Tuesday Oct 2, 2018 NYC

Gratitude to Shri Mahayogi

 “One glance can do more than hearing about it a hundred times.” These were among the final words that Shri Mahayogi spoke to those who had gathered to hear his teaching during the last Satsangha of his visit to New York this summer, 2018.

We often hear or read about the great Awakened Beings of the past, but it can be hard to imagine what it might be like to actually be in the presence of an Awakened Master, to hear his voice, to see him in action, or to simply feel his Existence. Many of us may think that Awakened Beings are merely figures of the past and struggle to accept, amidst a culture of hard skepticism, that there could even be the possibility of an Awakened Being living and walking right here among us.

We may read the teachings of Yoga or the teachings of Truth again and again, but similarly, have difficulty actually understanding or applying them in the modern world. The teachings themselves are timeless, but the way they appear today may differ from the way they may have appeared 2000 years ago. Such teachings and concepts can be hard for our minds to grasp unless we see and feel them right in front of us.

To our most dear Satguru Shri Mahayogi Paramahansa:

You are that Awakened Being who lives and breathes among us. You are the concrete demonstration of each of the teachings. For three months you appeared before us each week and taught those who gathered before you through your every way of being: your gaze, your smile, your movement, your words, and your silence. There are no words that can describe what it is like to be in your physical presence, even though we may try again and again—truly the only way is to see and feel it for ourselves. Then we are beyond convinced that Awakening is real and the attainment and realization of all the teaching of Yoga in this very day and age is possible!

During the three months of your stay, your all-pervading grace entered into our hearts in silence and allowed space for the taste of pure Joy to take hold. We watched in amazement as the faces of those who were regularly attending the classes melted from their stern or worried appearance into brilliant and glowing smiles. There were those who came to meet Shri Mahayogi for the first or second time, and upon receiving your strong yet gentle and loving teaching of the Truth, left feeling lighter, in awe of your vast humbleness, feeling as if they had finally found true Yoga, or simply having clarified the answers to their questions and confusions. When Moksha, who has been living abroad away from sangha for many years, made the trip to see you from Berlin, it was as if his spirit came to life again. His deep gratitude for you and for the opportunity to be and share with your disciples brought inspiration and motivation to those of us in New York who can easily take for granted our opportunity to practice together and to see you every year for those precious several months. We were all reminded that no moment should be taken for granted! Then, towards the end of your stay here in New York, you bestowed upon the NY sangha a strong and sobering teaching, and inspirited us all to seek out the ropes of attachment that tether us to the shore of ignorance and suffering so that we can truly begin the journey along the path of Yoga to reach the other shore—the shore of Truth.

Only three weeks have passed since you returned to Japan but the grace infused within this teaching is continuing to reverberate within the sangha and the search for Truth is deepening little by little.

May we work diligently and tirelessly towards the actualization of Yoga, the actualization and concretization of the Truth. May we have the courage to come face to face with ourselves and the faith to put your teaching into everyday action. And may we spread the existence of Shri Mahayogi through our passion and fervor to seek out the Truth.

Namo mahāprabho namo mahāyogin te Oṃ !!!!!!!