CORONARY CONDITION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE

 S. J. Basu

                                 

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In 1979, it happened again. I had my second attack. My anginal attack in 1975 had left me a bit shaken up. Having time to think during this period of forced rest, I had suddenly realized that the rat race in which I found myself was not worth the risks involved. After all, what was I working for? Why was I so involved, that I spent sleepless nights and days away from my family? And for what was I allowing my health and spiritual development to take second place to my work and ambition? 

       

On leaving the hospital, I joined The Yoga Institute in Santacruz, though only for the physical benefits. However, under the supervision of Dr. Jayadeva, I discovered that Yoga was really a philosophy in itself. Dr. Jaydeva, through subtle suggestions and simple discussions gradually aroused my interest in the scriptures. And so I started reading the interpretation of the Bhagwad Gita.

Though for a year or so, I attended the ashram regularly, as my health improved and I grew more confident in my ability to deal with life, I became irregular in my attendance and without realizing it, I was back in the rat race.     

In September 1979, the attack was more serious and my heart received a minor but permanent damage. It was followed by another attack in march 1980 and I was advised coronary bypass surgery. After my operation, for almost a year I had minor problems with chest pains due to an infection in my lungs. At this stage, I went back to The Yoga Institute, but this time with more faith and dedication.  

For the last one-and-half year, I have been regularly attending The Yoga institute every morning, trying to make it part of my day. By following this, I have been keeping healthy and there have been no recurrences of my lung problem.   

Though this is important, the major benefit, I think, has been in changing my perspective of life. I have reverted to reading books on the Vedanta. In the beginning, we used to have a group discussion with Dr. Jayadeva. These discussions have helped considerably in reinforcing ideas and strengthening my faith.   

I find that my attitude towards life has moved away from the purely materialistic one. Peace of mind can be gained only by reducing our desires and controlling our minds. This conviction has come through my having more detached approach towards life.

 

Published in the November 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine

www.theyogainstitute.org

EVIL BEGETS EVIL, GOOD, GOOD

Shri Yogendraji

This rule holds true always. If you indulge in wrong behavior or negative tendencies, the results will continue to be of a pathological and depraving kind. Evil etches a groove for itself in our memory. A complete change occurs in our personality. The pure spectrum of our consciousness enters into denser areas. The poor quality of our awareness and understanding manifests variously including in diseases  - physical and psychological. Here are stories in circulation in ancient asramas – the final resort for the sick and the suffering ones.

 

First thoughts, their impressions and their behavior, seems to be the sequence in all our behavior in life. The desire to steal leads to such a behavior also. The philanthropist thinks in a charitable way and acts so. The sick continues to remain sick just as a greedy individual remains greedy all his life. In fact when indulging thus in a certain way as a result of old tendencies, one comes to like that kind of behavior. As Emerson has said: “It is easy for a strong person to be strong and for a weak one to be weak’. In fact the man with positive feelings is so imbued with this spirit that he maintains such an outlook all his life.    

It was a winter day, cold had just set in. People felt the severity of winter as much as birds and animals. A sadhu arrived in a village, lighted afire, sat and got lost in his devotion. The severity of winter did not affect him. Nearby stood a merchant who was pious at heart and gave away in charity whatever he could to saintly individuals. He had purchased recently a beautiful kashmiri shawl for the winter. On seeing the sadhu seated without protective clothes on him, the merchant ran down to his house and brought the shawl. He went up to the sadhu, quietly covered him with the shawl and stood respectfully at a distance after that. The sadhu recognized the sincere devotee in the merchant and while blessing him said; “Child, you continue to act thus always.” The merchant was very pleased and went his way.  

A thief was standing at a distance from the sadhu. No sooner the merchant departed he moved towards the holy man. “The shawl is indeed very expensive and can provide me for the winter. What will this poor sadhu do with such expensive piece? In fact this piece is not his earning and moreover what has a sadhu to do with a shawl? The thief was just voicing a popular feeling that a holy man need no comforts or even necessities.

The thief assured himself thus and was sure that if he chose to steal the stuff there was no fear of any kind – law would not interfere, the holy man would not get angry, there was also no fear of a chase. He therefore decided on a trick. He went over to the sadhu, pretended to be his disciple saying, “Sir I am blessed by being in your presence. Meeting with holy men removes one’s sins, one’s pains and one’s poverty.” He then praised the quality of the shawl on the holy man and desired to see the texture of the beautiful piece. He drew away the shawl from the sadhu to himself and after a while announced, “Forget it that you will ever get this shawl again” and just walked away. He heard the holy man saying to him, “Child you continue to act thus always.”

This last sentence of the sadhu intrigued the thief. He could not fathom this. The holy man said similarly to the philanthropist as he just told him. Why does this man bless people like this – asked the thief to himself. The curiosity led to a pause, a desire for understanding. This became a new tendency in him and it led him back to the holy man. He fell at the feet of the sadhu, asked for his pardon and mentioned his very deep-seated urge to understand what the sadhu said and did. “You bless the merchant that he continues to act always in the same way as he acted with you, and you blessed me also that I continue to act the way I did.” The holy man explained: “Child good people maintain their goodness always. The wicked continue according to their nature. Be sure the evil doer will enjoy a life of evil deeds all along. The merchant is a man of noble feelings, love and and so I blessed him to continue thus. You saw the shawl and had the perverted desire to steal the shawl. So I blessed you that you are creating evil tendencies and as a result would act thus all your life. “            

                                                 

                                                                         (In Paramahamsa ni Prasadi.)

Published in the November 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine

www.theyogainstitute.org

BREATHE AWARENESS

– Review

Article Bi Monthly 2009

Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi.

                            by  Mahamandalersar Swami Ved Bharati

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Alphabet of meditation is breathing in one of the Sufi traditions. Naqshbakdiandi order places the most prominence on breath awareness. One of the beautiful names of God is used as one may do mental recitation of ILLILLAH (but one God). With inhalation in the Gospel according to St. John some time after the crucifixion Christ appeared and breathed and breathed into them and said, “Receive Ye the Holy spirit” (John 2022). In Mount Athos at the Autonomous Monastic of holy Mountains boy the Greek and the Russian versions teach the system of remembering God a prayer with breath awareness. The texts advice that breathing practices with prayer be undertaken under the guidance of a master. In China the practice of breath awareness is as ancient as it is in India.   

Mahamandaleswar Swami Ved Bharati’s conversation with Taoist guides in China had confirmed that in China they continue to teach the breath awareness practices that parallel ones in Indogenic systems.

The practice of breath awareness is familiar to the Tamil Siddhas. The major saints of medieval India placed a great deal of emphasis of understanding breath and using it as a vehicle for higher realization. Guru Granth Sahib reportedly admonishes the devotees to pay attention to breath and let the name of God be remembered at each breath. The Buddhist follow this. Both the Chinese Ch’an and the Japanese Zen also teach concentration on breath from below the navel. There are debates among Jainas as to the efficacy of breathing exercises.

Yogi Yajnavalkya Smiti speaks of not forcible inhaling or exhaling (force would be if grains of flour kept in hand should not get stirred). Even non-jerky breathing is emphasized. Length of exhalation and inhalation should be even. No breaks. Exhalation is when meditation begins. Do not keep changing methods, one can later get into a state of consciousness and a physical and emotional correlation without using the technique by just a Sankalpa.

Published in the November 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF YOGA EDUCATION

Promil Jain Sequeira

Yoga education can supplement school and university education. It can prepare the students physically and mentally for the integration of their physical, mental and spiritual faculties so that the students can become healthier, saner and more integrated members of the society and of the nation.

Yoga education helps in self discipline and sel-control, leading to immense amount of awareness, concentration and higher level of consciousness. Briefly the aims and objectives of Yoga education are:
1)    To enable the student to have good health.
2)    To practice mental hygiene.
3)    To possess emotional stability.
4)    To integrate moral values.    
5)    To attain higher level of consciousness.
. All these objectives could be dealt with in an integrated manner.

Yoga education could help to equip oneself with basic knowledge about one’s personality, to learn to handle oneself well in all life situations, to learn techniques of gaining good health, to develop a discriminative mind capable of knowing the real from the unreal and to face the dualities of life with equanimity.

Yoga education can start from standard II up to standard IX. This would require about 480 sessions. For details of core learning, skill learning and concomitant learning – refer Cyclopedia Vol. II on Yoga education; Vol. I on Asanas.

Yoga education can enhance all the activities of the students, be it academic or sport or social. Yoga techniques provide improved attention in studies, better stamina and co-ordination for sports and a heightened awareness and balanced attitude for social activity.   

Yoga education can be integrated in school education during the time set aside for P.T. but in a calm and quiet place creating the proper atmosphere for its proper study and practice.

Clear concepts are necessary in teaching Yoga. Yoga practices can be built around concepts like conditioning (preparation), synchronization, concentration, relaxation,  self-reliance. (These have been elaborated in “Teaching Yoga” – a publication of The Yoga Institute. Yoga teaching/learning should be experience based, i.e. the student should gain direct experience of the subject taught. Here the skill and knowledge of the teacher come into full play. A dedicated and dynamic teacher can create an atmosphere for learning. The teacher should have a deep experience of the concept he is teaching. Moreover, he can teach only what he knows. The teacher should have good rapport with the students. The teacher should be trained and experienced in knowing the physical and psychological needs of the students in various age groups. As Yoga deals with life and learning, these concepts should be integrated into life situations through various methods available to the teacher.

As the Yoga teacher gains experience, he may have to acquire skills of a counselor for the problems the student faces at the physical, psychological and spiritual levels of his personality. Counseling can be done during the time allotted for recreation.

Teachers and parents should acquaint themselves with Yoga; they could attend a short introductory course on Yoga. This will help them to understand the special needs of a student practicing Yoga.  

The course of Yoga for the student should be well formulated in terms of contents, aptness and graded so that what is learnt earlier works hand in glove with what follows. Practices should be progressive – from easy to difficult; ideology should only be explained students of a later class who are mature to understand it.
An ideal number for a Yoga class is 20 students; if there are more in number, one assistant would be useful. It is difficult to handle large numbers in a Yoga class – the teachers could lose contact with the students and the Yoga class in turn mechanical.  
As Yoga experience is subjective – any mechanical means of evaluation may not provide a good guideline. An experienced teacher can notice the progress of a Yoga student through his behavior and through his life activities. The Yoga Institute has worked on all aspects of Yoga education and through its pioneering efforts, it has provided the finest training for Yoga education teachers.

Published in the November 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine.

PLEASURE AND MORE PLEASURE

Our desires have to be understood. Likes and dislikes are a fundamental trait of all living beings. Just because you like something you should not keep indulging in it, till it harms you and ruins you. There are objects that are pleasure giving. But we can not blindly pursue till they hurt and ruin us. If we are in our senses we stop when pleasure starts leading to pain.

A foreigner descended upon a small village that was simple and did not boast of a factory or any of large machines . It was simple and poor but quite happy, peaceful and content.

The foreigner gathered to gather the villagers and spoke to them about their nearby town, where the people worked together in a large factory and earned good wages. Some of these men went to pubs and enjoyed drinks. Liquor was tasty. He made a few to actually drink it and inquired if they liked it and gave more. Some consumed a lot of alcohol and were dizzy. Later they went away He kept up this “introduction to alcohol sessions” on and off . And very shortly many in the village became alcoholic. The foreigner made money. This is the power of allowing desires to have free run. Controlling these deep seated urges, instincts, needs rigorous work. The understanding and deep effort to stop these instinctive desires like for food, for drink, for sex, is not easy.

By repeated practices and deep insights one begins to recognize and control them. So often in old writing they talk of person immune to heat and cold, pleasure and pain etc.

Suka, a young boy passed through a pond full of unclad young girls, frolicking and bathing. Suka does not even bother to look at them, but looks ahead to reach a very wise man, Janaka, to learn about spirituality! That was his upbringing.

Published in the November 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine

GRATITUDE

Dr. Patanjali J. Yogendra

There is an incident regarding Mother Teresa described in B.K.R. Pais book ‘Mother of love’.

Mother saw a woman lying in a gutter in Calcutta Lane. She was being eaten away by worms, disease ridden and unconscious. Most passers by would steer clear of this woman to avoid the stench and filth. Mother Teresa however took her to her home for the destitute, gave her a bath and put her in bed. Afterwards, mother touched her hand to soothe her. The woman’s face for a few fleeting moments lit up with a serene smile and she said, “Thank you”. And then she died.

Mother Teresa, while recounting this incident, concluded that “Had I been in her position, I would have said that I am hungry, I am sick, thirsty or in pain. I could never have brought myself to say Thank you”. She says, “It is this woman who,  taught me a lesson in Gratitude”.

None of us are, and I pray we never should be in the position of that woman, and yet how often we are grateful for all that is around us: for all of nature’s gifts and God’s blessings.  


Published in the Nov 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine.