• Table of Contents
  • Rituals in the Modern World by Swami Veda Bharati
  • The Real and Un-real by Swami Rama
  • Ahymsin Board Meeting: March 2017 by Rajini Prakash
  • July Events
  • International Yoga Festival by Tarinee Awasthi
  • Rasasvada – Taste of Bliss by Dr. Prakriti Bhaskar
  • The Dance of Transformation by Joanne Sullivan (Divya)
  • Workshop with Swami Tat Sat by Manon van den Berge
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…
  • HYT-TTP Newsletter, March 2017 by Rabindra Sahu
  • Dance Participant Feedback
  • 2017 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Workshop with Swami Tat Sat

by Manon van den Berge

Workshop with Swami Tat Sat Bharati - THEME: The effects of our actions; how to live, die and prepare for the future

The 28th and 29th of January 2017 we took part in the weekend workshop guided by Swami Tat Sat Bharati in The Beukenhof, The Netherlands.

After we arrived at the Beukenhof on Saturday 11:00 AM, we first settled down by having a delicious lunch. After lunch we started reflecting on the choices that we continually make with our daily activities. We explored how our habits and ways of living contribute to – or stand in the way of - our happiness and reaching our goals in life. We took a deep look at how we create our own karma, whereby the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (especially volume II, Sutras 12-16) were an important source of reference.

In relation to this, we also discussed the need of pratyahara practice and the purification process in combination with the use of the personal mantra, in hopefully achieving Moksha. Moksha is the ultimate goal of the whole sadhana. In English Moksha means Liberation. Once you have achieved Moksha you will have free will to decide to come back or not, to get reborn or not.

Furthermore, we contemplated the “art of dying” and considered how we can consciously face the fact that this lifespan will sooner or later come to an end; how we can use our time preparing for that tremendous transition.

Meditation will then be a central tool, as it was during the whole of the retreat. Physical movements to loosen the body as well as asanas and relaxation exercises have deepened the experience of exploring our inner selves.

We closed Saturday with a very nice relaxation practice and prayers guided by Swami Tat Sat Bharati, and started the next day with prayers, meditation and hatha yoga physical practices. During both days there was room for relaxation and nature walks. The food was delicious.

The result of this retreat is that we are very conscious of our thinking process and especially the effects of it. This experience is once again a confirmation to continue our journey into silence…and the path of yoga.

(Photos by Kelly Lynne.)

Editor’s note:

There will be an Intensive Silence Retreat ‘From Mind to Consciousness’ guided by
Swami Ritavan Bharati, Swami Ma Tripurashakti Bharati, Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma), and Uta & Shailin Bisseswar, 6 – 10 October 2017 in the Netherlands. For more information, please see http://www.himalaya-yoga.nl/intensive-silence-retreat-6-10-oktober-2017/.

Swami Tat Sat Bharati teaches regularly in the Berlin, Germany. His website: http://www.beardi.com/