Discussion with P. P. Kaka Maharaj, December, 2011 - Part 1

On December 16^th, 2011, the editor of this e-newsletter had the good fortune to spend several hours with P. P. Kaka Maharaj at his home in Nashik, India and to engage him in a discussion on Maha Yoga.  We were joined by P. P. Prabhune Maharaj and Shri Nikhil Prabhune, both from Nashik, India.  Despite his advancing age, P. P. Kaka Maharaj continues to remain as enthusiastic as ever about communicating with Sadhaks and in spreading the message of Maha Yoga to everyone on this earth.   Following is the first part of the translated and edited excerpts from that discussion.

Editor: Thank you Dear Gurudev for this opportunity to talk to you about Maha Yoga on behalf of the readers of Self Awakening, our quarterly e-newsletter.  We have now had similar discussions three times before in which you spoke about your own life experiences, your advice to Sadhaks on Maha Yoga, Shaktipat Deeksha and Sadhan, and how Sadhaks can better integrate Maha Yoga in their day-to-day lives.  Those discussions were very well received by readers of the e-newsletter who found inspiration and guidance from you on many of the questions they have on those topics.  This time I would like to talk to you about your aspiration to make Maha Yoga relevant not just to individuals but also to families, communities, nations and to the entire world.

Gurudev: I am glad that the discussions thus far have been helpful to Sadhaks.  The topic you are suggesting, which is to make Maha Yoga relevant on a global scale is one which I have been interested in for a very long time.  And it is particularly timely, given the Mahayoga Global Meet we have planned for May 1^st to 3^rd of 2012 to be held in Pune, India.   Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, a Maha Yoga Sadhak who is also an eminent computer scientist and founder and Executive Director of the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) in India, has kindly agreed to lead the Global Meet.  (Editor: CDAC is the force behind the PARAM family of supercomputers in India).  So we are indeed fortunate to have such an eminent person be in charge of leading this effort.  I hope Sadhaks from all over the world will attend.

Editor: I hope so as well.  But I was wondering what prompted you to convene such a Global Meet in the first place.   

Gurudev: Well, ever since I began the study of Maha Yoga many, many years ago, I have been influenced by the writings of Dnyaneshwar Maharaj (13^th century Yogi) who wanted to bring the science of Maha Yoga to everyone, including the common man.  For a long time, however, Maha Yoga was introduced only to people who were considered to be “deserving”, i.e. righteous, knowledgeable about the scriptures, wise, etc.  But, what about the common man, doesn’t he deserve to be informed about Maha Yoga as well?  What I found was that it did not matter much whether I thought a person was “deserving”, whether he was knowledgeable about the scriptures, what religion or caste he belonged to or anything else.  The key question to me was whether or not Maha Yoga practice worked for everyone regardless of gender, age, caste, creed, religion, race, status in life, education, etc.  And I found that it worked just fine for everyone, regardless of any of the apparent differences that we humans tend to focus on so much.  So, I have been working on, for quite some time now, to introduce Maha Yoga to the entire world. 

Editor: I suppose that is what prompted you to go on a tour of the UK and the US in 2007.

Gurudev: Yes, but I began this effort in my own small way over 25 – 30 years ago.  I think it was in the early 1980s that I sent out a letter to the heads of state of 80 nations of the world, briefly introducing them to Maha Yoga and urging them to take it to their citizens.  It was somewhat crazy in retrospect, since I did not get a response from anyone, but I felt it was my duty to try regardless. 

Editor: Well, it seems like you have been motivated to make Maha Yoga global for a very long time.

Gurudev: Yes, what has motivated me is the fact that Maha Yoga is extremely simple, even a little child can understand it and experience it and so can an elderly person.  Anyone can practice it because the basis of Maha Yoga is the Prana Shakti, the Universal Life Energy, which pervades us all. The air we all breathe is a gross manifestation of this very same Prana Shakti.  Nobody can deny the fact that we all need air, and the air we breathe is the same for each and every one of us, regardless of where we live.  As Dnyaneshwar Maharaj said, “He Vishvachi maze ghar”, or “This world is my home”, and we are all members of one family.  That is what I believe, and that is what Dr. Bhatkar has emphasized in his invitation to all seekers around the world in the invitation announcing the first Mahayoga Global Meet.

Editor: I was wondering what your intent is behind making Maha Yoga global.  Is it to make the world a better place?   

Gurudev: I don’t really have such grand aspirations.  All I am concerned about is the fact that since each and everyone on this earth is eligible to practice Maha Yoga; I simply want them all to become aware that this treasure is available to all of them.  I can inform everyone what Maha Yoga is all about and the peace and happiness it can bring to all, and I can request everyone to practice it.  It is up to them to practice it or not, but all I can do is to just inform them about it.  So that is what I have been doing all these years, and now there are thousands of people all over the world who have practiced it and have actually experienced the sense of oneness, the calm and bliss it creates within the Sadhak (aspirant). 

Whenever I get an opportunity to be with people interested in seeking peace of mind, I don’t like to give them long talks on Maha Yoga.  Instead, I just ask them to sit in a relaxed posture, close their eyes and observe their breath.  When they do that, Maha Yoga simply “happens”.  It does not get “done”.  As soon as they close their eyes, the Prana Shakti within them automatically begins to rise and go towards the top of their heads.  They actually begin to experience the Prana Shakti that pervades us all.

And the second thing is that since we all depend on the air around us, which is a gross manifestation of the Prana Shakti, we can think of it as if it were our common Mother.  The air all over the world is the same; there are no national boundaries that separate the air in one country from another.  We breathe in and out the very same molecules that others all over the world breathe.  So it is with the Prana Shakti that pervades us all.  She is the one Mother of us all.  So, if all of us around the world have the same Mother, we are all brothers and sisters.  That is why the invitation to the Mahayoga Global Meet emphasizes that we are all members of one family.  And that is why I want everyone on this earth to realize that we are children of the same mother, the Chaitanya Shakti, or the Universal Life Energy which brings us all into existence. 

So after closing their eyes, I tell Sadhaks to observe their breath and surrender to the Prana Shakti within them, which their breath represents.  This is not surrendering to some stranger, but it is the same as surrendering to one’s own mother, the Mother Energy which keeps us all alive.  And which person on this earth will not want to surrender to his/her mother and have her lead him?  We know our mothers always have our interest at heart; therefore we trust them and are willing to do anything for them.  Sometimes our earthly mothers may not be aware of what is best for us, but Mother Prana Shakti is in fact one better.  She knows exactly what we need for spiritual progress.  So I tell Sadhaks that after they close their eyes and begin to observe their breath, they should surrender everything to the Mother Prana Shakti, their bodies and their minds.  I tell them to surrender their bodies by being as relaxed as possible; to surrender their breath by letting the Mother Prana Shakti control the inhalation and exhalation of breath; and all their thoughts, so the mind begins to calm down.  When a Sadhak has such an attitude of surrender to the Prana Shakti, Sadhan “happens”!  It is not “done” by the Sadhak. 

People all over the world are entirely capable of experiencing this type of Sadhan.  Therefore, I think if we can make people around the world become aware of Maha Yoga, I am convinced that the entire world will want to embrace it.  Of course people will continue to have differences among themselves related to material issues and will likely continue to fight with each other.  But I think such discord is similar to the fights that children have within families.  Two children of the same Mother might fight with each other but the Mother will love them both.  And because of the love they get from their Mother they will eventually realize that such fights are meaningless.  Better to live in peace and harmony with each other.

Editor:  That is correct; if everyone realizes that they are the children of the same Mother Energy, Prana Shakti, the world would be better off.  But how can we get people from different nations, sometimes from nations that are at war with each other, to realize this important truth?

Gurudev:  Well, we have to ask people whether or not it is possible for them to live without air; the air we all share, the air that is a gross form of the Universal Life Energy which keeps us all alive.  Can anyone claim they can survive without air; can they even utter a single word without using the air which is common to us all?  That’s it!

Editor: But we find that some people of different nationalities and religions are often not quite open to even listening to what we have to say about Maha Yoga and its implications for universal brotherhood.  What can we do in such situations?

Gurudev: Maha Yoga is not at all about religion.  It does not matter what religion one was brought up in or what one follows, everyone can practice Maha Yoga.  And they can do so without changing their religious beliefs.

Of course, if someone does not even want to listen to what Maha Yoga is all about, then there is nothing we can do.  We cannot force people to listen to us.  All we can do is to try to make those who are interested in spiritual progress and are not closed-minded, become aware that this very easy and straightforward path exists and is available to all. 

And if they are open to sit quietly for a short time, say ten minutes, and follow the simple instructions I outlined earlier, they will be able to actually experience Maha Yoga Sadhan.  It does not matter what nationality they are or what religion they follow.  They will all be able to experience it.  They do not have to do anything other than to sit quietly, close their eyes, observe their breathing, surrender to the Mother Energy, and simply observe what happens.   Once they become aware of Maha Yoga and have experienced it, it is entirely up to them to practice it or to ignore it.  All we can do is to try to make them aware that such a miraculous path exists and that we are all capable of experiencing its benefits. 

(Editor’s note:  At this point, P. P. Prabhune Maharaj joined the conversation.)

Editor: Welcome to the conversation, Prabhune Maharaj.  We have been talking about how important it is to make the world aware of Maha Yoga, but sometimes we encounter people with closed minds who are not even willing to listen to what we have to say.  We have been discussing what can be done in such situations.

Gurudev: As I said earlier, if people don’t even want to listen to us, there is nothing we can do.  We must try to bring this great gift to everyone, but if some people do not want to receive it we have to leave it at that.  It will take time.  As some people become open to actually trying Maha Yoga, the word about the actual experiences of Sadhaks might spread and gradually, even those who are currently unwilling to listen might become open to listening, and perhaps even trying it out.

Prabhune Maharaj: What he (the editor) says is right.  A couple of days ago when I had gone to give a talk on Maha Yoga at the Engineering College here in Nashik, I met a professor there.  He had come to the talk somewhat intrigued by my engineering background.  After my talk he came to me and said that designing software and teaching his students software design and the mathematics that underlies it, is his meditation and he doesn’t need to sit for any other type of meditation.  He asked me what I thought of his situation.  I told him that he should keep doing what he enjoys and if he thinks that sitting for Maha Yoga meditation is a waste of his time he should not bother with it. 

There are many people in this world with closed minds, so there is nothing we can do about that.  Maha Yoga meditation does not happen unless one has an open mind.  We cannot force closed minds to open.

Gurudev: That is correct.  All we can do is inform those who are willing to listen to us that such an easy and effective path to inner peace and joy is available to them at no cost.  It is up to them to try it and actually experience it.  This path is not an intellectual exercise; it has to be actually experienced.  Without that internal experience, it is not possible to understand it on a purely intellectual level.