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| AHYMSIN NEWSLETTER, ISSUE - June 2014 | ||||||||
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Back to the Origin of Yogaby Little Student  Back to the Origin of Yoga May 1-4, 2014, Baan Phu Waan, Sampran, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. Swami Ritavan and Ashutosh Sharma in Thailand. Lovely and Inspiring Teachers Back in the Land of SmilesIt was a great delight of the Thai Sangha and Thai people to have a chance to welcome the two extraordinary yoga teachers from Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Tradition back to our beloved country, particularly in time of elevated political conflicts. It has been exactly one full year since Swami Ritavan and Ashutosh Sharma were here last time. With several people expressing their desire to visit our Ashram in India, but unlikely to be able to do so in the foreseeable future due to some restrictions, we decided to make this event as close experience to actual visit to the Ashram as possible. This involved some risks (of not getting enough people) as the retreat lasted for 4 days and fell on long weekend dates when many Thai people usually plan holiday trips with family members and loved ones. Political unrest also diverted people’s attention away.
It was as though some unseen force has led more than half of the participants to this event; some in the last minutes. The conference room we were hoping to get was already taken long ago, leaving us with either too big or too small facilities. However, the other group agreed just on the day before the retreat began to move to the bigger one, giving us the room which was most suitable to our retreat. Was this a blessing from Himalayan Masters? Much Enhanced Spiritual Energy and AtmosphereSwami Veda Bharati promised us that his extended silence vow would help each of his disciples progress more quickly on the path. We had some doubts. But this event was another proof of the promise given by a spiritual master. Many people who attended last year’s retreat told us they could feel a big difference in the energy field surrounding the two teachers and the general atmosphere. Some felt the strong presence of great Beings being channeled through Swami Ritavan and Ashutosh Sharma’s teachings. The teachings were so effective; they deeply touched and opened up the hearts of the people; some of them cried during the retreat. We saw either smiles or peace on their faces. Also, participants naturally formed very close bonds among themselves although this was the first time they met one another. Many expressed their wishes to visit our Ashram in Rishikesh, India. Essence of Yoga According to Ashutosh, Yoga is not about feeling good. It is just about “to feel”; to feel what is inside of us; all kinds of emotions, thoughts, sensations; and to feel them all without judging ourselves or adding colors to them. This is not as easy as it sounds because we are so conditioned with “the right and wrong” concept, resulting in deep rooted fear in our hearts. And with that mental framework, we unconsciously condition the minds of the younger generation so this vicious cycle has become the norm of the society. Yoga means total freedom from all conditionings and all forms of yoga practices; Hatha Yoga, Meditation, Pranayama, Contemplative walking, Silence, Mantra recitation, etc. have the same objective to bring practitioners to the state of total freedom and self acceptance, which is the first step towards ability to accept others as they are. This is the responsibility of each us. Ashutosh encouraged all of us to trust in the life force (the nature, Dharma, God) because it always takes good care of us, particularly if we give it a conscious cooperation. Yoga is a very effective tool for training ourselves to tune into and live in harmony with the laws of Dharma. During the four Hatha Yoga classes (each lasted at least 2 hours), Ashutosh led us very gently and naturally into the state of silence and stillness; it was the state of mental silence and stillness achieved through physical movements in harmony with natural breath rhythm. Ashutosh did not emphasize beautiful or perfect postures; rather, he lovingly and patiently helped us to plant the seed of a “letting go” attitude in our subconscious mind. One person said that she heard people talking about oneness many times and Ashutosh’s session helped her to feel and experience this state for herself simply by letting go of everything. Ashutosh hoped that we would keep nourishing this “letting go” attitude until it grows in strength and manifests naturally in our daily lives. Swami Ritavan added that the higher goal of yoga is to attain wisdom and enlightenment, when one allows his individual consciousness to merge and become one with the force (Universal Consciousness) that governs everything in this universe (including laws of Karma). The word Yoga means to join or to be united; individual consciousness merges with Universal Consciousness. With inner stillness, he also led us through series of deep relaxation and meditation practices, allowing us to close our outer eyes in order to open the inner eyes and see the beauty inside; the beauty of illumination which is the essence of our true nature.  According to Swami Ritavan, silence is another great practice that everybody should follow as it would enhance communication with our inner Guru as well as with the outer world. When he first met Swami Rama at the age of 19, he was a young man full of curiosity and he always asked his Guru many questions in the Dharma talks. One day before the start of the lecture, Swami Rama taught him a great lesson by asking him for a favor. Swami Ritavan was so happy that his Guru paid attention to him and was eager to serve. The favor turned out to be an instruction for him to curl his tongue up towards the palate so that he could not ask even one question during the talk. Nonetheless, he received answers to all his questions from Swami Rama in silent communication, which is a much more effective way of transmitting knowledge between Guru and disciple than the verbal communication. Over the past few years, he has intensified his silence practice, remaining in silence during Monday to Thursday and speaking only from Friday to Sunday. Silence is natural state of the minds of Enlightened Beings. Buddha was in absolute silent meditation for 49 days and nights before he attained Enlightenment and he remained in absolute silence for another 7 days after that. Jesus also prayed in total silence for 40 days and 40 nights. Blessing from a Thai Forest MonkAnother special feature of this event was that we had the blessing and great compassion of Venerable Ajahn Somchai Kantasillo, a Buddhist monk from Thai forest monk tradition. With light heart and sense of humor, he shared with us his wealth of knowledge on the Three Studies, comprising morality, concentration and wisdom, which are one of the most important parts of the Buddha’s teaching. Morality (Sila) makes the mind clean. Concentration (Samatha) makes the mind calm. Wisdom (Vipassana) makes the mind clear.  These are three pillars for attaining Enlightenment that work in close cooperation with one another. Lacking one of the three components, one cannot progress well and be successful on the spiritual path. The person who has been the bridge between Venerable Ajahn Somchai and the Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Tradition is Ms. Anja Carow, a German lady who has been living in Thailand for a while and who has dedicated her life and efforts to restoration of forest and natural soil. She has been a long time disciple of Ajahn Somchai and has followed the Himalayan Tradition for nearly twelve years. She and her husband have left behind their comfortable lives, including great careers, in order to lead the “Mindfulness Project” in Khon Kaen, Thailand. We learned a great deal from her heartbreaking personal experiences about how we are one with the nature and how hurting the nature is equivalent to destroying ourselves. Gratitude to All Involved In addition to all the teachers, I feel great gratitude to all people whose contributions made this event possible and successful; Ms. Kaysinee Sutthavarangkul for great public relationship work through Yoga & Wellness magazine, Mrs. Mayurachat Thannakitamnuay from Reno (Thailand) for moral and financial support, Juthawat shop (for meditation cushion), Yoga Aum (Manduka Yoga Mat) – Ms. Supornthip Choungrangsee from Tippy Tippy company - Thai Yoga Institute - Bangkok Yoga Studio – Mor Chao Baan Foundation - Contemplative Education Center Mahidol University - Cheewajit and The Secret Magazines - for their kind assistances to help promote our Thank you Teacher Lek Ekachai Staporntonapat and his team for an enlightening and entertaining Kirtan session. My heartfelt appreciation to all the volunteer staffs who worked selflessly and tirelessly without any rewards to prepare this event with great love and caring. Thank you all the participants as without your presence and financial support, this retreat would not have taken place. Finally, my heart embraces all my family members and friends who never left me to carry out this mission alone. My homage and love to Sri Swami Rama and Swami Veda Bharati (and all the Masters in my beloved Himalayan Yoga Meditation lineage) who have shown me how to light my own lamp and led me along the path to total freedom. Little Student of the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition From the Hearts of ParticipantsI am very impressed with great compassions of the teachers, the depth of the teachings (which the teachers called sharing of experiences) and the deliveries of the teachings, particularly Yoga Asana. I also thank you all the volunteer staffs from my heart. Mistakes are normal but they are nothing compared with everything you have done from your hearts. This was my third participation and I felt that I can connect myself with the teachers and the teachings more than the previous two occasions. I understand real meaning and value of Yoga more. During Hatha classes, I had time to look deep into myself to feel and be aware of the inner peace together with meditation practice. I realize how difficult it is to let the breath flow freely as well as to balance the two energy forces – Solar/Lunar (Active/Relax) in me. I am determined to continue my practice (perhaps, I need the rest of my life to succeed but that is OK). After coming back from the retreat, I have been practicing every morning based upon my capacity and time available (between 1-1.5 hours). I have learned to adjust the combination of the posture to fit the time I have as suggested by Ashutosh. I am also determined to try practicing silence as much as I can as I am so inspired by Swami Ritavan’s advice, although I have not yet started. During the first few days of the treat, I was able to maintain the inner peace and joy as my awareness was quite stable, but this wonderful feeling gradually faded due to the influx of new experiences (which were not so peaceful). I hope that that I make gradual progress by continuing consistent practice of Hatha Yoga, and remembering important keys given by the teachers; awareness, concentration, non-attachment (letting go), free flowing breath, joy in the present moment, slow and gradual process, and being gentle (non-violence) with myself. Warangkana Thank you Swami Ritavan and Ashutosh Sharma for sharing your knowledge and inspiration for yoga practice with your great compassion. I pray that the gems I have received from this retreat will help sustain my perseverance, which would develop into self inspiration to progress on my spiritual path with steadiness and firm determination. Finally, I thank you all the volunteer staff for organizing this wonderful activity. I wish you all happiness, success, health and strong mental force. May I present a bouquet of beautiful flowers to all of you. Sunee Many thanks to the Ahymsin (Thailand) organiser for the beautiful 'Back to The Origin of Yoga' meditation course at Baan Phu Waan. We came away with great joy for all that we have learnt. In spite of the hours of travelling, we returned home with happy and much refreshed minds. Not only did we bring back with us, the inspiring teachings of the course, but also the precious friendships of all the wonderful people that we got to know. Jorva and Elsie Editor’s Note: Ashutosh Sharma talking about “Role of the Teacher” can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkvkgP4wiGI&feature=share
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It was therefore quite a big test for us. Many unexpected things also came in our way, and we thought that we could end up getting only 40-45 people. In the end, however, over 90 people signed up for the retreat.