Greetings from Russell's Remnant:

Notes from the works of Sri Swami Satchidananda. Satchidananda is a disciple of Sri Aurobindo, who Dr. Whitesell highly respected. Satchidananda has a rather simple approach which the occident can relate to. Satchidananda presently resides in Buckingham, Virginia, USA. This series will be continued in future newsletters.

.....

Satchidananda: "To expect a student to get rid of his harmful habits before even starting Yoga practice would be like a doctor asking his patients to cure themselves of their ailments before receiving his treatment. Yoga is a cure-all of illness. As one takes to it, the ailments begin to disappear.

Yoga practices are just undoing what you have done earlier. Until you unwind, you'll be swinging like a pendulum from excited mind to depressed mind, back and forth again and again.

The purpose of all Yoga discipline is to keep the mind tranquil under all circumstances.

Analyze all your motives and try to cultivate selfless thoughts. That is our first and foremost duty.

The secret is that any desire without any personal or selfish motive will never bind you because the selfless desire has no expectation whatsoever, so it knows no disappointment no matter what the results. Have spiritual indifference, have dispassion, have non-attachment.

We are here to give and give and give. What is due to us will come without our worrying about it.

Doing things for others without expecting anything back is a form of worship.

The reason most peace talks fail is because the people who talk of peace do not seem to have peace themselves. Each wants to grab something. To achieve peace, people must go with the idea of giving.

By giving we never make enemies. We should always give whatever we have. If a man begs from you, and you give him something, don't think you are helping him. He is helping you. The giver should thank the receiver for the opportunity to show generosity.

Watch out for business gifts. The gift is not just for the sake of giving. Even God is not spared from such business gifts. Some light a candle and then ask God to listen to them, this is what I want.

On being established in non-injury, all hostile thoughts are relinquished by others when they come into your presence.

Everyday should elevate us a little, broaden our attitudes, reduce our selfishness and make us better masters over our own body, senses and mind.

Remember the goal: Aim at something great. All of you can be Buddhas, Christs, great sages, and saints.

Nothing here is very difficult. The only difficult task is ridding yourself of old habits. They will slowly go away if you cultivate new habits.

Dedicate everything to the Lord.

Know the Knower - The aim of all spiritual practices is to know your real Self, then see your own Self in your neighbor's Self. Then you can love him as your Self.

Don't put the right thing in the wrong hands. All modern problems are caused by having the right things in the wrong hands.

Adapt, adjust, accommodate. Bear insult. Bear injury. That is the highest sadhana (spiritual practice).

Don't think it's such a joy for the teacher to see many people falling at his feet; he gets drained.

Good company helps us stay away from bad company.

Until you are able to get clear answers from within, ask someone who already knows.

Unfortunately, sometimes seekers get things from their teachers, but don't work on it. They just talk about it. Many students think they are public relations people or that they immediately are teachers.

The Hindu scriptures say that a man can have three supreme gifts: a human birth, which is very rare; a thirst to know the truth; and a spiritual guide to show the way.

We always want to use our intelligence to decide what is right and wrong. But, in truth, it is impossible for us to know what is really right from wrong.

You can keep your intelligence, but know that the most intelligent person will put the load on that higher intelligence and just sit quietly enjoying everything. God just gave you a little intelligence and is waiting to see if you are intelligent enough to use it properly by linking your intelligence with His." (over)

Satchidananda: "Nothing done with a disturbed mind will have quality.

Take deep breaths to calm the mind.

If you have dreams of divine beings, remember them and let your mind dwell on them.

Every experience in the world is mental. A man is according to his mind.

Our mind is the cause of our pains.

When disturbed by negative thoughts, opposite (positive) ones should be thought of. We can create a positive atmosphere by looking at a holy picture, by reading an inspiring book, by meeting with a special person, or by simply leaving the disturbing environment.

When you feel depressed, ask, " Who is depressed? Certainly it is not me. Who? My mind. Well I told it not to do all that mischief.

All your study and practices are to keep you from disturbing your mind. Look at a bowl of water. You don't have to do anything to make the water peaceful, except stop shaking it. The same for your peace of mind. To stay away from shaking it, from disturbing the peace, you study scriptures, practice some austeries, renounce attachments and do all the yoga practices.

Refine your mind. Become more cultured.

Yes you can talk to your mind. Suppose the mind says, "I'm disappointed. I'm disturbed." They you say, "I told you not to run after anything. The more you ran the more it ran ahead of you.

Who is happy? Who is unhappy? The mind.

Whatever you do, think: "Who is doing this? or Who is eating now? Who is hungry? The mind is.

Only when your mind is tranquil can you perceive the essence in everything.

You choose your own way to keep your mind steady. That's your Yoga; that's your religion. That's my teaching summed up. The purposes of all these things is to keep the mind steady, peaceful and happy.

How does one become dear to God? Attain serenity of mind.

The mind must be restrained from all its cravings, sudden fits of anger, fear, excitement and the like.

Then you say, "He is making me unhappy." But really you disturb your own mind.

The mind is like a rock pile. Take all the rocks away and there is no pile. Likewise, the mind is nothing but a bundle of desires. If there are no desires, there is no mind - this is called "transcending the mind."

If the experience is likely to cause problems, then it's a trick of the mind. Ignore it.

The mind is angry. The Knower isn't angry.

Training the mind to stay on one point is something like training a horse.

If you aren't going to forgive, your mind will be restless. The aim of each of these qualities is the same: purity.

When we concentrate on something holy, the mind takes that form. When the mind retains it, we get those pictures even in our dreams.

The main purpose of meditation is purification.

Knowledge is better than mindless practice. And meditation is above that knowledge. Even superior to meditation is renouncing attachment to the fruits of your life, because peace immediately follows renunciation.

Most enmities are created by speaking. If you are silent, you avoid many quarrels. People who properly observe silence are always happy. They don't expose their foolishness.

You can't fix the mind right away. You have to train it. When it runs here and there, bring it back. You are slowly trying to calm the mind. When you focus the mind it becomes ever more precise.

The ultimate aim in meditation is to rise above - transcend - the body and mind. Concentrate on one thing. From many things you get into one thing, and from one thing - to no-thing.

Lord Krishna says that the selfless person should act a little more careful and more efficiently than a selfish person. A yogi is acting for everybody's sake.

The Karma Yogi must pay more attention to detail than the most miserly businessman does to his business. He must do a job ten times better than the person who is sowing seeds of karma." (to be continued)