AHYMSIN-Americas Newsletter Articles

 The Friend Within REFINING YOUR INNER INSTRUMENT    by Randall Krause   We live in these little bodies, and from the inside they feel pretty much the same throughout our whole lives. It's the outside that changes. Something inside stays constant. This is one of the central teachings of Swami Rama's Sacred Journey : our true Self — the Atman, the Purusha, by many names — never changes. Our task is to find it.   Swami Rama tells us to begin with the inner instrument, the antakarana . In the West we call it simply "the mind," but the tradition describes four distinct functions: manas , the sensory mind; buddhi , the discriminating intellect that makes choices; chitta , where memories and impressions are stored; and ahamkara , the ego, the voice that says this is mine . The first work is training each of these to do its proper job — because if we don't, they overreach.   Manas, for instance, is meant to ask the question — Is this good for me? Is this not good ...

  Exploring Silence by Carol Crenshaw  The idea of a silence retreat can be terrifying to some, anxiety-producing to others, and a welcome pause in a busy life for still others. Which category do you fall into? Even the meaning of silence itself brings up a wide range of thoughts, emotions, and reactions. For some, silence simply means not speaking. But what about gestures, notes, pantomime, or communication through glances? Swami Veda spoke of silence as remembering your true nature even while speaking. He said, “Speak only when you are in silence.” Many misunderstandings and hurt feelings could be avoided if we followed this advice! What do you do during a silence retreat? Some people like to read, listen to recordings, sleep, or otherwise fill up space in the day. For beginners, some of this may be helpful. But since the purpose of silence is to go inward, spiritual practice is the best use of our time. That being said, rest is important. Many of us begin a retreat carrying...

The Vasudeva Principle NOTES FROM MY PATH   by Rob Diggins   As a beginner—really, a Level II TTP student—I first read an assigned article about something called the Vasudeva Principle. At that time, I felt nothing. As a musician in a local kirtan band, I regularly chanted Sanskrit phrases, including one that contained the word “Vasudeva.” Still, skepticism lingered within me.   Faith—the practice of believing simply because of tradition or indoctrination—had been so ridiculed and denigrated during my childhood that skepticism became my default posture. Faith itself was cast as the problem, the “opiate of the masses,” and the once-popular bumper sticker Question Authority might as well have been flashing somewhere behind my eyelids, insisting that only fools accept claims without proof. Because of this, I found myself wary, even judgmental, of many of my kirtan-chanting peers—individuals who had rejected their inherited religious traditions as pat...

      My Philosophy of Life by Mariella Silva   This article was inspired by the book  God,  by Pandit Usharbudh Arya, along with numerous articles, including  Chitta Prasadana: A collection of writings  from Swami Veda Bharati. In particular, the translation and descriptions of  sattva  include wording taken directly from Swami Veda Bharati. How lucky I am, in this particular moment, to watch the snow fall during this holiday season—and to witness an expansive blanket of purity across my view. How lucky I am that I have created times in my life where I am able to rest.   While contemplating purity, I notice an interruption wanting to spring forth—my mind trying to pull me somewhere else, into worry and rushing about everything I have to do today. In moments like these, it becomes essential to remember the strength of having a philosophy of life: to declare, with clarity, that we have the ability to choose—to lean toward purity. A p...

  Message from Swami Ritavan 2025 IS-WAS-IS TODAY 2026, you wanted it, and now you have it. That personality you chose yesterday, and in each day of 2025, is your mask and role on this life-stage today. And today, you can change that habit and play the role as you are meant to be. You cannot continue to do something for long if you are not meant to do it. Your choice of emotions shapes your thinking, which in turn shapes your behavior. Yet, deeper than these character habits, stillness and silence can reveal your true nature. Your positive emotions, pleasant thoughts, kind and selfless actions all have arisen from that pure source of being.  This day Is Your Choice , thereby your destiny. Choose wisely, for as meditators, you have all the skills and tools to sculpt your personality, using it as your architect for joyful living. Practice-Practice-Practice. May the masks and roles you play throughout 2026 reflect your true nature: ever-wise, ever-pure, ever-free. May grace besto...

  A Time to Do and a Time to Be by amrita mckinney    This summer, I participated in an 84-day intensive retreat at Swami Rama Sadhaka Gram. During the retreat, Rabindra encouraged us to make a habit of sitting for 10 minutes and do nothing. It is difficult to do nothing. Our DNA seems to expect us to always be doing something, anything. How many times as a child had I heard my mom say, “go do something”—as if doing was the cure and boredom one of the deadly sins.  How easily we choose distractions. Sometimes life seems to be one big distraction—so big we forget the purpose of life. My eldest sister is a doer, always on the go. On occasion, I have said, “sit, relax”, while I, myself was busy doing. I just wasn’t moving at warped speed. I was reading or writing and judged my busyness to be of higher worth. Yet, I was just as disconnected from my inner self. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, “The mind has a terror of boredom” and that terror keeps us ever doing.  Swami ...