Gurugram December 2023 | Preface

Om Namah Sivaya
Blessed Self

We wish you strength and new insights in your sadhana.
Om and prem
Swami Kailasananda on behalf of the Acharyas of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta centres

Join us for the monthly Sivananda “Meditation for a Peaceful Planet” on Sunday 7th January, 2024 at 2pm CET. Check our website 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.

Follow the right path unswervingly, at any cost. Care not for public opinion. – Sri Swami Sivananda

2023 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.
Please check with each TTC/ATTC location whether COVID-19 has affected your selected course.

The SIVANANDA YOGA Teachers’ Training Courses are available either online (TTCOL) or in residence, depending on the location. Please check with each TTC/ATTC location whether your selected Teacher Training Course is available online or in residence as some Ashrams have opened, while others remain closed. Thank you for your patience as schedules change during COVID.

To view all 2023/2024 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/

The Seer is the unchanging, non-dual Atma or Soul. The seen is the changing, visible universe and the mind. – Sri Swami Sivananda

From Discourse IV: “Kaivalya Pada – On Realisation”

IV.15 vastu-sāmye citta-bhedāt tayor vibhaktaḥ panthāḥ

The object being the same, the apparent difference (between two perceptions) is due to different minds’ separate paths

Commentary:
The object remains the same, but when it is perceived by more than one mind, there immediately arise varying views of that object. This is due to the different paths of each individual. The word “path” alludes to the fact that all are travelling toward realisation of the Self, and it is the individual attitudes or karmic situations that determine how a person sees something.

Release or freedom lies in the loss of the little self or self-arrogating personality. – Sri Swami Sivananda

Chapter VI: The Yoga of Meditation

VI.33 arjuna uvācha
yo ’yaṁ yogas tvayā proktaḥ sāmyena madhusūdana
etasyāhaṁ na paśhyāmi chañchalatvāt sthitiṁ sthirām

Arjuna said:
This yoga of equanimity taught by Thee, O Kṛṣṇa, I do not see its steady continuance, because of restlessness (of the mind).

Commentary:
As the mind is restless, impetuous and unsteady, I find it difficult to practise this Yoga of equanimity. O my Lord, I cannot have steady concentration as the mind wanders here and there in the twinkling of an eye.

VI.34 chañchalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛiḍham
tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva su-duṣhkaram

The mind verily is restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding, O Kṛṣṇa. I deem it as difficult to control as to control the wind.

Commentary:
The mind constantly changes its point of concentration from one object to another and so it is ever restless.
Kṛṣṇa: The word is derived from “kṛṣ”. It means “to scrape”. He scrapes all the sins, evils and the causes of evil from the hearts of His devotees. Therefore, He is called Kṛṣṇa.
The mind is not only restless but also turbulent or impetuous, strong and obstinate. It produces violent agitation in the body and the senses. Objects draw it in all directions. It always works in conjunction with the five senses. It is drawn by them to the five kinds of objects. Therefore, it is ever restless. It enjoys the five kinds of sense-objects with the help of the senses and the body. In this way it subjects them to external influences. The mind is even more difficult to control than to control the wind. It is born of its root-element, the wind. That is the reason for it being as restless as the wind.

Without developing intuition, the intellectual man remains imperfect. – Sri Swami Sivananda