Sunday Dec 16, 2018 NYC
Companion Persuading Radha as Krishna plays the Flute, from the Gita Govinda (Song of the Cowherd)
What is Yoga?: Yoga is how we live our life
Yoga is lived in our moment to moment. Our practice comes across in the way we speak and in the way we interact with others. Although seemingly invisible, the quiet mind of a practitioner brings others minds to a state of quiet too. And sharing the true knowledge that comes through practice of Yoga is what truly touches others.
The following account is an inspiring example we found in the story of how one disciple of Shri Mahayogi shared the essence of the teaching with others. It reveals how our master, Shri Mahayogi, is inspiring and guiding us. The words that he spoke, as well as the words that Anandi shared, are, no doubt, a message to us all.
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The Inspiring Story of Anandi in Matsuyama, Japan
Recently Anandi, a disciple of Shri Mahayogi and the leader of the Yoga activities in Matsuyama, Japan was asked to give a speech about Yoga at a gathering for employees of an Income Tax Filing Company who participate in a computer literacy group. She spoke for approximately 50 minutes to a group of about 40 attendees a week after the Jayanti. This group invites lecturers from outside of the accounting field from time to time in an effort to learn new things and broaden their perspectives. Many of the attendees are in their 60’s or 70’s.
After her lecture, there was a shared meal held for the purpose of promoting friendship among the attendees. After the party, when she was talking with the man who made the closing remarks and another man, who was the manager of the literacy work group, the man who had made the closing remarks commented to her that, “This was really the first time that everybody listened to a lecture so quietly like that. But, it was not like we were being quiet out of boredom, but rather, it was like we were being brought into the quiet world of meditation.” Upon hearing it, the manager agreed and said with a huge smile on his face, “I am truly so glad that I requested you to speak here.”
Anandi prepared what she would present for this occasion on her own. And, unlike in the past, she did not ask Shri Mahayogi any questions about it, but rather simply informed him during the Satsangha in November that she had been requested to speak about Yoga at a gathering. When Shri Mahayogi heard it, he advised her by saying: “No matter how healthy one might be, if one dies, then that is the end of it. That is why, the key for what you should speak about there is the meaning of Life and the purpose of why one is born.”
Reflecting Shri Mahayogi’s advice, Anandi spoke at the meeting about the following things:
How true health is the health of the mind, that is to say, the healthy mind refers to the condition in which the mind is calm, the condition in which the mind is filled with peacefulness, how that condition of the mind does not worry, and how in order to gain that condition, it is important to always maintain purity within the mind and emit pure thoughts. How no matter how much fame or wealth we gain, when we die everything will be gone instantly, and the purpose of why we were born is to have a perfectly harmonious peaceful personality.
What is a perfectly harmonious peaceful personality?
In Yoga, it is said that the true nature of human beings is to be filled with purity and love.
She then spoke about:
How she is living her life with firm conviction as she strives to prove exactly that.
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There is a word, “Sanatana Dharma,” which means “Eternal Truth.” The word sanatana means eternal and dharma can mean duty, rights, laws, conduct, or virtues, depending on the context. Yoga is actually to practice Sanatana Dharma. That, in other words, means to know our true Self. The reason why we are born on this earth is to know our Self, to know what Life is.
We have heard that after that day, a woman who had attended the lecture came to take the class, and afterwards she expressed her intention to continue.
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If we listen closely, the flute is being played right now, just like in the painting of Krishna, beckoning our hearts to seek the Truth.
Shri Mahayogi will come to New York in one month from now and we hope that many people will find the moment to quiet their heart and listen to the beautiful and exquisite sounds of Eternal Truth that pour through Shri Mahayogi’s very being.
We hope that many will come to meet him and take this extraordinary, momentous and sweet opportunity that can certainly transform our Life.