What is the nature of the Self? – Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q: What is the nature of the Self? A: What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul and God are appearances in it. Like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time and disapper at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no 'I-thought'. That is called 'Silence'. The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is 'I'; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self. Sri Ramana Maharshi

Some fun - a poem about the ashram by Jane:

Like us, hope you also will love the poem given below, written by a Chech-Yogini living in Toronto who spent a wonderful two weeks with us at the ashram:

Sivananda Ashram is a nice place

where you can relax and follow the pace.

The people here are great

they never let you have an empty plate.

You can eat and eat and eat

because the food's healthy and without any meat.

We don't have any spicy curry

which is good, because to the toilet we don't have to hurry.

We wake up very early, although we like to sleep in

the satsang's calling with some hard-core breathing.

Our backs are very sore from Pranayama

so we all wish we could lay down in Savasana.

But after singing a lot of jaya ganesha

believe it or not, our backs feels much fresher.

So it's ok i you're living with a monkey or a bat

as long as you have your yoga mat.

You know, simple sweet 'OM'

can make you feel just like home.

So if you need some love and energy

just go and see our lovely Swamiji.

ATTC Feb 2009 The first ever ATTC with all the 92 students passing the course concluded successfully. The graduation ceremony was preceded by a Gurupuja performed by the priests and the students. Running every two years, the next ATTC will be jan/feb 2011. During the week there was a Devi puja which was liked by all. Ananda lead a group of 25 students and staff to a 2 day trip to Rameswaram and Dhanushkoti after the ATTC. A yoga vacation programme with 10 people started immediately on Mar 8th. The registration for the next TTC starting on Mar 22 is going on well. The main teachers and many staff especially came for the ATTC assisting left the ashram immediately. Swami Tatwarupananda went back to his ashram in Trivandrum . Swami Govindananda and Prahlada left for Neyyar Dam for the India director's meeting. Swami Gayatriananda went back to Neyyar Dam. Dr Padma ( now Swami Padmapadananda ) was initiated into sannyasa deeksha by Swami Mahadevanandaji on Sivaratri day. Satyadev left for Uttar Kashi to continue as staff there. Sita, Ambika , Panchavarnam , Durairaj, Surendran , Indiradevi , Br. Sajith, Annapurna and Zdenik Hanus left as staff. Satya went to Srilanka to to renew her Indian visa to come back to ashram for another year as staff. Jyoti came back to the ashram after getting a new Indian visa from Srilanka. Sridevi ( Wei-Chi - Taiwan ) joined as staff after her ATTC. Mani Chaitanya and Vijay from the Delhi centres graced the graduation ceremony in the ashram on their way to Neyyar Dam for the Indiadirector's meeting. We are very grateful to all the staff who left after helping the ashram wholeheartedly during this busy season. May Gurudev's Blessings guide them always. Staff : Swami Govindananda, Swami Padmapadananda, Ananda , Chiman Chang, Satya ( Srilanka ), Nirmala, Narayani, Mahendra Kumar, Yogiswar , Sara O Connel, Jyoti , Brahmaswaroop, Karuna Kumar, Mahalakshmi, Sridevi, Tara, Lakshmi, Deepakdas, Iswara , Anjani , Veena, Sridevi.

Sivananda Gurugram March

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THOUGHT OF THE MONTH

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Meditation is the very essence and life of all spiritual Sadhanas. -Sri Swami Sivananda

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TAPAS - (tapasya) - Austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline;spiritual force. Literally it means the generation of heat or energy,but is always used in a symbolic manner, referring to spiritualpractice and its effect, especially the roasting of karmic seeds, theburning up of karma.

HATHA YOGA TIP - DHANURASANA

TECHNIQUE - Lie flat, face downwards on the floor. Keep the hands atyour side. Breathe out and bend the legs at the knees, drawing thefeet above the thighs. Stretch the arms back and catch hold of theright ankle with the right hand and the left ankle with the left hand.Make secure the position of the hands, with normal breathing. Raisethe head, body and knees by tugging the hands and legs, so that thewhole weight of the body rests on the abdomen. Retain the posture fora few seconds. Gradually increase the duration. While remaining in theposture, concentrate on the abdomen, thighs and back muscles. Releasethe ankles, stretch out the legs and bring the legs, chest and head torest in a straight line on the floor. Relax in Makarasana for a fewseconds. Repeat this Asana two or three times.

BENEFITS - This Asana relieves constipation and tones up the liver,pancreas and kidneys. The vertebrae of the lumbar and sacrum bonesalso get toned up. Proper blood circulation is effected and thus goodhealth is promoted. This also renders the spine supple and elastic andminor pains in the spine are checked.

OATMEAL YOGHURT CREAM with maple syrup recipe

The Sivananda Yoga International Headquarters at the Yoga Camp in ValMorin, Quebec sits in the heart of a maple syrup harvesting area ofCanada. The Ashram always has ample supplies of maple syrup in hand.For substitute you can use barley malt syrup, rice syrup, date syrupor honey. Serves 3-4 people.

Ingredients:

50g (2 oz) almonds, finely chopped

50g (2oz) medium oatmeal (not flakes)

grated rind & juice of a lemon, or orange

2 tbsp maple syrup

300ml (10fl oz) creamy natural yogurt

1 tbsp chopped almonds, toasted

Directions: 1 - Preheat the grill 2 - Mix together chopped almonds & oatmeal. Spread out on a bakingsheet and place under a hot grill for about 2 minutes, stirringfrequently to brown evenly. Leave to cool. 3 - Mix lemon (orange) rind & juice with the sweetner & stir into theyogurt. Fold in the almond mixture. Spoon into individual dishes.Chill. 4 - Top with toasted almond mixture just before serving.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR MARCH: 07- Ekadasi ; 11- Full Moon (Holi); 22- Ekadasi; 26- New Moon

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