Mountain Retreat Yoga Sangha

"If truth is infinite, there must be infinite ways of going there. Therefore in all the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita , different ways has been prescribed, so you have Dhyan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga , Abhyasa Yoga and so on." ~ Sri M

"The aim of Yoga is to come face to face with the Truth in the yogic way. The philosophy of yoga says that an ordinary mind which is always caught up in tensions, ups and downs, achievements and non achievements, success and failure, cannot find the truth. The mind has to settle down and Yoga is the tool which makes the mind settle down." ~ Sri M

"Savikalpa Samadhi is when the mind is very quiet, the seeds of desire are still there but for the time being they are submerged and you are enjoying something beyond. As you advance you reach a stage which is called Nirvikalpa. In Nirvikalpa Samadhi the seeds have been washed out and the mind reaches the highest state and can remain there for a long time. The vrittis are no longer there or temporary vrittis are produced to deal with the situation and then taken off, which only an expert Yogi can do." ~ Sri M

"Nirvikalpa Samadhi gives moksha because once you have reached that state one need not go in Samadhi or come out of Samadhi but one is always in Samadhi and one is free." ~ Sri M

"The word Kaivalya is used in Sāṁkhya and in Yoga Darshanas, here and there it has been used in Vedanta but the actual word or Kaivalya in Vedanta is moksha. Kaivalya also means freedom which is the same as Moksha. A yogi whose mind has become totally purified and quiet and tranquil, free from opposing thoughts, such a mind has removed all its Vrittis." ~ Sri M

"When you say ‘I’ that itself is a Vritti because you are still there. Ego is also a vritti . As it is said in the Upanishads that the Supreme Reality cannot be conceived by the mind, which is nothing but thoughts. If this is true then you are also a part of the illusion. In reality you do not exist. You exist because of your thoughts and ego. The mind without thoughts and without you, is not you anymore. Then, there is a greater mind which can contact you, but you cannot contact it." ~ Sri M

"According to psychology there are conscious mind, subconscious mind and unconscious mind. according to yogic psychology there is another thing which is called the super consciousness mind which is the basis of unconscious subconscious and conscious mind. It is the background. It is the ocean from where these waves arrive. Which unfortunately neither the subconscious or unconscious mind can comprehend but the conscious mind can touch it when it is quiet." ~ Sri M

"So when you are practicing any part of Kriya, if you come to a state where you feel that you should meditate, or you feel you are in a meditative state, stay there. Stay there as long as you can. Then after a while the mind will start acting up. Go back to practicing Kriya. This is normal . We all pass through this." ~ Sri M

"The Atman is like the electricity that comes in your mainline and the ego is like the instrument which uses the electricity. Without the electricity the bulb cannot light but the electricity is not the bulb. So through the electricity you can light the bulb or run a fan,but the electricity remains going always. This is what the Atman is, it provides energy to you to do everything. But sometimes when the ego becomes too powerful the Atman withdraws, then the ego cannot do anything! So you should be constantly keep your ego in check and be eternally thankful to the atman." ~ Sri M

"Do you know what the word alone means? It is made of two words - all and one, instead of alone you can say all one. Do you get what I’m trying to say, that there is nothing alone in this universe, everything in the universe is interconnected. I may be sitting alone but there are beautiful presences going around us. Never think you are alone ! If you are alone and your mind is peaceful and quiet then that alone is not your ego but it is your atman. What more do we want? Staying with the atman is the greatest blessing possible!" ~ Sri M

"The idea of pranayama is to still the Prana so that the thought waves are also stilled. This is the connection between Pranayama and Chitta Vrittis." ~ Sri M

"In Vyasa’s Vedanta Sutras, Brahman, the core of all beings, is described or defined as ‘Asti Bhati Priya’ instead of Satchidananda. Asti means that It exists – It is there; Bhati means the consciousness, the effulgence, the light; and Priya means love, which is very close to ananda. These are predominant qualities of the Brahman or Atman, if you prefer to call it that." ~ Sri M

"Dharana is through pranayama to pratyahara, the Yogi develops the capacity to fix the attention on any one object, or one sound, or one idea, or one symbol anything, exclusively there without any attention on anything other than that object." ~ Sri M

"Pranayama is also Swashayama because the breath is called Swasha and the Prana or the life force is linked closely to the Swasha. If you control the breath you can control the Prana." ~ Sri M

"Tips for spiritual success: try and follow as much as possible the rules and regulations, practice daily, so that the mind gets into the habit and don’t lose hope, continue till you find the quietness which is very blissful. Once you have touched the state your whole life will change. And lastly have no fear, believe me, everything will be set into place." ~ Sri M

"Without the old dying off, there is no space for the new.” ~ Sri M

“When we say ‘GOD’, we mean the energy that creates, preserves and destroys. ‘G’ to generate, ‘O’ to operate what is generated and ‘D’ to destroy what is created.” ~ Sri M

“When all becoming ceases, then there is only That which is.” ~ Sri M

“Divine love is to fall in love with the Supreme Being. A person is ready to give up anything to touch the feet of the deity or embrace it. Spiritual love for the deity is called Bhakti. This cannot be cultivated.” ~ Sri M

“A person who has touched That freedom, Moksha or Mukti, or completeness, lives an unprejudiced life of total freedom, not influenced by the stereotyped images that one encounters in day to day life.“ ~ Sri M

“The Gita is meant for applying the principles in daily life. If you cannot, there is no point in reading the Gita. It is not just theory, it is a practical text on how to move forward.” ~ Sri M

“If you have a healthy body, if you have a healthy mind, then you can meditate and move forward.” ~ Sri M

“In the Vedas and the Upanishads, most of the things which the rishis describe are intuitive. They go beyond ordinary understanding.” ~ Sri M

“When it comes to how to make the mind, one pointed and free it from agitations that constantly assail it, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali say there is only one way to - ‘Nairantarya deergha kale abhyaasa’, which means ‘Practice, practice, practice for a long, long time.” ~ Sri M

“The great Kabir Das said many hundred years ago, ‘kal karey so aaj kar, aaj karey so ab’ meaning, ‘What you have to do tomorrow, do it today, and what you should do today, do it right now!’. Postponement always ends in failure.” ~ Sri M

‘Let go’ doesn’t mean ‘give up’. It means, let go of all unpleasant memories, the hurts, the wounds, the bitterness that are in your mind - let it all go.” ~ Sri M

“All ideas of being trapped and wanting to break free are built in these three-dimensional ideas from imperfect data fed through the senses. Solutions begin to appear even a little bit when one understands that there must be something beyond this data provided by the senses.” ~ Sri M

“Spiritual Truth or this Spiritual Understanding is not an exclusive, hidden ‘mumbo jumbo’ behind the closed doors. It is as open and as beautiful as the Sun that shines.” ~ Sri M

"There is a total subsiding of all movement that will come as a result of your practice or meditation. There is complete balance, no more reaching or grasping. This comes only when you practice what you are taught regularly.” ~ Sri M

“The lotus grows best in muddy water but when it blooms it is pure and clean. Even if you put a drop of water on it, that does not stick but flows down. Live like that in the world; be pure, don’t let the mud stick to you.” ~ Sri M

"A prayer comes when we are helpless or when we don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, so there is a feeling to ask for help. The desire to pray happens only when we understand our limitations. If there is a Supreme Being then prayer is the only way to connect. You have already surrendered because you feel powerless, the ego is already chopped to pieces and you are suffering and calling for help. The prayer becomes so strong because you have demolished yourself, otherwise why would you pray? You will say oh I will do it, but here you know that you can’t do anything and are helpless. Then help comes. Even when the almighty knows everything, there is no harm in reminding." ~ Sri M