Sanskrit Words Every Yogi Should Know

1. Asana. My first yoga teacher put the accent on the second syllable, like this: ah-SAW’-nah. I still think that has a nice ring to it. But the correct pronunciation is AH’-sah-nah. Literally, it means “seat,” but in yoga class it’s pretty much interchangeable with the word “pose.” 

For example, Balasana = Child’s Pose, Navasana = Boat Pose… and so on.

2. Namaste. This is my favorite Sanskrit word because it’s fun to say–nah’-mah’-stay. It means: The divine light within me salutes the divine light within you. My incredibly simplified translation: I’m awesome. You’re awesome. All these other people are awesome. Isn’t it awesome that we just practiced yoga together? 

Thanks for your presence.

3. Om. Ooooooohhhhhmmmmmmm. Apparently, this is the sound of the universe. The written version of Om has become a universal symbol of yoga–it adorns yoga studio walls and is tattooed on yoga students everywhere. But what does it mean? Essentially, we are all a part of this universe–always moving, always changing, always breathing. When you chant Om, you’re tapping into that vibration.

4. Shanti. Peace. When you chant, “Om shanti shanti shanti,” it’s an invocation of peace. In Buddhist and Hindu traditions you chant shanti three times to represent peace in body, speech, and mind.

5. Yoga. We all know that yoga is the union of body, mind, and spirit. That’s what the word yoga means–yoke or union. It is, indeed, the practice of connecting our body, mind, and spirit, but it can mean more than that, too. It’s about connecting us to ourselves, each other, our environment, and, eventually, our truth.

May you each be blessed with peace and beauty, love and light.

The Glory of Saints By Sri Swami Sivananda 

Sivananda Saraswati (or Swami Sivananda; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963) was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

A saint is a god on earth. To him, the whole world is mere straw. To him, gold and stone are alike. To him, pleasure and pain are the same.

A saint lives in God. He has realized God. He knows God. He has become God. He speaks of God. He shows the way to God. He is God-intoxicated. He is God Himself. He is one with God.

Saints are God's agents on earth. God reveals Himself in a saint in His full glory, infinite power, wisdom and bliss.

The saints constitute a ladder for the pilgrims to the shrine of God. Wherever saints and sages stay even for a half-second, then and there are sacred places like Varnasi, Prayag and Brindavan.

A saint is a blessing on earth. Saints are the living symbols of religion and are the true benefactors of humanity. Throughout history, saints have played a great part in preserving spiritual values in the world.

A saint is a spiritual washerman. He applies the soap of devotion and knowledge, and removes the spots of sin in worldly people. In his presence, man becomes holy.

The moment the mind thinks of a sage, immediately all evil desires, base passions, are brushed aside. Meditation on the lives of saints is equal to holy company. Study of their teachings is equal to holy company.

To think of saints, to live in their company, to have good fortune of receiving their blessings, is to draw forth upon yourself a shower of purity, inspiration and divine consciousness.

The Nature of a Saint

A saint is free from I-ness and mine-ness. He is free from lust, anger, and greed. He loves all beings as his own Self. He is endowed with dispassion and mercy. He speaks the truth and serves all. He ever meditates on the Lord. He does not speak ill of others. He has equal vision. He sees Devi or Mother in all women. He is ever joyful and peaceful. He sings the glory of the Lord. He has divine knowledge. He is fearless and generous. He never begs, but gives. He is majestic and lordly. Such a one is rare in the whole world. He is not easily found. He is not born everywhere.

Love is the very breath of a saint. Mercy is his very nature. His heart overflows with compassion. He does not look to the faults of others. He returns good for evil and blesses those who curse him.

The heart of a sage is a flame of love and his whole being thirsts for the uplift of suffering humanity. He forgets himself utterly and lives but for the sake of others.

A saint sees the whole world as the projection of his own soul. A sage sees unity in diversity. He becomes one with the whole world.

A sage is a youth amongst the youth, aged amongst the old, brave amongst the brave, a child amongst children. He feels the pain and suffering among sufferers.

The Life of a Saint

The life of a saint is plain, simple, and attractive. It is full of grace. It is methodical. A saint is ever of good cheer. He knows no ill of life. To him, life is joy. He experiences no trial of misery. He is fearless. No monarch has sway over him.

The life of a saint is always a life of quiet, of indrawn stillness, of solitude and aloofness. He is untouched by the changes of the world. No external happening can shake him off his balance. He is centred in his own Atman or Absolute Consciousness.

A sage is desireless and so he is ever happy. A king possesses everything and so he is happy. But, the happiness of a sage is infinite, because he lives in his own Atman, the ocean of Brahmic Bliss. A king is full of fears and worries. He is afraid that his enemies will conquer him one day and so he is restless and miserable.

The happiness of a liberated sage is not sensual pleasure. It is Atmic Self-bliss. He enjoys the whole world simultaneously as the Self of all objects. His happiness is not in time. It is transcendental bliss.

A sage alone is really wealthy. Multi-millionaires with cravings and desires are beggars. A saint is superior to an emperor, to Indra, the Lord of heaven.

A sage has awakened from the dream of life. He enjoys eternal bliss. To a sage of illumination, the entire world surrenders.

A Sage Need Not be a Genius

The sage moves among men, but he is unseen by all men; he is taken by them as an ordinary man.

Only a sage can know a sage. He will sometimes appear like a Sarvajna, an all knower. He will sometimes appear like an Ajnani, an ignorant man. He knows when to act like a Brahma-nishtha and when to behave like a fool. Do not judge him. If you approach him with the proper Bhava, with faith, devotion and spiritual thirst, he will impart the highest knowledge to you. If you approach him with a bad motive, he will behave like a madman and you will be deceived. Great will be your loss then.

A Brahma-jnani or liberated sage need not be a genius. He need not be an eloquent speaker, orator, lecturer or professor. But, he is calm, serene, and tranquil. He is taciturn and silent. His silence is superior eloquence. He has equanimity and balanced mind. He has equal vision. He has Samata and Sama-drishti. He is a Mouni, Maha Mouni, and Muni. He has divine wisdom and intuitive knowledge. In his presence, all doubts are cleared.

Saints Have No Caste

There is no caste among saints and sages. A sage is like a lion out of the cage, free from shackles of caste, creed, profession, tradition and scripture. Do not look to the caste of saints and sages. You will not be benefited. You cannot imbibe their virtues. In higher religion, there is neither caste nor creed. Cobblers, weavers, and untouchables had become the best saints.

There is no real difference between a Christian mystic and a Hindu saint. Their sayings never clash. The messages of the saints are essentially the same. They have always been a call to men to discover the Wisdom of the Self or Atman.

Sages Differ in their Conduct

Knowledge is the same in all sages, but their conduct is different. Sri Vasishtha was a Karma-kandi; he did Havans and sacrifices. Raja Janaka was a Bhogi; he ruled his dominion; he enjoyed regal pleasures. Sri Dattatreya was a wanderer; he was an Avadhuta, a naked Fakir. Kakabhusundhi was a Yogi. Some even marry.

Sages like Dattatreya and Jadabharata roam about happily. They have neither rooms nor clothing. All dualities have become extinct. They cannot work for the well-being of the world like Raja Janaka and Sri Sankara. But, their mere presence elevates people.

The other type of sage is the benevolent sage - like Raja Janaka and Sri Sankara - who works for the solidarity of the world. He has compassion for all. He writes books, conducts classes, establishes Mutts or Ashrams. You may ask: "Which of the two kinds is superior ?". The answer is: "Both are on the same level".

A Sage is not Selfish

Ignorant people say, "A sage is attempting for his own Self-realization. He is extremely selfish. He is of no use to society". This is a serious mistake. A sage is the most benevolent superman. He is extremely kind and compassionate. He elevates at once all persons who come in contact with him. Further, he does Sakti-sanchar through his Divya-Drishti. He finds out the deserving aspirants and raises them up through Sankalpa Sakti, even while remaining in a cave or Kutir in the distant Himalayas.

A Jnani is not a selfish man as worldly men think. His spiritual vibrations purify the world. His very life is exemplary and elevating. He gives hope and encouragement to others to tread the spiritual path. He is the only real lover of mankind. He feels the presence of God in everyone. He loves his neighbour as himself. A Jnani only does real selfless service as he feels the presence of God in all beings. He is the real altruist and humanitarian.

Do not Judge a Saint

You cannot apply the worldly yardstick to measure the greatness of the saints. Do not superimpose defects on them on account of your evil eye. You cannot judge their merits.

Brahma-nishtha are like fire. They can consume anything. Their very touch purifies everything. They are beyond good and bad; they are themselves the supreme good. Do not imitate their actions. Their actions are strange and mysterious. They are beyond your intellect. If you commit theft and say, "Did not Krishna steal butter ?", you will be hopelessly ruined. Krishna lifted up the Govardhana Hill with His little finger. Can you lift even a big stone with all your strength ? Follow the Upadesa of saints and Mahapurushas; you will attain Brahma-Jnana here and now.

How to Benefit by the Company of Saints

To benefit from the company of saints, you have to prepare yourself first. Do not go with any preconceived notion or prejudice. Go with an open, receptive mind. Go without expectations. Approach them humbly and respectfully. Assimilate what appeals to you. If some of their teachings do not appeal to you, do not form a hasty opinion. If you do not like them, you need not take them to heart. What may be suitable to another may not be suitable to you. Yet, with regard to broad fundamentals, there can be no difference of opinion.

When you go before a sage, do not ask him questions out of mere inquisitiveness. Sit in his presence humbly. Observe him. Listen to him without prejudice. Ask him only such questions about which you really need clarifications. Ask him only pertinent questions. Do not draw him into politics or public bickering.

Meditate in the presence of a sage. You will get inner light which will clear your doubts.

Saints as Advisers

The very company of sages and saints has a tremendous transforming effect on the lives of true seekers. It lifts them up to heights of sublimity, purity and spirituality. It does not fail to affect even the rank materialists.

Every school, every college, every boarding house, every jail, every institution, every house should have a saint for the guidance of its members.

Saints and sages only can become real advisers to the kings, because they are selfless and possess the highest wisdom. They only can improve the morality of the masses. They only can show the way to attain eternal bliss and immortality. Shivaji had Swami Ramdas as his adviser. King Dasaratha had Maharishi Vasishtha as his adviser.

Saints are in abundance. You do not want them. You do not wish to approach them. You do not wish to serve them. You do not aspire for higher things. You are perfectly satisfied with some broken shells and glass-pieces. There is no thirst or spiritual hunger in you for achieving higher divine knowledge and inner peace.

Spiritual opportunity is a rare privilege. Do not lose such opportunities. Take recourse to the company of sages and saints. One moment of company with the Holy builds a ship to cross this ocean of life.

God is the great purifier. A saint also is a great purifier. God incarnates as saints and sages when their need is felt most.

Study the lives of saints. You are inspired at once. Remember their sayings. You are elevated immediately. Walk in their footsteps. You are freed from pain and sorrow.

Seek the company of sages and evolve. Satsang with sages is unfailing in its results.

Swami Vivekananda was born in 1863 in Calcutta. His parents named him Narendranath Dutta, or Naren for short. As a young man, Vivekananda joined the course in philosophy at the Scottish Churches College of Calcutta (Kolkata), and also became a disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a great mystic and devotee of Kali. Ramakrishna was a phenomenal enlightened being, and he saw great potential in Naren. Seeing his capability to percieve, Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda, where Viveka means perception in Sanskrit. Swami Vivekananda went out into the world to spread Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s message. In 1893, he was invited to the World Parliament of Religions, in Chicago. As a representative of Hinduism. he gave several speeches to great acclaim within the Parliament and the world at large. He is credited with playing a big part in bringing an understanding of Hinduism to the Western mindset.

Vivekananda stressed the importance of coming together for the betterment of society and urged Indians to adopt the Indian culture and the path of Karma Yoga, or the yoga of action. According to this, the path to salvation lies through active work in this world in selfless devotion, with bothering about the fruits of one’s actions. The respect that Vivekananda gained in the western part of the world had a great impact on his Indian contemporaries. British ideas of the Hindu way of life had looked at it as a collection of superstitious nonsense and pointless ritualism. Vivekananda’s outspoken defense of the Hindu way of life and his explanation of various facets of Indian culture won him many admirers in the East and the West. He fired the imaganation of Indian youth and became a national hero. His ideals had a big influence on many Independence-era politicians. The great liberal, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and the fervent socialist, Jawaharlal Nehru, both acknowledged their debts to Vivekananda in their later years.

Though Vivekananda praised the nobler ideas of the Hindu spiritual tradition, he was also an inveterate critic of certain discriminatory practices such as untouchability, which he characterized as a social custom not justified by religion. In 1887, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission, as an organisation for the dissemination of Ramakrishna’s spiritual path. Vivekananda’s trips to several Western countries paved the way for the global spread of the Ramakrishna Mission. The Mission has published the eight volumes of his collected works, which contain his books on Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Karma Yoga, as well as his numerous speeches.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai.

Uniqueness of Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings and message

The sayings of Sri Ramakrishna stand on a unique pedestal. Sri Ramakrishna possessed not only a great intellect and an artistic mind, but had the additional qualification that he had ‘seen God face to face; talked with Him’ and shared the Divine life. Hence Sri Ramakrishna’s words on these transcendental themes come with a weight of authority derived from the Supreme Being Himself.

There are more than 1100 sayings and parables of Sri Ramakrishna. The manner and method of his teaching, as well as his relationship with his disciples, were in many respects unique. He never undertook the work of teaching in an egoistic sense. He was the humblest of men, without any sense of ego in him, and he attributed all that he achieved to the Divine Mother of the universe. And it was because of this very fact of his having surrendered his ego completely to the Divine that the Guru Shakti (the redeeming power of the Lord) manifested itself through his body and mind in so remarkable a degree, sanctifying and enlightening all that came within their influence.

Sri Ramakrishna had the strange capacity to make himself interesting and intelligible to people of diverse temperaments and stages of intellectual developments. He could astound learned Pandits like Sasadhar and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar by the profundity of his wisdom, and he could also bring himself to the intellectual level of the ignorant village woman, to have her simple doubts cleared.

Sri Ramakrishna preached no particular dogma, creed or philosophy. What he did was convey to people a spirit that transformed their outlook on life and gave them an insight into the ultimate nature of the world and of human personality. In doing this, he relied not on formal sermons and discourses, but on loving contacts, illustrations drawn from Nature, a life of purity and self-control, and above all the practice of silent Japa and meditation. His instructions, whether on philosophy, devotion or conduct would take the form of witty sayings, striking analogies and illuminating parables.

Question: What is Jnana Yoga?

Sri Ramakrishna: Jnana Yoga is communion with God by means of knowledge. Knowledge (Jnana) varies in degree and kind from person to person. There is first the Jnana or insight of men of the world – ordinary mortals. This knowledge is not sufficiently powerful. It may be compared to the flame of a lamp, which illumines only the interior of a room. The Jnana of a Bhakta (devotee) is a stronger light. It may be compared to the light of the moon which reveals things both inside and outside a room. But the Jnana of the Avatara is still more powerful, and may be likened to the sun. He is the sun of Divine knowledge whose light dispels the accumulated ignorance of ages.

Methods of Jnana Yoga: The Ego:

If a man knows his own self, he knows other beings and God. What is my ego? Ponder deeply, and you will know that there is no such thing as ‘I’. As you peel off the skin of an onion, you find it consists only of skin; you cannot find any kernel in it. So too on analysing the ego, you will find that there is no real entity that you can call ‘I’. Such an analysis of the ego convinces one that the ultimate substance is God alone. When egotism drops away, Divinity manifests Itself.

Bhakti(Devotion) The path of Love

Nothing can be impressed on smooth glass, but when the surface is coated with proper chemicals, pictures can be impressed upon it, as in photography. In the same way, on the human heart coated with the chemicals of Bhakti, the image of Divinity can be impressed.

Unless one screens the eyes of unbroken horses, they will not move a single step. Is it possible to realise God unless one’s passions have already been controlled? In a sense not. But that is true only of Jnana Yoga, the path of Knowledge. The knowing one says, “One must first be pure if one desires to see God. One must first control one’s passions. First self-discipline, then knowledge of God.”There is however, another path leading to God – the path of devotion (Bhakti Yoga). If one man gains love of God, if once the chanting of His holy name begins to thrill the devotee with joy, what effort is needed for the control of passions afterwards? The control comes of itself. Can a man suffering from intense grief be in a mood to enter into a quarrel, or to enjoy a feast, or to give his mind up to the pleasures of the senses? So one absorbed in the love of God cannot think of sense-pleasures.

A poet has compared devotion to God to a tiger. As the tiger devours animals, devotion also swallows up all the ‘arch-enemies’ of man, such as lust, passion and the rest. Once the devotion to God is fully awakened, all evil passions like lust and anger are completely destroyed.

Why does a Bhakta (devotee) forsake everything for the sake of God?

The insect flies from darkness as soon as it sees a light. The ant loses its life in the syrup without leaving it. So does the Bhakta cling to God forever, and leaves all.

The Master: Does the moth seek darkness once it has seen light?

Questioner: It does not - it will rather rush into the flame and perish.

The Master: But such is not the case with the true worshipper of God. The Divine Light to which he is drawn does not burn and cause death. It is like the lustre of a gem, shining yet soft, cool and soothing. It burns not, but illumines the heart with peace and joy.

Worship of Images

While raising a building, the scaffolding is indispensable; but when the work is completed, no one feels the necessity of it. So also image-worship is necessary in the beginning but not afterwards.

Do you believe in a God with form or in a formless God?"

"In the formless aspect," was the reply.

The Master asked: But how can you grasp the formless aspect all at once? When the archers are learning to shoot, they first aim at the plantain tree, then at a thin tree, then at a fruit, then at the leaves, and finally at a flying bird. First meditate on the aspect with form. This will enable you to see the formless later.

As a boy begins to learn writing by drawing big scrawl before he can master a smaller hand, so we must acquire the power of concentration by first fixing the mind on forms; and we have attained success therein, we can easily fix it upon the Formless.

You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heaven during the day? O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.

Adopt adequate means for the end you seek to attain. You cannot get butter by crying yourself hoarse, “There is butter in the milk!” If you wish to make butter, you must turn the milk into curds, and churn it well. Then alone you can get butter. So if you long to see God, practise spiritual exercises. What is the use of merely crying, “Lord! Lord?”

Satsang -Company of the holy - Benefits of Pious Company

When going through spiritual exercises do not associate with those who never concern themselves with matters spiritual. Such people scoff at those who worship God and meditate upon Him and they ridicule piety and the pious. Keep yourself aloof from them.

As many people warm themselves in the fire kindled by someone else who has taken the trouble of collecting the firewood and other necessary things, similarly many fix their mind on the Lord by associating with and following the instruction of holy men who have come to know the Lord after many a hard penance.

God is one, but His aspects are many. As the master of a house is father to one, brother to another and husband to a third, and is called by different names by different persons, so the one God is described in various ways according to the particular aspects in which He appears to particular worshippers.

The Destiny of Man

The digit one may be raised to a figure of any value by adding zeros after it; but if that one is omitted, zeroes by themselves have no value. Similarly so long as the jiva (individual soul) does not cling to God, Who is the One, he has no value, for all things here get their value from their connection with God. So long as the Jiva clings to God, Who is the value-giving figure behind the world, and does all his work for Him, he gains more and more thereby; on the contrary, if he overlooks God and adds to his work many grand achievements, all done for his own glorification, he will gain nothing there from.

First gain God, and then gain wealth; but do not try to do the contrary. If, after acquiring spirituality, you lead a worldly life, you will never lose your peace of mind.

Do you talk of social reform? Well, you may do so after realising God. Remember, the Rishis of old gave up the world in order to attain God. This is the one thing needful. All other things shall be added to you, if indeed you care to have them. First see God, and then talk of lectures and social reforms.

A newcomer to a city should first secure a comfortable room for his rest at night, and after keeping his luggage there, he may freely go about the city for sightseeing. Otherwise he may have to suffer much in the darkness of night to get a place for rest. Similarly, after securing his eternal resting place in God, a newcomer to this world can fearlessly move about doing his daily work. Otherwise, when the dark and dreadful night of death comes over him, he will have to encounter great difficulties and sufferings.

Man in Bondage

There are three dolls- the first made of salt, the second made of cloth, and the third of stone. If these dolls are immersed in water, the first doll made of salt will become dissolved and lose its form. The second doll made from cloth will absorb a large quantity of water but retain its form. The third doll, made of stone, will remain impervious to water. The first doll made from salt represents the man who merges his self in the universal and all-pervading Self and becomes one with It. He is the liberated man. The second doll from cloth represents the Bhakta (devotee) or the true lover of God, who is full of Divine bliss and knowledge. And the third doll made of stone, represents the worldly man who will not admit even a particle of true knowledge into his heart.

Death and Reincarnation

When an unbaked pot is broken, the potter can use the mud to make a new one; but when a baked one is broken, he cannot do the same any longer. So when a person dies in a state of ignorance, he is born again but when he becomes well baked in the fire of true knowledge and dies a perfect man, he is not born again.

A grain of boiled paddy does not sprout again when sown. Only unboiled paddy sends forth the shoot. Similarly when one dies after becoming a Siddha, a perfect man, he has not to be born again, but an Asiddha, an imperfect man, has to be born again until he becomes a Siddha.

Perseverance

The hereditary peasant does not give up tilling the soil though it may not rain for twelve years; but a merchant who has recently taken to agriculture is discouraged by one season of drought. The true believer is never discouraged even if he fails to see God in spite of lifelong devotion.

Faith

A stone may remain in water for numberless years; yet the water will never penetrate into it. But clay is soon soaked into mud by the contact of water. So the strong heart of the faithful does not despair in the midst of trials and persecutions, but the man of weak faith is shaken even by the most trifling cause.

Sri Ramakrishna taught more by his life than by words. He never wrote or lectured, but imparted all his teachings in the shape of informal conversations, some of which have been faithfully recorded by his disciples.

What and Why is spirituality important in our lives in day to day living...

Maybe you've heard about spirituality but aren't really sure what it is. Well, it's different from religion, and you can practise it even if you're not religious.

Spirituality has to do with the spirit, not as in ghosts, but as in the essence of being human — your soul or your inner life.

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience—something that touches us all.

Many people like to tell others they are a 'spiritual' person probably to let them know they are not materialistic or superficial and that they 'get it'. That's fine if we all understand and agree on what we're talking about.

Why is spirituality important in our lives?

In order for us to function fully, all aspects of ourselves must be balanced. Our mind, body and spirit have to be in harmony with each other.

How is that spiritual?

It is spiritual because when you are immersed in, and deriving pleasure from it, it touches your soul and connects you to the artist and creation itself (God).

You experience spiritual moments when you walk through the woods and connect with nature, walk along a beautiful beach, or when you see the sun set.

What are examples of spirituality? 

• Prayer.

• Meditation.

• Miracles.

• Visualizations.

• Dreams.

• Spirit Helpers/Guardian Angels.

• Animal Spirit Helpers.

• Ceremonies.