Mountain Retreat Yoga Sangha

Amrita is not just the physical nectar made of honey and all those stuff. It also means ‘a’ ‘mrita’. Which means to discover something in us which is deathless and immortal. Which was never born and so will never die.” ~ Sri M

“Suffering exists, we cannot escape it. We must accept that. We don’t know why. We don’t know why gravity exists. The ultimate ‘why’ of many things is beyond the grasp of our limited minds. We have to accept it, and acceptance is the first step. There is no creation without some suffering and stress. A child suffers in birth. The mother suffers in giving birth. These are facts.” ~ Sri M

“The Gayatri Mantra starts with three mystic syllables apart from Pranava which are ‘Bhur‘ Bhuva’ and ‘Sva’. They represent the three states of existence the waking state, dream state and deep sleep which also are the three Lokas or worlds, waking world or Bhuloka, dream world or Bhuvaloka and heavenly world or Swarga loka. This heavenly world is experienced by everyone in a small way daily in deep sleep because when we are sleeping we have no fear of death, no agitation of thoughts, we are not aware of ourselves therefore the world may turn upside down but who cares!! ” ~ Sri M

“Nachiketas was an ideal student, he did not give away to the temptation proposed by Yama. But normally everybody falls for it. Sometimes you are aiming for Kaivalya, You are reading the yoga sutras, but then you come upon the third chapter called Vibhuti Pada and you can learn to walk on water or fly in the air and you are caught. Who wants Kaivalya now, it is gone!! One gets caught and stuck there!!” ~Sri M

“Without knowing where you are going, if you start a spiritual practice, it is likely that you might run into trouble. You are largely walking on uncharted territory. So it is necessary to know what is the need for doing it. Otherwise, you are just breathing in and out, it means nothing.”~ Sri M

“If that Truth is there and I am here, I need to go towards it. But what we are looking for is here, there and everywhere. Tad dure tad vadantike – It’s far and yet so near. Isha vasyam idam sarvam. It pervades everything. So when all reaching out stops, all movement stops then it is understood.” ~Sri M

“The purpose of life is to be fulfilled, to be happy, to move forward, to evolve. However, even if you find that which gives you happiness, you are not satisfied, you want to have more. This movement towards more is actually the movement towards Truth. Because the ultimate satisfaction is found only when one touches the Truth.” ~ Sri M

“Love is not something that exists only when the body exists. The body has to go inevitably. But love is an immaterial thing that is a part of our soul which never dies even when the body dies. If you keep this concept in mind, not only will we learn to love in this life, but also when we leave the body, we will go with a feeling of affection and love rather than fear, distress and anger. Then there is no fear of death.” ~ Sri M

“Samadhi is when the mind is absolutely tranquil not only when you sit down and meditate but as Krishna says in the Gita Sarvatra Samabuddhaya, at all times, under all conditions. When this has become effortless and natural in a human being then he or she is touching a state called Samadhi. You eliminate all distractions, you eliminate all your wrong identifications. Your mind is crystal clear then such a mind is no longer an ordinary mind but Purusha , which is the supreme being in its full glory and whose essence is Satchitananda.” ~ Sri M

“The aim of yoga is Kaivalya, freedom from all bondage. As long as there is bondage, there is no happiness to be found.” ~ Sri M

"In true nature when i am free from conditionings, free from my ordinary cravings, then there can only be one desire, the desire for liberation. When that desire becomes very strong, mind calms down because it is no longer running after anything from outside. In that stage it touches at this understanding deep inside and it realizes that ‘I am not anything todo with what I see, but I am the essence of consciousness.” When this is touched then there is liberation." ~ Sri M

"Everyone has an ego. The question is, is the ego pure or is it impure? Which means is the ego only thinking about itself or also thinking about others? Is the ego always working on how to cause injury and pain to others? Is the ego aiming to get something even if others suffer for it or is the ego understanding the fact that every human has the same Supreme self? The good ego does only good to others and its only aim is to find liberation." ~ Sri M

"The body is like a resting place for the living being. We go through numerous illnesses both mental and physical. We know that there are innumerable bacteria living in the gut. It is the bacteria which digest the food and it is the bacteria which causes problems. We are carrying these miserable bacteria in our bodies. We carry the shit and pee in our bodies too. Yet we are so fond of our body. We are so fond of being connected to this body and we are so fond of people who say the ‘oh you are so wonderful.’ This is an illusion. But we love to live by it and we are so proud of it !" ~ Sri M

"When we have to go to the core of our consciousness, we have to keep all these thoughts at bay. Keep them away, go deep within and try to find out. Nothing should be allowed to intrude. A great master said, “When you leave your shoes out there, when you come in to meditate, leave your personality there and come. When you go back, you have to function in the world, so put them back on again!” ~ Sri M

"The best way to control a wayward mind is an occasional fast. The yogi, a practitioner of spiritual exercises, needs to moderate all his activities in order to be able to progress in his endeavour. Mark you, moderation is the key word.” ~ Sri M

"Whatever you are doing, Krishna in the Gita says, “Dedicate that to me. Think that I am the agent and I am the enjoyer”. Gradually, you will get purified enough and be lifted out of that activity. Although, this is the primary, the beginning, the elementary form of spiritual development, it is applicable to most people.” ~ Sri M

“Since there is a divine sitting in each one of us. Every human being is a temple, is a kshetra, you can’t dismiss anybody ‘oh what did he do eat and sleep?’ No, every human being whatever is his outward action or outward behavior, deep down, he treasures the Shivam, the Supreme Being. So treat all human being as temples, sacred. Nobody is bad. This is the first thing to learn in moving forward in your Sadhana.” ~ Sri M

“I am saying every human being is programmed for infinite expansion. Therefore in reality there is no ordinary person. Every single person is extraordinary. We are ordinary as long as we identify ourselves with the limited ego that we have. The moment we see that there may be something beyond that we are breaking through the barrier. When the mind expands and goes beyond certain conditionings, it acquires the capacity to understand things much better than that of the normal circumstances.” ~ Sri M

“Every little thing is full of joy. The dew drop you find on the grass in the morning, the breeze that blows in quietly bringing in the perfume of the jasmine, the smell of the earth after the first rains. The ice-clad peaks of the distant mountain, the laughter of the child, the song of the peasant. Everything becomes the festival of joy and the root of it is within oneself. It’s only when the inner being becomes joyful that the world becomes full of joy.” ~ Sri M

"When the mind is tranquil, a new dimension opens, and it leads to that which is beyond the mind. This can also happen when there is a very deep emotion and you cannot think. But we are afraid of that. We are frightened because we think that the mind will collapse if the mind goes, ‘How am I going to exist?’ Therefore, we successfully avoid it by either comparing it with something else or trying to bring in a substitute thought. We don’t allow ourselves to be in that black hole which is the beginning of all creation, because we fear losing our personal identity.” ~ Sri M

“The mind is always asking for something, or it is running away from something. These are the two major factors. Either it is attached to something or it is repelled by something. If these two factors are present, then the chattering will never stop. So can we try to be without too much attachment and too much repulsion? Because if these two things are there, there cannot be quietness of mind. Can we be free of this? I think it is possible.” ~ Sri M

“When we sit quietly in solitude, can we just sit, doing nothing whatsoever? If we can, then silence slowly comes in. But don’t be in a hurry. And when that silence comes, it remains with you. It remains even in the marketplace, and you can sit in the marketplace and be absolutely silent, despite all the noise that is around you, because your mind has stopped chattering. That’s the joy.” ~ Sri M

“According to what I believe, the person who seeks Moksha (salvation) or the one who desires the Lord’s darshan (sight) hasn’t even started his journey until his heart is overwhelmed with the hope of what he seeks. If in his heart there is intense longing for the Lord’s darshan, as a hungry man longs for food and a thirsty man longs for water, then there is no need to run around looking for a Guru.” ~ Sri M

“We carry the dead weight of experience, planning, strategies, profiteering, the constantly calculating mind, wherever we go. This is what veils our awareness and makes the mind full to the brim with muck,instead of a mindful mind, that has space to be aware of the vast expanse of consciousness.” ~ Sri. M

“The Upanishad says, if you want to understand that Supreme reality which pervades everywhere, let go, move from your own centre, expand and let everyone be a part of you.“ ~Sri M

“Through the practise of Yoga, understanding and intelligence expand and help to go beyond the ordinary mind. The mind ceases to exist as a separate entity as soon as the vrittis (distractions) are wiped out. Only pure conciousness exists.” ~ Sri M

“Compared to this vast universe, we are smaller than a speck of sand. The problem is we think that the whole world is revolving around us. The moment it is understood that I am just a part of the picture, then I don’t have that self importance. Everybody has an image. It is important to live without an image that is blown up and to live with affection and love towards all people.” ~ Sri M

"To set the mind free from its conditioning & prejudices, one of the most important key is to say or affirm regularly that I, my knowledge or understanding of any situation including myself may not be perfect. May be, there are many more layers or dimensions to it. I can see only a few angles, there are infinite angles". ~ Sri M

"If you are a practitioner of yoga or sadhana, your attention becomes very good. You are able to concentrate fully on whatever activity that you are doing. If your complete concentration is on the work that you do – then nine times out of ten, it will turn out to be good. Suppose it doesn’t. You have no control over it. Then why worry about it? Brush it aside and move forward." ~ Sri M

“There are dimensions of the mind which operate beyond our ordinary logical, rational thinking. If we can voluntarily extricate ourselves from our day to day thinking, sometimes perhaps from the conditioned thoughts in our mind, and then open our mind to receiving what is beyond the three dimensional world, perhaps we can tap the infinite potential that is inside our own mind, waiting for us to be explored.”~ Sri M

“Human life is a search for that happiness, which is overflowing inside us, and we are looking for it outside, thinking that it is somewhere. In that search, one encounters many sorrows and disappointments. Once you turn within and understand that it is right here, then slowly our minds become stabilized. It takes time, each individual has its own pace. There are no shortcuts. But once you are grounded, then even ordinary life becomes very joyful.” ~ Sri M