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

“Always find some time in your annual schedule or monthly schedule where you spent few days in solitude. Do go out of your usual circumstances and sit quietly and meditate and go for a walk but it should not be your daily routine. Switch off the internet for a while, you are not going to die without the internet. Do your quiet meditation. Have these periods of solitude so that after some time even when you are back in your office working, it is there in the background. It needs practice.” ~ 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