Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Season 2 of the Women of Kriya Yoga Living in Joy podcast, a gathering place for women walking the spiritual path. These conversations are an offering from the Women's Sangha and Ministry of Kriya Yoga International in the lineage of Paramahamsa Pragyananandaji and Paramahamsa Hariharanandaji.
Speaker: Our host is Mary Dale Ma, a devoted disciple, seasoned yoga teacher, mentor for more than 40 years, and founder of the Param Yoga Healing Arts Center in California. Today we welcome Vinitha Minan. Vinitha Ma was born in the yeah UK and spent her childhood years in India, where wandering sadhus and enlightened saints would visit her grandfather's home.
Speaker: Through a child's heart, she experienced their devotion, heard them sing, and listened as they spoke of God. At 14, she read the autobiography of a yogi, and though it would be some years before the blessing of Kriya came to her, the longing was planted early.
Speaker: She was initiated by Guruji in 2004 and in late 2024 was asked to take over the Kriya Center in North County, San Diego, where she now serves as center leader.
Speaker: In her outer life, Vinitha Ma spent 20 years in the yeah UK financial services industry before making her home in Oceanside, California, where she owns a yoga studio and is mother to two teenage boys.
Speaker: She recently released Rasa, a collection of rare sacred songs from the saints of her childhood, preserving them for posterity, an album that found its way to the Grammy ballot.
Speaker: Om and Pranam to one and all. We're so delighted that you've been able to join us today for Living in Joy. This is a sacred space where we gather heart to heart, breath to breath, to listen, to remember, and to awaken together.
Speaker: Before we begin, however, I'd like to invite you to gently arrive in this space. Just bring your whole person here, and perhaps if it's comfortable for you, close your eyes and begin to focus on your breath.
Speaker: calming down, slowing down, knowing you're about to receive a lovely gift that's so well deserved that your attention is required in order to truly receive.
Speaker: So as you begin to settle, fill yourself breathing in and receiving.
Speaker: exhaling and releasing.
Speaker: And let the day begin to just fall away.
Speaker: Father, Mother, Beloved Lord, our Divine Masters, Gurudev, Paramahansa, Hariharananda, Guruji, Paramahansa, Prajnanananda,
Speaker: Our Param Guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, we bow in gratitude for this sacred moment. May what is shared here go deeply into every heart, awaken love, and guide each soul closer to the joy of their true self.
Speaker: o shatihi omhantihi Om Om Shantihi. Amen.
Speaker: And with that, today I'm deeply honored to welcome a woman whose life weaves together devotion, leadership, sacred music, and service. She's a mother, yogini, a spiritual steward, and a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern life.
Speaker: It's my sincere joy to welcome Vinita Menon. Welcome, Vinita. Thank you for being here with us today. It's just a blessing to share the sacred space with you.
Speaker: And to begin, i would love to start at the very beginning with you, with the little girl who grew up part time in India, surrounded by wandering sadhus, sacred songs and your grandfather's deep devotion.
Speaker: What did those years, those moments feel like through a child's heart? And what do you believe they planted in you that still lives today? First of all, thank you so much for for inviting me. I'm so honored to be here, Madhidelma.
Speaker: So in answer to your question, it was pure magic. The blessing to have had um the joy of of being in the presence of these great saints.
Speaker: of even my grandparents were deeply devout people. And I remember I'd come back from school and there'd be a load of cars outside and it would be because a great saint had walked in to my grandparents' home.
Speaker: And to experience that devotion with the innocence of a child's heart, um I would hear Swami Abhidana Nandagiri and he would sing. He would sing in this beautiful, majestic voice. i didn't understand the words. I had just moved from the UK. So the language was alien to me, but I could feel the presence of God in his words, in in the entire space.
Speaker: And I think it it was an experience that is was, you know, it's indelibly planted in my heart. I just knew i had experienced the divine. And at that tender age, I'd be sitting there with tears streaming down my cheeks.
Speaker: I just wanted to know more. I learned some of the prayers and I would sing them in the shower and all the neighbors loved it when I went to shower because I'd be singing at the covering the lungs, all these chants, all these shlokas, all these songs. so deeply blessed, deeply magical. It was interesting because it was me, my brother, sister, and several cousins, and it affected me more. Definitely, i think maybe the the devotional temperament when temperament was within me. um Just a blessing beyond beyond anything. It's the deepest blessing of this life.
Speaker: Magic itself. It's so beautiful to hear that the sacred can enter us before we even have words for it. how it simply lives inside of us, quietly guiding us. And then all of a sudden, one day it begins to stir and awaken. Thank you for sharing that. That was just so lovely and, and sincere. I can see you there as a child, just tears rolling down your face.
Speaker: Anita, you've, Anita, Vanita. You've lived across three worlds, India, the UK, and now the United States. How has moving between cultures shaped your understanding of spirituality, of belonging, and what home truly means?
Speaker: So interestingly enough, the move from the UK to India was probably the hardest one for me. i was a young child and I had to learn a new language.
Speaker: um I'm trying to think of the right answer to this. I think it's taught me um the ability to just be open and flexible and just accept what comes.
Speaker: And the spiritual awakening that really came from from my time in India, um I've been able to carry that with me throughout my life, through all the careers I've done, the corporate career I had in the UK to now running a yoga studio within the US. s I think For me, it's been almost immaterial where I've been, whether it's been in the East or the West.
Speaker: that um I guess the devotion that was imbibed within my spirit, within within my heart as a child by the grace of the gurus has just given me the the strength, the resilience to find that joy wherever I am.
Speaker: So i loved my time in India and i loved my time in the UK. And I enjoyed every single job I did. And I approached it with joy and passion. And I was excited about moving here. And I loved doing the yoga studio you and now running the the Kriya meditations as well. So I think that um it's more about the joy that was just put into my heart, the devotion, the love, the gratitude has just carried me through to all different environments. And with deep, yeah, just joy and gratitude, I think. Hmm.
Speaker: I can feel that exuding from you. And I've had the pleasure of meeting you on us several occasions. And believe me, it is truly there. It's ever present. And you know, it's so interesting in life when there are moments that touch us so deeply that we're never quite the same again.
Speaker: And I know for you, when you were just 14, you read Autobiography of Yogi for the first time. Can you take us back to that moment, Vinita, and awaken in what awakened inside of you as you turn those pages? Oh, reading the autobiography was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.
Speaker: And it was a huge spiritual awakening. For me, it was very, very moving. I mean, I didn't just read. I would read again with like so much emotion with tears streaming down my eyes and, um,
Speaker: The chapter where Swami Yogananda speaks of the Guru's ashram in Sarampur, Swami Yukteswar Kiri, and he describes the steps leading up.
Speaker: I could see it. I almost felt as if I had been there. I had been to the ashram. I felt such a like, yes, I'm home. I needed to and needed to just be reminded.
Speaker: as a young child living in um in the UK, I'm just going to rewind a little bit actually, I would say to my mother at the age of three and four, we'd go back to India and we come from the South. And I said, mommy, we're going to Calcutta, aren't we? She'd say, no, we're not.
Speaker: Never been to Calcutta. I was convinced I'd been to Calcutta. So when I read the autobiography, there was, maybe it's my imagination, but I was convinced i had been.
Speaker: I'd been to the Asha, perhaps in a previous birth, I was a wayward disciple that didn't quite get on the line. So I was given another chance. But deeply, deeply moving.
Speaker: I wanted to be a yogi. I really, really wanted to. And then Guruji describes his experience. Guruji, meaning Swami Yogananda, speaks about his experiences with Swami Yukteswar.
Speaker: That, to me, was the most moving part of the book. He was with my master. And had this deep love for Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Yukteswar Giri throughout, the of of all the lineage, my mind that deepest attachments.
Speaker: I felt was to Swami Yukteswar Giri and Swami Yogananda. um At that point, I just felt like, you know I was that divine child and I just been led back. the Remember is how I felt. It was much more than a book.
Speaker: Wonderful. I share those feelings, by the way, whether it's imagination or not. I think I was there many times with Yogananda, with our gurus. And I feel that in some life, Sri Yukteswar was my father. And he has a way of just looking at me and saying, what are you doing? Yes, if there would always be there always there is that little deal was done. Yeah, I know. and since because in the In the autobiography, Yogananda Ji says, disciples came and generally went because they
Speaker: you know they couldn't deal with masters, disciplinary ways. And I always joke that that must have been me. I must have been one of those that, you know, come back again, my child, you'll get another chance. Thank God we have another chance in this life. Oh, we're so blessed. You know, it feels as though that book didn't just enter your hands. It entered your destiny somehow, because before Kriya Yoga fully entered your life, you had built a very powerful professional path in finance, in leadership, in strategy. How did you hold your spiritual longing alongside a high achievement world like that?
Speaker: It was just a practice that I and it was chanting, really. From a very young age, my my mother, my father, they would encourage me count the name of the Lord. And in fact, the bhakti marga or the path of devotion is where my family were on.
Speaker: it was always kirtans, bhajans. We would sing, we would chant. And my mother would say, you know, don't listen to pop music in the morning. Say your mantra, say your mantra. Say it, say it, say until it. And it imbibes within you. And I'd never understand why it's just a word, isn't it? But I did it anyways.
Speaker: So through through chanting, through singing, that's how I i kept the devotion alive. So even if I was on the train going to work, I'd be chanting my mantra in my mind.
Speaker: ah would sing while I was cooking. would sing to my Krishna. i would it was it was it was that It was chanting that kept me on the path. So even though I had this powerful job and then children and family, you know, it was it was music. It was the devotional chanting that really kept me going because at the time I didn't read.
Speaker: know how to meditate. Often there was no time to meditate. I'd be getting a seven o'clock train, getting home at 6.30 in the evening, you know, just cooking, cleaning, you know the drill, right? Prepare for the next day.
Speaker: But it was music and sacred music really that I think kept me there. And my parents are so devotional and my grandparents were so devotional. And my mother would always say, she'd say, bgawa name keep richia so to hold on to Krishna with all your might, just hold on to him. And whatever you do, wherever you go, Just hold his hand.
Speaker: Every day that's the advice. Chant your mantra, hold on to Krishna's hand. So it's like the repeated, repeated, repeated, you know, the guidance from my mother. And it just imbibes, you know, you keep doing it and it becomes a habit. And now ah realize I wake up in the night and the mantra is just going in my mind. i'll be It's just there. it's like It's just now like background in my mind. It's there in the heart. It's just repeating.
Speaker: So I think it's that, the power of my mantra that's kept me and led me on the path and led me towards Kriya Yoga in fact. Beautiful. And it sounds to me as though all of these past lifetimes with the masters already had you in the practice of mantra and of singing with your glorious voice. You are no stranger to this at all.
Speaker: and And then, as Grace often does, the path finally finds us. Vinita, can you share the story of how and when Kriya Yoga came into your life, switching you from bhakti focus to Kriya, which is a different type of practice altogether, and yet it's not, is it?
Speaker: it's It's still devotion. What did it feel like to be initiated by Guruji himself in 2004? Oh, my goodness. Blessing.
Speaker: A blessing beyond beyond comprehension. I had picked up the autobiography again. i was reading it on my way to work on the train. And again, far streaming down my cheeks.
Speaker: um And it was very soon after, I was like, I longed, I longed, I longed to get initiation. And this was a time before the internet had really taken off. I think it was just the fledgling stages. And I knew India was doing the initiations. I knew there was there was the ashram in the US.
Speaker: But I picked up a random newspaper on the London Underground and just flicking through it as you do. And then there was a page saying Kriya Yoga Initiations. I sat there like, whoa. And I was living in London at the time and I'd never heard of Paramahasaparjana in that day.
Speaker: i i And I think I had to send it in by mail or I don't even know if there was an online registration, but I remember going and on the Friday night, not knowing what to expect. And then Guruji walks and then we started to speak and I had been in the presence of so many great saints, but also others that were probably not quite, you know, do you know what i mean?
Speaker: And when I knew Guruji and I felt him, I thought, wow, this is, you know, he's he's and of the lineage of Swami Yogananda. It was such a beautiful experience. And he spoke that night and I was just totally smitten, besotted like Gurudeva. Oh my.
Speaker: And to be, to have been initiated with, with He's such, it makes me emotional. I'm very grateful. plus Blessing beyond.
Speaker: Indeed. Jai Guru, Jai Guru. Listening to you, it feels as though everything before that moment was quietly preparing you for it. However, you were open and available and you heard the call. And you know, the masters find us when we're ready. and not a moment sooner. So bravo, well done. And looking back now, Vinita, do you see a divine thread weaving together your engineering mind, your MBA, your work in banking, and your life as a yogini and spiritual leader?
Speaker: How do these words colliding speak to one another within you? Oh, to me, they don't even collide. To me, they just almost just like flow into each other because everything that I've learned, everything I've experienced from being in a very you know un structured corporate environment also, which which opens up you know from you know ah avenues of creativity because you need creativity to be able to even like make this corporate job come alive. Otherwise, you know there's no there's no innovation. There's no
Speaker: there's no new thinking So for me, the the creativity and the innovation, the structure, the the rigor that you get from working you know in a corporate background, that I think has played in so beautifully to how I now am a yogini running ah a yoga studio because a lot of studios sometimes can be very, um the the concept of yoga can be very strong, but a lot of,
Speaker: um A lot of studios I find have failed because they've lacked the the corporate rigor, the ability to actually structure a business in a way that's profitable, sustainable, um customer service processes and such like.
Speaker: um And I think having had the experience in a corporate background has set me up to be so much more um resourceful, to be able to build a business that is, you know, managing its overhead in ah in a proper way of being able to service customers and find efficient ways of working and and and sales processes that work for the customer and for the business so i think for me everything has just has has woven together so beautifully and this is the best thing i've ever done but interesting is that you've mentioned the corporate you've mentioned the banking the engineering and i will say the extra layers is actually the grace and that the the
Speaker: the peace and the calm that you get from doing Kriya that allows you to deal with all the drama that comes, which comes, you know, you've been a yoga studio owner yourself.
Speaker: There is daily drama, but to be able to like, see that um and see somebody who's maybe playing up and maybe, you know, getting, getting your, you're getting a little bit annoyed and you just look back and think it's manifestation of God.
Speaker: And this is, this is a lesson. How do I deal with it? So, um, So for me, it's like it's it's all just woven together. And for me, I do believe that even becoming yoga studio your owner and taking on this role, that was the will of the gurus because that is the space that we now use with initiations.
Speaker: And it's everything. Everything was decided by our gurus, you know, because we have a huge space and we we we can fit 50 people there. The guru said, yeah, you will do this corporate stuff and then you will learn how and then we'll we'll get you to have a yoga studio you and then you'll be opened up for Kriya.
Speaker: Well, and that is grace. That absolutely is grace. And through your studio, your work with Kriya there and most tenderly as a mother, you've created physical sanctuaries.
Speaker: Your studio in Oceanside, of course, where people often arrive carrying stress, as you said, or grief or longing. We don't know. And yet they leave feeling a little bit more whole.
Speaker: And as you so beautifully said, it's been through your preparation as a as a yogi and as a Kriyavan that you've been able to hold space for all those souls.
Speaker: And now as a mother of two teenage boys, I've been there, I've raised teenagers. And now I'm raising grandchildren teenagers once again. So I know that teenagers are a whole part of humanity onto themselves. And you have two boys. How do you gently weave devotion, kriya, and spiritual values into their daily lives in a way that feels lived rather than taught?
Speaker: Interesting. That's a really good question. I'm still figuring out, Mary Delma. We haven't got the answers to it, really. um They grew up as little children. I would make them sing.
Speaker: I would make them chant. So they've had that background. They're at an age now where the world is so enticing. Friends and high school, you know one's in high school, one's in community college. So there's so much that draws them out.
Speaker: And I have realized that lecturing them is not the way to butt tried and failed. but I think they see through example. I think they come downstairs and they see mummies meditating and they're quiet.
Speaker: And then they have mummies chanting and they seee they see me sing. They see me live my my values. And I think that is the best, that is the best thing I can do for them because they will come back or they will come to the fold in their own time. Right now, Maya, the world is, is is you know, is attracting them. They're young, they're,
Speaker: But I think if they will look back and they will see, yeah, mom used to meditate. and And I always say to them, you know, the world can only give you so much joy. My my children spend five minutes a day when you wake up, just say, my one, thank you. Thank you for this bed. Thank you for my home. Thank you for my health.
Speaker: And if you have a problem, just take a moment to talk to God. He's not some unfeeling spirit. He can be as close to your heart. And I share my experiences in a way that they can comprehend.
Speaker: little miracles that happen all the time. Now, you see, that's the hand of God in our lives. You see that? And they say, mom, yeah, it's true, actually. and I think the best thing I can do is to show them by example.
Speaker: Boy, you said a mouthful. I couldn't agree with you more. We have to live our own lives, be authentic and genuine in our beliefs. and then the children pick that up. they They may not be able to verbally share with us what they're feeling or seeing or knowing, but they do get it. And I know if it's any consolation from you, now that my children are pushing toward 50, I have heard them say many times, mom, do you remember when you said this, this, and this? And I'll say, wait, were you listening?
Speaker: You actually heard that? Oh, it's reassuring to know for sure. yeah And they do They do. They truly do. and And your children, your sons are so blessed to have you and your parents and their grandparents. Because if it's true that we all incarnate into our certain families all around other souls, they've had a very auspicious birth. So congratulations on that.
Speaker: And now I'm just going to switch. Oh, thank you. Switching gears just a little bit, Vinita. Your life literally sings. It literally sings. I have heard you sing. it is just the voice of an angel. And um I know that you have always been devotional through your voice and through praise and bhakti, but then you've been able to take it out to the world at large and have recorded this wonderful album, Rasa. and What moved you to preserve the sacred songs of the saints from your childhood and then share the love story of Krishna, Rasa, Lila, excuse me, Lila with the world.
Speaker: Can you tell us about that journey? well Before I met Guruji, we had a guru from my childhood. who gave me my mantra. So I have in my life, I believe, I have three three main gurus that I say have touched my life.
Speaker: and One was Swami Abedananda Bharati, who was the guru of my grandparents. um The second one, Swami Krishna Premi Maharaj, from whom I received my mantra initiation. And of course, Guruji, from whom I received Kriya. So I went to see Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj in 2024.
Speaker: you It was the last time I saw him and I'd gone to visit him and he sat with me and he said, he started talking about Vrindavan. He started talking about the beautiful, the the it's called Nidhivana where the Rasa took place. And he said, you remember when we went? you remember when I took you there?
Speaker: And that was the last time I saw him. And I'd gone to see my sister and I was singing some of these songs and she said, Vinita, I haven't heard these for 35 years, please record them. And i was like, I can't do that Come on, I'm i'm just a housewife, I'm a yoga teacher.
Speaker: I don't have time, I don't have training. But on the way back on the plane, the 24 hour flight, I started thinking about it and i thought, there's something here. My sister has mentioned it. She's mentioned these songs in particular. My guru talked about Nidhiwana and the Rasa.
Speaker: And then I came back and I wrote a list of the songs. If I if i was to record an album, these are the ones I would do. Randomly wrote them at down and I sent them to my mother. And my mother said, he said, you realize you have the songs you've listed, the order you've listed tells the story of Ras Alila.
Speaker: And I thought, there is something very special here. There's something here that I need to do. I thought, I may not be the best thing and I may not have classical training, but if I don't do this, nobody will.
Speaker: So I put some feelers out, like where would I record, who would play the instruments. And I kid you not, I came back from India on the 5th of March. By april I had the producer. I had all the musicians. I was sitting on my keyboards. I don't play an instrument. I never learned.
Speaker: Plunking out, trying to figure out chords for these songs, writing things down, recording demos on my iPhone. By the 9th of June, we were in the studio in Encinitas recording the album.
Speaker: People, resources, the musicians, all the talent I needed just showed up when I needed it. Beautiful connections. The songs I'd heard Swamiji sing, I didn't even know who'd com composed them. My mother sang songs as a child. I didn't know who com composed them.
Speaker: um And I'm trying to figure out this. And I started meeting people, a wonderful lady in New Jersey who I was told to speak to. She says, tell me about the album. She's in her 80s. And I tell her, I said, these songs Swamiji would sing. And I'm listening to this. And she says, my mother wrote this song.
Speaker: My uncle wrote this song. Oh, it was phenomenal. it was like it was It was like the hand of God was directing this music. There were producers I worked with, a guy named Ruchel Ranjan in the UK, up and coming, phenomenal musician. He produced two of the songs. I was a nobody, Mary Delma. I had no professional experience to my name, nothing at all.
Speaker: I reached out, he Came on a call. He was so inspired by my my mission. I said, look, I said, Ruchel, I just want to preserve this music. This is so beautiful. And he said, I'll work with you. Another guy, like in Lithuania, I reached out randomly. I heard a song in a yoga class and I liked the vibe. And I said, hey, you know, can we do this?
Speaker: And then several months later, he responds and said, let's have a call. So we're on this call because I had, and he's a house musician. You're the house musician. Doom, doom, doom, doom. ah he plays He plays Progressive House in Lithuania.
Speaker: So we're on this WhatsApp call and he starts chanting a Krishna mantra to me. He's a Krishna devotee who used to go to ISKCON. I mean, what are the chances?
Speaker: I listen to a random song in a yoga class. I reach out to the guy, he's a Krishna devotee, and he's like, I've been praying for a project like this. I would love to support you. And it was just magnificent, miraculous.
Speaker: The album is done. It has, it is yet to reach the world. And that again, you know, Guruji, how am I going to get this? Krishna, how is this music going to get out there? Because right now it's on Spotify. No one knows about it. I haven't done anything, but I know that, I know that that will come somehow. The answer will come because it's a blessed piece of music and each song, you know, these are not, these are not songs where someone wrote lyrics. Oh, this rhymes. Let's put this No, these were songs songs sung by these saints in moments of ecstasy, right? In that moment, they sing like there is a direct connection ah God. These are less songs of the saints that have just come together to to write this, to just tell this beautiful story.
Speaker: And one thing I wanted to be a musical. I want this lens itself. I performed it once in Encinitas, but it's a story and it has invocations from Shreemad Bhagavatam, which is like the the scripture dedicated to Krishna and Vishnu.
Speaker: And then the the invocations with the songs and it that weaves the story through and it lends itself to a musical with dance and devotion. and the vision's there and somebody will do it one day, maybe after my time. I don't know.
Speaker: But I just now want the world to hear this music. Well, now it has wings of its own, Vanitha. You have been called, you answered, and all those that were needed to make it into a reality have done their jobs. And now, believe me, with all that, you know that this has wings. God and Guru are not going to let it become stagnant at all.
Speaker: Thank you for reminding me of that. i will really thank you Absolutely. And when you're offering a devotion, reach it. reached something as worldly as the Grammy ballot, which I understand it did What did that moment feel like in your heart, not just as an artist, but as a spiritual seeker? That must have blown your mind.
Speaker: Yes, it was. It was very, it was heartwarming to know that it even reached the ballot because everybody submits. The Grammy doesn't accept all of them, but the They thought it was worthy of of being considered. And as part of the process, I met a whole load of musicians who also were submitting. And I had such beautiful, beautiful feedback from so many wonderful people.
Speaker: um People like Jharnavi Harrison. I don't know if you've heard of her, but she's she's she's a devotee of Krishna and she sings beautifully. And Jharnavi reached out saying, Vanamali Vasudeva is just so beautiful. and so And it was just nice to connect with other like-minded souls. It felt so, so blessed.
Speaker: It didn't actually get nominated, but that's okay. You know, it it got to the ballot, which is which is huge. And it was never about me and and and me being an artist. It was like, I want the world to hear this music, you know, listen to it. It is so beautiful.
Speaker: Like you. And you have already proven to us that you have, like one of the goddesses with many, many arms, You've embodied many paths with yoga, and NLP, leadership, movement, meditation. How do you personally experience the meeting point between mind, body, soul in your own daily practice?
Speaker: Mind, body, soul. So I practice, we'll start with the body. That's the easiest one. So I practice yoga almost every day, maybe five days a week. That's very important to me. It grounds me, it keeps me healthy because I think that to live a spiritual life, you do need a healthy body. And with God's grace, I'm healthy. and um But to sit in meditation, you know, that's why yoga was created, right? The Hatha yoga was so that the body could sit still in meditation without aches and pains.
Speaker: So yoga is ah is a physical practice for me. I try to eat as healthy as I can. The mind and spirit, I think, it's for me, a spiritual practice is is an integral part of my life. My whole day is designed around when am I going to meditate?
Speaker: When do I chant? And so long as I can prioritize that, if I can get my kriya, if I can get my chanting in, then the day just flows.
Speaker: Everything flows. What I need to get done gets done. ah get to do my yoga class. I get to be calm and a loving mother to my children. And I get to be the best I can be to my employees, the beautiful teachers that work for me. I can be a a great friend to my loved ones, to be compassionate when I need to be, to to give the best I can to my members, to the Kriya community here, which is growing.
Speaker: I think that it's it it all comes down to the spirit, really the mind, body, soul. I think soul comes first and then, You know, with Kriya calming me, raising my awareness and my my consciousness, everything else then seems to just flow.
Speaker: The day that I... Sorry. I see the odd days where, you know, there are some days where maybe it doesn't, like I'm working on a Sunday morning and then waking up early, didn't get time, taught the class, came back, you know, kids got this, that and the other.
Speaker: And the days that I don't, I can feel it. It's like, oh, something's missing. something is missing. So the next day, of course, i end up doubling up on the Kriya Praneya.
Speaker: It's very rare that I miss my Kriya.
Speaker: That's a testament to what Kriya is and is meant to be in our modern lives. In fact, I think in your own words, you pretty much defined what living in joy truly means.
Speaker: That it's not just an idea, it's an actual spiritual practice. that you return to day after day. And that's the whole reason why we've created these podcasts is for other women, men as well, to see a bird's eye view of how people are incorporating this precious ancient practice that one would think would be obsolete by now into their lives and keeping it so fresh as the foundation from which
Speaker: It's our springboard for the rest of our life. and And you really are an example of that. And I honor you. That was very well said. a question now, every path has its valleys as well of its light. Vinita, we know that. What challenges have shaped you most and how has Kriya helped you meet those moments with grace instead of resistance or fear or just putting your head in the sand?
Speaker: Oh, there have been several, several, several on the personal front. I've had a very difficult emotional, um a bit of a roller coaster, actually, in as far as relationships and ah being concerned. But how Kriya has helped me is that through it all, I have had the grace of our gurus.
Speaker: I have been able to go and in my meditation, reach out and speak to them and say, guide me. Why is this happening? I don't understand, but I know it's your will. Why is this your will? Why is this happening? Of course I sometimes have the little arguments as well, right? With your loved ones.
Speaker: Um, but I've always felt the grace of our gurus throughout it all. Um, you know, like why my, my marriage broke up in fact was interesting as it broke up. I was drawn straight back to back to the fold.
Speaker: um through the initiation in San Diego, right in the nick of time. I came to the initiation the Saturday and the Sunday. And on the Monday, my my husband of eight years asked for a divorce. It could not have been more precise the timing where our gurus just call me back. And it was extremely painful because it was least expected.
Speaker: And I'm happy to say that, you know, he and I have a wonderful friendship still, and we've worked through it all. And we separated, but but it's, you know, after a period of heartbreak, that I felt um through my meditation, I would speak to the gurus on the way up as we think of the gurus in the chakras.
Speaker: I would speak to each one and Swami Yukteswar Giri was the one that was closest to me. I felt him shed tears with me at the time. i felt his love and um there was love, but there was also an understanding and a little whispering in my mind that it's just karma, it's just It's just a dream.
Speaker: There's something that needs to be spent. Let it go. Let the karma be burned. Perhaps something from a previous life, perhaps karmically something comes to an end. Let it go. Let it go.
Speaker: And Okriya was my lifeline throughout, hugely so. i don't know what I would have done without, but to have been brought back to the fold, really. Because I practiced on my own for years, and I didn't even know that there was a center here in San Diego.
Speaker: ah to I mean, the timing, I just explained, right right there, right then, come back to the gurus. You need us. And I went to see Guruji.
Speaker: And through all this, I mean, I had so much grace, so much love supporting me through this painful period of my life. And yes, and I and i know, i know that we we have to experience certain things in this lifetime, the good and maybe the...
Speaker: more challenging. But if we can just think um that this is just an experience, it's a drama. And as Guruji said in one of his talks, I think when I came to Monroe last year, he said, we come with a backpack.
Speaker: So you come with a backpack, you're born with it. You're good karma, you're bad karma. And really what you want to do throughout this life is empty the backpack, right? Not fill it up with too much.
Speaker: Not too much bad, not too much good. I didn't want neutralize it all. And I thought, that's it, I emptied the backpack. seeing it all along. And, um, and when you can see it, see it that way, even, even challenges, i like but the karma, go find good. It's done. Move on. Right.
Speaker: so That's how, that's how I've, um, think the teachings of our gurus have guided me through. And if I needed to cry, i'd go cry to the gurus. If I needed to complain, I'd go and complain to the gurus.
Speaker: How could you be doing this? What do I, you know, conversations actually, because they are living, breathing with us, not just some lofty concept that, you know, I truly believe the grace of the gurus are with us. My my um grandparents, teacher, guru, Swami Abhidhananda Bharati, he would say, when you bow down to your guru and you, you know, you his feet are there, right there, don't ever doubt. If we believe that in moments of happiness and sadness that
Speaker: then when you speak to the gurus that are listening, that we're never alone, are we? No. No. And you you just answered my next question, which was that I know so many women who are listening are pulled between service to the world and devotion to their inner life. And you just eloquently shared how you lean into the presence, the living presence of God and the masters with every breath. And that's certainly exemplary.
Speaker: Is there any other gentle gentle wisdom perhaps that you might offer from your own journey to other women who are going through trials and tribulations of their own in this modern world? um Two things which are really, really, I see the impact of that in my The first one is truth.
Speaker: And it's a strange thing to say, but um in the context of, you know, women going through challenges. But I read once um in one of the books, I think it was in Scientific Healing Affirmations, I'm not sure, where Swami Yogananda spoke about the importance of truth, of your word. He said, if you speak the truth always, always, and somehow the higher self knows that what this person speaks is the truth.
Speaker: if you If you say little lies, even harmless ones, the inner self knows, hmm, this person doesn't really speak the truth. So your intentions, your your what you wish to accomplish, the the journey you want to go down will not unfold as powerfully as if you, um i guess, as if you and unless you spoke the truth. like If you speak the truth, then everything will open up.
Speaker: So... So that's one, a huge, huge, huge thing that I have learned. And it's so easy, isn't it? Sometimes we're late for something. And I've in my past, like ended up going late to work. This was talking many years ago. Oh, the traffic was bad. And the truth was that I couldn't find my shoes off. I put too too long, put my makeup on. I woke up late, right?
Speaker: Now I'll always tell the truth. If I mess up and forget to put the payroll through, I tell my team, guys, I messed up. I won't say, oh, well, there's a system error. So I've made truth ah an integral part of my life, and I keep telling my children that.
Speaker: The second thing for me is through it all, gratitude, gratitude, gratitude. No matter what you're going through, whatever the challenges are, focus on what you are grateful for.
Speaker: The little things and the big things. It could be like the hot water that runs through my town, the pillow that I sleep on at night, the smile of a stranger. And when you focus on gratitude and what's positive, the vibration just vibration just rises raises and it will obliterate the negativity.
Speaker: It might take a little while, but it will change your vibration. So for me, it's truth and gratitude. And love is a third aspect to it. Like just love, love, love.
Speaker: Love, love, love. Thank you. Sorry, I'm not. Not being very eloquent, Mary to Ilma. I think that it was more than eloquent. It was marvelous.
Speaker: And I think that ah for me, I'll add to that, that those particular characteristics in combination allow us to trust. And as women, many of us through our hardships have lost our ability to trust.
Speaker: But through being truthful, through having gratitude, through knowing that everything is love, slowly we can build up that armor of trust once again and go out in the world and be our own selves again. And and that's very important. Those three things that you shared with us are just extremely important. And of course, they're elementary in our Kriya practice and of what our gurus have taught us.
Speaker: they preach to us as well as Jesus taught to that. The truth will set you free. So these are not new thoughts, but you've managed to take them and make them a part of your life because you've stood at crossroads of ancient traditions and modern life.
Speaker: So how do you feel the world is most hungry for right now? What do you think they want? Spiritually speaking. on
Speaker: I think people want experience. I think it's it's not ritual and it can't be theory. It needs to be experience of one's true self.
Speaker: And it sounds... i can only use an example of of how I try and make this come alive in my own studio because that's what I'm closest to right now.
Speaker: but We talk about prayer, we talk about the higher self, we talk about being connected with ourselves. And often it is rare moments that you feel that, unless you have a practice that's of Kriya or meditation.
Speaker: And I will say to my students at the end of a yoga class, those last five minutes of Shavasana, I say, you see that peace that you feel now? And that peace came because for the last 55 minutes, you focused on your breath.
Speaker: And you focused on your eyes and you focused on being still through your postures on discipline and being in the moment. And this beauty that you're experiencing comes from within you.
Speaker: And it didn't come from anybody else. And I didn't give it to you. And it's not this room that imparted it. It came from within that portable paradise that Swami Yogananda speaks about. It's just been awakened.
Speaker: And I think it's about, i think what the world needs now is an experience of that, because there's too many people talking about, and they're trying to, you know what? I'm not expressing myself very well. I suppose it's like practice that awakens the inner peace, the true self, higher self, is what I think the world needs now, a meditation practice.
Speaker: If it's not Kriya, even five minutes of stillness, where you sit and watch your breath and focus on the fontanelle, and then just... you know, just glide into peace.
Speaker: That is what I think the world needs now. Teenagers and adults alike and children, there's too much going on. There's so much to distract us on social media and the internet and no one stops and remains still. And I think if if people could develop ah even a short meditation practice and just experience that for even five minutes,
Speaker: think this world could just transform and transcend. Amen and amen. I had a conversation with one of our Kriyavan mothers yesterday. and We were talking about praying after meditation and the different things that we pray about. And when I leave meditation, I am always in the moment with final prayer. It's not something canned or or memorized. And so she asked her daughter who's 20, what do you pray for when you're bowing at the end of practice? And she said, oh, I pray for the same thing every time. I pray that everyone will have a good day.
Speaker: And I thought, oh my goodness, isn't that perfect? Because if everybody had a good day today, right now, the whole world would shift. and that's all based on this young woman practicing Kriya now getting in touch with what's important.
Speaker: And I thank you for sharing that. That's just another confirmation of how precious our particular lineage in our practice is being able to be quiet and be with ourselves and and to meditate.
Speaker: It's the key. And all our masters say, meditate, meditate, meditate. I don't care what you ask Guruji, he'll say meditate. Meditate more. Well, Vinita, this has just been amazing. And before I let you go, i want to go back just for a second to that 14-year-old girl who read the autobiography of a yogi. If you had a chance, what would you whisper in her heart today?
Speaker: Oh, I would say, young lady, you have no idea what's in school for you. have no idea joys, the blessings that are coming your way. That's what I would say to her. Just keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker: And life is going to throw things at you, but you are going to come out strong. You're going to be guided. You've got to a legion of angels, our gurus, who are guiding you, are looking all out for you. Just say your mantra and keep going, keep going, speak the truth and be grateful for every moment and every blessing and the biggest blessing of all being the grace of our guru. That's the biggest blessing of this lifetime, beyond it.
Speaker: No success or even the health or whatever I've i've earned or experienced. All that pales into insignificance, the biggest blessings, grace of the gurus that's led me through, continues to lead me.
Speaker: How lucky we are to to have that. And so many people are searching for it. And we have it. We have Guruji. We have our lineage. We have our gurus guiding us. And we have our practice.
Speaker: Bless beyond measure. And speaking of blessings, I am not trying to put you on the spot. However, i am going to put you on the spot. I think that every person listening right now would receive through you such a tremendous blessing. If you would just chant for us, maybe for a minute or two in closing, a prayer.
Speaker: of course. Let me put my the on as well. So we have a little bit of a, a little bit of her I'll say a invocation to the gurus. And it's beautiful. It means, um,
Speaker: um To that guru who, when I simply think of him, the love of God descends upon my heart. To that guru I bow. that guru who, just thinking about him, I lose sight of all my worldly problems, I bow to you. To that guru whose words are so sweet that even the greatest of us are just softened and we melt. To that guru I bow.
Speaker: To the guru who sees everyone as all, who blesses everybody, without any without any any limitations, without Guru whose beautiful smile brightens up my entire spirit.
Speaker: I bow to you. Yeah, there's many more. i'll I've said a few. I'll chant this. This is a composition by Sri Krishna Premi Maharaj.
Speaker: Yashya Smarana Matrena Krishna
Speaker: Nishkinchanavarenyam tam sadgurum sharanam vajay. Yasyagnya sadubirnityam. Malheva shirasadrita.
Speaker: Sarvaloka sharanyam tam. Sadgurum sharanam vajay.
Speaker: Sadgurum sharanam vajay. Yasyaprasanavadanam. Sakrtaalokya manavaha. Tameva sharanam yanti. Satgurum sharanambhaje.
Speaker: Yasyabhashanamadurya. Magnaalokhetu sadavaha. Yakta sarvaashrayasanti. Satgurum sharanambhaje.
Speaker: Yasyakarunya sampraakye. Patrabedona vidyate. Samadarshanasantushtam.
Speaker: la maha
Speaker: Ah, beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Vinita, not only for that wonderful prayer for that chant, but for your time and attention and being so available and transparent to all of our listeners. And to me, it was beautiful, wonderful getting to know you better and having been in your presence and listened to you several times. You're just so in touch with source and you bring that to the earth for us. And I thank you.
Speaker: And as we close today, remember the sacred conversation with Vinita, take it with you. And perhaps these words of Guruji will help you be reminded of her and of everyone in the world today. who is visioning peace and moving forward with grace, with love, and with truth.
Speaker: Guruji has said that we must live in the world, but let the world not live in you. Be deeply engaged in action, yet inwardly established in divine awareness.
Speaker: Vinita, once again, you are such a living expression of this teaching, moving through the world with strength, grace, devotion, and song, yet anchored in the stillness of the soul.
Speaker: May we all remember that too, and live fully and remain rooted in the divine. To our beautiful listeners, thank you so very much for sharing this sacred space with us.
Speaker: If this conversation has touched your heart, we invite you to continue walking with us You can find Living in Joy on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe and leave a comment. Your reflections help this circle of love continue to grow.
Speaker: And with that, until we meet again, dear ones, walk gently, love deeply, and live in joy. Om Shantihi, Om Shantihi, Om Shantihi.
Speaker: Amen.
Speaker: Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank This podcast is brought to you by the Women's Ministry of Kriya Yoga International. You can learn more about the ministry at our website, womensministryofkriya.org.
Speaker: Kriya Yoga is a powerful meditation practice that awakens constant communion with the divine through the science of the breath. Handed down from teacher to student in an unbroken lineage of enlightened masters, it transforms body, mind, and heart, helping us be calmly active and actively calm.
Speaker: Today, this living tradition welcomes seekers everywhere through the guidance of Paramahamsa Pragyanananda, the principal disciple of the great master Paramahamsa Hariharananda. To learn more about Kriya Yoga, please visit kriya.org.
