Yog Sadhan Ashram of Chicago

काम         क्रोध       लोभ        मोह      अहंकार
kaam       krodh     lobh       moh     ahankaar

They refer to universal obstacles and enemies of one’s spiritual development. As long as we indulge in these traits of daily living, we cannot faithfully follow the teachings of Yoga. Hence we cannot attain Moksha, the ultimate goal of human life.

1. Kaam: The sensous feelings. They prevent one from rational thinking, and if denied or are not attained, it leads to Anger.

2. Krodh: Anger. Anger leads to fuzzy and irrational thinking, which leads to irrational behavior. A mind not thinking clearly definitely is a cause for one’s total destruction.

3. Lobh: Greed. Greed leads to attachment. Fulfillment of greed increases attchment and more greed. Non fulfillment of desires leads to anger. Both attachment and anger prevent one from an unbiased thinking.

4. Moh: Attachment (to a person or possessions). As above, attachment is a slow killer. It promotes biased, irrational and depressing behavior.

5. Ahankar: Ego. This is the worst of all enemies. It is the root cause of all other behaviors. It makes a person non humble, non cooperative, possessive, empowering over others and leads to all other four cursive personalities.

ॐ शन्नो देवीरभिष्टये , आपो भवन्तु पीतये I

शंयोर भिस्रवन्तु नः II

By Rishi Atharvana

Meaning: Oh God, Your form is divine, You are in the form of Light. Whatever resources and wealth, etc.  we have by Your grace, all that may be blissful to us, that should suffice our needs and enhance comforts, peace and prosperity.

मैत्री           करुणा         मुदिता         उपेक्षा
maitree     karuna        mudita       upeksha

These words refer to conditioning of mind for a purified living. They also are a guide to deal with the world and the people around you.

Maitree: Treat everybody as your friend. Form friendship with all around you. Behave as if they are your close friends. You will find them treating you the same way.

Karuna: Have compassion for the helpless or the less blessed. Feel sorry for them. Do the best you can to help.

Mudita: Join other peoples happiness. If you see something good happening, feel good and join them in their celebrations. Do not be jealous.

Upeksha: Sometime there are circumstances beyond your control and sometime there are bad things happening in the word, like wars, atrocities that are beyond your control and they are not your doing, simply ignore them.

ॐ उदुत्यं जातवेदसं देवं वहन्ति केतवः
द्वशे विश्वाय सूर्यं  II

Rishi: Praskanva               Yajurved  33.31

Meaning: If one intends to see God, see in His countless manifestations. The omniscient Lord is obvious everywhere. Everything of the creation symbolizes His presence here, behold them as His creations and all these things provide obvious sight of God, Who is in the form of all pervading Light.

The Ashram held another enlightening, inspiring, and enjoyable retreat last month! Many helped put together the week of hatha yoga, philosophy, cooking, meditation, and pranayama classes. This year we were especially honored to have Melanie Camp teaching the morning asana classes and Grammy-nominated David Young performing his beautiful melodies! Playing two different recorders at once, he enchanted us with relaxing and peaceful sounds. We introduced new topics this year as well, including an interactive session where participants discussed applications of yoga philosophy in daily life. Stay tuned for next year’s schedule!

Rishi: Sangkasuka

ॐ उद्वयं तमसस्प्रि स्वः पश्यंत उत्तरं I
देवं देवत्रा सूर्यम गम्म जयोतिरुत्तमम II

Meaning:

O God, let us attain the higher vision, beyond the Earth and the sky, where exists nothing but Brahm, the Supreme Being, and the light of Brahm which is brighter than millions of Suns put together, and which is seen only by the Brahmleen Yogis (those who have achieved oneness with the Absolute). Let us perceive that light mentally and aspire to merge in the same after this life.

Biryani is a nutritious and filling Indian dish loved by many! Vinodini, an excellent cook and student, was kind enough to share her personal recipe with us at last summer’s retreat. Enjoy! 

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We celebrated Vyas Puja last month, and have included some pictures from the day. The highlight was Acharyaji’s short speech on Sunday.

“Dhyana Moolam Guror Murti, Pooja Moolam Guror Padam, Mantra Moolam Guror Vakyam, Moksha Moolam Guror Kripa”

Hershji translated this beautiful mantra for us: I want to meditate on the form of my Guru, pray to the feet my Guru, every word of my Guru is sacred, and moksha comes only from the grace of my Guru “guru kripa”. Simple words but hard to comprehend, Hershji explained that we want to identify with the Godliness of our Guru. This is the real “puja” of the day, not just the rituals.

Finally, Acharyaji spent some time discussing the relationship between the Guru and disciple. It is important to do seva (selfless-service), not because the Guru needs it but it makes us humble, heightens our intellect, and helps us see God in everyone. Seva prepares one to absorb the knowledge from a Guru, but one must actually be in the presence of their Guru to do this. Just like the dialogue between Krishna and Arjun happened in person, we must make the effort to engage in a conversation of questions and answers to progress on the Yogic path.

To find your Guru, look for someone who has knowledge of the scriptures, an ability to explain them to you, nobility of character, and actually experienced what they are teaching.

Watermelon Gazpacho

This is truly “summer in a bowl”! Delightful! Adapted from a “Raw Food
Real World” recipe.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:

4 cups watermelon, seeded and pureed in a high-speed blender
1 cup watermelon, diced small
1 cup seeded tomato, diced small (about 1 large or 2 small tomatoes)
l/2 cup peeled, seeded cucumber, diced small
l/2 cups peeled jicama, diced small
l/2 cup red bell pepper, diced small
2 tablespoons lime juice
l/4 cup inced cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons minced mint leaves
1 teaspoon minced ginger
l/2 small red jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 scallion, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

In a large glass bowl or container, combine the watermelon puree with the
remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Refrigerate to chill. This recipe
should keep in the refrigerator for up to four days.

In the last month’s article, it was detailed how time is measured in Yugas. The Yogic scriptures have also illustrated micro divisions of time in a day. It was well known, even then, that time could be sub-divided into very finite units as tabled below.

१    दिन        =  ८   पहर
१   पहर        =   ३   मुहूर्त
१   मुहूर्त       =   २   नाड़ी
१   नाड़ी        =   १५   लघु
१   लघु         =   १५  काष्ठा
१   काष्ठा       =  १५   क्षण
१   क्षण        =   ३   निमेष
१   निमेष     =   ३   लव
१   लव         =   ३   बेध
१   बेध         =   १०० त्रुटी
१   त्रुटी         =   ४   त्रसेणु
१   त्रसेणु      =   ३   अणु
१   अणु        =    २ प्रमाणु

1  day               =  8 pahars
1  pahar            =  3 muhurats
1  muhurat         =   2 nadis
1  nadi               =  15 laghus
1  laghu             =  15 kaashta
1  kaashta         =  5 kshans
1  kshan            =  3 nimeshs
1  nimesh           =  3 lavs
1 lav                  =  3 bedhs
1  bedh              =  100 trutis
1  truti                =  4 trasenus
1 trasenu            =  3  anus
1  anu                 =  2 pramanus