Beautiful, Mysterious, And Deeply Personal Writings From The Journals Of Sri Swami Rama
I have found that in the heart of disappointment there is always seated a limitless joy that can emancipate one from sorrow.
For Many Years, Sri Swami Rama Kept Diaries In Which He Reflected On Life And Recorded His Dialogues With The Divine Mother. He Long Kept These Pages Secret, Not Wanting His Intimate Experiences To Be Consumed By People Who Might Not Understand Their Exalted Simplicity.
These Personal And Inspired Writings Were Published For The First Time In 1986 And Have Been Collected Again In This New Edition. Written In Japan, Nepal, And The Himalayas, These Entries From Swami Rama's Journals Will Elevate Your Heart, Offering A Rare Glimpse Of The True Nature Of Mystical Awareness And Divine Love.
The moonlit night paled its light on the silvery sands, and a crying thought came to my mind from out of the forgotten past, saying, “The joy that sits still with its tears on the red lotus of pain grows in my heart.”
Sri Swami Rama, The Founder Of The Himalayan International Institute Of Yoga Science And Philosophy, Was Raised In The Himalayan Cave Monasteries And Ordained A Monk In Early Childhood. He Studied Western Psy-Chology, Philosophy, And Medicine In Europe And Taught In Japan Before Coming To The United States In 1969. Here He Founded The Himalayan Institute To Create A Bridge Between The Ancient Teachings Of The East And The Modern Scientific Approaches Of The West.
For many years, Swamiji has kept the habit of writing prose and poetry in his daily diary. Deep in the solitude and silence of dark night, when all the world slept, he would reflect on life or nature and note down his thoughts and insightsand he would record his dialogues with the Divine. He never allowed anyone to read his diary but kept it always with him. On rare occasions he would read an entry to his close students.
In 1984, when Swamiji was in Manali, in the Himalayas, to write Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita, he permitted his close disciple Swami Ajaya to see some of the entries in his diary. Swami Ajaya was deeply impressed with the beauty and profundity of Swamiji's writing, and was especially curious about Swamiji's love dialogues with his Beloved. He started asking Swamiji about Her, and Swamiji brought out his other journals, which contained more dialogues. Finally Swamiji revealed his experiences to Swami Ajaya by describing the visions he had been having of Her since the age of seven. Swamiji had not spoken of Her before because he wanted to preserve the quality of his experience by keeping it concealed within his heart, and he did not want his tender experience to be placed before those who might not understand or appreciate its sublime simplicity. Swami Ajaya assured him that the great poets and mystics of the past had also reported such phenomena and that seers have repeatedly described visions and conversations with their muse, ideal beloved, or blessed mother. He explained that Swamiji's rare experience would not be considered strange but would be acknowledged as transpersonal revelation.
Love Whispers is the only work besides Living with the Himalayan Masters in which Swamiji does not hide his true identity. The joyous relationship between him and the Divine Mother finds its full expression in these pages because Swamiji had no intention of publishing a book when he penned these lines. For a long time its content remained hidden in the deepest chamber of his heart and between the covers of his personal diaries.
In the early eighties I was fortunate enough to read some of the letters Swamiji had written between 1956 and 1975 to Dr. S. N. Agnihotri, a beloved friend and disciple. And in those letters I saw in Swamiji a sage inebriated with the love divine, a sage who presented himself in the West as a scientist, a yogi, a researcher, a humanitarian, and an executive of a multinational organization, the Himalayan International Institute. I was also lucky enough to be taking his dictation when he answered a letter from an astrologer in New Delhi. This astrologer, who was closely related to Swamiji's biological family, had written to warn Swamiji of a calamity which, due to the placement of planets and stars, soon would befall him. I still have a copy of Swamiji's answer. It said in essence that once the Divine Mother had given him Her unconditional love and protection and had placed him under the safety of Her lotus feet, why should he make any effort to protect himself from the movements of these planets and stars? As he was dictating this reply I saw in his eyes a light that did not seem to be of this world.
Such occasions were, however, very rare. Most of the time Swamiji seemed practical and down-to-earth. He seldom shared his mystical experiences with anyone. In every book he wrote and every class he taught he made sure that people heard his main message: "Be practical. Don't be emotional. Be nice to yourself. Take care of your duties. Live in the world and yet remain above it. Achieve the higher purpose of life here and now.” I had been living in his company for several years before this book was published, and I was growing a bit tired of hearing him teach the same thing. One Sunday morning Swamiji was scheduled to lecture as usual when, driven by samskaras or by Divine Will, I found myself in an unusually mischievous mood. Right before his lecture I walked into his quarters and found him putting his shawl around himself in preparation for walking down to the lecture hall. Without much thought I jokingly said, “Swamiji, I have just achieved a great siddhi [spiritual power].” When he asked what it was I answered, “Now I can read anyone's mind and I can predict the immediate future. I can tell exactly what you are going to say in your lecture.”
Swamiji smiled and said, “OK, tell me.”
I said, “You will walk to the stage in your regal style, go to the podium, and while looking at the audience, you will bow your head and say [and here I began to imitate his speaking style], 'I pray to the Divinity in you. How are you today? Are you comfortable? Do you like the food here at the Institute? If you have any problem, please tell Kevin or Dr. Clarke.' Then very gracefully you will walk to the blackboard and while looking at the audience you will say, “A human being is not body alone, not mind alone. A human being is a breathing being too. ... Here is body and here is mind.' Then you will draw two circles on the board and say, "Between these two there is something called breath' while you connect the circles with arrows ..."
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