Do the stones store the eternal wisdom of the past? Do the stones reveal those secrets, those are embed within, of the ancient sages and monks?? They do! In the mountains, it is said that the stones vibrate the chants of Mantras too, precipitating the skies and spaces to vibrate!! Intoxicating! Invigorating!! Energizing!!! The mountains know many things from the dawns of the past and the river Ganges flows through the past dawn to the present glorified spiritually charged evenings and in the process extracting the stimulations from those ancient Rishis. Those who know the language, do understand what the river speaks while roaring down the mighty Himalayas. Rishikesh… a holy place on the banks of the river Ganges, holds many secrets, secrets of the past… to be used for the future for the prolongation of the mankind. Those who have visited the place, even once in lifetime, will never forget the vibrations of pure consciousness dwelling over the forbidden Himalayas, the tremors, the pulsations, the chanting of hymns created both in the mornings and evenings, even today. Otherwise known as the abode of Gurus and Gods, Rishikesh is a recluse’s heaven.

 

In this serene atmosphere of love and beloved, of Gurus and Gods, one international seminar on Kriya yoga was held from 1st of October to 13th October 2017. More than one hundredKriya Yogis from **different countries across the globe participated in the seminar along with a few Indian Yogis. The venue was as serene as the place:”The Kriya Yoga Ashram” in the laps of ‘Tapovan’, literary meaning ‘the land of austere penance’.

 

The day started at 4 am in the morning to be followed by Aarati, Prayers, and meditation. A small discourse by Swami Shri Shankarananda Giriji preceded the meditation and then the Divine Guru guided the participants to elevate themselves from the mundane thoughts of worldly affairs to the divine realm of spiritual kingdom through the special techniques of Kriya meditation. The flow of divine energy thus created, subjugated the banal stupor, creating a void full of nothingness and peace and beyond.

The forenoon session was mainly spent in analyzing the ‘Yoga Sutra’, by Sage Patanjali. The ancient shlokas written in Sanskrit in most concise manner was consecrated in the lights of Kriya for the easy understanding of the European disciples in a very lucid manner followed by the Bhagavad Gita and the Sacred Chandi. Correlating all these scriptures in terms of meditation specially enunciated and revealed by Shri Babaji Maharaj, and enlightened by Shri Lahiri Mahashaya, followed by Shri Yukteswarji and Paramahansa Yogananda, Swami Shri Hariharananda Giriji and Swami Shri Prabhujee is not an easy task. These are the hymns of the glory, of an ancient history, intangible and self-contained like religion, rebelling to be translated into another medium: especially into words that are their worst enemy.Illustrating different stories from Jataka and Purana, Swamiji made it decipherable to the foreign as well as the Indian disciples.

 

The afternoon was mostly sacrificed to learn the techniques of the Kriya Initiation. Deciphering the meanings of the Sanskrit Shlokas, used to initiate a new entrant into the kingdom of heaven, to the understanding levels of the disciples could only be done through the divine grace of Gurus and Gods. And thus streams of wisdom overpowered the fallacies in the shortsightedness of illusion bedded with blind beliefs from the very beginning of their being and brought forward a new level of awareness among the disciples. 

 

The evening was captivated in enchanting guided meditation by divine Swamiji preceded by evening Aarati and prayer for Gurus and Gods. The evening discourses again unfolded many secrets of the Universe of Nada Brahma, the primordial sound. How the vibrations of AUM reverberates in the cosmic elements and how the elements of the Panchatatwa pervadesthe specks of the cosmos including the human body. And where in the passage to the Kingdom of Heavens lies, inside the best and the most profound creation of the God, the human being and the techniques to approach and conquer it. The (Nada) sound which is everything, pervades everything and beyond. 

 

As the Natya Shashra propounds:

 

“From the Sound (nada) comes the Shruti (the interval)
From Shruti comes Swara (scale)
From swara comes Raga (motif)
From Raga comes Gita (song)
And the soul of the Gitais Nada.”

 

And what is Nada?

“There is no song without the Nada
Nor any music without it
there is no danceWithout Nada and
The whole creation is filled with
the essence ofNada.”
(From Brihaddesi of Matanga)

 

Thus the evenings turned into the nights of respite from the divine ‘Dawns of the Past’ filled with erudite wisdom to the tranquil serenity of the ‘Dawns of the Present’ with a never ending flow of the divine nectar, that continued to torrent, gratifying the thirst for knowledge of the disciples across the world, from the lips of the divine Guru Swami Shri Shankarananda Girji.

 

It is true, indeed, that the mountains of Himalayas do store the wisdom of the past for those who believeand reveal too, for those who practice surrendering everything before the Guru!