Friday Oct 12, 2018 NYC
EDITOR’S NOTE: Pranavadipa Vol. 47
Kamishibai 2013
Today, Yoga is almost unknown.
These are the words that were spoken to Shri Mahayogi by an attendee at the end of the Satsangha that is featured in this month’s issue of Pranavadipa (Vol. 47). This Satsangha was the final Satsangha that took place during Shri Mahayogi’s most recent visit to New York this past summer 2018.
From the very start, the questions arose one after another and covered a variety of topics, starting with the meaning of true Love and the application of compassion in any situation. Shri Mahayogi then went on to graciously teach attendees, both new and old alike, about the difference between the mind and the Self, the practical application of yama and niyama, and the four paths of Yoga.
In response to an inquiry about if there is anything he has ever desired, Shri Mahayogi spoke the following: “For people to learn and actually practice the correct Yoga, and then to realize It.”
Through every word, every smile, every moment of laughter and of silence, indeed Shri Mahayogi detailed what the correct practice and understanding of Yoga is, as well as how to apply it practically in our day-to-day lives. If we pay close attention to the teaching contained in just this one Satsangha we can find that Shri Mahayogi is giving us enough to practice for a lifetime!
Today, Yoga is almost unknown. But Shri Mahayogi knows Yoga, because he is in the state of Yoga. We are so grateful that he is here to show us the way!
We can truly come to understand and know the truth of Yoga for ourselves if we actually put the teaching into action. It is the way towards true Freedom, towards knowing our Self.
* * *
The Testimony in this month’s issue is written by Sadhya and is coming from the experiences and the lessons that took place between the winter and late spring of 2013, just less than two years after she first found Shri Mahayogi and started to practice with us. Those of us, who have known her from when she first entered into this practice, clearly recognize how much she has transformed since then. She has matured in so many different ways—leading the Mission’s class strongly, you might not be able to imagine that in the beginning we almost did not even know her voice, even though the power of her concentration and sincerity were definitely present from day one. We saw her hidden strength, but it needed time before it would come out.
But what is it that happened? What happened to her during these years? In this month’s Testimony, written from her own voice, there is a glimpse of exactly that. This is a true story of how one made oneself transform. And her journey continues…
Definitely there is much that we can learn from her inspirational and concrete example of how she tackled herself on the journey towards Freedom.
mana eva manuṣyāṇāṃ kāraṇaṃ bandhamokṣayoḥ ।
The mind is the cause of bondage and liberation.
-Amrita-bindu, Upanishad 2