in the world, events that lead to misery are occurring.
In this situation, if you can find the only light of hope, I think that that’s how Buddha was, or those equal to him, like the existence of Shri Ramakrishna, and of other Saints—the fact that they appeared on this earth is the only light and salvation. Therefore, I would like to ask you to stop feeling sorrow in vain, and nobly live your Life.
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Testimonies from a Practitioner
An Encounter With the Ancient Yoga
by Sananda
Kyoto, Japan
Shri Mahayogi says that when we get lost on the path, it’s important to return to the beginner’s mind. I went into early retirement in March 2010, and as I’ve been preparing for the third phase of my life, and in recollecting [the experiences] from around the time I met my Master, I thought that I would like to go back to the beginner’s mind. Here, I would like to record the first blessed encounter with my Master as one of those instances.
In this world, there are some experiences that are unforgettable.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve been interested in meditation and Yoga, and I believed without a doubt that I had a Master and that I would be able to see my Master one day. It didn’t happen, however, even though I reached the age of twenty-six, I thought I had to do something about it, I started seeking for my Master all over. Even though I was looking for my Master, when it comes to going to India, there is a language barrier, so first I went to meet the eminent people in Japan and ask them for teachings. However, I was not able to find a person to whom I was drawn, so I learned by myself through reading books, and continued practicing asana and pranayama in my own way.
When the book, Integral Yoga,1 was published, I was in the midst of learning by reading many books, and it was the period when I was especially impressed by the teachings of Ramana Maharishi. When I read Integral Yoga for its explanation of the Yoga Sutra in a way that was very easy to understand, I thought that I really wanted to meet the person who is able to translate in such a way. When I saw the address that was put at the end of the book, it was Kyoto City, so I thought that I had to go meet this person, and I walked around looking for the address.
In those days, I practiced my sadhana (spiritual training) in the early morning using a program that I constructed by myself. One day, when I was offering my prayer, suddenly a question arose: “In actuality, do such existences as the Yogi really exist even now? For instance, right now, I wonder if a Yogi knows that I am practicing my sadhana like this, and is leading me?” Right in that very moment, a kind of intuition came: “A Yogi exists even now, and he is leading me!” Tears streamed down my face incessantly. It was the first time that I experienced anything like that, but I was filled with joy.
About two weeks later, I encountered Shri Mahayogi. It was in February of 1989.
On an unfamiliar narrow street, when I saw a painting of the God Shiva and the Goddess Parvati on a garage, I felt this was it, and I entered through the front door. There were many carpets laying around, and I was a bit doubtful, wondering what kind of place this was, but I waited there for a while, and then Shantimayi came.
While I was telling Shantimayi, who was very brisk, that I came because I read Integral Yoga, I started to feel so happy that I might have found what I had been seeking. I asked her things like what kind of teacher this person was, or what this teacher was like, or what his approximate age was, but she said as if dodging me: “It’s going to be a surprise until you meet.” I spoke a lot about Yoga and told her that I was reading the teachings of Ramana Maharishi, and Shantimayi spoke about Ramakrishna. It was a short time, but somehow, her responses at that time were hopeful. So, I decided that I would attend the class that was held on Thursday night back then. Around that time, I was taking another Yoga class, but I went to the Ashrama for this class, feeling over the moon.
When I arrived at the Ashrama, Shantimayi told me to go upstairs, so I went alone up the old staircase of the Ashrama, which is a Kyoto-style traditional wooden townhouse, for the first time. It was the first time out of all the times that I would come to go up that staircase in the decades to come. It was the moment that became the turning point in a long span of reincarnations, and one that I would not be able to go back from.
The class that I had experienced up until that point was held in a very bright room, very well-lit, but this was a different world. The small light bulb, which has remained the same even until now, was illuminating the room dimly. And Shri Mahayogi, in a pure white kurta, was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the split-level room. I was overwhelmed by this situation that I’d never experienced before. At that moment, Ms. Itou, who was the translator of the book, was there, but my eyes were already glued on Shri Mahayogi.
Then, those who were taking the class regularly came. Mr. Funabashi, Steve, Mr. Araki, and perhaps others, but I don’t remember. For a little while, we all conversed, sitting in a circle. Probably we introduced ourselves to each other, but then after some time, Shri Mahayogi slowly and quietly said, “Now let’s begin,” then class began.
I was in pure astonishment. Because, everyone began their own sadhana silently and seriously with their own program. The asana that attendees were practicing were different from person to person; and there was a person who was practicing pranayama, and a person who was practicing meditation—it was truly varied. To me, Shri Mahayogi said: “Please practice the way you’ve been practicing.”
That was another astonishment. Because, I came to take the class, but instead I was asked to practice the way I’ve been doing at home.
I did so desperately. Being that Shri Mahayogi was standing in front of me, there was no way I could make allowances to myself at all. I was enveloped in a sense of concentration that I’d never experienced before. Perhaps that sense of concentration being produced by the other practitioners practicing in silence got into me, but more than anything, with the awe-inspiring concentration coming from the existence of Shri Mahayogi, my body and mind were caught and tied up. That concentration must be precisely the breath of the Yogi that has continued since ancient times. In the rather calm and dispassionate rhythm, there was extremely keen seriousness. It was completely without any bit of skimping at all, and truly a comfortable and pleasing seriousness. This “Real and Serious Sword” is exactly what we must inherit from the Master and integrate into the way we live.
Even so, it was not that Shri Mahayogi was watching us sternly, with his forehead all wrinkled up, he was simply there, and simply giving the necessary advice to the practitioners. Even so, an awe-striking divine prana was governing the space.
After finishing the sadhana, we sat in a circle, then Satsangha began. Perhaps the senior students didn’t have many questions, I think I was the only one speaking. I burst into asking about what I’d learned through scriptures and the questions I had. Shri Mahayogi answered me admirably and with precision. What left an especially strong impression on me was Shri Mahayogi’s demeanor towards others. I marveled at what he said and did, treating us without discrimination, whether it was those who had been there a long time or me, who was there for the first time. Around that time, I was keeping a daily journal of spiritual practice, and my impression on that day was written as: “Today, I learned Yoga at the Mahayogi Ashrama. Mahayogi has something that strongly attracts and fascinates my mind. I would like to attend the class every day from now on.” I feel like Shri Mahayogi answered many philosophical questions on that first day, however what I recorded was, “Be content with the situation I am in, in its entirety, without bearing discontent or complaints”—which is the teaching of contentment. Even now, after twenty-one years have passed, how profoundly this teaching of contentment touches me.
I’ve never been to India, and I didn’t know about the existence of the Yogi other than what I’d read through books, but after encountering Shri Mahayogi, I thought without a doubt that exactly such an honorable person must be a Yogi. The Joy that wells up from within only due to That Existence being near me, the keen sense of concentration in sadhana that is practiced at His feet, and the teachings in the Satsangha that suddenly awakened me to the truth—I thought that that was exactly the reason for the indispensableness of the Master in Yoga.
The asana that I was taught later on, too, were different from any asana that I learned until then. The holding time was made long, and each asana had a clear and definitive point. The way subtle differences in point make large differences in the sense of concentration is something that’s difficult to learn by oneself. The Master bestowed to us ten to twenty basic asana, however, I wonder if we sufficiently comprehend and appreciate that this is one of the rare crystals of Yoga, and has some thousands of years of history. It is truly a miracle, the fact that we can learn it easily in class.
More than anything, although I’d understood intellectually that asana are not simply for mere relaxation, and that they have the element of tapas (austerity), it was only after practicing under the guidance of Shri Mahayogi that I tasted that for the first time. The asana that are practiced under the guidance of the Master whose mind is restrained, and who completely and thoroughly grasps the significance of the asana, is a completely different realm. Asana are not of an independent class, and only learning asana cannot do much. Only by practicing asana under the guidance of the Master, while continuously learning the teachings of the Master, only then can asana display its enormous effects and spiritual growth take place.
The reason I dared to call this “ancient Yoga” is that, it is not simply about respecting ancient things, but it is because something that has been conveyed over some thousands of years, remaining intact, has universal value and significance. Due to the request of the era, Yoga has been dressed up with various things, yet Its essence is unchangeable, and the authentic Yogi bring It back to Its origin. The fortune of having encountered the Yoga that has been continued since ancient times, must be marked in life as something immeasurable.
Even now, at this very moment, with [the image of] Shri Mahayogi in a pure white kurta, sitting cross-legged, and with that sadhana that was full of spirit, the “Real and Serious Sword” is revived in my mind as an unforgettable experience. And with recalling this rare and precious impression, I think very keenly that I would like to go forward in the third period of life.
Om Tat Sat—God is the True Existence!
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[1] The Japanese translation of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, with commentary by Swami Satchidananda.