Contributed by Louella Harty
On Sunday mornings, ten to twenty students gather to learn from the timeless Yoga scriptures. Acharya Hersh Khetarpal guides us through these rich texts, helping us understand the deep teachings and applications to our daily lives. For the past several months, we have been studying the Kathopanishad.
The Kathopanishad recounts the encounter and subsequent dialogue between Nachiketa and Yama, the God of Death, which was the direct result of Nachiketa’s father’s angry response to a question asked by Nachiketa. As a result of Nachiketa being a patient and honorable guest waiting for the arrival of Lord Yama, he was granted three boons by the God of Death.
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Yoga philosophy explains the life of this universe and the life of God’s creation using a measurement of time called “kalp”. At the end of the Kalp, the universe is destroyed and stays in dormant condition for a long time. Afterward, the Universe is resurrected and a cycle of another Kalp starts.
A Kalp is said to be a wink of Lord Vishnu, and Vishnu has a life span which cannot be calculated by any known scale. That is how old the universe, God’s Srishty, is. Here is how a kalp is calculated by Earth time.
There are 4 Yugas: Sat yug, treta yug, dwapar yug, and kali yug.
1 Sat yug = 1,460,000 Earth years
1 Treta yug = 1,095,000 Earth years
1 Dwapar yug = 730,000 Earth years
1 Kali yug = 365,000 Earth years
Sat yug + treta yug + dwapar yug + kali yug = 1 CHATAR YUGI = 3.65 million Earth years
1000 Chatar yugis = 1 day of Brahma
1000 Chatar yugis = 1 night of Brahma
2000 Chatar yugis = 1 Braham Divas = 7.3 Billion Earth years
365 Braham divas = 1 Braham Varsh =2.6645 Trillion Earth years
100 Brahm Varshs = Age of BRAHAMA = 1 KALP = 266.45 Trillion Earth years
On May 30, 2010, Acharya Hersh Khetarpal gave a much-anticipated speech at the Hare Om Templte outlining the similarities and the differences between Hinduism and Yoga. Below is a brief synopsis of the talk.
It is the Vedas that are the common link between Hinduism and Yoga which form their very foundations. Yoga is in fact one of the 6 main branches of Hindu philosophy. As a result, there is a common belief in reincarnation as well as in karmic philosophy; both believe in the ultimate goal of moksha; both meditate upon the Gayatri mantra; and both have a reverence for the Bhagavad Gita.
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Several readers have asked, what really is prana? Prana is the energy permeating the universe at all levels, including physical, mental, intellectual, spiritual, and cosmic energy. While it is hidden, in that the common person cannot hear, touch or feel it, the yogi knows that it is actually the mover of all activity. Both creation and destruction are made possible with prana.
While prana certainly is the power behind creation and destruction, its real power is how it sustains our body. Without it, the body and mind cannot function. Therefore pranayama, often mistaken for merely breathing exercises, is actually a series of techniques developed to enhance the prana in our body which leads to greater vigor and vitality. Prana flows through our nadis, or energy channels, and it is through the use of breath that we are able to influence it.
Knowing this, it may be difficult to distinguish prana and aatma. The Prashna Upanishad clarifies the two when one disciple asks what is “prana and how it is related to aatma?” The Rishi replies, “Prana is same to the aatma as a shadow is to the body.” In other words, they are not the same but move together.
In the next article about Pranayama, we will discuss the nadis.
In this podcast, Acharya Hersh Khetarpal poses the timeless question of why we’re here. What is the purpose of life and why did we incarnate in this form? She answers it according to the yogic philosophy of life, illuminating on our dharma (duty) and ultimate goal of moksha (liberation).
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Pranayama is the science of breath control. It is a subject worth studying due to the effect breath has on our five koshas (sheaths), including the pranamaya kosha (vital energy sheath). For example, the quality of our breath can change due to our mental and physical states, but how we breath can also affect our mental and physical states. The Yogic scriptures thus give great importance to pranayama, and it’s mastery is considered a prequisite to dharna (concentration) and dhyana (meditation). We will explore it in a series of articles over the next several months.
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In the Bhagavad Gita, kama (desire), krodha (anger) and lobha (greed) are referred to as the three gates leading to the downfall of the individual (16.21). Those seeking to make progress on the spiritual path must give them up on all three. Yoga practitioners of Yog Sadhan Ashram have made a resolution to work on anger this year. Here are some inspiring words from Hershji to motivate us all:
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The serious practice of yoga incorporates a traditional sattvic diet. The general characteristics of the sattvic food are pure, light, and fresh. In other words, these foods possess the highest vitality to support all the koshas or layers of our selves. Organic foods also possess a high vitality in comparison to foods grown with pesticides and herbicides.
Sattvic foods are more easily digestible and are not fat laden nor protein dense as in animal products; therefore, the sattvic diet is primarily lacto-vegetarian. This type of diet leads to a greater clarity and equanimity of mind while also being more beneficial to the body.
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Breaking through the material layers of our existence to discover the ultimate reality at our core being is the goal Yoga. The culmination of that great effort is called moksha, liberation, or self-realization. While the Upanishads give many indications of a realized person, the references lie scattered in the pages of those sacred texts. The signs of a self-realized person were first compiled in the Bhagavad Gita by Ved Vyas in the concluding 18 verses of chapter 2. In those verses, we see the portrait of an individual who is liberated even while living, also known as jivanmukta.
The self-realized person is a dynamic person of action. In order to understand him, and we must understand him as he lives in the world, not as he sits under a tree lost in contemplation. How does he see the world, react to problems and relate himself to others?
Our Guruji established Yog Sadhan Ashram with the purpose of teaching everyday people how to achieve liberation without running away from the world. In this lecture, Acharyaji describes what this looks like and the characteristics we must develop to achieve this goal.
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The Ashram holds a philosophy class every Sunday at 10am. Over the past few years, we’ve studied the Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and just recently completed Vivek Chudamani. It took us roughly 2 years to get through it, but it was definitely worth taking the time to fully absorb such a deep scripture.
Beginning October 11th, we began studying Yoga Vasisth. While the original work is 32,000 verses of dialogue between Sage Vasisth and Lord Rama, overtime it has been condensed considerably. Anyone is welcome to attend the classes if they’re interested in learning about Yoga from one of the original sources.
Below are some pictures of our last day studying Vivek Chudamani, where we each offered flowers to the scripture.
