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| AHYMSIN NEWSLETTER, ISSUE - April 2016 | ||||||||
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TTP Program for Thailand and Taiwanby Thaniya Kevalee  On February 27, 2016, a group of 21 people from Thailand travelled to Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) in order to participate in special TTP program organized for only Thais and Taiwanese. It was a blessing for us because we can translate all the lectures into Thai and Taiwanese languages and this allowed many people from the two countries to attend the program and reap full benefits without the language barriers. A group from Thailand comprised people from different backgrounds; doctor, business men/women, yoga teachers, therapist, etc. We met with 25 spiritual friends from Taiwan, which was another beautiful experience. I felt peaceful as this was another way I can fulfill my wish to serve Swami Veda Bharati, my beloved Guru; to bring more people from Thailand to get in touch with pure spirit and wisdom of Himalayan Masters. Swami Veda Bharati always stressed that for those of us who derived good benefits from the teachings, one of the best ways to express our gratitude and return something to the tradition was to create opportunities for others (to be introduced to the teachings in its purest form). It was an elated experience to be reconnected with our beloved teachers again. Swami Ritavan Bharati was so inspiring although he delivered only one lecture for us. The power of his silence was hard to describe. One lady felt deeply touched by his love and tenderness that she decided to request a mantra initiation from him. This lady told me she almost canceled the trip due to her work obligation – but when the student is ready to meet with the teacher, it will always happen in spite of some obstacles (and she indeed had run into some difficulties on the travelling day).   Stomaji was great as usual; to me, he is a storehouse of knowledge of Himalayan tradition and its teachings. He inspired us with lectures on silence, mantra initiation/guru disciple relationship, Chitta Prasadanam (making the mind pleasant and joyful place) and emotional purifications, internal dialogue and journaling and yoga ethics. Stomaji ended up giving mantra initiation to 6 people from Thailand. Very solid and grounded, Ashutosh made us realize how peace can be cultivated from inside not only through refined Asana practice techniques, but through understanding the real essence of Yoga Asana. He gave us all the important points of the practices/philosophy as if he wanted to make them sink into our subconscious minds, hoping that it would provide support to all of us one days, especially when we run into challenges in daily life and relationship. His message was simple but profound “Yoga is the way to find peace within oneself”.   I was also delighted to see greater involvement from other teachers such as Dr. Manju, Randall Krause, Dr. Prabu, John Sellinger, Rabindra Sahu and Chandamani; each of whom has been highly devoted to serving the Himalayan Yoga Meditation tradition. We also enjoyed a great privilege of listening to wonderful talk by David Frawley who beautifully described Swami Veda Bharati’s life and mission. Through the word of an outstanding spiritual teacher (like David), we realized how lucky we have been to be disciples/students of Swami Veda Bharati (I personally feel that I can never repay him enough for what he has given me). The most delighting experience of all was to know that Swamiji’s presence remains with us if only we can tune our mind to his frequency (Ashutosh made a playful remark that Swami Veda Bharati has just gone wireless). Without invaluable contributions from these teachers, the program could not be as successful as it was.   The entire program is based mainly upon the teachings of Patanjali Yoga Sutra. We learned how to purify our emotions by observing Yama and Niyama, performing Yoga Asana with deep awareness of ourselves on all levels (body, breath, emotion and mind), practicing basic pranayama techniques, learning to withdraw our senses (and minds) from external stimuli through deep relaxation, and knowing how to sit and breathe correctly for mental concentration and meditation. Samadhi (the state of all knowing) is the last limb of Yoga that cannot be taught here, as this will result only after long period of practice and purification. This self-transformation program has been disguised under the name Teacher Training Program (TTP) within our tradition. This involves practicing mindfulness at all level at all time. It is not an easy task given that people have a lot of emotional junks to purify to remove “ego” out of the way. And it could be hard to see and accept that we are dirty and we need to clean ourselves. It takes lot of courage and patience.  Swami Veda Bharati wished to create spiritual guides from this program with the compassion to relieve some of the suffering in the world. But to be a spiritual guide means a tremendous responsibility and should not be taken lightly. I wish that more people (not only in Thailand, but everywhere) see the real value of this program and willingly surrender themselves to be very fine instruments to help lighten the pain and sufferings of others, no matter how difficult it is. To be perfect instrument is not possible without realizing one’s own essential nature (Buddha nature in Buddhism, Christ consciousness in Christianity and Atman in Yoga) – which is the ultimate goal of Yoga. May many more people be attracted to the Teacher Training Program (TTP) of Himalayan Yoga Mediation Tradition for their own as well others’ welfares. This essay is offered by a little student of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition Editor’s Note: Two videos shared by AHYMSIN Thailand; click on title to watch: AHYMSIN Thailand's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahymsinthailand.himalayanyoga/ AHYMSIN Taiwan's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AHYMSIN.TAIWAN/ We invite you to visit the website of the Himalayan Yoga Tradition – Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP) at this link: http://www.himalayanyogatradition.com/ HYT-TTP will be offering teacher training retreats in July at The Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The next HYT-TTP teacher training retreat at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) will be 6 – 19 November 2016.
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