OM NAMAH SIVAYA
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THOUGHT OF THE MONTH
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Peace dwells in Silence. Silence is Brahma, the Absolute.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
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NEWS
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Om Namah Sivaya, Blessed Selves –
We are glad to inform you that in the month of October Swami Mahadevanandaji visited Japan with Mani Chaitanya, for an intensive one week program, which was a great success. Now there are plans to do a TTC only for Japanese students in Thailand Milan , Italy Reunion at the Yoga Camp in Val Morin in summer 2010.
Pranams to all.
To live in perfect goodness is to dissolve in the Infinite.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
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SIVANANDA YOGA FAQ ~~~ Frequently Asked Questions
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Q1: Can prayers cure diseases when doctors fail? Is it true that more things are wrought by prayers than the world could dream of?
A: Doctors and medicines are only instruments in the hands of God. Unless God wills, none can cure, or get cured. Man should do his best, with initiative, enterprise and perseverance, but depend on God's grace for everything. To bear with suffering, and accept it as a blessing of God in disguise, is great wisdom. Prayer invokes the inner potentialities of the individual, which flow only from God, and can certainly work miracles.
Q2: What are the methods to develop unruffled serenity and mental composure under all conditions of life? Is absolute serenity possible?
A: Yes. Develop Atma Vichar Sakti. Identify not with the mind, senses and intellect or with any of the other modifications of the mind. Always be engaging yourself in the thought of the Divine. Have no thought of yourself or the surrounding world. Be absolutely indifferent to yourself, as you ought to be towards the surroundings, the various daily happenings and the worldly repercussions. Knowledge of the Self, when once attained, absolves one of all mental disruptions and psychic derangements. Where there is firm-grounded knowledge of the Self in the spiritual seeker, where there is the
consciousness in him that "all indeed is Brahman, Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma" and that he is none other than that Supreme Brahman, and where he understands that all happenings-- good, bad or mixed-- are but passing phases on the screen of the world, there can never be any ill-balanced mental life. It is the mind that is the sole cause for bondage or Moksha.
The mind is the substratum behind pleasure or pain, happiness or misery, success or defeat. Rise above the pairs of opposites by resorting to a Guru and his instructions. Study the lives of saints who underwent various trials and the books by realized souls. Develop the spirit of true surrender wherein you have no thought of body or bodily needs or self-protection even in the slightest degree and wherein you forget the idea of life and death altogether. Serenity is merely mental. Therefore, cultivate mental equipoise by gaining spiritual knowledge.
Think truly. Speak truly. Live truly. Act truly.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
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HATHA YOGA TIP
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SHALABHASANA – Locust Pose - Level one
Lie on your belly with your arms by the sides of your torso, palms up, forehead resting on the floor. Turn your big toes toward each other to inwardly rotate your thighs. Exhale and lift your head, upper torso, arms, and legs away from the floor. You’ll be resting on your lower ribs, belly and front pelvis. Reach strongly through your legs, first through the heels to lengthen the back legs, then through the bases of the big toes. Keep the big toes turned toward each other. Raise your arms parallel to the floor and stretch back actively through your fingertips. Imagine there’s a weight pressing down on the backs of the upper arms, and push up toward the ceiling against this resistance. Press your scapulas firmly into your back. Gaze slightly upward, being careful not to jut your chin forward and crunch the back of your neck. Keep the base of the skull lifted and the back of the neck long. Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then
release with an exhalation. Take a few breaths and repeat 1 or 2 times.
Benefits:
• Strengthens the muscles of the spine, buttocks, backs of the arms and legs
• Stretches the shoulders, chest, belly and thighs
• Improves posture
• Stimulates abdominal organs
• Helps relieve stress
Do as you would be done by. This is the gist of ethics. - Sri Swami Sivananda
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YOGA SANSKRIT GLOSSARY
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ANANDA – Bliss, happiness, joy
HIRANYAGARBHA - Cosmic intelligence, the Supreme Lord of the Universe; also called Brahman
Jnana Yoga is the subtle and analytical path of wisdom. Mental purity is of paramount importance for Self-realization. - Sri Swami Sivananda
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RAJA YOGA
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From Discourse II: "Sadhana Pada - On Spiritual Disciplines"
II.37. ASTEYA-PRATISTHAYAM SARVA-RATNOPASTHANAM
'When non-stealing becomes firmly established, all wealth comes to the yogi'.
Commentary:
The more a yogi flees from material objects, the more they seem to come to him. The purpose of this natural law is two-fold. The first is so that he may be tested and confirmed in his renunciation. The second is so that he, as a wise person, may appropriately dispense the wealth to benefit mankind.
Seek internal peace of the Eternal, which will destroy all sorrows and pains and lead to final emancipation. - Sri Swami Sivananda
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VEGETARIAN CUISINE - from 'The Yoga Cook Book'
– a collection of recipes from the Sivananda Yoga Centres
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SWEET POTATO with PINEAPPLE – This lovely dish is part of the Yogic Feast for the Winter Festival in the Sivananda Yoga Cookbook. Serves 4 -6
Ingredients:
5 large sweet potatoes, total weight about 1.4kg (3¼lb)
25 g (1oz) butter
1 very ripe fresh pineapple, about 1 kg (2¼ lb)
150ml (5 fl oz) orange juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 190C/375 F.
2. Scrub the sweet potatoes and bake them for 1- 1 1/2 hours until soft.
3. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and reduce the temperature to
140C/275F.
4. Leave the potatoes until cool enough to handle.
5. Peel and mash them with the butter.
6. Peal & core the pineapple using a sharp knife. Cut into small pieces.
7. Combine the mashed sweet potatoes, pineapple and all the ingredients.
8. Transfer to a baking dish.
9. Bake for about 40 minutes.
Serve hot.
Wisdom of the Self is the ripe fruit of the beautiful flower of virtue.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
Previous recipes can be found at:
http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/diet/recipes.html
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SPIRITUAL CALENDAR
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DECEMBER 2009
02 - Full Moon
12 - Ekadasi
16 - New Moon
28 - Ekadasi
31 - Full Moon ( Swamiji's Birthday)
With the wings of love and wisdom, fly to the immortal abode of Brahman.
- Sri Swami Sivananda
