Tonight is Ganesh Chaturthi - Ganesha's birthday.
May all obstacles in your life seem to fade away. But always remember that Ganesha was the one who put the obstacles there in the first place - to make you strong.
If you are a yoga teacher, you may find that many people actually fear contentment. They worry that it will make them lethargic and lazy – that life might prove boring. Without it they see themselves as exerting and energetic. However, I’ve noticed that contentment never makes anyone idle. It is a sattvic virtue that propels you towards
peace. It gives you strength of mind and checks unnecessary and selfish exertions. It calms your mind and opens your inner eye of intuition. If you are a contented person, you seem to be more able to work energetically and peacefully, with a one-pointed mind. All the dissipated rays of your mind are collected and available for use.
I'm planning to be in London for the entire month of September.
with best wishes
Swami Saradananda
"From contentment comes supreme happiness".
- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.42
Mandala: circular symbolic representations of both universal and personal forces; they do not always represent a deity.Instead, they are symbolic compositions of energy patterns that are more powerful than pictures.
Mandalas are tools that draw energy from outer world and direct it to the inner. According to Carl Jung,they represent the unconscious self.
Tibetan Buddhist monks create mandala sand paintings in times of stress, danger and conflict. The positive energy of the creation, coupled with the meditations of the monk-artists and the participating public, produce a very special environment that is conducive to healing and protection.
Yantra: uses geometric shapes to represent cosmic and personal connections. Every yantra is a mandala, though not all mandalas are yantras.
The literal meaning of the word ‘yantra’ is ‘instrument’ or ‘machine’. In actual practice a yantra is a symbolic representation of aspects of divine energy. It is an interlocking matrix of geometric figures that form patterns of great elegance and beauty. Although usually drawn in two dimensions, a yantra represents a multi-dimensional object or being.
A yantra is a meditation tool for serious spiritual seekers. Intense meditation on it causes the fully formed image to manifest in your mind's eye with an intensity that is remarkable for its imprinting ability.
Most yantras are connected to the Goddess, the most famous one being the Sri Chakra, an abstract representation of the Divine Mother as the Cosmos. There are also yantras for Ganesha and other male deities. And, there are yantras that are used for more mundane purposes: to enhance your quality of life, to attract prosperity, to attact love; to heal and relieve health problems, to protect you from negative forces.
Yantras are seen as essential to a god or goddess as a body is to a living human being. Constructed using sacred geometry, yatras are a most powerful centring devices for harnessing the divine energies. The design always focuses your attention onto the centre of the yantra where the bindu (dot) is supposed to constitute the spiritual body of the goddess or god
Yantras focus your desires and aspirations. They help you to transform your negative mental patterns into more positive mental habits. Yantras may be used to bring about healing and maintain a state of positive health and abundance. Because they are active energy systems, yantras are powerful in deflecting negative energies and maintaining internal harmony. All yantras are best understood as enhancing potential that already exists. They cannot force something to happen that is against natural karma, but they can aid and assist in bringing about desirable outcomes. For example, you cannot force somebody to love you, you cannot
force good luck and prosperity, but yantras can be used to speed up theprocess if the potential exists. They also help you to remove obstacles that may exist.
It is important to handle a yantra with the utmost respect and consideration. Careless treatment reduces its power.
“Aaa” chanting
· Inhale slowly and completely fill your lungs.
· Adopt Chin mudra while exhaling, chant "Aah” .
· Feel the sound resonance in the abdomen and the lower parts of your body.
· Repeat nine times.
“Ou” chanting
· Inhale slowly and completely fill your lungs.
· Adopt Chinmaya mudra (tips of thumb touching the tips of the index – and the middle, ring and little fingers folded to touch the palms) and while exhaling chant "OU".
· Feel the sound resonance in your chest and the middle part of the body.
· Repeat nine times.
“Mmm” chanting
· Inhale slowly and completely fill your lungs.
· Adopt Adi mudra (make a fist by folding your thumb inside and fold the other fingers touching the palms) and while exhaling chant "mmm".
· Feel the sound resonance in the head region.
· Repeat nine times.
AUM chanting
· Inhale slowly and completely fill your lungs.
· Adopt Brahma mudra (make each of your hands into a fist with the thumb tucked inside the fingers. Place your fists on either side of the navel) and while exhaling chant :AUM".
· Feel the sound resonance throughout your body.
· Repeat nine times.
In Indian philosophy, your body is viewed as being made up of five elements, with each of your five fingers representing one element:
Thumb: fire, sun, radiant matter, heat, light – the energy that drives all other matter
Index finger: air, wind, matter in gaseous form
Middle finger: sky, space, akasha, ether
With regular practice, these methods sharpen and expand your spiritual wisdom. They help you to restore balance within the microcosm and bring it into harmony with the macrocosm. They support your meditation practice and aid you in finding inner peace.
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The purpose of an Ashram is not to stimulate you or to provide enjoyment for your senses - although you may enjoy the scenery and the people you meet. An ashram is a place to spend time and return home feeling refreshed. It was established to offer an oasis of peace to real spiritual aspirants who have realised that there is really something greater than commercial and social activities, ordinary worldly life. Its purpose is enable you to rise higher and higher.
Whatever service you do in the ashram, whatever experience you have, it will also improve and deepen your life in the outside world.
I look forward to seeing you in Haus Yoga Vidya, Bad Meinberg in August!
OM
You may feel that you do not relate to the concept of "God" — or that you do not really know who or what God is — or even whether God really exists. You may (understandably) be loath to commit to doing things that you don't understand, even though they have been advocated by both ancient scriptures and modern yoga teachers.
If this is your situation, it might be helpful to envision ishwara-pranidhana as the steps you take towards letting go of your self-imposed limitations. You might begin by looking at how much your world is created by your thoughts. For example, when you tell yourself that you are weak, you will probably find yourself lacking strength. Or if you focus on an emotional experience, such as grief, it begins to form an integral part of your personality.
Begin by being a "silent witness" and seeing how you mould your character by your thoughts. The more you hold on to negativity, the more it controls you.
Remember, it is only the thought that you are not free keeps you from being free.
with best wishes for great success in your sadhana
Swami Saradananda