Mountain Retreat Yoga Sangha

“Kriya yoga is not an answer to all your problems and it is not a shortcut. You have to put in your energy, you have to practice daily and each person’s pace in the growth is different because we come with a big load of many influences of the past lives. So don’t compete with anybody.” ~ Sri M

“The deity is the media through which you reach the Absolute. The Absolute is not Brahma the creator, but the Para Brahman. The root ‘braha’ means to expand continuously. Something, which is always expanding, growing. And, that all pervading reality is called Para Brahma.” ~ Sri M

“It is okay to worship the divine with a form but to ultimately feel it, you need to involve your heart. The core of our being is the heart, not the heart that pumps blood but when the mind is quiet and everything is clear and clean without any bad thoughts about others, in that settled state we can feel the presence of the divine. Now that treasure is what we should look for.” ~ Sri M

“Self Realization and the cessation of cravings should proceed hand in hand.” ~ Sri M

“Sometimes it happens that you want to find the true self because you have heard that it is blissful and it remains forever but the mind doesn’t want to put in the right amount of effort. The mind will find an excuse and say that ‘God will take care of it’ and then nothing happens and you blame God or angels. I am saying don’t blame God or angels, self effort is very important." ~ Sri M

“From the point of view of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali Samadhi means a state of consciousness or a level of consciousness which is not ordinary. Like for example the waking state cannot be defined as samadhi because it is a common state experienced by all living beings. Samadhi is an altered state of consciousness. When there are no seeds of desires and longings left in the person, then he or she can be absorbed into the state of Asamprajnata Samadhi which culminates in Nirvikalpa or Nirbija Samadhi “. ~ Sri M

“The Shakti that you worship for nine days in Navaratri, resides in your body in your psychophysical system in the Muladhara. She is also referred to as Tripura Sundari or Rajarajeshwari. And the whole practice of Tantra is to win over this Devi and take her carefully, to the Sahasrara, where she meets her Lord who is always sitting peacefully. When this happens then the ecstasy of bliss is experienced and the yogi is no longer an ordinary human being.” ~ Sri M

“There has to be true dispassion to learn Brahmavidya. The need to find liberation should be genuine in the yogi and not just a means to escape from the world or running away from certain circumstances. Such dispassion comes only with the grace of God.” ~ Sri M

“There are four door keepers of the entrance to the door of Moksha. They are self control, spirit of enquiry, contentment and Satsang or good company.’ ~ Sri M

“Alchemy is actually the metaphoric expression of purifying the mind and soul.
The base metal, which is the gross mind, can be purified and made very subtle and pure.
Then, the same mind becomes gold.” ~ Sri M

“The world is such a funny place. You try to go behind something and it always runs away from you; you leave it and it tries to follow you! Vishwamitra goes off to the forest for ‘Tapasya’ and Menaka follows him to dance before him! It’s a very funny world; when you don’t want it, it comes after you!” ~ Sri M

“The worst setback of Sadhana is when you don’t practice daily. So try to put your energy into practicing daily. It is not easy, mind you. Many distractions will come and you might go this way or that way but come back and chant the Guru mantra regularly.” ~ Sri M

“Surrender is hardly possible for the human beings. When we say surrender, normally what we mean is ‘I will surrender a few things and keep the rest with myself.’ When we surrender we mean we will surrender what is inconvenient to us and keep what is convenient. So it is more an attitude of the mind. It comes when you understand that however much you work hard it is not happening so can I leave that and say ‘Okay, please take care of this.’ That is a good point to start.” ~ Sri M

“There are wonderful ways in which the mind can be free right now. Mukti is a state of mind. When we begin to understand that all the influences in the world specifically our own mind is binding us and not allowing us to be free. But first we have to understand that we are not free, we go around thinking that we are free. It is the mind that binds and it is the mind which sets us free and mind is a common factor in all of us.” ~ Sri M

"Sound is the link between the corporal world and that which is beyond. Which is why from time immemorial sound has been used for spiritual practice. This is where Nadayoga has come from. This is where the sound of Bijaksharas and Mantras has come from. It is not so much the meaning of the words in the mantras that is important, but the sound which it produces and which reverberates in our mind because it links us to the origin of sound, which cannot be heard by the physical ears." ~ Sri M

“When you touch the essence of your being, all the striving disappears. You may be living in this world and doing what is required of you but your happiness does not depend on things around you. Even when no one is there for you, you are still happy. A blissfulness is experienced. In yogic terms when the Mukhya Prana touches the Sahasrara Chakra we touch upon that blissful state.” ~ Sri M

“For anything you want to attain you need to sacrifice something, nothing comes for free. So if you want something which looks impossible then Kathor Tapasya or serious penance is necessary.” ~ Sri M

“Even if a person says that the Supreme Self does not exist, he is saying that because of the same Self! It is the very Self of the one who says it is and one who says it is not because the Self alone is and there is nothing else.” ~ Sri M

“To understand our true essence, to understand that we are that calm and blissful consciousness, searching for which we are wandering here and there and we still not finding it in the end. It can be found this minute if one reverses the search and says, ‘ No, this is what it is. I will not be taken for a ride by this delusion anymore. I don’t want to remain in the state of hypnosis anymore. I want to wake up and see the reality.” ~ Sri M

"In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said, 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.' He did not say that they will not see God because they belong to this community or that community. He said - 'Blessed are the pure in heart.' Doesn’t matter who- 'for they shall see God.'" ~ Sri M

“When all the vrittis(modifications) of the Chitta(mind) are removed then the mind sees that we are living in an illusion. We think we are in the waking state but actually we are in a hypnotic state. When this hypnotic state is gone then we know that in the essence we are the Supreme Brahman. This is the sum and substance of Yoga Vashishtha.” ~ Sri M

“As long as there is a division between the seer and the seen, there is duality. The real seer, after having understood the Brahman, has nothing to see, because the seer itself is what is in the seen.” ~ Sri M

“Freed from the impressions of Samsara and conditionings of countless births and death, if the mind is clear, calm, quiet and transcendent, such a mind, whatever it wants may immediately become a reality though the corollary is that it should want it intensely because such a mind may not desire anything.“ ~ Sri M

“The pure seer doesn’t have to see anything because he or she is also what is seen.” ~ Sri M

“The difference between the dream state and the waking state is that in the waking state there is a continuity from birth till death while the dreams could change everyday. However considering the kind of experience you have in both, there is not much difference because while you are dreaming you mostly respond and react just like in the waking state and you can’t tell you are dreaming while you are dreaming. It is only when you wake up that you realize that you were dreaming. What if there is a state into which you one day suddenly wake up from the waking state and realize that this waking state has also been a long dream. This sate is called Turiya.” ~ Sri M

“The Upanishads have declared ‘Ayam Atma Brahma’ meaning my atman is Brahma. So deep down in our true essence we must have no conditionings, though we may have lived many lives. Somewhere along we have acquired wrong identification for ourselves and are roaming this world suffering like a caged bird who enjoy only the fruits which are given to it inside the cage. We have forgotten to stretch our wings and fly. But if we delve deep down and explore, we will find our true identity which will liberate us from this world.” ~ Sri M

“It is rather difficult for us to remain without attachments, we need something to tie ourselves around to, forgetting the fact that it is because we have tied ourselves, we are not able to go far. It is like a cow or a dog tied to a post. Wanting to be free, it goes round and round, around the post till its neck is almost on the post!!” ~ Sri M

“The ancient system of Sanatana which we have in this country, fortunately originated in this country, is in no place narrow minded or small. It is wide, it is universal. The moment you begin to define it in your limited way, you are doing a great harm to the Sanatana.” ~ Sri M

“Some of the main quality or attribute of the person who has taken to spiritual path is that the distractions that take place when he or she fixes their attention on their deity or their inner self will become less. Also the person will begin to have some control over his emotions which means the mind will look after the emotions rather than the emotions dictating the mind structure. Secondly the person will find it easier to do his or her practice or japa and there will also be an element of enjoyment in their practice. Thirdly in the course of their Sadhana he or she will become a better human being, caring for others and not thinking that they are always right.” ~ Sri M

“According to Vedanta, the entire Cosmos is a completely seamless, continuous unity—the one that contains within itself, in not manifest but potential form, millions of actualisations of the universe. It contains both what’s possible and impossible for us to conceive and, we are only one aspect of that one supreme, seamless, continuous Reality.” ~ 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