NAG Newsletter Spring 2009
SATYANANDA YOGA® and the Integration of Science and Spirit
By Jignasu Atmashakti (Mariana Hewson), North American Gurukul Board
What appeals to me about Satyananda Yoga is the science that underlies the recommended practices. Sometimes the science offered is western, and sometimes it is the ancient science of yoga, and occasionally we can read both versions. It pleases me to know that there is rhyme and reason that drives the practices I do, even when I don’t fully understand everything. For example, I recently learned some facts about nadi shodhana, a practice involving alternate nostril breathing. The ancient tantric science concerns bodily rhythms involving bio-energy (also known as life force, prana, chi, ki, etc.) which can be manipulated by the breath. Yoga holds that breathing has a “subtle influence on the level of consciousness” and is a “path that leads to total experience and awakening of the entire being” (Muktibodhananda, 1984). One way of awakening the consciousness is, therefore, through breathing practices.
This viewpoint makes me think of a popular hymn written by an Anglican priest: “Breathe on me breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with you the perfect life of your eternity.” Of course, it is scientifically obvious that without breath we humans will die. But the ancients and the religious are thinking in a different way about breath—a way that overlaps with and extends beyond the scientific viewpoint.
According to science, breathing is the mechanism by which the body provides itself with oxygen, essential for releasing energy from energy-rich foods that can then be stored and used for numerous physiological activities (e.g., moving, growing, eating, and continued breathing). Breathing also relieves the body of the waste products of these processes, i.e. carbon dioxide. If the body is not fed with essential oxygen, the energy of stored food cannot be used, and the body is starved. If the wastes of the body are not removed, the body becomes toxic and dies. A human body cannot last much more than about three minutes without breathing.
In the yogic view the breath promotes the flow of bio-energy. Yogis believe there is continuity between the individual’s physical body, mind and consciousness, and the cosmos. At a basic level the constituents of our bodies—elements of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, etc. are inert. But when organized within the living body these elements are no longer inert but charged with bio-energy. And this bio-energy is also part of, and connected with, the infinite energy of the cosmos. Wow! So when we breathe in and out throughout our lives we are not just taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide, we are also sharing in cosmic energy of the universe.
This leads us to the yogic view that every organism contains a portion of cosmic energy. Similarly, yogis claim every living individual embodies a spark of divine consciousness. When we practice asanas (physical poses) and pranayamas (breathing exercises) we are improving our strength and flexibility, improving our breathing, regaining our balance and functionality, and also increasing our vitality and enhancing our consciousness. According to Swami Niranjanananda, yoga serves to help us improve the quality of our minds and our lives (Johannesburg, 2008). We are talking about both science and metaphysics.
As a scientist it has always troubled me that science and religion operate separately. This is partly thanks to philosopher René Descartes and his pact with the seventeenth century church that science would not tread on churchly toes. In other words, matters of physical reality (inorganic and organic elements, organisms, the human body and the brain) were the domain of science and scientific inquiry. But the organized Christian church would deal with the non-physical aspects of mind, emotions, and spirituality. This mind-body split has had huge ramifications for modern thinkers in the western world making it difficult for us to reconcile humans as living, thinking organisms with a mind, consciousness and soul.
With yoga we can integrate science and spirituality. I find yoga to be an all-encompassing and fruitful way of looking at my own body, mind, and soul in the context of the world and the universe in which we all live.
Muktibodhananda (1984). Swara Yoga: The Tantric Science of Brain Breathing. Yoga Publications Trust, Bihar, India.
Tip of the Quarter: Meditation in Action
Collected by NAG Board Member Vishalakshi Rao from Satsang with Swami Niranjanananda:
For children - To achieve one-pointedness of the mind, get them to do dynamic visualizations for two minutes every day. These should be stories with multiple images.
For working adults - During your work day, try to have a constant awareness of your breath - which nostril is active, the temperature, the density, and the force. This will help keep the mind clear and focused.
For homemakers - During the day have a constant awareness of your breath along with mantra. This can be your guru mantra or any short mantra that you chant.
Satsang with Swamiji
Swami Niranjanan was recently in Mumbai, India on an eight day program held at four different locations. NAG board member Vishalakshi Rao offers notes from her participation and Swamiji's introductory satsang. Pictured below is Visha's infant daughter, Pragnya, meeting Swami Niranjanan for the first time.
SATYANANDA YOGA® is integral yoga, catering to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritualneeds. When Swami Satyananda was given the mandate of spreading yoga from "door to door and shore to shore," he did not immediately begin; rather he began the process of observing people, and developing something that would meet their needs. What he finally offered was yoga as a lifestyle; something as a part of our natural behavior and existence rather than something practiced for an hour or two a day. This is the key difference of the Satyananda Yoga system and the other forms of yoga offered in the world today. The Satyananda Yoga system stresses a holistic approach by tending to all the needs of the human personality.
The physical body (annamaya kosha) is the body composed of matter. More subtle than that is the pranamaya kosha, the body composed of vital forces and energy. Still more subtle is the manomaya kosha or the body composed of mental experiences. Subtler still is the vigyanamaya kosha, which is the collection of experiences dealing with evolution and growth of the human personality. Finally is the anandamaya kosha, known as the dimension of the spirit. All of these koshas are within us, in the same way as butter, ghee, cheese, and yogurt are within milk. We cannot see yogurt in the milk, but it can be derived through a process. Similarly, we cannot see the mind, but we have the experience of the mind in the form of thoughts. The five koshas are manifest in three forms: senses which lead to action, emotion which leads to feeling, and mind which leads to understanding and interacting in the world. The aim and direction of yoga is to manage these.
Maharishi Patanjali says that yoga is a form of discipline for the management of the mind. Patanjali says the outcome of yoga is this discipline of body, mind, emotion and spirit. The way we create disturbance is the mind and the way to create peace is also the mind. Most of the time we are disturbed. This is not just a gift of modern day living. The chaos is part and parcel of existence. This chaos can be a good thing, because only if there is chaos will we look for balance and harmony. Only in the absence of light do we seek the light. Only in the absence of health do we seek health.
For the physical body we have the practice of asana. For the energy body we have pranayama. For the mind, pratyahara and dharana. For the spirit, dhyana. Raja Yoga is mind management. Through Raja yoga, one can discover peace.
When the mind is in control, the exploration of the inner nature begins, which is Bhakti yoga. Bhakti is emotion management. The perfection of Bhakti will lead to a more psychological and practical treatment of life. Creative qualities unfold when we are able to follow the path of Bhakti.
When our friend tells us something, we respond to it. We respond based on the associations we keep and we trust those associations. However, negative associations are to be avoided. The associations we keep should give us clarity and positive strengths. The first form of bhakti is the association with righteousness. It is not about going to a temple and performing rituals but how you can modify your life to be pious by weeding out the negative and useless thoughts, and willfully bringing in positive thoughts.
The practice of Antar Mouna illustrates this. In Antar Mouna we initially observe our thoughts, then willfully create a thought and are eventually asked to stop thoughts. In our daily lives, Antar Mouna can be practiced by watching the process of thinking and stopping the negative while reminding oneself to maintain a positive state of mind.
The next aspect of Bhakti is the cultivation of humility. With humility one is able to completely overcome ego and arrogance. Humility teaches you to sympathize with each person, lowering the walls of ego.
In Bhakti, we have to follow teachings which are uplifting and not restricting. Nowadays, there is so much research on yoga in the form of therapy, but we have to understand the fundamental practices of yoga and therapy will happen naturally. With asana the physical body is maintained, with pranayama vitality is maintained and with relaxation and meditation all the stresses of life are removed. Health is obtained only when the negative, waste products are removed from the body and mind. The body has a natural elimination system but what about the mind? We can have mental constipation or mental diarrhea. Through relaxation and meditation, the mind is cleared like clearing up your hard disk.
Lastly, there must be a change of perception. Our view point of looking at things has to be changed. A man once came to Swamiji saying he had high blood pressure because his daughter-in-law called him a dog. Swamiji asked him -" Which dog did you visualize yourself to be? Do you see yourself as a skinny, dirty street dog?" He replied in the affirmative. Swamiji said, "Why don’t you see yourself as the dog of a rich lady - being driven around in a fancy car, having food given to you on time and a bed to sleep in next to the mistresses." The man came a few months later and said his BP was no longer high. He had followed Swamiji's advice on changing his perception!
Therefore, the Satyananda Yoga system works on all aspects of the human personality - from body, to mind, to emotion to spirit. Rather than a one hour class, it prescribes tweaks here and there in one's lifestyle which will eventually transform the personality.
One Hundred Percent Surrender
An excerpt from Samarpan: Living the Divine Connection
From the teachings of Swami Sivananda Saraswati & Swami Satyananda Saraswati
In order to become an instrument of the divine will, one has to become completely empty. One has to change oneself completely. The attitude should be: "Whatever happens, let it happen. Even if I have cancer, I will accept it." If the devotee has to make a choice between grace and health, his choice is grace.
The aspirant should not just imagine that he is surrendering; he must know how to surrender. Mere prostration is not surrender. He has to be truly able to say, "Thy will be done." He should consecrate himself not only in thought and word, not merely with material possessions, but without any reservations whatsoever. God may have placed him in the best of circumstances, but he must ask himself how he would feel if he lost it all. Will he say, "God, I surrender, but please give me my money and my child"?
Most things said about God are just intellectual gymnastics. One may have read a hundred books and be able to quote impressive verses, but the mind is not impressed. People say, "My Lord, I am always dying for you. Thy will be done, but please bring back my husband." What is this business of trying to surrender everything to Him, but keeping a straw for oneself, and then suffering because of that straw? If there is complete surrender to God, nothing is impossible, but the aspirant should not put conditions on the act of surrender. He cannot say, "I worship you, so look after me." God is omniscient; He controls one's mind, prana, life and death. Is He so foolish that He needs to be told to remove one's sorrows? He has given sorrow, joy, wealth, poverty and illness. He knows everything; He is all-powerful, all-pervading. In principle, people accept this, yet they doubt Him. If one truly believed that He is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, one would feel no need to ask Him for anything. One would leave it up to Him.
The art of surrender is a virtue in itself. It must be complete; it must be one hundred percent. The aspirant must go to Him completely naked and empty. Half-hearted surrender is not surrender. Verbal surrender is not surrender. Surrender is born of love; it is abiding and real. Therefore, one should first develop love for Him. Divine love is realized though the grace of God and blessings of saints, through selfless service and absorbing contemplation and meditation. It is better to be born as a dog or a monkey than a human being who leaves the world without surrendering his little self, his ego. There is no difference between such a person and an animal, both live by instinct.
Try to practice surrender at every moment. It might be impossible to be one hundred percent true to one's convictions at all times, but still one should try. The trials will come, and at all times, but still one should try. The trials will come, and at that time also one must try one's best to practice acceptance of His will at every moment. After all, a master has to test his servant, to see whether this chap is honest or a hypocrite. He may only be making a show of bhakti by praying, "I am Thine, my Lord; Thy will be done."
A devotee may go to temples and discharge all the religious obligations as taught by his chosen tradition, but that alone will not help him to unlock the secret inner chambers. At best, it will maintain a psychological sense of fulfillment. However much he may sit for pooja, lack of awareness will render his efforts futile. The name of one's chosen deity may be repeated any way one likes. However, it must be done with bhava, intense awareness, and non-dual faith. There must be complete surrender to one's sadhana. No effort should be spared, caring neither for success nor failure. Mental equilibrium must be maintained by remaining a witness. The aspirant is working according to His orders. He will give one the necessary inspiration and provide suitable opportunities to render the divine work successful.
One has to go in, so that where there are now two, there will be only one. There should be complete identification, fullness of sentiment and experience of proximity. Then there will be union of the formless, nirakara, and the one with form, sakara. This is the state of samarpan.
Sweeten Your Senses with Simplified Pera
By Sannyasi Sheelmurti (Ila Vidyarthi), North American Gurukul Board
Pera is a very popular dish over the holidays and all year round in Gujarat. It
is usually bought already prepared as the traditional method takes a long time!
This sweet is also sent to extended families, neighbors and friends for special occasions, such as the birth of a baby, engagements, weddings, anniversaries, or any other accomplishments.
A Modified Recipe for Pera
Ingredients:
Unsalted Butter: one half cup at room temperature
Light Brown Sugar: one half cup
Maple Syrup: one tablespoon
Milk Powder: one & two third cup or up to two cups as needed,
Cardamom Powder: one half teaspoon
Method:
- Cream the butter, syrup, and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light & fluffy.
- Add the cardamom and milk powder together and work into a medium-soft dough.
- Wash and dry your hands.
- Roll the mix into small round balls.
- Place them in small paper cups.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate.
They will keep well for up to four days at room temperature, and much longer in the refrigerator/freezer.
This recipe will make about 24 pieces of Pera. Enjoy.
The North American Gurukul, Inc. (NAG) is a nonprofit organization established to support the growth of Satyananda Yoga® throughout North America in order to enhance the health, well being, & human potential of individuals and society.