Baba Hari Dass , born in Almora near Nainital, Uttar Pradesh , India, was a yoga master, a silent monk, and a commentator of Indian scriptural tradition of Dharma and Moksha. He was classically trained in Ashtanga Yoga – Raja Yoga of Patanjali , as well as Kriya Yoga, Ayurveda, Samkhya, Tantra Yoga, Vedanta, and Sanskrit.
Born into the 13th generation of a Kumaoni Karnatak Brahmin lineage, in the lunar month of Chaitra, in Shukla Paksha , he belonged to a traditional family and was one of several siblings [2]. He was an author, playwright, martial arts teacher, sculptor and builder of temples. Upon his arrival in the US in the early 1971, he and his teachings inspired the creation of several yoga centers and retreat programs in California and in Canada. His extensive literary output includes scriptural commentaries to Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Samkhya Karika, and Vedanta, collections of wisdom aphorisms about the meaning and purpose of life, essays, plays, short stories, children's stories, kirtan mantras, and in-depth instructional yoga materials that form the basis of a yoga certification-training program.He was an early proponent of Ayurveda in the United States, an ancient Indian system of health and healing. In an annual rendition of Indian classic Ramayana, he taught performing arts, choreography and costume making. With the emphasis on selfless service that guided his life and action that benefits the world, he devoted himself to helping others and in 1987 he opened Sri Ram Orphanage in Haridwar for homeless children in India. Although he did not speak, he was conversant in several languages in writing.
To the local population of Nainital and Almora, Baba Hari Dass was also known as Haridas , as Haridas Baba, as Chota Maharaji , or as Harda Baba. Baba Hari Dass of Almora-Nainital is a different person than Swami Haridas who was a spiritual poet and classical musician of Bhakti movement era. Also, Haridas was a known saint of clan from Delhi whose temple exists in Jharoda Kalan village, in Najafgarh.
Wikipedia
“The only thing necessary is to understand attachment”
Everyday Peace: Letters for Life, 2000
Context: You have everything and you want more. It's natural in human beings. You don't need to give away your house, money, and car, and leave your family to find God. The only thing necessary is to understand attachment. (p.17)
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, p.11
165
Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977
Source: The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996, p.4
Source: Ashtanga Yoga Primer, 1981, p.20
Miscellaneous
Context: Control of the mind can be achieved by understanding yourself, the aim and the energy which is blocking us from progressing. Between God and the Self, the blocking energy is the ego. If the ego is pulled toward the world, it makes a wall. If the same ego is pulled toward God, it makes a ladder.
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. I-VI, 2013
Context: In this verse Lord Krishna advises Arjuna how to fight the battle he is trying to avoid. Life in the world functions by ego, attachment and desire, which gives the rise to the idea of “likes” and “dislikes”. In this way the mind starts identifying all experiences in the world in terms of opposites, such as pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat... Here, Sri Krishna is saying that if Arjuna has neither desire for heaven nor for sovereignty over the earth, then he should achieve equanimity of the mind. With equanimity of the mind one can achieve success in the war of life. Without it, one cannot remain unaffected by the pairs of opposites and will be continually tossed about by the waves of egocentric likes and dislikes.
Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977, p.15
“Don't think that you are carrying the whole world; make it easy. Make it play, make it a prayer.”
Source: Ashtanga Yoga Primer, 1981, p.2
“Your body is the temple of your soul. Your soul is God's temple.”
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, p.79
Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977, p.9
“When happiness moves beyond the mind, that is happiness”
Miscellaneous
Context: Q: How are peace and happiness related? Is peace the only real happiness? A: When happiness moves beyond the mind, that is happiness. (March 26, 2016)
“Work honestly, meditate every day, meet people without fear, and play.”
Source: Ashtanga Yoga Primer, 1981, p.74
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, concerning smoking and yoga path, p.6
Source: Hariakhan Baba: Known, Unknown, 1975, p.78
The Yellow Book, 1974
Context: Using siddhis (powers) is not good for those who possess them. It can also trap the mind into desires. By being pure in mind siddhis will come by itself, and a yogi should not try to show his powers. First thing is to have siddhis and then not to get trapped in siddhis. (p.42)
Source: The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996, p.2
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III, 2013
Context: Samyama, which is the application of concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and superconscious trance (samadhi) in lightning succession, is practiced with the intent to gain specific knowledge of the object of concentration. The object is seen from all sides, in all its aspects, with full depth and breadth. As such, this complete absorption of the mind using the process of samyama brings complete and specific knowledge of the object. This power of knowing is vibhuti. (Bk. III, Sutra 4, p.7)
Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977
Context: Q: Can intellect aid understanding? A: It helps in the beginning but cannot give full enlightenment. The mind is the main instrument to gain enlightenment, but enlightenment is only reached when the mind stops. Q: How can we stop the mind? A: Not hitting it with a hammer. Stop the mind by the mind. (p.31)
“The ego rules the mind because it links the “I” with the mind and body”
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book II, 2008
Context: The ego rules the mind because it links the “I” with the mind and body. If the “I,” which is another name for the self, were not identified with the mind and body, the ego would have no power. Self-study [svadhyaya], therefore, is the set of practices that investigates the nature of the self to discover its origin. When the origin is found to be separate from the body, the ego loses the battle and peace is attain. (Bk. II, Sutra 1, p.5)
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I, 1999
Context: Yoga is defined as a method – the process of nirodha (mental control) – by which union (the goal of yoga) is achieved. Yoga is therefore both the process of nirodha and the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process). The word yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state..., or as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation. (Sutra 2, Bk I, p.5)
“A wise person is one who sees the effect of an action before he acts.”
Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986, p.41
“Faith and devotion are the foundation on which meditation is built.”
Source: Ashtanga Yoga Primer, 1981, p.27
“Yoga is defined as a method – the process of nirodha”
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I, 1999
Context: Yoga is defined as a method – the process of nirodha (mental control) – by which union (the goal of yoga) is achieved. Yoga is therefore both the process of nirodha and the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process). The word yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state..., or as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation. (Sutra 2, Bk I, p.5)
“Pleasure has desire in it. Desire is pain. There is no satisfaction. So pleasure is pain.”
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, p.65
Source: The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996, p.65
“Anything that exists will never be destroyed; its disappearance is simply a transformation.”
Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986, p.18
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I, 1999
Context: Yoga is defined as a method – the process of nirodha (mental control) – by which union (the goal of yoga) is achieved. Yoga is therefore both the process of nirodha and the unqualified state of niruddha (the perfection of that process). The word yoga (union) implies duality (as in joining of two things or principles); the result of yoga is the nondual state..., or as the union of the lower self and higher Self. The nondual state is characterized by the absence of individuality; it can be described as eternal peace, pure love, Self-realization, or liberation. (Sutra 2, Bk I, p.5)
“Teach to learn. Watch yourself before you teach.”
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, p.55
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, p.13
“A person knows what he knows. An animal knows, but doesn't know what he knows”
Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986
Context: A person knows what he knows. An animal knows, but doesn't know what he knows. In Yoga, "I" consciousness is called asmita klesha. It is classified as an affliction and a hindrance to attaining higher consciousness. There is always a chance for a person to break out of the cycle, but there is no such chance for an animal unless it incarnates as a human and develops "I" consciousness. (p.36-7)
The Yellow Book, 1974
Context: Q: Did you start life like us with lots of demands, and what spurred you to give it up? A: When I was six or seven, I would feel I was inside a box of earth and sky, and I would weep. Once I asked my mother: "Take me out of this box of earth and sky." She said, "I can't." Then I said, "I'm going." (p.33)
“Creation is the product of bliss, and bliss is its sustainer; to bliss it returns.”
Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986, p.14
“The Self is beyond birth, death, gender, class, and religion - only the body wears those labels.”
Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986, p.27
“We cannot describe it. We cannot reveal it. And when we do, we disappear.”
Introduction
The Yellow Book, 1974
Desire: (p.23)
The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996
“Contentment, compassion, and tolerance are the pillars of peace.”
Source: Ashtanga Yoga Primer, 1981, p.58
“What is mind? A heap of thoughts.”
Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977, p.14
Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977, p.11
Source: Everyday Peace: Letters for Life, 2000, p.34
Source: Ashtanga Yoga Primer, 1981, p.9
“How many teachers did you have? A: Myself.”
Source: The Yellow Book, 1974, p.85
“No matter how much we talk about universal unity, we end up making another group”
The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996
Context: Making separate groups is human nature. No matter how much we talk about universal unity, we end up making another group. (p. 18)
“To overcome the fear of death it is necessary to accept that we all have to die”
Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass, 1977
Context: Q: What can I do to overcome my fear of death? A: Attachment to the body causes fear of death. It is the strongest attachment. Even a newborn infant has this attachment. To overcome the fear of death it is necessary to accept that we all have to die. (p.39)
Bhagavad Gita, Ch II, verse 38
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. I-VI, 2013
“If you had only two words to say to the people of the world, what would they be? Attain Peace.”
Miscellaneous, March 31, 2017
Ego: (p.49)
The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996
Bhagavad Gita, Ch XVIII, verse 19
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. XIII-XVIII, 2015
Source: The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996, Bondage, p.15
Family and Community: (p. 35)
The Path to Enlightenment is not a Highway, 1996
“I am the logic of all arguments - Arguments are of three kinds:”
1) jalpa (arrogant argument) – In this type of argument one tries to establish one's point of view by contradicting the opponent's argument without considering whether the opponent's argument is right or wrong.
2) vitanda (destructive criticism) – In this type of argument the person simply destroys the opponent's viewpoint by misleading argument.
3) vada (logical argument) – In this type of argument one uses a method of discussion with reasoning with an aim to find out what is truth and what is untruth. Reasoning is the best method of discussion to achieve the truth. This is why the Lord says, “Among arguments, I am vada or logical argument.”
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. VII-XII, 2014
Bhagavad Gita, Ch X, verse 32
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. VII-XII, 2014
Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ch. XIII-XVIII, 2015
“Ch. III: Mind - Its Functions and Its Fantasies”
Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986
Mount Madonna Messenger, March 26, 2016
Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass (1986), Ch.III: Mind - Its Functions and Its Fantasies, p.36-7
Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass (1986), Ch.III: Mind - Its Functions and Its Fantasies
Source: Silence Speaks, from the chalkboard of Baba Hari Dass (1977), p.39
Context: Q: What can I do to overcome my fear of death?
