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Stay Present
“The whole day isn’t in your hands right now—just this minute. The next minute is the future. The past minute is the past. There’s nothing to worry about in the past; it’s gone. The future is not in our hands. What is in our hands? The golden present.
“God bless you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.” —Sri Swami Satchidananda
(photo: Colombo, Sri Lanka, early 1970s)
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We have a lot of desires, a lot of selfishness. Yet, we also understand, that if we become selfless, we become happy. You might ask, “What can I do if I can’t get rid of my unyogic desires?” You have to analyze your motives. Over what actions are you selfish? And by being selfish, what you are gaining? Let that be your meditation. That means, you analyze your motives. Become a judge of all your desires. Suppose the mind says, Well, I’m selfish, I want that for my sake, I like that. As a neutral person, you can question the mind: Alright, you want it. What for? What are all the benefits you expect from that? Let the mind reply. And listen to what it says and then ask more. Well, what about the troubles that will follow if you get it? The mind will always say: “Oh I’ll be so happy, I’ll be doing and getting this and that.” At first, the mind will give only the beneficial side of the story. For example: If the mind wants to overeat, you could say: Now you want to eat even more, alright eat. The mind will say it loves the taste and probably it will give one or two more points. Listen to that first, and then say: Yes, my dear mind, it’s alright, I’ll allow you to eat even more. But just listen to me now. MORE
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In our last issue, we featured Dr. Michael Greger's video on vegetarian athletes. In the following article, Dr. Pedersen makes the case for how the pursuit of personal perfection through athletics is a time-tested method of reaching our innermost divinity.
With some exceptions, such as the martial arts of East Asia, we do not usually think of sports in connection with the spiritual life. Some spiritual figures of ancient India were warriors and heroes, but we often associate spiritual practice with monastic life, and the term ascetic with a world-renouncing monk or yogi who devotes most of his or her time to meditation and study in seclusion. Many monastics, however, past and present, have maintained fitness through manual labor and walking long distances. The “marathon monks” of Mount Hiei, Japan, run great distances as a spiritual discipline, but this is a rare case. The term ascetic is derived from the Greek askesis, which meant exercises and training, as for an athlete who competes for a prize. The goals of such training include physical strength, stamina, agility and skill. Today it is widely recognized that children and young people need sports training, not only for general health and fitness but also to build discipline and concentration... MORE
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Along with the other delegates, I’m ushered into a room that’s been prepared for us for meditation and I quietly take a seat on the floor. We sit facing an intricate pavilion, gleaming with gold, that was crafted from teak by Thai artists. This pavilion is roped off and behind glass, and I don’t know what it holds until someone whispers in my ear: they’re bone fragments from the Buddha. But are they really? The Buddha died so long ago. How can we know that these bits of skull belonged to him and not to someone else? This is a valid question. Yet as Shantum Seth rings the bell and a clutch of Theravadin monks in saffron robes begins to drone their Pali chants, it’s not a question that concerns me. What’s touching me is the fact that the Buddha had bones—and flesh—at all. So often we talk about the Buddha as if he were a figure from mythology, not a human being like you and me. Generation after generation, for thousands of years, we’ve revered his wisdom so much that in our imagination he has become more of a deity than a person, and his life story has been embellished with fantastical flourishes—the stuff of legends. Maybe it’s because we want there to be someone who is more than human to save us. Maybe it’s because it’s so hard to grasp a time like 500 BCE, which is around when the Buddha lived. It sounds so far in the past that maybe it was never. MORE
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The Integral Yoga Centre of Gibraltar presents the second part of the Raja Yoga Course on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali given by Nalanie Harilela Chellaram. In this episode, Nalanie discusses Sutras 3, 4 and 5 of Book One, "The Portion on Contemplation," and explains how the mind works and who the Seer is.
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Some words pass through us quickly and vanish into air; others burrow into our very flesh and change the way we think, speak, and feel. For me, the work of Kahlil Gibran (alt. Khalil Gibran) falls into the second category. Lebanese born, educated in New York, Paris and Beirut, he was the third best-selling poet in history, and his words sparked a literary revolution. Best known in the West for his book, The Prophet, Gibran lived from 1883 to 1931, but his legacy survived much longer, messages of universal love, freedom and tolerance taking root in the countercultural soil of the American sixties. I set out to offer you ten of my favorite passages from his writing, but as you will see, it is simply too brilliant to stop so soon. Each of these quotes has at some point touched me deeply. I have no words to express the profound impact of this poetry, and I hope it will leave you speechless as well: “One day you will ask me which is more important? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life.” MORE
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Rev. Jaganath, Integral Yoga Minister and Raja Yoga master teacher, has spent a lifetime delving into the deepest layers of meaning in Patanjali's words within the Yoga Sutras. Our series continues with the sixth sutra of Chapter 1 in which Patanjali describes five types of mental modifications (vrittis). Rev. Jaganath hones in on several and on the distinction between a mental modification and a mental idea.
The essence of [the vritti Patanjali calls] pramana, is knowledge that has been demonstrated to be true, valid, and reliable by one of the methods Patanjali will list in the next sutra (direct perception, inference, authoritative testimony). Pramana stands as a reminder that regardless of the source, only knowledge that has been tested and proven can dependably and consistently be used by the yogi. We can also understand pramana as processes for acquiring knowledge in which thought and senses are not deceived. Compare pramana to viparaya, unreliable knowledge (sutra 1.8), in which knowledge is attained through faulty perception, inference, memory, or inaccurate or incomplete data. Reliable knowledge allows us to make wise, informed decisions that advance us to our spiritual goals. MORE
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The Lotus Center for All Faiths (LCAF) is pleased to announce two new members have joined the LCAF Honorary Advisory Council: Dr. Arun Gandhi and Dr. Kusumita Pedersen. The grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Arun Gandhi and Swami Satchidananda's association dates back to the late 1960s. It was a meeting with Arun Gandhi that Sri Swamiji mentioned during his legendary talk that opened the Woodstock Festival. Dr. Gandhi was taught by his grandfather how to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. He and Sunanda, his late wife, founded The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. Dr. Pedersen has been associated with Sri Swamiji and his interfaith work for many decades. She was instrumental in facilitating his participation in many important interfaith events. Considered one of the most dedicated advocates of interfaith initiatives, Dr. Pedersen serves as co-chair of the Interfaith Center of New York and as a trustee of the Parliament of the World's Religions. LCAF is honored that these two luminaries accepted the invitation to join the Council.
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Integral Yoga Natural Foods (IYNF) in New York City (not Charlottesville, Virginia) is closing but the Integral Yoga Institute of New York remains strong. Swami Asokananda explains:
IYNF (New York City) will be closing soon. After 45 years of service as a leader in the natural foods movement, the store is no longer sustainable in the current retail environment. There is sadness and frustration but reason to be proud of the store’s legacy. Yes, stores close all the time and yes, many small businesses in New York have experienced the same challenges. But IYNF is much more than a “business.” It was founded in the early 1970s with the mission to provide vegetarian food products in accordance with the yogic teachings and the teachings of Sri Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral Yoga Institute. For a long time, it was one of the only places in New York to buy vegetarian and organic food and vitamins. Throughout its entire time serving the community, the store kept the highest standards in terms of righteous sourcing, no animal testing, local products and, most importantly, ahimsa, the yogic value of non-harming. MORE
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Integral Yoga Finland proudly announces the first Integral Yoga Basic Teacher Training in Helsinki area of Finland. It starts on February 16th with teachers Nalanie Harilela Chellaram, Shanti Alman, and Sari Sharmini Penttilä. Find more information here.
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This past week, Integral Yoga Center of Richmond (Virginia) director Rev. Vimala Pozzi brought a group of over 20 teacher trainees for a 4 day Yoga Immersion Retreat. Many in the group had never been to Yogaville, so this was their first experience in "wonderland," as Vimala described it to them. One of the highlights of this training is that they have a deaf trainee, who will become the first deaf Yoga teacher in Virginia. This was a huge endeavor which required getting together a team of 6 interpreters, who are Yoga accessible to the deaf population. Vimala expained, "The lesson here has been not how to teach a deaf person, but how to integrate her as part of the entire class, as if her hearing were not an impediment or limitation. She has actually become a teacher for many of us." (photo: Rev. Vimala, front row, far right with 2017 group of trainees.)
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Inspiring Meme of the Week
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