Why oh why I go to an ashram?

Article written by By Pavitra Galindo

Pavitra was a participant of the Guru Poornima celebration in July 2023 at Ishtadev Niwas Ashram in British Columbia, Canada. This event was coordinated with the Yoga Academy of North America.

“There are two adjacent trees in the road from the magical land where my family is staying, Ilomaa (“Land of Joy” in Finish) to Ishtadev Niwas Ashram, the other magical land where the Guru Poornima celebration is taking place.”

My 8 year old daughter says: “Look mom, this is the portal to enter Niwas (the ashram)”

“What do you mean?” 

“Mom, this is a portal, don’t you feel the difference??” 

I take a moment to feel. 

“Ah! Yes, love, I feel the difference. That’s why I love coming to the ashram” 

You ask me why I go to an ashram? I don’t expect that you will completely understand but I will do my best to explain. 

This portal takes you to the place where you can, if you dare, if you trust, experience the absolutely best version of yourself. 

It’s a place where your heart expands to the size of the Universe itself and you have a visceral experience of what the potential of the human experience is. 

It’s a place where we remember that we are Love, so we give it freely and abundantly. It’s a place where this crystal clear spirit looks at you through the eyes of others. And so we connect genuinely, heart to heart, soul to soul, because we know we all came for the same reason. We are all celebrating with infinite gratitude the gift of the light bearers lighting our path. 

Ashram is a container for our ego, so that our wounds, beliefs, conditionings, trapped emotions come to the surface for us to witness and purify. Because once you allow yourself to feel the overflowing love and acceptance around you, you know that you are in a safe place, even with all your shortcomings.  

This place, a lot of us say, feels like home. 

Home, because you know you belong, because you know you are loved just for existing, because in this place is easier to feel the sacredness of your existence and you slowly slowly learn to recognize this sacred place within you. 

It’s a place where you learn the true meaning of service, and you realize that when we serve each other we are serving ourselves, our true Self, because we know between us there is no separation. 

It’s a place where you can experience what bees experience in their bee hives, where we remember that we are meant to be in community. A place where we give it our all and together we create something way, way bigger than what we can ever imagine doing by ourselves. 

It’s a place where all kids are cared for and guided by all parents, like it used to be, like it should be. A place where all parents know they are not caring and guiding their kids by themselves. The whole community is doing it, the way it used to be, they way it should be. 

It’s a place where you don’t get asked “What do you do for a living”. We know what we all do for a living… We give, we serve, we love. You might get asked instead, “What inspires you? What are you passionate about? Or how do you serve?” 

We know we came to earth to serve and we do. Some of us in big ways, some of us in little ways, but we all (hopefully often) know that our contribution matters and we matter. Our existence is enough, we are extremely worthy, and we are infinitely loved. 

It’s a place in which the love you experience is so intense and so, so tangible that some of us can’t help but cry. Cry tears of joy, like my teacher says. Some of us even cry for those of us who are not ready to cry. 

I think the best way to understand is for you to come and experience it. Describing being in an ashram is like something I read once, “like explaining the taste of mango to someone who has never tried it”.

So come. Come have a taste if you want to remember who you are and what you came to do on Earth. 

Come so we can meet in our hearts, in the place where you and I are one. 

Pavitra Galindo was born in Colombia and currently resides in Canada. Pavitra has been practicing yoga for almost 20 years and is passionate about embodying the best version of herself and serving humanity which she is currently doing through her writing and her offerings as a death doula. 

Cultivating Awareness

Cultivating Awareness

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

 Reproduced courtesy of Yoga, January 2021, pp32-34 © Bihar School of Yoga.

How should we observe ourselves? How can we begin to cultivate the faculty of observation? Let us start with a simple practice.

When you go to bed at night, you review the whole day: What time did you wake up? What did you do after that? What did you have for breakfast? What clothes did you wear? With whom did you talk? What did you read? What kind of news did you hear and see? How did you react and respond to people and situations? In this way at night, see the entire day as a movie. Identify those moments where you have reacted to people, situations, expectations, desires, or the environment.

Observe your reactions: negative, positive, aggressive, destructive, selfish, friendly. Then think back for a moment and reflect: If I encounter similar or same situations again tomorrow, how can I deal with that in a better way? Keep on doing this practice day after day, night after night, week after week; ultimately within a month, if you are regular and persistent with the practice, you will cultivate a state of mind, which will be the observer mind. It is a training that you have to give yourself.

Unfortunately, we have never received training to manage our mind from any place, any school, or any college. Society has not given us that training, our culture, our family, our school has not given us that training. Our culture, our society, family, and education have conditioned us and defined different rules for us to succeed in the material life. Our education is a job-oriented education, skill-oriented education; it is not a person-oriented education.

There has to be a balance: one form of education through which we can develop better skills to survive in society and another form through which we can learn to manage our own responses, reactions. This integration has to take place soon – either today or tomorrow. Children have to be taught the personal skills to manage their mind. Our main work is with children. We don’t work much with grown-ups, for they are too conditioned, and come with their own set of problems. Once their problems are over, they leave yoga and do not carry an impression, a samskara, of their interaction with yoga or spiritual life.

Grown-ups have this particular habit that no matter what they are involved in, they are always trying to see how their involvement can make them more fulfilled and contented. Children don’t have any expectation at all, nor are they conditioned by anyone. When we teach them yoga they respond very well. They take to yoga like fish to water and they are able to develop appropriate samskaras which are personal and social in nature. It is the cultivation of awareness which allows children to imbibe the right and appropriate impressions and skills which can help them later in their life to manage their own problems and deal with them.

This is an important aspect that we need to consider – how can we train ourselves to deal and manage our own mental, emotional response. Do not classify anything into good or bad. After all, the world is a balance between good and bad. Just as day and night create a balance, happiness, and suffering, positive and negative, good, and bad also create a balance. In the ocean of bad and of negativity, good is like an island where we can go and rest. We are surrounded by an ocean of negativity with islands of goodness distributed all throughout the ocean. We have to swim through the negative and we have to find our ground, our footing, in the positive. This is one education, one skill that we can impart to our children, and we should try to understand this concept, for only then can we also imbibe the correct samskaras to survive in life.

 Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Reproduced courtesy of Yoga, January 2021, pp32-34 © Bihar School of Yoga www.biharyoga.net

  Pdf: https://www.biharyoga.net/pdfs/english/2021/january-2021-yoga.pdf

Learn to Adjust

Learn to Adjust

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Reproduced courtesy of Yoga, March 2021, pp6-8 © Bihar School of Yoga.

We all have our own understanding, our own ideas, our own theories as to what yoga is and what role it plays in our life; however, I prefer that we do not understand yoga in its traditional way, rather let us look at the various components of our life and how yoga can help us harmonize and balance those components which create some kind of restriction in the expression of human creativity.

It is easy to say that yoga is only asana, pranayama, meditation, relaxation, and so on. Initially, people are very much attracted to yoga without knowing what it aspires for, so it becomes difficult to maintain continuity. That is why we find that after an initial experience of yoga, because of the lack of our own understanding, we are not able to follow it through.

In order to appreciate the spectrum of yoga, its beauty and the purpose of yoga, it is necessary that we become aware of all the different components that govern and influence our life. In this context, let us start by looking at the social and the family environment and how it affects the human personality and the human nature. Whatever form of lifestyle we may lead, whether it be that of an affluent person or a beggar, in both lifestyles and in all other lifestyles we find that we are subject to stress and tension.

Now this stress and tension is one experience of an imbalance in handling that situation properly, thus increasing the level of stress and tension. This is one point. Second point, lifestyle, and habits. Despite our understanding of human life, we are unable to change our habits and these habits reflect in our diet, in our daily routine and in our acceptance of different life situations, whether they be external or internal in the form of mental and emotional experiences.

When we are unable to compromise, when we are unable to come to terms with the lifestyle and the habits, then diseases are created, and this is the modern concept of disease also. Why do we suffer from different physical, mental, and emotional problems? The basis of physical problems in the form of gastric problems, diabetes, asthma, back pain, headache and so forth; of mental problems such as anxiety, irritability, anger, frustration, and depression; and of emotional problems; is non-adjustment in life and not finding life to be fulfilling and enriching.

The different problems, diseases, and illnesses which we suffer from have no treatment. Modern medicine can provide symptomatic relief, but it is not able to go to the root cause of the problem or the disease. Some people may say that external stress or the factors which create stress are the cause of diseases and illnesses. They may be, yet apart from the stress factor there is also the habit the routine factor. The habit and routine factors are linked with the receptors of stress in our life. They are linked with tension in our life. The combination of so many things create illness, disease, anxiety, frustration, dissatisfaction.

The aim of modern therapies is to provide some form of relief so that we can change our habits, change our lifestyle, become more aware of ourselves. For example, if I am having a problem with diabetes then the modern therapist will tell me that I have to restrict many of my habits too, not only the stress factor, but also the habits have to be restricted, especially diet. I am only giving this as an example of different life conditions that we face. Before we begin the subject of yoga, another important aspect in the optimization of human personality is development of awareness. Awareness is a major factor which controls life and the activities of life, and this awareness is not only an intellectual concept, rather it becomes a lifestyle, a way of living.

Let me clarify this by saying that in the life of every individual there are four stages of understanding and experience. These are known as personal strengths, personal weaknesses, personal ambitions, and personal needs. Now all of us have within us some strength which can manifest in life, in the form of willpower, clear mind, or what we may call the activities of a genius. These strengths are the main motivating factors which can help us progress and evolve in life, but they are overshadowed by our weaknesses: lack of willpower, lack of clear thinking, and so on.

These weaknesses dominate our personality. If we objectively look at our own life, we will feel that our strengths are not that many, and weaknesses are many. In a similar way, if we look at the ambition and need aspects of our life, we sometimes feel that our ambitions have become our need and we are not able to differentiate between what our desires are and what our actual needs are. The imbalance in understanding the qualities of strength and the limitations of our weaknesses, and being able to differentiate between ambition and need, leads to acute and chronic frustration in life. These are the four major areas which cover the entire human spectrum, and our habits, routine, awareness, stress, and tension.

 Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Reproduced courtesy of Yoga, March 2021, pp6-8 © Bihar School of Yoga. www.biharyoga.net

PDF: https://www.biharyoga.net/pdfs/english/2021/march-2021-yoga.pdf

Beyond the Mind

Beyond the Mind

By Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Originally Published: Vigyan Bhairava Tantra and Yoga Mag, October 2021, page 23. www.biharyoga.net

You must observe your desires and the source from which they arise. After all, to put an end to something you have to know where it resides, what it looks like, how it behaves and how it occurs.

The root of desire is attachment, which springs from raga, or intense liking. The opposite of raga is dwesha, or intense dislike. Although they appear opposite, raga and dwesha are actually two sides of the same coin. They always co-exist together. Where one exists, you are sure to find the other.

Focus on desire Raga is one of the powers of maya which limits the power of icchashakti, or willpower, by creating intense attachment and repulsion, thus giving rise to increasing discontentment. Maya is the veiling power of unified consciousness, which springs into action during the course of evolution from spirit to matter and becomes the cause for the notion of duality and difference in unity.

Once you realize that desire keeps you in bondage, you can set about uprooting it from its very source. However, that is easier said than done because desires spring from the storehouse of past impressions which you carry with you in the form of samskaras, or archetypes. The storehouse for these samskaras is the subconscious and unconscious realms of the mind, and it is difficult to know what lies there unless you can delve into those spheres.

Even if you come to know what lies down there by some quirk of fate, and you do not like what you see, how are you going to eliminate it?

Until and unless these samskaras are rooted out, one remains on the periphery without ever entering the spiritual dimension. So, the answer lies in focusing on the desire itself. Practise dharana on the desires which arise from the subconscious and unconscious in a flash.

Gradually, through concentration and focus on the desire itself, you will be able to put an end to it. This will take you to the source of the desire, which is the unified consciousness beyond the mind.

The exceptional mind.

To distinguish between friend and enemy or honour and dishonour is the quality of the ordinary mind and the average person. But exceptional minds experience equality in all beings and in all acts, whether they are beneficial or detrimental, pleasant, or unpleasant. This means that such a mind has surpassed the influence of raga and dwesha, like and dislike, and experiences everything and everybody as a receptacle of that all-pervading Brahman. This realization leads to the ultimate happiness because one experiences eternity.

The notion of death is replaced with the firm conviction that, although the body ultimately decomposes, there exists within it the tattwa known as atman, or self, which is immortal. Each individual atman is connected to every other, as well as to the universal atman. This understanding results in completeness, wholeness, and happiness, because the very cause of unhappiness is the belief that you are mortal and subject to death and decay. But once you experience the immortal atman which resides within, all unhappiness, fear and apprehension will be eradicated.

By Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Originally published: in Vigyan Bhairava Tantra.

Sourced: www.biharyoga.net

[Issue} https://www.biharyoga.net/pdfs/english/2021/october-2021-yoga.pdf

Growing with the ‘Ities’

Growing with the ‘Ities’

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Originally Published: www.yogamag.net

There are two kinds of yoga.

One is the classical yoga in which we practise and advance in asana, pranayama, yama, niyama, pratyahara, dharana, and so on. The other is the yoga of Swami Sivananda, which is expressive yoga, and its main theme is service.

As long as we follow the aims of classical yoga, yoga remains a process to be perfected. But if we follow the yoga of Sivananda, yoga becomes a lifestyle. When our life begins to express yoga, yoga no longer remains a one-hour practice to be done once a day. It becomes an attitude and awareness with which we live 24 hours of the day. At this stage, yoga enables us to express greater creativity and participation in the world.

The final outcome of yoga is not isolating ourselves from the world but involving ourselves more deeply in the affairs of the world, knowing our place in it, our duties, and how we can make a difference in other people’s lives. This is what Swami Sivananda called the ‘divine life’. As we follow the yoga of Swami Sivananda, the gross nature is transformed. As we become more sattwic, more mature in wisdom and develop greater understanding, there is deeper identification with our environment and the world. It should be clear that yoga is not a path of isolation. We cannot escape to the mountains to experience higher consciousness; we have to escape into the world to realize higher consciousness. It is a question of training ourselves.

Training ourselves means managing our responses and reactions, attitudes, convictions, creativity and performance. Such transformation of a conditioned nature into a flowering nature is the ‘divine life’ described by Swami Sivananda.

Swami Sivananda also said that we may continue with our yogic practices of asana, pranayama and mantra; however, we should also be able to express yoga in our normal environment when we are not performing the practices. For this to happen, the yogic concepts have to be ingrained in our life. After all, a computer will function only according to its programming and software. So, we have to replace the software inside and upgrade the programming of our mind. But where do we find such software? Where do we find a program that allows us to change our computer’s performance?

That possibility is seen in the 18 ‘ities’ of Swami Sivananda. Let us see what they are.

1. Serenity

The first ‘ity’ is serenity, which is the first change in the software. It has been said that serenity arises when we let go of our mental and emotional reactions. But let us look at it from a different perspective as well. It is known that when we are serene, we are at peace with ourselves. So the question arises, why do we become disturbed? Why can’t we maintain peace within ourselves all the time?

Some may say it is the association with and attraction to sense objects that disturbs our serenity, others may say it is desire, and all will have valid reasons for their statements. Serenity is like the body. Some may say that the body is made up of hands, others may say the body has legs, and so on. But they are only referring to parts of the body. The whole body is made up of all these parts put together. In the same manner, serenity is the experience of an integrated personality. However, most of us do not have an integrated personality and therefore we are not serene.

We identify with a false idea of ourselves. It is akin to pointing at our image in a mirror and saying, “That’s me.” How can that person be us? We are not saying, “That is my reflection.” We are identifying with that image. We don’t see ourselves, we don’t see the real us. We think the appearance is real. We beautify the appearance, and when it looks good, we feel good. We have never worked with the real us; we have always worked with the imaginary us.

There are two areas of experience. One is appearance, the other is reality. We are always identifying and concerned with appearance, not reality. When there is obsession with appearance, or narcissism, there is loss of serenity. That obsession can take the form of desire, expectation, strength or weakness, depending on our responses to situations.

The appearance and the reality are both satya. But there is a difference. One satya is real and the other is the apparent real. Unfortunately, we are never able to connect with the real satya. The Yoga Sutras state that we are attracted to pleasure because it gives happiness, and we reject pain because it gives suffering. Attraction is association, and rejection is disassociation. In Sanskrit, these are known as raga and dwesha. As long as there is raga and dwesha, attraction and repulsion, we will be caught up in the apparent reality. The moment we are able to detach ourselves, we will discover the true reality. Serenity is finding the true reality and not being caught up in the apparent reality and its reactions. Therefore, in order to live serenity, one has to be free from the mental and emotional responses and reactions.

Before Swami Satyananda was initiated into sannyasa, he asked Swami Sivananda if his duties and obligations would change after taking sannyasa. Swami Sivananda replied that he would do exactly what he had been doing; the only change would be in his attitude towards performance.

When we work for ourselves, there is expectation, desire, need; we are affected by success and failure. But when we dedicate all our actions to the guru or a higher cause, success and failure do not affect us at all. The anxiety that goes with working for oneself is not there. We are free from the influence of actions. When this happens, we become free from the emotional and mental responses and reactions associated with selfish attitudes. That is serenity.

As we disassociate ourselves more and more from results and expectations, we identify more with our creative nature, with peace within, and we attain serenity. We realize the real, and are not caught up in the web of appearances.

2. Regularity

Regularity is the second ‘ity’, and an important point for a spiritual practitioner. It is stated in the Yoga Sutras that only through regular and constant practice, by having faith in our practice, can we build a solid foundation for growth.

Regularity indicates a positive and stable mind. When the mind is unstable, we are irregular. When the mind is left alone to behave like a monkey, irregularity sets in. But when the mind is encouraged to become stable and fixed, regularity comes about.

3. Absence of vanity

We are always trying to create an impression. We are never our true natural selves. We express vanity in the simplest as well as most complicated ways.

There is a story about the Sufi saint, Mulla Nasruddin. Once he participated in an archery contest. He was given three arrows to hit the bull’s eye. Mulla picked up one arrow, tweaked it, stood upright, and with an overconfident attitude shot it. The arrow went way beyond the target. Mulla now picked up the second arrow. This time, he took aim very carefully. The arrow fell down half way from the target. Mulla picked up the third arrow, looked neither left nor right, did not bother about his posture, but simply shot it. The arrow went straight and hits the bull’s eye.

As Mulla was walking away with his prize, one of his disciples asked him the reason for his peculiar actions. Mulla replied, “When I was shooting the first arrow, I was overconfident and careless; when one is overconfident, it is easy to go astray.” The disciple asked, “What about the second time?” Mulla replied, “That was an under confident person. When there is failure, you lose confidence and fear sets in; you cannot give 100% in that condition. You cannot attain whatever you hope or work for because you are holding back.” The disciple asked, “And the third time?” Mulla replied, “That was the natural me.”

Can you be the natural you? If you can be the natural you, you have overcome your vanities. But the moment you try to project yourself either as a confident or under-confident person, you subject yourself to vanities. Humility is the antidote to vanity. If you can become humble in all situations, then you will overcome vanity.

4. Sincerity

Sincerity is another important sadhana and attitude to be cultivated. Ask yourself, “Am I sincere with myself?” This is not a superficial question. Sincerity is purity and innocence of heart. When the heart is pure and you are innocent, then sincerity expresses itself naturally, because sincerity is an expression of the unconditioned state of existence.

5. Simplicity

Simplicity is getting rid of the unnecessary and complicated pretences in life, and learning to become uncomplicated.

6. Veracity

Veracity is adherence to truth. What truth is has to be discovered by every individual for themselves. I believe that in normal life, truth is diplomacy. Not crooked or political diplomacy, but a diplomacy that arises out of knowing how our words can influence another person’s mind.

Once there was a king who asked an astrologer what the future held for him. The astrologer looked at the king’s birth chart and said, “Your family, your clan and your kingdom will be destroyed. You will die a lonely man.” The king became angry and put the astrologer in jail. He called another astrologer, who read the chart and said, “My king, you have a long life. You will outlive your friends, family and sons; you will outlive your kingdom too.” The king showered him with gifts.

Both said the same thing. One said it bluntly, the other diplomatically. There is a saying in Sanskrit, Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat – speak the truth which is pleasant, and do not speak the unpleasant truth, because although it is the truth, it is unpleasant and will create himsa, aggression, violence and shock in the mind of the other person. So, veracity is diplomatic communication.

7. Equanimity

Equanimity is being even-tempered, even in extreme situations. It is being balanced in heat and cold, in happiness and suffering. One who goes through the path with clarity, who is not influenced by the opposites and is unruffled in all situations, is an equanimous person.

8. Fixity

Fixity is being stable and constant, one-pointed. A one-pointed nature is an attitude of mind. It is an attitude of total identification and merger with the object of contemplation.

There is a story in the Mahabharata of the Kaurava and Pandava princes learning archery. To test their learning, their guru Dronacharya put them through a test. He fixed a clay bird on top of a tree and said to his students, “You have to hit the eye of that bird.” He called the students one by one and asked them to take aim and describe what they saw. Each one said, “I can see the tree, I can see the leaves, I can see the bird, I can see the clouds . . .” To each of them, Dronacharya said, “Put down your bow and arrow.” He then called Arjuna. When asked to describe what he saw, Arjuna said, “I see the eye of the bird.” That is fixity, one-pointedness. The teacher has given you a goal, a target, and you have to identify with that target.

 Yoga gives you an aim and you have to identify with it. If instead you see everything around the aim, then your awareness can easily be dissipated and diverted. But when you only see the eye, the aim, and focus on that, then the world disappears and only you and the aim remain.

That is the idea of meditation too. In the beginning, three things are involved in meditation. One is you, the practitioner; the other is the process of meditation, and the third is the experience or aim of meditation. All three move together in synchronicity. When one focuses on all three, the process is called pratyahara. Then one thing drops. You become so involved in the practice that you loose physical awareness. The practice becomes the vehicle which takes you to the aim; you are aware of the practice and the aim. That is dharana. When you reach the aim and identify totally with it, that is dhyana, meditation. Fixity here means a focused state of mind.

9. Non-irritability

Non-irritability means not to be annoyed or irritated, but to cultivate patience and tolerance – not just with others, but with ourselves too.

10. Adaptability

If you are sitting in a boat being rocked by big waves, you have to move your body to the movement of the boat. If you sit rigidly, you may tumble over. This is how adaptability, adjustment, has to take place in every situation. There has to be perfect balance in this process.

11. Humility

The key to humility is consideration. When we are able to develop the faculty of consideration, then a natural attitude of respect develops within us, which takes us to humility.

12. Tenacity

Tenacity is holding firmly to one’s belief, which means having a clear mind. Normally, we don’t hold on to our beliefs, we hold on to a conditioning. The conditioning can be a conviction, but nevertheless it is a conditioning. That is what has to change, so that through a state of expanded awareness, we can discriminate between the appropriate and the inappropriate, and maintain the appropriate belief.

13. Integrity

Integrity is striving to bring together the fractured personality.

14. Nobility

Nobility represents a high, good and refined character.

15. Magnanimity

Magnanimity is generosity and the ability to forgive.

16. Charity

Charity means helping others to overcome their needs.

17. Generosity

Generosity is sharing, making others happy.

18. Purity

Purity is an expression of the true self. It is expressed through appropriate thought, action and behaviour.

These are the 18 ‘ities’ of Swami Sivananda which represent a new programming for our mental software. So, along with asana and pranayama, the ‘ities’ should also be cultivated.

Working with the Ities

Work with one ‘ity’ per month. Make it a sankalpa, a resolution. Every morning say to yourself, “This month I am working on serenity,” and remember the concept of serenity as you go through the day’s routine. At the end of the day, make a note in your spiritual diary:

“For how long was I serene today?” and “When did I lose my serenity?” Don’t worry about perfecting the ‘ity’. Even if you are able to take one step in the first month, that’s fine. After 18 months, you can repeat that ‘ity’ again. It is not a practice that you do only once and then put aside. You rotate it continuously, and in each new cycle, there will be a new revelation, a new understanding, a new realization of who you are and how you can manage yourself.

The ‘ities’ are the attempt to fill our life with positive and beautiful qualities. Working with the ‘ities’ involves cultivating positive habits. Do not become neurotic about how to change a negative habit; just make the effort to cultivate positive habits. When you build up the positive dimension of your nature, you become pure within, which enables you to enter the transcendental experience of life, the divine life.

This is the practical teaching that Swami Sivananda has given to us.

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, satsang in Brittany, France, July 2006

Originally Published: www.yogamag.net

[Yoga Mag] http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2000s/2007/0710/0710grwi.html

True Humility

True Humility

By Swami Sivamurti Saraswati

Originally Published: Swami Sivananda’s 18 ITIES & the Practice of Pratyahara

Humility is the hallmark of a great human being. It is the highest virtue.

From the respect and consideration for others that arose through our effort to adapt, adjust and accommodate to the various situations, we have become more humble. When we say, “Oh, you can do that much better than I,” although, we are feeling that we could do a better job, we put on a show of humility.

Pretence, self-demeaning and belittling oneself are aspects of false humility. False humility can also be expressed by looking humble with the head bowed, the shoulders a little stooped and a humble expression, but there is no true humility inside.

True humility develops inner strength and stamina. It also develops a feeling of gratitude for what we have been given. If ever we stop to think how fortunate we are, we feel grateful for everything that is coming our way, we lose our arrogance and realize everything has its place in the scheme of things.

Thank you

Real humility combines consideration and respect for others by recognizing their value and importance. Ultimately, this attitude develops the feeling or desire to be of service. The feeling of service comes with humility, which is shown clearly in an anecdote from the life of Swami Sivananda.

One day, he went to give satsang at a devotee’s home. The hostess had spent a lot of time preparing the food and the house to make sure that everything was ready to receive the guru and guests. The satsang went on a little longer than usual and Swami Sivananda had a train to catch. The disciples around him were saying, “Swamiji, you have to finish the satsang now, you have to go. We will miss the train if you continue any longer.” So Swami Sivananda got up, got in the car and went towards the train station.

On the way, he remembered that he hadn’t thanked the hostess for the effort she had made. He said, “Stop the car. I am going back. I haven’t thanked the hostess.” The organizers and disciples in the car said, “Swamiji, you can’t go back for you will miss the train and if you miss the train, you will miss the next program.” Swami Sivananda was adamant and said, “No, I must go back. I must thank the hostess. It is not right that she made so much effort and I left the house without saying a word to her.”

He went back and asked her forgiveness. He bowed down, touched her feet and said, “Forgive me for not thanking you for the beautiful hospitality and everything that you had arranged for me. It was amiss of me to have left the house without thanking you properly.”

This is a beautiful example of humility. Swami Sivananda’s high principles did not allow him to leave without behaving correctly and appropriately.

By Swami Sivamurti Saraswati

Originally published in: Swami Sivananda’s 18 ITIES & the Practice of Pratyahara written by Swami Sivamurti Saraswati.

Article also available to read :

Yoga Mag, May 2021, Page 32, True Humility, Swami Sivamurti Saraswati www.biharyoga.net

[issue] https://www.biharyoga.net/pdfs/english/2021/may-2021-yoga.pdf

[Yogamag]http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2020s/2021/2105/2105thum.html

Guru Tattwa

Guru Tattwa

By Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Originally published in Light on the Guru and Disciple Relationship & Yoga Mag, July 2021. P14-16 www.biharyoga.net

The Guru Tattwa signifies the guru element. This element exists in each one of us and is known as the inner guru. This inner guru is the witness of all that you do in your life, silently guiding you on the path to knowledge of the higher Self.

Sometimes you are distracted and obstinate and pay no heed to this guidance. Nevertheless, the guru element waits patiently for the day when you will turn inwards and reflect on the deep significance it has on your life.

The Guru Tattwa is the highest and purest element that exists within you. It is timeless, ageless, and indestructible. It does not decay with death but is carried on from life to life. As it is not limited by time and space. This inner guru is a rather abstract phenomenon, having no form, colour, or sound, and is perceivable only to those who have developed their inner vision.

Inner Guru

For those of us who live in the world of the senses, this inner guru might as well be a myth. Therefore, in order to familiarize ourselves with this element which exists in each one of us, we have to find someone who is a direct representation or replica of that inner guru.

The preservation of the guru-disciple tradition has been maintained simply for this purpose. The living guru symbolizes the Guru Tattwa in the disciple. The disciple offers himself to the guru and serves him selflessly in the manner the guru wishes because it is only through humble devotion to the guru that one can realize the Guru Tattwa in oneself.

The modern system of teaching cannot be compared to the guru-disciple relationship because it lacks one element – the Guru Tattwa.

In India, the guru is considered far superior to a teacher. When any Indian comes into contact with the guru, he is full of respect and devotion. He accepts the guru in a physical form because he understands that the physical body is only the outer shell of an inner enlightened consciousness.

The search for inner happiness

It is very important to develop a link with your inner guru, which is the centre you have been searching for. All the happiness, joy, and pleasures you crave in the external world are only illusions in contrast to the infinite bliss that is contained within your inner guru.

In fact, it is your unconscious search for the inner guru that compels you to hunt for pleasures in your worldly life. You are subconsciously aware of the experience that can be had by this contact, but due to your ignorance and due to the veil of maya, or illusion, you search for it elsewhere in the external world.

When you look at a flower, or a painting, or a beautiful person, you experience a certain pleasure. You think that the object is the source of your happiness, but in fact the experience is taking place within you. It is not the object that is the source of happiness. It is your level of perception and awareness which determines the degree of happiness you are able to experience.

Where does this perception take place?

Certainly not outside. It takes place inside you. In that moment you have had just a fleeting glance of that infinite source within you, and that is the cause of your joy. However, you relate it to the object and therefore chase the object in order to have that experience again. But this time there is an expectation.

Therefore, your perception is conditioned, so the experience is not as acutely joyful, and you are disappointed. So you begin your search again. When you meet the guru, a similar process takes place. However, because the guru is a true replica of your inner guru, the experience is a more permanent one.

The connection between inner and outer guru

Your external perception of the guru is directly related to your perception of the inner guru. If your link with guru is heightened and total, then you are simultaneously able to develop a deep link with the Guru Tattwa in you. Both experiences are parallel and co-exist side by side. As you develop the ties with the living guru, your contact with the inner guru becomes clearer, more vivid and tangible.

And, in this way, the Guru Tattwa begins to manifest.

In the physical body, the Guru Tattwa is represented by ajna chakra, or the mid-eyebrow centre. It is at this point that you receive the instructions from your inner guru. It is also at this point that your outer guru commands and transmits wisdom. As you become more proficient in hearing your outer guru at ajna chakra, you will be able to discern the subtle and causal form of your inner guru or the Guru Tattwa. And in time it becomes a living reality. It is then that the true experiences begin in your life.

By Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Source: published in Light on the Guru and Disciple Relationship & Yoga Mag, July 2021. P14-16 www.biharyoga.net

[Issue:] https://www.biharyoga.net/yoga-magazine-english-july-2021.php

[pdf] https://www.biharyoga.net/pdfs/english/2021/july-2021-yoga.pdf

Yoga: A Way of Life

Yoga: A Way of Life

by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Originally printed: On the Wings of the Swan, Volume VI, & Yoga Mag, September 2019. P38-41 www.biharyoga.net

Whilst Yoga has undergone changes in understanding, the tradition of Yoga itself has not changed. Today we are still doing the same practices as Patanjali, without any modifications. We are still doing the same Hatha Yoga practices that sages Gorakhnath, Matsyendranath, Swatmarama and the literature talk about as they were practised thousands of years ago. The only change that has taken place is in our way of living, our way of knowing and perceiving things. 

If Yoga practitioners thousands of years ago used to live in mud huts, today the Yoga practitioner lives in a house or apartment in Manhattan, Sydney, London, Rome, or Moscow. Yoga has not changed; the tradition is the same; only the way of understanding it has changed. What in the past was known subjectively through experience, we can know today through scientific means. 

If a person was ill, practiced an asana, felt better, and found that eventually the illness disappeared, it was a subjective experience, and the person said, “For this illness, this asana is beneficial.” If you do the same thing today, the result will be the same, as the condition of the human body is the same and the asana is the same. However, today we can also verify the results using scientific methodology, therefore, our appreciation has changed. 

Levels of knowing Yoga.

There are different levels of knowing Yoga. The first is the ordinary Yoga practitioner who learns from any Yoga teacher, in any centre, school or ashram, returns home and is satisfied with practising yoga for limbering and toning up the body. 

The second level is developing some affinity with Yoga, wanting to go deeper into the practices, so you become known as a novice or sadhaka. If Kundalini Yoga attracts you, you may decide to try all the practices to awaken your Kundalini, go and live in an ashram, and develop some form of affinity with yoga. Or you may take a book, go to a farm or a community and do your practices there, in retreat, in seclusion. That is the novice yoga sadhaka. 

The third level of yoga is experimentation. You experiment with the changes that you feel and experience through Yoga. When you practise Yoga, you find you relax, you feel better, more optimism or pessimism is experienced, or more awareness comes, or more depression, or more anxiety. These are the experiences that can guide one further into the investigative process of Yoga. Either you investigate it subjectively, alone or in a group, or you investigate in it a laboratory with instruments, with knowledgeable people whose expertise you can rely on. In this way, another step is experimenting with the change and trying to understand the change that is happening when you do a practice. 

Another level beyond that is going into a tradition and seeing the relevance of Yoga from the beginning until the present and seeing yourself as a part of that stream of thought. There have been many such household Yoga teachers. BKS Iyengar is not a sannyasin, yet his entire life is devoted to the propagation of yoga. Dr Nagendra from Vivekananda Kendra is not a sannyasin, yet his whole life is devoted to yoga. I am talking here of the Yogic traditions, not of the sannyasa traditions. 

Deshikacharya, T. Krishnamacharya and Iyengar represent a tradition of Yoga. People such as Swami Abhedananda and Swami Vivekananda represent another tradition of Yoga. The tradition of Babaji, Sri Yukteshwara, Lahiri Mahashaya and Paramahamsa Yogananda is yet another tradition of Yoga. There is the tradition that emanates from Swami Sivananda through Swami Satchidananda, Swami Vishnudevananda, Swami Satyananda, Swami Venkateshananda, Swami Chidananda, and others of the Sivananda lineage. There are many traditions of Yoga and many people have made such traditions or paths a part of their lifestyle, profession, and expression in life; and then there have been some who have made yoga into a sadhana.

Yoga as a sadhana

There are many people who live alone and practice yoga, who describe the whole process, who are exponents of Yoga. Yoga is not only the practice of asana, pranayama, Kriya and Kundalini techniques, Hatha yoga and shatkarma; it is also imbibing a way of life, improving the quality of life, as indicated in the Yamas and Niyamas. 

What are the Yamas and Niyamas? They are the awareness of and adherence to certain qualities and ideas that can uplift the human mind, emotions, character, psyche, and personality. You become and are recognized as being a good person. If you develop the quality of Ahimsa, non-violence, you will emanate compassion. If you develop the quality of Satya, truthfulness, you will emanate love. If you imbibe the quality of Aparigraha, non-possessiveness, you will express simplicity and innocence. 

Each Yama and each Niyama will highlight a character of the human personality. When that character is highlighted then it becomes part of your expression, understanding, actions, behaviour, attitude, and life. Therefore, Yoga is not only techniques; it is also a lifestyle, known as the Yogic Lifestyle. Beyond being a lifestyle, Yoga is also a philosophy of life that gives strength to your mental character; a hope to hold on to and a motivation to experience something better than what you have experienced until now. In this way, it becomes a philosophy as well. Therefore, Yoga is a technique, a way of life and a philosophy. The underlying current of all these three aspects of Yoga is the personal effort that one puts into the sadhana. The sadhana is a willingness to act. 

Clarity of mind

If one follows the sadhana of Yoga, there are great possibilities, provided one does not measure everything in terms of money and power. It seems that today, due to the environment, everybody thinks in terms of money and power. Yoga is not anti-money and power; Yoga is pro-you. It is not against materialism, for why renounce materialism? 

You can say it diverts the mind, yet who allows the mind to be diverted? If the mind is diverted, it means there is no mental clarity. If there is mental clarity, the mind will not be diverted. If you know where you have to go, then no matter how many stops you make on the way, you will be aware at every stop that you still have to go further. You have to set a goal. You have to travel from this city to that city. You have looked at the map, you know where the good spots to stop are, but eventually you have to reach the city. 

Therefore, no matter where you stop, you will still want to continue moving forward. You do it as there is clarity in your life. If there is clarity, how can even materialism distract anybody? To obtain that clarity, sadhana is a must. 

Swami Niranjanananada Saraswati

Source: On the Wings of the Swan, Volume VI, and Yoga Mag, September 2019. P38-41 www.biharyoga.net

[Article] http://yogamag.net/archives/2010s/2019/1909/1909wyof.htm

[Issue] https://www.biharyoga.net/yoga-magazine-english-september-2019.php

[PDF] https://www.biharyoga.net/pdfs/english/2019/Sep-2019-yoga.pdf

Twin Laws of Life

Video by Kapil Agrawal discussing the Twin Laws of Life found in the relationship between prana (vital life force) and the mind (mental force).

Yoga and Heartbreak

“Life is a school in which every sorrow, every pain, every heartbreak brings a precious lesson.”

— Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Emotional memory

Most of us have experienced heartbreak. My first was during adolescence. It was unpleasant enough that for nearly 23 years I avoided the word ‘love’ and resisted developing serious, sincere, and committed relationships for the same period; including that of guru-discipleship.

I came face to face with my avoidance patterns and suppressed emotions during a long stay at the ashram. There, you can’t really hide from anyone. Every time I experienced (non-romantic) interpersonal challenges with a fellow resident, I was either assigned the same room or placed in the same department! 

Ashram life often produces breakthroughs and I experienced one as a re-awakening of my emotional body. I felt love in a conscious way again and, after leaving, began a committed relationship. When challenges arose and not staying together became a possibility, I was transported back to the traumatized state of heartbreak of my youth and other accumulated experiences of perceived rejection. 

There was a backlog of emotions which had never been released, and it was significantly affecting the current relationship as well as daily life. The inner work to be done had been patiently awaiting.

Encouraging expression

“[In] itself grief is not bad or negative; it is the management of grief that is important.”

— Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Having spent many years trying to undo habitual patterns of suppression, the intention now was on allowing myself to be emotionally present and open during this period.

For brevity, I’m highlighting two sets of heightened emotional states during this time and practices that encouraged expression of each. In actuality, a diverse range of heavy emotions were experienced and an equally broad range of practices identified for effectively working with them.

Acute anxiety and insomnia

I know people who experience acute anxiety. I never could have imagined how intense it is for them! Visualize being in a race car at full speed with the accelerator stuck down driving through a busy street and the steering wheel is broken. 

The anxiety attacks were predominately at night, so finding a way to get some rest was a priority. Antar Mouna (Inner Silence)  and Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep) proved to be very effective methods for immediate relief.

Alternating between stages 3 and 1 of Antar Mouna created a dynamic where the mind was given full freedom to hyper-focus on anxious thoughts (stage 3), then experience the full range and amplitude of sensations triggered by these thoughts (stage 1). As the body relaxed into the practice, this sequence consistently produced full-body shaking, extreme temperature fluctuations, and waves of fear. When those would subside, Yoga Nidra commenced with a few preparatory rounds of the tense & release variation of Naukasana (Boat Pose). The yoga nidra reliably reduced the anxiety significantly; enough to onset sleep.

Grief and sadness

“The meaning of Rudra is one who cries. As we move from one [stage of consciousness] to the other there is a letting go of the things that previously held us back. When those things are left behind, then grief comes. ”

— Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Not having cried in the waking state since adolescence, expressing grief and sadness was a challenge. There was a palpable build up of both; experienced mainly as a wringing of the heart. It felt most akin to repressed nausea; something wanting to come out but not wanting to experience the full force of it.

With that hint I adopted Kujal Kriya (Water Vomiting). Kunjal has been recognized to be effective in emotional release. The second practice was a modification of Simha Garjanasana (Roaring Lion).

I had a student who was also experiencing emotional distress and noticed a block in the Vishuddhi area during Simha Garjanasana. It was clear they could not drop the sound below the throat. From experiments on myself, I also found the area of Vishuddhi to be blocked.

The only way to drop from a head sound to a gut sound was to produce a wail rather than attempt a roar. Connect to current and old pain when doing the practice, and support the release of sound and air by slightly pumping the stomach until there is silence. It will sound like distressed sobbing. I had neighbors check on me during this practice!

Modifying Roaring Lion to produce a wail is very effective at stirring up accumulated grief and sadness! In Nepal, I had observed a procession of women pseudo-wailing during a death ceremony. A friend mentioned that wailers are invited to funerals in Ireland, as well, to encourage people to mourn freely. In Spain they call them Las Lloronas; the crying women.

The effect of Kunjal Kriya plus modified Roaring Lion is not always immediate. It’s best aided by monitoring the body-mind communication from a distance (Drashta Bhavana). I caught myself trying to suppress the upsurge of sadness and desire to cry multiple times and had to consciously and repeatedly ask my mind to back off and encourage my body to let anything out.

Twelve hours later from the first time I did the sequence, it produced a cathartic release. The tears brought with them glimpses into what I was holding on to. The feeling of lightness and relief afterwards was blissful.

Through practice, the time between the final round of modified Roaring Lion and emotional release reduced to a few hours, and then a few minutes. When the “roar” for Simha Garjanasana can be produced from the belly, it’s an indication that the block has been (temporarily) cleared.

Encouraging healing and clarity

Although this article does not go into it, there are a number of attitudinal practices which support lightness and clarity after clearing. These include morning mantra sadhana, and cultivating jignasa (curiosity - in the experience), shraddha (faith - in oneself), kshyama (forgiveness - to and from others), and mauna (measured silence).

Learning to be human

“If you are grieving and you are able to provide a direction for yourself, that becomes yoga.”

— Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

We are marvels of engineering and as is true for any intelligently designed system, we express our full potential when properly maintained. Yoga offers techniques to systematically access and tune some of our deepest programming; the autonomic functions - blinking breathing, physical and mental movement patterns, defecation, urination,  laughing, crying, sleeping, dreaming, and even healing (to name a few).

Emotions are also highly regulated by our autonomic nervous system. In the pancha-kosha (five-sheath) framework, emotions both affect and are affected by the harmony between the physical, energetic, and mental layers. When an emotion is blocked, or the motion of internal energy disrupted, we feel it deeply throughout our being. This in turn ripples into our outer personality, external actions, and daily lives. 

Through the application of various yoga techniques, we can accelerate the process of returning to a state of relative balance. Throughout the process, there is immense opportunity for understanding, not only of oneself, but of others, as well.

We inherit all the faculties of a human during birth, but it takes time to realize and integrate them. It is only in the last six months I feel I am accepting that inheritance and really learning to be one. In embracing my humanity, and allowing myself to feel depth of emotions without suppression, I am granted insights into interacting with others humanely. The increase in empathy has been immense.

Om Tat Sat

Sn. Satchidananda

UNLOCKING THE YOGA SUTRAS - WHAT TO EXPECT

These classes will combine Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras with practices derived from Yoga Tantra, and theory from Samkhya, and Vedanta. 

Of all the Indian philosophies, Samkhya is the most important to enable us to understand Patanjali’s system of yoga. While Yoga is a practical philosophy, Samkhya provides the theory that guides your ability to use the practices of yoga and tantra to achieve your goal. 

Sāmkhya developed over 3,000 years, from 2,500 BCE up to 500 CE. It’s attempt to solve the problems and suffering of humanity back then are eerily familiar to today’s problems  

Sāmkhya states, "Everything within and around us is constantly changing. Everywhere we turn we are faced with uncertainty and a lack of permanency. We often feel dissatisfied with the way things are and wish that our circumstances could be different. Sometimes we want more of one thing and less of another. But life is the way it is. Sāmkhya and Yoga offer us the means for bringing about the absolute and permanent end to our suffering by developing the discriminative wisdom to experience the difference between:

• Consciousness, the highest Self or the Seer (purusha): the absolute knower of everything, and        • Nature (prakriti): the infinitely diverse creations witnessed by the Self.” 

When Patanjali defines Yoga as the cessation of the fluctuations of mind (chitta vritti nirodha) you need to have the theory of Sāmkhya to understand exactly what chitta is and that chitta is one of the 4 organs of mind, all of which need to be managed if you are to achieve higher states. Also, to understand what vrittis are and how they operate under the power of the 3 great forces of nature, the mahā gunas.

You also need to understand the timeline in history in which Patanjali’s system developed, and how to apply this ancient system to modern times to raise your consciousness.

All of this will be explained in these classes and I hope you join us!

What is Trauma? And how can yoga help?

If I were to ask you what Trauma is, what would you say? 

  
There’s a common belief that trauma comes from something “big” or “dramatic.” A war, a natural disaster, a sexual assault, or a pandemic. And indeed, all of those can be traumatic events.  
 
But as a Somatic Experiencing (TM) Practitioner, I can tell you that trauma also comes from events that are more subtle, unseen; even experiences we might brush over as “normal”. A routine medical procedure, neglect, emotional blackmailing, an illness, a move to a new location, or a rupture in a core relationship.  

 
Big or seemingly small, visible or barely seen, the event itself does not carry the trauma. As Dr. Peter Levine, founder of Somatic Experiencing (TM), and other leading researchers in the field of trauma explain, trauma does not live in the event; trauma lives in the body. In particular it lives in the nervous system.  
 
To put it simply: In trauma the energy that is mobilised to respond to a perceived threat gets stuck. In yogic terms, all of the chemical, physical, emotional and pranic energy that was mobilised, for example, to avoid a blow, get away from a speeding car, or avoid a life-threatening infection from an imperceivable virus— gets bound. 
 

It’s like collecting the velocity of a car going 200km/hr, putting it into a grain of sand and having that grain stay still. Intense, overwhelming, internally chaotic. 
 

When this happens in us humans, our system collapses—physically, emotionally, mentally and energetically. We get disoriented, dissociate, and go into different degrees of “numbness”:   
...We lose touch with our inner compass & don’t recognize our “gut feelings” or boundaries 
…We don’t or can’t feel certain feelings or emotions—“What? Me? I never get angry/afraid!” “I don’t feel anything” 
…We’re “fine” or “ok”  
 

In this state the slightest bit of sensory input (a sound, smell, memory, taste) or hint of emotion can become overwhelming and unmanageable....so we shut down again, or more. And the cycle goes continues. 
  
Ultimately, in trauma, we get cut off from parts of our body, parts of our minds/ hearts and parts of our lives.  
 
So, how does Yoga help resolve this? 
  
Recent research shows that Yoga is one of the most effective tools to resolve the effects of trauma; more than prescription medicine or traditional therapeutic approaches.  
 
As a yoga instructor and/or practitioner, you might already know this to be true. 
  
One of the reasons why Yogic practices— and particularly those in a tradition such as the Bihar School of Yoga— are so powerful is that they invite us back into the body; to develop the awareness of the felt sense, to stay present in the body through comfort and discomfort, to build tolerance, to rebuild confidence & trust in our capacity to be in the body, in the breath, in our thoughts, and in life.  
 
To find out more about the how- why- what of Yoga and Trauma, and to learn new skills & confidence in working with trauma affected populations, join me this February for What every Yoga instructor needs to know about Trauma Workshop. I look forward to seeing you there! 

 Written by Sannyasi Yogatara

Guidance Comes at Any Time

Hari Om. I am Satchidananda. Glad to meet you. I’m the newest addition to the Yoga Academy board, but not new to YANA...

Fantastic things can come out of communication with the guru tattwa, in the external form or internal. My connection to YANA began during Swami Satyananda's mahasamadhi. Sri Swamiji had just left his body and Rikhiapeeth ashram was bustling with devotees arriving to pay their respects and humming with continuous spiritual observations to support Sri Swamiji's journey. Swami Niranjan and Swami Satsangi were giving personal time and attention to everyone. During a small group meeting Swamiji asked what plans I had. I told him I was returning to the U.S. to pursue becoming a science teacher. He laughed out loud as soon as the words left my mouth! 

He said, "When you are there, visit Swami Atmarupa. Do seva at the Atma Center. Not work; seva." And so I did. Sw. Atmarupa welcomed me with her signature warmth, and I began to teach on Yogic Studies and Teacher Training courses. It was after one of these courses, while having dinner with Sw. Atmarupa, that she and another teacher began throwing lines at each other like "All your samskaras will be exploded." and "You will work from dawn to dusk." I asked what they were quoting from and she asked with surprise, "Haven't you heard? Munger is starting a 3-year sannyasa training course." 

I had just returned from Munger. At the moment of my departure, one of the residents there had said I should consider coming back for a longer period, like 3 years, but I laughed at the suggestion as I walked out the gate. That was highly unlikely. I deeply wanted to live in the presence of the master at some point, but I had repeated a sankalpa for two years and it was manifesting exactly as hoped, intended, and imagined. Life was clear. Life was good. I was very happy for those fortunate participants, but “knew” it was not for me.

Three months later I was in front of the gates of Ganga Darshan ashram, again. I had quit my dream job, sold my new car, and left friends and family in a fair bit of confusion. The whole transition was a blur. For the first time in my life I found my heart making decisions and overriding my head. I could only watch and follow along. 

That special time in the ashram and the years that followed changed the course of my life. In the same way and order of magnitude that my initial discovery of yoga had. I now live in Nepal; partly to fulfill a long held desire, and partly as guidance to do so. 

I find I sorely miss the full ashram schedule, the multitude of projects always taking place, and the great number of like-minded and like-hearted people we get the opportunity to serve together with. During a period of nostalgia, I received word from Sw. Atmarupa there was space on the YANA board and felt an inner smile grow.

I've found that much of the advice guru gives keeps us connected. Connected to a source of guidance, to ourselves, to the path, and to the tradition. I have chosen not the follow given advice at times and it always seems to be a harder path. Not without its own lessons, but often expensive; not necessarily financially. 

I join the YANA team in the spirit of gratitude to that conscious, beneficent energy which gives us opportuniies to grow and evolve, to express our strengths, and to serve a larger community. I am very excited to be a part of the YANA family at this time and I hope you are too. There are a lot of fresh ideas sprouting and plans in the works. If you are reading this and find yourself wanting to contribute your time, energy, knowledge, or experience in some way, get in touch! Let's do awesome things together in the spirit of seva!

Om Tat Sat,

Satchidananda Kaanchan Adhikary

Our firsts— of anything— are strong imprints

When I ask people where and when they took their first yoga class, I almost always get a smile followed by a detailed answer.

Our firsts— of anything— are strong imprints.

My first yoga class story is filled with “firsts” of many things. Firsts that forever changed my life’s course in ways I could never have imagined.  

I went to my first yoga practice on my 3rd day in Nepal, nearly 25 years ago. It was 1996. I was fresh out of university with a degree in biochemistry. Waiting to begin a post with the Peace Corps in Algeria, I had wanted to get experience in public health and had surprisingly—or karmically— landed a 4-month volunteer position with Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, in Nepal. My task was to set up a laboratory in Kathmandu so that we could conduct on site testing for a micronutrient study in women and children’s health. 

Little did I know what a tall order that was. Little did I know that was just the first step on the steep learning curve I had ahead of me. 

At 22 I was young with a healthy dose of curiosity and enthusiasm, and a dollop of naivety that was greater than most’s. Before arriving in what was—at the time— the last remaining Himalayan Kingdom in the world, I had read up on Nepal, had started learning the language, and had stuffed my luggage with a supply of AA batteries and toiletries that would put pandemic panic-shopping to shame.

Even so, I had no idea what I had signed up for, no idea what the Universe had in store, and no idea of how profoundly Nepal, and Yoga, would shape me.

Nepal was amazement at first sight. Yoga was love at first breath.

After that first Yoga class I attended practice daily for 2 years with my teacher, a West Bengali ex-circus acrobat turned yogi with a penchant for goofy jokes and a smile that lit up the room. He and his wife Shaanti became my family and safe haven as Nepal turned my life —and my health— inside out.

I had come to Nepal for work, but ended up extending my work posting so that I could stay in Nepal and pursue studies in Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism and Ayurveda. I gave up the Peace Corps, the offer for graduate studies and a career in international aid for a path of apprenticeship and spiritual study. Some called me crazy, others irresponsible. I didn’t know what to call it.

It took me 6 years, many a satsang, much confusion, several bouts of dystentery, meditation retreats, fasting retreats, study retreats, and traveling up and down India, to finally land at the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger. As much as ending up at BSY seemed like happenstance, I realise now it couldn’t have been anything but. As we say in Nepali lekheko thiyo —“it was written (in the stars)”. 

My association with the Bihar School began with the residential 4-month certificate course in 2002, continued with the year long residential Diploma in Applied Yogic Sciences and has continued with regular visits, seva and courses since then.  As much as I longed to live in ashram after my first studies, I had a different sadhana— to be a wife, daughter-in-law (buhari) and a step-mother to 5 children in Nepal in a hill-tribe Nepali family for over a decade. Nepal, and life, have humbled me greatly. And they continue to do so.

In my 24 years in Nepal, the country has seen a bloody 10-year civil war, the massacre of its royal family, the transition from a centuries old monarchy to a federal republic, social and political unrest, and more recently massive earthquakes that devastated its people, as well as the economic and political heart of the country. Despite it all, Nepal’s spirit is indomitable, her people’s resilience awe-inspiring and their graciousness contagious.  

There is a well known understanding amongst foreigners who live in Nepal: that we come to “change and “help develop” Nepal with our “educated perspectives”, “foreign aid” or “volunteer” work but that, in truth. Nepal changes and develops us.

And so does Yoga.

Time and again I am amazed at how powerful Yoga is as a science of transformation—whether I witness the changes in myself, those I share Yoga with, or in my fellow practitioners. It is through its simplest things that the most profound can happen.

Nepal and Yoga. I have a hard time separating the two.

Or perhaps it is Life and Yoga that feel one and the same.

On my journey to Nepal I began as a biochemist, but I ended up being owner/director of the Isha Institute, a centre of holistic living and yogic learning in Kathmandu. I now work as a spiritual psychologist with a specialisation in trauma resolution.  My studies to get me to where I am now were as much academic as they were first-hand-life learned…. But is it not that way for all of us? And is that not what Yoga, Tantra and our spiritual teachers foster—the ability for us to become more and more adept at integrating all of life’s experiences—such dukha  (joy and pain) — so that we awaken and share our full creative potential? 

We each do it in our own way, and our own time. There is no cookie cutter way. As the Bhagavad Gita reminds us, we cannot copy another’s dharma to follow our own.

My path is now, as part of the YANA board.  

I am so pleased to be part of it and support the 2nd chapter of the Bihar Yoga Tradition in North America. I look forward to getting to know the larger community that you are —whether yoga instructors, practitioners, devotees or well wishers. Along with a living tradition of Yoga Vidya, fellowship is one the greatest riches of the Bihar Yoga tradition. I hope to meet you in the regular offerings of YANA, through the wider community events,  and through the courses I plan to offer soon. 

Om Tat Sat

Sannyasi Yogatara

For more information about Yogatara please visit isha-institute.com

An Ocean of Peace

So long as a baby has a pacifier in their mouth, they are happy and peaceful. Take it away, and you may immediately observe crying, kicking and unhappiness. We all know that in time, with the natural course of growth, the baby will reach a point when that pacifier is no longer needed for a sense of comfort or security. A state of greater independence is reached. 

Similarly, as adults we often look to externals for peace, for security, for our happiness and fulfillment. We may not realize how dependent we can become on relationships, possessions, career, and so on… until an experience of loss “turns life upside down” for awhile. Then, if attachment was there, suffering is inevitable. 

This experience is a gift, one of the greatest teachings life presents to us. In these moments there is an opportunity to step up to yet another stage of growth and development. With the proper attitude, it is possible to live in such a way where we no longer need those external, temporary things to pacify the mind. We are invited by the universe to begin looking within for a permanent, unshakable source of happiness. So, we grew from a baby to an adult, and then we grow from an adult to a “wise adult”. 

According to yoga philosophy, there is an ocean of peace and bliss within you, waiting to be discovered. It can be experienced directly by the regular practice of meditation and other spiritual disciplines. Once we tap into that, we perceive the truth that lasting fulfillment can only come from within. Then life becomes more about giving and contributing, without personal expectations. 

Of course we can still enjoy the transitory things which come and go; we just begin to see it for what it is - a passing show, a play with various scenes, changing all the time. There is no longer any need to grasp or hold on to anything. We learn to let go, allowing life to unfold naturally. 

Written by Poornamurti Greg Stein

VedicHealing108.com

Spiritual and Religious Struggle: My Encounter with Yoga

From early age, I had a precautious spiritual yearning. Raised as a Catholic and living in  Venezuela, a country where most of the population was Catholic at that time and most the social and political values were intertwined with this religion, I did not have the opportunity of exposure of the awakening of the Eastern practices that were influencing people of the Western world on the early  1970’s .

My interior dissatisfaction with the idea ingrained by family and teachers that God was far away and that I have to earn merit in order to gain the love of God was crucial in my life because I did not have that experience. In spite of this, the inculturation that I received was extremely conservative. Looking for ways to quench my searching, to learn how to develop my interior life, drove me to belong to a very conservative Catholic group, the Opus Dei. After only few years, I figured out that this was not my way.

I turned away from my roots with distress for several years until I felt totally lost. It took me a lot of courage to confront this situation. Very slowly I began to hear my internal voice guiding me to new territories and using my Christian roots as solid base. My life began to return more to balance. I was able to finish my studies, begin my professional life as biochemist and form a family.

My life was disrupted in the middle 1990’s when my husband accepted an international job in Europe. My children were 3 and 4 and half years at that time. The experience was very stressful because our stay was only for a year and a half. 

Suddenly, my husband received a new position at the headquarters of a company in Cleveland, Ohio. It took us several years to adapt to the different culture, language, climate, social and religious values, diversity of people in the United States. When we were able to settle down, we realized that my husband’s new job responsibilities required a lot of traveling and my desire to work outside home began to dim with time. We considered all the pros and cons for the psychological stability of the kids. I decided to take care of the family first by being a stay home-mother. It was extremely hard for me to adapt to this new situation after all the effort invested in the development of my professional life.

My integration to American life was complicated and lengthy. The school system of my children was the first support system I had, so I began to work there as a volunteer. Then, I realized that my faith was the only thing stable, so I began participating in the catholic parish life near my home. There I experienced an extraordinary support that helped with my social integration.

My life became more anchored, and I began feeling satisfaction with all my activities in home as well as my new interests such as photography and graphic design and the different volunteer opportunities that I was able to find. When I started having more time for myself, I began to have my second spiritual call. At this moment, I felt like everything in my traditional prayer life was dry and rotten. My form of prayer shifted and intuitively I began using short passages of scripture readings in order to promote union with God. Little by little, I was drawn to silence and solitude at the end of my readings. Several years of daily practice gave me the strength to open myself to new experiences.

With the necessity for community, I began searching for a prayer group. First, I found a Women’s Prayer group that helped me to understand and learn how to behave in this context. I was exposed to new devotional practices and began to be exposed to the Christian Contemplative Heritage that was lost for centuries and was preserved in very few monastic congregations around the world. I found a group practicing Centering Prayer, a Christian meditation practice that permits the development of Contemplative Prayer. After a few encounters with this group, I realized that these people were doing the same thing that I was doing in home. My interest in knowing more about this form of prayer led me to find the Christian origins, receive direct training and getting the possibility of becoming involved in the organization Contemplative Outreach, which was spreading this practice in the Christian international community. I was fortunate to meet Fr. Thomas Keating and Fr. William Meninger, Cistercians monks who were two of the three people who developed the method of Centering Prayer and began to teach it to lay people.

After a few years of practicing this kind of  silent meditation of 20 minutes, 2 times per day with the simple  intention to consent to God’s presence and action within, I began to experience positive changes in my behavior such as more peace, being more conscious of my own thoughts patterns, learning how to disengage or let go of thoughts, and developing  the ability to witness experiences. I experienced a surge of energy related to my daily practice that I was able to channel to my volunteer work.

A health crisis in my life directed me to yoga as a therapeutic tool and the results were extraordinary.  I began to enquire more deeply, and I found out that yoga is a way of life for a spiritual development to attain union with the Higher Self. My readings on the topic of yoga turned out to be an overwhelming task. So instead, I decided to take some yoga classes and find a teacher to help me to get a general background. After few classes, I was very disappointed to find out that the classes were more physically oriented. Talking with several teachers about my interest of finding a true yoga class, I was directed to the ATMA center in Cleveland Ohio where Satyananda Yoga classes were taught. 

My exposure to the Satyananda tradition began at this point and my interest became apparent when I found a connection of this type of yoga practice to my spiritual life. Little by little, I began to discover my body and learned to acknowledge its presence with all the defects and pleasantness, began to be aware of  its different dimensions and began to have the impression that many of the practices that I was learning in my yoga classes were leading me to silence and stillness in the same way as of my Christian meditation. This practical knowledge unfolded a deep personal questioning about the role of religion, the Centering Prayer practice as a meditation tool and my yoga Satyananda initiation. At the beginning, I felt confused and agitated, for my lack of background; however, I received trustworthy support from my teachers and felt the conviction that “Everything will be OK”.

During the same time of my yoga initiation, I was leading the Contemplative Outreach chapter in Cleveland, Ohio. I started working as a volunteer in this network in 2006. This experience helped me to learn about the origins of the Christian Contemplative movement and exposed me to different Christian denominations. I became more aware of the influence of  Eastern religions on the West and the introduction of meditations practices and observe the  extraordinary interest of many people about inter-religious dialog.

At the time of my deep questioning I did not hesitate to search for more detail. I discovered that the founder of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) Fr. John Main, O.S.B. met Swami Satyananda in Kuala Lumpur when he was working as a lawyer in 1955-1956 where Swami Satyananda taught him how to meditate. When Fr Main decided to enter to the Benedictine monastery years later, Fr Main was not allowed to continue this kind of meditation. However, after several years in the monastery he dedicated time to study the Catholic mystics and found enough support to re-initiate his former form of prayer/meditation. At this point, he began forming groups to spread this form of meditation practice. Two decades later, John Main explained the following concerning his teacher,  “For the swami, the aim of meditation was the coming to awareness of the Spirit of the universe who dwells in our hearts.” He recited these verses from the Upanishads: "He contains all things, all works and desires and all perfumes and tastes. And he enfolds the whole universe and, in silence, is loving to all. This is the Spirit that is in my heart. This is Brahman." Christian Meditation p.11 (published by the Benedictine Priory of Montreal,1977)

When I found out the information that Swami Satyananda’s  goal of meditation coincides with the Christian concept of the aim of contemplative prayer as conscious union with the Indwelling Spirit of God, I was reassured that yoga was not about religion and my exposure to this tradition will help me to understand my spiritual experiences that I have had during the years. At this moment, I embarked in the understanding of yoga as tool for transformation.

After 6 years of exposure to the Satyananda Yoga tradition, the formal course work for Yoga Studies and Teacher Training 1 and 2 gave me the grounded knowledge to understand that yoga is not a religion. Yoga is a very sophisticated science that offer different ways to help people in the quest of who they really are.

Blog by Josefina Fernandez

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, there was a man who, through of a chain of unfortunate events, found that he had nothing to eat. 

He decided to swallow his pride and beg for food. 

He went to his neighbor’s house and presented a tin cup, the only cup he had, which his neighbor graciously filled it with rice. 

He went back to his hut and happily ate the rice, but the cup was small, and he was still hungry. 

He thought of the rich man who lived on the other side of town. He had passed by the windows of the great house and seen feasts laid upon the tables. He thought, maybe I will have better luck there. He resolved to go there first thing in the morning.

As soon as he awoke, he picked up his cup and walked to the house. After he knocked, well-dressed servants opened the door. The man explained his situation, and they swiftly returned the cup brimming with rice and lentils. 

He sat in the shade and concentrated on his breakfast. The food disappeared quickly, and in a few minutes, he felt hungry again.

The man said to himself, “the king has lots of food… orchards, vineyards, and buildings full of grain. Surely the king will be able to satisfy my hunger.” The man walked and walked. He arrived just as the servants were closing the palace gate for the night. 

“Wait!” the man pleaded. “I have walked all day.”

They returned his cup full of delicious food dripping with savory sauces. 

He sat in the dust by the gate, tipped the cup to his lips, and ate swiftly. Night was falling, and he realized that he was still so very, very hungry. 

Now he was angry. He thought, “the gods have all the food in all the worlds. They should definitely have enough food for me.” 

The man prayed and prayed. He prayed with such intensity that none other than Indra appeared before him. The man prostrated before the towering, shining figure.

“What boon do you seek?” the god asked in a voice that shook like thunder. 

“O great Indra! I went to my neighbor. I went to the rich man. I went to the king. You are king of the gods. Only you can satisfy my hunger!” 

Indra smiled. He seemed to understand the man’s intense hunger. He spoke kindly yet firmly. 

“My child, all of these people had plenty of food for you. The problem is the size of your cup!” 

The man is this story is like many of us. In our spiritual hunger, we find fault in our spiritual teachers, when actually we need to make our cups larger: increase our capacity to be selfless, centered, and purified. When we let go of anger, jealousy, and fear, we make space for who we want to become. Make your heart bigger, and the Divine will fill it; that is the law of karma.

According to karma, we get the teacher that we deserve. If we are imperfect, then why would we deserve a perfect teacher? To expect otherwise is like the child who complains that her kindergarten teacher isn’t Einstein. First she must patiently learn her ABCs, practice long division and then calculus, and when she is ready, the appropriate teacher will appear. 

One of my teachers wrote in his autobiography about coming to his guru’s ashram as a young man. There he met a young woman, and they began a romantic relationship. In time, he learned that she was having sex with the guru. 

He almost left. I think I would have left. But, for whatever reasons, he stayed, and because he stayed, he became a spiritual master himself. Eventually he was contacted by his new guru, one of the great sages of our age. He got his perfect teacher, but only after many years of incredibly hard and selfless work.

I have had many spiritual teachers, great and small. The teacher from whom I have learned the most isn’t a guru or even someone who likes yoga. It is my wife, who is quick to point out when I am acting selfish or unaware. I might joke about it, but truthfully I am grateful for her spiritual lessons.

All I can do is be diligent in my practice, and slowly increase my spiritual capacity. I don’t understand why so many masters have done seemingly terrible things. But there is beautiful wisdom I can learn from the teachers I have. Even imperfect teachers fill cups to overflowing.

Story and blog post by Mark Johnson (Rishi)

Walking the Walk… Karma Yoga in Action

So here I am… the new interim president of the Yoga Academy of North America. How did this happen? How does it all happen?

One day I am a mom of three, married, living the middle class “American dream”. And now I am a single, empty nester living on my own, traveling to India annually, alternating my given name with my spiritual name and helping to serve my spiritual tradition by trying to foster the Satyananda yoga community in North America.

How did this start?

I began traveling to India in 2010. A group of newly graduated yoga teachers from Baltimore including myself wanted to delve deeper into our spiritual practices by experiencing ashram life. We spent five and a half weeks in the ashrams of Rikhiapeeth and Munger learning how to live simply, serve others and not use our left hands when eating (lol).

Although we learned some very high-level meditation practices like prana vidya and ajapa dharana, the most profound practice for me was the practice of karma yoga - the yoga of action, being present to the movements of my own mind in all interactions of my day. No matter what activity I was doing from practicing in the sadhana hall to cleaning toilets (and I did a LOT of toilets), watching my likes, dislikes, desires, aversions, distractions and attachments became my own internal soap opera.

It became obvious to me how important the practice of karma yoga would be for me to become a more balanced and happier version of myself by observing my mental conditionings and reactions.

Through this self-reflection I was able to let go of many fears and anxieties realizing that these came from my own patterns of thinking and were not necessarily real or true. Through a stronger faith that I had a greater source within to handle challenges and remain calm during the storms of life, I began to tap into a greater sense of happiness and contentment.

Each year that I traveled to India, I was inspired by the community of like-minded individuals I met, all with their own fears, problems, idiosyncrasies, yet still working to find that deeper source of contentment and happiness that is there under all the life “stuff”.

2nd chapter

Last October I attended the month-long Progressive Yoga Vidya 2 Training course with Swami Niranjan. The progressive courses are about going deeper into the yoga vidya, the wisdom derived from the original yogic scriptures which is best learned through our own experience of the practices. This wisdom is not about standing on your head or breathing in a specific manner. It is about practicing happiness and positivity in all situations. These courses are not about becoming better teachers, but about becoming better students of life, our own lives. This new “2nd Chapter” of Satyananda/Bihar yoga is less about spreading yoga from door to door and now more about living yoga from moment to moment! 

Swami Niranjan said that through our own growth and evolution, finding balance in all situations and approaching others and life from a place of greater happiness, we will become the inspiration that is needed to transform our communities and the ecology. Awareness of how we show up, serve others and take care of our communities and the earth are of the utmost importance in order to transform societies ruled by fear, materialism and destructiveness. Positivity, fellowship and dedication are the qualities being cultivated in this new chapter.

My new chapter…

Once again life has thrown another challenge my way. Due to unplanned circumstances, I have now taken on the presidency of the Yoga Academy board of directors. I have decided to take this position in the spirit of continuing my practice of karma yoga. This position gives me the opportunity to face my fears, challenge my skills and serve a tradition that has been so transformative in my own life.

And I am excited to be a part of the new changes in the Yoga Academy of North America. We will be launching a new website and expanding our online opportunities to educate, serve and transform all with the hopes of broadening our connections with others who wish to grow with us. 

The last few years have been a time of profound change and a continual opportunity to observe my actions, reactions, mental machinations, and let go of it all.  I am so grateful for these life lessons and my ability to use my karma yoga to serve others, the Satyananda yoga community in North America and myself. I would love it if you joined me on this journey of fellowship!

Become a member of the Yoga Academy of North America here.

Blog post by Shambhavi (Alden Caldwell)

The Neuroanatomy of Opposites in Yoga Nidra

During the stage of opposites during yoga nidra, the practitioner generates a sensation from within, rather than reacting to sensations from the environment. This deepens pratyahara and strengthens the power of the witness, and the power of the will.

The practice of opposites in yoga nidra activates some of the most basic centers in the brain, the limbic system, which processes sensory information, taps into memory to make sense of the information, and relays that information to the higher parts of the brain for analysis, decision making, and action—all at lightning speed. The varied pairs of opposites often used in yoga nidra activate different portions of the limbic system. A link to a helpful  interactive illustration is on page 30 of the SYN2 resource folder, and can also be found on the Web at https://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/sreport_flash/brain-interactive.swf

The thalamus processes signals from the peripheral nerves. There are distinct pathways for physically based opposites like hot/cold (temperature), heavy/light (position) and pain, and they activate different parts of the thalamus. The practice of these types of opposites helps train the practitioner to directly activate these centers, while at the same time engaging the witness (areas of the cortex) to observe rather than react to the information.

At first, one may need to engage memory to activate these sensations. Then, the activation area is the hippocampus, the memory processing center. Since communication is a two way street, some students practicing these opposites may find that certain memories come to mind during the practice.

The amygdala is where emotions are generated. Happy/sad, anger/peace, love/indifference, fear/courage all involve activating centers here. These are intermediate practice cues because the ability to witness must be well-established for students to remain engaged and benefit from the practice. Even seemingly mild cues from this group may elicit strong reactions from certain students. When they are well-prepared by prior experience in yoga nidra, this can be beneficial, but insufficient preparation may cause some students to have a negative reaction.

Great care must be taken when deciding to use opposites from this group for another, important reason. The amygdala is hyperactive in people with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.  People with PTSD have been found to have increased difficulty with deliberate regulation of emotion compared with people without this disorder. People with PTSD may not have identified this problem to the teacher, and may not even be aware of this issue themselves. While yoga nidra can be used therapeutically for PTSD, it should only be used by trained, experienced therapists who are also experienced in the practice and techniques of yoga nidra.

Finally, while looking at these anatomical correlations is useful, it is also important to remember that the yogic concepts of energetic and spiritual anatomy, including the chakras and the nadis, were derived from the meditative and reflective experiences of sages many centuries ago. Not every feature in yogic ‘anatomy’ may have a direct correlate in the brain and nervous system the way we understand it today, nor should we necessarily expect such correlations.  There are decentralized aspects of the body’s intelligence, for example, the heart, the digestive system, and the immune system, which make ‘decisions’ without input from the central nervous system (CNS).  At the same time, output from the CNS may affect those types of decisions, for example, the slowdown in digestive activity in the ‘fight or flight’ response, or the placebo response, when a medical condition improves in response to a sugar pill. Medical science has a long way to go in understanding all these phenomena.

The yogis of ancient times looked at corporeal existence as a whole, and then moved within, seeking the elemental components of the spiritual and energetic truths they had observed. On the other hand, modern medical science, from the time of the earliest dissections to today’s era of functional scans and molecular biology, operates more from the ‘let’s take it apart and see what makes it work’ approach. The intuitive insights and leaps of faith of the best scientists, those ‘out of the box’ moments which reshape our understanding in science and redirect our inquiries, are probably quite similar to the inquiry of those ancient sages, even though they approach investigation from completely different perspectives.

Giving as a Yogic Practice

The holiday season is coming and for many this is a time of gift giving and anxiety about the whole process of gift giving.  Amid marketing and retail craziness take time to look at how you practice giving.  The ability to give without ego and attachment can be a yoga practice, making you a better yogi. 

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as reaching a state where the whirlpools of the mind are blocked.  Then - tada drashtuh svarupayevasthanam – the seer resides in one’s true essence.  The mind unites with universal consciousness instead of identifying with the sensory perceptions and the material world.  This connection leads to a state of bliss.  There are no attachments in this state of bliss.  No possessions to worry about.  No bills to pay.  No angst over relationships. 

Patanjali goes on to say that to overcome the pain of identifying with the world around us, we must engage the practices of yoga over a long period of time (abhyasa) and experience a sense of non-attachment (vairagya). Non-attachment does not mean detachment.  It is not a state of uncaring.  In fact, it means to be fully present and engaged in the world with the realization that your time here is finite and all that you have - all of your stuff - is temporary and transient. 

I remember Swami Satyananda speaking in India that if a villager has one pair of shoes he considers himself fortunate and takes very good care of those shoes without ever thinking about having a second pair.  As Westerners we may have 20 pairs of shoes and still want more.  And our mind has many thoughts about those shoes - to find a place for them, keep them clean, match our clothes – the shoes begin to occupy the mind.  Now look at this in the context of all that we own.  Our mind becomes possessed by our possessions.  How much do we really need?  How much can we let go?  It is time to recognize, “All you are unable to give possesses you.” (Andre Gilde)

Swami Sivananda says:

"The water of the Ganga cannot decrease if thirsty people drink it. So also your wealth cannot decrease if you do charity. Share with others whatever you possess, physical, mental or spiritual. You will expand. You will experience oneness and unity of life. Strip yourself of the veils of limitations. It is easy to fight in the battle, but it is difficult to give a gift silently without manifesting pride and self-glorification and without expressing to others. Charity must be spontaneous and unrestrained. Giving must become a strong habit. Give, give and give.”