Thursday December 25th, 2025

JOY—on this day, I would like my sister and brother disciples to recall this Joy; even if you were not present on December 24^th, 1996, I’m sure that you must have a moment in which your heart melted, when you had an irresistible smile on your face, when your heart cried secretly because, for the first time, you felt that you were understood and accepted by someone, and you were given strength to get up and keep going; I’m sure you must have felt drawn to that Light, and you must have been so happy to receive the answer that no one had been able to give you, and to see the clear aim of life. Let’s remember that Joy—it is so powerful—and let us always Be with Shri Mahayogi, think about what it means to act always with Shri Mahayogi, and act upon that. We carry the Mission of Shri Mahayogi together, whatever we do, wherever we go. And let’s carry on that Mission he has entrusted to his disciples. Don’t you remember? Shri Mahayogi said many times: “I am with you.”

The establishment of the Mission in New York is not only of significance for the disciples in New York. If we think about the course of Shri Mahayogi’s life, his visit to New York was a pivotal point for the future of his disciples worldwide as well as for the Mission, so in this sense, it can be said that 1996 was a significant year because it marks when Shri Mahayogi’s Mission began outside of Japan. For about 24 years, Shri Mahayogi graciously accepted to come to New York yearly, and many people internationally received the opportunity to meet Shri Mahayogi here in New York. In fact, the work of the Mission in Taiwan began from the passion of a Taiwanese Yoga practitioner who met Shri Mahayogi in New York, then became a disciple, and a few years later, together with others who had the same thirst to learn from Shri Mahayogi and who yearned to have a place to seek and practice toward Sanatana Dharma, proactively established the Mission in Taiwan.

Why did Shri Mahayogi live the way he lived, why did Shri Mahayogi do things the way he did? This is a very important theme to contemplate if we want to know Shri Mahayogi.

And today, as I direct myself towards that, my being is quickly pulled into Shri Mahayogi’s name alone.

“From Joy springs all creation, by Joy it is sustained, by Joy it proceeds, and to Joy it returns.”

In silence, we will all know that Joy.

—Anandamali

*Note: About four months later, on May 1^st, 1897, Ramakrishna Mission was established in Kolkata, India.

***

Because of Shri Mahayogi, his being, his presence and his teachings at the center, as the foundation and central pillar, the Mahayogi Yoga Mission was established, and thus Sanatana Dharma, the Eternal Truth that is the essence of each one of us and of the entire universe, has been brought into the realm of sight and reach for those of us living in this age. That in itself is a blessing beyond measure that awakens that Joy within our hearts.

Because of Anandamali and those who worked and made efforts alongside her, the creation and establishment of the Mahayogi Yoga Mission as an organization during the early days after Shri Mahayogi’s first visit, came to fruition. At that time, the great passion and Joy within Anandamali to make sure that as many people as possible would be able to encounter and experience for themselves Shri Mahayogi and the pristine teachings of Yoga expressed through his Existence, must have been fully ignited, and for those who had just met Shri Mahayogi, they must have been exuding the Joy of having been able to have such an auspicious encounter, and enthusiasm for Yoga must have been brimming over amongst them.

We are filled with gratitude for their work, and for their bold and inspired action that led to the establishment of the Mission in New York. At that time, they laid the first foundational stone around the grand pillar of Shri Mahayogi. Through their example, we can see that, though Mahayogi Yoga Mission is indeed an organization, it is made up, sustained and built by the individuals who dedicate themselves through their Joy and passion for Yoga and Sanatana Dharma, through their Joy of recognizing the preciousness of Shri Mahayogi’s existence and his Mission, as well as the immeasurable blessing they are receiving through having encountered Shri Mahayogi, and through their wishing to do whatever is needed to ensure that blessing is passed on and experienced beyond the limits of one’s own individual self, beyond this moment, beyond this place, and far into the future—for what else can express one’s Joy and gratitude.

The impact of such dedication and inspired action most certainly reverberates beyond what we can see, and surely, for those of us who have come along after 1996, we cannot deny that we have directly received the benefit of that. Now, as Anandamali has called us to do, let us remember the kindling of that Joy within ourselves as this 30^th year of the Mission begins, and in Joy and in gratitude, let’s find within ourselves the bold and inspired actions we can take to continue to lay the stones that will keep building the foundation of Shri Mahayogi’s Mission!

With utmost gratitude for our Eternally Beloved Guru, Shri Mahayogi,
we unite under You.

Monday December 22nd, 2025

For almost 20 years, I’ve been working for an environmental education organization here in New York City. During that time, I’ve seen how many people, whether they are schoolchildren or new colleagues or program participants, are concerned about the future of the planet. Every day, there seem to be reports from around the world about tsunamis, floods, droughts, famines and many weather-related disasters, but at the same time, there are so many conflicting opinions about how and why these things are happening and what’s the best way to address them. And every year for the past 30 years, the nations of the world gather to try to agree on how to proceed but do not seem to be able to make much progress. It’s hard not to become frustrated at the slow pace of action on these issues—something I feel at times within myself. As one individual person, there may not be so much I can do about these large global issues, but I am also trying to learn Yoga under Shri Mahayogi, and Shri Mahayogi teaches about the power that Yoga has to improve our daily life situations. Much of my daily work life involves helping people understand and address environmental issues at the local level. Yet up until about a year ago, I hadn’t really been looking for a connection between the work at my job, the actions I was taking in daily life and the work toward Yoga.

What could I try concretely based on my understanding of the teachings to connect these things? What might be relevant when it comes to the state of the environment? After reading some of Shri Mahayogi’s words about Yoga and the environment, I thought that I should try to make some changes in my everyday habits based on my understanding of the teaching of santosha,* “contentment,” because I thought that it meant trying to determine what I really need to support my life and to restrain myself from obtaining more than that. Accumulating less would have an environmental impact, I thought, because eventually these things will need to end up somewhere, most likely in the trash. So I felt that trying to restrain myself from buying and consuming more than I really needed could be a way of trying to change some of my behaviors that I may not have thought too deeply about before, and might help me begin to connect these three—Yoga, environmental work and lifestyle.

For example, for most of my life, when it came to the matter of buying new clothes, my mind would get pulled towards something and then obsess over it until I convinced myself that I just had to possess it, without giving much consideration to whether I really needed it or how long it would last. It may seem odd, but even though I am working for an organization that focuses on environmental issues, including how we dispose of waste in our society, my mind could always come up with rationalizations and excuses for my own behavior.

So earlier this year, I started practicing to question myself before making a purchase, asking myself whether there was a real need or not, and whether I was tempted to buy something new that was really just a slight variation on something I already had. Eventually, over the summer, I made a determination to not buy any new clothes for one year as an experiment, and so far I’ve kept it up.

But do these kinds of changes in habits really indicate that I’m practicing santosha? Thanks to the feedback from senior gurubai, I began to recognize that this idea of santosha is very superficial. I don’t think santosha can merely be at the level of how we consume or spend; there must be something deeper that I need to discover about this teaching. And this led me to think that probably the way I’m thinking about the environment also really needs to expand—something which has been pointed out to me before but that I haven’t quite been able to clarify or grasp. What is the bigger picture that my mind hasn’t been able to recognize? This is something that I hope to explore going forward.

* Santosha is one of the five niyamas (observances) of raja yoga, and it means to be satisfied with what we have.

Prajna

Sunday December 7th, 2025

This year the sangha in New York celebrated Jayanti, the auspicious day of Shri Mahayogi’s birth, at our sister disciple’s cozy apartment. Among different activities, we viewed a few short video clips of Shri Mahayogi coming from some very precious recordings that were taken earlier on in Japan.

In one of these video clips, when Shri Mahayogi was talking about his thought around the time he was in India for the first time, he mentioned that he believed that, “Awakening is not something that is unique to himself and that people are equally equipped with It in the same way, and that this is something that can come to manifest in anyone.”

When Shri Mahayogi made this statement, I was awestruck by it, because of the casual tone and natural demeanor that was emanating from him. I might have heard Shri Mahayogi say similar things before, but somehow, this time it hit me deeply. Seeing Shri Mahayogi say this with such ease sent an invigorating feeling throughout my being, and my mind started to flood with all kinds of thoughts and emotions.

My first thought was that there is no way that somebody can say this with such ease without knowing and experiencing it fully. Then I thought, “how many people can make this declaration?”

Before I met Shri Mahayogi and started to learn Yoga from him, I wasn’t particularly a religious person. Most of the memories I’d had that were related to the potential one has to find the Truth, had to do with everyone being a sinner, and our chance of happiness being only somewhat guaranteed, albeit only after leaving this body and being judged by a God that sits somewhere up in heaven. I do remember reading a few sacred scriptures that said that finding the Truth in this life was possible, and that the Truth is within us; but this time, this open declaration from Shri Mahayogi, that the realization of Truth is something that can happen to anyone, gave me a strong conviction that the Truth is probably closer to us than what we think, and that it is possible for everyone to experience It.

Shri Mahayogi says that we have to listen to the words of Truth, to think about them and then to meditate on the Truth. I feel that he showed me through this experience that the Truth in his words has the power to penetrate through time and space, and that hearing or reading his teachings goes beyond our minds and touches a part of our being that we ourselves are probably not yet in touch with. And just like how the light of a star, which, even without its physical presence being in the universe anymore, continues to touch objects throughout space indefinitely, Shri Mahayogi’s teachings continue to touch our hearts.

By the end of the Jayanti I was filled with joy, and somewhere in my being I felt strongly, and finally acknowledged, that Shri Mahayogi came into this world to show us and lead us back to our natural state again, the state of being one with the Truth.

I am forever grateful that Shri Mahayogi made it possible for us to come into contact with the Truth through his Existence and his teachings, and I will continue to strive to remove any part of my mind that does not let the light of Shri Mahayogi shine and manifest fully, through the whole of my being.

Ekanta

Monday December 1st, 2025

“If you think about what we are celebrating on a birthday, the question is whether it is about the existence of this body, or about living itself. Then, when it comes to “living,” is the meaning of it that this physical body is here, existing in this world, in other words, if the physical body were to be gone, then is there no longer something to celebrate? From around here, one’s wondering goes into the realm of Yoga. … I hope that this birthday, as well as your own birthdays, will become the opportunities for you to think about what exactly dying and being born are; celebrating is not simply and only about the existence of this physical body, but rather, it is about living itself—the meaning of Life.”
—Satguru Shri Mahayogi Paramahansa to those who had gathered for the occasion of celebrating Jayanti, November 23, 1993.

Shri Mahayogi,

Not a moment passes when you are not using your thoughts, words, actions, the entirety of your Being, and your Life Itself—whether through the beautiful form of yours that we cherish so much, or through your infinite forms that you are beginning to reveal—to clear the clouds from our eyes, to show us that which we could not see on our own and to teach us the One Eternal Truth.

Again and again, you bring our eyes to direct unwaveringly towards the One Eternal Truth, and you encourage us through an unimaginably diverse range of means, to put our feet on the ground and walk forward on the path of Yoga, so that we can come to know, not through being told, but through our own understanding through experiencing, that the One Eternal Truth is not only the very Essence of our own selves, of everyone and of all things, but that it is Pure Joy Itself.

You are truly limitless in your ways of making the Eternal Truth shine in front of our eyes, and of opening our hearts to touch and feel the undeniableness of It.

We bow down again and again at the beautiful lotus feet of Shri Mahayogi. On this joyous and blessed occasion, we are ever-filled with gratitude for your Existence. And our hearts are full, having had the opportunity to offer arati, the traditional ritual offering in celebration of the manifestation of Divine Existence, from the sangha in New York, for the very first time on this most special occasion.

*

During this year’s celebration of Jayanti, three short video clips were shared, each capturing a unique and historical moment.

The first was a clip taken on the occasion of the Master’s Jayanti in 1993. The words above are a small excerpt from what Shri Mahayogi spoke on that occasion, encouraging us all, regardless of young or old, near or far, to seriously take up this important inquiry into the meaning of our very own existence. The second was a clip taken from a recording of one of the Master’s classes held in 1995 at the Ashrama; how pristinely the Master was leading his students in the practice of asana! And the third was a clip from 2006, in which, upon being asked, Shri Mahayogi spoke about how and why he came to teach Yoga, after previously having no desire or thought to do so, even opening the second floor of his family home for this purpose.

Testimonies from several of Shri Mahayogi’s students were also shared. These testimonies were written mostly during the early 1990’s, the period before the beginning of a new era, when Shri Mahayogi began traveling to New York and elsewhere at the request of seekers from abroad, which also brought new changes, such as Shri Mahayogi accepting that some responsibilities, like asana classes and other activities, be carried out by disciples for their growth, while Shri Mahayogi shifted to primarily concentrate on Satsangha and supervising all activities and disciples. Through these testimonies from an earlier era, we can glimpse and feel how Shri Mahayogi was during that time. But one thing that is absolutely clear is that, no matter how the world has changed, his message remains the same, no matter what. Throughout all these years and even now, he continues to preach the same message.

*

On this occasion of Jayanti, it was a blessing to be able to catch these different glimpses of Shri Mahayogi, both in the testimonies of his students and in such rare and precious footage that was shared—to see his expression, his mannerisms, his way of interaction, to hear his words of Truth, to feel his presence, and to learn more about some of the anecdotes that make up the rich and colorful tapestry that has been woven through his presence and Existence—surely our hearts are renewed and the flames have been stoked for us to walk the path of Yoga ever-more seriously and sincerely.

For those of us who have touched the life and breath of Shri Mahayogi, through our own transformation and experiences of concretizing Yoga more and more, let us become the living proof of Shri Mahayogi’s Existence and carry forward the Mission of reviving the Universal Yoga based on the Eternal Truth, Sanatana Dharma, that Shri Mahayogi devoted the entirety of his Being and his Life to convey.