Yog Sadhan Ashram of Chicago

We hope everyone had a happy and joyful Diwali last weekend! Here are some pictures from the Ashram’s celebration.

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.

While truth can be relative or absolute, a yogic view of truth is that which brings permanent happiness. This happiness is not related to material success of pleasure, but by the joy that is found in the soul’s attunement with God. This podcast begins with this simple concept to explain the facility of intuition and how it can be cultivated to bring us closer to our real selves.

Click play to listen to this 21 minute podcast.

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Some of our readers have been attending our yoga classes regularly for several years. Others are new to yoga and only recently began attending classes, either at the Ashram or elsewhere. For either type of student, establishing a daily routine in one’s own home is essential to receiving the full benefit of yoga.

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The word karma is used loosely these days. What is it’s actual meaning? Listen to this 21 minute podcast to learn more about how we create karmas and how we can turn our everday karmas into karma yoga to experience moksha or self-realization.

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If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to learn more about karma yoga, the Ashram is holding a Karma Yoga Workshop on Nov. 7 & 8, 2009.

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः ।
तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं ।
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि ।
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥

om bhūr bhuvah svah
tat savitur varenyam
bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo nah pracodayāt

Meaning: Om, the Parbrahm or Supreme Soul (God) pervades the three worlds – the Earth (bhu), the space (bhuvah) and beyond the space (svah) where exists nothing but God alone in His purest form. That God is in the form of infinite light, which is beyond comparison. Let us meditate on that divine light of the Supreme Soul. Its meditation will lead us to God realization.

Poetry:
Three worlds you know,
certainly these come to sight;
The bhu, bhuva and svah,
shine by His limitless light.

Bhu is this Earth,
we all dwell in this place;
Bhuva is the universe,
svah is beyond the space.

God pervades all,
His infinite light is all over;
They behold that light,
to Him alone who adore.

Behold His immense light,
it purifies the intelligence;
Vedas call Him Ritambhra (Supreme wisdom),
that intelligence who attains.

Gayatri sums up the Vedic wisdom,
Om is the soul of Gayatri, wise discrens;
When Om sets into life-breaths,
never to the world one returns.

We all know something about the nature of the conscious mind. We think, feel and act and are conscious of our thoughts, feelings and actions. And whatever we think, feel and do, in other words all our experiences, they’re all stored in the subconscious mind.

We can remember certain things we did. Why are we able to remember? Because what we did remains embedded in the mind. Every thought, feeling, and action leaves an impression, or samskara, on the mind. Nothing is lost. The sum total of those impressions is what constitutes the character of an individual. In other words, we are the result of what we have thought, felt and done.

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Last week the Ashram held its 5th Annual Hatha & Raja Yoga Retreat…and I’m sure if you asked any of the participants who have attended all 5, they’ll tell you this was the best yet! We started each day with a rejuvenating asana class in the peaceful outdoor setting. Lunchtime was not only about eating the delicious sattvic Indian food, but also learning how to cook it! Each afternoon was spent learning about various lesser discussed yogic practices (cleansings, pranayama, chakras, mudras, bandhas, dhyana) as well as Acharyaji’s Upanishad class. The pictures below give you an idea of how much fun we all had! See you next year!

The annual children’s camp was held July 27th – 31st. Over 20 children attended each day, and many didn’t want to leave on the last day! In addition to the Ashram’s focus on yoga practice and philosophy, adult volunteers organized several fun and educational activities, including Rangoli art, Kathak dancing, Mehndi, Rakhi celebration and outdoor sports. We look forward to next year’s camp!

On July 12th, about 100 people gathered at Yog Sadhan Ashram to celebrate Vyas Puja. For those unfamiliar with this special occasion, it is the day to celebrate one’s Guru. At the Ashram, we honored our Satguru Chaman Lal Kapur Ji, as well as Swami Mulkh Raj Ji (Guruji’s own Guru) and Prabhu Ram Lal Ji (Swamiji’s Guru).

In addition to reading from the scriptures, singing beautiful bhajans, demonstrating yoga asanas and cleansings and eating delicious sattvic food, Acharya Hersh Khetarpal delivered a sermon on the importance of a guru in one’s life. As always, her speech was illuminating as well as inspiring, and it covered the deep questions we all have about why it’s necessary to have a guru, what a guru provides in our life that cannot be found anywhere else, and what to look for in a guru. You can watch the 14 minute lecture as well as view pictures from the event below.