Howard Swinson from Oshawa’s Walk of Fame on his Love for Sahaja Yoga Meditation

“Where do I begin when discussing my love affair with SAHAJA YOGA?!

Well I first heard about Sahaja Yoga maybe 15 years or so ago..I was in Toronto and my wife Joyce was in England…It was 6 p.m. my time and 11 p.m. in the U.K.  I got this phone call …it was Joyce,..and she immediately started to rant on about having just come back from attending this wonderful class.  She said “Howard, I’ve just discovered something I’ve been looking for all my life!  It’s called Sahaja Yoga and you’ll just love it too”. “Wait a minute …what’s it all about?”  I said.   Well after hearing her enthusiastic explanation re meditation, balancing the subtle system, clearing out the negativity, etc. I immediately interrupted her and said…”Oh no we don’t want anything like that…It’s probably a cult.  Anyway we don’t need it.  We’re happy as we are”….

Anyway I guess you might say I had an altogether negative attitude due probably to my North American conditioning down through the years.  I was very right-sided and couldn’t make myself think ‘outside the box’, so to speak.  However I did attend meetings with my wife during those first few years and eventually started to grasp what it was all about.  At heart I suppose I always was a seeker because I just never believed that any one religion had all the answers.  I had that feeling even when I was a young boy and all the later years, up to the time Sahaja Yoga came into my life.  Over the years I was always jumping around visiting different churches, chapels, cathedrals, etc..  but none of them made much of an impression.  I did have a constant though and that was my veneration for Lord Jesus.

By the time Joyce died 11 years ago I knew in my heart that there really was something special about Sahaja Yoga and our great leader, guru and Mother, Shri Mataji. Almost immediately I started attending Puja’s, seminars, meetings…It seemed Sahaja Yoga was taking over my life ..in the nicest possible way I might add.

All those years when I was doubtful & negative, I was trying to figure everything out with my mind.

As soon as I started to listen to my heart the transformation was complete.

Someone asked me three or four years ago what period of my life had given me the most joy and I truthfully told him that probably The Answer would be Right NowAnd I still feel that way today and long may that feeling continue!

I am blessed in the fact that I belong to two collectives,…one here in Ontario, and the other in the United Kingdom.  I have such wonderful friends, brother and sister yogi’s and yoginees from all over the world.   May you all be as lucky as I have been and if you keep on meditating and believing in Mother’s message of Love and Forgiveness I’m sure you’ll also feel this great joy.  Let’s all try to live our lives in a dharmic manner, steering clear of the Temptations of materialism, humbling down when our Ego starts balooning out of control.  God bless you all.”

** Howard was too humble to mention in his testimonial the significant connection with Oshawa’s Walk of Fame. But when he was announced about it, few years back, as he is a dear and close friend to my family, he did share in a personal email the following (only an excerpt is presented here):

“…Darryl Sherman informed me that he was in charge of the committee for the Walk of Fame.

He wanted me to know that I had been chosen (along with my old show-business partner Barry Authors) to be inducted into Oshawa’s Walk of Fame.

We will be inducted at a ceremony at a new theatre (the Regent Theatre) on the 25th of Oct. and later we will put our feet in wet cement which will then be placed on the main street corner of Oshawa.

Barry and I at one time had a comedy act called “Authors & Swinson” which was very successful about 50 years ago.

To be recognized like this by our hometown is a great honour so I am very humbled..”

Note: Howard Swinson is an active actor, his most recent movie is from 2009 (Wallander)

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This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Debbie

    Look at the beauty that Sahaja Yoga creates – the humility, the humbleness, the purity in each other. All we need to do is open our minds and our hearts, let go of our conditionings and take the journey. I very much enjoyed reading this article, it was very sincere and I really felt as if Howard was actually reading it to me.

    May Shri Mataji continue to bless you along the way.

    Lots of love always.

  2. paula erskine

    Howard I feel blessed to know you! You light up a room and you tell a great story!From the first time I met you, you told me a great story of your journey at a Christmas party. I was very touched by your openness then, and love reading your story and bumping into you everywhere! That is a great thing, like we are one, collective, getting together, across town, and sometimes you think, I won’t know anyone there…and there you are! And oh, another familiar face! Like a family with lots of sincere, humble uncles, cousins, sisters and brothers, it is a safe bunch of friends to grow towards spirituality with and joke around too. Sahaja Yoga attracts ancient seekers from all cultures, all religions, and has a uniting quality when one has woken up their kundalini, the sacred energy, experienced vibrations, and all you want to do is share…and say…hey! “Did you feel that?”

    1. adrian

      Paula… I was reading your commentary on “False Knowledge”… I have a thought on your varied experiences…

      When you feel that someone is imposing on you… go with that gut feeling… it is your intuition at work… you will just know.

      The “uncertainty” of that feeling may seem unfamiliar… so the tendency is to want to second guess yourself. The specific thought that comes to mind is that… “in uncertainty lies the opportunity for initiative and courage”… these will lead you to more fully understand your purpose.

      Just reflecting on my own experience… which you have mirrored back to me.

      So thank you for that.

      Adrian

  3. adrian

    Howard’s comment…”I just never believed that any one religion had all the answers”… leads me to think of that part of the Lord’s prayer which states… “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. My feeling about Howard’s comment and that part of the prayer is brought out in Howard’s statement about… “the subtle system”… the subtle system is within us all the time… yet is waiting to be awakened. That is… I believe the Kingdom that is already there… waiting to be fully experienced on earth. The idea of heaven already being within us is such a simple idea.

    Perhaps the simplicity of what religion is about became very clear to Howard once he went through his own “realization”.

    That comes through very clearly in his advocacy for love and forgiveness.

  4. Jolanta

    It has always been a pleasure to be in Howard’s company. Such a warm and loving person! Thank you to the founder of Sahaja Yoga, Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, for making all our paths come together.

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