YOGANANDA with Personal Reflections & Reminiscences
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Yoga and Pilates: What’S the Difference? by Sherri R
Yoga and Pilates: What’s the difference? By Sherri R. Betz, PT, GCS, PMA®-CPT Have you ever wondered… “What are the differences between Yoga and Pilates?” Someone jokingly said, “The difference between Pilates and Yoga is that in Yoga you close your eyes and think about god and in Pilates you keep your eyes open and think about your abs!” One guru said the purpose of Yoga is to become more flexible so that you could sit comfortably to meditate. Yoga certainly is more than that. I write this in trepidation of offending the beautiful Yoga and Pilates practitioners around the world. I hope to distill some of the information about Yoga and Pilates looking at some of the differences and similarities between them to help practitioners understand these popular forms of movement. My yoga practice began in Louisiana (when no one did yoga there!) at about the age of 15. At the local library, I happened to pick up The Sivananda Companion to Yoga and started trying out some of the poses and breathing. Actually, I skipped the breathing and avoided it for many years until I did my Pilates training and was forced to learn to breathe! Now I am devoted to my Ashtanga/Vinyasa Yoga practice and my Pilates work to keep my body in shape and to add a spiritual component to my life. It has been very interesting to compare a movement practice that has been around for 2000 years with one that has been around for only about 80 years. Yoga: Navasana (Boat Pose) Pilates: Teaser Common Forms of Yoga Practice in the United States: Yoga was brought to us by Hindus practicing in India. -
—The History of Hatha Yoga in America: The
“The History of Hatha Yoga in America: the Americanization of Yoga” Book proposal By Ira Israel Although many American yoga teachers invoke the putative legitimacy of the legacy of yoga as a 5000 year old Indian practice, the core of the yoga in America – the “asanas,” or positions – is only around 600 years old. And yoga as a codified 90 minute ritual or sequence is at most only 120 years old. During the period of the Vedas 5000 years ago, yoga consisted of groups of men chanting to the gods around a fire. Thousands of years later during the period of the Upanishads, that ritual of generating heat (“tapas”) became internalized through concentrated breathing and contrary or bipolar positions e.g., reaching the torso upwards while grounding the lower body downwards. The History of Yoga in America is relatively brief yet very complex and in fact, I will argue that what has happened to yoga in America is tantamount to comparing Starbucks to French café life: I call it “The Americanization of Yoga.” For centuries America, the melting pot, has usurped sundry traditions from various cultures; however, there is something unique about the rise of the influence of yoga and Eastern philosophy in America that make it worth analyzing. There are a few main schools of hatha yoga that have evolved in America: Sivananda, Iyengar, Astanga, and later Bikram, Power, and Anusara (the Kundalini lineage will not be addressed in this book because so much has been written about it already). After practicing many of these different “styles” or schools of hatha yoga in New York, North Carolina, Florida, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Paris as well as in Thailand and Indonesia, I became so fascinated by the history and evolution of yoga that I went to the University of California at Santa Barbara to get a Master of Arts Degree in Hinduism and Buddhism which I completed in 1999. -
Dr Amit Aggarwal Original Research Paper
Original Research Paper Volume-9 | Issue-2 | February-2019 | PRINT ISSN - 2249-555X General Medicine YOGA AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL FOR AUTONOMIC MODULATION AND SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS: A PILOT STUDY MBBS MD Asst. Professor Dept. of Medicine Smt. Kashibai Navle Medical College, Dr Amit Aggarwal Pune Dr. Shreepad MBBS MD Professor and Head Dept. of Medicine Smt. Kashibai Navle Medical Bhat* College, Pune* Corresponding Author ABSTRACT Background: Autonomic neuropathy is a frequent cause of morbidity in diabetic individuals. Aim: To explore the effect of different yoga modalities of Ananda Yoga on autonomic modulation and wellbeing in diabetic patients. Method: It was a single blind, non invasive, pilot study. Autonomic parameters and subjective wellbeing were assessed using biofeedback (HRV) monitor and a questionnaire respectively. Results: The mean SDNN in Resting, Energization Exercise, Yoga postures, Meditation and Post session was 29.82±8.89, 59.38±37.48, 45.02±14.86, 38.1±16.96 and 60.13±62.06 respectively. The mean LF in ms² was 252.71±252.66, 778.84±673.53, 399.83±378.05, 769.93±766.03 and 437.55±411.43 respectively. The mean HF in ms² was 141.28±159.52, 377.28±543.15, 133.91±99.54, 265.87±293.45 and 173.85±216.09 respectively. Improvement in subjective wellbeing was statistically signicant (p < 0.05) Conclusion: A single session of Ananda Yoga showed statistically signicant autonomic modulation and subjective wellbeing improvement in patients of type 2 diabetes. Further studies are needed to explore the benets of yoga. -
Kriya Babaji Nagaraj
Kriya Babaji Nagaraj by Marshall Govindan In 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda, one of modern India’s greatest yogis, revealed in his classic “Autobiography of a Yogi” the existence of a Christ-like saint, an immortal yogi, Mahavatar Babaji. Yogananda related how for centuries, Babaji lived in the Himalayas guiding many spiritual teachers at a distance, usually without their ever knowing about it. Babaji was a great siddha, one who had overcome ordinary human limitations and who worked silently for the spiritual evolution of all humanity, from behind the scenes. Babaji was revealed to be who, in1891, taught Lahiri Mahasaya, a powerful series of yogic techniques, known as “Kriya Yoga.” Babaji also taught Lahiri’s own Christ-like guru, Sri Yukteswar, some thirty years earlier. Yogananda says that he spent 10 years with is guru before Babaji himself appeared to him and directed him to bring the sacred science of Kriya to the West. Yogananda fulfilled this sacred mission from 1920 to 1952, when he attained mahasamadhi. In the year 203 A.D. a boy born under the same star as Lord Krishna some 3,500 years earlier, was given the name Nagaraj. Nagarja was born in what is now the seaport of Porto Novo (Parangipettai), in Tamil Nadu, on the eastern coast of India. The name Nagaraj means “serpent king” and refers to kundalini, our great divine potential power and consciousness. His parents were Nambudri Brahmins who had immigrated there from the Malabar coast on the western side of South India. His father was the priest in the Shiva temple in the village, which is today dedicated to Muruga. -
SWAMI YOGANANDA and the SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP a Successful Hindu Countermission to the West
STATEMENT DS213 SWAMI YOGANANDA AND THE SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP A Successful Hindu Countermission to the West by Elliot Miller The earliest Hindu missionaries to the West were arguably the most impressive. In 1893 Swami Vivekananda (1863 –1902), a young disciple of the celebrated Hindu “avatar” (manifestation of God) Sri Ramakrishna (1836 –1886), spoke at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago and won an enthusiastic American following with his genteel manner and erudite presentation. Over the next few years, he inaugurated the first Eastern religious movement in America: the Vedanta Societies of various cities, independent of one another but under the spiritual leadership of the Ramakrishna Order in India. In 1920 a second Hindu missionary effort was launched in America when a comparably charismatic “neo -Vedanta” swami, Paramahansa Yogananda, was invited to speak at the International Congress of Religious Liberals in Boston, sponsored by the Unitarian Church. After the Congress, Yogananda lectured across the country, spellbinding audiences with his immense charm and powerful presence. In 1925 he established the headquarters for his Self -Realization Fellowship (SRF) in Los Angeles on the site of a former hotel atop Mount Washington. He was the first Eastern guru to take up permanent residence in the United States after creating a following here. NEO-VEDANTA: THE FORCE STRIKES BACK Neo-Vedanta arose partly as a countermissionary movement to Christianity in nineteenth -century India. Having lost a significant minority of Indians (especially among the outcast “Untouchables”) to Christianity under British rule, certain adherents of the ancient Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism retooled their religion to better compete with Christianity for the s ouls not only of Easterners, but of Westerners as well. -
Balabodha Sangraham
बालबोध सङ्ग्रहः - १ BALABODHA SANGRAHA - 1 A Non-detailed Text book for Vedic Students Compiled with blessings and under instructions and guidance of Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Sri Sankaracharya Swamiji 69th Peethadhipathi and Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Sri Sankaracharya Swamiji 70th Peethadhipathi of Moolamnaya Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Offered with devotion and humility by Sri Atma Bodha Tirtha Swamiji (Sri Kumbakonam Swamiji) Disciple of Pujyasri Kuvalayananda Tirtha Swamiji (Sri Tambudu Swamiji) Translation from Tamil by P.R.Kannan, Navi Mumbai Page 1 of 86 Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham ॥ श्रीमहागणपतये नमः ॥ ॥ श्री गु셁भ्यो नमः ॥ INTRODUCTION जगत्कामकलाकारं नािभस्थानं भुवः परम् । पदपस्य कामाक्षयाः महापीठमुपास्महे ॥ सदाििवसमारमभां िंकराचाययमध्यमाम् । ऄस्मदाचाययपययनतां वनदे गु셁परमपराम् ॥ We worship the Mahapitha of Devi Kamakshi‟s lotus feet, the originator of „Kamakala‟ in the world, the supreme navel-spot of the earth. We worship the Guru tradition, starting from Sadasiva, having Sankaracharya in the middle and coming down upto our present Acharya. This book is being published for use of students who join Veda Pathasala for the first year of Vedic studies and specially for those students who are between 7 and 12 years of age. This book is similar to the Non-detailed text books taught in school curriculum. We wish that Veda teachers should teach this book to their Veda students on Anadhyayana days (days on which Vedic teaching is prohibited) or according to their convenience and motivate the students. -
The Physio-Kundalini Syndrome and Mental Illness
THE PHYSIO-KUNDALINI SYNDROME AND MENTAL ILLNESS Bruce Greyson Farmington,Connecticut In Eastern spiritual traditions, the biological mechanism of both individual enlightenment and evolution of the species toward higher consciousness is called kundalini, a potential force that once awakened can .produce a variety of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual effects. The ancient yogic texts described a life energy present in all living beings called prana. Kundalini was described as a normally dormant mechanism or organizing principle that could be activated or awakened under certain conditions, to a strengthen or purify an individual's prana, transforming its effects normally upon the individual. dormant mechanism Kundalini has been held responsible for life itself (Krishna, 1972), or the sexual drive, creativity, genius, longevity, and vigor (Krishna, organizing 1975), and our evolution toward an ultimate, magnificent state of principle consciousness (Krishna, 1974b). The dormant kundalini is said to be situated at the base of the spine (Muktananda, 1974;Kason et al., 1993), and when aroused can travel upwards along the spinal cord to the brain, where it can stimulate a dormant chamber of the brain (the brahma randhra),leading to biological transformation and inunensely expanded perception (Krishna, 1972, 1975). THE PHYSIO-KUNDALINI SYNDROME Itzhak Bentov (1977), a biomedical engineer who studied the physiological effects of altered states of consciousness, concluded This article is based inpart on a presentationat the FirstAnnualSymposiumof the KundaliniResearchNetwork, Watsonville,CA, June 18, 1992.The author grate fully acknowledgesthe help of Kenneth Ring, Ph.D. and Barbara Harris, R.T.T.• Ms.T., in developingthe Physio-KundaliniSyndromeIndex questionnaireused in this study. -
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa SALYA
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa SALYA PARVA translated by Kesari Mohan Ganguli In parentheses Publications Sanskrit Series Cambridge, Ontario 2002 Salya Parva Section I Om! Having bowed down unto Narayana and Nara, the most exalted of male beings, and the goddess Saraswati, must the word Jaya be uttered. Janamejaya said, “After Karna had thus been slain in battle by Savyasachin, what did the small (unslaughtered) remnant of the Kauravas do, O regenerate one? Beholding the army of the Pandavas swelling with might and energy, what behaviour did the Kuru prince Suyodhana adopt towards the Pandavas, thinking it suitable to the hour? I desire to hear all this. Tell me, O foremost of regenerate ones, I am never satiated with listening to the grand feats of my ancestors.” Vaisampayana said, “After the fall of Karna, O king, Dhritarashtra’s son Suyodhana was plunged deep into an ocean of grief and saw despair on every side. Indulging in incessant lamentations, saying, ‘Alas, oh Karna! Alas, oh Karna!’ he proceeded with great difficulty to his camp, accompanied by the unslaughtered remnant of the kings on his side. Thinking of the slaughter of the Suta’s son, he could not obtain peace of mind, though comforted by those kings with excellent reasons inculcated by the scriptures. Regarding destiny and necessity to be all- powerful, the Kuru king firmly resolved on battle. Having duly made Salya the generalissimo of his forces, that bull among kings, O monarch, proceeded for battle, accompanied by that unslaughtered remnant of his forces. Then, O chief of Bharata’s race, a terrible battle took place between the troops of the Kurus and those of the Pandavas, resembling that between the gods and the Asuras. -
Odisha Review Dr
Orissa Review * Index-1948-2013 Index of Orissa Review (April-1948 to May -2013) Sl. Title of the Article Name of the Author Page No. No April - 1948 1. The Country Side : Its Needs, Drawbacks and Opportunities (Extracts from Speeches of H.E. Dr. K.N. Katju ) ... 1 2. Gur from Palm-Juice ... 5 3. Facilities and Amenities ... 6 4. Departmental Tit-Bits ... 8 5. In State Areas ... 12 6. Development Notes ... 13 7. Food News ... 17 8. The Draft Constitution of India ... 20 9. The Honourable Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's Visit to Orissa ... 22 10. New Capital for Orissa ... 33 11. The Hirakud Project ... 34 12. Fuller Report of Speeches ... 37 May - 1948 1. Opportunities of United Development ... 43 2. Implication of the Union (Speeches of Hon'ble Prime Minister) ... 47 3. The Orissa State's Assembly ... 49 4. Policies and Decisions ... 50 5. Implications of a Secular State ... 52 6. Laws Passed or Proposed ... 54 7. Facilities & Amenities ... 61 8. Our Tourists' Corner ... 61 9. States the Area Budget, January to March, 1948 ... 63 10. Doings in Other Provinces ... 67 1 Orissa Review * Index-1948-2013 11. All India Affairs ... 68 12. Relief & Rehabilitation ... 69 13. Coming Events of Interests ... 70 14. Medical Notes ... 70 15. Gandhi Memorial Fund ... 72 16. Development Schemes in Orissa ... 73 17. Our Distinguished Visitors ... 75 18. Development Notes ... 77 19. Policies and Decisions ... 80 20. Food Notes ... 81 21. Our Tourists Corner ... 83 22. Notice and Announcement ... 91 23. In State Areas ... 91 24. Doings of Other Provinces ... 92 25. Separation of the Judiciary from the Executive .. -
Essays and Addresses on the Śākta Tantra-Śāstra
ŚAKTI AND ŚĀKTA ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES ON THE ŚĀKTA TANTRAŚĀSTRA BY SIR JOHN WOODROFFE THIRD EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED Celephaïs Press Ulthar - Sarkomand - Inquanok – Leeds 2009 First published London: Luzac & co., 1918. Second edition, revised and englarged, London: Luzac and Madras: Ganesh & co., 1919. Third edition, further revised and enlarged, Ganesh / Luzac, 1929; many reprints. This electronic edition issued by Celephaïs Press, somewhere beyond the Tanarian Hills, and mani(n)fested in the waking world in Leeds, England in the year 2009 of the common error. This work is in the public domain. Release 0.95—06.02.2009 May need furthur proof reading. Please report errors to [email protected] citing release number or revision date. PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. HIS edition has been revised and corrected throughout, T and additions have been made to some of the original Chapters. Appendix I of the last edition has been made a new Chapter (VII) in the book, and the former Appendix II has now been attached to Chapter IV. The book has moreover been very considerably enlarged by the addition of eleven new Chapters. New also are the Appendices. The first contains two lectures given by me in French, in 1917, before the Societé Artistique et Literaire Francaise de Calcutta, of which Society Lady Woodroffe was one of the Founders and President. The second represents the sub- stance (published in the French Journal “Le Lotus bleu”) of two lectures I gave in Paris, in the year 1921, before the French Theosophical Society (October 5) and at the Musée Guimet (October 6) at the instance of L’Association Fran- caise des amis de L’Orient. -
An Introduction to Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques That Are Specific for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders
THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE Volume 10, Number 1, 2004, pp. 91–101 ©Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. PRACTICE An Introduction to Kundalini Yoga Meditation Techniques That Are Specific for the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders DAVID S. SHANNAHOFF-KHALSA ABSTRACT The ancient system of Kundalini yoga includes a vast array of meditation techniques and many were dis- covered to be specific for treating the psychiatric disorders as we know them today. One such technique was found to be specific for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the fourth most common psychiatric disorder, and the tenth most disabling disorder worldwide. Two published clinical trials are described here for treating OCD using a specific Kundalini yoga protocol. This OCD protocol also includes techniques that are useful for a wide range of anxiety disorders, as well as a technique specific for learning to manage fear, one for tranquilizing an angry mind, one for meeting mental challenges, and one for turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Part of that protocol is included here and published in detail elsewhere. In addition, a num- ber of other disorder-specific meditation techniques are included here to help bring these tools to the attention of the medical and scientific community. These techniques are specific for phobias, addictive and substance abuse disorders, major depressive disorders, dyslexia, grief, insomnia and other sleep disorders. INTRODUCTION been taught that were known by yogis to be specific for dis- tinct psychiatric disorders. These disorders as we know them his paper refers to the system of Kundalini yoga as today have no doubt been common to humanity since the Ttaught by Yogi Bhajan, a living master of Kundalini origin of the species. -
Interreligious Dialogue, Comparative Theology and the Alterity of Hindu
Interreligious Dialogue, Comparative Theology and the Alterity of Hindu Thought Abstract A key question at the heart of contemporary debates over interreligious dialogue is whether the Christian partner in such conversations should view her interlocutors through the lens of Christian descriptions or whether any such imaging amounts to a form of Christian imperialism. We look at the responses to this question from certain contemporary forms of ‘particularism’ which regard religious universes as densely knit, and sometimes incommensurable, systems of meanings, so that they usually deny the significance, or even the possibility, of modes of Bible preaching such as apologetics. While these concerns over the alterity of other religious traditions are often viewed as specifically postmodern, two Scotsmen in British India, J.N. Farquhar (1861–1929) and A.G. Hogg (1875–1954), struggled exactly a hundred years ago with a version of this question vis-à-vis the religious universe of Vedāntic Hinduism and responded to it in a manner that has striking resemblances to ‘particularism’. We shall argue that Hogg can be seen as an early practitioner of a form of ‘comparative theology’ which emerges in his case, on the one hand, through a textual engagement with specific problems thrown up in interreligious spaces but, on the other hand, also seeks to present a reasoned defence of Christian doctrinal statements. We shall note a crucial difference between his comparative theological encounters and contemporary practitioners of the same – while the latter are usually wary of speaking of any ‘common ground’ in interreligious encounters, Hogg regarded the presuppositions of the Christian faith as the basis of such encounters.