Dear {subtag:name},
September 2018 Newsletter
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“When we look to the future, we see the opportunities for change, for growth, for embracing a loving heart and a smiling mind.” – Swami Ritavan Bharati
News
Work at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) has been progressing, with reconstruction of the ashram boundary wall on the main entry pathway between main gate and Mandala Office (it had collapsed from heavy rains); low boundaries and drainages being built around cottages to help manage rain water; the dismantling of walls between the different rooms within the Dining Hall “to create one big hall to house up to 200 people at the same time”; construction on the pathway from Mandala Office to the Dining Hall and Knowledge Center; construction, fitting work, and all new equipment in the kitchen; and more. More pictures of the work can be seen on the Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama Facebook page. Also see the article “Griha Pravesh for the New Ashram Kitchen” in this newsletter.
Find out how you can contribute to the work being done at SRSG in A New Cycle of Construction and Restoration at SRSG.
Parenthood and the Spiritual Path: To read “Parenthood and the Spiritual Path” by Swami Rama, please click on title.
At SRSG in October there will be:
- a Yoga and Martial Arts Workshop led by Swami Tat Sat Bharati,
- an Initiates Retreat - “Bhakti and Loving Meditations” guided by Raghavendra Adiga,
- and a Navaratri Puja as well as ongoing guest programs
These will be followed by:
- a Breath Retreat and a Teacher Training Retreat in November and
- a Youth and Children’s Retreat in December.
- In January 2019, Mauni Amavasya Silence Retreats with Swami Ma Radha Bharati will begin.
Please see the Upcoming Events or contact ahymsin@ahymsin.org for more information about these and other programs at SRSG.
Registration now open to initiates for the 2019 Sangha Gathering at SRSG February 25 - March 5, 2019: Accommodation will be limited and is subject to a first-received-first-serve basis. To know more about attending the Sangha Gathering, please write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org. Swami Ritavan Bharati will guide the AHYMSIN Sangha into the next set of practices for the next 3 years at this gathering, and AHYMSIN Executive Committee elections will take place. Please see An Invitation to Return Home – AHYMSIN Sangha Gathering 2019.
Share Your News!
We invite you to share what is happening in their centers and your experiences, insights, and questions. With such sharing, we can learn more about one another and strengthen one another in our sadhana, becoming a true “sangha”. We welcome your articles. You can write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org
This Month's Newsletter
Please click here to view this month's Ahymsin Newsletter September 2018 in your browser or click one of the article "Read More" links below.
September Articles
A Child’s Insight
by Swami Veda
[This passage has been taken from the yet unpublished book Pearls of Wisdom by Swami Veda Bharati. This book is currently in manuscript form and will soon be published by Himalayan Yoga Publications Trust, Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama, Rishikesh, India.]
As you go from Rishikesh towards Delhi you pass many sacred, beautiful islands of peace and sanctity. One of my favourites is a place called Shuktal. This is a spot where the grandson of Arjuna, Parikshit, had seven days left of life. So he invited the sage, Śhuka, to recite to him the text of Bhāgavata-purāṇa – the stories of the incarnations of God, and left as a liberated being.
There is a tradition in India of inviting priests to read such texts. There was a king who listened to this text many times over year after year, and he was still not liberated. So he called his chief priest who was also the chief minister.
Read More : A Child’s Insight …
The Cream of Yoga Science
by Swami Rama
[This passage has been taken from the book Path of Fire and Light Volume 2, pp 41 - 75, by Swami Rama (Rama, S., 1988. Path of Fire and Light Volume 2. Himalayan Institute Press.)].
If you want to create a situation for meditation you have to pay attention to the point where the nostrils bridge to the upper lip – the point at which your mind notices which nostril is blocked and which nostril is open. Usually you will notice that one of the nostrils is passive and the other is active. When you have learned to change the flow of the nostrils with your mind, then after some time both nostrils begin flowing evenly. This may take some months or perhaps a year, depending on your capacity and the burning desire within you.
Read More : The Cream of Yoga Science
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
by Randall Krause (Mokshadeva)
Online study groups of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali starting.
It was more than 30 years ago. I was searching for a spiritual teacher and heard that a great yoga teacher would be teaching in the San Francisco area. His name was Usharbudh Arya. He was going to be teaching “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” at a person’s home.
I called the organizer of the event and told her that I’d like to meet Dr. Arya. She invited me to drop in to the seminar to meet him. So, on appointed day, I drove out to Point Richmond, past the big oil refinery there, and found my way to the nice house where the seminar was happening. There were many shoes resting outside of the front door.
Read More : The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
July Yoga Retreat, Czech Republic
by Beatrix Dekkers-Heezius
July 2018
A few years ago my brother found at last his great love in the Czech Republic and moved to a village near Prague. And he, who had never a clue what I was talking about when it concerned yoga and related subjects, found himself married to a yoga lover!
Last year when we were biking in the beautifull wooded hills around Prague we discovered this secluded hotel in the midst of huge trees. We started daydeaming about a yoga retreat there, maybe a small try-out with a few of her friends….. However, my sister in law turned out to be such an enthusiastic organiser that I ended up with the task to teach 24 persons for 3 days!
Read More : July Yoga Retreat, Czech Republic
Griha Pravesh for the New Ashram Kitchen
by Amrita McKinney
Under cloudy skies and intermittent rain, ashramites and guests gathered at 9:00 am on Sunday morning, 23 September, in the new kitchen to attend a puja invoking the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Divine Mother (in the form of Annapurna) for the new facility. The weather outside cast no shadow on the warmth and joy generated by the puja activities.
Following the puja, conducted by pundits Deepak and Garolaji, we assembled outside for the ribbon cutting. Swami Ritavan scissored the red ribbon strung across the new kitchen entrance. Sonakshi, dressed in an emerald green gown, led the way inside carrying a kalas (a copper pot) atop her head. The kalas, filled with water from the Ganga, coconut wrapped in red cloth, rice, marigolds and green mango leaves, were placed on the altar with other offerings of fruits and flowers.
Read More : Griha Pravesh for the New Ashram Kitchen
Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…
Sometimes students have written to or asked Swami Veda, Swami Ritavan, and other senior teachers in our tradition questions about practice. This is one such “Question and Answer,” or Q&A.
Question:
Is a guru able to remove a person’s karma or transmit shakti to awaken the kundalini or accelerate one’s journey towards enlightenment? I think: There are unfortunately no short cuts to attaining Self-Realization. It has to be a personal practice to go within oneself and experience for oneself that awareness of the true nature of the self or the atman. It is not possible for anyone to transmit this experience to another.
Read More : Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…
Share Your News!
We invite you to share what is happening in their centers and your experiences, insights, and questions. With such sharing, we can learn more about one another and strengthen one another in our sadhana, becoming a true “sangha”. We welcome your articles. You can write to ahymsin@ahymsin.org
The next several full moon meditations happen within a day or so of the normal Ahymsin newsletter end of the month mailing. So, we will be sending a single combined mailing.
This Month's Newsletter
Please click here to view this month's Ahymsin Newsletter July 2018 in your browser.
Other Links
Full Moon Timings
- 10 PM in New York. Surrounding countries and regions of South, Central and North America and the Caribbean to match their time to 10 PM New York time.
- 8 PM in U.K. (London Time).Those in all European, and all African time zones, please adjust your sitting time to coincide with 8 PM United Kingdom.
- 8 PM in East Asia, 8 PM Singapore time. Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand etc. adjust their times to coincide with Singapore time 8 PM.
- 7 AM in India (IST), surrounding countries adjust the time accordingly, for example Iran is 5 AM.
Also, Toronto "Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Society of Ontario" members meet at 9:00 pm (local).
Yours in service, — Ahymsin Office
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