Swami Vishwananda

Official page of Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda, an enlightened spiritual master and the founder of Bhakti Marga, the path of devotion.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Learning to be okay with “I don’t know, but I’m happy to learn.”
How many people are alright with saying that? Accepting that one doesn’t know everything. Everyone is always learning, always growing. One doesn’t stop being a student. Because life itself is a school. It is beautiful to keep the mind open to all possibilities regardless of age or any other circumstances. Keep learning. Grow. Be curious. Develop critical thinking. Test your faith against difficult questions. Faith isn’t something to just close one’s eyes and accept foolishly. Faith is built on a solid foundation only when you yourself are sure that it can withstand the test of time, of difficult questions, of still loving and having meaningful discussions with those who don’t have the same thought or path as you. Even within one path, everyone is different. How can everyone be the same? It’s not possible. Each one is unique. The beauty is in accepting that. The exciting thing is to grow by learning from everyone. Love is fostered when you wish to grow with the world. You can see perfection in imperfection. You can see God where earlier you could not. It’s okay to not know everything. Life is to be lived. Loved. Enjoyed. Made extraordinary for all beings that you spend time with. This planet is so filled with life, it is actually so easy to love all the time. There are countless ways to grow your love. Make your mind curious and open. Allow it to soar to the heights of peace and joy. Let your mind become your best friend. Accept what you don’t know, but keep learning. Share your best self with the world, and allow God to take care of you in return.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The Guru does precisely how much is necessary for true positive change.
For example, if one is going to change one’s negative pattern with exactly ten points of pressure, the Guru applies exactly ten. Not nine, not eleven. He is only interested in bringing one to unconditional love as one has asked him to do. He will not do anything one has not asked. And he will not stop doing what one has asked. Until one changes one’s mind, until one’s decision changes. He will keep working the way one has asked him to do. He will always give his very best. The perfect servant leader. The perfect goldsmith, he knows how much a piece of gold needs to be cast as a beautiful bracelet. And how much another needs to be cast as necklace. It is what each one has asked him to do. One is always free to take back that request. If the change from negativity to infinite positivity is too difficult, one is always free to ask him to go slow or stop altogether. He is the perfect doctor. Like Guru Arjan Dev ji wrote, “Mera Baid Guru Govinda” - my doctor is Guru Govinda. He doesn’t do what will hurt one. But he won’t stop removing the poison that one has asked him to remove. However, if one refuses to take the medicine, he also will never force. His mercy and freedom knows no bounds. He takes the poison and the blame. But hands out only love and mercy. This is his eternal promise. The fortunate see his love and glimpse the Eternal One in his heart.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

When an atma leaves the world very suddenly, people say it was before its time, but what does that mean?
God helps everyone. He protects and takes care of everyone. No matter when the atma leaves this world, Bhagavan is there with everyone. Even if someone leaves suddenly, He will help them on their onward journey. He will help them to heal fully and realize His lotus feet in their heart. Everyone is loved and saved. Everyone can and will attain His feet. Each one moves at their speed which is known only to that atma and Paramatma. Bhagavan is the lord of unconditional love. In His heart, there is only love for all. His loving mercy and protection of every beloved atma is always present. Sometimes one can reach the ultimate goal in this life, sometimes it is waiting for one in a next life. Don’t judge anyone or worry about anything. Just do the best one can with love and kindness. And trust in Him. He knows how difficult things can get. He knows how hard the lessons are. He never leaves anyone alone. Others looking in may feel that one is not trying hard enough, but the atma knows and Bhagavan always knows. Always be filled with His love and know that He is the most merciful. There is no need to worry excessively. Trust in Him. Let the heart always be comforted in Him.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

In the moments before departing from this world, the atma is aware of all the secrets that were hidden inside itself.
The reason for coming to this world. The way it has lived its life. Who it has hurt. Who it has loved selflessly. Whose heart it has crushed. Whose heart was infused with comfort and warmth because of it. The atma becomes aware of the presence of the Antaryami fully. For a few moments. It has complete awareness. Those who have lived as true bhaktas, they carry this same state forward into their journey to Sri Hari’s lotus feet. But those who haven’t tried to walk the path of sincere and selfless love, this awareness brings them great regret and pain. The regret of not having lived well. The pain of having wasted such a beautiful opportunity to be born as a human in this world and yet having missed the opportunity to reach true freedom. Such an atma feels great sorrow knowing that that supreme awareness and knowledge will once again become dormant in a few moments. Because of its lack of ability to handle it. And it will have to start over again in a new life. The lotus feet of Shriman Narayan are extremely difficult to reach. Don’t think that the simple label of a bhakta, wearing a tilak or mala for some years, can bring you to Him. Not at all. The arduous process of removing everything except for endless love from one’s inner state is the most difficult thing. One is not guaranteed a place at the lotus feet of Bhagavan without one’s effort. Grace is always there. Especially when one has the great fortune to meet the SatGuru. But how you take that grace, how you handle its radiant beauty in your life, how you grow it and make it shine on all. That is what will change everything. The SatGuru’s grace, His love and mercy are everflowing and overflowing to all. But only those who have polished themselves to perfection through constant inner work and true positive change will reach that most exalted place. Allowing the SatGuru to lift you up towards Bhagavan is the greatest gift you can give Him. But this deep inner willingness to be humble and surrendered, and keeping that willingness always alive, is the choice of the jeevatma. The world cannot understand how much the SatGuru yearns to bring everyone to Bhagavan’s feet, where one can find everything one has ever longed for. And how much it hurts His heart to see that most are unwilling. So He just waits, seeing valuable time passing by, opportunities being wasted. And the jeevatma hurtling towards its own greatest misery; further disconnection from Bhagavan. Yet He cannot do anything because that is the jeevatma’s free choice to make. This is what the atma sees fully in the moments of its departure from this world. And for an atma that has made itself fully golden through its endless love and kindness, those final moments are filled with the most exquisite peace and joy. Blessed are the true bhaktas who have allowed their hearts to become endless fountains of selfless love to all

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

With the SatGuru, one realizes the heart of the Sanatan Dharma.
That there is one focus, to love all unconditionally as a part of God’s eternal self - whether it is a small atom or the cosmic planets, a rock, a river, piece of dust, a tree, an animal, a human, oneself, a situation, a feeling, a thought, a direct vision of God, anything and everything - at all times. All bhaktas should learn this simple yet powerful truth of the path with the SatGuru. Unconditional love. Take a deep breath and let it sink in. As one holds onto this truth with stronger and stronger deep inner knowing, the external rituals start to make sense as well. Atma Kriya Yoga. Puja. The Deities. One develops a genuine relationship with all the seemingly external things. Because one doesn’t see them only outside anymore. They become fully internalized. One realizes the joy and deepness of God in the external rituals, without making them a thing to become dogmatic about. The inner transformation is the foundation, the path, and the destination. The external is a temporary play which also reveals God in His full glory. He hides and appears in His creation. It’s just that most lack the eyes to see Him in the exterior world. When love cleans the eyes with humility and selflessness, it makes them capable to see Bhagavan. Start feeling the joy in the external rituals. Your every action in this world, from the simplest to the most complex, can become an act of worship that finds Bhagavan everywhere.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

🌎 🌍 🌏

*Who is saving whom?*

You are standing on a living organism that has been breathing for 4.5 billion years.

And it is trying to tell you something.

In 1970s, an American evolutionary biologist, Lynn Margulis and a British chemist named James Lovelock proposed an idea that seemed very radical at that time yet it is so extraordinarily real.

They called it “The Gaia Hypothesis.”

They said the Earth is not a dead rock with life on top of it.

They said the Earth IS life.

The atmosphere, the oceans, the soil, the temperature.

None of it is accidental.

The planet actively regulates itself the way your body regulates its own temperature.

When you get hot, you sweat.

When you get cold, you shiver.

Your body doesn’t wait for you to decide.

It corrects automatically.

Margulis and Lovelock said the Earth does the same thing.

When CO2 rises, forests expand to absorb it.

When the ocean gets too acidic, shell-building organisms pull calcium from the water and lock it into limestone.

When the surface gets too hot, clouds form to reflect sunlight.

The planet has been running its own thermostat for 4.5 billion years.

Without a manual.

Without an engineer.

Without permission from anyone.

It survived five mass extinctions.

It recovered from asteroid impacts that vaporized entire oceans.

It turned a ball of molten lava into a system that grows rainforests and coral reefs.

And then we showed up.

In the last 200 years, we decided the Earth was a resource, not a relative.

We extracted its blood and called it “oil.”

We tore open its skin and called it “mining.”

We filled its lungs with chemicals and called it “progress.”

And when the planet started running a fever, we debated whether the fever was real.

You would never look at a person with a 102 degree temperature and say “I don’t believe in your fever.”

But we did that to our own home, an entire planet.

Here is what they understood which most people still don’t.

The Earth does not need saving.

The Earth has survived things that would make a nuclear bomb look like a firecracker.

It survived the Great Oxygenation Event, when a new organism called cyanobacteria flooded the atmosphere with a gas so toxic it killed nearly every living thing on the planet.

That toxic gas was oxygen.

The thing you are breathing right now was once the deadliest pollution event in Earth’s history.

The planet adapted.

Life rebuilt.

New species emerged that could breathe in the poison and thrive.

The Earth will do this again.

It will survive us.

The question never was, “Can the Earth survive what we are doing?”

The question always has been, “Can we survive how the Earth will respond to our exploitation?”

Because the planet does not negotiate.

When a system is pushed too far, it corrects.

It doesn’t correct gently. It doesn’t send a warning letter.

It sends ice ages.

It sends floods.

It sends extinction events.

And then it starts over.

The planet is not fragile.

We are.

We are the species that built glass towers on fault lines and cities below sea level and then acted surprised when the ground shook and the water rose.

We are not the owners of this planet.

We are the tenants.

And the landlord is losing patience.

The Earth doesn’t need a movement.

It needs us to remember something we forgot the moment we paved over the first meadow.

We are not separate from nature.

We are nature.

And the war we declared on the planet is a war we declared on ourselves.

You cannot poison the water and keep your blood clean.

You cannot burn the forest and keep your lungs clear.

You cannot strip the soil and keep your food alive.

Everything you do to the Earth, you do to your own body.

You are not on the Earth.

You ARE the Earth.

And it is running out of ways to talk to you.

Period.

(author unknown)

Please raise this awareness. For EARTH is what we all have in common.

🌎 🌍 🌏

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Shubh Varalakshmi Vratham to everyone.
This day celebrates the utmost love of Mahalakshmi for Bhagavan Narayan and His complete dedication to Her. Keeping continuous vigil for Her beloved today, Mahalakshmi manifested her eternal form and married Shreeman Narayan for all eternity. This Vrat, or vow, of Mahadevi is an example for all. Her love and devotion to Him doesn’t make her weak or less than Him. In today’s world, people have forgotten this. She is the all-powerful Shakti. The One who completes Bhagavan. They are two sides of the same divinity. Eternally together, eternally loving and serving each other. This is the example for the world that they always set forward. But one must learn from these highest states of being. Don’t let them simply remain stories. Make it a reality of your life. This Vrat is also connected to Lord Shiva and Devi Parvati. Lord Shiva personally narrated the importance of this Vrat to Devi Parvati, explaining that sincere observance brings peace, health, and harmony. Encouraging all to follow the highest example of Mahalakshmi and Shreeman Narayan. The ways that people perform this Vrat are beautiful and varied, but the underlying lesson is the same: love and prosperity is something you build with intention, not something that just arrives.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

What happens when hypocrisy creeps in? When one’s thoughts, words, and actions don’t align?
One of the saddest parts of hypocrisy is that one cannot remain open-minded to all possibilities, nor open-hearted to love. Because one is already stretching the mind to speak, act, and think differently from one another, it is too difficult to accept any new perspectives from others. The SatGuru’s guidance, the will of the atma, the deep inner intuition cannot be heard and followed. The fake face that one is presenting to the world takes too much energy to maintain. And so the mind cannot cope with change. It can’t see a single reason to change because it is too busy maintaining the pretense. The pretense has become so important that the person cannot deal with others realizing their hypocrisy. The hurt to the ego is very large when one is faced with one’s own hypocrisy. To align the thoughts, words, and actions to love and kindness is everyone’s natural state of being. Then why do so many people stay away from their original self? The self which is so naturally drawn to positive things and wishes to avoid negative things, within and outside. It’s because one has not experienced the pain of the other person when they are burdened with one’s hypocrisy. One does not wish to be in the shoes of one’s own victims. Then one won’t be able to listen to their point of view. One won’t be ready to change. To work on deep-seated hypocrisy, this analysis can be done: “Where is my resistance to being open-minded to all possibilities? How many patterns in my life so far have been due to this resistance? How is that resistance showing up in my life today?” Once the answers have revealed themselves from the deep intuition, work to change that. Sincerely and with love. Slowly but steadily, your life will transform into divine peace, joy, and freedom.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The SatGuru’s only lesson is love. It is an inner knowing, a truth that one either authentically feels or doesn’t.
No one is forced to understand that or experience anything. One is always free to walk away. The SatGuru will never ask for anything. He doesn’t need it. People like to say and think many negative things, because it allows them to feel they are being controlled or deceived. Believe it or not, it is much easier to live with the feeling that someone is “pushing me, forcing me, testing me”; than it is to take responsibility and live life the way one fully wants to. So many people have come and gone from the path with the SatGuru. No one has been asked to come, no one has been asked to stay. One is always free. Free to be with Him. Free to not. It is each one’s own life. That is the way Bhagavan created all. Free to choose. This is the way one always is. Free. If the Creator Himself doesn't force anyone to do anything, there is no question of anyone else being allowed to do so. The path with the SatGuru is simple. If one wishes to learn, one is welcome. If one wishes to stop learning, one is free to leave. Most people don’t like to choose for themselves, they prefer blaming someone else. And if one’s free choice is to leave the SatGuru, there won’t be any obstacle that He puts in the way. His repeated and only lesson is genuine and unconditional love for Bhagavan. If it is coming across as something else to someone, they can freely choose a different way that leads them where they wish to go. Each person is a beautiful spark of God, all should live the complete life they have come here for.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

So many people don’t remain kind and decent people when walking their so-called ‘spiritual path’.
This is the biggest hypocrisy and source of very dangerous spiritual ego. One gives oneself the license to behave anyhow, speak anyhow, and think anyhow. Simply because one has stuck a label or role of ‘spiritual’ on oneself. But it is exactly like sticking a label of gold onto an empty package and then trying to sell it for the same value as real gold. Isn’t this what many people are doing? Because one feels one has achieved something, one slacks off. Doesn’t bother looking at oneself anymore. Do you genuinely believe that anyone gets close to God this way? Has one deluded one’s mind so much that one is obsessed with the outside and kept all loving qualities of the inside away? There are nearly countless ways that hypocrisy arises again and again in the mind. A little bit of unwillingness to clean oneself of negativity and the hypocrisy finds a way to grow within. All qualities exist with everyone always. It depends on each moment what choice you make. Enlightenment is very easy but do people keep it easy? No. Because their choices are contradictory moment to moment. One says one wants God-realization but the next moment one puts the mind in an opposite thought. One is only wasting one’s own time and fooling oneself. The label of ‘spiritual’ means something. It isn’t simply a word to throw around and act like one knows. Spiritual means to live from the inner spirit. To act in such a way that the inner spirit of everyone becomes strengthened, joyful, and light. Spirituality should make you more and more wonderful to be with for everyone. The world should long for your company because you are so caring, happy, cheerful, humble, and loving. This is what Sant Kabir Dev ji meant when he said that when you enter the world, you cry and the world is joyful. But when you die, you should be laughing and the world should cry. You are laughing with joy at death because you lived every single moment in love and care for all, for God in all. And the world cries at your death because they will miss the extraordinary energy of kindness, humility, and most of all love that they felt with you. Before putting the label ‘spiritual’ on yourself, you should be doing the moral work that comes with that lofty state. To reach the inner spirit within you, first at least start cleaning your conscious mind of its many impurities.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

What is your effort today?
To reach somewhere, to get to the goal, to find your genuine place on the spiritual path, you have to move. You have to make your efforts. To expect that something of the outside will change or that someone will come to rescue you are useless desires. Because such desires will disempower you and keep you stuck in one place. To truly make progress, to truly find the great peace of the inside that everyone longs for, you have to become your own champion firstly. You have to learn to get up when life has knocked you down. Again and again and again you have to get up. And never give up until the end. And how you get back up. Is it through bitterness? Is it through anger? Is it through despair? Or. Is it through immense faith in your innermost strength? Is it through a deep connection of the inside which remains even when everything else is lost? How you get back up matters. It matters a lot. In fact, that is what makes all the difference in the world. Because when you’re stuck in your own negative space, you can’t even see Bhagavan’s, the SatGuru’s, help entering your life. You can’t see how much He wishes to be your champion. You won’t see that He is helping you through the various opportunities that life presents. And everyone gets opportunities. Everyone gets endless opportunities. Day after day after day Bhagavan sends help. But one doesn’t see it. One doesn’t grab it. What has been your effort today to see God’s grace in your life? What has been your effort today to make life more beautiful, more loving, more peaceful for yourself and others? What has been your effort today to move closer to the SatGuru’s unconditionally loving heart? Be sincere with your answers to these questions every day and change what needs to change to keep growing in life and love.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Many people know about love, very few people behave with love.
This is very similar to what Duryodhan says in the Mahabharat. “I know what is dharma but I do not act accordingly. I know what is adharma but I cannot stop myself from acting that way.” People always think that they are the best and others are the problem. But how many people can truly look in the mirror and meet their own eyes without feeling guilty, ashamed, or regretful of the way they have behaved, spoken, or thought? Not many. Because most people allow the negative qualities to grow within them. They feed the wolf within that likes to take one away from love, not the one who takes one to love. Whichever wolf you feed will become powerful and active within you. But does one truly behave with love? This is a question to be asked and answered within yourself every day. “Am I genuinely behaving with love or am I only thinking about love while my actions, words, and thoughts are still stuck in my own greatness?” Sometimes the ones who are acting the most loving on the outside, are also the ones who are most hypocritical inside. They preach to others and point out their faults, but never turn the scalpel of their judgement on themselves. The SatGuru has never given anyone the work of correcting others. He has always given everyone the work of correcting themselves. If you wish to be a leader then lead by example, not by words. And if you wish simply to love, then stop worrying about anything else. Just behave with love in every moment of your life. Such a life will be its own greatest reward, without even counting the infinite closeness one will achieve with Bhagavan through this. Bhagavan is only won over by those who love humbly all the time and serve all joyfully without judgement.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

On the day that Bharat received independence, wishing everyone the joy of true freedom and self-governance.
It has been about 80 years since Bharat became free from long centuries of oppression and robbery. So much wealth, knowledge, and many people have been lost to the fight for self-governance. The principles of the Sanatan Dharma have still withstood the test of time. Because even if history is attempted to be rewritten. Even if thoughts and actions have been forcibly controlled for long ages. Even if the land was plundered endlessly. The basic truth of life as a human doesn’t change. There are certain characteristics that allow life to progress beautifully and certain ones that cause problems in that. The distinction between positive inner qualities and negative ones is simple. How those qualities create virtuous or vicious actions in the world is also simple to see. But one has to self-govern to realize one’s true potential individually and as a society. Self-governance requires true inner vigilance and mastery over one’s actions, yet not instigating violence or selfishly expanding one’s ‘resources’ at the cost of others. The Sanatan Dharma, the eternal way of life, is filled with endless diversity. Only that which is purely selfish on the inside is pruned away, to let the entire tree of life grow well. Self-governance and freedom is a gift that is earned more and more from within. For example, can one transform the self and bring love and light to the world, rather than arguing, spreading hate, and pulling others down? As bhaktas of the Sanatan way of life, don’t let this day just pass by, contemplate on what it means to have true freedom and what a beautiful gift it is. Happy Independence Day to Bharat and to all followers of her timeless wisdom.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Often people wonder, “if one was already with God at the beginning, then what is the need for creation, for coming here, or for going on the spiritual journey, just to go back to Him one day?”
This question only comes to those who have still not understood life. How extraordinary is this gift given by Bhagavan. That one is eternally with Him yet has the experience of separation, just to see how truly glorious He is. That Great Being which the atma loves with all its heart. In a simple way; when one identifies so much with the body, can you have gratitude for its divine origin? How perfect is its every organ, bone, and vein. How strong yet delicate it is. How the five elements come together so perfectly, that science has not been able to understand even the smallest atom of it. In the same way, to truly know Bhagavan, how sweet, how loving, all-pervading, omnipotent and omniscient He is - one takes on this illusion of separation for a short while. This is life. The atma willingly takes on this veil of forgetfulness so that in remembering again, it is struck with greater wonder how amazing Paramatma is. How amazing its relationship with Paramatma is. The atma is never separated from Bhagavan, but it consciously humbles itself into a forgetful little being, so that it can gaze up in wonder towards its Beloved. The one who it serves with love constantly. Even a small moment of this realization is so blissful that the atma is willing to go through anything just to know its dearest Bhagavan’s infinite prem. To be a servant of that Great Being, the atma is forever ready. The flow of creation from and towards Bhagavan is prem and bhakti themselves. Don’t look down upon this gift of life that one has been given. No matter how difficult things may seem in the moment, they are nothing in the face of Unconditional Love’s eternity. Enjoy thoroughly, love fully, and share your gratitude for God’s presence with all. Then all of life’s misery will flow away as one takes a dip in the innermost Sangam of prem, bhakti, and sharanagati.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The instinct to know more about everything is a fundamentally human characteristic.
For thousands of years, humans have been exploring everything. From the ocean, to space, to the development of trees, to other human minds and their behaviors. Curiosity about the self and the environment around the self is the growth of consciousness from simply existing with basic instincts of food, shelter, safety, care, and reproduction - to higher levels of consciousness like logical reasoning, delayed gratification, costly altruism, all the way to self, life, and God-realization. This inner fire to grow in joy, to learn and be inspired, to question and humbly realize should be kept alive within you. It is the way the atma interacts with the world. It is the way one keeps expanding the consciousness. Anyone who tells you to stop questioning within your heart and not follow that deep and true intuition within you is a deluded person. Become curious about the intuition, the inner voice of the self. Where is its origin point? Does it feel like the guidance from love and wisdom? Or does it lead to fear and ego? With this repeated questioning of the self, one can polish the intuition. Allowing it to submerge into the will of the atma. Allowing one to let go of the egoistic illusion and emerge steadily into the eternal reality of Bhagavan. With the SatGuru, in the Sanatan Dharma, one is not taught blind faith. One is taught to use every resource to its highest potential with love. One is taught to respect and care for all beings like they are each a part of one’s own heart. One is taught that nothing is greater or lesser than the other. Not even other paths are judged as inferior. One is encouraged to understand one’s own deep inner intuition and follow it towards Bhagavan. And to bring that inner vision, that unrealized dream into concrete actions and intentions. Through working on the self, one helps the world. And through loving everyone, one helps oneself. Love is a beautiful upward spiral of existence.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

People keep questioning why they are receiving pain, why there is so much suffering in the world. Why doesn’t God, Guru take it away?
But do you know that the true fight is always inside? It feels like it is outside, people, situations, and so on. But it is always the One energy which is in movement everywhere. The Oneness that is manifest within and outside you. And the fight can never be fought, won, or lost on the outside. It is always inside. What did Bhagavan Sri Krishna show Arjun? That it is the inner state which has to be controlled to actually win the fight inside and outside. It is the atma itself that is fighting the lower parts of your psyche which are strangling it. The karmas one doesn’t pay any attention to, that one is happily creating mountains of, they are like thorny vines. They strangle the tiny plant which is the atma. They compete with it for food. They steal its nutrients. They look for ways that the gardener which is you, don’t look at the tiny plant of the atma. Because it is filled with so much joy, love, and devotion that you will never look at the weeds and thorny vines ever again. You will be in so much bliss with the atma which is revealing Bhagavan to you, that you will never want to look at anything else. When you try to walk with love on the spiritual path, you give strength to that tiny plant of love inside you. The atma is strengthened to fight against the vines that are trying to keep it silent, trying to subdue its presence using any means necessary. And with your small sparks of love and devotion, the atma fights off the vines strangling it, so that you can finally have peace and love. This is the true pain that everyone goes through. The outside is always only a mirror. It is never the true battlefield, no matter how much it may look like that. The fight within is the battlefield you must enter and win. And yet who is blamed for any pain? The Paramatma who is further locked up inside the atma. Like a seed in a fruit. He is blamed for one’s pain. He has been locked up and forgotten inside since the moment the atma was formed. But does anyone care about His pain? How much He longs to jump out from within and reveal His endless love to you? A love that has been strangled and suffocated, hidden away and forced to go through so much. Yet He only loves all the time, deep and enduring love that has faced so much violence from the other parts of one’s psyche. The atma causes the self pain when fighting the inner demons so that it can free itself and release the Paramatma locked up within. But is the atma to be silenced again because you can’t handle the pain of the medicine it is giving out? Does one want to continue living in misery, in shackles, in darkness and forgetfulness of everything that’s truly good and joyful? Because that’s the outcome of silencing your atma. Look at the mirror of the outside and use it to strengthen your love and devotion. Allow your atma to finally be free. Let the Antaryami come out and walk with you after all this time of being forgotten.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

With the SatGuru, one learns from within the heart that God is just as much here in the imperfect world as He is in the perfection of everything, Vaikuntha.
Often people distance God by thinking, saying, and behaving as though He is only in some perfect place and here in the imperfect world, He is less available or not really available at all. But this thinking is not true at the highest level. God is everywhere and in everything. In His fullness. Always. This world seems imperfect because one is looking through an imperfect lens of the mind. But the enlightened saints never thought that this world is not good. They could see the absolute perfection of the world. Even what others judged and hated, the saints loved and worshiped. Because they could only see Bhagavan. In the imperfection as well as in perfection. And truly He is. Not because He ever becomes imperfect, but rather He wears the cloaks of imperfections so that love can truly become unconditional. This world is God enjoying God’s love. It is always Him experiencing an aspect of His own self in everyone. He sees His own love wearing infinite cloaks of perfection and imperfection. And because He is always growing, that love through the play of imperfect and perfect, becomes purer and more beautiful through every moment. Never look down on this world. It is filled with extraordinary love, as a perfect stage where the jeevatmas can submerge fully in their egoistic role or be fully aware of their true identity as a tiny spark of Bhagavan. Submerged in one’s ego or submerged in God’s endless love and joy. You choose. And you do choose, in every moment. When you become aware of that choice, then your experience of perfection can grow.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

The human birth is for enlightenment.
You are equipped with all the grace to reach there. Every atma, when it takes birth as a human on planet earth, comes here with the full potential of complete enlightenment. The self recognizing the Self. The atma being awakened in its entirety. In fact, enlightenment is the easiest thing to reach for a human being. It is already there. The process of birth simply makes the memory of enlightenment hide. The memory is temporarily lost so that one can take part in God’s endless play of unconditional love. It is simple. Imagine your dearest friend, your most beloved companion. Wouldn’t you wish to spend time with them endlessly exploring and doing new things? Wouldn’t you wish to experience new adventures to enjoy, learn, and grow with them? Wouldn’t you wish to watch movies that are sometimes tragic, sometimes full of humour, sometimes filled with action or anger, sometimes filled with care and love, or sometimes very confusing? You know deep inside all along that it is just a movie which will end and has no impact on you who is watching. But you allow yourself to get immersed in the movie while it’s going on because you want to have infinite experiences with your dearest one who is next to you. This is the play of God. Atma and Paramatma in eternal company. Therefore enlightenment isn’t something far away. It isn’t something difficult. It is something you already are. But you have to release your death grip on the temporary identities and roles of this world. Surrender that mind which is currently trained to look only at the temporary movies of the world. And remind it to focus completely on who is exploring the path with you since eternity. Who is watching the infinite movies with you. Surrender to the One who has always been standing next to you. Your beloved eternal companion who is waiting for you to turn and engage with Him. God walks with everyone. But only few cherish His company. Because they are too busy engaging with the temporary drama of the outside.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

Not everything has to be manifest on the outside to be real.
Sometimes love can remain and grow within the heart without being spoken. But it can be felt. It can be experienced by the one you give that love to. They will feel your love for them within their own heart. This is the nature of the atma. It knows love. Sometimes the greatest love cannot be expressed in words. Like Radha and Krishna. When they would meet, they didn’t talk about how much they loved each other. They often made the play of fighting with each other. Playing pranks on each other. Even ignoring each other and hiding. But their love was known fully to each other. Sometimes silence is greater than outward expression. There are times when one should let the love explode within and yet let the outside go on as it has to. Leaving the outside fully in Bhagavan’s hands. No matter how your life looks externally, within your heart you can be with God fully. But this type of love which is a part of how God Himself loves everyone, you have to dedicate yourself to it completely. Then He will give you constant companionship with Him. You will know and feel His loving presence in a very real and grounded way. Often the SatGuru keeps the outside and inside in tension with each other. What is felt within isn’t seen on the outside. What is experienced outside doesn’t feel the same as the inside. But this is the churning of the mind. Where love is purified. Where one learns to be fully grounded despite any storm. Don’t let the churning make you doubt or lose your way. He is always with you.

[Swami Vishwananda @vishwananda]

People like to go into fantasies because real life can get so difficult to live.
But with the SatGuru, real life becomes better than the wildest dream and greatest fantasy. With Him, one lifetime can reveal the ultimate path for the atma which is hidden behind nearly countless veils. Twenty years can show you that you never knew how life worked at all but that it is more beautiful than you ever imagined. Ten years can show you how extraordinary the strength He has placed inside you really is. One year can show you that your dreams can come true so quickly. One month can feel like eras have passed because the One you prayed for has arrived in front of your eyes. One week can show you how every day has such beautiful facets of Bhagavan and His worship. One day is enough to change the course of your life forever. One hour in His company can remove every sorrow from your mind. One minute can transform into a thousand because He has given you Darshan. And one single moment of blinking the eyes and a fraction of focus on His lotus feet being lost, feels like one was separated from the Antaryami for a millennium. Time changes completely with the SatGuru. Long years pass by so fast. Few moments stretch into eternity. That which people only hear about but do not believe. The prophesies of the scriptures. The greatness and closeness of Bhagavan. The sweetness and infinity of His love. All becomes manifest in a bhakta’s life through just trusting and loving the SatGuru. Waiting for His divine right time rather than impatience because of one’s own timeline. All is received in a moment and also a lifetime is not enough to spend in the divine relationship of love. When your waking moments become better than your most desired dreams, when they stay like that all the time. When you give thanks in every moment because He has made life so good, so filled with Bhagavan. When you don’t know how to stop serving because you see how much He has always served you. Then you will know. Then you will walk with love no matter how hard the path may look right now. Because you know, not just believe, but you know that all is the very best with Him. And you never have to worry because He is with you and loves you infinitely.