The basis of Swami Shyam’s teachings has always been meditation. The vision of Oneness, the knowledge of I, You, or Self, is unfolded through the practice of meditation.
He freely shared his mantra Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum with tens of thousands of people from all across the world. The mantra means, “I am eternal, I am indivisible.” It is also an expression of the essence of Swami Shyam’s philosophy: You are pure, free, forever, birthless, and deathless.
“A voice spoke within me telling me to remind everyone of his own true nature by letting the words Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum be heard by one and all.”
—Swami Shyam
Swami Shyam introduced the technique of meditation to whoever was genuinely interested and he created many writings, audio recordings and videos that elucidate and demystify meditation practice. These were intended to be shared with the world so that whoever is open to sincerely knowing his true nature can have the means to do so.
Below are two descriptions, in Swami Shyam’s own words, of how to meditate and successfully approach any obstacles that may appear to arise during meditation. Also, there is a recording of him repeating the mantra, so that you can experience it directly.
Using Swami Shyam’s technique of meditation, his mantra and knowledge, along with clear understanding, all of us can unfold this vision of Oneness and deathlessness within us.
Listen to Swami Shyam singing the mantra
The Technique of Meditation
Sit at ease in any posture.
Close your eyes.
Immediately after closing your eyes, watch whatever space you see inside.
In the middle of this space, make an imaginary centre of any size.
Begin to repeat Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum as if the words are coming from that centre to your eyes.
Focus your attention on the last humming sound of each word spoken. This will allow you to focus your attention on the first sound of the next word. Continue this repetition with one-pointedness.
Be aware that you are the Knower who knows how to initiate and repeat Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum, how to listen to these words in silence, and how to know the meaning contained within them: “I am immortal, I am blissful.”
If any thought or many thoughts arise, persist or subside during this period, remain neutral, just watching. Gently focus your attention on the Knower, realizing this Knower as infinite, eternal and unchanging: Pure Existence, Pure Consciousness, and Pure Bliss. This Knower is all-permeating and indivisible; it is one without a second name or substance.
You are the Knower. Continue meditating and holding this realization for a few minutes. Recognize this Knower as your own Self, the source of every thought, everything and everyone.
Shyam Space is the Space from which all these points are appearing and being described and the same Shyam Space is the Knower, who is listening and feeling eternally free.
In this way, devote at least 11 minutes a day to meditation.
—from Vision of Oneness
When You Sit Down to Meditate…
When you sit down to meditate, maintain an attitude of ease and peace. If you find yourself involved in thoughts, worries, struggle, care or concern, immediately introduce a sense of well-being and follow its course. You will find that in a few minutes, your mind will be settled, and soon it will be absorbed in the deeper state of the unwavering, peaceful Consciousness. You will realize that you are free, just as you were before you became involved in your thoughts.
Before a thought appears, you are seated like a king of kings in a state of harmony on your exclusive throne of peace. Therefore, when thoughts arise in your field of consciousness during meditation, maintain the same attitude and simply witness them come and go. Regard them with gentle watchfulness, knowing that your observation does not cause them to arise and respecting the power that does produce them. A human being usually identifies with whatever he thinks; thus, he is hardly ever aware of the fact that even when he is thinking—and especially when his thoughts come uninvited—his Self is free from thought.…
You only have to respect the thoughts and their background. You did not create them—they appeared uninvited—so they will not expect you to entertain them as a host would, although you can, if you choose, assume the role of a host just because they entered your house of consciousness. In any case, you must continuously remain near your own Self, where you were before any thought arose. Soon, in the same way that the thoughts appeared, they will start to go away, as if towards some other destination. Then please do not interfere with the freedom of their departure. In this way, many thoughts will arise and subside, but you will remain neutral.
Let me give a few examples of thoughts that might occur when you have closed your eyes and you are not seeing any external forms, when you have begun to watch your own Self, Shyam Space, and when images and general thinking have not yet appeared and accumulated. Some thoughts might whisper, “How much movement does my incoming and outgoing breath have at this time? What object, form, or image am I meditating on? What sort of success will I have when I finish my meditation? Am I wasting my time? Will I achieve great power? Will I get happiness, peace, and delight? Will strength increase in my body and clarity in my mind? If I continue meditating for a number of days, months, or years, will I realize the truth of my own existence?” Another kind of thought may suddenly appear that says, “Oh! While I am sitting here, somebody might be taking the things from my cupboard or money from my pocket. And someone might be taking the valuables out of my safe.” Sometimes, it may even seem to be useless to continue closing your eyes, trying to follow the instructions that you have read in a writing such as this.
You should not be surprised by such thoughts. You are like the sky, which remains forever free, and they are like birds that fly back and forth in the sky but never affect it at all. However, if you get involved in your thoughts, then the condition of doubt, scepticism, and confusion is likely to arise. This will affect your body, and you will have to concern yourself with it.
If you want to remove your doubt by checking whether somebody is actually stealing the things from your safe, then open your eyes, go to the location of the safe, and make sure that it has not been broken into. When the thought comes that your son or daughter, father or mother, sister, wife, or any relative has gone far away to another country and you begin to wonder whether he or she is all right or not, then again, open your eyes, go there, and come back and meditate.
Let the thoughts come and go, let the doubts arise and subside; but remain the Witness Self, which permeates all your thoughts, doubts, and whatever you might imagine, while remaining completely free from them. Mark this point: Completely free! Your true Self, which you are to meet in meditation, is free.
When you become aware of the consciousness that is like the sky-space, you will realize that there are two powers: one that never minds the thoughts, just as the sky never minds how many birds, airplanes, or kites fly in it, or how many clouds or storms whirl; and another that can manifest in an instant and say, “If I am the pure sky or the Pure Space, why are these birds or thoughts bothering me with their presence?” When you get involved in the phenomena of thought, you must not lose sight of your first power, using which you can choose to remain free and watch every happening pass by.
My advice is that you simply place yourself in the position of a witness as Pure Space, free and uninvolved, and continue watching the thought-waves. Be like a traveller standing on the bank of a river that he has never seen before, looking at the waves without any concern about their rise and fall.
While watching, you may think, “So many thoughts seem to fill my head! I feel that I am becoming involved in them and they are turning into worries. Oh! It seems that these thoughts are unending.” The means to bring about immediate freedom is to think that you are a seer, watcher, or knower, a listener or perceiver—a witness. You are not only a passive perceiver—your true nature has an additional quality: it can become an active creator and, simultaneously, a participant in your own creation.
If you feel that you have become too involved in your thoughts, follow this advice: Create the sound Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum, which means “I am free, I am bliss.” This sound will immediately be your associate and helper, relieving you of your involvement with the thoughts. Moreover, it will work to carry your attention towards its own source, the eternal, unchanging, indivisible Existence and Consciousness; in other words, you will immediately meet your true Self.
Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum, Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum, “I am immortal, I am blissful, I am immortal, I am blissful.” Begin the fresh work of understanding the meaning of the phrase by knowing that it conveys the truth of your own Self.
You not only have to repeat these words inside and know their meaning, but also to feel that you are continuously transcending every level of speaking—as if you are rising higher and higher until the words are not being formed any more at all. Then you do not have to begin the phrase again unless you perceive a flood of thoughts rising from the background of your consciousness.
Every thought has its own level, but by continuously attending the background space of any thought, you will reach the source of all thought. Attend this space while you watch Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum, Amaram Hum Madhuram Hum, “I am immortal, I am blissful, I am immortal, I am blissful.” If you follow the thread or channel of this thought, you will touch the hand of the immortal and blissful Being, which is infinity, knowingness, the Pure Consciousness. Your awareness will immediately be filled with the brilliant sense and quality of immortality and bliss. You will develop a great affinity and love for the source of this phrase, because That thou art.
Sometimes you might feel that the phrase is too long. Then reduce it to Amaram Madhuram, Amaram Madhuram. If even these two words seem to be too much, just repeat, “hum … hum … hum … hum.” When you perceive that you have gone so deep within that you are not even saying, “mmm … mmm … mmm,” be alert, only aware, and watch the pure, soundless sound, which exists by itself on the deepest level of your being.
You may find that you are in a state of perfect stillness, free from watching, knowing, and repeating any sound at all, yet fully conscious. Then perceive the space and feel at ease, healthy, and alive. Whatever sound you had been repeating will no longer exist as an object of perception, because the knowingness, which had been releasing the forms of the known existence and the knower in relation to each other, is left alone. This knowingness is your own real existence and bliss.
This is the level of consciousness where the mind is unable to function as a mind, because it creates no relationship with any form—no image, object, or thought is here. The Self is left alone and free, formless, nameless, and peaceful. Here the mental levels and thoughts that are experienced in the waking state, the dream state, and even the thought-free state of deep sleep have none of their own influence. This is the existence of the pure, conscious Being, the state of Samadhi—perfect peace.
—from Meet Your True Self through Meditation