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...