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Dear {subtag:name},

August 2020 Newsletter
Full Moon Meditation September 2nd

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News

"You have been listening to everybody else throughout your life.
Now decide to seek advice only from your conscience.
Do an experiment for one week and listen to your conscience, not your ego.
During that time do not consult anyone else or depend on anyone external.
Stop living your life according to the opinions of others.
Instead, sit down quietly, and analyze what is wrong with your actions or speech.
Consider what you have been doing, decide what has not been helpful for you
and then simply do not repeat it.
You can easily do this.
Work with yourself slowly and gently."

Swami Rama in Sadhana, the Path to Enlightenment


"Divine Love" by Swami Rama can be read by clicking on the title.

Photo: Swami Ritavan Zoom MeetingThe video “Light Thy Own Lamp” with Swami Ritavan Bharati can be watched by clicking on the title. This video is a recording of Thursday satsang via Zoom by The Meditation Center. The talk took place before a virtual silence retreat was scheduled to begin. It is almost one hour long and starts with Swami Ma Radha Bharati. Swami Ritavan comes on the screen at about 4 minutes into the video.

“Here in Sadhaka Grama we had the extensive month long fire offerings for both Guru Purnima and mahasamadhi. We enjoyed them though it was a bit of a trial in the heat indexes of 120 and 130. You have that blazing fire in front of us for hours and hours yet that tapas is simply bringing the nuggets out of the flames and the furnace to make them shine. Even though we had minimal attendance by way of the lockdowns that were in place at the ashram, we were able to embrace that message - asato mā sad gamaya, that it is the real that we are seeking. It is the truth that is the true message, and it is immortality that reminds us of our true nature.” – Swami Ritavan speaking of the month of July

Website Upgrades -- Request for Photos!

“We are happy to share that we are in the process of upgrading the AHYMSIN and SRSG websites. We would like to request all our global family members to share any photographs of Gurudeva Swami Rama, our beloved Swami Veda Bharati, the ashram, or the Himalayas, that you may have stored in your cherished memories with us, possibly to be reused on the updated websites. Original (preferably high) resolution photos may be sent to Divya at ahymsin@gmail.com via a Google Drive or WeTransfer link. We will look forward to 'seeing' your beautiful memories of the Himalayan Tradition.” – Divya Gupta

Online Classes (conducted in Hindi) with Adhikari Bhoi, a mantra initiator and member of the AHYMSIN Adhyatma Samiti (Spiritual Committee), every Wednesday during September 2020. These classes will be on the subject of chitta prasadanam. Inquire at ahymsin@ahymsin.org

Photo: Patricia LaytonPatricia Layton passed on August 1, 2020. In her years of sadhana, she served as office manager of The Meditation Center, taught hatha and ayurveda, facilitated silence retreats and teacher training program retreats, and more. This picture was taken on 9 March 2013, when Pat took a 3 year vanaprastha vow, and when asked about this, she responded: “I just feel that at my age I want to construct my life in one direction to intensify my practices. SVB said earlier ‘how are you people preparing for death?’ I felt that to make a vow in front of the whole sangha, it would always remind me of the vow that I took.

At one point in the ceremony he asked each of us to make an individual sankalpa. I cried in my room beforehand and was afraid I would cry the whole time. As soon as I sat down at the havan, it felt like I stepped into an environment of purity and clarity. The idea of anxiety or awkwardness never entered my mind. As soon as I sat down, it was a feeling of total equanimity. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that before in my life. It was such an atmosphere of purity. I think vanaprastha is important, especially for many of us who are getting older. It was transforming. My sankalpa had to do with my speech and it has made me very conscious of how I communicate with and about other people. I want my words to be sweet. I don’t care anymore about being witty or sounding intelligent. Chitta prasaadanam is what is important now.”

The next Full Moon Meditation will be 2 September 2020, and you are invited to participate wherever you are.

Questions on Spiritual Practice can be sent to the Adhyatma Samiti [Spiritual Committee] by clicking here.


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 August 2020 Newsletter in your browser or click one of the article "Read More" links below.


August Articles


Sources of Energy

by Swami Veda

The definition of the weakness and strength of the mind is analogous to the weakness and strength of the body and its vital functions. Through the practice of yoga and meditation and other attendant disciplines, both the body and the mind may be energized.

We feel low on energy sometimes; we feel high sometimes. Sometimes we feel weak; sometimes we feel strong. When we feel weak, we have a lack of  initiative, a lack of memory, a lack of concentration; fatigue, inability to endure a situation, a relationship, a difficulty, a job, a course of study, any kind of dedication or devotion. At that time, we have a preoccupation with ourselves.

The weakest word in the human dictionary is "I." It is one of the major sources of weakness of the body and mind – the thought “me” . . . "What about me?" . . . what I want. When people write letters, for example, notice how many times the word "I" is used – how many paragraphs begin with the word "I," how many times the word "me" is used: “I want, I feel, it happens to me, my reaction, my feeling, my disappointment, my frustration, my expectation. He told me, I told him. I’m not like this, I’m not like that. I am this way, that's the way I am.” This shows their weakness. And in a spiritually strong person, the frequency of the word "I" and "me" becomes less and less. It is said that one of the greatest yogis of this century, or of the last 500 years, Ramana Maharshi, in the last 25 years of his life simply did not use the pronouns "I" and "me."

Read More : Sources of Energy


Universal Brotherhood

by Swami Rama

[This is an excerpt from A Call to Humanity by Swami Rama, Chapter "Humanism," pages 116-117 in the 1988 edition.]

The human race is suffering from its ego-born narrow-mindedness. Discrimination exists, based on religion, color, and nationality. In the same locality, people are being discriminated against just because they are European or Asian, black or white, Hindu or Moslem. As long as these man-made divisions exist in our society, there is no hope for peace or happiness. We must understand that we are born as humans and all other identifications are superimposed on us later. Loving others and receiving love from others is our birthright. True freedom means loving all and hating none, including all and excluding none. For cultivating the true human within, we have to reach out to the hearts of our fellow beings. Political treaties and alliances are of little value. There has to be a desire in every human heart to overcome mutual differences that have been artificially imposed by selfish political, social, and religious leaders.

Read More: Universal Brotherhood


AHYMSIN around the Globe

Budapest, Hungary

by Frankó Csuba Dea

Himalájai Jóga Tradíció

It happened about 20 years ago, that the Guru’s Grace started flowing to and through Hungary. It was the early time of the yoga revolution in Europe when only the most determined seekers abandoned the teachings of the few yoga books available in Hungarian and stepped out to the real world to explore mystical India, seeking for the living wisdom and the Guru. It’s hard to trace back the first steps of the journey, and the first sadhakas to meet Swami Veda, but as far as I could gather the details, people from Hungary started visiting the ashram from around 2002. Three young Hungarian ladies, Eniko Kosik, Krisztina Jakab, and Gabriella Nagy, spent 1.5 months in Sadhana Mandir with our beloved Swami Veda Ji in 2004 (this was back in the day when SRSG did not exist, yet). Swami Veda just called them “my three daughters”. Another Hungarian lady, Rozalia Hummel, who was living in India and was closely connected to Swami Ji invited him to teach in Hungary. The first visit could not be realized, as Swamiji was not allowed to cross the border from Austria to Hungary for some administrative reasons. As one of “his three daughters” recalls: “The situation was not ripe for us to welcome Him, yet”.

Read More : AHYMSIN : Budapest Hungary


AHYMSIN around the Globe

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

by Daniel Hertz

The Meditation Center

On Thursday, March 12, 2020, The Meditation Center (TMC) closed its doors to in-person classes for the first time since it was founded by Swami Rama and Dr. Usharbudh Arya (Swami Veda Bharati) fifty years earlier. Like the rest of the world, we were shocked at this abrupt and unexpected turn of events. A couple of weeks later, the first awkward Thursday Zoom program was scheduled. Since that time, TMC has blossomed under this new format with a full range of classes and programs. There have been book launches, cooking workshops, study groups, yoga and meditation classes, a silent retreat, and many more.

Read More : AHYMSIN : Minneapolis, USA


Virtual Silence Retreat

by Lori Beron

The Meditation Center’s Annual Silence Retreat went Virtual this year!

On August 14th to 18th, 2020, The Meditation Center hosted their first virtual silence retreat. Swami Radha Bharati and Jim Nelson guided the subtle body practices and meditations, and Diane Seeley guided the hatha practices. Emilio Bettaglio monitored the technical Zoom issues and facilitated the chat question and comments sessions. Phyllis Vargas registered people from around the globe and provided links to the Zoom sessions and handouts of the practices so that if participants missed a session, they could view at their convenience. We are so grateful to each of them!

There were approximately 34 participants, most from the USA but also from Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Canada, and Holland.

Read More : Virtual Silence Retreat


Appreciation for All Living Beings

by Wolfgang Bischoff

The following is an article about my destiny work and the Corona crisis published in the most famous Yoga Journal of Germany. 

Wolfgang Bischoff, Spiritual Director of the "Himalaya Institute Germany", has been dealing with the topic of shaping fate for a long time. YOGA AKTUELL asked him for his assessment of recent global events in their significance for the destiny of mankind.

Wolfgang Bischoff is the founder of several, mainly non-profit organizations as well as the Himalaya Institute Germany and has been supporting the Manini land development project in Odisha, India, for twenty years. As founder of the Human Culture Academy and as a former consultant to the World Bank and UNESCO, he strives to carry a human culture into companies. His main work today is personal destiny counseling to help people to understand, change and order their own lives. In fateful times such as these, we wanted to get to know his perspective on the current upheavals and talked to him about how to shape the life and future of the human community.

YOGA AKTUELL: Especially in the last few months we have experienced something like a global collective destiny. This also raises the question of collective karma - is there such a thing in your eyes, and what exactly can be understood by it?

Read More : Appreciation for All


Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…

Sometimes students have written to or asked Swami Veda Bharati, Swami Ritavan Bharati, and other senior teachers in our tradition questions about practice.  This is one such “Question and Answer,” or Q&A.

Question:

Two questions: 1) Could you please tell me if Gayatri mantra is connected to surya and therefore should be only recited during day time and avoided after sunset? And 2) I believe that we are not supposed to practice any special mantras (mantras apart from our diksha mantra) during 12 midnight to 3 am and 12 noon to 3 pm (6 hours in total). Is this correct?

Answer:

Stephen Parker (Stoma) and Lalita Arya (Ammaji) have answered this question.

Read More : Dear Yoga Mentor …


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


Other Links


Full Moon Timings

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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