Month: August 2009

This was Swami Veda’s first invitation to Scotland.

Dr. Jenny Connaughton, Chairperson of Yoga Scotland (incorporating the Scottish Yoga Teachers’ Association),  invited Swami Veda and Swami Ritavan to their annual seminar.

The Annual Seminar is held in St Andrews, which is on the east coast of Scotland, about 90 minutes north of Edinburgh.  It is a historic university town with a wonderful beach and it is one of the University Halls of Residence

The other invited tutors were Tom Yeudall, practitioner of Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga; and Simon Heather a healer and author,  Principal of the College of Sound Healing in UK.

There were about 120 participants amongst whom were yoga teachers, students, foundation course students and other interested yogis and yoginis.

After the introductions Swamiji led a short meditation on the first evening and  in the following days Swami Ritavan led the classes during the morning and Swami Veda  during the afternoon.

Swamiji’s lectures were based on Philosophy of Hatha Yoga, Importance of Breathing and Breath Awareness, Systematic Methods and Tools for Meditation.

As this was Swamiji’s first visit to Scotland people were curious and asked questions about Swamiji’s background  so in the last session Swamiji read some of his poetry and talked about his experiences with Gurudeva Swami Rama.

There was great interest expressed by the participants and I have no doubt that some of them would wish to visit the ashram.

Submitted by Tejaswini

Rostov-on-Don, Russia,  17-23 June

This was Swami Veda’s first visit to Russia.

Our dear friends and initiates, Victor and Luidmilla, who have visited our ashram regularly and have also brought groups for the past five years,  invited Swamiji to their city of residence.   Previously this group has invited Swamiji and Swami Ritavan to Slovakia.

We were very warmly welcomed and comfortably settled in Olga’s house for our entire stay.  Olga kindly vacated her place for us.  Everyone was so kind and willing to do anything to make our stay comfortable and memorable.

It is a group of about 25 people who have been together for about 10 years led by Victor and Luidmilla.  Swami Ritavan has visited them before in Russia.

It is a keen group, deeply interested in the philosophy of yoga.  Victor Dorofeenko has been diligently translating into Russian Swamiji’s  booklets and other material for the benefit of the group.

Swamiji decided to lecture on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

About 17 people were initiated.

On the last morning before our departure we went to see an old Cossack settlement, Starocherkasskaya,  which used the be the Don Cossack capital, where a church, monastery,  museum and Cossack fort houses are preserved.

Submitted by Tejaswini

Hungary, 26-28 June

June 26-28 Swami Veda, Swami Ritavan, Stoma, Maya and Ashutosh conducted a workshop on the Yoga Sutras Sadhana Pada in Budapest, Hungary. They were greeted with 285 participants in one of the most troubled economies in Europe. Certificates were awarded to the first group of graduates from the Hungarian 600 hour teacher training program. Among them were the first person to come to the ashram from Hungary and the local organizers of the TTP program, Joszef Papp and Anna Mezosi. On the 28th Swami Veda conducted a blessing of more than 25 children and more than 60 initiations were given.

Submitted by Stoma

Swami Veda visits Taiwan to celebrate publication of his first book in Chinese

Mr. Shi Hong is a Hong Kong businessman.  While conducting his successful business he studied deeply the spiritual traditions of India and China. He met Swami Veda Bharati when he  attended his lectures at an international yoga conference in Hong Kong several years ago. He also went to Taiwan where Swami Veda was lecturing. Since then his connection with Swami Veda and his teachings has  strengthened increasingly.

Mr. Shi Hong has taken upon himself the task of making Swami Veda’s work known in Chinese-speaking communities including Taiwan and mainland China. He recently compiled a book in Chinese from Swami Veda’s many recorded lectures, titled Shing Ning Yoga, roughly translated as Heart Yoga.

5000 copies of the book, which was published in May, were all sold out in Taiwan, while 10,000 copies of the mainland version sold out in two weeks.

Swami Veda visited Taiwan  in May primarily on a book signing tour. On 26th May, a function was held at the Eslite, a five story bookstore  in Taiwan. Swamiji spoke for about half an hour and then signed books.

Next day he did another book signing event in the capital Taipei.

Swamiji was invited as a guest of the China Youth Corps with whom AHYMSIN has very friendly relations including the facilitating of our teachers’ training programs both in Taiwan and Rishikesh. Those who know the history of Taiwan will know of the importance of CYC; it is the most influential youth organisation in Taiwan and has nearly sixty large campuses.

The third day’s function was held at the Taipei campus of CYC.

Swamiji started with a meditation ( with a Chinese translator), and gave a short discourse.

Xuan-Zang brought 600 sacred Sanskrit texts from India to China over the silk road. In China he is always depicted as carrying a load of books on his back and is worshipped in the temples. The T’ang emperor in Chang-An ( then the capital, now Xian) built him the Hamsa Pagoda ( Wild Goose Pagoda) where Xuan-Zang trained hundreds of monks to help translate the texts into Chinese. His translations eclipsed any previous translations like those of the 3rd century scholar Kumarajiva.

It is Xuan-Zang’s translations that are read as standard texts and his translation of the Heart Sutra is known to practically every Buddhist child in China.

Swami Veda introduced the original Sanskrit text to the modern Chinese.

He then recited the Heart Sutra in Sanskrit and the audience listened reverently with eyes closed.

The audience was requested to recite the mantra of the Heart Sutra.

Swami Veda led the audience from a vocal recitation to a deep, inner silence.

The book signing for a long line of people was done afterwards.

In China it has been an ancient tradition for authors, poets and painters to affix their signature seal to their work. A year or two ago Mr. Shi Hong presented Swami Veda a similar signature seal. The seal was affixed then Swamiji added his initials.

On the 27th May the session ended with initiates, each one, blessed with lotus oil (lotus is sacred both in India and China) and the blessing mudra ( hand gesture) by the placing of the right  hand on the head in a mood  of deep inner silence.

Later, on the 29th and 30th May Swami Veda was again a guest of CYC in the city of Kaohsiung. He had the opportunity of meeting Mr. Chin Chu Wu who inherited yoga teaching from his father. At age 69 he has spent his entire life teaching yoga in Taiwan. He has 50 branches throughout the country and ten thousand students. He gives  his students as their first reading Swami Rama’s classic Living With The Himalayan Masters. He was, therefore, specially delighted to meet a disciple of Swami Rama for the first time. Of the 200 people who attended the session, 70 were Mr. Wu’s students. Unfortunately there were not enough copies of Shing Ning Yoga in the bookstores to fulfil all the demands; it had already been sold out.

Shing Ning Yoga, a compilation in Chinese of Swami Veda’s lectures, is published by Bright Discovery Publishers in Taiwan and by Bright Culture Publishers in the mainland China. It is available in many bookstores in Chinese -speaking countries and communities including Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Tarkeshwar –  Haven for Spiritual Retreat

There was excitement in the air as our group of Gurukulum students and SRSG Ashram staff started preparing for the trip to Tarkeshwar. Swami Veda had directed us to go to Tarkeshwar during Summer 2009 for an intensive spiritual retreat. I had heard and read about Tarkeshwar and was excited that now I would see the mystery unfold.

Our cars needed to stop along the way to pick up groceries such as subzi (vegetables) and rice; this owing to the fact that Tarkeshwar is an isolated place and provisions need to be carried in, especially for a large group such as ours. We reached Tarkeshwar by mid-afternoon.

Tarkeshwar is situated at a height of 6500 feet. There is an ashram there called Maheshwari Das or Sadhana Mandir. As we walked the path to the ashram, we were mesmerized by the panoramic beauty of this place. The temple is further down and is surrounded by 120-150 foot tall pine trees, creating a haven for spiritual retreat. Nobody knows how ancient the temple of Tarkeshwar is. There is an idol in this temple that is said to have emerged naturally from the earth. The temple is named after a demon called Tarakasur who was killed by Lord Shiva’s son, Kartikeya. Swami Rama was born in a village near to Tarkeshwar. There is a cave just a short walk from the ashram where Swami Rama did six months tapasya.

I am from Garhwal myself, but I had never witnessed such a beautiful place secured in the interior of the Himalayan Mountains. There are two ponds of water. Pilgrims use this water for bathing and other purposes. It is believed that this water has healing powers. Carrying water from the pond for everyday use, sharing rooms, helping the staff in cooking meals, here we were reintroduced to the joy of simple living. Our group felt more connected as family than ever. The entire place is so peaceful and serene, the energies there can induce a meditative state without any effort. The constantly ringing bells of the temple vibrated in the body like the resounding echo of the cosmos, naturally inducing the state of Nada-Yoga.

The environment is very pure around the temple. The breeze through the trees seems to whisper something in the ears. The weather was so cool, like thousands of air conditioners working together. This is an apt place for sadhana and silence. I did not feel like speaking anything, just becoming a part of the valleys, that beauty which lies inside myself too. I felt a sense of completeness, as my mind did not wander anywhere else.

I remembered Swami Rama’s words, “Live with Nature, Walk with Nature and Eat with Nature.”

Submitted by Rahul

In The Shelter of Devadaru Trees

Tarkeshwar Mahadev’s temple is situated in the mountains of Uttarakhand.  This place gives us a very beautiful view of the Himalayas. It seems that the Himalayas originate here because you can see four mountain chains sprouting from this place. Tarkeshwar is surrounded by devadaru and pine trees. It is said that Lord Tarkeshwar (Shiva) himself is resting in peace under the shadow of the devadaru trees after destroying the whole world. You need to ring many bells to wake the Lord Shiva because he is in deep sleep.

Devadaru trees are king of that area. Early in the morning when the sun rises, you can see them competing with each other. Every tree wants to see the Lord Sun and pray to bathe in his light. This is why those trees have grown high.  The name suggests that the gods themselves stay in those trees and do a Parikrama (devotional circumambulation) of the Lord Shiva.

People go to Tarkeshwar in search of peace. I also went with the same purpose. I went from one tree to another, one mountain to another. Everywhere I found an awful sound and that was my mind. I looked at the trees for a long time. Sometimes, I touched the trunk of one of them and gave my ears to hear something good from them, but my eyes filled with

 tears. If you are filled with mind pollution, go to a Devadaru tree. Stand at the root and try to look at the top of it; you will find that your ego has vanished and only peace remains.

Submitted by Acharya Chandramani Shastri, (at right, sitting in Swami Rama’s Tarkeshwar cave) is a Sanskrit Scholar and head Gurukulam teacher.

In Gurudeva Swami Rama a number of lineages merge.

Through his Yoga-Guru Bangali Maharaj, he represents the tradition of the Himalayan Yogis.

In Vedanta, the Tradition goes all the way to the ancient history of Vedanta, through Shankaracharya and Vidyaranya Muni, with the seat at Shringeri.

In Sanyasa, it goes all the way to the Vedic times and then through Shankaracharya’s Dash-nami order, with Bharati lineage, with the seat at Shringeri.

In Christianity, it goes all the way to Christ’s chief disciple St. Peter. How is that? The mystery of that is known to few close disciples.

In the Buddhist tradition, as he had told me at the time of my yoga-initiation, we are preparing the grounds for the coming of  Maitreya Buddha.

We inherit the Tibetan tradition through the Tibetan master who was the guru of the Gurudeva of Swami Rama.

We inherit the bhakti tradition through Madhusudana Saraswati, a former birth of Swami Rama, (who introduced bhakti into Vedanta) in 16th century.

Swami Veda was practically born expounding Vedas and the sutras of Patanjali, a fact attributed by the learned of that time to the knowledge from his previous births. So we inherit the Vedic and Patanjali tradition in this form also.

This convergence of diverse traditions is one of our greatest spiritual strengths.

 

I pray to the Divinity in you.

This day, the day of Guru Purnima is considered to be the holiest day for the students of life; for those that have been treading the path of light; for those aspiring to attain enlightenment in this lifetime. They remember this day and celebrate it by becoming aware the purpose of life is to attain enlightenment; the state of mind, internal state, that makes one free from all pains and miseries.

So as you celebrate other days like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, this is a little bit different,  it is very auspicious. The student mentally, religiously follows the spiritual teaching imparted by the Tradition. For the Tradition is considered to be highest. It is a Tradition that follows truth, that leads one to the highest peak of wisdom.

So you know in our Tradition there have been many, many sages. If you find any obstacles on the path there will be help. Always you will be guided by the spiritual beings; those who watch your progress. I want you to faithfully tread the path of light and life by doing your duties selflessly, lovingly and skillfully in the external world and punctually meditate.

Meditation is one method that helps you fathom the internal states; those levels of life that are not normally understood by the human being. And in meditation you should be patient with yourself. You should gradually go ahead. Nothing is lost inside, everything is lost outside. It is not an external method, it is an internal method. It is a journey within you. When you go from your gross self to your subtlest self of life, when you know yourself, you can relate well to the world.

Do not ever miss your meditation. Meditation is helpful in understanding yourself and knowing yourself. And the same meditation in action in daily life. While doing your duty in meditation you remain aware of the Reality all the time.