Ashram
Founder Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, also known as Ramamurti S. Mishra, M.D.,
was a highly respected spiritual teacher for countless students and devotees
from all walks of life. A prolific author on the science and philosophy of
Yoga-Vedanta, he integrated the universal message of these teachings with
his deep knowledge of both Eastern and Western medicine and psychology.
His
areas of specialty ranged from Ayurveda to modern psychiatry and
neurosurgery. He was a master of the Sanskrit language, and his lifework is
considered a comprehensive and authentic modern synthesis of the ancient
teachings. His written works include Fundamentals of Yoga, The
Textbook of Yoga Psychology (a commentary on Patanjali's Yoga
Sutras), Self Analysis and Self Knowledge (on Shankaracharya's
Atma Bodha).
Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati is the Founder and
Spiritual Director of the Yoga Society of New York, Inc. (1958) and its
country center Ananda Ashram (1964). He also established the Yoga Society of San Francisco, Inc.
(1972), known as Brahmananda Ashram, and inspired several other centers of
meditation in the United States and abroad.
His life was dedicated to the
integration of Eastern and Western sciences, culture and philosophy, and he
presented the timeless message of meditation and Self-realization in a truly
contemporary form. Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati left his physical body in
1993, yet his spiritual presence and teachings continue to be a source of
inspiration and guidance for all.
As a pioneer who prepared the
ground in the West for a new way of thinking and living, he planted the
seeds of Self-knowledge in the hearts of many people the world over.
Listen to an audio clip of Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati from
the Cosmic Meditation CD
Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati's resonant Sanskrit chanting
and magnetic meditation suggestions transport the listener to subtle realms
of sound, light and pulsation.
The Cosmic Meditation CD is available online
at AshramStore.com.
Guru-Purnima
or All-Guru Day
From an Essay by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati
Like other beings, man struggles for existence. The lower beings struggle
more or less blindly, without any conscious plan or purpose, and work by
instinct, while man uses the superior power of his wisdom to understand the
conditions and the meaning of the struggle – the “how, why, when and where”
– and to devise plans and instruments to ensure success. While animals fight
with their horns, man wishes to lead his life in the light of the knowledge
of himself and the universe of the senses. Taking into consideration the
results of his actions, he thinks even of their far-reaching consequences.
In one form or another, animal war has been going on with no rational reason
whatsoever… The forces of darkness, lawlessness and chaos are ruling our
planet, where life has come to be regarded as little more than a vegetable
which you can uproot at any time, in any condition, without penalty.
Therefore, desire for knowledge springs from the meditative heart.
Meditation is the answer for the natural and simple heart. Meditation is,
therefore, not a luxury, but a necessity. All have their own philosophy
about themselves and the world in which they live. There is no choice
between philosophy and no philosophy. There is only the choice between good
philosophy and bad philosophy. This is true for even the most thoughtless
person. An idiot, also, has his philosophy.
There is a guiding consciousness, a searchlight, within every being’s heart.
Not only men and women have this searchlight, but animals also have the
presence of this guiding light. Even the force of magnetism vividly displays
the presence of this guiding light. This light is eternal. Happiness and
unhappiness are the result of it.
Whenever and wherever you do some unworthy action, immediately this light
tells you, silently; and consequently you become unhappy, sad and miserable.
This guiding light is sad-guru (sad means eternally existing, and guru means
light). It is God himself who is radiating in the form of “I-Am” in every
heart. The nearer you are to this guiding light, the more you are happy, and
vice versa, the farther you are from this light, the more unhappy you are.
This is the fact. It is even seen in animals.
How to get in contact with this incorporeal light? Corporeal man has lost
all his knowledge of how to communicate with that light. There you are,
there is the universe around you and the unknown force governing both you
and the universe. You may call it by any name, either God or Jehovah or
Brahman or Allah. It always remains the unknown. This unknown force is
manifested in you as your inner conscience, the witness, the searchlight,
the guiding light. You may call this light by any name. It guides your life.
What is the missing link between you, the universe, the unknown force and
the inner guiding light? The missing link is the outer guiding light, the
outer Guru, who tells you how to realize your inner Guru, because without
understanding the inner Guru, nobody can overcome the sorrow, suffering,
misery and the various ups and downs of life… Although everybody has the
inner Guru, everybody is not able to interpret and translate his speech,
because he is speaking silently. To understand this inner Guru we need the
outer Guru. When you can understand the speech of the inner Guru, then you
do not need the outer Guru.
Reality is pure consciousness, pure awareness, in you, in the world, in the
unknown force, in your inner Guru and in the outer Guru. The external form
is constantly changing. Therefore it is called maya. The inner Guru is
eternal and is pure consciousness, awareness, “I-Am.” Reality is the same
behind you, behind God, behind the inner and the outer Guru, behind the
world. It is “I-Am.”
Stand up and open your eye of wisdom. Every problem or sickness has a cause
as well as an effect or result. And every kind of healing also has a cause
and an effect. The cause of every problem is that we cannot comprehend our
innermost voice, the inner guiding light, the inner radar. When an airplane
loses contact with radar, it has an accident. We are out of contact with our
inner radar. The effect, the result, may ultimately be annihilation of
mankind by nuclear war.
Our goal is that each individual become a center of physical, mental and
spiritual health and peace and, thus, a unit of East-West unity: unity of
mind and spirit, matter and energy. To achieve this, we need a meditative
attitude, contact with the inner guiding light… The mythological story of
Vishvamitra tells us that meditative forces will be victorious over nuclear
weapons and war. A race to conquer outer space is going on. But in order to
establish peace, harmony and unity between East and West, we have to begin
the journey into inner space. For that purpose we have Guru-Purnima Day. We
need to be firmly grounded on earth.
Our inner Guru teaches us meditative life, and meditation teaches us that
the mother of all thought and speech is silence. Silence speaks a million
words, and a million words speak nothing but silence. Generally, our
thoughts and speech are like plastic trees: they are beautiful but lifeless,
because they do not originate in our meditative heart. They are borrowed
from others, as mere information. Therefore they cannot create East-West
unity.
May Guru-Purnima awaken our mind, so that we can understand our internal
Guru who is constantly delivering his silent speech for the benefit of the
whole earth and heaven.
Om Shantih
The above is excerpted from an essay written at Ananda Ashram for the
occasion of Guru-Purnima Day, July 2, 1985.
Guru-Purnima
or All-Guru Day
