Speech of HH Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji – during the Mouna seminar – December 14 and 15, 2019 – Mysore
Compiled by Jaya Akkanapragada
Kshetram shuddhi – cleansing the space we inhabit is needed. We speak himsa – violence, and take in himsāhāram – food obtained by hurting other beings. When we eat such food, the diseases many beings have are also ingested by us. If you follow the lifestyle of a Brahmachārya, following a good diet, walking, practicing yoga, swimming etc., you can confidently say ‘Appaji will take care of us.’ But most of you do not move at all. You have to get an annual medical health checkup done. You can do this at the SGS Hospital when you visit next. You must reduce salt and spice intake. If you listen to bhajans, upanyāsam and do yoga, you can sit for long stretches of time.
Many of you feel very sleepy when you sit in one place to concentrate. Sit with a japa counter and do some mantra japa. In Treta yuga, until Rama returned, many people kept mouna vratam, and did not even think of having children. Many couples maintained mouna at home and followed the brahmachārya vrata. Vasishta Maharshi and Valmiki Maharshi also practiced mouna.
If you practice mouna once a week or once in a month, your memory will improve, and concentration levels will increase. The ida and pingala nādis – which are 2 very important and subtle energy channels on either side of the spine, will be cleansed. By following mouna, one also gains control over the tongue and can control the amount of food they take in. By controlling the tongue, we will then only speak what is absolutely necessary and therefore save energy.
If you stay silent, you will also be able to understand what Appaji says because you will have time to reflect on His words. Today is Sankashtahara Chaturthi. Gańapati loves mouna. So tomorrow you can break your fast and offer undrālu seva to Swami.
People in Germany and Switzerland are seeing many benefits after practicing mouna. They are calm and peaceful and healthy. They are able to face any difficulty and obstacle with ease.
In addition to mantra japa, you can also do prāńāyāma, and if you feel sleepy, keep your eyes open. As you breathe in and breathe out, mentally chant the Omkara. You can alternate between prāńāyāma and mantra japa to increase alertness and concentration levels.
If you eat less, you will not feel sleepy. Not eating at all will make you feel weak, so we must make sure we control our food intake. Moderation is key.
Mounam kalaham nāsti
Mounam sakalam siddhi
Mounam ārogyam vruddhi
Mounam yashas shreyas vruddhi
Mounam kalaham nāsti. When we practice mounam, we can avoid arguments and negativity at home. The elders said this so long ago. In treta yuga they said that practicing mounam will help in successful completion of all tasks which we undertake. We will not only be blessed with good health, but good qualities like ahimsa, karuna and daya.
Tapam, japam and performing good karmas such as listening and learning Bhagavad Gita, going to temples and doing Sadguru seva will also follow as we keep practicing mouna. Mouna has so much shakti, but I don’t know why people are running behind milk and curd when they have nectar -amrutam right here in their hand. If we take this amrutam, we do not need anything else. There is such great energy in it. Some elderly people would practice mouna vratam at home.
Now with Swamiji reviving it as a practice, many people are inviting Swamiji to come and conduct Mouna seminars. Mouna is not like yoga with asanas and physical movements. Even when something is being learnt, you can hear one practice it. But Mouna is not like that. It cannot be seen or heard. One needs Sadguru’s kripa and anugraham – grace and blessings, only then will mouna siddhi happen. There are so many definitions and so many countless benefits to performing benefits.
Mouna was first practiced by Sanaka and Sanadi, and then by Atri Maharshi. It was only by mouna sadhana that Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara appeared before Atri Maharshi. It is said that by doing prāńāyāma with just omkara – chanting Aum internally, one can reach higher planes. This may sound very strange. How can one attain uttama gati without learning anything, and without doing anything? It was in Dvapara yuga in Krishna’s time that people finally started understanding this shakti behind mouna.
Vāk shuddhi – purity in speech, vāk siddhi and āsana siddhi – ability to sit in one asana for long stretches of time are 3 key benefits of mouna. One also gains command over the mind and the senses. As we keep practicing mouna, it will become easier to control our senses and make them listen to us. But there are some nitya karmas – necessary activities which we must perform everyday. Gruhastas – those who lead a family life must be careful not to annoy other family members at home, or use mouna as an escape from nitya karmas. One must maintain mouna as a vratam – practice for a week or for a few days. We must be careful not to escape from our duties, otherwise we will be committing a great sin.
Many people who are diabetic or who have low salt levels in their body are prone to cramps which can be very painful. The pain gets so severe that one may even feel they are going to become paralysed. When you experience such pain and fear, maintain mouna and silenty tell your mind that this pain has to go. Do this in addition to applying some ointment as suggested by the doctor, and you will find that in ten minutes the pain will go. Instead of suffering for half hour with severe pain, by practicing mouna, you can make the pain go away in ten minutes. Sometimes, you will even be able to tell when the pain is going to start. Without moving the leg or the hand, take in a lot of oxygen and breathe heavily all the while chanting Aum internally. By inhaling more oxygen and by controlling the mind, the cramp will go away. Those around you may get worried seeing you breathe so heavily, so be careful not to scare them. Sometimes people get severe neck pain and won’t even be able to move it. The doctor may say protein levels are low in the body. When you experience such pain, clench your fist and with your knuckles apply pressure on the area, all the while maintaining mouna. There are so many secrets like this in mouna. atīndriya śakti is nothing but the control of manas and senses by following mouna. Mouna itself is the painkiller.
We are already on the path of devotion. You all do puja at home, and listen to Bhagavatam and Vedantam, you perform Anagha vrata and you show Bhakti, but you must also gain control over your sense organs. This will only come with mouna. This is not an easy practice. One thing to remember is that those who want to practice mouna should do some yoga. You must be able to sit in one place for long stretches of time. There are many sitting asanas which help those with leg pain and back ache. You must start making it a habit of walking in waist deep water holding onto a rope or the wall. It will help those suffering from leg pain and stomach aches. When you come to the ashrama for 3-4 days, you must make use of this facility at the swimming pool. I have built it for you, but most of you stay away saying the water is too cold. When we immerse ourselves in water, water has the yogam to take our weight away. Of course, this will not help those who have already had knee surgery. But for those who suffer from cramps and back ache, this will definitely help. Please make sure you only use the swimming pool when the trainer is present.
All of you have placed so much faith in Swamiji and come here with so much Bhakti. I am blessing you with all the knowledge the Paramatma has blessed me with. When I see each of you, I feel so much karuna – compassion for you. Some of you are suffering so much. That is why, I told 2-3 people in their dream to come for mouna seminar. They are here today. When I see each of you, I remember your past lives, your children and tears well up. I also feel very happy that you are all here with Me. No matter what situation you are in, you must not have doubts. This is what I pray for all the time. While practicing Mouna, you can mentally chant Shivāya Rudrāya Namaha or Shivāya Guravé namaha. Another mantra you can chant is Vishnu rūpa namasshivāya.
Both Vishnu and Shiva are one. We are born in one house, marry into another, we have children and then one day we leave this world. Only Paramātma knows what each one’s fate is and what all these bonds and relationships mean. While we are talking here, there could be a volcano erupting somewhere, an earthquake or tsunami somewhere else. Only He knows why these things happen. We are just stuck in this dense forest of Maya – illusion. To cross over to the other side, along with Bhakti, you must all practice a few yogāsanās everyday. Surya Namaskārās can be done by all of you. Our teachers teach Datta Kriya Yoga (online classes are now taught every morning on Facebook live at 7:30 AM IST)
Chitta nivritti happens with yoga. By doing yoga, the body not only becomes flexible, but all the organs will be healthy and the senses will be under our control. If you stop yoga for even one day, the senses will start behaving as they please.
Without prāńa, the body will collapse. The prāńā travels throughout the body and keeps all the indriyās (sense organs) healthy. Sometimes even though we feel healthy, the mind is restless. We start out doing something good, but then we either end up doubting whether we can complete the task, or we give up altogether. This dvandva bhava shows that both the chitta and prāńa must be controlled.
Through the navarandra dvārās – 9 orifices and the 5 sense organs, we keep losing energy. Mouna has the power not just to control the indriyās but also conserve energy which would otherwise leave through the nava dvārās – 9 doorways. If we do not practice mouna, the 2 petals of the sahasradala will collapse downward and energy will get blocked.
If we practice mounam for 1or 2 hours everyday while doing some kriya, take sātvika āhāra, listen to Vedanta, read Appaji’s books and practice yoga everyday, we will experience prakāśa – a light within.
Yoga, Dhyāna, abhyāsa – all these came with daiva sankalpa – divine will. The influence of worldly attachments, doubts, diseases and involvement with the senses makes us forget all that we know and we become restless. We must forget about our worldly problems and focus on accruing more daiva sampat.
If two sticks are of the same length, to increase the length of one, we must break the second one. Therefore, if we want to increase our daiva sampat, we must not focus so much on worldly problems. We are unfortunately focusing on how to reduce our problems. Mouna is the best medicine to help us on the ādhyātmika – spiritual path. As we keep practicing mouna, the energy we receive from the sahasradala padma – the thousand petalled lotus increases.
Every month set aside some money. When you come to the ashrama, you can donate it to the Datta Kriya Yoga fund. This will help our young teachers travel and propagate Kriya Yoga.
I have a dream that one day 1000 children with disabilities and special needs will perform sūryanamaskārās in perfect synchronization in Mekedatu. Children will anyway register but I want elders also to enrol and participate. So many of you registered for Mouna seminar in Haridwar on the banks of the Ganges, but because there was a threat of war, we had to postpone the program.
We must all do mouna vratam sometime on the banks of the Ganga or Kaveri river. I really want to conduct Mouna program someday in Mekedatu, after all that is your Swamiji’s birthplace. All of you mentally pray to be able to visit Mekedatu.
When I see each of you, I think of you as my family member. And when it is time for you to leave, I feel so bad that you are already going back. I never used to feel so attached before, but nowadays I feel very bad when someone does not come for a function at the ashrama. I pray that all of you keep joining Swamiji in the Mouna program. This is a very important and necessary course for Datta devotees.
Jaya Guru Datta. Sri Guru Datta. Harihi Aum Tat Sat.