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Have Heaven in Your Mind
“What kind of thoughts do you invite? Whatever you invite in, you become. Selfish and self-serving thoughts pave the way for anxiety, fear, and disappointment. Have heaven in your mind and you will see heaven everywhere. Correct your vision first.
“God bless you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.” —Sri Swami Satchidananda
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Recently, someone asked a question: “If peace and unconditional love are our natural state, why is it that we have forgotten? We have forgotten because we’ve been given the free will to forget. You are free to choose either way. Peace is our nature no doubt, but we have not realized it because our intellect and our ego are incorrectly identifying with the changes in the mind. If you really feel that you are that peace, and that your True Nature is unconditional love, then you will not even ask this question. That means you are not correctly identifying with your peaceful Self. You have already forgotten that state, and when you ask the question, “Why have I forgotten?,” you are asking as a separate entity; you are talking as the mind. You have forgotten because you are remembering so many other things. You are interested in many other things so you don’t have time to remember the Self. The mind has a natural tendency to go outward and cling onto things, possess things. Just as your natural state is divine godliness, unconditional happiness, the natural tendency of the mind is to look for that happiness from outside things. That is the nature of the lower aspect in you. MORE
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In the last days of 2018 and the first few of 2019, I had the pleasure of attending the 5-day New Year’s Silent Retreat at Satchidananda Ashram in Virginia. What I experienced was profound: The self study, the deep quiet, the dedication. It changed me. Immediately. And still continues two months later. My free time was generally spent writing or reading the Yoga Sutras. I wrote an enormous amount on silent retreat. Thirty handwritten pages, most unsuitable to convey the experience as a whole. We were encouraged to steer journal writing away from narrative and storytelling. Storytelling is my thing. I love a good narrative, but I saw the value in the exercise, and I kept the journal writing experienced-based. Larger themes, observations, thought patterns. Extraordinary rabbit holes down nuances and aspects of the self that make me, me.... What I experienced was a clarity of the mind, and an ability to listen to each thought that passed. However quick, however layered. It was as though the conscious mind stood still, and observed all subconscious thoughts. I connected with the seer in me, the silent witness. It was fascinating. MORE
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Today, Sister Chan Khong can count more than fifty years of working closely with Thich Nhat Hanh.... She is recognized as being a major force that has helped him to grow his community. But Sister Chan Khong is an accomplished teacher in her own right and it can even be said that her life itself is a teaching. In her community, Chan Khong is well known for leading the practice of beginning anew. A four-step process, it is an opportunity to look deeply and honestly at ourselves and to work on our relationships through mindful communication. The first step is to express appreciation for the person we’re speaking to; the second is to acknowledge any unskillful action we’ve committed against him or her; the third is to reveal how he or she has hurt us; and the fourth is to share a difficulty that we’re having and to ask for support. At Plum Village, the practice center in France where Chan Khong resides, beginning anew is practiced collectively every two weeks and practiced individually as often as necessary. Chan Khong urges lay people to practice it at home. MORE
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Recently, M. Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., Dilip Sarkar, M.D., and Amrita Sandra McLanahan, M.D. were on a panel at Yogaville, where they discussed the science of Western medicine and the wisdom of Traditional systems of healing. Dr. Sarkar stresses the point that Western medicine utilizes a scientific methodology, while Eastern and Traditional systems of healing are wisdom-based.
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Swami Satchidananda's book, The Golden Present, has been one of Integral Yoga's most read publications. It contains inspiration and guidance from Swami Satchidananda in the form of a reading a day for a year. The website (thegoldenpresent.org) devoted to this book has just been relaunched. It features the reading of the day from the book (and also the reading for the day before—just in case you missed it). This popular book is also available in app form for free download for iPhone/iPad and on Google Play for Android. (Grateful thanks to: Sam Eberle for the website re-design; the Integral Yoga Institute of Coimbatore in collaboration with Ideasurge.com for creating the app.)
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Woodstock 50 Line-up Announced
The original The Woodstock Music & Arts Fair was held August 15 through 18, 1969 in Bethel, New York. More than half a million people came to upstate New York for the 3 days of Peace & Music. The show opened with Richie Havens, who played almost three hours while the other bands were stuck in the traffic jam they themselves created. Psychedelic folk band Sweetwater was scheduled to open. Sri Swami Satchidananda gave the spiritual opening. The full line-up for the Woodstock 50 Festival has been unveiled by organizers. Woodstock 50 will include legacy acts Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters, David Crosby and Friends, John Fogerty, Canned Heat, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian and Melanie. The show will contain tributes to Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, The Band and Joe Cocker. Taking place Watkins Glen in New York from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th August 2019, the 50th anniversary celebration event will feature performances from a diverse array of genres. Tickets go on sale on 22nd April. MORE
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Rev. Jaganath, Integral Yoga Minister and Raja Yoga master teacher, has spent a lifetime delving into the deepest layers of meaning in Patanjali’s words within the Yoga Sutras. Our series continues with the 33rd sutra of Chapter 1. A key sutra taught by Swami Satchidananda—(one he encouraged all his students to memorize—as a guideline for cultivating and navigating relationships based on classical Patanjala (Raja) Yoga. Sri Swamiji stressed that this sutra is like having 4 master keys to open the 4 locks to creating healthy interpersonal relationships that support one's equanimity.
We need to extend forgiveness to ourselves as well. We need to extend our compassion to our own shortcomings and mistakes. The danger is that if we can’t forgive and extend compassion to ourselves, the darker sides of who we are retreat to ever more deeply hidden recesses of the mind, only to come back with redoubled force. The need for forgiveness also applies to mudita. How can we delight in a virtue we see in someone we have issues with? In fact, without the ability to forgive, we might miss perceiving the virtue altogether. Let’s take a closer look at forgiveness. We can understand forgiveness as the restoration of belonging in a relationship. We argue, feel a break or fracture (minor, middling, or great) in a relationship. The sense of trust and belonging is damaged. When forgiveness arrives, the sense of belonging is restored. MORE
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These two old friends—a Buddhist monk and a Benedictine monk—talk about their common work for peace; gratefulness bringing one into the now; the powers to let go, to forgive and to understand; and the power of community. The young monks at Plum Village speak to Anthony Chavez about their spiritual practice.
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Europe to Offer Many Integral Yoga-Based Programs: Spring – Fall 2019
Integral Yoga Europe announced a number of programs for this year. Coming up next month is the Integral Yoga European reunion in France. The "Yoga for the Special Child" Teacher Training taught by Sonia Sivakami Sumar will be held in May in Madrid. Nalanie Chellaram will conduct a Raja Yoga Foundation course in June in Swindon (UK). An exciting announcement comes from Integral Yoga Shanti (Milan) and Integral Yoga Almeria (Spain). They are jointly offering the Integral Yoga Advanced Teacher Training program in Almeria in October. Swami Asokananda (Integral Yoga Global Network co-director) and Paola Parvathi Faini (Integral Yoga Shanti director) will lead the training. The latter part of October, M. Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., will give a "Neuroscience, Mindfulness and Yoga" 5-day training in Portugal.
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Last week, the Lotus Center for All Faiths hosted Kia Scherr for a program titled, “Finding Peace Through Forgiveness.” Scherr is co-founder of One Life Alliance, a charity she set up in response to the 2008 Mumbai, India terrorist attacks that claimed 164 lives including those of her husband, Alan, and their 13-year-old daughter, Naomi. The compelling presentation was hosted by Integral Yoga Minister, Rev. Ruth Shakti Hall. Mataji and her sister swamis, Jyotirmayananda and Vidyananda, were joined in the audience by Rev. Dhyani and other members of the community to hear Kia Scherr’s compelling story of transcending shock and pain to find peace through forgiveness. During the program, Scherr explained, “When you choose love, miracles can happen.” MORE (photo and report by: Casey Devi Dugan)
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Inspiring Meme of the Week
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