Ashram Yoga : India's Spiritual Tradition

Mahadevi Akka

adam — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:45:00 +0000

Mahadevi or Akka Mahadevi, sometimes called simply Akka, was born in Udutadi in the Karnataka region of India. At age 10, she was initiated as a devotee of Shiva, the pale-skinned god of destruction and rebirth, lord of yogis and ascetics. She worshiped Shiva in the form of Chennamallikarjuna, which means literally “Mallika’s beautiful Arjuna.” It is said that Mahadevi was married by arrangement to Kausika, a local king. There were immediate tensions, however, as Kausika was a Jain, a group that tended to be wealthy and was, as a result, much resented by the rest of the population. Much of Akka’s poetry explores the themes of rejecting mortal love in favor of the everlasting, “illicit” love of God, and this seems to be the path she chose as well. She ran away from her life of luxury to live as a wandering poet-saint, traveling throughout the region and singing praises to her Lord Shiva. A true ascetic, Mahadevi is said to have refused to wear any clothing — a common practice among male ascetics, but shocking for a woman. In Kalyana, she met the famous Shaivite saints Basava and Allama Prabhu. Akka spent the last of her days in the Srisailam area. Tradition says she died in her twenties, entering mahasamadhi (final divine union) with a flash of light.

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Mahadevi Akka

Swami Swaroopananda about Attachment

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:42:10 +0000

Swami Swaroopananda, Director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat shares the story of Swami Vishnu-devananda and his mother in relation to a question asked about the relationship between the spiritual aspirant and his family.

My Master

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:20:00 +0000

MY MASTER This is the message of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world; Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas, or sects, or churches, or temples they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man, which is spirituality; and the more this is developed in a man, the more powerful is he for good. Earn that first , acquire that, and cricise no one, for all doctorines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual rea,lisation. Only those can understand who have felt. Only those who have attained to spirituality can communicate it to others, can be great teachers of mankind. They alone are powers of light. The more such men are produced in a country the more that country will be raised and that country where such men are absolutely do not exist that country is doomed, nothing can save it.There fore my Master’s message to mankind is Be spiritual and realise truth for yourself. Swami Vivekananda

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My Master

Dr. David Frawley & Shambhavi Chopra @ the Yoga Retreat- Bahamas

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:40:40 +0000

Featuring Dr. David Frawley & Shambhavi Chopra at the yoga retreat. Dr. David Frawley Dr. David Frawley is regarded as an authentic Vedacharya (Vedic teacher). Over the last 20 years, he has written numerous books and created several courses on Yoga, Ayurveda, Vedic astrology, and Tantra. His works have been translated into 15 languages and are regarded as authoritative texts in their fields. www.vedanet.com Shambhavi Chopra Shambhavi Chopra is one of the foremost women teachers of the deeper aspects of Yoga and Tantra to come out of modern-day India. Her ability to express yogas inner secrets both in the written and spoken word is exceptional. Her clear teachings and magnetic personality have touched the hearts of people throughout the world, helping to awaken the Yoga Shakti (energy) within them. www.shambavi-yogini.com

Classical Indian Music & Dance Festival in the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, Bahamas

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:42:17 +0000

During this festival we had exquisite evening performances of classical Indian music and dance. We had performance each evening by a different classical Indian musician or dancer. It is a rare occasion for such accomplished Indian musicians and dancers to come together in the West and to share their mastery with us and with each other. Join us for this very special occasion of uplifting and meditative music and dance performances in the year 2011. For more information visit our web site: www.sivananda.org/nassau or www.sivanandabahamas.org

SAYR hosting Swami Shantananda

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:08:59 +0000

The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Hosting Swami Shantananda of the Chinmaya Mission. This video is featuring the 2010 program with Swami Shantananda. In March 14-20, 2011 Swami Shantananda will present “Sat Darshana – 40 Verses on Reality by Ramana Maharshi”.

Swami Swaroopananda talks about Love.m4v

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:10:21 +0000

Swami Swaroopananda, Director of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in a Question & Answers session during a Teacher’s Training Course. In this Talk, Swami Swaroopananda is asked about Love. Music by: GS Sachdev, from his latest album “whisper”.

Simhavlokanam

adam — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:02:00 +0000

Simhâvalokanam (August, 1919-20, pp. 103-104) Yoga and Nature By Swami Ramakrishnananda Books are nothing other than the records of men’s experiences about Nature; so in reality Nature is our teacher. Whenever Nature teaches us,we become really learned and gain something thereby not only for ourselves but for others. When young James Watt studied the action of steam in the boiling kettle before him, he made a valuable contribution to the progress of the human race. When Benjamin Franklin was flying the kite and detected the existence of electricity in the clouds, he gained a new and most useful servant for man. Similarly by studying Nature George Stephenson was able to invent the locomotive engine. All these incidents clearly show that Nature is the book the study of which gives us the greatest return. Our Indian Yogis, knowing this, deeply studied the book of Nature and ultimately found out the methods which took them beyond Nature. Through the study of the inner aspect of Nature they opened a channel of unlimited knowledge; they could subsist without food any length of time; and they gained supernatural powers which our modern science cannot even dream of. That a man can become practically all-knowing they seem to have at first learnt from studying the property of a convex lens. Ordinarily the solar rays have no burning power; but if brought together at the focus of the lens, they will begin to burn. This burning power is brought about by the convergence of the scattered rays of the sun to a single point. This fact suggested to the mind of the Yogi that because the mind is distributed through the senses and as such is scattered in all directions, it has only the ordinary power of knowing what is visibly going on in this world and of knowing that but very partially. If, however, he could call his mind back from all external pursuits and concentrate it on one idea or at one point, as in the case of the focused solar rays, then why should it not be able to perceive both these ordinary things and many extraordinary things also? He made the experiment and was successful. This intense increase in the power of the mind was learnt also from the current of a stream. If we build a dam across a flowing stream, keeping only a very small aperture in the embankment, the water which then comes out of that aperture has a thousand fold more power than the ordinary current of the stream. This suggested to them the idea that if by shutting up all other outlets of the mind, it is made to flow through one outlet, it must acquire powers unknown to it before: In this manner the Yogi discovered the extraordinary powers which mental concentration can produce. T h e V e d a n t a K e s a r i ~ 2 9 0 ~ A U G U S T 2 0 0 9

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Simhavlokanam

Solar Cookers in India | Global Ideas

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:40:50 +0000

Hundreds of children attend the schools of the Muni Seva Ashram in the Western Indian state of Gujarat everyday. Their school meals used to be prepared over wood fires. Now a new project harnesses the power of the sun for the school canteen.

Significance Of Holi

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:46:00 +0000

Significance of Holi In spite of being such a colourful and gay festival, there are various aspects of Holi which makes it so significant for our lives. Though they might not be so apparent but a closer look and a little thought will reveal the significance of Holi in more ways than meets the eyes. Ranging from socio-cultural, religious to biological there is every reason why we must heartily enjoy the festival and cherish the reasons for its celebrations. So when, its time for Holi, please don’t hold yourself back and enjoy the festival to the hilt by participating with full enthusiasm in every small tradition related to the festival. Mythological Significance Holi gets us close to our religion and our mythology as it is essentially the celebration of various legends associated with the festival. Foremost is the legend of Prahlad and Hiranyakshyap. The legend says there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap who considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his great ire, his son, Prahlad began to worship, Lord Vishnu. To get rid of his son, Hiranyakshyap asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap, as she had a boon to enter fire unscathed. Legend has it that Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion for the lord while Holika paid a price for her sinister desire. The tradition of burning Holika or the ‘Holika dahan’ comes mainly from this legend. Holi also celebrates the legend of Radha and Krishna which describes the extreme delight, Krishna took in applying colour on Radha and other gopis. This prank of Krishna later, became a trend and a part of the Holi festivities. Mythology also states that Holi is the celebration of death of Ogress Pootana who tried to kill infant, Krishna by feeding poisonous milk to it. Another legend of Holi which is extremely popular in Southern India is that of Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva. According to the legend, people in south celebrate the sacrifice of Lord of Passion Kaamadeva who risked his life to revoke Lord Shiva from meditation and save the world. Also, popular is the legend of Ogress Dhundhi who used to trouble children in the kingdom of Raghu and was ultimately chased away by the pranks of the children on the day of Holi. Showing their belief in the legend, children till date play pranks and hurl abuses at the time of Holika Dahan. Cultural Significance Celebration of the various legends associated with Holi reassure the people of the power of the truth as the moral of all these legends is the ultimate victory of good over evil. The legend of Hiranyakashyap and Prahlad also points to the fact that extreme devotion to god pays as god always takes his true devotee in his shelter. All these legends help the people to follow a good conduct in their lives and believe in the virtue of being truthful. This is extremely important in the modern day society when so many people resort to evil practices for small gains and torture one who is honest. Holi helps the people to believe in the virtue of being truthful and honest and also to fight away the evil. Besides, holi is celebrated at a time of the year when the fields are in full bloom and people are expecting a good harvest. This gives a people a good reason to rejoice, make merry and submerge themselves in the spirit of Holi. Social Significance Holi helps to bring the society together and strengthen the secular fabric of our country. For, the festival is celebrated by non-Hindus also as everybody like to be a part of such a colouful and joyous festival. Also, the tradition of the Holi is that even the enemies turn friends on Holi and forget any feeling of hardship that may be present. Besides, on this day people do not differentiate between the rich and poor and everybody celebrate the festival together with a spirit of bonhomie and brotherhood. In the evening people visit friends and relatives and exchange gifts, sweets and greetings. This helps in revatalising relationships and strengthening emotional bonds between people. Biological Significance It is interesting to note that the festival of Holi is significant for our lives and body in many other ways than providing joy and fun. We also need to thank our forefathers who started the trend of celebrating Holi at such a scientifically accurate time. And, also for incorporating so much fun in the festival. As Holi comes at a time of the year when people have a tendency to feel sleepy and lazy. This is natural for the body to experiences some tardiness due to the change from the cold to the heat in the atmosphere. To counteract this tardiness of the body, people sing loudly or even speak loudly. Their movements are brisk and their music is loud. All of this helps to rejuvenate the system of the human body. Besides, the colours when sprayed on the body have a great impact on it. Biologists believe the liquid dye or Abeer penetrates the body and enters into the pores. It has the effect of strengthening the ions in the body and adds health and beauty to it. There is yet another scientific reason for celebrating the Holi, this however pertains to the tradition of Holika Dahan. The mutation period of winter and spring, induces the growth of bacteria in the atmosphere as well as in the body. When Holika is burnt, temperature rises to about 145 degrees Fahrenhiet. Following the tradition when people perform Parikrima (circumambulation or going around) around the fire, the heat from the fire kills the bacteria in the body thus, cleansing it. The way Holi is celebrated in south, the festival also promotes good health. For, the day after the burning of Holika people put ash (Vibhuti) on their forehead and they would mix Chandan (sandalpaste) with the young leaves and flowers of the Mango tree and consume it to promote good health. Some also believe that play with colours help to promote good health as colours are said to have great impact on our body and our health. Western-Physicians and doctors believe that for a healthy body, colours too have an important place besides the other vital elements. Deficiency of a particular colour in our body causes ailment, which can be cured only after supplementing the body with that particular colour. People also clean-up their houses on Holi which helps in clearing up the dust and mess in the house and get rid of mosquitoes and others pests. A clean house generally makes the residents feel good and generate positive energies.

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Significance Of Holi