Swami Bodhananda's keynote at the Life Positive Expo, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 26 March 2011 — as reported in Life Positive.
At the close of Day II, Swami Bodhananda spoke on how the path of the mystic and that of the meditator are one and the same. “A mystic is one rooted in the self and ecstasy is the transcending of the ego. This is only possible through meditation which involves watching the body and the mind and being aware of the rise and fall of breath,” said the Swami.
Swami Bodhananda spoke on how people blindly react from memory. “A man will unthinkingly call his son the son of a donkey! The mind goes where we do. Which is why moving to the Himalayas does not help.” The Swami pointed to the value of doubt in spiritual life. “Positivists say that all self-doubt is destructive but I would describe self-doubt as the beginning of a spiritual journey. We need to put the brakes of doubt when we speed like mad men through life,” he explained.
The Swami welcomed questions after his discourse. Responding to a question on degradation of values in the contemporary world, the Swami said he did not think society was undergoing degradation. “People are getting more assertive. Children don’t like being talked down to, wives will no longer put the husbands over themselves, chelas will not listen to their gurus with unquestioning obedience. Is this degradation? I don’t think so. I think the change is positive,” he said.