Sankalpa of Paramahansa Satyananda

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mahamrityunjaya, mahasamadhi, Mantra, Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati, sankalpa, Swami Satyananda, Yoga

Thanks to Sevapuri (@yidl) for pointing me towards this stunningly beautiful sankalpa (see below), these photos sent out via the Mangrove Mountain Ashram in Australia, and this lovely post of the writer’s experience meeting Satyananda in person (a post that’s well worth reading).

And also, thanks to Linda-Sama for sharing this marvellous looking DVD with me: Yoga of the Heart, featuring Swami Satyananda (I’ve purchased it, and will do a review here some time!).

These are my guru’s words to his students on hearing the news of Swamiji’s passing:

When a great master leaves his body it is not a time to be sad but a time to rejoice. We can give up the fruits of our practice for his quick transition in the clear light. It is important to pray that he will be re-born quickly so that he may continue to be a blessing for all beings.

He also wanted to remind us:

…about feeling the immense gratitude for Swamiji’s presence in the parampara and that to show true gratitude is not to be sad of his passing but to realize the fruits of the practices that he has passed down to all of us so that we may too be a source of grace and inspiration for all beings.

Swamiji’s sankalpa

I am an invisible child of a thousand faces of love,
That floats over the swirling sea of life,
Surrounded by the meadows of the winged shepherds,
Where divine love and beauty,
The stillness of midnight summer’s warmth pervades.

Life often cuts at my body and mind
And though blood may be seen passing,
And a cry might be heard,
Do not be deceived that sorrow could dwell within my being
Or suffering within my soul.
There will never be a storm
That can wash the path from my feet,
The direction from my heart,
The light from my eyes,
Or the purpose from this life.

I know that I am untouchable to the forces
As long as I have a direction, an aim, a goal:
To serve, to love, and to give.
Strength lies in the magnification of the secret qualities
Of my own personality, my own character
And though I am only a messenger,
I am me.

Let me decorate many hearts
And paint a thousand faces with colours of inspiration
And soft, silent sounds of value.
Let me be like a child,
Run barefoot through the forest
Of laughing and crying people,
Giving flowers of imagination and wonder,
That God gives free.
Shall I fall on bended knees,
And wait for someone to bless me
With happiness and a life of golden dreams?

No, I shall run into the desert of life with my arms open,
Sometimes falling, sometimes stumbling,
But always picking myself up,
A thousand times if necessary,
Sometimes happy.
Often life will burn me,
Often life will caress me tenderly
And many of my days will be haunted
With complications and obstacles,
And there will be moments so beautiful
That my soul will weep in ecstasy.

I shall be a witness,
But never shall I run
Or turn from life, from me.

Never shall I forsake myself
Or the timeless lessons I have taught myself,
Nor shall I let the value
Of divine inspiration and being be lost.
My rainbow-covered bubble will carry me
Further than beyond the horizon’s settings,
Forever to serve, to love, and to live
As a sannyasin.

~Swami Satyananda Saraswati

There is something in that for all of us! Reading those words, I find myself melting and dropping all of my pretence and struggle. Even if only momentarily. So, I’ve decided I will create a poster of the sankalpa with photos of Swamiji – something to hang up in my home and re-read often, to be continually inspired!

For those who know the mahamrityunjaya and if you feel inclined, it would be good to do some rounds of this mantra and dedicate them to Swamiji.

~Svasti

The passing of a great soul: Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati

Tags

Bihar School of Yoga, gurudakshina, mahasamadhi, mahasiddha, Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati, Swami Sivananda, Swamiji, tattwas, Yoga, yoga nidra

“Let the inner lamp grow brighter and brighter. Let the old leaves wither away. Lets the clouds subside. Let the great light prevail. Let the divine force rejoice in thee.”
~ Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati (Book of Rikhiapeeth 2009)

He took mahasamadhi on 5^th December 2009, reportedly he was found in padmasana. According to reports, his last words to Swami Shivpur Saraswati were: “I see flowers from the cottage where I lie”.

Though I was never privileged to meet him, Swamiji (Paramahamsa Satyananda) has been a part of my life for many years.

He is my guru’s guru and as such I’ve heard innumerable tales of my guru’s time with him, and his photo is on my altar (along with my guru’s and also Swamiji‘s guru Swami Sivananda), as well as others around my house. I have many Bihar School of Yoga books by Swamiji and those of his disciples.

Swamiji was one of the greatest yogis of this era. But he was no “rock star” guru. Although he spent twenty or so years teaching in the West and established the Bihar School of Yoga, he was never in the game of becoming famous.

Instead, once he’d fulfilled his gurudakshina, he retired from public life to focus on his practice in private, for the benefit of all beings.

The stories of Swamiji’s early life are quite legendary – the sorts of things that cause skeptics to snort derisively. It is said that he had to learn to fully inhabit his physical form, unlike most humans who need to learn to work up from the densest tattwas. He spent his teen years learning Kundalini yoga and at age nineteen he met his guru, Swami Sivananda in 1943.

In 1973, Swamiji was recognised as an Adept/mahasiddha (God realized Yogi). Some people have reportedly seen evidence of this, including that of the ability to produce two physical bodies in different places at the same time. As well as touring and teaching in the West, Swamiji also established various charitable organisations including Sivananda Math in 1984.

His physical age at the time of his passing was 86 although once a being becomes a mahasiddha, it is said their birth is erased: never born, never died.

The most interesting experiences I’ve had with Swamiji have been while sitting at my altar, meditating… it’s a little hard to explain any further than that…

And of course, he was my guru’s guru. Although my guru is not a part of the BSY organisation, he benefitted directly via teachings from Swamiji as well as Swami Naranjananda. It is through those teachings that I have come to the path of the dharma.

So I have a great deal of gratitude and love for Swamiji.

Given my recent guest posts, I realised I was unclear that much of my last eight or so years studying yoga have not been strongly focused on asana. But more the other aspects of yoga – meditation and philosophy. We learned asana of course, but it was never the “main meal”, so to speak. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I decided to take a more serious interest in asana.

Despite Swamij’s lack of interest in fame, is surprising to me that so few westerners know who he was/is. That Yoga Nidra thing you might’ve heard about or even used yourself? You have Swamiji to thank for that. He ressurected it as a practice and as a result, it became well known. His book on Yoga Nidra is well worth reading if you get the chance.

Swamiji was and is a great master of yoga – a true and authentic being whose eyes always seem to overflow with love and compassion.

This video is a recording of Swamiji’s voice, singing the Shanti Path mantra.

May all beings dwell in happiness. May all beings dwell in peace. May all beings attain oneness. May all beings attain auspiciousness.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!

It is said that when a mahasiddha takes a conscious passing, that he never really dies – make of that what you will…

~Svasti