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.

Here the story unfolds as told in the Kathopanishad as Hersh lectures every Sunday morning. She recounts Nachiketa’s three requests and the Lord of Death’s response to each one of them.  She has her student’s undivided attention as the captivating story unravels and the real teachings of this great scripture are explained. In essence, the Kathopanishad teaches us that our soul is indestructible, while the body comes and goes. We have learned in this class that we must see ourselves as our aatma, not as our body, and act selflessly in order to reach moksha (liberation).

While the lessons in the Kathopanishad mirror what we’ve learned in other scriptures, such as the Bhagavad Gita and Yog Chudamani, the way Hersh leads the class is magical and leaves students spellbound, anxiously waiting for next week’s lecture.

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

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.

Yoga is generally perceived to be the practice of asanas, meditation, and pranayam; however, Yoga is so much more. Yoga actually is a systematized philosophy and practice that aids us in achieving liberation from multiple cycles of birth/rebirth and death by removing our ignorance regarding who we really are.

The word Yoga means Union – union with God. We are all one; there is no separation anywhere. This union can be perceived through a variety of methods including, but not limited to, control of the mind and senses, meditation, caring for the body through asanas, pranayam, and cleansings, and detachment from worldly objects. Yoga directs us towards a righteous path of living; it is the remover of our identification with our physical body; and the aid to achieving moksha (liberation) in this lifetime.

Although Hinduism and Yoga are intertwined in their beliefs – bhatkti (devotion), reincarnation, karma, moksha (to name a few), the key differentiation between the two is how Yoga incorporates techniques of the body (asanas), mind (meditation), and prana (pranayama) in its practices.

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.

Click to listen:

At its grossest manifestation, breathing involves the movement of muscles to transport air in and out of the body. Even at this level, the effects of how we breath extend to the heart and lungs. Beyond this, breathing occurs at the cellular level, as the functions of the nose, trachea, and lungs act together to transport oxygen from the air we breath in to our cells.

While breathing is an involuntary act, one in which we do not have to think to make happen, it can also be a voluntary act, with specific efforts affecting how we breath. As air enters the body, it eventually flows to the lunges and expands the chest. The diaphram is a muscle that divides the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. Its resting position is like a dome shape, yet when we breath deeply, the dome flattens to create more room in the chest cavity, and thus pushes out the abdominal area. Breathing this way is often called “belly breathing” or “diaphramic breathing” and allows for a deeper, slower breath that brings more oxygen in our body.

In the next part of this series, we will discuss techniques for breath awareness. Please post and comments of questions below, and we’ll try to address it as we go along!

Nothing is more degrading for an aspirant than to keep his or her mind burdened with the many forms of anger, including contempt, intolerance, vengeance, hatred, and rage. All of these emotions darken the mind, dissipate willpower, create illusions, waste mental energy, and lead to various forms of misery.

Anger expresses itself in three ways – physically, verbally, and mentally. Physical expressions of anger needs to be controlled as the first step. Even though anger may linger mentally, and you may utter harsh words, at least let there be no physical expressions of anger in your life.

The second step in controlling anger is to curtail its verbal expression. Whether your anger is rational or irrational does not matter, as an uncontrolled tongue always leads to regret, repentance, and wastage of energy. Therefore, verbal anger must be controlled even if you are still struggling with anger in your mind.

Finally, your ultimate goal is to free yourself of the afflictions of mental anger. Ideally, your mind should be so free of this affliction that there is no effort involved; anger simply does not arise inside of you no matter what occurs externally.

To encourage yourself to reach the highest state of mental purity, remember that whenever you sustain anger in your mind, you are hurting yourself the most. Every time you hold a grudge and hurt another person by your thoughts or actions, you create a negative karma that keeps you bond to that person in the future.

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.

Sattvic foods include:

• Whole-grain cereals which do not contain sugar and additives
• Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, ghee, butter, yogurt, kefir, and cream
• Dried peas and lentils
• Fresh vegetables, especially green, leafy vegetables
• Fresh fruits
• Whole Grains
• Legumes (the smaller the bean, the easier to digest)
• Raw Nuts and Seeds
• Herbal teas
• Raw Honey
• Fresh fruit juices
• Fresh vegetable juices
• Sprouts
• Whole grain bread, no sugar or additives
• Oils – Olive, Flax, Coconut, Sesame, Sunflower, Safflower
• Mild spices, including ginger and turmeric
• Lightly steamed foods
• Raw foods
• Lightly cooked foods
• Alkaline foods
• Properly combined foods (Certain foods do not digest well when eaten with other foods)

Rajasic and tamasic foods are to be avoided due to their affects on the body and mind. They leave us sluggish and agitated. These foods include:

• Sugar-laden foods
• Foods with preservatives and chemicals
• Spicy foods
• Red hot peppers
• Black pepper
• Garlic
• Onion
• Mushrooms
• Potatoes
• Coffee and non-Herbal Tea
• Fish and meat
• Chocolate
• Frozen foods
• Canned foods
• Microwaved foods
• Overcooked foods
• Acidic foods
• Refined foods (such as white flour, white rice, sugar, etc.)
• Improperly combined foods

These lists are not all inclusive, by any means; but are meant to give you a good idea of which foods constitute a sattvic diet and which ones constitute a rajasic and tamasic diet.

Pure sattvic foods need to be chewed carefully and eaten in modest portions.  Overeating is definitely tamasic.  The food should be enjoyed for its inherent taste and quality rather than for the spices and seasonings that are added.  Too much salt and spice has a rajasic effect.  Leftovers are decidedly tamasic.

The more we embrace these sattvic principles, the more helpful they will be in enhancing our practice of yoga, both physical as well as spiritual.

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.

Click play to listen to this 17 minute podcast.

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.