The chariot is used by the ancient sages
as symbol for how to train your mind and
senses. Though most of us do not use
horse drawn chariots, the lesson is as
practical today as it was thousands of
years ago:

Click here for chariot driving instructions:
http://www.swamij.com/chariot.htm

In loving service,

Swami Jnaneshvara

You really do not need to know many things,
but you definitely need to practice what you know.

Swami Rama
The Art of Joyful Living

Dear Friends,

From time to time people ask questions like, "What is a swami?"
or "Why did you become a swami?" Sometimes these are difficult to
explain, so here is a new article that talks about these questions:
http://www.swamij.com/what-is-a-swami.htm

Included in that article is an article entitled "What is
Renunciation?", written by Pandit Usharbudh Arya in 1986 (Now Swami
Veda Bharati). This article has been a significant personal
inspiration to me along the way. Either scroll down the link above, or click
here:
http://www.swamij.com/what-is-a-swami.htm#whatisrenunciation

I hope you enjoy these....

In loving service,

Swami J

"A human being cannot live without doing karma,
actions. And when he does some karma he reaps
the fruits of the actions. And those fruits
lead him to do more actions and there is no
end. He creates a whirlpool for himself and
he cannot come out of that. Is there any way
that you go on doing your actions and yet
remain free from the bondage of karma? I say
yes. If you grease your karma with love, then
you will not have a problem. You have stress
today, 'My wife doesn't listen to me.' She
thinks, 'My husband doesn't listen to me.'
They both are going through self-created
stress. But if you simply change the concept,
there will be no stress. Stress has become
the biggest killer today. Everybody says I
have stress, I have stress. Why do you have
stress? Wife wants to control the husband,
husband wants to control the wife. Why do
you want to control anyone? This tussle is
going on all the time, in all families and
you call it family life and love. When I come
to your home, you all smile. When I go
outside, then you start fighting. I know
that and I understand. I think there can be
harmony in the family if there is understanding,
understanding on a higher level."

Swami Rama
A Personal Philosophy of Life

Quoted from the newsletter of the Himalayan
Institute Hospital, founded by Swami Rama
in India. For information on the newsletter, or
to subscribe, click here:
http://www.hihtindia.org/bulletin/hihtbulletin.html

The main website of the hospital is here:
http://www.hihtindia.org/

OM...

Each day is a life to one who divides.
The child is the next life to one who multiplies.
This and the next life is real life to one who adds.
This life brings death to one who subtracts.
Forget mathematics, and Know the One.

Swami Jnanesvhara

A new addition has been made to the website, a description of the
soham mantra, which is used along with the breath. It has been called
the universal mantra because it is already flowing with exhalation
and inhalation, and everybody breathes. Here's the link:
http://www.swamij.com/soham-mantra.htm

May your meditations bring you peace, happiness, and bliss.

In loving service,

Swami J

Albert Einstein insightful quotes at SwamiJ.com:
http://www.swamij.com/einstein.htm

Dear Friends,

It is said that 125,000 recitations of a mantra
will bring mantra siddhi, the realization of a
notable level of benefit from the mantra.
Believe it or not, following is a link to a page
that has 125,000 repetitions of the OM mantra.
While this web page is created in a spirit of
playfulness, who knows, it might just have
an effect to scroll down it one time!
Here's the link:
http://www.swamij.com/om-mantra-125000.htm

In loving service,

Swami J

Additions to website:
http://www.swamij.com/additions.htm

Dear Friends,

A new section has been added to the website
on Kundalini Awakening. The section has a
total of 8 web pages. After you click on the
link below, be sure to click on the 6 graphics
to go to the other pages, as well as clicking
on the Index link.

Here's the link:
http://www.swamij.com/kundalini-awakening.htm

In loving service,

Swami J

A human being is a citizen of two worlds,
and he or she has to develop the ability to
have access to both without any confusion.
Clarity of mind comes if you have learned
to direct your mind according to your
desire and goal.

The world within and the world without are
two entirely separate realities. The external
world dissipates energy, but the internal
world showers blessings that fill the
vacuum created by the world.

Swami Rama
Sadhana

To help you find things on the website,
an extensive Site Map has been added.
It is near the top left of the Home page:
http://www.swamij.com/index.htm

Or, here is a direct link to the Site Map:
http://www.swamij.com/sitemap.htm

Also, there is a search engine at the top left
of the Home page. This search engine searches
only the SwamiJ.com website. If you are
trying to remember where you saw something
on the site, just type in a keyword or two.

I hope you find these useful.

In loving service,

Swami J

In an online article of the July/August
2003 issue of LA Yoga Magazine, the
widely recognized scholar on Yoga,
Georg Feuerstein is asked by the
interviewer Julie Deife, "How would
you describe Yoga in the US today?"
He responded:

"It's a mess. And you can quote me on
that. Anything that comes to America
or the West in general, immediately
gets individualized and commercialized.
There has always been great diversity
in traditional Yoga, and this diversity
was based on the experience of masters.
Today even beginning teachers feel
qualified to innovate and create their
own trademarked Yoga system.

"So, looking at the Yoga movement today,
part of me feels very saddened by it,
but then I also see that it contains
the seeds of something better. Also,
amazingly, Yoga can be beneficial even
when it is reduced down to posture
practice. But people shortchange
themselves when they strip Yoga of
its spiritual side."

Georg Feuerstein has published many
excellent articles on his website that
are well worth reading:
http://www.yrec.org/publications.html

In loving service,

Swami J

Dear Friends,

A new article has been added to the website,
entitled "Mysticism, Yoga, and Religion":
http://www.swamij.com/mysticism-yoga-religion.htm

I hope that you find it useful.

In loving service,

Swami J

Dear Friends,

A new article is on the website entitled
"Uncoloring your Colored Thoughts", describing
klishta (colored) and aklishta (uncolored)
thought patterns, which is a primary goal
of meditation, so as to allow the Self to
come shining through. Here's the link:

http://www.swamij.com/klishta-aklishta.htm

Hope you enjoy it.

In loving service,

Swami J

All sadhanas (spiritual practices), techniques,
and disciplines are actually means to train the
mind. And the foremost part of the training is
to make the mind aware that Reality lies
beyond itself.

Swami Rama
Meditation and Its Practice

The cover of the August 4, 2003 issue
of Time Magazine (USA) is entitled
"The Science of Meditation." The subtitle
is "New Age mumbo jumbo? Not for
millions of Americans who meditate for
health and well being. Here's how it
works." The article itself is nine pages
and is entitled "Just say OM". The
magazine is currently on the newstands
in USA if you want to get a copy.

In loving service,

Swami J

The Time Magazine article on Meditation is also online at:

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030804/

Dear Friends,

A new page has been added to the website entitled
"Maranatha - A Christian Meditation Mantra"

http://www.swamij.com/maranatha.htm

I hope you enjoy it.

In loving service,

Swami J

You should have some desires as a human
being; you cannot live totally without desires.
But those desires should be filtered by the
sense of discrimination within you. Your
buddhi, intelligence, has the function of
judging, deciding, and discriminating which
desires are useful. You should learn to
develop that function within yourself.
Then, decrease your desires. It is the
useless desires that create problems for you.

Swami Rama
The Art of Joyful Living

Here's a link about the 4 functions of mind,
Including buddhi, the intelligence which
knows, decides, judges, and discriminates:
http://www.swamij.com/fourfunctionsmind.htm

Here's a link about fulfilled and unfulfilled
desires in relation to karma:
http://www.swamij.com/karma.htm#unfulfilled

In your meditation today...

May your body be still and comfortable...

May your head, neck, and trunk be aligned...

May your breath be smooth, slow, serene, and with no pauses...

May the flow of thoughts in your mind not disturb you...

May your meditation today bring you peace, happiness, and bliss....


Click here for sound:
http://www.swamij.com/Sounds/meditationtoday.mp3


In loving service,

Swami J

Dear Friends,

An new web page has been added,
which is an online recording of
the Soham mantra. It is a 17 minute
practice, wherein the breath and
the mantra are coordinated and
repeated 108 times.

Here's the page link:
http://www.swamij.com/sohum-mantra-108.htm

The description page of Soham mantra,
which was sent out a month or so ago
is at this link:
http://www.swamij.com/soham-mantra.htm

May your meditations bring you
peace, happiness, and bliss.

In loving service,

Swami J

A new article has been added to the website,
comparing Types of meditation with Stages
of meditation.

This might sound like a boring subject at first
glance, but spending some time with this
article might give some useful insights as to
why there seems to be such a diversity of
meditation methods.

More importantly, what seems like a diversity
of Types of meditation if often a matter of
what Stage one is at in the inner journey. In
other words, there is sometimes some confusion
between the question of what is a Type or
Method of meditation, and what is a Stage of
meditation.

This article might take some effort, but it
should  be worth it.

Here's the link:
http://www.swamij.com/types-stages-meditation.htm

In loving service,

Swami J

The root of the word "meditation" is similar
to the root word for "medical" or "medicate,"
and the root of all these words implies the
sense of "attending to" or "paying attention
to" something. In meditation, you pay attention
to dimensions of yourself that are seldom
observed or known--that is, your own deepest,
inner levels. These deeper levels are more
profound than the processes of thinking,
analyzing, day-dreamin, or experiencing
emotions or memories.

Swami Rama
Meditation and Its Practice


Yoga meditation described in 16 parts:
http://www.swamij.com/WhatIsYogaMeditation/whatsyogameditation.htm

Dear Friends,

Recently you were sent a link to new web pages
on the Soham Mantra. In the description of the
mantra, it was mentioned that Soooo… is like
the sound of inhalation, and that Hummmm…
is like the sound of exhalation. Because
everybody breathes, Soham has been has been
called a Universal Mantra.

Since then, a few conversations have come up
about the literal sound of the breath, and how you
can directly hear this if you listen very closely to
another person's breath. During meditation and
Sohum Mantra practice, your breath should be
very, very quiet. It is only in listening very
closely that you can literally hear the sound.

So that you can hear the difference, a new page
has been added, which has a recording of breath
in the background. It was recorded with the nose
immediately beside the microphone, and the
sound was then amplified so you can hear this.
You can easily notice for yourself that the two
sounds of inhalation and exhalation are really
quite different from one another, and sound
like Soham.

Here's the link:
http://www.swamij.com/soham-breath.htm

In loving service,

Swami J

An attitude of indifference and laxity
towards the purpose of life is ruinous.
We should always carefully refrain from
such an attitude. Friends, my words may
be unpleasant to you, but I will never
give you a coating of sweet words to
this stern truth. How long can we
beguile ourselves by turning away from
the truth of life? Everyone, therefore,
should be vigilant about the aim of life.

Swami Rama
Book of Wisdom
Ishopanishad

Vairagya, non-attachment, means having
equal temperament whether the light
in front of you is green or red.

Swami Jnaneshvara

There is a story that goes like this:

Once upon a time, a student went to
a great sage to ask about the meaning
of life and how to attain the direct
experience of the Highest.

He asked his question, but the sage
gave no answer. He just sat there.

Again, the student asked about how to
find and fulfill the Purpose of life.
Again, the sage just sat there.

The student tried different words,
and appealed with great emotion.
The sage just sat there, as before.

Finally, the student became frustrated,
and blurted out, in an angry tone,
"Why don't you answer me!"

The sage smiled, and said, "I have been
answering you, but you were not
listening. The answer you are looking
for is to be found only in Silence."

-------------

To sit in stillness and silence for
even a few minutes each day is a
very useful thing to do.

May you find that silence which
leads to Silence.

Swami J

http://www.swamij.com/simplestmeditation.htm

Death and birth are two strong habits of the
body; they have nothing to do with annihilation.
Death does not annihilate the essential; it
merely brings about a change of the coverings
around it. Assuming a new covering is called
birth, and casting off the old is called death.
There is no death for the Atman (the Self)
because: 1) Atman is eternal; it is never born
and never dies; it is a perennial source of
knowledge; 2) Atman is self-existent and
does not need the support of anything else,
for Atman alone exists everywhere; and
3) Atman is formless; although it assumes
and casts off forms, it remains unaffected.

Swami Rama
Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita

A few new pages have been added to the
website. I hope you find them useful.

Who is the witness?
http://www.swamij.com/who-is-witness.htm

Japa and ajapa-japa with mantra
http://www.swamij.com/mantra-japa-ajapa.htm

Five stages of meditation
http://www.swamij.com/five-stages-meditation.htm

As a reminder, there is a page linked at the top left
of the home page that lists additions to the website,
if you ever want to check what's new or revised.
http://www.swamij.com/additions.htm

In loving service,

Swami J