Ahymsin Newsletter: Yoga is Samadhi
  AHYMSIN Newsletter, Issue - October 2013  
 
   
 
   

Open House Pilot Session

by Rajini Prakash

The AHYMSIN “Open House” Initiative

The AHYMSIN "Open House" initiative was proposed on 28th April 2013 and received Swamiji's blessings.

The initiative is an outcome of discussions and informal talks from the Sangha Gathering 2013 at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama in Rishikesh, India. It emerged from participating family members that it would be helpful to have an avenue to clarify aspects with the Adhyatma Samiti (Spiritual Committee) and the AHYMSIN Executive Committee, since Swamiji is in silence.

To briefly summarize this initiative, it is an opportunity for all members of the sangha to participate through Skype and interact with a team comprising of representatives from the senior teachers, the Adhyatma Samiti (Spiritual Committee) and the AHYMSIN Executive Committee.

Due to limitations of a Skype call, only a total of 25 participants may sign up. Because of varying time zones, separate Skype calls will be hosted; each call will be based on geographical location. Invitations to participate are sent to sadhakas living in a given geographical area before the event.

Open House Pilot Session:

The pilot session of AHYMSIN Open House was held on 12th October 2013 at 15:00hours GMT. The duration was 1 hour. The panel consisted of Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma), Michael Kissener and Dr. Shirin Venkat.

The mode of communication was Skype.

The Open House invite was extended to family members in Europe and West Africa. The participants were from several different countries. The event was oversubscribed.

Schedule:

The session began with a welcome address and talk on “The Importance of Establishing a Steady Meditation Practice” by Stoma ji (5 minutes). It was followed by a talk on “Effects of Meditation on Health” by Dr. Shirin Venkat (5 minutes).

The next 45mins was a Q&A (Question and Answer) with participants (more details in Open House article currently being written).

At the end of Q&A, Tinyu Chen introduced participants to AHYMSIN initiatives encouraging their further participation.

The session ended with a talk on “Service as Sadhana” by Michael Kissener (5 minutes).

The session closed at 16:00hours.

Session:

Stoma ji spoke on “Establishing a Steady Meditation Practice”, with an emphasis on 2 minute meditation and Anushtana (spiritual disciplines). The talk included developing a personal practice, 2 minute meditation, practice of sitting for meditation regularly and developing a joyful routine. The importance of making the practice an enjoyable experience rather than a chore was reiterated.

This was followed by a talk by Dr. Shirin Venkat “Effects of Meditation on Health”. Dr. Venkat mentioned that disease begins in the mind. She spoke of her experience with taking pregnant women through meditation practice and shared that the earliest time to begin meditation is when the child is in the womb. Benefits of meditation on various aspects of health and its role in offsetting disease such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer were covered.

In the Q&A section, questions from participants covered a wide range of aspects relating to personal practice and sadhana. It began with a question on how to strengthen sankalpa-shakti (determination); the challenges that a practitioner faced in completing a given practice, for eg, a prescribed mantra japa for “n” number of times.

Discussions also involved the benefits of different mantras like the Gayatri and their impact in different situations. How the buddhi may be strengthened through the process.

The importance of 2 minute meditation was emphasized.

Other questions related to developing non-attachment during one’s sadhana, re-training the habits of the mind, reducing the effects of stress through meditation, how to cope with personal loss, how to pray for someone close who is dying, introducing children and adolescents to meditation practice, how to pray, how to manage chronic nostril dominance, the effects of pilgrimage on self development.

Panel responses covered aspects of personal practice, increasing attention and concentration and the benefits of japa, role of tapasya, attention and concentration, learning to enjoy one’s practice, relaxation practice, diaphragmatic breath, developing mindfulness, differentiation between emotional attachment and engagement, emotional purification, developing the right attitude, crossings of the micro and macrocosm in areas of pilgrimage, adhi and vyadhi (mental/emotional disturbances and physical illness), importance of selfless acts of service, developing compassion, swaroopa and svabhava, role of nadi-shodhanam and the importance of preparing oneself to invite the Guru’s grace and guidance.

The session closed with Michael Kissener speaking on “Service as Sadhana” during which Michael shared the importance of selfless service, the joy it brings, the need for us to accrue good acts without seeking any benefits from them and offering it to the Guru.

Feedback:

Participant feedback has been encouraging.  Attending family members enjoyed the talks and have conveyed their gratitude to the panel. The Himalayan Yoga Meditation Center of Mallorca followed the session with a satsang. Some participants shared that advice received from the panel would enhance personal practice, while others said that it was a wonderful opportunity for family members across several countries to come together. Many wish to participate in the next session.

“It was a wonderful experience. When the session finished, the 8 persons that were there sat in Satsang, and all of us felt it had been a very constructive experience.”
- Fernando & Atma, Himalayan Yoga Meditation Center of Mallorca

“Open house session was very interesting. It is amazing to think that we were together but around the world.”
-  Chiara Carrara, Italy

“This meeting has given me the incentive to re-establish my 2 minute meditation. Please thank Stomaji, Dr Venkat and Michaelji.”
- Aruna Mukerjee, UK

In service,
rajini
(on behalf of AHYMSIN secretarial team)

Editor’s Notes:

For more about the discussions and informal talks at the 2013 Sangha Gathering, please see http://ahymsin.org/main/ahymsin/ahymsin-family-sahaj-sewa.html  
For more about the 2013 Sangha Gathering, please see

The members of the AHYMSIN Executive Committee are: Swami Veda Bharati, Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Mohan Swami, Shi Hong, Stephen Parker (Stoma), Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo, Sadhana Mishra, Rajini Prakash, Tinyu Chen, Narendra Pushkarna, Bhola Shankar Dabral, Brian Stenquist, Chuck Linke, Jenifer Ang Wee Har, Pandit Tejomaya (Tim Bruns),Mariella Silva, Pierre Lefebvre, Tacson Fernandez, Veena Maitra, Dr. Shirin Venkat, Lela Pierce, Carolyn Hume, Har Prasad Manchanda, Vikash Ramjanam, and SRSG representative (to be communicated).  The secretarial team within the committee is Sadhana Mishra, Rajini Prakash, and Tinyu Chen.

The Adhyatma Samiti, or Spiritual Committee, is composed of mantra initiators and swamis: Alexander Benjamin, Carolyn Hume, Helen Choe, Lalita Arya, Linda Billau,  Ma Radha Bharati, Ma Richa Bharati,  Ma Sewa Bharati, Ma Turiya Bharati, Michael Kissener, Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral, Raghavendra Adiga, Rajah Indran, Savitri Jugdeo, Shi Hong, Stephen Parker, Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati, Swami Prashant Bharati , Swami Ritavan Bharati , Swami Tat Sat Bharati, Swami Tattvananda, Swami Veda Bharati, Wolfgang Bischoff, and Yoong. (Please note those with the title “Ma” are Swamis.)

Dr. Stephen Parker (Stoma) is also a senior teacher and a mantra initiator.

Dr. Shirin Venkat, a practicing gynecologist and obstetrician, is also the center leader in Pune, India.

Michael Kissener, a manta initiator, is also a Director at Yoga-Zentrum Innsbruck (http://www.yoga-tirol.at/).

Tinyu Chen is also center leader in Taiwan. Please see the article “AHYMSIN Taiwan Center” in this newsletter.

Rajini Prakash, along with Denise Martin-Harker and Tacson Fernandez, also acts a leader for Himalayan Yoga Meditation Group of UK.

Swami Rama has written about tapas in Choosing A Path:

“Tapas has often been misinterpreted as mortification of the flesh and excessive austerity, as exemplified by hair shirts and beds of nails. This is torture and not at all tapas.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the Lord clearly explains that yoga is not for those who are teased by the flesh, not for those who torture the flesh. Literally, tapas means that which generates the Divine fire. Heat rises within those who are full of spiritual fervor with the zeal of burning desire for attaining samadhi. Acts that increase this fervor constitute tapas; a simple life that is free of sensual indulgence, regulated fasting, remembering the Lord’s name all the time, serving one’s fellow man according to one’s ability and capacity – all constitute tapas.

Actually, the mind expresses itself through the senses. The five subtle senses (hearing, tasting, touching, smelling and seeing) are the subtle avenues through which one perceives the world.  The five gross senses (mouth, hands and feet, and the senses of elimination) are the avenues through which the mind expresses itself in the external world. If these senses are not trained and regulated, one cannot communicate properly with others.

For proper communication with the help of tapas one learns to have command and control over one’s expressions and sense perception so that the outgoing tendencies of the senses and sense perceptions are conducted in such a way that the mind does not lose its orderliness. The senses do disturb the mind if they are not orderly, but with the help of tapas, the senses are trained to function properly.

Tapas helps the mind to be undissipated and undistracted by external stimuli. Such a mind is capable of fathoming the deeper levels and does not become a source of distraction. Mortification of the flesh or torturing oneself has no value as far as tapas is concerned.”

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