Visit to Prashanti Kuteeram
Yogabharati,
Venue: Prashanti Kuteeram, Jigani,
Date: Sunday, the
Time:
Jagadeesh organized a nice visit to Prashanti, after talking
to Sri Raghuram. Adopting the approach of bringing Yoga to a) IT Professionals
and b)Grihastaas(Families), we wanted to expand
Yogabharati,
After reaching Prashanti, we all had a wonderful breakfast. Then, from 9.00 to 10.00 there was a site visit. We all went around the 150 acre campus to see the Research and Educational facilities of VYASA/VYOMA. There were a number of students pursuing their MS and Phd courses, and also some Therapy participants – who had come there to apply Yogic techniques to get over their medical problems. There was also a summer PDC (Personality Development Camp) for children going on, and with about 300 kids, the place was quite lively.
At 10.00, we all gathered for Dr. Nagarathna’s talk on Yoga for Promotion of Positive Health and Yoga for Ailments.
Summary of the Talk:
Yoga is not merely an absence of disease, according to WHO, it is a positive state of well being at Physical, Mental, Social/Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual levels. The first definition of Yoga is “yogah chitta vritti nirodhah” as given by Sage Patanjali – Yoga is a way to control modifications of mind. When the mind is disturbed, we should be able to get it focus on the task at hand. But, we find that we are quite well versed to do that. If we are engineers or doctors, that has been due to our power to control the mind or discipline the mind. We told ourselves that - we need to become an engineer or doctor, we should not spend too much time on entertainment etc. So, we can master the mind! What is the relevance of this definition of Yoga?
There is another aspect to this definition. There was a case where a German social worker came to Prashanti with a lot of tension / stress. She is a very good social worker, very rich and very compassionate. Whenever there is an earthquake or war, she would go to that place, work with the victims and help them. She gets a lot of satisfaction out of that. That’s a wonderful thing indeed! So, when asked why she is so stressed up, she said – ‘Oh these days there aren’t enough earthquakes or wars and I don’t have any work to do and hence I am tensed up’! J So, we don’t know how to turn off the mind when it is not needed. We have mastered the focusing of the mind – not the defocusing. This aspect is also a part of the mastery of mind as defined by Sage Patanjali. Too much of focusing may result in stress. We should know how to come out of it.
What is stress? Take the example of exam fear. Fear of bad performance is always there in all people. In some people, when they are in the exam hall and when they are about to take the exam, this fear grips them completely. What happens is that - the same thought – the fear of failure - gets speeded up. Mind starts continuously thinking of the same thing, over and over again. This is called exam stress. So, stress is characterized by speed.
Now comes the relevance of the second definition of Yoga, by Vasishta – “manah prashamanopAyah yogah” that which calms/slows down the mind is yoga. In Yoga, we learn various techniques to help us calm down – nadi shuddhi, slow breathing, building awareness etc. When we build awareness, we can take note of the precursors and before the stress builds up, we can tell ourselves to calm down.
So, what is the ideal state according to Yoga? Now comes in the third definition of Yoga, as given in Bhagawad Gita – “samatvam yoga” – a state of balance or equanimity is Yoga. This is a state where any amount of outside activity is not going to affect the inner peace or calm. Always work to the maximum, with a smile on!
That this is not an easy thing to achieve is well known. Arjuna, the mighty warrior and one of the finest men, says
so – this mind is tougher to control than wind. How do we go about it?
If we look at history, till about a century back, diseases like plague, malaria, TB, cholera etc. were giant killers. A lot of problems of the modern world have a psychosomatic component – heart attack, diabetes, AIDS, etc. According to Yoga these are “Adhija vyAdhis” – they have a root cause in the mind. Research by VYASA and many other organizations has shown the Yoga has excellent results in managing these ailments. Once we work on the mind and correct the imbalances there, we find that this slows down the body metabolism and thereby stress at physical level. A lot of problems disappear when these root causes are removed.
Yoga session from
After this talk, we went attended a Yogasana session by a student doing MS in Yoga. The session started with a prayer, then breathing practices to build awareness, loosening practices to warm up and then we proceeded to do some simple asanas – Ardhachakrasana, Vakrasana etc. After the asanas, we did DRT – Deep Relaxation Technique, to relax wonderfully. The session ended with closing prayer.
Raghuram ji’s talk(12.15-1.15)
After the session, we were all eager to listen to Raghuram ji. He is a wizard with emotions and we were excited to hear him talk on Bhakti Yoga and the relevance of emotions in our mundane life and spiritual life. It will be a travesty to summarize his talk or to capture the magic he weaves in his discourse. Anyway, following the dictum “something is better than nothing”, here we go!
Yoga is not just a reprieve from the physical ailments or to achieve a positive state of well being at physical level. Yoga is something deeper. While the whole world seems to run on intellect, we always neglect emotions. We must understand that emotions come first, Intellect later. A child runs to its mother not “because” she is the most beautiful person, or she is most intelligent person. Actually, there is no reason! In the realm of emotions, reason has no place. We must understand that intellect / reason is only a tool. Outside, we find that it all emotional. All during our studies, we are told that emotions are bad, reason is good. To cry is feminine etc. But, once we start working, we find that all our interactions with others – marriage, family ties etc are all emotional.
Bhakti Yoga helps us to elevate and ennoble these emotions. It is said ‘Where mind becomes peaceful, that is the place of Vishnu’. That means – you become Vishnu when your mind is peaceful. With Bhakti Yoga, we can experience ‘Tripti’ – a sense of satisfaction. Some think joy is of different kinds. When you eat a nice sweet, there is one kind of joy. If you visit a particular place, there is another kind of joy. If you listen to a particular piece of music or if you meditate, the joy is different. That is wrong! The joy that we experience is always the same. If we achieve joy through a practice of will power or intense discipline, it is called Raja Yoga. If we get it through intellect, it is called Jnana Yoga. If we get it through work, it is called Karma Yoga. And if we get it through surrender or bhakti, it is called Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga, God is incidental, not important. Bhakti Yoga is the way for emotional cleansing and to reach higher planes of spirituality.
When you are in a state of love, the intellect dissolves. No intellect can match love / emotions. Sharada Devi, when she has to go to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s house for the first time, starts off the journey with her uncle. On the way, a dacoit comes to them. With all innocence, Sharada Devi addresses the dacoit “Father, my name is Sharada”. That’s it! There is a huge transformation in the dacoit. Instead of attacking Sharada Devi and her uncle, he becomes very kind, enquires about her. Upon finding that she is sick, calls his wife, hosts them in his house, gets herbs for treatment. And, to cap it all, he goes to Dakshineshwar, along with the two, and makes sure that Sharada safely reaches her husband. How can intellect explain this?
This is the power of love – pure and unconditional. Love is internal, not external. The object of love is just incidental. It is a mere reflection of the emotion inside. When we go to temples, we must go to the God for the sake of love! Nothing else! Just think, if God can save your car for offering a coconut, what all He can give you if you offer yourself! Bhakti Sadhana is to bring God to human level. With what bhAva do we do the Puja – that is more important. We can see the real nature of bhakti through Ramayana – where Hanuman is the epitome of Bhakti. Hanuman could never think of himself outside Rama. When in a state of love, the advaitic concept of Unity is realized. Triputa bhanga – the seer, seen and the seeing become one!
Lunch & Happy Assembly(1.15-3.00)
Many of us had tears in our eyes, at the end of the talk. Such was the wonderful explanation of Bhakti and Sacrifice, explained to us by Raghuram ji. No wonder, we love to hear him again and again.
After lunch, as a part of Happy Assembly, we all gathered in a circle and played lots of fun-filled, awareness building games. We purchased some books at the bookshop and proceeded to go home.
It was a day very well spent and we all decided to come to Prashanti frequently.
Yogabharati,
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