Click to view the sessions and schedule for the retreat!

We have a special guest teacher, Melanie Camp (RYT), coming from Florida to teach the Asana classes each morning. Melanie has attended the Ashram’s retreats in the past and we are thrilled that she has volunteered to teach classes for the week! For those who don’t know Melanie, she became a certified yoga teacher in 2003, and teaches at Barkan Method Studio, Yoga Connection, and the Mind, Body, Spirit Theme Crystal Cruise Line Trips 2010-2011. . She is also a Duke Integrative Medicine Yoga Therapist, a certified Yoga for Seniors Instructor, and a Kids Yoga Associate Teacher for Yoga Kids International. Melanie is also well known for her classes overseas, including in SE Asia  as part of the CARE International delegation following the Tsunami of 2004, aboard the 2005 Caribbean 1500 sailboat rally, beaches in the British Virgin Islands, yoga retreats in Costa Rica, Brazil, and Greece. To top it off,  she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2006 and practiced yoga with her crew while ascending. Melanie is currently writing a book of yoga tips from her world travels featuring her original oil paintings. You can view her artwork at www.artfulyoga.com.

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

Rishi: Atharva Atharvaveda 10.190.1-3 Chhand: Ashti

OM PRAACHI DIGGANIR-ADHIPATI, RASITO RAKSHITA-ADITYA-ISHVA .
TEBHYO NMO-ADHIPATI-BHYO-NMO,
NMO RAKSHITRI-BHYO NM ISHU-BHYO NM EBHYO ASTOO .
YO-ASMAAN DVESHTI YAM VAYAM DVISHAM TAM VO JAMBHE DADHMAA

In all the directions, God ( OM ) alone protects the peoples and bestows life. His protective powers present everywhere like rays of the sun. To that omnipresent God and His powers, we bow again and again. He is judicious and punishes the guilty. None should take justice in one’s own hands. All must trust on the justices of Lord, for He is the Lord of justice ( Dharamraj ). Everyone is treated alike and judiciously in His dominion.

ॐ रितंश्चसत्याश्च अभीदधात्तपसो-अध्यजायत I
ततो रात्र्यजायत ततः समुद्रो अर्णवा II १ II

ॐ समुद्रा दर्न्वाधि  संवत्सरो  अजायत  I
अहोरात्रानी  विदधत विश्वस्य मिषतो  ‘वशी’  II  २  II

ॐ सूरय्याचन्द्रमसौ धाता यथा पूर्वं अकल्पात I
दिवं च पृथ्वीं  च अंतरिक्षमथो स्वः   II  ३  II

Transliteration:

OM RITANGCH SATYANGCHABHIDDHAATTPASOADHAYA

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.

Ingredients:
Two Large Carrots, Cut into One to Two-Inch Pieces
Two Large Celery Stalks, Cut into One to Two-Inch Pieces
Two to Three-Inch Piece of a Medium-Size Zucchini
Two to Three-Inch Piece of a Medium-Size Yellow Squash
One-Third of a Sweet Red Pepper
One-Third of a Sweet Yellow or Orange Pepper
Approximately One-Half Cup of Fresh Tomatoes, Quartered with Skin On
One-Half Jalapeno, Seeded, Optional
Two Tablespoons of Tomato Paste
One-Quarter Cup of Olive Oil
Purified Water, Slightly Warmed – Do Not Boil!
Two to Three Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable Bouillons
Two Tablespoons of Fresh Parsley
Several Leaves of Fresh Basil
One-Half Teaspoon of Herbes de Provence
Organic Trocomare Spicy Herb Seasoning Salt by A. Vogel
Ground Pepper

Recipe:

You will need a high-speed commercial blender, such as a Vita-Mix to make this soup as a regular blender will not produce the desired consistency. Place all the ingredients into the blender except for the water and the olive oil. Fill the blender with the warm water until it is approximately two inches from the top. You do not want to use boiling water as you will cook the vegetables. Place the top on the blender along with the mixer. Blend for approximately one-half minute on a lower speed and then for a couple of minutes on high speed. Turn back to the lower speed and add the olive oil. Mix thoroughly on the low speed and it is ready to serve.

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.