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A Joyful Spirit
“When you feel you cannot resolve a conflict peacefully, you can just let it go and enjoy the show. Remember that life is a drama; if everything is peaceful, there’s no fun in it. Those who maintain a joyful spirit are called spiritual people.
God bless you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.” —Sri Swami Satchidananda
(photo: Swami Satchidananda in India, mid-1970s).
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The most cherished treasure in life is peace. You can go anywhere in the world, but you can be always happy only if you can keep your peace. On the other hand, you may have everything in the world, and I mean everything, but if you don’t have peace you have nothing. Because all of the everything that you have is not going to make you happy always without your peace. You can have momentary happiness, yes. I accept that, but it’s always mixed with unhappiness. In a way, the purpose of the world is to educate us about this truth. Mother Nature is constantly teaching us this truth: Don’t run after me, I cannot make you always happy. Even if I make you a little happy there will be a little unhappiness along the way. If you really want permanent eternal happiness, get away from me. Mother Nature is trying to push you away. How? Sometimes she is very cruel. She hits you if you keep on running after her, if you keep holding onto her. A good mother will advise her children to not depend on her always, but to stand on their own two feet. That’s the reason why even people who have billions of dollars, big positions, and who have everything still suffer. That’s the indirect way of Mother Nature teaching them. MORE
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According to Ayurveda, we carry a life force called prana that bridges the physical body and the subtle energies (like mind and emotions). We have various layers (koshas) to our bodies: prana (or life force) hails from the pranamaya kosha, or outermost layer of the subtle bodies. This is surrounded by annamaya kosha, the dense physical body, and surrounds the manomaya kosha, or mental sheath, where the mind and emotions are found. We see that the prana layer lies between mind and body, making prana that which connects mind and body. Recently, researchers have discovered subtle energy particles called biophotons or bioelectrons: they are the body’s subtle energy information carriers that many researchers believe are the body’s prana system. Biophotons, or ultra-weak photon emissions (UPEs), are light particles emitted from most living systems. Photons are quantum particles that have the ability to be expressed as particles, electromagnetic waves, or fields, which puts biophotons at that junction between physical matter and unmanifest quantum fields, as described in physics, or as the mind and body are described in Ayurveda. Ayurveda, as well as many quantum theories, suggest that unified quantum fields are in fact consciousness. MORE
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In this video, Satyam Penn discusses the history and development of Yoga and its impact on culture and religion. He also analyzes the link between the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Buddhism. Satyam Penn is a seminarian in the Integral Yoga Ministry, and has studied Integral Yoga for 34 years. He teaches at the University of Toronto and conducts research on Sanskrit and the history of Yoga and Vedanta philosophy.
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Integral Yoga Publications is pleased to announce the release of The Woodstock Guru. This new book was published in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music Festival, which was opened by Swami Satchidananda in August 1969. When he first arrived in the West in 1966, Yoga was largely unknown here. There were no classes at the local YMCA. Health food stores contained only bottles of vitamin supplements and photos of body builders. Few understood the meaning of karma. When most people thought of a yogi, they remembered a popular cartoon man sleeping on a bed of nails. All this changed when Swami Satchidananda arrived in the West. This new book, illustrated with the artwork of pop artist icon Peter Max, tells the untold story of the Woodstock Guru’s journey to Woodstock, the inspiration and legacy of Woodstock, and the Yoga movement it inspired. Available now from Shakticom.
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Many of the greatest Yoga secrets are part of our daily lives, hidden in our natural rhythms and actions—in how we see, think, speak and breathe, through the days, months, seasons and years. Our ongoing state of awareness and its various levels hold perhaps the greatest of these secrets. Consciousness is the very basis of our existence, abiding as the steady inner light behind the changes of outer life. We are by nature conscious beings working through the instrumentalities of body and mind. Our current incarnation is but one of many lives in our gathering of experience through the worlds of time and space. Consciousness endows us with our sense of self, feeling and knowing, the inner reality out of which body and mind function. It is the very core of our being. Yet, the essence of our consciousness is largely unknown to us. We are so busy projecting our awareness upon the external world that we have forgotten its origins deep within us. Our demanding lives keep us from knowing who we really are, what (if anything) survives death, and what our ultimate purpose is. We are trapped in a bodily image of ourselves that forgets our inner essence of light. MORE
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In this series of short talks, Swami Asokananda (Integral Yoga) shares his insights from years of study and contemplation on the great Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. In part 7, he goes more deeply into the symbolism behind the main characters we meet in chapter one. He explains how they represent different parts of our mind and how each of these functions. He also offers a homework assignment this week that brings the lofty teachings of the Gita right into our daily lives in a very practical way. You can follow the series on the Bhagavad Gita playlist on the Integral Yoga YouTube channel.
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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 sutra 2.29. Patanjali explains how the kleshas can be removed by following the eight-fold path of Yoga, beginning with the yamas.
The yamas are classified as universal because they apply to all social divisions and categories of people and because they are to be applied regardless of the era we live in or situations we are experiencing. However, it is important not to equate their universality as meaning that they are morals that we blindly or unthinkingly cling to. That would lead to rigidity. Instead, the yamas are more like guides that nudge us toward the awakening of our innate inner guidance system, our inner light. Through study, contemplation, practice, mindfulness, and guidance, we uncover the spirit that animates the yamas. Though we necessarily begin with the letter of the “law,” it is the spirit that we ultimately follow, how to apply these resolves faithfully and intelligently in daily life. Using the yamas as guiding lights help us learn how to make wise decisions and take life paths that bring growth and benefit. MORE
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Swami Ramananda, president of the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco and co-director of the Integral Yoga Global Network, is in the midst of a very full tour of Brazil's Integral Yoga centers. At Jai Vida in Belo Horizonte, (which is now housed in a new location that is even more ideal for this wonderful Integral Yoga Center) he is teaching part 2 of the Raja Yoga Teacher Training. Then, he will teach a three-day seminar on Stress Management, give a satsang on July 5, and lastly teach the Jai Vida Teacher Training group of 23 people for the weekend of July 6th. Prior to arriving in Belo Horizonte, Swami Ramananda spoke at 2 universities, conducted several mantra initiations, blessed a new location for the Integral Yoga Center in Lavras, and gave three workshops to a group of teacher trainees in Varginha (see photo).
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This summer, Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville will conduct the annual Summer Integral Yoga Hatha Basic Teacher Training from July 14 – August 11. Staff positions are now open. Staffing a Teacher Training program can be a wonderful reason to spend a month at the ashram. You will also receive staffing credits for your service to be used toward any future programs or guest stays at the ashram. For more information, please contact the Integral Yoga Academy Manager, Integral Yoga Academy: (434) 969-3121 x153.
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Rev. Vimala Pozzi, director of the Integral Yoga Center of Richmond (Virginia) recently completed conducting their 2019 Integral Yoga Teachers Training program. As part of the program, trainees spent time in Yogaville as well as having Yogaville faculty visit the Richmond center. Vimala created a beautiful video for the graduation ceremony in Yogaville (part of which was held at the LOTUS). One unique aspect of this training was that it included six American Sign Language interpreters. These interpreters were inspired by a deaf student in the previous teacher training at the Center who became the first deaf Integral Yoga Hatha certified teacher in the United States! Congratulations to the new graduates!
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Inspiring Meme of the Week
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