Gurugram July 2021 | Preface

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

As the COVID -19 pandemic situation slowly eases and the lockdowns and curfews are being lifted in many countries, more Centres and Ashrams have been able to reopen, though on a limited scale. Those students who had not been coming for a long time started to join classes, workshops and Satsangs again. It is a joy to welcome them back.

2021 Yoga Day on 21 June was celebrated on a smaller scale than usual, due to the COVID restrictions, however several Centres were invited to teach public classes in some of the world capitals. Some other Yoga Day programs were held online.

We held a beautiful Sadhana Intensive course at the Ashram in Orleans with a group of dedicated practitioners. It was a joy to see them doing their practice under the majestic trees of the Ashram. It felt that we were transported back in time to the Upanishadic days.

Several Ashrams who are not able to open yet continue with online TTCs. The feedback of students from these courses remains very positive. Some who took the online courses are now able to join the last module of the TTC in residential form at the Ashrams and are very much enjoying sharing the experience with other TTC students.

Summer is now here in the Northern Hemisphere with warmer weather, school holidays and people enjoying spending time outdoors after the past 15 months of challenges. Several Ashrams are holding TTC and ATTC courses during the summer months. The courses may be smaller than before the pandemic as the cover regulations are followed, but the TTC students attending are deeply appreciative and respectful of the teachings. They are keen to absorb the teachings and make positive changes in their life. It is a privilege for the Sivananda teachers to be able to share these teachings with them and be reminded again and again of their depth, beauty and authenticity.

May the ancient yogic teachings continue to be a guiding light to the world and contribute to creating a “True World Order”, based on peace, mutual respect and connection to the Divine.

We look forward to your participation to our monthly peace meditation “Unite For a Healthy Planet” on Sunday July 4th at 2pm CET.

We send our best wishes for good health and inner strength to you, your family and friends.

May divine protection be with all.
OM Shanti,
Swami Kailasananda for the Acharyas of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres

Donations: With many of the International Sivananda Yoga Centres and Ashrams teaching online, finances are a concern, so if this is at all possible for you, your financial support would be very gratefully received by contacting any Ashram or Centre.

Strongly assert, feel and will this statement and fear will disappear: “I am courage itself. I am the embodiment of courage. – Sri Swami Sivananda

2021 COVID-19 Update:
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 2021 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/

Love all. This is the secret of Self realization and liberation. – Sri Swami Sivananda

Discourse III: “Vibhuti Pada – On Divine Powers”

III.38. TE SAMADHAV UPASARGA VYUTTHANE SIDDHAYAH
‘These (“siddhis”) are the obstacles to the state of “samadhi”, though they
are considered powers to the mind which is worldly’.

Commentary:
Here Patanjali makes it very clear that all of the siddhis that have been described above are but temptations and distractions from the superconscious state. They only appear attractive to those who are steeped in worldliness, egoism, and the desire for power.

Love and respect the saints of every faith. – Sri Swami Sivananda

Chapter II: Sankhya Yoga

(Krishna speaking to Arjuna)
II.72. This is the Brahmic seat (eternal state), O son of Pritha. Attaining to this, none is deluded. Being established therein, even at the end of life, one attains to oneness with Brahman.

COMMENTARY: The state described in the previous verse–to renounce everything and to live in Brahman–is the Brahmic state or the state of Brahman. If one attains to this state one is never deluded. He attains ‘Moksha’ (liberation) if he stays in that state even at the hour of his death. It is needless to say that he who gets established in Brahman throughout his life attains to the state of Brahman or Brahma-Nirvana. Maharshi Vidyaranya says in his Panchadasi that ‘Antakala’ here means the “moment at which ‘Avidya’ or mutual superimposition of the Self and the not-Self ends.”

Walk in the foot-steps of the great Saviours and Saints. – Sri Swami Sivananda