H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji

OMTIMES: What can a person do – besides going to yoga class – daily to integrate yoga into their lives?

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji: We have talked about remaining self-aware, calm and balanced throughout the day, but let me give you three capsules, a multivitamin, so to speak that you can take every day to truly help bring yoga into your daily life.

The first capsule is meditation. Meditation is the best medication for all agitations. To address this “dis-ease” they feel, or this inability to simply be content, they may medicate themselves or fill their lives with excessive material pleasures. Yet, suppression or enhancement of your life experiences are not the solutions, nor do they address the underlying issues. External “fixes” are simply bandages to a wound that runs deeper below the surface.

Meditation brings you into contact with your true self, your own divinity. It brings you back to the world from which you come: the realm of the Divine.

As we sit in meditation, we come to experience ourselves as a conscious presence that is not dependent on the mind. The endless working of the mind as it jumps here and there trying to tell you what is “likable vs. unlikable” and what you think you should know overwhelms us and leaves us mentally exhausted. So many times by the end of the day, we cannot even think straight. Through meditation, the mind rests and allows you to sit with your being. And with practice, your mind will loosen its grip on you, and you will come to realize the insignificance of that which once caused you anxiety; you will realize the transient nature of all your troubles. You will realize the life is better when you are calm and content.

Take five minutes at work, on the train, in the office to be present, watch your breath, focus on the oneness of us all, and connect with the Divine. Let your life become meditation.

The second capsule is no reaction to external events during the day. We must learn to become calmer and unaffected by all that happens around us. How much of our lives are spent in reactive behavior? How often do we have a knee-jerk reaction to situations or people? We feel a wave of emotion, we blurt something out or even physically lash out, all without any conscious thought or control.

But how to be non-reactive during the day? This is called spiritual practice! I always say that one of the best ways to strengthen our “no reaction” is through silence. When we restrain ourselves from constantly talking (in mind and speech), we practice that wonderful ability to hold ourselves and indeed become a witness to what is happening around us. Our powers of observation increase and we can learn to see the bigger picture by spending time silently observing. So often, reactive behavior comes from seeing a small amount of information, judging it and instantaneously reacting to it. By practicing periods of silence and by grabbing the space between cause and effect, we can regain peace, calm and control in our lives.

The third capsule is introspection. At the end of the day, a good businessman always checks his balance sheet. A good teacher reviews her students’ test scores. By looking at their successes and failures, they assess how well they are doing.

In the same way, each night we too should examine the balance sheet of our day: what were our successes and what were our failures? For all the successes, all our “plus-points,” we must give credit to God, in whatever name or whatever form you have, for we have truly done nothing but let God work through us. Give all the credit to the Divine.

Equally, we can also give our failures to God. The fault may be ours, yet God is so forgiving and so compassionate that all our negatives can be given back to the Divine. In becoming aware of your short fallings and yet releasing them back to God, it clears us of self-negativity, giving us the resolution to strive to better the next day.

If we practice these three points every day, then our lives will become beautiful.

OMTIMES: You have spent over 15 years in the forests, how has that shaped your life?

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji: For the past nearly fifty years I have had the good fortune to call the sacred land of Rishikesh, on the banks of Mother Ganga in the lap of the Himalayas, my home. At a very young age, I was blessed to spend a lot of time with and in the presence of many Saints, Sadhus, and Rishis. I was also trained and disciplined by my Guru to perform many austerities in the jungles and, as a young child, spent many years in silence in the thick forests of Northern India. I often look back and think about those Rishis and Sadhus and how much they have shaped my life. I remember how they had no plan for their next meal, they owned nothing, had nothing but they lived in absolute gratitude, joy, and bliss. Despite owning nothing, when asked how they were at any given time, they would reply, “Mast,” which means “Super.” It is so interesting to me that today, we have so many things; we own sofa sets, TV sets, closets and we have everything in our lives set, but yet we are still upset. Those who seem to have the most seem to be the most upset and those who have very little, but an abundance of yoga, are set.

OMTIMES: What was the secret of their peace and happiness?

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji: What were those mantras, those sutras, those values that kept the Sages and the Sadhus of the forest in peace and not in pieces? What was the light that allowed them to be better, not bitter? What were the teachings that taught them and instilled in them to BE more, not merely to have more? I want to share with you three core tenets and teachings, that the Mystics lived by, which I think are critical to connecting, uniting and living in peace and harmony.

First Mantra: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam:

The World is a Parivar (family) not merely a Bazaar (marketplace)

This beautiful mantra is,“Ayamnijahparovetigananalaghuchetasam, udaracharitanantuVasudhaivaKutumbakam.” Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. This simply and beautifully means that the whole world is one family.

Tragically, today we are treating our whole world as a bazaar, as a shopping center, as a marketplace (buying and selling our Mother Earth and calling those pieces commodities). When we buy and sell commodities we lose our connection to its source, we feel as if we own what we purchase and, yet it does not belong to us, it is a gift gifted to us from our Mother Earth. This beautiful Mantra teaches us that the world is not a bazaar but the world is a Parivar (family). Just as in our families and with those we love, we naturally live, love, share and serve together, so to should we widen our understanding of family to include the whole world. We are all indeed one family.

Let us shift in our mindset, a shift in our thoughts to the idea that the world is just like our own family and we all are one. We have to live for each other, we have to share with each other, and with that, there will be no room for greed. When we truly know the world is our family, will work selflessly to serve our world family and never exploit or take more than we need.

Second Mantra: Divine Pervades All

Expanding the Spirit of a Sacred Pilgrimage

The first line of the Isha Upanishad reminds us that God pervades everything on Earth. Isha vasa idamsarvam. There is nowhere, no being whom He does not pervade. All of creation is, therefore, Divine. Our tradition asks us to protect all life that God has created. We should know that God is everywhere and we should honor and protect all of His creation and in protecting His creation, nature itself, we can protect the world for the generations still to come.

This is a deep realization. When we see the divine spark in all, how can cause harm to it? When we see the divine in the animal kingdom, how can we slay life just because we say it tastes good? When we see the divine in nature, how can we ravage it for what we think are items of value? When we see that the divine pervades all, we will see that everything in nature has a deep and abiding value and its own role to play in the divine plan.

Third Mantra: Worshiping the Creator Means Protecting and Preserving All of Creation

Our ancient sages personified the Earth as Mother Earth and worshipped her as Goddess (Devi). Now more than ever, we need these mantras to learn how to live in peace within ourselves and with the world. Now, more than ever protection of Nature is paramount. Nature is seen as a Guru (our teacher) and the very pure essence of the divine, not as a commodity at our disposal. Just spend some time looking at nature, watch a plant or an ant. See how peaceful and content they are. Look at the sun, it shines for all and gives life to all, no matter who or where you are, or what you have done to deserve its rays. We too should be like the sun, just giving and sharing ourselves to all with no hesitation, no expectation, and no discrimination.

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All life is sacred. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says the wise see all living beings equally. This equality is based on the knowledge that we are all part and parcel of the eternal, divine, supreme reality. Wherever we see life, be it human, animal or plant, we see the Atma, an embodiment of that Divine.

We have lost touch with the power of these sacred Mantras and nature is paying the price for our ignorance. We must now live more consciously, tread on this planet more mindfully and use its resources sparingly. We also need to serving tirelessly to replenish and recharge nature from that which have so wantonly taken.

OMTIMES: Last year you led the International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations and every year in the first week of March you host the International Yoga Festival? Can you tell us what Yoga means to you?

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji: I talked earlier about Yoga and how it is a universal answer to not only living a balanced, peaceful and joyous live but also to obtain the goal; union with the Divine, within our own Selves and in the world around us. The International Yoga Festival is a wonderful way for seekers of truth to join with like-minded souls and learn, experience and embody the teaching of yoga in the birthplace of yoga itself: Rishikesh in the presence of the divine flow of Mother Ganga.

OMTIMES: You mention 101 countries participated in the International Yoga Festival? What do you think draws them to Parmarth Niketan (Rishikesh)?

H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji: Today the world is searching for peace. We have everything set, but we are upset. We have seen that all the possessions and prestige in the world does not bring us happiness. Also, we are suffering from the epidemic of stress and stress-induced illnesses of the body and mind. People are yearning for an answer. That answer is in yoga, but not merely in the physical exercises. The answer is in the fullness, the wholeness of the practice of true union with the Self.

Last year, during IYF 2017, we had more than 1700 participants from 101 countries join us in celebration of life and oneness. It was truly a beautiful and wonderful experience for all, and in 2018 we look forward to welcoming yoga participants and seekers from more than 108 countries!

Each year the top yogic masters, from a wide variety of traditions, from all over India and all the world come to offer Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, power yoga. They also offer meditation, reiki, yoga therapy, as well as lectures on yoga, Vedanta, ancient Indian philosophy, Ayurveda and so much more. It is through our diverse offerings that people from all walks of life begin to understand the true meaning and oneness of yoga. To join us for this incredible and transformative celebration, visit us at www.internationalyogafestival.org for more information and registration.

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