Mountain Retreat Yoga Sangha

“That Absolute energy, in manifestation or movement, when it begins to work, is called Shakti. When it is in its potential form, absolutely at rest, without a single movement – That completeness is Shiva, the Absolute Being.” ~ Sri M

“For a Yogi Vijayadashami is celebrated when the energy or Shakti has reached the Sahasrara Chakra through the shushumna nadi, in the spine. This ecstasy is celebrated by the great Sanyasin Adi Shanakara in his text “Saundarya Lahiri” meaning the ‘Ecstasy of Beauty’.” ~ Sri M

“Nobody actually gives Sri Vidya Upasana to anybody without first giving the Bala Mantra. Let’s say Goddess Tripura Sundari is a fully developed lady, Bala is a little girl, eight years old, so the Bala is the gateway or doorway to enter into Sri Vidya Upasana. So only after a person does sadhana of the Bala Mantra for specific time, is the Sri Vidya usually given.” ~ Sri M

"If your mind is restrained and detached, it can work better. A calm mind has more power of attention and concentration than an agitated mind." ~ Sri M

"The ego is called Ahamkara, and the Atman is the Consciousness. The ego owes its existence to the Atman which is Consciousness. But it begins to feel at some point that it is a separate entity, it’s not. Without Consciousness the ego cannot function. But then the ego becomes very proud of itself and says it can do anything. When the ego becomes stronger than the Atman, we become egotistic." ~ Sri M

"If acute desire to be free of suffering arises in a human mind, that mind need not be extraordinarily intellectual. It can be just an ordinary person with that desire; then one can completely direct oneself towards that which one can be free.” ~ Sri M

"When one touches the supreme state, then naturally everything happens to that person without much planning, he moves on in life. It’s like the flowing river, the flowing river makes its own boundaries, it doesn’t decide what boundaries have to be made, such is the state of mind of a person who has touched the infinite. This goes totally against the idea that everything has to be planned!!" ~ Sri M

"Thoughts can condition you and make you think that ‘you cannot do something’, and thought can also be conditioned to say, ‘Yes, I can do it!’ “ ~ Sri M

"When your mind is ever set on attaining the Supreme truth, and you abandon the fruits of all your work saying ‘all this is yours’ not easy but it is possible. When you get good result you say ‘you have given me good results’ when you get bad results you say ‘you have taught me a lesson’ ‘I surrender to you’. The mind of the person who has dedicated all the fruits of his action to the Divine has no weight. Because he is no more the agency. His mind becomes light and clear." ~ Sri M

"In Gita Krishna says If you find it difficult to fix your mind steadily on the me in the beginning because it keeps wandering, learn how to do it through the systematic practice of Yoga. Here systematic practice of Abhyasa yoga means yoga of meditation. Kriya yoga is also such a practice." ~ Sri M

"When you begin to help others, without looking for profit or loss, wholeheartedly then you are no longer thinking only of yourself, so I am moving out of my selfishness, so my mind expanding. Through service, through helping those who are unfortunate we can expand our mind and reach the Supreme truth." ~ 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

"When all the attention from the worldly objects are directed to the divinity then it is surrender. You are in control of your senses but directing your whole attention towards the lord. You are saying ‘I am meditating because you have allowed me to meditate’, ‘I have moved forward because you have allowed me to move forward’ and ‘I will reach there because you said i will reach there.’ Thus you have surrendered all your actions to the Lord. And that takes load off the mind." ~ Sri M

"According to the Māṇḍūkya Upanishad, turīya is that Witness which exists throughout: in the waking state, in the dream state, as well as in deep sleep. According to the Vedantists, the yogi is one who recognises or has come to understand that that Witness which remains unaltered – it is called just Sākṣī, bare Witness – doesn’t get altered by any of the different changes that take place during the waking state, during the dream state, and during deep sleep. Vedānta says that, this Witness is the real you." ~ Sri M

"Peace is a state of mind that comes from inside. If you are not peaceful with yourself you cannot be at peace anywhere.” ~ Sri M

"Even in the greatest of samadhi(absorption) one can be brought back to normal consciousness, I mean to waking state, through either Pranava or through the conch sound or through some holy sound like the ringing of the bell. It is not like waking up the ordinary man who is sleeping because he will be the same man who went to sleep. But when one wakes up from a trance called samadhi. The person who wakes up will not be the same person who he was before samadhi. The wisdom is already in him therefore you cannot fake samadhi." ~ Sri M

"Shruti is something which is heard. Not what is studied, taken home and commented upon and discussed. Shruti is pure sound and therefore Vedas declared that the Shruti is the original voice of Truth. Therefore, when a student is perfectly prepared, Shruti once said is enough. There is no more need to attend the talks." ~ Sri M

“The whole exercise is to make the mind so sensitive that when the Shruti strikes, it has its effect. All Sadhana is done for that.” ~ Sri M

"When you meditate, keep your mind like a flame without any wind, no flickering, protected from all winds, make it steady." ~ Sri M

"Miracles can happen only if you change the attitude of your mind and implement your resolutions.” ~ Sri M

"Fear and depression are of no use to a human being. At turning points in life, have faith in the inner reality which resides in your heart and move forward.” ~Sri M

“If you want to delve deep into the layers of your consciousness and finally reach the essence, then meditation is a must.”~ Sri M

"Bhakti, the highest state of bhava, is when you declare that ‘I am completely helpless, so please take over.’ It’s all in God’s hands. We realize that however much we think we can, we are truly helpless. That is bhava. That is spiritual enquiry. Not that you shouldn’t do anything. Bhava is something that has to come spontaneously. Bhava is essential on the spiritual path.” ~Sri M

“The wise say that there is a stage in spiritual realization when the wheel stops turning. There is no more seeking, grasping or holding on. There is no fear of it being snatched away, hence there is no holding on. From the point of view of the highest spiritual experience, when the mind has become absolutely quiet, it is total and complete freedom. This is definitely accompanied by a surge of bliss and happiness that is so intense that nothing else compares to it in this world or beyond.” ~ Sri M

"How to get out of the cosmic illusion ? When the mind stops linking itself to the past and to the future then it becomes no mind. Is it possible? Well yes and no, actually if you look carefully, coming out of this illusion of continuity, the only thing that exists is now, what happened yesterday does not exist, it’s only in our memory, it is not happening now. But very soon, connecting yesterday’s memory with what’s happening today we project a future illusion, which is for tomorrow but in reality nobody knows the future. Therefore when we understand this deeply then at any given point the mind remains in here and now. It takes a lot of self effort." ~ Sri M

"All knowledge is memory. But the Supreme Reality cannot be a memory, a thing of the past, it has to be here and now. It cannot be part of any knowledge. Why? Because all knowledge is a part of memory. The all pervading Supreme Reality has to be in the present, fresh, here and now. Therefore when the mind is completely obliterated, we can touch the Supreme Reality. Otherwise the mind will create images of the Supreme reality and prevent us from realizing it." ~ Sri M

"When you sit to meditate, be yourself, your inner self, don’t try to get this experience or that experience, because by trying you will be successfully blocking the experience which might have come to you." ~ Sri M

"Traditionally in the Samkhya system Atma, Buddhi and Manas are one triangle. Manas is the mind. Buddhi is the discriminating faculty. Atma is pure consciousness or Purusha. Consciousness works through the brain but it is not a part of the brain." ~ Sri M

"The mind is fickle and difficult to control , it is always moving and turbulent but we can bring it under control through effort, dispassion and spiritual practice. Through constant practice of meditation one can make the mind tranquil." ~ Sri M

"The qualities of the mind which has to be developed by the practitioners of meditation also is in being kind and in doing service to others, all this helps and supports the practice of meditation. Compassion is a tremendous thing in the heart, you cannot cultivate compassion. The bodhisattvas have so much compassion that they are ready to come back again and again to help others. The Yogis considers everybody as his/her own, therefore help others as much as he or she can. He or she also practices meditation. Both have to go hand in hand." ~ 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