Growing With the Guru

Swami Shankarananda: The Guru and the Ashram

Carrying on an ancient Indian lineage, this Western guru heads a thriving spiritual community and offers a blend of teachings centred on connecting with the inner Self.

Every Saturday night Swami Shankarananda (Swamiji) conducts open programmes of meditation, chanting and a talk in a large, festive mandap, or tent, in a garden setting on the Mornington Pensinsula, near Melbourne. The atmosphere is startling, as though ancient India has been transposed into contemporary Australia. Classic instruments, such as the harmonium, the sitar and Indian drums are integrated with electric guitar and blues harp, creating a strange and lively mix of music, from timeless devotional chants to ‘yoga fusion' to rock and roll. People are dressed in everything from traditional saris or punjabis to t-shirts and shorts straight from the beach. Newcomers and regulars of all ages each have the opportunity to meet Swamiji personally and enjoy the atmosphere, which is charged with shakti, or spiritual energy. Drawing on his quick wit and wry New York humour, he talks about the teachings of the great beings, offering the best from the yoga traditions of wisdom and devotion.

Swamiji established the Shiva Ashram more than fifteen years ago and moved to the present location in Mt Eliza in 1996. There, with his co-director, Ma Devi, he has created a spiritual community that offers an entire lifestyle based on spiritual practices and living in awareness.

In describing an ashram, Swamiji makes a distinction between first education and second education. First education, he says, is conventional, university- or trade-based education leading to a career, and second education is inner or spiritual education, leading to personal transformation. In the tradition of the Western philosopher and guru, G.I. Gurdjieff, Swamiji calls an ashram a ‘mystery school', where the inner teaching is transmitted.

Swamiji's first experience with an ashram was in 1971. He had been traveling throughout India, meeting yogis, when he met his guru, Swami Muktananda (Baba). ‘It wasn't until I actually saw his ashram in Ganeshpuri that I knew this would be a place for me', he says. ‘The ashram was so powerful, on-purpose and disciplined that you had no choice but to grow spiritually'.

For the general public, an ashram makes the teachings of meditation and spirituality available. For serious students, it is a place of intense spiritual training, known as sadhana. Ashramites, or ashram residents at the Shiva Ashram, draw on a mixture of backgrounds and interests. They might be undergoing a course of study or work, or simply are focusing on the investigation of the inner world. Others may come to live in an ashram during a transition because of personal life changes, as a time to recharge energy, or for a specific residential program. What they have in common is a keen commitment to spiritual practices and philosophies.

The Ashram and the Guru

Traditionally, the factor that distinguishes an ashram is the presence of a spiritual teacher, or guru. In the highest sense, a guru brings a student from darkness (gu) to light (ru). A guru has the ability to initiate students into a particular yoga lineage or spiritual path, then guides them in applying yoga practices and techniques to experience the inner Self, or the divine essence within.

Swamiji says, ‘One of the themes of my spiritual life is about gurus, or great beings. I think the essence of spirituality is the example of their lives. When I first heard about great beings I wanted to meet them. I was on fire with this passion, disrupted my life and went to India. I knew I wanted a teacher and I didn't care from what tradition-Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sufi or any other. To this day, 35 years later, I still believe that if you want to grow spiritually, a guru is invaluable. Ultimately, of course, a real guru wants you to have your own connection with the divine energy.

‘I sometimes like to talk about the great beings as living, walking and moving in the stream of grace, which is another dimension of reality within this dimension, something with higher spiritual access, more subtle and full of joy and power. When you relate to one in a profound way you start to walk yourself in that realm. I feel I was initiated into that stream of grace by my guru.'

He acknowledges that, like ashrams, gurus are extremely rare in Australia. He says, ‘If you want a teacher and haven't met a living guru, you can use somebody from the past to inspire you, a great being from any tradition. Read holy books, meditate daily and at the right time, that possibility will be there. The great twentieth century sage Ramana Maharshi was a great inspiration for me and I felt he guided me through the early days.'

Initiation and Transformation

Throughout the year, Swamiji runs retreats that culminate in an Intensive, a full day of long meditations and talks. At the Intensive, he imparts formal spiritual initiation in the tradition of his guru, called shaktipat, or the awakening of spiritual energy. He does this by touch.

This spiritual awakening is also called the kundalini awakening. It is based on the ancient path of yoga that describes dormant spiritual energy at the base of the spine. When ‘awakened', this benevolent energy rises within, bringing spiritual insights and understanding. Participants at the Intensives claim a variety of experiences, from seeing inner lights to spiritual revelations or a sense of deep peace and contentment.

In the time-honoured role of guru, Swamiji recommends yoga practices to help students develop their connections to positive inner states. He draws broadly on Eastern and Western scriptures and philosophies that offer techniques to connect to spiritual energy, then nurture and expand the presence of this energy.

He says, ‘Essentially what I teach comes from the timeless realm. As my guru would say, "Meditate on the Self, honour the Self and see God in others". So meditate within, know yourself and then bring that out in your relation to the world. When we talk about transforming the person, it is to overcome negative emotions, depression, anger, rage, fear and paranoia, and to pass into a deeper, inner state of joy, peace and fulfillment. Within every person is a potential, a place we call the atman or the Self. When you get in touch with that, you get in touch with a wellspring of joy and satisfaction. We all are looking for happiness, satisfaction and security in everything we do. The source of that actually is within.'

One of the common threads of Swamiji's yoga practices is that you have a choice in every moment. This applies on the physical level of doing one thing or another, such as take the bus or drive. On the mental level, the choice is to think about something or not think about it. Likewise, emotionally the choice is to stay agitated with anger or fear, or to shift the emotion. Each choice has consequences that might be pleasant or not pleasant.

‘A true yogi gives himself the freedom to choose how he thinks about any situation, based on the inner feeling result of such thinking,' he says. ‘It takes great strength of mind to freely choose how you think along those lines, but it can be done. Instead of reacting with anger, yogic thinking might include, he didn't really mean that, he's having a bad day'.

Swamiji likes to point out what he calls the ‘upward shift', which he calls ‘a sudden feeling of vibrancy'. He says, ‘The upward shift is the sudden expansion or upliftment of consciousness or feeling-awareness that occurs most often with a breakthrough in understanding. This upward shift is the footprint of the divine and testifies to the divine sanction of the understanding. When an upward shift occurs, the yogi touches on a higher reality and leaves behind limitation.'

Meditation and Self-Inquiry

The foundational practice at the Shiva Ashram is meditation. Throughout the year Swamiji teaches his Learn to Meditate classes based on his book, Happy for No Good Reason. Sometimes, people new to meditation come with misunderstandings. These might include the ideas that you have to totally silence the mind, you must sit in a cross-legged position with a straight back, or you can't meditate if you have too many thoughts.

‘In my early days I was intensely full of desire to attain something in meditation', he says. ‘I had read that you have to stop your mind in meditation. I tried to stop my mind and after immense effort sometimes I was able to do it and I would attain a state of trance, which would last a few minutes or more and it would be a blissful experience. But then I was worn out and couldn't meditate for days.

‘I realised I had to begin where I was, not strain for what I imagined meditation to be. I changed my approach. I started saying, where am I now? What's going on here? Intuitively I began to focus on the chakras, or energy centres. I looked inside and noticed a tension in my navel, a sad feeling in my heart, or a whirling confusion in my third eye. I examined them and asked myself, what's going on here? I went deeper and deeper into them and asked myself, what caused this, what is it made of, what is the emotion involved? I started getting substantive answers and I was able, finally, to shift the feeling and open the feeling up, then go deeper and experience the Self through this method.'

This method of self-inquiry became what he calls the Shiva Process, one of the cornerstones of practice at the Shiva Ashram. The inquiry is based on turning inside to find the state of being that connects you to your deepest inner Self, other people and broader understandings and relationship with the universe.

Practice Now

Swamii recommends focusing on the four energy centres, or chakras, of the navel, heart, throat and third eye. The method is to mentally focus on each centre to identify if you feel tightness, strain or pressure. Typical examples of extreme tension in the chakras might be the sensations of a ‘knot in the stomach', ‘(emotional) pain in the heart', a ‘lump in the throat' or a searing headache. Tension can appear as slight agitation or even a reluctance to focus on the area. More positive sensations might be excitement, well-being, joy or simply no sensation or a feeling of being neutral. For practice, take a moment now to scan your own four energy centres. Choose one that might have tension, or just choose one for now.

‘When you have tension in one of the chakras, you can ask yourself questions', Swamiji says. ‘Do I have any blocked relationships? Are there blocks or obstacles in my career? Do I have some health issue? Then listen to your own inner voice. You will get an answer. Inquire, Is there something I can do? Keep asking intelligent questions. With this method you find what the block is, what the emotion is, the thoughts connected to the emotion and finally, what needs to be done. The Shiva Process is a direct means to penetrate and understand what's happening now and go deeper within. It's spirituality not based on ritual or a method you have to take on faith, but on the present experience.'

At the Ashram with Swamiji

Regulars and visitors at the Shiva Ashram usually comment on Swamiji's friendliness, wit and sense of playfulness. When he's with his students at breakfast or lunch, he brings discussion to the table and offers countless techniques to get closer to the Self. He asks, is there another way of looking at this, and instructs them to look for the peace, upliftment, understanding, insight or the spark of divine consciousness. As a teacher, he is always raising the bar, offering new thought processes, techniques or twists of inquiry. He helps his students to work on themselves and to help others. By example, he teaches love and acceptance of everyone as they are right now.

He says, ‘The energy of divine Consciousness is the awareness within each of us. This awareness loves movements towards oneness and hates movements towards separation, isolation, contraction and fear. A personal act of greatness is an action that pleases this energy. This act of greatness is about you getting outside your usual comfort zone to overcome a longstanding block or obstruction in the flow of you life, and heal it. When you make a movement, even against you ego's best interest, the shakti is very happy and you feel a great sense of peace and upliftment.

‘All the different yogas that have been proposed by all the sages in all the traditions, were presumably at one point, an act of greatness-to get over something, merge with something, take a fresher approach, renounce something, move towards something or move away from something else. The essence is to move towards the source, towards the Self. There is no thought, no feeling that is not Shiva, universal Consciousness or God. Everything is Consciousness. Every possibility is manifested in some way or another. So when you take that view, life becomes light, artistic, expressive and joyous.'

The Shiva Ashram runs a full schedule of programmes for about 30 full-time residents and a number of participants who live in the local communities and in the broad Melbourne area. These include daily meditation and chanting sacred texts, communal meals, and offering service, or seva, to help daily operations, such as cooking, cleaning, gardening and office work. The wide range of courses include all levels of hatha yoga and yoga teachers training, Learn to Meditate courses, study groups, self-inquiry groups and satsang, or being in the company of the master.

You are welcome to visit the Shiva Ashram or enrol in any of a wide variety of courses. To stay, the ashram can provide accommodation during retreats, which are held about four times a year. For more information, contact the Shiva Ashram at (03) 9775 2568 or www.shivayoga.org.

Swami Shankarananda's Shiva Process Self-Inquiry Chakra Meditation

This meditation is on the CD that accompanies his book on meditation, Happy for No Good Reason. Try it for 20 minutes a day for a week. Once you become familiar with the practice you can do it any time to identify what you are feeling.

Bring your attention to the navel chakra. Feel the feeling in the navel area.

Is it pleasant or unpleasant?
Is it tense or relaxed?
Is it calm or energized?
Is there a feeling of wanting or pushing?
Is there a feeling of harmony or struggle?
Be aware of the feelings in the navel area.

Bring your attention to the heart chakra. Feel the feeling in the heart.

Is it pleasant or unpleasant?
Is it sad or happy or some other feeling?
Is the heart open or closed?
Is it loving or withholding?
Feel the feelings in the heart chakra.

Bring your attention to the throat chakra. Feel the feeling in the throat.

Is it pleasant or unpleasant?
Is it blocked or open?
Are words or emotion caught there?
Feel the feelings in the throat chakra.

Bring your attention to the third eye, the point between the eyebrows. Feel the feeling in the third eye.

Is it pleasant or unpleasant?
Is it tense or relaxed?
Is there confusion or worry?
Is it expanded or contracted?
Is it light or dark?
Do you see any colours?

Now review the four chakras you have just surveyed and determine which of them is the best or most comfortable one, and which is the worst or least comfortable. Select the most positive chakra and contemplate it for the rest of your meditation period. You can play some gentle meditative music or sacred chanting as a background for your practice.

For More Information

Books by Swami Shankarananda: Happy for No Good Reason, (2000), Consciousness Is Everything: The Yoga of Kashmir Shaivism (2003) and Carrot in My Ear: Questions and Answers on Living in Awareness (2004). Swamiji can be reached at www.shivayoga.org.

(c) copyright 2005 Nancy Jackson (Swami Dayananda)