Swami-ji's Birthday

A day-long celebration on 31 January marked Swami Shyam's Birthday, beginning with a 'langar' (communal meal) at 'The Land' and ending with an evening of music, Satsang and song in Patanjali Hall.

At the langar, Swami-ji said "You like to share the occasion because, in time and space, you are one with that.

"I welcome all of you who have become one with Me.

"We will have many, many birthdays ahead of us."

"Whether you are 25 or 50 or 75, you are the same Being. Having realized it is all One, whether it is unmanifest, or manifested in thought or form, there remains nothing but to sing the glory of Oneness, the glory of Self, the glory of unity."

Free from the field of happiness and unhappiness

"Every human being is seeking freedom from that which causes pain and suffering. You are aware that you want peace and happiness. Why? Because you do not want unhappiness or the fear of death. So people made a concept about happiness and unhappiness. To attain happiness, they try to remove unhappiness. But in sleep, there is no happiness or unhappiness, so the body is perfectly innocent. When you wake up, you feel happiness or unhappiness, so know that it is just the mind that is feeling happiness or unhappiness.

"Somewhere, someone came to know that there is no pain, no happiness or unhappiness. But your mind is always bound by happiness and unhappiness. Happiness you want to retain. Unhappiness you want to avoid. We should get some formula - some technique - to make the mind not function the way it has been up until now in experiencing happiness and unhappiness. Guru is that which knows that you are forever free. So now, when you wake up, know that you are the Knower in sleep, dream state and waking state. This is your true reality."