Swami Saradananda's Blog

Self-Study

2012-02-01T07:44:00.000-08:00

For me, the new year began with a determined effort to engage in an intensive study of the spiritual teachings of yoga. If you feel that you are ready to take the next step in your inner work, please join me. I will be posting exerpts from my series of talks. And you may feel inspired to take my e-course: www.flyingmountainyoga.org/text/e-course.shtml

"From self-study, you are able to connect with higher Truths".

- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.44

The Forms are many but ....

2011-07-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

There is a story about four blind people who wanted to ‘see’ an elephant. (In some versions of the story, it is five people, in other versions, it is six). When the circus came to town, they got special permission from the animal trainer to experience the animal first hand.

The first person touched the side of the elephant and said “I am so happy; all my doubts are cleared. I can see that an elephant is like a brick wall”. The second, who touched the trunk, replied: “How can you say that? I can see from my own direct personal experience that an elephant is like a big snake.” The third person, at the tail, argued that an elephant resembled a piece of rope – while the person near the leg likened the animal to a pillar.

Then those four people began to argue. Each person was convinced that he was right because each was speaking from direct personal experience… and, in a way, he was right. Yet each person was wrong because of limited perception.

When it comes to relating to the Absolute, God, Ultimate Reality (whatever term you prefer to use), we are all like blind people. It is not possible to “put” the concept of the Infinite into your finite mind – we can only comprehend a part. Yet, we can use this comprehension to gain a deeper connection to the Whole.

Traditionally in India, each person has been taught to see God as his /her own Self. But understanding Indian cosmology, mythology and philosophy can be difficult for many Westerners. They seem to be full of contradictions and paradoxes. Indian philosophy and imagery do not easily translate into western terms. For example, don’t try to understand Durga by equating Her warlike attitude and calling Her the ‘Indian Athena’. To understand the Indian attitude towards feminine principle, you must develop an entirely new mindset. And I deeply believe that this understanding will bring added inspiration to your ongoing yoga practice – in whatever tradition you choose to follow.

Hence begins my storytelling (and analysis) this evening ...

Sivaratri in Uttarkashi, Himalyas

2011-03-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

OM

This year, I had the blessing to celebrate Sivaratri (the holy night of Siva) in Uttarkashi, high in the Himalayas. Traditionally, this auspicious night is is marked by four pujas that span from dusk to dawn. I participated in the ones at Sivananda Ashram, Uttarkashi.Swami Gambiranandaji (successor of Swami Chaitanyanandaji), as head of the ashram, suggested that all participants make the sankalpa (spiritual intention) of "Loka samasta sukhino bhavantu" - May the whole world be happy and peaceful.

The Sivalingam was worshipped with milk, curds (yogourt), ghee and honey. Bathing was done with pure Ganges water, as we were sitting on the bank of the Ganga Herself.

One interesting thing that I've noticed about Sivaratri is that it always comes the same week as the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday. Siva is said to dance in the cremation ground - and is covered with ashes. I have also noticed that this particular dark night of the moon, in the Indian tradition, is the new moon that preceeds the full moon of Holi (the beginning of Spring).

Holi is usually seen to celebrate the play of Krishna with Radha and other gopis. However, in South India both Sivaratri and Holi are sometimes connected to the story of Siva and Kāmadeva.

Kāmadeva was deputed by the gods to aid Pārvatī in her attempts to marry Siva. Their union was of utmost importance, as only their son could defeat the demon Taraka, who was terrorizing the world. However, drawing Siva out of his meditation was no simple task; the god was too deeply immersed in it to notice Pārvatī. So the gods sent Kama to stimulate Siva's lust and disrupt his practice.

When Kāma shot his arrows-of-desire at Siva, the ploy backfired with severe consequences. Angered by the distraction, Siva opened his dreadful third eye and reduced Kāma to a pile of ash with a fiery glance. The annihilation of Kāma left the earth barren and infertile.

Eventually, the marriage of Siva and Pārvatī took place. They conceived the child Kartikeya (Subramanya), who defeated the demon Taraka and saved the world.

then, at the behest of Kāma's lamenting wife Rati (Spring), Siva resurected Kāma from the ashes. He brought him back to life not as a physical being but as a bodyless mental concept.

Vasistha Guha

2011-02-22T06:42:00.000-08:00

OM

The "Ayurveda & Yoga" conference finished yesterday and we have moved over to the Sivananda Ashram on the other side of the Ganges River, but still in Rishikesh.

Today we drove up-river to Vasistha Guha, the cave where Rama's guru, Vasistha meditated. To say that the energy there is powerful would be an understatement! Although it was hard to leave our meditation, we crossed the Ganga in a rowboat. I was tempted to phone someone - anyone, just to say that I was phoning from the centre of the river!

We visited a beautiful retreat centre high on the mountain called "Ananda Lok" (plane of bliss) - I am tempted to organise a meditation retreat there.

Arati at Sunset on the banks of Ganga

2011-02-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

OM

Loving greetings from Rishikesh. The "Ayurveda & Yoga" conference started here this evening with beautiful chanting and arati (waving of lights). We were sitting just next to Ganga as the sunset turned the clouds a very special pink.

Soon after finishing, the rains began. Even thought it is not the rainy season here in North India, we have been having heavy rains for the past few weeks - and cold (for India) weather. But is peaceful in the Parmath Niketan ashram, and the conference promises to be an exciting one!

Loving greetings from Tiruvannamalai

2010-12-31T04:06:00.000-08:00

OM

Enlightenment is not an "experience". Really, it is the ability to assimilate and understand your actions. If your True Self is the "Light", how can you become enlightened? Understanding your actions helps you to transform yourself.

My best wishes for the new year. May it be a year that is filled with enough suffering to make you want to change your life and your negative thought patterns.

Loving greetings from Auroville

2010-12-26T03:58:00.000-08:00

OM

All London airports were closed last weekend, and I worried about flying on Monday. But then my flight left "only" 3 hours late - just as the snow began again.

I was happy to spend a few days in Chennai and even happier to arrive in Auroville yesterday. This morning we had a beautiful meditation in the Matri Mandir, followed by lunch at the solar kitchen. Unfortunately, we can't stay very long - so off to Tiruvannamalai tomorrow.

Why does meditation make me angry?

2010-09-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

OM

I had an interesting question today, so I thought I'd share the answer:

Ques: twice after meditation I found myself very angry and I tried to express it in a safe way but did bite my husband's head off. Any thoughts on the matter. (from Judy in New Zealand)

My ans: Yes, I do have very definite thoughts on the matter. Anger seems to be a VERY common reaction to meditation. People are usually confused by it, as you expect medtation to make you more peaceful and hence, less angry.

Meditation works to purify your mind. We all have thoughts that we don't want to have - emotions that we don't want to express, etc. No yogi wants to be an angry person. So, in the past, when this type of thought started to form, we suppressed it - much like sweeping dirt under the carpet. But, meditation is like an intense spring cleaning - you pick up the carpets and give them a good shake. All of the hidden 'dirt" come out. I think it is a necessary part of the purification process. However, it doesn't mean that you're supposed to bite your husband's head off - learn to witness your own thoughts (and emotions) in a detached manner. Observe the negative thoughts, but do not act on them.

Yoga Sutra, verse 1.12 abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tan nirodhah

"vrittis may be controlled by abhyasa (regular steady practice) and vairagya (detachment)".

Relationships and Cooperation between Chakras

2010-09-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

OM
I'm working on a chapter for my book that looks at how the chakras inter-relate and work with each other. Actually, the independent actions and particular characteristics of the various chakras can only be separated intellectually. The function of each chakra intricately blends with the workings of the others.

To understanding the working of each chakra, it is important for you to see the bigger picture. In addition to taking in energy and acting as a transmitter for your thoughts and feelings, each chakra must function and interact with the others. To understand a chakra’s functions and mis-functions out of context would be a big mistake!

2010-09-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Santosha - Contentment

2010-08-31T00:38:00.000-07:00

I find that people often misunderstand the yoga principle of santosha (contentment), believing that it means giving up their will to change. I get students who say, “I don’t want to be content, because if I am content then I won’t get anywhere in my job. I need to want something. I've got to be on the cutting edge in my profession”. They don’t understand that santosha is not inertness. Rather, santosha means being content right now, even as you are changing your life.

If you are a yoga teacher, you may find that many people actually fear contentment. They worry that it will make them lethargic and lazy – that life might prove boring. Without it they see themselves as exerting and energetic. However, I’ve noticed that contentment never makes anyone idle. It is a sattvic virtue that propels you towards peace. It gives you strength of mind and checks unnecessary and selfish exertions. It calms your mind and opens your inner eye of intuition. If you are a contented person, you seem to be more able to work energetically and peacefully, with a one-pointed mind. All the dissipated rays of your mind are collected and available for use.

I'm planning to be in London for the entire month of September.

with best wishes
Swami Saradananda

Santosha is this month's subject on the Yama-Niyama e-course.

See: www.flyingmountainyoga.org/text/e-course.shtml

"From contentment comes supreme happiness".

- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.42

Tools for meditation: Mandala-Yantra

2010-07-24T04:34:00.000-07:00

Mystical diagrams, stylized geometric projections of the world

Mandala: circular symbolic representations of both universal and personal forces; they do not always represent a deity.Instead, they are symbolic compositions of energy patterns that are more powerful than pictures.

Mandalas are tools that draw energy from outer world and direct it to the inner. According to Carl Jung,they represent the unconscious self.

Tibetan Buddhist monks create mandala sand paintings in times of stress, danger and conflict. The positive energy of the creation, coupled with the meditations of the monk-artists and the participating public, produce a very special environment that is conducive to healing and protection.

Yantra: uses geometric shapes to represent cosmic and personal connections. Every yantra is a mandala, though not all mandalas are yantras.

The literal meaning of the word ‘yantra’ is ‘instrument’ or ‘machine’. In actual practice a yantra is a symbolic representation of aspects of divine energy. It is an interlocking matrix of geometric figures that form patterns of great elegance and beauty. Although usually drawn in two dimensions, a yantra represents a multi-dimensional object or being.

A yantra is a meditation tool for serious spiritual seekers. Intense meditation on it causes the fully formed image to manifest in your mind's eye with an intensity that is remarkable for its imprinting ability.

Most yantras are connected to the Goddess, the most famous one being the Sri Chakra, an abstract representation of the Divine Mother as the Cosmos. There are also yantras for Ganesha and other male deities. There are also yantras that are used for more mundane purposes: to enhance your quality of life, to attract prosperity, to attact love; to heal and relieve health problems, to protect you from negative forces.

Yantras are seen as essential to a god or goddess as a body is to a living human being. Constructed using sacred geometry, yatras are a most powerful 'centring' devices for harnessing the divine energies. The design always focuses your attention onto the centre of the yantra where the bindu (dot) is supposed to constitute the spiritual body of the goddess or god

Yantras focus your desires and aspirations. They help you to transform your negative mental patterns into more positive mental habits. Yantras may be used to bring about healing and maintain a state of positive health and abundance. Because they are active energy systems, yantras are powerful in deflecting negative energies and maintaining internal harmony. All yantras are best understood as enhancing potential that already exists. They cannot force something to happen that is against natural karma, but they can aid and assist in bringing about desirable outcomes. For example, you cannot force somebody to love you, you cannot force good luck and prosperity, but yantras can be used to speed up the process if the potential exists. They also help you to remove obstacles that may exist.

It is important to handle a yantra with the utmost respect and consideration. Careless treatment reduces its power.

Summer Yoga Festival in Dorset

2010-07-08T03:38:00.000-07:00

OM - I was fortunate to be able to attend the Summer Yoga Festival that was organised by the Independent Yoga Network in Dorset on Midsummer weekend.

My workshop "The Power of Breath" - inspiring for me to have so many yoga teachers and sincere practitioners in the audience.

Tools for Meditation: Mudras

2010-06-29T01:56:00.000-07:00

Your body is a subtle and powerful antenna that is continually receiving energy and also transmitting it. Mantra, mudra and mandala are three types of powerful spiritual tools that assist you in purifying your physical, mental and psychic bodies.

With regular practice, these methods sharpen and expand your spiritual wisdom. They help you to restore balance within the microcosm and bring it into harmony with the macrocosm. They support your meditation practice and aid you in finding inner peace.

* Mantra: auditory tool, sound vibration
* Mudra: hand position, sealing the psychic energies
* Mandala/ yantra: visual tool; mystical diagram

I'm preparing on Friday, 7pm, at the College of Psychic Studies. It is the second of three talks entitled "Tools for Meditation: Mantra, Mudra and Mandala". This one will be on mudras and promises to be quite interesting. If you are in London, I hope you will attend.

More tomorrow ....

2010-06-20T03:06:00.000-07:00

OM

Loving greetings on this auspicious Midsummer’s weekend

I’ve just returned from a few days in Dorset at the Midsummer Festival that was organised by the Independent Network.

I’d like to say a special “thanks” to Bhavani, who drove me down and back. I always enjoy the drive to Dorset. Soon after leaving London, you come to the awe-inspiring Salisbury Plains. One can imagine why it was a holy place in ancient times. The view and feeling of spaciousness is still exciting today, especially when you come over the hill and see Stonehenge before you. This Friday, the road was packed with people going to the Solstice celebrations – but the view was still great!

The Yoga Festival was laid back and relaxing – a nice place to chat with old friends and yoga colleagues – and a fine place to meet new ones. Thanks to Ellen Lee, who is the new Chair of the Independent Yoga Network – and to Peter Yates, who has just gotten up to give her the seat. The look of effortless that allowed everything to run so smoothly made it obvious how much loving attention had been put into organising things beforehand. The organisers were able to sit back and chat with the rest of us.

On Saturday, I gave a “Power of Breath” workshop to a group of mainly yoga teachers. This is my favourite type of class – I always enjoy the dialogue involved.

Today: Sunday, I’m back in London – and just getting ready to go out to teach part of a Teachers’ Training Course philosophy module. Topic of the day: The Three Bodies and how they all relate to the practice of Hatha Yoga – which always seems to spark a good amount of thought and discussion among the soon-to-be teachers.

Picture from Auroville

2010-06-16T02:42:00.000-07:00

OM
Silke just sent me this picture that I was taken in Auroville in January. Our group get to spend a few days there as part of our Shakti Siva pilgrimage

2010-06-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Sanskrit word “ahamkara” has quite a different meaning from the concept of “ego” in Western psychology. Ahamkara is your sense of self, your “I-ness”, your persona and sense of being a separate entity. Through surrender, you can develop the ability to react from a place beyond your individual ego; this means that you are often able to touch others on a far deeper level. You would be as much incapable of taking unfair advantage of them as you would let them take advantage of you.

To make spiritual progress, it is important empower and purify your sense of self, but only up to a point. You must cultivate a strong sense of self-worth before you can transcend it.

May-June OM-page

2010-06-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

OM

May 25, 2010 by Swami Saradananda

Blessed Self,

This month, along with the students in the "Yama-Niyama e-course", I've been working with the principle of "ishwara-pranidhana", which is usually translated as "self-surrender" or "surrender to the Lord". This is a hard one for many modern yogis, who don't seem inclined to surrender to anyone or any teaching.

You may feel that you do not relate to the concept of "God" — or that you do not really know who or what God is — or even whether God really exists. You may (understandably) be loath to commit to doing things that you don't understand, even though they have been advocated by both ancient scriptures and modern yoga teachers.

If this is your situation, it might be helpful to envision Patanjali's final niyama as the steps you take towards letting go of your self-imposed limitations.

Begin by looking at how your world is very much created by your thoughts. Tell yourself that you are weak, and you will find yourself lacking sufficient strength. Or if you focus on an emotional experience, such as grief, it begins to form an integral part of your personality. See how you mould your character by your thoughts. The more you hold on to negativity, the more it controls you.

Remember, it is only the thought that you are not free keeps you from being free.

with best wishes for great success in your sadhana
Swami Saradananda

2010-06-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

Blessed Self

December 11, 2009 by Swami Saradananda

Perhaps this holiday season is the perfect time to begin to integrate “aparigraha” into your daily life. Patanjali’s fifth “yama” (ethical principles of relating to the world around you) is usually translated as non-greed or detachment to material objects. Aparigraha can also be viewed as going against the principles of western consumerism. It connotes the ability to be happy without excessive possessions, i.e. living simply without a surplus of possessions, sharing what you have, not judging others by their material possessions, and not believing that what you own is tantamount to who you are.

"Simple living and high thinking".
~ Swami Sivananda

Before you get caught up in the social whirl of the holiday season, remind yourself that the purpose of yoga practice is to free yourself from the bonds of your mind. Why not begin to integrate the practice of aparigraha into your daily life by living more simply. You might also be interested in the Yoga Sutra e-course that I’ve developed – if so, see the right-hand panel.

Maybe you could try celebrating this season with a “Buy Nothing ChrismaHanuKwanzakah” - or delight your friends and family with gifts that try to make the world a better place. Help communities and individuals in developing countries to receive the essentials they need to change their lives. Your gifts will be much appreciated both here and by families around the world.

ActionAid's Gifts in Action: www.giftsinaction.org.uk
World Vision Alternative Gifts: www.greatgifts.org
Global Giving Circle: www.globalgivingcircle.org
Or my own favourite charity: www.GangaPremHospice.org

I’ll be in India; mid-Dec to mid-Feb.

My thoughts and prayers are with you for a joyous holiday season – and a new year filled with sublime learning experiences.

With best wishes, Swami Saradananda

"When you are free of greed, you gain the understanding of the purpose of life".
~ Patanjali, Yoga Sutra 2.39

September 1, 2009 by Swami Saradananda

Loving greetings and welcome back from summer.

I’ve had an unusually high number of people asking me where and when I’m going to be teaching in London. If you can have a look at the calendar, you’ll notice that I’ve got some satsangs planned and a 2-month course at the College of Psychic Studies. My schedule for this autumn is especially limited as I have several writing projects in progress + I’m trying to get ready for the Shakti-Siva pilgrimage to South India.

If you are interested in studying with me, I would suggest that you book yourself onto the Yoga Sutra e-course.

I hope to spend most of November in New York. Please contact me if you would like to arrange some programmes – either in New York or nearby.

This year’s pilgrimage is already fully booked, but I’m starting to organize a retreat in South India for next year.

My First Blog

2009-10-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

OM

Loving greetings from London. Although I seem to sit and write all day, this actually my first blog.

Monday usually seems to be a quiet day for me, recovering from the weekend and organising myself for the week. Yesterday, I attended the CAM (I think it stands for Complimentary Alternative Medicine) Expo at Earl's Court - making contacts for the Yoga Ananda Holistic Centre that I'm involved in opening - hopefully in January.