NEWSLETTER Vol.13#61 March-April, 2017 In the popular press, the word ‘yoga’ is represented by aasana and praanaayama, and these two are mistranslated as a ‘set of postures’ and ‘breathing methods’, respectively. At the same time, yoga is rendered as some sort of passive yoking. ‘The word yoga appears in many mantras of Rig Veda Samhita (RV), the ancient text dating back at least to 5000 BCE. The first occurrence is in the beginning part itself: Mandala 1, sukta 5, mantra3 (RV 1.5.3). It says sa gha no yoga aabhuvat, which means ‘May he (Indra) be favourable to us in yoga”. Based onall the references in RV, Sri Aurobindo terms yoga as, ‘the reaching out of the being in us to unite itself with the other persons, objects or forces’. In this quote, ‘persons’ refers to the rishis who have great powers within themselves and can perform great actions. The word ‘forces’ refers to the cosmic deities Yoga in modern times with names like Agni, Indra who can help the human. in all their actions with their powers such as willpower, and divine insight. The ‘objects' refers to the vedie altar or the cosmic diagrams like Sri Yantra, Hence, there is no such thing as a passive yoking. The gods establish their powers within us, which help us attain objects or goals, considered as unattainable till now, such as capacity for chanting, and designing architectural marvels. Rig Veda itself uses the word yunjate to indicate yoking, but not a passive yoking. In RV 5.81.1 rishi Shyavashva Atreya states ‘yunjate mana uta yunjate dhiyo vipraa viprasya bruhato vipashchitah’. Tt means: ‘the illumined yoke their mind and yoke their thought to the illumined god, to the vast (bruhat), to luminous consciousness (vipashehitah)’. Thus yoga hasa different connotation, (contd. page 2) ‘Sri Bharat Lal Meena, Principal Secretary, Department of Participants in Purohits Workshop near Ganesha Temple Higher Education (Retd) delivering inaugural speech in Purohits Workshop held on 18th & 19th March, 2017 at in Auro Veda premises.Let us analyze the two words mentioned earlier: aasana and praanaayama, Sana means to gain or have access to cosmic power or riches. ‘aa’ means to attract. Aasana means positioning of the body to attract the helpful cosmic powers. It can be any comfortable sitting position holding the head, neck and the back straight without any back support, so that one can sit with absolutely no movement of organs. One can sit either on the floor or on a raised platform with legs on the platform (not hanging down). The stillness of body leads slowly to stilling of mind, Even if'a thoughtarises, one is not supposed to pay attention to it and it goes away. Slowly, one reaches a ‘no- thought’ state. Entering of cosmic energies increases ‘one’s consciousness, creativity and inward happiness. The different aasanaas described in various books serve different purposes. Similarly, let us analyze praanaayaama, Note that the human body is extremely complex having millions of cells doing their work harmoniously. When the harmony is disturbed in some part, there is disease. Breath is our instrument to restore the harmony. The compound word praanaayaama means extending the flow (ayaama) of vital energy (praana) o all the parts, especially where itis needed. There are many methods, of praanayaama, which involves many exercises done with consciousness to restore the harmony. BBP kondas-283 ‘SAKSHI Newsletter : March-April, 2017 There are several ancient books which treat the topic of yoga in great detail, all of which are not discussed here, Bhagavad Gita (dated around 3000 BCE) treats yoga extensively in its 700 verses. The idea here is to relate yoga to everyday activities so as to raise their level of perfection. It specifically mentions three types of yoga, namely: + karma yoga: how to do yoga as a part of all our activities. «+ jnana yoga: the role of yoga in our attempts to get the transcendental knowledge (jnana). + bhakti yoga: yoga as an essential component of the bhakti or devotion to the Supreme. A great contribution of Gita is to integrate these three modes with apparently different goals without forgetting the final goal of moksha, Gita offers several interesting one line definitions of yoga, few of which are given here: + ouractions often lead to grief, yoga is the method by which we can separate ourselves from the grief causing tendencies even when we work. ‘dukha samyoga (unity with grief) viyogam (separation)’ BG (6.23) + samatvam yoga uchyate - The practice of equality inall aspects is yoga. (coma page 3) Kandas-8-10 ‘e-mail : info@vedah.com+ yoga is not for him who eats too much or too little, sleeps too much or too little (BG 6.16) There are different types of yoga, of which Rajayoga and Hathayoga are popular among the modem teachers. The eight fold yoga (Ashtanga yoga) is associated with the great sage Patanjali. Ithas eight steps namely: yama, niyama, aasana, praanaayaama, pratyahara, Dhyaana, Dhaarana and Samaadhi. The book consisting of lectures given by Swami Vivekananda on Rajayoga provides a good introduction to this, yoga. We have discussed the meaning of aasana, praanaayaama earlier. The other steps of Ashtanga yoga are explained below: Yama: It has five steps, namely, ahimsa (non- violence), asfeyam, satyam (uttering and practicing truth), brahmacharya, aparigraha (not wanting others’ belongings). Niyama: This too has five steps, namely, shaucha (cleaniless, internal and external), santosha (feeling happy), tapas, svadhyaya (self-study) and ishvara- pranidhani, (the faith that everything happens according to the divine will). Pratyaahara: It is the method of controlling the senses and not allowing them to choose the objects. They should be directed inward only, completely under the control of mind. Dharana: It is the method by which the incoming cosmic energies can be retained in the body. Dhyana: It means meditation, which is practiced through numerous methods. Samadhi: It is regarded by some as the highest attainable spiritual state by humans Most people ignore the first two steps and directly jump to aasana and dhyana, Raja yoga as taught by many teachers also focuses only on the practice of some aasanas, pranayama and meditation (dhyana). However some progress in yama and niyama is, essential. Hatha Yoga is a vast subject not limited to the practice of aasanas only. The niyama in Hatha yoga involves ten aspects, namely: tapas, santosha, Astikya, dana, ‘SAKSHI Newsletter : March-April, 2017 (gifting), ishvarapuja, siddhanta vaakya shravana (hearing the words of great realised persons) hri, mati, Japaand homa. ‘The reference book for Hatha Yoga is the compilation done by the great guru Gorakhnath entitled, ‘Hatha Yoga Pradipika’ (15th century CE); A related book is, the Gheranda Samhita (17th century CE). Itis incorrect to state that Hatha Yogins spend all their time on doing aasanas, which are in hundreds. A competent teacher advises a student on a specific set of aasanas based on his/her capabilities and needs. Hatha Yoga has its own methods of meditation and worship. Tantra is another discipline which aims at divinizing the human body by special practices such as Sri Vidya. Here, the body itselfis called a temple (dehodevalaya prokta). It regards all women in all the worlds as the forms of the Supreme Devi herself, and they are perfect as a consequence. ‘Striyasamastha sakala Jagatsw’ (Chandi, Durgasaptashati) There are two broad divisions named dakshina (discrimination) and vama (the path of beauty) in Tantra, The worship of special objects like Sri Chakra (a series of triangles on a two dimensional Sumeru, symbolising the entire existence of the seven worlds. A couple of simple books on Tantra published by SAKSHI: + The appendix one (pg 169-174) entitled, ‘Shri Yantra or Sri Chakra’ in the book “T.V. Kapali Sastry: His spiritual life in his own words’ «Essence of Tantra by R.L. Kashyap pp. 53. The book, ‘Crest of the Peacock’, by G.F. Joseph. (Penguin, 2000), gives the mathematics behind Sri Chakra. Some important yoga practitioners in 20th century In 1935, the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar requested Shri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya to teach yoga, as understandable to moderns. Several famous yoga teachers of modem times were Krishnamacharya’s students, Some of them are Pattabhi Jois, B.K.S. Iyengar (of Iyengar Yoga), Indra Devi, T-K.V. Desikachar. All of them have their own schools. (contd page 4) ‘e-mail : info@vedah.comBeginning from around 1955, there was a great demand for teachers on yoga in the United States. Even many of the so called mainstream intellectuals looked up to these yogins because the offer a safe altemative to the intake of dangerous drugs such as LSD. The most famous among them is Maharshi Mahesh Yogi (of TM or transcendental meditation). Great celebrities like the beetle star George Harrison became his disciples and studied Maharshi’s books as well as classics like Bhagavad Gita, They highlighted the cruelty involved in killing animals for eating their meat, and became proponents of vegetarian diet. seemed to Another yogi Swami Rama submitted himself to the extensive tests at the Mayo Clinic to show the benefits of the meditational methods on developing higher consciousness, for which there is no parallel in the western methods. Another important person who promoted yoga in the West is Swami Vishnudeva Ananda, a disciple of the famous yogi Swami Shivananda, He developed a set, of 12 aasanas and pranayama methods to increase all, round health as well as recover from heart diseases, without surgery. His disciple is the physician Dr. Dean Omish, who was the first to prove through extensive research that a plant based diet, combined with yoga, and meditation based counseling can stop the march ofheart disease and type 2 diabetes (1990's). There is a well-known university in the US, started by Mahesh Yogi to spread the yogic teachings and therapy. It is also involved in extensive research on these topics Another famous American in the yoga movement was, Richard Alpert, the former professor at Harvard University. Having four chaired-professorships there, he was dismissed by Harvard around 1963. He later became the disciple of the well known yogi Neem Karoli Baba, assumed the name Hanuman Das and did considerable work in making yoga available for different classes of people inthe US. Yoga of Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) spent about forty years of his life on exploring the various types of yoga, such as Hatha yoga and other classical types mentioned earlier, and understanding the connections between ‘SAKSHI Newsletter : March-April, 2017 them, and then synthesizing them. Note that synthesis, is not a mere mixing of several things. He published his results and experiences mainly in two books, titled, ‘Synthesis of Yoga’ (a prose work of about 600 pages) and Savitri (a poem in English with about twenty thousand lines). Sri Aurobindo showed that the various methods of yoga such as Karma yoga and Hatha yoga are not opposed to each other, but are complementary. Each one of them helps the well being of our body complex, utilising the different streams of energy present in the body often in a partially nascent state. Hatha yoga acts, ‘on the psycho-physical system’, Raja yoga on the ‘psychological and spiritual system’, Karma yoga (yoga of work) focuses on the ‘dynamic will to work’; in the yoga of devotion (Bhakti yoga) the one’s emotions and the capacity of the heart to identify with others is utilised. Through these different ways, we should try to raise the level of consciousness and become aware of the higher levels Sri Aurobindo stressed the educational aspects of rebirth and pain, which we often complain. Success and happiness are not great teachers, but failures and pain are, His well known quote from Savitri on pain: ‘pain is the hammer of gods to beat the dead resistance inthe mortal’ When we have cultivated numerous bad habits, which have become strong like iron in our bodies, only the hammer beats causing pain can destroy these evil structures in us, and lead us to a path of happiness. Note pain and suffering are vastly different. Sri Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga is a fundamental and highly original contribution to yoga. Yogain the 21 century Now, yoga has been recognized (in 2015) by the world body, the United Nations, as an important method for establishing both individual and communal harmony. In the traditional expositions, the ideal in the human life is to be free from the cycle of birth, rebirth and death, and attain moksha. However some great ‘modem spiritual aspirants suggest that this ideal may be OK for some and not for all. They suggest other ways. All of us realize that we are living every moment by the grace of gods. We eat the food brought, (contd page 5) ‘e-mail : info@vedah.comto us and grown by others. Who after all creates taste of the cooked rice which is transformed from raw inedible rice seeds? So many cosmic powers work along with us for this, Of course we may have difficulties, we focus on the periods of pain, and forget the happy periods. Our hands want to work and our legs want to move. Everyone has unique talents. Why not develop them so that these can be used for welfare ofall and help dharma to spread everywhere, ‘Why should we think that god is not pleased with this, path? Of course, rebirth is there. Why view it as punishment? It is an opportunity to explore new avenues, The help of god is always there. So we have to focus on spiritual life not only as individuals, but as, members of a collective society which includes all living beings including plants and animals. Thus, one may also ask the question, ‘Why not explore the possibilities of the role of money and politics to spread the collective dharma for the welfare ofall, not only for the welfare of some individuals?” Three of the great modern India’s gurus are Baba Ramdev (based in Haridwar), Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev (based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu), and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (based in Bangalore). Yogi Ramdev took the vow of sanyas in the traditional way and became a very popular expositor of Hatha Yoga. He first realized that the rule that sanyasis should abhor money (not even touch it) has no approval from our basic books like the Vedas or the 10 Upanishads, as suggested earlier by the accomplished yogins and scholars such as Vasishtha Ganapati Muni and Sri Aurobindo. Such rules came into existence around the chaotic period of the 11th Century, CE, caused by invasion, vast vandalism of Hindu temple: and killing of sanyasis. As Sri Aurobindo said, “Money is a great force which is now under the practical control of evil forces opposed to Dharma We should work to bring it back to support the good” Swami Ramdev thought: Why not start a vast enterprise which supplies all the basic needs of all, especially villagers such as the inexpensive herbal medicines, soap, edible things, by growing all th herbs, doing the manufacturing and selling in a modern way and give health and employment to millions, weaning them away from the wasteful products of the foreign multinational companies. ‘SAKSHI Newsletter : March-April, 2017 Baba Ramdev and his associate Sri Balakrishna have built the massive chain of Patanjali stores reaching millions, It is said that this company had revenue of Rs, 5000 (five thousand) crores in 2015-16 and the profits were donated to charitable organizations which support their ideals. Sri Vasudev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also have vast educational operations. Sri Jaggi Vasudev (Sadhguru) has initiated several NGOs dedicated to improving the quality of education in government schools and the welfare of students, His environmental NGO has planted 30 million trees and has the world record of planting & lakh saplings in a single day and his project to train one lakh yoga teachers in 2017 has to be applauded. By and large, sanyasins stayed away from polities. A few served some politicians such as Indira Gandhi. Now the picture has changed. Like Ramdev, another sanyasin, Yogi Adityanath felt that one has to enter politics to help the ordinary Hindus to pursue their ideals. He became an elected member of the Loka Sabha four times. After the stupendous victory of his political party BJP in the state assembly elections in March 2017, he was chosen as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP) by all the elected members. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India. Even among the nations, only China, India, the US and Russia have larger populations than UP. Hence, any fimdamental changes in UP will have far reaching effects. Yogi Adityanath has initiated many progressive steps to help the people and the environment. The state had 114 illegal slaughter houses where huge animals like buffaloes were slaughtered. They were untouched by the earlier governments for 60 years, Each buffalo may weigh 3000 Ibs, but only one fourth becomes meat. The vast residues which are dangerous are dumped into the drains, which end up polluting the rivers. Environmentalists are always silent when Muslims, the slaughterers/workers, are involved. Yogi took steps to close only the illegal slaughter houses and bring some cleanliness. He suggested employment opportunities to the displaced persons in the killing places. Yogi is also working to improve education in UP. He realized that the number of working days in the (coma page 6) ‘e-mail : info@vedah.comgovernment schools is only 100-125, because of the holidays given to celebrate the birthdays of powerful politicians. He wants to raise this number to about 200 per year, He plans to give uniforms, books, writing tablets, bags to all the children to encourage them to attend schools. In the coming years, we can see an upgrade in all sectors including industry and the services in the state. The English press, however, has a massive campaign to discredit him saying that he is a Hindu sanyasi. But these journalists do not mention that the first minister of education in India was Maulana Azad who was a Mulla by profession delivering weekly sermons (which yogi Adityanath does not do). Let us hope for the best in the future. Conclusion The modern woman or man should understand that she or he is unique and has a vast store of energies which only she or he can tap with the aid of divine grace. However, aspiration is the most important need, which always evokes the response of the divine. One should focus not only on one’s own development but also on helping the neighbours to lead a healthy and prosperous life Atthe same time, why not plant new tree: existing plants and avoid the use of all things which harm the earth and all living beings such as ants, bacteria, germs, and weeds, take care of Why not become aware of the great yogis living nearby and read about the vast good each one of them, has done for others without taking any fee? We do not have to accept all that is said, but why waste and harm our power of speech criticizing the yogis whose work is beyond our usual thoughts. Science has its great limits and its teachings should not blind us to ignore the reality around us. Inauguration of 3rd batch of Certificate Course on Applied Ved Knowledge held on 05.02.2017, at SAKSHI premises. Sri Radhakrishna Nair, Vi President, Global Enzen Lid., (R) inaugurated the batch and Sri Lakshmikant Hegade, Trustee of SAKSHI (L) addressed to the students. More than 50 students have joined to the course and pursuing the course through e-leaming, Those who are in Bengaluru are attending lecture class every alternate Sunday held at SAKSHI auditorium Applied Veda Knowledge Course Students of the frst batch receiving the certificate ‘Smt, Vimala Ganesh, Smt. Hota Shivajyothi (below). ‘SAKSHI Newsletter : March-April, 2017 ° ‘e-mail : info@vedah.com(odridonod) Je o0.ant ggishasc, aa eotooteas, de mania wmode edatiiees, Horta: Secs MCsCOD HOH sad eERT Rpg. ANY ct Xonsadm, mara’. eager Gatondyg daetenmed end. dedaytes medicare ee eterno Xam Sadohm, vise wey RommOnaa, wabsd mem, Axara, maroagod ReTeTar, ms-ws-se-Son Fesvbssouay, Bemongs. 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Jahagielar Layout Kiran Vati SAKSHI ‘Sri Aurobindo Kapali Sastry Institute of Vedic Culture #63, 13th Main, 4th Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore - 560.011 Phone : 080-22458315 E-mail info@vedah.com www.vedah.com aoc woul Book Post To,