Gurugram August 2022 | Preface

Om Namah Sivaya
Blessed Self
Greetings from all staff in the Sivananda Centres and Ashrams.

The highlights of July were the celebration of the Guripurnima and the Mahasamadhi of Swami Sivananda. Pujas were done in all the Sivananda Centres and Ashrams to pay homage to our Masters and to the parampara on Gurupurnima day. During the Mahasamadhi celebration, the energy of Swami Sivananda could be felt strongly. May his blessings be with all who turn to him for protection, inspiration and guidance on their path. May he continue to be this big tree under the shade of which many can take refuge from the scorching heat of the world.

Swami Sitaramananda together with several swamis and staff from the Yoga Farm are spending a good part of the summer at the Yoga Ranch, supporting the Ashram with teaching a TTC as well as several courses. Check their website for more details on the upcoming programmes.

The Sivananda Retreat House in Reith is hosting a Bhagavata Saptaha with Bhakti Acharya Sri Venugopal Goswami, which can also be followed online. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the meaning of life, guided by the wisdom of the Bhagavatam and uplifted by divinely inspired kirtans. You will find the information to connect online on their website.

We wish you an inspiring continuation of summer and much inspiration in your practice.

Om and prem,
Swami Kailasananda for the Acharyas of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta centres and Ashrams

To view all 2022 TTC/ATTC/SI courses on the Sivananda website: https://sivananda.org/teachers-training/programme-calendar/

Join us for Sivananda monthly Meditation for a Peaceful Planet on Sunday July 3rd 2022 at 2pm CET. Check our websites for information. https://sivanandaorleans.org/unite-for-a-healthy-planet

Donations: Your donations and financial support would be very gratefully received by any of the International Sivananda Yoga Centres and Ashrams. Please contact any Sivananda Ashram or Centre on how to proceed.

Words may change; modes of approach may change; but Truth shines as the Absolute Reality. – Sri Swami Sivananda

2022 COVID-19 Update:

SIVANANDA YOGA Teachers’ Training Courses are available both Online (TTCOL) and in-person in residence. Please check with each TTC/ATTC location for any TTCOLs.

To view all 2022 TTC/ATTC/SI courses on the Sivananda website: https://sivananda.org/teachers-training/programme-calendar/

See the full list of other international courses and events: https://www.sivananda.org/

Truth is as true today as it was a million years ago, as it will be millions of years hence. That is the test of Truth. – Sri Swami Sivananda

From Discourse I: “Samadhi Pada – On Contemplations”


I.4. VRITTI SVAAROOPYAM ITARATRA

‘When the mind is not concentrated, the perceiver identifies with its modifications’

Commentary:
When thought waves arise, there is the immediate tendency to identify with them. One thought wave spawns a host of others. If one’s neighbour has a swimming pool that is two inches larger, the ‘vritti’ arises that “I must have a larger pool.” If not caught in its
formation, this thought repeats itself, followed by others of a related nature. One follows in the wake of the previous, each giving more and more power to the overall attitude. If, out of covetousness, one buys his neighbour’s pool and house, there will be more taxes to pay in addition to two swimming pools and two houses to be cleaned. This may entail hiring help, which further entails supervision. If the second house is rented out, perhaps the tenant will change either it or the pool. To get away from the headache of it all, one goes for a vacation. The swimming pool is exchanged for one in Hawaii, and the bed and television, for those in the hotel room. One sits in the hotel lobby instead of his own living room, worrying about whether or not the neighbour is remembering to let the dog out each day, and how things at the office are going.

What is the real difference between the hotel lobby and one’s own living room? There is none, for the mind is a slave to its preoccupations, identifying with the same problems wherever it is. One ‘vritti’ gives rise to countless others, all in search of happiness.
But in fact, it is only foolishness, for the very rising of the thoughts themselves destroys the peace that the mind craves. It is only when these thoughts are stilled in concentration that identification with agitation and desire are eliminated.

Absolute Consciousness is Pure Awareness. – Sri Swami Sivananda

Chapter XIII: THE YOGA OF DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FIELD & THE KNOWER OF THE FIELD

XIII.06. Mahaabhootaanyahankaaro buddhiravyaktameva cha;
Indriyaani dashaikam cha pancha chendriyagocharaah.

The great elements, egoism, intellect and also unmanifested Nature, the ten senses and one, and the five objects of the senses

COMMENTARY: Great elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether are so called because they pervade all modifications of matter. The ten senses are: the five organs of knowledge (ears,skin, eyes, tongue and nose), and the five organs of action (hands, feet, mouth, anus and generative organ). The one: this is the mind. The five objects of the senses are sound, touch, form colour, taste and smell.

There are no desires in the Infinite. – Sri Swami Sivananda