Tuesday September 16th, 2025

The Teaching and Message of “Loud and Noisy”

“…the way the world is, is nothing but the goddess herself; and behind it, the one body of Atman, Brahman always exists; and in order to enjoy herself with that immovable Atman, or Brahman, the goddess is disporting herself, manifesting herself in the forms of this world and in all things.”
—Shri Mahayogi,  From Pranavadipa Vol. 129. Testimony: “1 – What is Tantra?”

How Loud and Noisy!
The weekly gathering in the home of one of the gurubai begins with a one-hour meditation. We gather around the very spot where Shri Mahayogi took a seat on a number of occasions and gave Satsangha.

I look forward to that time of quietude each week, and the serene touch of Shri Mahayogi that seems to rekindle there again and again. And one particular week was no different, especially after what seemed like a rather busy period of time where daily life matters that needed to be dealt with just kept coming one after another and it seemed hard to make space and quietness in my mind, which was getting tensed up.

As the gurubai arrived, and the time to begin approached, the small gathering of neighbors in the backyard, just below where we were gathering on the second floor, seemed to also have more people arriving, and that small gathering was quickly growing into a party. As the time for meditation began, so too did the festive party music…and its volume was increasing!

I thought to myself, surely this is a difficult atmosphere to gather the mind for concentration and meditation, as if we are all sitting right in the middle of the party itself. But how fitting that I had been wanting to step away from the “loud and noisy” characteristic that daily life seemed to have as of late, but now the “loud and noisy” has followed me in the form of this party! Whether the reflection appears in the internal environment, or in our external environment, just as Shri Mahayogi always teaches, the mind follows no matter how we go from place to place, and no matter how much we wish for things to be one way or another, there is nothing that can be done to control the things or the people around us, the only thing we can do is work to transform our own mind itself.

How Perfect is This?!
In that moment, I suppose there were two paths for the mind to take. On one path, there would be the struggle of the mind to pull away from the loud environment, and the frustration or annoyance of these loud, unsuitable circumstances. And on the other path, there would be the full embrace of this circumstance, and the giving up of what my mind thinks of as suitable or not, or what I need or don’t need. But, I didn’t really think about any of that, and rather what dawned in my mind was a thought of amazement, “How perfect is this?!!”

It is as if Shri Mahayogi himself is superbly orchestrating a perfect moment for us to try to plunge into the meaning of the teachings most recently introduced in Pranavadipa (Vol. 129)!

“…and in order to enjoy herself with that immovable Atman, or Brahman, the goddess is disporting herself, manifesting herself in the forms of this world and in all things.”

These were the words of Shri Mahayogi that stood up and took the center stage of my mind. The goddess unrestrainedly manifesting into all things to enjoy that immovable Brahman—this noise itself must be the clue, the goddess Shakti taking us by the hand and showing us the way to Lord Shiva, and certainly, behind the noise and activity of the party, the immovable Brahman must be there—expansive silence and stillness without bounds.

How can I come to grasp, to sense and to feel this “loud and noisy” as the playful nature of the goddess, the immovable ever-present Brahman that reverberates in every sound and movement of that surface, and the joy inherent in that stark juxtaposition? This is the moment for trying to dive into that. This opportunity is given, and it is not just about this moment, or the next one hour, but this is symbolic of all the surface activity of daily life where it is so easy to get caught up, and a shift I need to make, is it not?!

While trying to throw myself in that direction, at the same time, there was an incident of Swami Vivekananda that also came to mind, as if to overlap with this moment. When Swami Vivekananda was learning under his Guru, Shri Ramakrishna, he complained one day to his Master that he couldn’t concentrate during his morning meditation due to a shrill noise of a whistle coming from a nearby mill. Shri Ramakrishna instructed him to concentrate on the very noise itself, and it is said that by doing so, he soon overcame the distraction.

Is this too a clue?

This anecdote, well, there is barely half of a sentence written about it in the biography of Vivekananda.[1] Perhaps it came to mind in this very appropriate moment because, in a way, when I was reading the biography most recently, I was wanting to know what Vivekananda’s meditation was like, what kind of mind he had as he approached meditation, what his concentration was like, and how he took his Master’s words.

Shri Mahayogi teaches that when it comes to the lives of saints, and this certainly includes the lives of the disciples of Shri Ramakrishna, there is much we can learn from the anecdotes that remain about their lives before the point of attaining realization or accomplishing some great works, for these are the times when their states are more like ours, in the process of learning. In the struggles that they faced, what they felt, how they thought, the guidance they received, that’s where there are many clues for us to pick up and use on our own journey.

Vivekananda was disturbed by a noise—just like us who are surely disturbed by a whole variety of “noises” that overtake our concentration, not only when we sit for meditation, but in the many things we do in our everyday lives. Why did Shri Ramakrishna instruct him to concentrate on the noise itself? He could have told him to meditate at a different time of day or in a different place. But he didn’t. Does concentrating on the noise itself then mean just literally that? Or, what is the reason behind why Shri Ramakrishna gave this instruction? If we look at the symbolic aspect of it, there may be much more to it than that. So, what is it, what’s the secret behind it?

Perhaps it really is as simple as it sounds, but, it’s a curious thing, because, thinking about Shri Ramakrishna, he worshipped the Divine Mother in the form of the goddess Kali, and he guided Vivekananda in this way too. Is there some hint here too about that very relationship between the disporting goddess and the immovable Brahman that Shri Mahayogi mentioned?

The time for meditation passed quickly, and I remain thinking about the message, about what Shri Mahayogi is trying to help me see and understand through these circumstances that were truly perfect—this hint that transforms the seemingly opposite surface of daily matters into a gate that opens to the underlying Brahman.

– Sadhya

[1] Vivekananda: A Biography. “In the Company of the Master.”

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Saturday August 30th, 2025

Tuesday August 19th, 2025

The Manuals for Gaining Permanent Healing

It is said that Buddha was the greatest doctor. I believe that the work of doctors is to heal our ailments; and it must be that all our ailments always have a cause. I think one of the reasons that Buddha was called the greatest doctor is because he treated people from the root cause of suffering within their minds, and that his treatment was permanent. He saw that the cause of all suffering was in the minds of the people.

I think that “the mind” in this context means how we think—how we actually think day-to-day in relation to the world, others and also ourselves. Some people say that nobody knows how we should live our lives, and that everybody is just doing their best, or that there is no such thing as a right way to think. I have to admit that I also used to believe that. But, actually, it seems that if, sooner or later, most of us keep encountering moments or periods of suffering, then this might be a clue that this kind of thinking—that there are no concrete guidelines on how to conduct ourselves—may actually be one of the contributing factors to our suffering. What makes me say this is that, now, I’ve started to think that in fact there are manuals on how to live, and these manuals are the scriptures containing the teachings of great Beings, such as Buddha. But perhaps only a few have tried to apply the teachings contained in the scriptures long enough and with enough fervor to confirm that they are in fact valid and practical solutions to our everyday struggles—it reminds me of the words of Shri Mahayogi in The Universal Gospel of Yoga: “If you were to meticulously put each one of his teachings into practice, it would surely lead you to the true answer.”

“There is a state that is completely devoid of suffering”—it seems that this is a teaching that all the scriptures have in common, and it is the teaching that is tied to the permanent healing that Buddha was describing; and actually, this must be the ultimate state that human beings are constantly striving for. But only recently am I slowly starting to realize how powerful this statement is. And I think that if we carefully read it, and reflect on it, we can’t help but think about what that ultimate state might be like.

I’m also starting to recognize that there is an error in us—that is, we are looking for the ultimate state that Buddha has reached in all the wrong places, or at things that are outside of that ultimate state. We might ask, “How can we be sure that such a state exists?” Well, if we read carefully, we can recognize that the scriptures show that all the great Beings who have reached the state devoid of suffering, are describing the same thing. No matter the era these great Beings have lived in, or the place where they lived on this earth, or their age—they all describe the same ultimate state.

I think that another way that we can think about the state that is devoid of suffering, and perhaps we may even go further and try to get closer to it, is by reading and trying to understand the teachings of these great Beings. One of the scriptures that contains such teachings, which is helping me in trying to get closer to that ultimate state, is the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.

The Yoga Sutra describes that the mind has three parts; the thought of “I,” the function of discerning using the intellect, and the wanting of when the mind goes out to search for or grasp things. And this combination in the mind of, “I see something, what is it?” and after deciding what it is, the mind then saying, “I want it,” happens all the time, every single day of our lives. But before all these things happen, the mind is somewhat at ease, or in a state of a comfortable dose of relaxation, however, when the senses pick up on some information, the above process happens almost instantly. Furthermore, the mind is not going to feel at ease again until the wanting is fulfilled, which is because the mind knows from previous experience that once the mind grasps what the mind wants, the mind will go back to the state of ease—it simply seeks to recreate the same experience as before. That means that even though the experience doesn’t last forever, the mind doesn’t understand that, or the mind doesn’t want to accept that, so the mind keeps going back again and again into the same cycle, the process of grasping the object in hopes of gaining permanent happiness through having what the mind wants.

This teaching in the Yoga Sutra also points to the fact that the state devoid of suffering—the state of Peace—that the Enlightened Beings have reached, is real. I believe, which the scriptures also state, that at one point we were also in the state devoid of suffering, but just like in the process above, our mind chose to ignore It. So that means, only when we return to the state devoid of suffering again, will we be in that state of Peace, which is the ultimate state. The fact that we are constantly longing to be happy is the proof in and of itself that the ultimate state of Peace exists.

And in the same way that there are various methods we use to get what we desire in order to go back to the state of mind that is at ease, in the teachings of Buddha and Yoga, or those of the Enlightened Beings, there are various methods that we can use to journey back to the state devoid of suffering that Buddha reached. But the difference is, unlike the state that is felt within the mind by grasping the objects in this world, the ultimate state of Peace that is devoid of suffering, which the Enlightened Beings have reached, is permanent. Therefore, I believe that Buddha’s treatment is indeed permanent and eternal.

Ekanta

Tuesday August 5th, 2025

Causing it to be Forgotten:
An Attempt to Tackle the Self Image

In Yoga we learn that it is necessary to have an ideal or a clear goal that we should aim towards. Of course, while this is important, if we haven’t arrived at that point yet, there must be something that we want to improve about ourselves. It might be that we want to improve our interactions with others, or there might be something that really bothers us that we wish wouldn’t anymore. I believe that these situations can improve greatly with one of the tools of Yoga called discrimination.

Now I cannot say that I understand the practice of discrimination, but if we look at the teachings of Yoga, or of the Enlightened Beings, or even of some of their disciples, it seems that their writings contain a lot of analyzing and comparing between that which is Real, Eternal or Never-Changing, and the phenomena of the world and the mind. I think that the application of discrimination is not just about imagination or speculation, but it is simply looking at what the mind thinks and believes, and seeing if those beliefs are based on something real or not.

Lately I’ve been trying to deepen my understanding of how the mind works and the process of discrimination, but I would say that, perhaps, the most progress in understanding these can be made when life’s circumstances push us towards having to face and deal with something urgent within ourselves. In my case, this happened because of experiencing a stream of moments of becoming extremely irritated with one of my friend’s behaviors, to the point where I almost couldn’t control my mind. And what clued me in was that I wasn’t able to stop my mind from complaining and blaming. Fairly recently, one of those moments became so intense that I came home, sat down, and made a decision within myself that I wouldn’t let my mind escape until I got to the bottom of this.

After I began to slowly look at my mind, I realized that I have a strong image of myself being superior to others. Because there was a strong resistance that came from this being challenged, I started to ask myself, “What is it exactly that bothers me and why?” I started to write down what I saw my mind being bothered by and what I thought of myself in comparison to others, like: “I’m smarter than so and so,” or, “since I’m older and since I have more experience than him, I deserve better than that,” or, “since I’m a good friend and a good person, I don’t deserve to be treated a certain way.” This was painful to see. And because there were a lot of expectations that were not being met, and because I started to look into this, my mind was constantly trying to tell me, “we should leave this and forget about it and do something else.” But since I had already decided that I would get to the bottom of this, I calmly continued to inquire into why my mind was thinking this way.

Next, I noticed that in my statements the word “I” kept repeating over and over again, so I thought that this was what I should inquire into. “What is it that I believe I am?” So, I simply started to look at what I believe this “I” to be, and if my beliefs were the same as what the teachings of Yoga say. Now, at this point, what was happening was that my mind, being somewhat familiar intellectually with the teaching of Yoga that says, “We are neither the body, nor the mind, but the Pure Consciousness,” was kicking into its tendency to rush towards a quick conclusion, like this teaching, so that it could escape and not have to face this process anymore.

However, I ignored this and tried to dissect my mind one thought at the time. “I’m smarter than others”—in this case, I believe that I am the knowledge that I’ve accumulated throughout my life. This shows that I basically identify myself with the totality of thoughts and memories that I have. Then I thought that my friend must have his own knowledge in his own unique mind. But then I realized that there is no way to know all his thoughts and there is no way that I would ever know anybody’s entire mind, therefore there is no way I can compare myself to others in this way. But most importantly, I saw how I looked at my friend and myself as being only the thoughts of our minds, and not beings who have an Awareness or a Consciousness. At this point I started to think of the teaching, “The mind and body are always being witnessed, and the Awareness or the Consciousness, which is the Witness, is actually our true Self.” And, “this Consciousness is the same and is One within everybody.” So then, slowly I turned my mind and my focus towards that, trying to sense and feel the Awareness.

Then I recognized that there was a thought that said “I’m older and deserve better than how things turned out.” So, I started to think of the body being older than another body and how this could be a measure of defining one’s existence—but this showed me that I looked at myself only from the aspect of being the physical body, and I considered my friend to be the same. So then, I started to break this down by looking at my body and remembering the anatomy pictures in a doctor’s office with the nervous system, muscles, bones, organs… I thought, “If I were this body, then let’s see which of these parts is really me.” I said, “I’m the hands, but if I were to lose my hands, I still exist, then the same with the legs and same with the lungs…but which lung? Because one can live without one lung also.” I continued in this way. At one point, I thought I must be all the blood in my body, because one cannot exist without the blood, but then I remembered that people have complete blood transfusions but they don’t die or turn into the person that they received the blood from. While doing this, I kept going back to the teaching and turning my attention more and more towards the part of me that is witnessing the body, and I tried to observe more and more the difference between the thoughts of my mind and the Awareness. I wanted to feel this in my friend also, so I tried to imagine that, but I wasn’t satisfied with it. All throughout this process, I kept thinking that I had to stay with this and prove to my mind the facts, otherwise I felt that I would just be lying to myself and my issue would not be resolved.

Then, I remembered the teaching from the Yoga Sutra, that one of the ways the mind experiences activity is through right knowledge. This can happen through direct perception, inference and through reading sacred scriptures. The book states that we can take something as being true by inference, and one of the examples it gives is that if we see smoke, even though we might not see the fire, we can infer that the fire is present. So, I used this teaching and thought that if I am aware of my thoughts and my body that means that the Awareness or the Consciousness must be there in my friend too. I’m not sure why, but this teaching made my mind even more focused, and I felt a strong need to sense or feel this Awareness more and more. It’s like I wanted to become One with it. I’m not sure how much time passed, but during this process I went to take a bath and I remember looking at the wall in front of me and sensing that I shouldn’t even move my eyes because that would break the concentration. I felt that moving or even closing my eyes was a way for the mind to escape.

I kept focusing on the Awareness, and at one moment, I realized that my mind became quiet, and the water had become cold. Then, when I tried to think of my friend again, I realized that the negative thoughts and feelings were gone. In fact I didn’t feel the need to think or do anything anymore. The peace that I felt was enough.

Later, when I tried again to think of my friend, my mind would almost naturally focus on trying to sense the Awareness again and wasn’t caught up much anymore with the image that I previously had had about him. And, I didn’t feel any frustration toward him or my mind anymore.

*

In a way, before this experience, there was a moment when I realized that I was looking for an understanding of the teachings of Yoga within my own mind, meaning, I was believing that if I look deep enough within my memories or in the content of my mind, the answer must be there. But now I’ve gotten a clear confirmation that in order to find peace, the mind has to accept its limitation and give itself up to the Truth, which is actually beyond the mind.

I still cannot claim that I know or understand the practice of Yoga and discrimination from this small experience. But at least what I can say is that this was proof for my mind that the teachings of Yoga, which I believe simply teach the Truth, can transform our mind entirely. And this Truth is nothing more than the facts. Or how things actually are, and not how our minds think or imagine that they are. Yet, it seems like our mind doesn’t know this Truth, our mind’s beliefs are different from It; so I think that we simply have to read the words of those who have experienced the Truth, and make our minds and bodies think and act based on these teachings. I think that if we do this, we are surely bound to experience peace, and eventually, our true Nature, the true Self.

Ekanta

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Thursday April 10th, 2025

Monday January 13th, 2025

Thursday October 17, 2024 NYC

Announcement: SAVE THE DATE!!
—Special Screening in NYC—
Satguru Shri Mahayogi Paramahansa’s Satsangha, Japan
Sat, November 2nd 2024

Special screening event of the recorded footage of Satsangha (Q&A) with the Enlightened Master of Yoga, Satguru Shri Mahayogi Paramahamsa.

Description:
To sit near an Enlightened Master—since ancient times this has been one of the most revered and precious opportunities one can encounter, and for many years Satguru Shri Mahayogi Paramahansa, an Enlightened Master of Yoga, gathered closely with one small group of seekers at a time and quietly conveyed the teachings of Yoga, the teachings of the Truth.

Gathered in this intimate setting, the serene stillness of Shri Mahayogi’s presence would unfold silently into every ounce of space, the incredible lightness of his form and his compassionate smile would shine brightly, and the unshakeable Truth that he spoke would begin to dispel and clear the confusions and doubts of the mind.

In such an atmosphere, Shri Mahayogi attended to everyone present, answering their questions with great care, and ever-directing, even through some of the most common matters of daily life, to the path that can lead straight to the realization of the Truth, that which is the essence of our true nature, that which is ever-free and untouched by sorrows.

Mahayogi Yoga Mission invites you to experience with us the incredible scene this rare footage captures.

This footage will be screened twice on the day of the event. The admission ticket is all inclusive and attendees are welcome to attend one or both screenings. There will be an intermission between screenings and some time reserved after the final screening. For attendees who would like, this time may be used for further learning about Shri Mahayogi, about the teachings of Yoga, and for discussing with practitioners who have been learning Yoga under the guidance of Shri Mahayogi.

When: Sat, November 2nd 2024
Time: 1:00 – 4:30 pm, Doors open at 12:30pm
Location: 9-03 44^th Road, Unit 201, Long Island City, NY (Solar One Building)

Registration or RSVP is required at least 24 hours in advance:
· ONLINE REGISTRATION (at least 24 hours in advance) – Click here
· RSVP & PAY AT DOOR (at least 24 hours in advance) – Click here
Note: Tickets are non-transferrable.
For cancellation or changes, please contact MYM staff – Click here

Schedule:
12:30 pm        Doors open
1:00 – 2:10   First screening
2:10 – 2:55   Intermission
3:00             Second screening

  Saturday June 8, 2024 NYC

Announcement: In-Person Classes Begin Again—Starting June 8 at Anār,
Upper West Side, Manhattan  

Mahayogi Yoga Mission NY is pleased to announce that we are resuming in-person Asana and Meditation classes. What a great joy to be able to invite class attendees to practice and learn together in one space!

It has been wonderful indeed to be able to hold online classes, especially since it offers the opportunity for practitioners living far away or even abroad to join the practice, and we will certainly continue our online classes. Yet, we must say that on the night before we held a trial class on Sunday June 2^nd, when we went to the Anār Indian restaurant on the Upper West Side, which is being generously donated as a space to hold the class, and started to clean and prepare the space for the next day, it brought back all the fine memories and the sense of what it was like when we had the class with Shri Mahayogi—it’s hard to believe that now more than four years have gone by since we last gathered with Shri Mahayogi for class.

As we resume in-person classes, with each class being guided by the senior disciples who have been taught directly by Shri Mahayogi, there is a great opportunity for each attendee to receive the focused attention and hands on correction needed to obtain the full benefit of the practice.

During the trial class, there were a few new attendees who had heard about our class through Anār, but who had never practiced asana before; and we also had a few attendees joining us online. For the new attendees, at the beginning, it might have been a bit challenging to hold the body in unfamiliar positions while trying to concentrate on the breath, but as the class progressed, and before anyone even realized it, the energy of the room was united in stillness, and by the end of the class, the room beamed with smiles and gently shining faces.

Once again, this is a great beginning. And, every moment is a great beginning. We know that over time, as we continue to attend classes and practice the asana practice that Shri Mahayogi gave us, our ability to sit comfortably for meditation both physically and mentally will be developed. But let us remember that the benefits and aim of Yoga do not remain at that level. The meditation practice in Yoga has an extremely noble aim—to realize the Truth, the true Self. In order to go closer toward the goal, we need to see the aim clearly, and mold our minds accordingly. Just as alpinists train themselves for years only to be able to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, we are aiming to reach the summit of Mt. Sumeru, where we can abide with an undisturbed mind, leading us to the ultimate goal of Yoga: Self-Realization.

Every other Saturday, starting from June 8th
9:00AM-10:30AM.
* Please arrive by 8:45AM so class can begin promptly at 9:00AM.

Anār Restaurant
935 Amsterdam Avenue at the corner of West 106^th St in Manhattan

Please check HERE for info about class fee and payment.

Bring a mat to practice on, and empty stomach.

We look forward to seeing you and to practicing together!