Monthly Archive for February, 2010

On the evening before (Guru Puja Day) we sat down and agreed on the plan for the following day so everyone knew how the day would unfold, so that the minimum would need to be said or communicated on the silence day and we all would know our tasks of karma yoga and that they could be performed in silence.
We started the day with a yoga session which was the only time words were spoken by Shirley but those were kept to the bare minimum.  A silence descended or more to the point was found within.  We did not look at each other or communicate by signs or smiles, just stayed with our inner self which was most liberating.  Nothing was expected, nothing was needed to be said or acknowledged.

Then followed Shirley’s delicious breakfast porridge cum muesli, eaten in silence, as are all meals at the ashram at Swami Ji’s insistence – making every meal special.
After breakfast we went for a silent walk starting with the minimum of fuss and marching around the ashram and through the woods, walking and listening to the sounds around us, the noise our presence made, each step creating vibration, each breath creating movement.  That is when I noticed and felt in touch with the stillness which underlies everything.  When we keep silent there is still vibration of sound and thought, even just the air moving, but it all plays on the stillness which is always there.  Occasionally we would stop; that was as close to perfection as perfection could be.

When we got back to the ashram, we effortlessly preformed the tasks we had chosen the day before.  Mine was to clean some of the windows.  It always amazes me how many thoughts come to mind when I work.  It needs my full concentration to stop the chatter of the mind.  Shirley prepared lunch which, again, we ate in silence.  It tasted delicious – as do all the meals at the ashram.  We finished the afternoon with a yoga nidra session.

This completed the silence day.  Now that we could talk we all felt it was almost difficult to start talking (even for me), because we all had felt very comfortable in the silence.  At first it was strange not to just chatter away with the usual niceties of our language; good morning, how are you, etc…  Talking to someone about them and about ourselves, we felt that it was not necessary.  As the day went on, we became as one, moving by ourselves, but also as a unit.  It felt like a beautiful piece of music – very harmonious.
Thank you Shirley for organising it so well.  I can highly recommend the experience.

Carole Lee performed an excellent demonstration of yoga asanas on Guru Puja Day.  Jenny was recording the session and has typed up the introduction that Carole gave before the demonstration.  The yoga demonstration was performed with the Gayatri Mantra playing softly in the background.  Carole explained the meaning of the Mantra and went on to say that:
“The asanas are not just physical exercises, although they may appear to be, and it’s easy to see why people who come to a church hall or wherever to attend a yoga class might think that is what they are.  However they are actually a form of meditation because as you are doing the postures you are concentrating, and that is one of the steps towards meditation.  Not only are you concentrating but you are offering as well as you do it.  As you offer the fruits of this action that you are performing, so it becomes a form of worship.

As you do it, the challenge really is to put yourself in the right sattvic frame of mind because you do not want to be too lazy, too easy with yourself, too tamasic let us say.  Neither do you want to be the other way: too rajasic, too much straining that ‘I must get there’ and forcing the body into postures that it really should not be doing.
Because as we know, it is not what it looks like on the outside – again that is a trap – it is what is happening on the inside which really counts when you are doing your yoga postures.  You can be forward bending so that you just make the slightest movement forward and yet your mind is perfectly collected, perfectly centred and perfectly ready to make that offering and to do that meditation.  Okay, maybe your hamstrings aren’t, but your mind is and that is what is important.  So let us all bear that in mind when we do our yoga postures because everybody is able to perfectly do every posture.  It is not really about what it looks like on the outside.”
Carole then performed a beautiful, flowing sequence of asanas, the prana flowed freely and it was a joy to watch and appreciated by all.  Jenny

During the March Satsang, Shirley led us with a theme on how to deal with and overcome negative thoughts, many ideas were given and this led to a very lively, interesting and inspiring Satsang.  It was so good we asked her to write some details in this magazine for you all to read.  This led to the following article.

One thing we know for certain – no-one escapes the “negative mind” for long.  How much do our thoughts affect us?  Completely, on every level – mental, emotional, physical, energetic too.  When we think about negative things we become physically and mentally weak.  There is an excellent way to check this.  Working with a partner, raise your arm out straight to shoulder level.  Ask your partner to press your forearm down and you resist.  This will give you both a guideline for the pressure to use.  Then think of a really sad situation, hold that thought in your mind, think of nothing else.  Raise your arm, and your partner will be able to easily press your arm down.  Now think of something which brings a smile to your face, remember an event when you were truly happy.  Hold that thought only in your mind.  When you are ready ask your partner to repeat the pressing with the same amount of force.  Your arm will resist and be much, much stronger.  It never fails – providing you are holding the positive/negative thought in your mind.
So what does Patanjali say to us?  Cultivate the opposite.  It’s that simple.  Are we going to be victims of our own thinking, or shall we be the one who has the thoughts and controls them?  Of course, it’s not always easy, especially when we are emotionally involved in a situation.  However, we can train ourselves to be prepared for such situations.

Here are 10 steps to consider when removing negativity.  I am sure you will be able think of countless others, but these are a good starting point.

1. First of all, consider the power of the word.  Listen to your speech.  You will be surprised how much we don’t listen to what we say.  Lots of stuff just flows through and out.  Do you ever find yourself saying “I’m tired” or “I’m fed up”?  We all do, from time to time, but what if it becomes your daily mantra?  What if you habitually say it?  What if the power of the mantra (statement) becomes a reality?  If we are the totality of what we think, then what we say has to be some indicator of what we are thinking.  So listen to what you say.  Then cultivate a positive dialogue.
The subconscious mind does not recognise the word “not”.  So, if I say “I am not doing that again”, we may mean it, especially if emotion was in the equation, but the subconscious mind hears “I am doing that again” and the emotion adds power to that statement.  And we repeat the situation again, and again.  Listen to what you say.  It will tell you so much about yourself.
Cultivate a positive dialogue.  Change your internal statements to ones which affirm who you are – “I only do things which bring me happiness” or “I am strong and healthy, full of energy”.  We all know the power of Mantra, so it will be easy for us to accept that the repetition of negative statements has an incredible power over us.  However, any positive action, statement or thought, will have an opposite and much more powerful effect.

2. Secondly, be grateful.  The Masters tells us to want what we have and don’t want what we don’t have.  That way we will stay forever safe.  This is Santosha – contentment.  However, contentment is not the same as complacent.  And we all know the difference between the two, inside ourselves even if we don’t voice it.

3. Next, if you are feeling down, change your environment.  Even walking from one room to another can bring a change in the mind.  Being outside in nature, spending time with loved ones, reading scriptures and books directed towards spiritual growth all bring a change.  How about chanting, listening to music, laughter, sharing, doing asanas and pranayama?  All these are positive, rewarding and bring one to Centre.  When we link with that Higher Self, deep inside, a feeling of wellbeing spontaneously arises as this is our true nature.  Yoga brings us back to our true nature.

4. Be simple.  Swami Ji always said we should cultivate simple living and high thinking.

5. Eat a pure vegetarian diet, rich in natural foods, unprocessed or refined.  The physical form, in Sanskrit, is called “annamayakosha”, literally “the body made of food”.  Examine what you put into your body – that’s what it is made of.

6. Drinking sufficient water can bring miraculous mental changes.  Drink water often during the day.  Even taking a bath or swimming will change your mood.  More water is always relevant.  Young children get dehydrated very quickly so if you have contact with a little “hyper” person, offer more water, even a sip on a regular basis, will help them to stay more balanced.

7. Observe inner silence.  Stay quiet.  Listen to the internal dialogue – don’t run away from it with speech.  Stay inside.  If your dearest friend were troubled, would you walk off?  I doubt it.  Why do the same to yourself?  Stay inside, listen.  Eventually, the inner Silence will arise and you will be linked to the Great Silence, back in your True Self.  At peace.

8. Accept “what is”.  Karma is as it is.  However, Maharishi Patanjali says that Karma which has not yet been created can be avoided – you are in charge – cultivate the Karma you want for the future.  Pray for the courage and strength to go through whatever will come your way.  Be responsible for your own destiny.  It is literally of your creation.

9. Pray – Meditate.  It has been said that if Prayer is talking to God, Meditation is listening to His reply.  Some of us will need to do more talking, and others more listening.  However, patience is needed.  The response to today’s question may not arrive until some time later. So perhaps we should say – Pray, Meditate, Be Patient.

10. Spend time with those who are devoted to their own Spiritual growth.  None of us who had the privilege to sit with Swami Ji will need reminding how much he inspired and taught us by his own example.  The vibrations of people dedicated to the Light are such that they will illuminate us too.
Be a Light in the World. You came from the Light and will return to It.

Hari Om, Om Tat Sat.        Shirley