NAG Newsletter Winter 2011
Positive Connections
By Swami Atmarupa Saraswati, President, Board of Directors, North American Gurukul, Inc.
Hari Om,
The North American Gurukul will be sponsoring its first Satyananda Yoga® retreat this year over Labor Day weekend at Estes Park, CO with Swami Satyadharma as the guest speaker. This is a wonderful opportunity for all supporters of Satyananda Yoga to come together and build a strong community for our future. This is the time for students, teachers and devotees to honor our Gurus' teachings and to be in the flow of energy an event such as this provides.
Since my first trip to Rikhia in early 1995, I have seen progressively more and more North Americans going there, participating in the programs and spending time doing seva both in Rikhia and Munger. The inspiration and growth that we experience in our ashrams needs to continue here in North America so that more people will connect to, and experience Satyananda Yoga as both a series of practices and a lifestyle.
With Swamiji Niranjan's approval, NAG was formed in 2004 for the purpose of developing Satyananda Yoga here. It has taken time to create the foundation of NAG and to connect people to the organization. 
With the growth of any organization, there are often "growing pains" and NAG has not been exempt from these. However, with our guru's energy and inspiration, NAG is now ready to more fully embrace its mission by sponsoring this retreat and more.
As a stepping stone toward the future, Swamiji Niranjan made it clear to the NAG board in January that this 2011 retreat must be held to prepare for the proposed 2012 conferences with Swami Satsangi (read more here). NAG is your organization counting on your participation to show that North America's time has come!
Om Tat Sat.
Swami Atmarupa Saraswati
Photo of Swami Atmarupa taken by Laura Larosa (Jignasu Madhura Saraswati)
Positivity in Life
By Paramahamsa Niranjanananda Saraswati, from YOGA Magazine, November 2002. Visit www.yogamag.net for more articles by Swamiji.
If there are two piles, one of gold and one of dirt, which one will you choose? The gold one. If there is only one pile in which the dirt and gold are mixed, what will you do? Separate the gold from the dirt and take the gold. Can you do that with yourself? The personality is a combination of both rubbish and gold. Generally people are affected by the rubbish and ignore the gold.
It is for this reason that, despite having so much to give, so much to receive and so many positive qualities within, we identify with the negative. Separating the negative from the positive and selecting and holding onto the positive is the purpose of yoga. It is that purpose which has to be fulfilled in life. When it comes to individual development and perception, the awareness must be deepened in such a way that we are aware of the grime or dirt, the negative, as well as the beautiful, the positive. Rejection of the negative and connection with the positive has to take place. This is not only an intellectual concept, it is something one has to imbibe in life. After all, why do we react in life? Why do we desire one thing and not another? Reactions are a result of identification with the negativity and the dislikes. Actions follow positivity. This awareness has to dawn and develop.
It is not meditation that is important, it is not the performance of a posture or asana that is important. After all, how long can we practise postures? As long as we are fit, but when we are unfit asanas have no relevance. How long can we practise meditation? As long as there is the desire, and if there is no desire there is no meditation. How long can we practise yoga? As long as there is the desire, and if there is no desire one leaves yoga. If we are just going to revolve around our likes and dislikes, actions and reactions, desires and rejections, all our life, it means we have not learned the lesson. The lesson is to bring out the positivity. That positivity has to be expressed in every situation whether it is an exam, a human relationship, social living or reclusive living. This is the understanding that yoga tries to give. It cannot be an intellectual understanding. It has to be an experiential understanding of the process which leads to development of the self, and this infuses one with contentment, peace and tranquillity.
You go through various experiences, some good, some bad. Whenever you react it is a bad experience and whenever you accept and act it is a positive experience. This positivity and acceptance has to be the focus in life if you want to succeed. If this focus is lost then do not claim to be a practitioner of yoga. You can only claim to be a practitioner of asana, or a practitioner of meditation.
Change has to come from within. This is not a momentary gain. Rather we are looking at a gain of positivity in life, a gain of fulfilment and satisfaction. 
The satisfaction or fulfilment we experience within is due to harmony, which is both external and internal. If you identify only with the inner experience, with the inner state of happiness, and there is reaction in external attitudes, behavior, relationships and communication, then that experience can never be complete. That is the true meaning of the word yoga. In the third sutra of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali discusses being established in one's own nature as the seer, the drashta. To be established in one's own nature means there has to be harmony, there has to be a flow of life. This flow of life, this harmony, optimism and balance does not encounter and is not affected by blocks.
The example is the flowing river. If there is a big rock on the river bed, the river simply flows around it and carries on with its journey. The river does not come into conflict with the immovable object. It is this lesson that you all need to learn because, frankly speaking, personal attainment is only a selfish subjective attainment. That attainment can be lost at any time. It is easy to attain and also easy to lose because life follows a principle of give and take. That is the flow of life with which yoga identifies.
At this stage yoga becomes a way of life. In the beginning yoga is a practice, then it becomes a way of life. When it becomes a way of life identification with and expression of the balanced, positive and optimistic nature takes place and then one attains physical health, mental health and spiritual wealth.
Ganga Darshan, January 28, 2002
Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati's
North American Visit 2012
Supporting the Growth of SATYANANDA YOGA® in North America
By Sannyasi Vishalakshi, Board of Directors, North American Gurukul
"You must be ready…
When love is strong
And you yourselves are steady
Then communication can be possible...
You must be ready."
- Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati
Excitement is in the air, and justifiably so:
Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati (Satsangi) has graciously agreed to visit the US in August of 2012. For the first time in decades, one of the main inspirers of Satyananda Yoga will visit North America. The objective of the visit is to re-vitalize the existing Satyananda Yoga community across the continent and to expose many others to this tradition.
There will be two programs organized for her in the second half of August 2012. One will be a public program held on the West Coast in the San Francisco Bay Area, California and the other will be an East Coast residential retreat in the Pennsylvania area. These events will be facilitated and co-coordinated by the North American Gurukul, Inc.
West Coast Public Program
(non-residential)
August 17-19, 2012
Napredak Hall
San Jose, CA
East Coast Residential Retreat
August 24-26, 2012
Laurelville Retreat Center
Mt. Pleasant, PA
In the words of Swami Satsangi: "In the true spirit of Yoga and Sri Swamiji’s ideals, all should come together for this event so that it can be a grand success"
We are truly blessed to be here at this time, as it gives us an opportunity to be involved, to participate and to benefit. This is the time for all of us to join hands as there is extensive work ahead.
SEVA...
The first question that comes to mind is, “How can I offer seva?” The simple answer is that we must jointly work to bring together as many people as possible to benefit from Swami Satsangi’s presence – spiritual aspirants, yoga teachers, yoga students, friends, children, families, colleagues and more.
For this to happen, we must generate a very high level of awareness of the Satyananda Yoga tradition in every region. This can be done through regular yoga classes, retreats, havans, kirtan, video screenings or other yoga-related activities. Whether you have a thriving yoga community in your area or are just starting out, please share your plans and activities with NAG so they can be published and shared through a common forum.
There are innumerable seva opportunities for each one of us to play an active role in this auspicious event. Importantly, please fill out an online seva form indicating your areas of skill, availability and interest. Also share this form with others in your community who would like to be involved. This will help to channel our energies in the right direction.
SOWING THE SEEDS…
Various activities are being planned in preparation for Swami Satsangi's program:
- There will be a Satyananda Yoga conference over Labor Day weekend in September 2011 with Swami Satyadharma. This will be held in Estes Park, Colorado. A detailed announcement is on our events page, so please block your dates.
- Several traveling Swamis from the Satyananda Yoga tradition will be visiting various parts of North America. Connect with us if you would like to organize a program in your area.
- Gather together and form a common North American group to travel to Sita Kalyanam in November 2011.
Please share your ideas and thoughts as to what all of us can do to help build momentum towards the 2012 conference. Stay tuned to the NAG emails and website for up-to-date information. Holding Guru in our hearts, let us commit to making this event 100% successful in bringing our North American community together.
Om Tat Sat
Sn. Vishalakshi
NAG Board Member
Tip of the Quarter: Harnessing the Power of the Rhythms of Life
By Sannyasi Atmadarshan, Executive Course Coordinator, Yoga Academy of North America
This is the time of the year in North America when the days lengthen, the temperatures rise and new growth emerges. Winter drops away and spring returns in all its glory, bringing with it a fresh cycle of life.
The rhythms of the seasons have a profound effect on us. The outer shifts are so obvious that it is easy to notice the inner shifts in mood and energy within. More difficult to recognize are the more subtle and shorter rhythms that profoundly affect our existence.
The word “ashram”, in addition to meaning a place of spiritual practice, also refers to the four major phases of our life cycle, running from youth to old age. Classically it has been taught that there are times when certain things are meant to happen. A major function of ashrams as spiritual places is to establish a regular daily routine for its residents – meals are served at certain times, work and breaks are at regular hours, mouna is maintained at specified intervals.
Ashram living recognizes the basic human need to connect to the rhythm of life to feel safe and secure. Look at any small child – she needs to nap, eat, and sleep at certain times or she gets cranky and may begin to act out. Don’t try to tell a small child that you are traveling with about changes in time zones – 
the inner clock is all set and goes on its own regardless of what the outer clock says! How much of our own crankiness or acting out is due to our lack of regularity in our lives?
A simple way to increase a deep sense of well-being is to establish little, healthy patterns. Doing your guru mantra every morning and evening, doing your meditation practice in a set place, taking your meal or snack or sleep at a certain hour – these simple changes will start to add a sense of calm and serenity to your life. Even committing to doing Neti every morning is a simple way to provide a structure that supports your experience of life (and will help with spring allergies).
The true effect of working intensely with your daily (circadian) rhythms can be most fully appreciated through a visit to an ashram, an intensive Yogic Studies experience, or a retreat facilitated by an experienced traveling teacher. Besides the obvious benefits from the yoga practices and satsang at these events, the underlying structure profoundly supports us at subconscious and unconscious levels to provide a more intense connection to the pulse of the universe around us. When this happens, the changes of life feel less like threats and more like opportunities for putting out new buds and expanding into a new cycle of growth.
SATYANANDA YOGA® can be an effective – and enjoyable – way to improve all aspects of your life. Enjoy the season change!
Yoga Happens When You Are Ready
A Reflection on Journeys Through Yogic Studies and India
By Jill Prok, Yogic Studies 1 student with YANA
If someone had told me a year ago that I would be spending a month in India to study yoga this winter, I would never have believed it. When I made this observation to Swami Atmarupa during the trip, she reminded me that events happen in our lives as we become ready for them. As I thought more and more about this, I began to realize how events in my life have led me to where I am today.
When I began looking into yoga teacher training programs in 2009, I had been sporadically practicing yoga for about ten years. However, my experience of yoga had been extremely limited, focusing primarily on asana. I was vaguely aware that there was more to yoga than just this physical practice, and I had a nagging feeling that I was missing something. I was drawn to the Atma Center and the YANA training program precisely because Satyananda Yoga was such a rich tradition. I knew that by choosing this program I would be receiving an excellent education in yoga, but I had no idea of the depth or scope of the knowledge I would be gaining. Little did I know how far into my life yoga could reach, or how transformational it would prove to be for me.
I came into the two week intensive portion of Yogic Studies 1 with a life that had been turned on end by several major changes – some purposeful , some completely unexpected and blind-siding. The aptly-named intensive provided me with an opportunity to step out of my daily life and acquired roles, and focus on the part of myself that went beyond that. The practice of yoga began to open up and expand. It went from being something that I occasionally did on my mat, to an entire approach to and philosophy of life. I had the sense that I had found something in this tradition that I had not even known I was searching for. I came out of the intensive feeling stable, grounded, and newly hopeful. The more I learned about yoga, the more I realized there was to know, and the more motivated I was to go further in my study. 
When the opportunity to travel to India presented itself several months later, I immediately jumped at the chance – before knowing how I would afford it or even if I would be able to take the time off work. It seemed that this was something I had to do – to further follow this path I had found myself on and see where it led me.
What I gained from my time in India cannot be easily summed up, and I think I’ll still be processing much of it in the months to come. For me, the greatest learning experiences came from the time spent in the ashrams in Rikhia and Munger. In these ashrams I experienced hours of intense mantra chanting which felt like it was vibrating every last cell in my body, straight to the core of my being. I participated in kirtans so joyful that I didn’t ever want them to end. I witnessed a level of generosity and selflessness that I’d never seen before, as thousands of Indian villagers filed past me to receive Prasad. I found strengths in myself that I hadn't know existed as I faced new challenges. And, perhaps most profoundly, I began to feel a deep connection to the Satyananda tradition and developed a new appreciation and understanding of the guru-disciple relationship – something which had previously seemed so foreign a concept to me.
In the last year, my life has changed more than I could ever have expected. Sometimes it was a painful and overwhelming process, but I realize that all those changes opened doors which led me to this point – taking my first steps down a path of continued growth and development. While I had secretly hoped that I would return from India with some sort of profound, concrete realization about life, this just doesn’t seem to be the way the universe works. Instead, I came back with the sense that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and finally doing what I’m meant to be doing. I realize that what I’ve learned so far is barely a drop in the bucket, but rather than feeling daunted by this fact, I’m exhilarated by the prospect of continuing to explore and live yoga.
Photo of Jill Prok taken in India by Laura Larosa (Jignasu Madhura Saraswati)
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.
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