Om itetad aksharam idam sarvam. Om is not just a letter, but it is representing the Supreme Lord. At the beginning of our Vedic study, we start by saying, Harihi Om. This means Hari alone is Om. Hari means harati iti om – one who remains intact when everything has gone is Om. Narayana means the same – one who alone remains when everything has gone. This means Om is the foundation of everything and it is akshra– indestructible.  
 
The message of Om says we must seek the permanent only and no point in trusting on others who are themselves are impermanent.
 
The three-letter Om AUM represents:
A: ateeta: past- bhoota
U: utpanna: present: bhavya
M: meya: future: bhavat
 
That Supreme Lord – Purusha was there, is there, and will be there as changeless and complete. He is higher than Prakriti. Prakriti binds jiva -souls with sattvic (pure), rajasic (dynamic), and tamasic (dull) cords. But when the jiva – soul gets liberated, Prakriti has no longer can bind that soul. But the Supreme Lord is the goal and Lord of even the liberated souls as mentioned in the Purusha Sookta – utamritatva syeshanaha and as mentioned in the Vishnu Saharanama – muktanam parmamgarim.
 
Everyone is bound and leading a helpless life whether a prime minister or an ordinary citizen like mounted on a machine and we are bound by a cord or time and helplessly made to act. The Lord Shri Krishna beautifully says in Bhagavad Geeta
 

ishvarah sarva-bhutanam hrid-deshe arjuna tishthati 
bhramayan sarva-bhutani yantrarudhani mayaya || BG 18.61 ||

The Supreme Lord dwells in the hearts of all living beings, O Arjun. According to their karmas, he directs the wanderings of the souls, who are seated on a machine made of material energy.

 
The message of the three-letter Om makes us shed our ego to discover the joy in life.

A: means not. It is not what you know or you “a” means you do not know that.
U: means upari -up meaning The Lord is higher and beyond your comprehension
M: means meya – prameya: according to your ability try to understand.
 

Nobody can comprehend that fully. You cannot bring the whole water from the ocean but can take water from the ocean according to the size of the vessel you are carrying.
 
In a wakeful state Lord in the form of Aniruddha gives the Viswa experience and binds us with a cord of time and makes us act based on our ignorance. The foundation of our action (karya) is ignorance (karana).
 
In a dream state Lord in the form of Pradyumna gives the inner experience through a special light called Taijasa experience and binds us with a cord of time and makes us see things in our ignorance. The foundation of our unimaginable dreams (karya) is ignorance (karana).
 
Lord in the form of Sankarshana binds the soul with a cord of time and gives the total experience of ignorance in deep sleep. The foundation of our deep sleep experience is ignorance (karana). In deep sleep, there is no ego and because of this deep sleep has a blissful experience.
 
Like we do memory backup in our computers, our experiences in wakeful and dream are backed up in our deep sleep. This is called a supta prajna. We may lead a life in denial in the wakeful and dream state but the black box within cannot be erased. The medical science and police departments do sleep hypnosis to cure diseases or to extract the truth. This black box has the seeds of our karmas and is waiting for an appropriate time to manifest.
 
How to wipe out the karmas in the black box? Om says the only way is to go to the fourth state called turiya. The Supreme Lord Vasudeva who revealed to us only as Aniruddha to give outside experience, Pradyumna to give dream experience, and Sankarshana to give deep sleep experience alone can delete the seed of Karma by taking us to the fourth state called a nada.
 
The Mandukopanishad describes the turiya state as
 

amātraś caturthoavyavahāryaḥ prapañcopaśamaḥ sivo’dvaita evam auṁkāra ātmaiva saṁviśaty ātmanā’tmānaṁ ya evaṁ veda ya evaṁ veda.

 
Amatra: nada – the sound which is beyond the measure
Chaturtha: the fourth state
Avyayaharya: beyond transaction
Prapanchopashmana: No more wrong identification with the world
Shivam: purest
Advaita: Vasudeva reveals himself as Anniruddu, Pradyumna and Sankarshana and there is a difference between the form of the Lord
Atmaiva samvishat atmana atmanam: the ultimate purpose of our journey and culmination of our journey.
 
In the turiya state, one experiences the pause which is unshackled from the cord of time and becomes kalateeta.  In the wakeful, dream, and deep sleep we are bound by the cord of time and make us unsettled. Whereas in turiya state, atmaiva samvisha means one having reached the destination gets settled and does not want to move from there.
 
When the Lord Vasudeva reveals himself to give the turiya experience – one experience a flash of lighting for a very short time – not even a matra (amatra). After that experience, that person will start hearing the nada of Om continuously (amatra). Like lightning is followed by thunder, after experiencing this flash of light in the heart one hears nada continuously.
 
Music – Sangeeta is an attempt to express this inexpressible sound in various pitches – avyavaharyam. Om says if you want to be a genius in Sangeeta you must go beyond the audible sound AUM and you dive deep within to experience inner sound – antarnada. When you experience the stillness within whatever you talk is melodious to hear. In the world Parliament of religion in Chicago, many people spoke but when Swami Vivekananda uttered the words “my brothers and sisters of America” the entire audience got enraptured and stood up. 
 
The sages have given a symbol to Om as . In this symbol 3 stands for three states of our existence, wakeful, dream, and deep sleep. A curve appended to 3 symbolise turiaya – nada (amatra). A dot above that represents a bindu. A crescent represents kala. Shanta represents the cosmic egg and beyond that is atishanta – the Supreme Lord.  
 
Atishanta represents the changeless, the parament, complete and most pure – Narayana. Shanta represents Hiranyagarbha – cosmic egg– Prajapati – creator – Brahma. 
The crescent represents the destructive and liberating power of Lord Shiva. 
 
The message of Om is for all of us to seek the grace of Lord Vasudeva so that may He reveal Himself to us to give us the turiya experience.
 
One who experiences this. sees the same Lord Vasudeva everywhere. The message of Om unites us irrespective of faith and religion. Knowledge units us and ignorance divide us. 

Author: Yojana Yadav

Saturday morning is synonymous with our Srimad Bhagavad Gita class. It’s a day to listen intently to Lord Krishna’s divine song and take a guided tour to the depths of the serene ocean of knowledge to pick up pearls of wisdom and emerge wiser and even more inspired for days to come. 

Returning to the shore, it’s time to walk the talk as we get back to the material world, rejuvenated with a sense of equanimity and energy to take on the week’s battles.

If there’s one shloka that comes to the mind instantly from Chapter 2 or Sankhya Yoga, it is:

तमुवाच हृषीकेश: प्रहसन्निव भारत |
सेनयोरुभयोर्मध्ये विषीदन्तमिदं वच: ||2.10||

tam-uvācha hṛiṣhīkeśhaḥ prahasanniva bhārata
senayorubhayor-madhye viṣhīdantam-idaṁ vachaḥ || 2.10 ||

The key expression being senayorubhayormadhye or coming to the centre. Lord Krishna deliberately positioned the chariot between the armies of the Kauravas and Pandavas at the battlefield in Kurukshetra so that Arjuna could take an objective view of the situation without getting attached.

Lord Krishna says that if we are attached to one side, we won’t see reality. If truth has to dawn, declutch/detach yourself and come to the centre. Then you will get a better vision. From the foot of a mountain, it is impossible to see the horizon. To climb up, detach yourself from the mundane. As one goes higher, the vision gets better. By associating with one side, we can’t get the real picture. Coming to the centre is similar to going up for a better vision.

We all have a different army/enemy to fight. Everyone’s situation is different. So, don’t get daunted. Assess the situation by coming to the centre and boldly fight the battle of life.

Health itself is Not everything, but without health everything becomes nothing.

My household members will not be safe if my house is in a coronavirus hot spot area. My country is not safe the surrounding countries are in a pandemic situation. I will be healthy only when my community is healthy. Similarly, the world is healthy only when its limbs in the form of all nations are healthy. If any country is not healthy, the body of this world is not at ease, and it is not healthy.

It is great news that the life expectancy of an Australian is steadily increasing, and it is currently at 83 years. Recent studies say that life expectancy of 150 years in the future is not impossible. To cater for this change, Governments across the world need to recalibrate their health budget to cater for an ageing population and this will put a strain on the nation’s budget. 

There is a steady increase in the Australian health budget year on year and the current health budget is over $121 Billion with about 5% of the budget being spent on mental health. According to the productivity council, mental health is costing the nation at least $70 Billon annually and this is on an upward trend. The Government’s current strategy to address the strained health budget is a firefighting approach and may not be sustainable.

How can Yoga add value to the Nation?

Yoga will complement Government’s initiatives in addressing the health crisis through a proactive strategy of “Prevention is better than Cure”.  Yoga is not only an investment in a healthy lifestyle but also enables one to bounce back to health quickly in case of illness. A healthy person is an asset to the nation as he or she contributes immensely to the wealth and wellness of the nation. Yoga plays a dominant role by making an individual physically healthy, mentally stable and spiritually connected. A healthy individual is vital for a healthy family, a healthy society and a healthy nation.

Yoga is the contribution of ancient sages of India to the whole of humanity. Though it is an ancient concept, its application is still relevant and will be relevant in the future also.

We generally associate wealth in terms of our bank balance, investments, shares etc. We work long hours in pursuit of this wealth. But we fail to realise that the wealth is not confined only to the money in the bank or our investment portfolio. As we age, we realise that the best wealth we can have is health. 

The values we entertain – our mental health has a direct bearing on our physical health and our approach to life. The absence of disease alone is not health. The presence of enriched values in life is health. A tailor does not make us a gentleman, but the values we entertain make us a gentleman. Raising the height of the ceiling alone is not called prosperity. Cruising on a motorway or having 20 lane brides does not alone make a country a developed nation. A wealth without values is a burden on society. Emptying the mind of negative things alone is not enough. Shunting all criminals to prison alone will not make a country safe. Unless we enrich our lives with values, we will not find peace and prosperity in life. This can be achieved through a value-based education need to be introduced in the school system

We claim that we are busy in life and busy for what cause is the differentiators. We can make history by being engaged in life for a higher purpose. Otherwise, we will become a part of history. Only those who are dedicated to living for a higher purpose can inspire others. In the school system children must read about such great achievers of the past so that they will be inspired to excel. When you lead a life this you will not be abandoned in old age and the society will look after the person who is of value. Do not look up to the health minister or WHO for your health. Take responsibility for your health by investing time in yourself. 

A healthy community is built on harmonious living amongst people from different races, religions, and cultures. For a healthy world, there must be a harmonious living between humans and animals and the environment.

The world is one family – vasudeiva kutumbakam. There cannot be sustainable peace and harmony by leading a selfish living. We must give more than we take for a healthy world. We must connect; we must join hands with others to enrich ourselves and others. This connection is called Yoga.

The application of Yoga is universal. It is not limited to one religion and one section of the community. The purpose of celebrating International Yoga is to bring the message of Yoga to the greater community.

On the 24th of June, a few of us had the privilege to travel up to Canberra for a yoga session at the Federal Parliament. It was part of the International Yoga Day 2021 celebrations hosted by Vasudeva Kriya Yoga. The celebrations were organized in collaboration with Indian High Commissioner’s office, Canberra. The celebration in the parliament was made possible by the office of Hon Minister Jason Wood, Mr Rampal Muthyala and Mr Karthik Arasu.

The session was represented by The Hon. Minister Michael Sukkar MP, Hon. Minister Jason Wood MP, Hon Senator James Paterson, Hon Senator David Van, Deputy High Commissioner of India His Excellency Mr Karthigeyan, other parliamentary dignitaries, dignitaries from the Indian High commissioner office and yoga professionals from Canberra and Melbourne. 

Minister Sukkar spoke about how the ancient age-old custom of yoga has been handed over generations. It is a combination of physical and spiritual science. The youth today need to imbibe the discipline of yoga and how it can be beneficial to them in 2021. He implied and stressed the importance of spreading yoga and its benefits to the younger generation.

Minister Jason Wood mentioned the 5000-year-old discipline based on subtle science which focuses on bringing harmony to the body and the mind. He advised that in the parliament they regularly practice yoga. He acknowledged yoga’s effectiveness to cure many bodily ailments as well as mental illness, depression. Yoga can be useful to improve flexibility and reduce sports as well as other injuries.

Founder of Vasudeva Kriya Yoga, Sri Rajendra conveyed the message of yoga to the ministers and the parliamentarians. The world is safe only when every country is safe. Life expectancy is steadily increasing and governments must re-calibrate their health budget. The majority of the health budget is spent on mental health issues. Yoga is a complementary system to the existing health system and aims at prevention. Yoga makes a person physically healthy, mentally stable and spiritually connected. Such people are assets to the nation as their productivity increases and they spread the message of peace and harmony. We are busy with trivial things in life. How to be busy with a purpose is Yoga which is a value-based system. To make this happen, a value-based education system needs to be introduced in Australia. Children will need to be motivated and inspired to make difference in the community. This will ensure that the mental health of the next generation is taken care of. Inspired people are valuable to society and act as role models. We are all co-travellers in this life. Yoga is the need of the day for the current turmoil in the world and contributes to the peace and harmony of the world. Ultimate health responsibility comes from the individual. Hence invest time in yourself and make yourself an extraordinary person. This is the definition of yoga.

On this day, a memorandum was also submitted to the Health Minister, Education Minister as well as Minister of Multicultural affairs outlining the above message.

We (Vasudeva Kriya Yoga) are delighted to announce our new centre in Preston and Mill Park. Please join us to begin or continue to your path to health and well being through Yoga..! All details in the brochure below.

Click here to signup..!

Term Dates: Sat 27th April 2019 to 22nd July 2019

Fees: $80 per term.

NOTE: We are a not-for-profit organisation, all the fees collected will be given back to the society in one or the other way via initiatives like charity donations, public Yoga awareness events etc. By joining us you’ll be contributing to social well being of the society, as well as yours..!!

Here are some of the pictures from the Yoga Retreat.

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The participants experienced Vasudeva Kriya Yoga and here are some of the testimonials.