Rushing Into Stillness South of the Border
BEFORE MY SUMMER, 2008, visit to Rancho La Puerto with Swami Veda Bharati, I was more than a little nervous about committing to a week of study and meditation. Fortunately, I sat on the bus ride to the ranch next to Praful Saklani, a busy New York executive and avid meditator who spent many years as a member of Swami Veda’s meditation center in Minnesota. He told me Swami Veda Bharati was raised in the ancient Sanskrit tradition and from the age of nine, captivated audiences with his intuitive knowledge of the Vedas and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. He was initiated by his master, the celebrated yogi, Shri Swami Rama of the Himalayas, and now lectures on a wide variety of topics and conducts guided meditations in seventeen languages.
My feelings of overwhelm dissipated when my new friend assured me that the Swami would be completely approachable and would welcome both me and my questions. “The greatest element of Swami Veda’s work is how he takes all of the complexity of the Vedas, the Tantras and Yoga and boils it down into simple guidelines for practical use in meditation,” Saklani explained. “And while his mind has nearly unlimited mastery of the source texts, his mission is focused on asking people to relax their forehead, smooth their breath flow, and keep their head, neck and trunk straight. This emphasis on a non-dogmatic practical way to experience the omnipresent divinity is just what the world is craving at this time. It is simple and very personal, yet immensely profound. That is the ananda (joy) of Swami Veda’s mission.”
Each day at the Ranch began with a guided meditation and an hour-long lecture, followed by an hour-and-a-half Yoga class, a healthy vegetarian lunch, and (fortunately) free time. Subjects of the afternoon classes included Ayurveda, the Yoga Sutra, psychology, Yoga therapy and more. Evenings featured special events such as kirtan (call-andresponse chanting) always followed by evening prayers. Many people opted for a day or more of silence to further their spiritual transformation, but this city slicker didn’t need any extra motivation as I was being stimulated on every level of my being.
I found myself rising before the sun, hurrying along the Ranch’s meandering paths, flashlight in hand, to keep from missing a moment of the lecture and guided meditation. I don’t think I ever woke up that early for anything back home in New York City, and if I did find myself rushing to an early morning event, it certainly wasn’t about rushing into stillness. Amidst the stillness, I had more than a few questions, and some time with the Swami provided answers befitting a stay in an ashram.
Rita Trieger: What is your opinion of how Yoga is practiced here in the United States?
Swami Veda Bharati & Rita Trieger
Swami Veda Bharati: What I see is that many people here only view Yoga as a physical practice, and that’s okay, but Yoga and meditation are the products of thousands of years of thought and practices, and is so much more than physical. I wish Yoga teachers would do more meditation, but they need training and guidance to teach it correctly. It takes time to change the mind’s habit – to allow the mind to savor and taste.
RT: How will you know when you are advancing on your spiritual path?
SVB: The test for someone who is spiritually advanced is twofold: First, how much stillness is in them and around them, especially in their meditation? The second is emotional purification: how they react to people, situations and challenges. Sometimes, people ask me “Swamiji, am I making progress in my meditation?” And I say, “Don’t ask me, ask your daughter-in-law!” [laughs]
RT: Any advice for those who may be struggling with asana practice?
SVB: If you’re having difficulties with a certain pose, you can practice it in your mind. The latest neurological research shows the same area of the brain is stimulated whether you think about doing a physical activity or actually doing it. So you can do the entire Yoga series lying in bed and if someone tries to bother you, say to them “Why are you bothering me? Can’t you see that I’m doing my asana?” [laughs]
RT: Are there any books you recommend?
SVB: You don’t need to read books – experience speaks for itself. That is what gives you the knowledge. All the great texts written by the sages are all about their experience, and that’s what they taught their disciples. Those teachings became the texts. One point should be made: Meditation is a vast science, and there are as many pathways to go inside as there are faculties in a human being. There is a huge framework for meditation and many methods; some are widely known and some not. So it’s all a large jigsaw puzzle – which piece fits where? They are all interlinked systems and subsystems. I like to collect all the different puzzle pieces. I teach, for example, Christian meditation. There is a vast history of meditation in Christianity and a great deal of aspiration among contemporary Christians to find that path. With the Muslims, it’s the same. And when I’m in Buddhist countries, I give Buddhist mantras. Meditation cannot be sectarian. God ultimately is a nameless God.
Moonlight Meditation
Swami Veda asked me to make sure I continued meditating, especially during the full moon and specifically asked that I pass along the invitation to everyone I know. So, here is your personal invitation from Swami to meditate each month on the night of the full moon. Swami Veda sits for meditation at four different timings for the different continents so, wherever you are, you can connect to his consciousness. For a listing of full moon dates and times, visit: swamiveda.org.
Here is a brief guideline to help you begin your full moon meditation:
- Sit as straight as you can on an even, firm but cushioned surface.
- Relax your forehead.
- Relax your facial and physical musculature.
- Bring your awareness to your breathing.
- Breathe slowly, gently, smoothly, and evenly.
- Feel the touch and flow of your breath in your nostrils.
- Let there be no pause between the breaths; as one breath is completed, begin to feel the next breath flowing and touching in the nostrils.
- After a few breaths, choose: whichever name of God is your favorite according to your tradition or religion, or a sacred but short phrase or prayer word or mantra.
- Exhaling, think that phrase; inhaling, think that phrase.
- Let there be no break between your breaths or between the incessant flow of your thoughts of that phrase.
- As soon as you become aware that you have lost the flow and other thoughts have begun to arise, restart the same procedure.
- Sit for as long as you wish. Let the quietness of your mind continue even after you rise. Remember that whatever you do repeatedly with the mind will become the mind’s habit; calming the mind repeatedly will return your mind to its calm nature.
Swami Veda Bharati will be bringing his ashram back to Rancho La Puerta this summer from August 1 – 15. For more information, visit: rancholapuerta.com.
For the full interview between Rita Treiger and Swami Veda Bharati, visit this issue of LA YOGA online at: layogamagazine.com.
Rita Trieger is the Editor-in-chief of Fit Yoga magazine and the author of Yoga Heals Your Back (Fairwinds, 2005). Visit her blog at ritatude.blogspot.com
By Rita Trieger
Felicia Tomasko has spent more of her life practicing Yoga and Ayurveda than not. She first became introduced to the teachings through the writings of the Transcendentalists, through meditation, and using asana to cross-train for her practice of cross-country running. Between beginning her commitment to Yoga and Ayurveda and today, she earned degrees in environmental biology and anthropology and nursing, and certifications in the practice and teaching of yoga, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda while working in fields including cognitive neuroscience and plant biochemistry. Her commitment to writing is at least as long as her commitment to yoga. Working on everything related to the written word from newspapers to magazines to websites to books, Felicia has been writing and editing professionally since college. In order to feel like a teenager again, Felicia has pulled out her running shoes for regular interval sessions throughout Southern California. Since the very first issue of LA YOGA, Felicia has been part of the team and the growth and development of the Bliss Network.