"I make you monk, just now"
Dec 21, 2023
Yogacharya Don Baba with Baba Hariharananda, Homestead, Florida
In 1996, at Rafi's NYC apartment in Tribeca, a small group was sitting with Baba and myself.
To my left, facing Baba Hariharananda, were two male disciples, who each had family with children, and to my right, was a young brahmachari.
Baba is telling the married men that "married life is 80% bliss and 20% trouble, while monks life is 80% trouble and 20% bliss"
We are all laughing and the married men are saying "No Baba you have it backwards, married life is 80% trouble and 20% bliss."
Baba is equally amused and smiling and laughing.
Suddenly he looks directly at me and says: "I will make you monk just now, if you want"
Having never thought about being a monk, the thought that entered into my mind at that moment, was that I would have been one of Baba's first western monks and a huge responsibility and honor.
To be a monk in the lineage of Sri Yukteswar and Yoganandaji is no small, frivolous thing.
I asked myself if I could do it and decided, I needed more time to think about this life changing decision.
Could I do it?
So I replied to Baba, "50 - 50", give me some time to think about it.
The impact of this moment was also important, as the young Brahmachari sitting to my right was eagerly waiting for Baba to say those words and had been in training for when the time came where Baba would give his blessing.
Kriya Yoga Seminar, Homestead, Florida Ashram
This experience put me in a deep state of self-enquiry.
What does it mean to be "monk".
What is it I am really looking look for and is being a monk the best path forward?
While in the eastern tradition you follow your Gurus' instruction obediently and without hesitation, I felt it was best to really come to the right understanding on one's own, before making a such a monumental decision.
I believe that this decision has to come from a very deep place inside and wanted to be 100% sure before giving my answer.
Several factors influenced my decision and helped me come to what I felt was right for me.
First point, was that my families tradition and religion does not embrace a monastic lifestyle and would not be supportive.
My father at the time was not in good health and I knew he would never understand my decision to receive sannyasa, it would hurt him tremendously.
I was unwilling to cause him harm and felt it was not dharma.
Second point, at the time, my cousin had a precious, shy, young 3 year old daughter, who I became very fond of and felt that if I became a monk, I would have limited time with her and her brothers and wanted to be a part of their lives, as I had no children of my own.
Third point, what does it mean to be monk?
I felt it must be a deep inner calling, which must come from inside.
It is a running to God, that every thought, word and deed was of God only.
One must be so in love with the divine, that no other desires and dependencies exist.
It is not an outer renunciation, running away from the world, saying "neti-neti", "Not this-Not this".
But the complete opposite, "this -this", seeing the God in everything and finding God everywhere.
Baba would often say "Everything of the world is for your God-realization".
A "God realized" or "Self realized" person perceives the divine everywhere.
Baba would often ask "Where is God not?"
The last few points brought me to what I felt was the best way forward for me, as there is not just one way.
"Not all yogi's are monk's, not all monks are yogi's", some get God realization before becoming a monk, some become monks after getting God realization. Not all monks or yogis are realized".
Baba Hariharananda got nirvikalpa samadhi as a Brahmachari and didn't receive sannyas until 11 years later.
In the Kriya Yoga tradition of Lahiri Mahasaya, it is predominantly for householders, living in the world fulfilling responsibilities to family and society.
In the Autobiography of a Yogi", Lahiri's message was stay in your family, stay in your job, stay in your religion, be highly qualified, but be a Yogi.
"Watch God, Love God in you daily life.", Baba would often say.
I have heard that some in India think only the monks are spiritual and that it is necessary to become a monk to get God-realization.
Kriya Yoga Master Lahiri Mahasaya and several of his disciples, such as Panchanan Bhattacharya, and Bhudenpdratnath Sanyal and even outside the Lahiri lineage, the example of Ananda Moyee Ma, prove this statement to be wrong.
Often I heard Baba ask, when someone came to class wearing "orange clothes", he would ask "are you orange on the inside?" and he would say that one does not need to wear any special cloth to realize God.
He would not encourage men to have long hair and beards, or wear beads, reminding his students, "we are productive members of society, not hippy's."
He felt one should not dress or misrepresent oneself as a monk, if one has not taken vows of sannyasa.
In Kriya Yoga we are focused on an "inner-realization"
I like the saying "Be like the wise ant, who can separate the sugar from the sand" or "be like the swan, a 'Paramahamsa', who can separate the milk from the water".
At the end of my "self-enquiry" I came to the belief that God doesn't care if you are monk or householder, male or female, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Hare-Krishna, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Taoist or Zoroastrian.
"God sees what's in the heart. "
If you are a true devotee of God, a true lover of God, surely God will know and see and bless you.
I feel only a rare few, are really destined to be a monk.
Best is to really ask your conscience, and think deeply and be 100% honest with oneself before making this decision.
During this period of enquiry, one of Baba's most prominent monks, would repeatedly call me up by phone:
"You know what I want to hear, I have some extra orange cloth for you".
Several times during this period during big public Kriya Yoga programs, Baba would announce,"I hope Don Baba will become monk someday. "
The final word on this, was that I never thought of being monk, and only wanted to go deeper in meditation.
"Something really beautiful happens when I practice Kriya Yoga.
When I sit with others and we practice together, sometimes it is so astonishingly beautiful, that we all feel it.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to sit together in Kriya Yoga meditation"
Practicing kriya yoga daily continues to take me deeper in meditation and I am happy thankful.
The last few years of his life Baba would say to me, "Live a divine life, be divine" and never pressed the issue.
My last visit with Baba, at Homestead, Florida ashram he told me, "he was happy, that I was living a divine life"
It is important to point out that Baba Hariharananda had only made a few monks, as his focus was on the non-sectarian, scientific practice of Kriya Yoga.
"I am not teaching you to be Hindus, I am teaching you to be Kriya Yogis"
(*Please note,* there is a subtle difference and I am not saying anything negative about being a Hindu....db)
"Everything I am as a God-realized person, I gained from the scientific practice of Kriya Yoga"
