Arsha Vidya Pitham, Saylorsburg, PA

Meditation Workshop

Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/21230051408?pwd=MHRRcGpmOStpZXl1ME1IcXB1c25Cdz09

Guided Meditation sessions are conducted online from the Gurukulam by Swamini Ramananda, 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm.

Meditation plays an integral part in a seeker’s spiritual journey, in that it steers the wavering mind into a state of quietude, wherein the tumult of distracting desires loosen their grip. With practice, the mind will be ushered to a deeper realm of stillness. Such a mind gains the capability for a lofty vision and cannot be influenced by anything. As the practice of meditation deepens, one can resolutely face the problems in life and gradually become a yukta, one who abides in one’s real nature.

Swamini Ramananda Saraswati, a Sannyasini, is a teacher of Vedanta and Sanskrit and is a long-time disciple and student of the internationally known scholar of Sanskrit and Vedanta, His Holiness Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of Arsha Vidya Ashram Gurukulam in Saylorsburg,PA and in India. Swamini Ramananda was initiated into sannyasa by Pujya Swami Dayananda in a traditional ceremony on the banks of the Holy Ganga River in India. Formerly, she was a university professor in the Psychology Department at East Stroudsburg University teaching a variety of Psychology courses for over 25 years and training mental health counselors. In addition, she had a private practice in Psychology where she treated patients with emotional problems. Swamini has two masters degrees and a PHD in Psychology, For over 10 years Swamini Ramananda lived, studied and taught in India. She also resided at the Swami Dayananda Ashram in Rishikesh for four years on the banks of the Holy Ganga River where she was teaching and continuing her sadhana and the study of the ancient Indian Scriptures. Swamini Ramananda has committed her life to the study and teaching of Vedanta, the Knowledge of the Self. Currently she lives and teaches Sanskrit, Indian Philosophy (Vedanta) and Meditation in her own small ashram, which Swami Dayananda named Arsha Jnana Sthana: Center for Self-knowledge. But, since her heart is still in India, she spends 3 to 5 months there every year.

Swamini moved to India in 1995 when Swami Dayananda began an intensive 3½ year residential course in Sanskrit and Vedanta at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. After having attended the 3½ year course with Pujya Swamiji, Swamini continued living and teaching in India in either Coimbatore or Rishikesh for 11 years. She has been teaching Vedanta and Sanskrit since 1998 in India and in the USA. Currently, she spends much of her time in her ashram-residence, Arsha Jnana Sthana, in Pennsylvania near East Stroudsburg and teaches Vedanta, Meditation and Sanskrit in the Stroudsburg and Saylorsburg area.
Because Swamini Ramananda lived and taught in India and USA, she is comfortable teaching both Indians as well as Westerners. Her Vedanta and Sanskrit classes are conducted weekly in the Stroudsburg area

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© Copyright: 2021 Arsha Vidya Gurukulam

Lord Daksinamurti

In the vision of the Veda, this creation is a manifestation of the Lord. Being the cause, he is all knowledge, especially spiritual knowledge. We have a name for that Lord Daksinamurti.

The Lord presented in this form as Dakṣiṇāmūrti is the one who has eight aspects. The first five aspects are thefive elements. In the Veda the world is presented in the form of five elements—ākāśa, space,which includes time; vāyu, air; agni, fire; āpa, water; and pṛthivī, earth.

In this Vedic model of the universe, the five elements are non-separate from the Lord. In fact, these five elements constitute the Lord’s form, which is this universe.

The next two aspects are represented by the sun and the moon.

When, as an individual, I look at this world, what stands out in the sky are the sun and moon.

The moon represents all planets other than earth, and the sun represents allluminous bodies.

The eighth aspect is me, the jīva—the one who is looking at the world.

These eight aspects are to be understood as one whole. This is the Lord.

When we look at the form of Dakṣiṇāmūrti, we can see representations of the five elements. Space, ākāśa, is represented by a ḍamaru, a drum, in his right hand. In order to show space in a sculpture, it needs to be enclosed.

Empty space is enclosed in the ḍamaru, enabling it to issue sound, or śabda.

Next, vāyu, air, is represented by Dakṣiṇāmūrti’s hair with the bandana, the band, holding his hair in place against the wind. Bandana is a Sanskrit word which comes from the root band, to bind.

In his left hand, you will see a torch, which represents agni, fire.

Āpa, water, is shown by the Gaṅga, in the form of a Goddess, which you can see on Dakṣiṇāmūrti’s head.

Pṛthivī, the earth, is represented by the whole idol.

Then there are people, the jīvas, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana and Sanatsujāta, who are the disciples of Dakṣiṇāmūrti, sitting at the base of sculpture.

The sun and moon are also shown in this form of the Lord.

On the left side of Dakṣiṇāmūrti you will find a crescent moon, and on his right side there is a circle, representing the sun—a whole circle.

So we see five elements, two planets and the jīva constituting the aṣṭa-mūrti-bhṛt, the Lord of these eight factors that are the whole.

You can worship Dakṣiṇāmūrti as the Lord, the one who is aṣṭa-mūrti-bhṛt, or you can invoke him as a teacher, because he also is in the form of a teacher.

His very sitting posture, āsana, is the teacher’s āsana. What does he teach? Look at his hand gesture. That shows wha the teaches. His index finger, the one we use to point at others, represents the ahaṅkāra, the ego.

The other three fingers represent your body, deha, mind, antaḥkaraņa and sense organs, prāņa.

They also may be seen as the three bodies, śarīras, the gross, subtle, and causal. This is what the jīva mistakes himself to be. The aṅguṣṭha, the thumb, represents the Lord, the puruṣa. It is away from the rest of the fingers of the hand, yet at the same time, the fingers have no strength without it.

In this gesture, mūdra, in Dakṣiṇāmūrti’s right hand, the thumb joins the other fingers to form a circle, teaching that the jīva, who takes himself to be the body, mind and senses, is the whole. The circular hand gesture visually states the entire upadeśa, teaching: tat tvam asi, “You are That.” Just as a circle has no beginning or end, you are the whole. That is the final word about you. Nobody can improve upon that vision; no culture can improve upon it.

Even in heaven, it cannot be improved upon, for the whole includes heaven. Therefore, you have the final word here, because you are everything. It is better that you know it. That teaching is contained in the Veda, represented by the palm leaves in the left hand of Dakṣiṇāmūrti. And to understand this, you require a mind that has assimilated certain values and attitudes and has developed a capacity to think in a proper and sustained way.

This can be acquired by various spiritual disciplines represented here by a japa-māla, The fact that the Lord himself is a teacher, a guru, means that any teacher is looked upon as a source of knowledge. And the teacher himself should look upon Īśvara, the Lord, as the source of knowledge. Since the Lord himself is a teacher, the first guru, there is a tradition of teaching, so there is no individual ego involved in teaching.

Dakṣiṇāmūrti is seated upon a bull, which stands for tamas, the quality of māyā that accounts for ignorance. This is the entire creative power of the world and Dakṣiṇāmūrti controls this māyā; Then, there are bound to be obstacles in your pursuit of this knowledge. Dakṣiṇāmūrti controls all possible obstacles.

Underneath his foot, under his control, is a fellow called Apasmara—the one who throws obstacles in your life. This tells us that although there will be obstacles, with the grace of the Lord, you can keep them under check and not allow them to overpower you. There is no obstacle-free life, but obstacles need not really throw you off course; you keep them under control.

Thus, the whole form of Dakṣiṇāmūrti invokes the Lord who is the source of all knowledge, the source of everything, the one who is the whole, and who teaches you that you are the whole. He is Dakṣiṇāmūrti, the one who is in the form of a teacher, guru-mūrti.

We invoke his blessing so that all of you discover that source in yourself. If this self-discovery is your pursuit, your whole life becomes worthwhile. This project of self-discovery should be the project of everyone. That is the Vedic vision of human destiny

Arsha Vidya Gurukulam was founded in 1986 by Pujya Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati. In Swamiji’s own words,

“When I accepted the request of many people I know to start a gurukulam, I had a vision of how it should be. I visualized the gurukulam as a place where spiritual seekers can reside and learn through Vedanta courses. . . And I wanted the gurukulam to offer educational programs for children in values, attitudes, and forms of prayer and worship. When I look back now, I see all these aspects of my vision taking shape or already accomplished. With the facility now fully functional, . . . I envision its further unfoldment to serve more and more people.”

Ārṣa (arsha) means belonging to the ṛṣis or seers; vidyā means knowledge. Guru means teacher and kulam is a family.  In traditional Indian studies, even today, a student resides in the home of this teacher for the period of study. Thus, gurukulam has come to mean a place of learning. Arsha Vidya Gurukulam is a place of learning the knowledge of the ṛṣis.

The traditional study of Vedanta and auxiliary disciplines are offered at the Gurukulam. Vedanta mean end (anta) of the Veda, the sourcebook for spiritual knowledge.  Though preserved in the Veda, this wisdom is relevant to people in all cultures, at all times. The vision that Vedanta unfolds is that the reality of the self, the world, and God is one non-dual consciousness that both transcends and is the essence of everything. Knowing this, one is free from all struggle based on a sense of inadequacy.

The vision and method of its unfoldment has been carefully preserved through the ages, so that what is taught today at the Gurukulam is identical to what was revealed by the ṛṣis in the Vedas.