Swami Shantananda's Yagna

Swami Shantananda's Yagna in Toronto was March 31-April 5th. I was lucky enough to attend most of his evening lectures and his retreat entitled "The Art of Making Right Choices". I took down as many notes as possible - of course I could not capture everything he said, but below is my summary of his lectures and retreat. Please feel free to add/comment - would love to hear your opinions!!
- Anjali

Swami Shantananda’s Yagna – Evening Classes:
Happiness:
Happiness is not in objects. If an object had the capacity to give happiness, it should do so at all time to all people. We know this is not the case (i.e. I love apples but my neighbor hates them), therefore we should understand that happiness cannot be found in material objects – instead we must look inside ourselves to find our happiness.

Karma Yoga:
Karma Yoga is action which purifies the mind – it means performing actions with detachment and pure devotion to the Lord. As humans, we are always performing actions. For one to be action-less, he must be desire-less, and therefore vasana-less. As we have already discovered, to be vasana-less is close to impossible, therefore we are always in a state of action.

The problem with performing actions is that we have a tendency to be bound by our reactions to the results. Swamiji says we should detach ourselves from the result. Rather than acting to obtain a certain result, we should perform all actions as worship to the Lord. When we act with such devotion, the results become less important. This is Karma Yoga.

Why should we act with such devotion? Well consider this: Whatever is needed in life is provided to us. We have oxygen, a mother’s milk, teeth to eat solid food with, a heart, a digestive system, etc. He has provided everything for us, so we should at least acknowledge His great benevolence.

But how can one act with such devotion when there are so many distractions in everyday life? Our actions are influenced by the many sense pleasures we experience – we are tempted to act in a way that agrees with our temptations. Swamiji’s advice is to not give so much importance to the temptations. Our sense organs can be controlled, it is our mind that needs controlling. Control of the mind comes only when we give less importance to the things we see/hear/touch/smell/taste. When we pay attention to these pleasures, we are creating vasanas which, as we know, are very difficult to remove.

It’s important to remember that our thoughts are temporary – they constantly come and go. We, on the other hand, are permanent – our consciousness will always be there. So when our mind asks us to repeat the performance of a past action, Swamiji warns us not to come under its grip, not to succumb to our vasanas. Instead, try to ignore the thought. If we do this long enough, the thought will eventually disappear.

So it’s not that we shouldn’t engage in activity. By all means, we should be in activity all the time…the point is to control the mind and give less importance to the sense pleasures that result from such activities.

As we perform Karma Yoga and work towards becoming better people, Swamiji warned that we shouldn’t criticize others that are on the “wrong” path – it is not our place to do so. Instead, Swamiji says we should encourage them to join the crowd – engage them in action, but don’t impose it on them. Slowly, they will appreciate the benefits of our path…but it will come to them, you cannot force it.


Swami Shantananda’s Yagna – Saturday Retreat:
The Art of Making Right Choices:
Swamiji started the lecture with the statement: “Human beings are blessed with the power of choice.” When choices are given, there is always a chance that we’ll make a mistake, but with the ability to choose comes the ability to change.

What most people don’t realize is that being happy is a choice – it’s the “right” choice. The problem is, the moment we decide we want to be happy, nature challenges us. So how do we ensure make the right choices? We need the strength of the mind – we need our minds to be calm and quiet so that the right choice is clear. Swamiji says to achieve this clarity, we should practice meditation. However, one cannot meditate without first training the mind to focus.

A good way to achieve this focus is to practice chanting. It is said that continuous chanting of Bhagwan’s name brings steadiness to the mind, so we should try to do it daily (in the spiritual world, success is dependent on consistency!). Use one mantra sincerely and consistency. The purpose is to create concentration and absorption of thoughts. Our nature is to seek variety, so while chanting thoughts will appear – the key to focusing the mind is to let those thoughts go, don’t pay attention to them. Just watch the thoughts, ignore them, and they will disappear. Once our minds are steady, we can inquire about the nature of ourselves…in other words, we can meditate.

Swamiji warned though, that when we start to meditate, we will see our ugliness and weaknesses. At this point, we should not condemn ourselves. Instead, offer the negativities away to the Lord. (E.g. when we perform rituals such as sacrificing animals, we are actually sacrificing the animal tendencies in us, not the animal itself). We tend to make wrong decisions when we hold on to our egos and let emotions cover our clarity. When we offer them away, the mind can focus, clarity is achieved and the right choices are obvious.

According to Swamiji, we have only scratched the surface of our minds. The power of our mind is infinite, and the energy available to us is tremendous. Unfortunately though, our ego, selfishness and greed cause us to make the wrong choices, and get in the way of our potential for this positive energy. We can tap into the source of that energy through practice – by training the mind to focus, be calm and quiet, which in turn, will help us let go of the ego. Today’s actions will sow the future, so take care of your mind!