Paramahamsa Vishwananda says ‘the source of Atma Kriya Yoga is the Bhagavad Gita itself. It comes from Bhagavan Krishna Himself who gave the technique to Arjuna.’ If you look deeply into the Bhagavad Gita, you see the principles of Atma Kriya Yoga clearly. ‘Bhagavan Krishna talks about the Self continuously in [it], and Atma Kriya Yoga is also about that: realising of the Self.’
Throughout the Gita, Krishna reminds Arjuna again and again that everything is limited. This body, nature, the seasons and the creation and dissolution of universes, all go through cycles of birth and death. ‘When you are on the battlefield of life, you see that everything is limited around you, because everything around you is crumbling.’ Paramahamsa Vishwananda also reminds us that our love is limited until we realise the Love of God.
‘You love somebody, you think that that person will stay forever. Next moment, you will see that cancer is eating the person alive. Then you ask yourself what is happening.’ He says that everyone is like that, we all have that tendency to think that everything is eternal and that we will live on forever. We attach ourselves to our material possessions, valuing them above all else and believing that they will be with us forever.
‘You forget about life. You forget that sooner or later death will knock at your door and then you will ask yourself,”what have I achieved by being here? What have I achieved out of life?” You look back, you will see that what you have achieved was only, “ah, there was this problem I was constantly in worry. I was constantly in fear.” So, throughout life you base yourself upon fear. And that’s what you call life.’
‘Bhagavan Krishna explained in the Bhagavad Gita that the transcending of the limited mind will bring you true happiness. Transcending the limited mind means transforming that mind itself into the Divine. There are no two minds. There is only one mind.’ What Paramahamsa Vishwananda says, again and again, is that we must transform the mind.
That the heart, or what we call the heart, that is actually our mind. But it’s an evolved mind. It’s a mind that is focused inward, away from all the perishable things. That’s what’s happening in Atma Kriya Yoga. We are actually transforming the mind itself, awakening those divine qualities from deep within.
That’s what’s happening in atma kriya yoga. We are actually transforming the mind itself, awakening those divine qualities from deep within.
‘In the Gita, Bhagavan Krishna talks about yoga-kriya. So, that’s the same thing. We reverse it, and call it kriya-yoga…Yoga-kriya which means an awareness of what you are doing, meaning that any action you do, you do it with your mind attached to the Feet of the Lord.’
Paramahamsa seems to care about one thing more than everything else in the world. That is for humankind to realise who we are, and to realise our Love for God. ‘Throughout the Gita there is only one thing that Bhagavan Krishna has spoken to Arjuna: remind yourself of who you are. Constantly, He reminds that this reality in front of you is just maya. If you want to get attached to that maya, you will have eternal suffering. But this is not the aim of spirituality. You are not a limited personality, you are part of the Divine.’
On and on, Arjuna complained to Krishna. In chapter six, Arujan said it was too hard, that it’s easier to control the wind than the mind! Krishna agreed with Arjuna, but said that if followed closely, His advice would bear fruit easily.
Krishna told him to surrender his mind to Him—to have single-pointed focus upon Him. You can actually perceive how Arjuna’s mind was changing during Krishna’s discourse. You see how his questions adapted, ‘the more he surrendered to the Supreme, the more he turned his mind and started to listen to Krishna, the more that mind transformed into a surrendered mind.
So, the more the mind is turned towards the Divine, the more the mind becomes divine because you allow the transformation to happen. The transformation happens throughout your body. And when that happens, only then the Self can reveal itself.’
Many spiritual people speak flowery words and subtly glorify themselves. When people talk about these subjects and give their answer to the age-old question, ‘who am I?’, they will all say ‘I am the Soul’, ‘I am part of God’, or ‘I am Love’. But speaking versus realising these things are different!
When people talk about these subjects and give their answer to the age-old question, ‘who am i?’, they will all say ‘i am the soul’, ‘i am part of god’, or ‘i am love’. But speaking versus realising these things are different!
Have you ever really felt that Love? This is the link between Atma Kriya Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita, it is actually the fusion of the Bhagavad Gita itself into an action, into an exercise, to uplift your mind, so that you can perceive the divine reality, and attain that aim to know yourself firstly, to remove that fake understanding of who you are, so that God can reveal Himself to you.
WesternYogi
