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<\/p>\nSunday Sep 13, 2020 NYC<\/p>\n
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Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0Pranavadipa Volume 70<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cEven if the world is chaotic, it\u2019s not the world that is struggling. It is said that the Truth is one and the same, throughout all eras\u2014past, present and future\u2014across all locations, and in all people, regardless of creed, culture, or any other factor.<\/p>\n The world may seem to be increasingly turbulent, uncertain and filling with hardship, yet the same teaching of Truth that has been taught from thousands of years ago, should apply to modern times, regardless of the ebb and flow of seeming stability or instability within the circumstances of the world.<\/p>\n At times in our lives we may look around us and perceive joyfulness and prosperity within our world, while at other times we may experience quite the opposite, and instead perceive pain and suffering. Then of course, there is every experience in between, various combinations of these two extremes.<\/p>\n How can we manage amidst the uncertainty of the worlds ups and downs, not to mention the ups and downs of our own minds? How can we live upon Yoga to ease the suffering of our own minds, of the people around us, and of the entire world?<\/p>\n Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the World’s Parliament of Religion, Chicago Sept 1893. He was at 30.<\/p><\/div>\n The year 2013 was the 150th<\/sup> anniversary of Swami Vivekananda\u2019s holy birth. Swami Vivekananda is one of a few Enlightened Beings that Shri Mahayogi advices his disciples and seekers to study and learn from, so naturally disciples had already determined to focus the entire year around aligning themselves especially with the teachings and life of Vivekananda, to bring his spirit concretely into the 21st<\/sup> century. What an inspirational undertaking in and of itself\u2014to bring and embolden the spirit of a great saint into the modern day will undoubtedly bring the reach of the positivity of Truth to an ever-widening circle! The content of this month\u2019s\u00a0Pranavadipa<\/em>\u00a0(Vol. 70)<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0is from a few Satsangha<\/em> held in Kyoto, Japan during that year, 2013, one of which is from a Satsangha<\/em> that took place at the Ashrama, which happened to be on the exact day of the birth of Swami Vivekananda, and from the Satsangha<\/em> that took place on the Saturday that followed. Thus, many of the topics in this Satsangha<\/em> naturally center around what attendees have been learning about Vivekananda as they strive to understand his spirit and dynamic work, and to align themselves with him.<\/p>\n The details of the world\u2019s happenings of course differ from what they are today, yet there is much to learn from the life and teachings of Vivekananda for those of us living in today\u2019s world of 2020, too, and much that we can apply, especially with Shri Mahayogi as our guide, constantly illuminating and clarifying the truth of Yoga for us in a way that we can better understand and move forward boldly. The contents, in fact, come to us this month at what seems to be just the right moment.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n \u201cA single individual\u2019s experiences are truly insignificant. It may be a common human experience to live our lives day-to-day and be caught up in the matters that most concern us\u2014our interactions, our activities, our own experience. Our own little world may expand to a variety of reaches, but no matter the reach, it is most likely revolving around each one of ourselves\u2014in other words, the \u201cI\u201d is always at the center and everything that is seen and understood is through the experience of this \u201cI\u201d.<\/p>\n In the content of the Satsangha<\/em> this month, through the example of Swami Vivekananda, Shri Mahayogi is pushing us to expand beyond the world of our own experience, to break through the limitations of our mind and its many notions and ideas that stand in the way of us being able to sense the need of the world\u2014beyond just our own scope\u2014and act accordingly. Shri Mahayogi also breaks down the reality of the world and its nature, the reason for which Swami Vivekananda spoke of \u201ca peaceful world\u201d as \u201chot ice,\u201d and goes on to teach us about the necessity and power of ekagrata<\/em>, the cultivation of faith, the way of learning through aiming towards an ideal being, and the importance of working in the world for the healing of suffering.<\/p>\n Also, in one part of the Satsangha<\/em> there is a question posed to Shri Mahayogi by Yukti, the disciple of Shri Mahayogi whose articles \u201cLiving on the Words of Mother\u201d were published over the last three Volumes of\u00a0\u00a0Pranavadipa<\/em>\u00a0(Vol. 67-69)<\/a>\u00a0as the Testimony. At the time of one of the Satsangha<\/em> contained here in this Volume<\/a>, she was about to move to Fukushima to work as a nurse, to live on the words of Mother Teresa. It is very inspiring to read her question and answer from Shri Mahayogi. Because, in addition to the Testimony that we read from her, this is a great insight into Yukti\u2019s thoughts at that time, and her sincerity, of course. Even though aiming towards her ideal of Mother Teresa, her base was in Yoga and she was constantly guided by her Guru<\/em>, Shri Mahayogi. Yukti said that her departure to Fukushima was approaching, and reflecting on what she had learned in the past 15 years in Kyoto under Shri Mahayogi, she asked a question related to an answer she received from him that struck her about the state higher than Nirvana<\/em>, which is Lila<\/em>, and asked him to explain further. That question led her and us to receive some phenomenal answers from Shri Mahayogi\u2019s exceptional understanding of the meaning of the Yoga Sutra, and the spirit and words of Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Buddha!<\/p>\n There is so much to learn from these Satsangha<\/em>, how Shri Mahayogi teaches us about Vivekananda, Vivekananda\u2019s example itself, and the hunger and sincerity of the disciples striving to bring betterment to the world around them through Yoga. We hope that readers will also feel uplifted and inspired into action, to work towards bringing betterment to our present-day circumstances.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n This month\u2019s Testimonies by Gopala and Ms. Mitsui, both reveal in different ways, how these disciples of Shri Mahayogi wholeheartedly work on the assignment that Shri Mahayogi gave for the third year of the Siddha Marga <\/em>(Path to the Completed One) program (2013-2015) led by two senior disciples in Kyoto, Japan. The assignment for those attending the program was to choose an \u201cideal saint\u201d to meditate on\u2014trying to come closer through meditation, through trying to understand and follow the example of one\u2019s ideal saint as a concrete way to deepen oneself toward Yoga. These articles were written this year, so we can catch a sense of the continuous effects that come as a result of continuous and consistent practice, even after some years later.<\/p>\n
\nWhat is struggling, what is suffering, is each and every individual mind.
\nTherefore, what needs to be healed is each and every person.\u201d
\n\u2014Shri Mahayogi, January, 2013 in Kyoto<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mahayogi.org\/sahasrara\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_5912-500x375.jpg\")
\nHowever, meditation contains the power
\nthat can expand one\u2019s experience to a cosmic scale.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u2014Shri Mahayogi<\/em>\u00a0 January, 2013 in Kyoto<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n