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Don't Borrow Joy
“Some people want to be happy quickly, so they take short-cuts and get temporary happiness. But borrowed joy comes and goes. The happiness that we seem to be getting by our daily efforts is fleeting and mixed with a lot of troubles, worries, and unhappiness. We keep trying to find that happiness and we keep missing it. If we’re sincere and analyze well, we find, ultimately, that happiness never comes from outside.
“God bless you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.” —Sri Swami Satchidananda
(photo: Swami Satchidananda is given "joy" at an Integral Yoga retreat, Santa Barbara, California, mid-1980s.)
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Your practice of mantra repetition creates a sort of sound within. The sound is already in you. You are not doing anything new. That is the divine within you in the form of sound: namarupa, in Sanskrit. The Bible says that in the beginning there was the Word. That word is a mantra. So you are a mantra yourself, and it is there, but unfortunately it is all blocked up and you have to awaken it. Some people call it kundalini shakti. So you use an external mantra to kindle up the internal mantra. Only a mantra can help kindle a mantra. Once that is kindled up you don’t even have to repeat it; you simply sit there and listen to the mantra. After some time, even the mantra will be gone and only a sound will be there—a humming sound. If you do bhramari pranayama, you get the humming sound. Without doing anything, just sit and listen to that sound. It’s called Nada Yoga or listening to the sound within you. The sound can vary according to one’s caliber and development. There are ten types of sound. That is why in the Hindu form of worship in a temple there are many sounds that are used—drum, bells, pipes, and others. MORE
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Indigenous Wisdom for Whole Life
By Anneloes Smitsman
Through this article, I would like to share with you some of the deep wisdom that I received from one of the oldest continuous living cultures: the Australian Aborigines. I had the great fortune to learn from, and about, them during my eight years of living in Australia from 1998-2006. Those years became the foundation for everything I do and share today. Learning their ancient wisdom brought me back to my heart and gave me a sense of acceptance and love that I never experienced before in this human-made world of ‘progress’. It restored my sense of humanity and purpose and gave me strength to stay true to myself and my direct relationship with life. The Elders shared with me that they understood long ago that their purpose was to sustain the transmission of this living wisdom to the rest of our human family, until the time for the remembering and reconnection was called for, as it is now. One of the Yankunytjatjara Elders and Custodian of the Uluru Sacred Heritage, also called Uncle Bob Randall, explains (see video below) what it means to live from a deep sense of connectedness and relatedness with the whole ‘family of life’. MORE
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"Kanyini is best expressed in English as the combination of the two words ‘Responsibility’ and ‘Unconditional Love’, but it is actually a relationship; it is an enormous caring with no limit – it has no timeframe: it is eternal." –Uncle Bob Randall
Kanyini is based on four principles:
1. Ngura – A sense of belonging to home and land.
2. Walytja – Family connecting with life.
3. Kurunpa – Psyche, spirit or soul.
4. Tjukurrpa – Creation period, or also called the Dreamtime, and the right way to live.
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In this monthly series on the Yamas and Niyamas, Swami Karunananda offers wisdom and reflections on applying these foundational principles of Yoga in daily life. This month’s focus is on Asteya, non-stealing.
Sutra 2.37: To one established in non-stealing, all wealth comes.
There are five types of interactions one can have, based on how much we give and how much we take. The person who takes 100% and gives back nothing is a thief. The person who takes 100% and returns 50% is a debtor. A person who gives 100% and gets back 100% would be a fair businessman. A righteous person would give 100%, while taking only 50%. And a saint would give 100% and take nothing. —from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Exercise Suggestion:
Look at how you move through life and determine which category seems to best describe your actions. Then, try to shift to being more giving in your interactions. MORE
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In case it somehow escaped you, we’re in the midst of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the event that came to define the 1960s counterculture, the Woodstock Festival. Watch for aging hippies waxing nostalgic about those three magical days, whether they were there or not, and for endless commentary on the historical, sociological, and cultural meaning of the festival. For my part, I want to commemorate one brief but highly significant moment that occurred in the opening hour, on August 15, 1969. It does not get the attention it deserves. Of all the iconic Woodstock images—writhing mud-soaked bodies; impassioned performers like Jimi Hendrix; ecstatic faces and strung-out faces—one captures the spiritual zeitgeist of the era: Swami Satchidananda addressing the multitude. It’s a potent symbol of the meeting of East and West that transformed America’s spiritual and cultural landscape. Fifty years on, millions of people meditate, chant mantras, and stretch on yoga mats, and the swami who came to be called “The Woodstock Guru” deserves much of the credit.... No one contributed more to the modern yoga boom than Swami Satchidananda, who started training American teachers in the early 1970s. MORE
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Much has been written about how little those of us folding ourselves into downward dogs or stretching backward into camels understand Yoga’s history. Which is to say, not a lot. Dabblers may not even know the basics: that the postural practice of Yoga now so popular in the West is descended from a Hindu tantric, or esoteric, tradition called Hatha Yoga. This confusion may seem compounded by the fact that Western mindfulness and Yoga traditions are now deeply intertwined, both often taking part in the same spaces (think Yoga warm-ups at meditation retreats) or fusing together (as in mindful movement practices at Chan centers). Purists may object that we are mixing historically different traditions without regard for their separate root systems. While there may be some reason behind that concern—jumbling different practices together with no clear idea of what they are for or how they really work is not a recipe for deep transformation—the idea that we’re mixing two distinct things may be based on yet another misunderstanding of history. Until recently, I myself thought of a Yoga class infused with Buddhist meditation lingo as a mingling of two distinct spiritual traditions. 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 14, he delves further into the esoteric meaning of the Gita narrative and how it pertains to us. In Chapter 1, slokas 32-44, we find Arjuna still distraught as he's placed in the middle on the battlefield. His anxiety arises from a direct perception of how identified he is with his current ego structure. Who would he be if he transcends everything he holds dear in his life?
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Mark Stephens, author of Teaching Yoga, Yoga Therapy, and other titles, has taken on sleep—or lack of it! A reformed insomniac, Stephens now gets a full 8 hours of restorative sleep a night and shares how to do just that in his new book, Yoga for Better Sleep. Although modern science has unraveled some of the mysteries of our sleeping, dreaming, and waking states and age-old Yoga practices are helping us enjoy better sleep, clearer minds, and healthier bodies, over 65 percent of U.S. adults are still sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation causes and aggravates ailments like stress, heart conditions, high blood pressure, obesity, and depression. Stephens provides easy-to-do, effective Yoga practices—including postural sequences, breathing exercises, and meditation practices—for better sleep, no matter your age. He integrates the ancient wisdom of Yoga with the insights of modern neuroscience and psychology to offer practical age- and condition-specific tools and sequences for improving sleep naturally and without drugs.
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As another wonderful and wonder-filled summer in Yogaville draws to a close, the photo captures some of that wonder and joy during this year's Camp Yogaville. Camp is one of the most exciting events of the summer at Yogaville, and it’s not hard to see why. Kids gather to practice Hatha Yoga and meditation, but they also enjoy all the perks of a traditional summer camp, including making new friends, taking part in fun, kid-approved activities, and spending nights under the stars in rustic cabins. The annual tradition is more than 30 years-old and this year's camp saw nearly 40 kids enjoying the time of their lives! Kudos to camp directors Rev. Rudra Swartz, Sam Eberle, Ellen Mangum, and all the wonderful staff that makes each year such a memorable experience for all who participate! See you next summer!
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Inspiring Meme of the Week
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