Atma Yoga

kṛpayā bhūtajaḿ duḥkhaḿ
daivaḿ jahyāt samādhinā
ātmajaḿ yoga-vīryeṇa
nidrāḿ sattva-niṣevayā

By good behavior and freedom from envy one should counteract sufferings due to other living entities, by meditation in trance one should counteract sufferings due to providence, and by practicing haṭha-yoga, prāṇāyāma and so forth one should counteract sufferings due to the body and mind. Similarly, by developing the mode of goodness, especially in regard to eating, one should conquer sleep.

- Sage Narada to King Yuddhistira
"Instructions for Civilised Human Beings"
Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.24

Thousands of years ago, a great sage instructed a King on the best way for human beings to live. This conversation was preserved in an oral tradition, and has been handed down, generation after generation, to the present day. At some point it was committed to writing, and today we have a record of it in the Srimad Bhagavatam, a collection of wisdom from the Vedic tradition.

In this excerpt from the conversation between the sage Narada Muni and King Yuddhistira, we hear Narada's recommendation on counteracting suffering. Many things have changed over the past millennia. The fact that we are subjected to different varieties of suffering and strive to be free from those is not one of them.

If you take a look at the disturbances to your enjoyment in life, you'll find that they can be divided into three broad categories: miseries arising from other living entities (whether other people, animals, insects, germs, etc...); miseries arising from "providence" (aka: Acts of God - such as earthquakes, fires, and so forth...); and miseries arising from the body and mind. In Sanskrit these are referred to as adhibhautika, adhidaivika, and adhyatmika.

The Vedic civilisation, whose wisdom comes down to us in Sanskrit works such as Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita (Krishna's famous "Song of God"), was very much concerned with quality of life. It is from the Vedic civilisation that we inherit such things as Ayurveda, a system of holistic medicine whose name means literally "The Science of Life". We also inherit hatha yoga, popularised today by teachers such as BKS Iyengar, K Pattabhi Jois, and Bikram Choudhry.

Narada Muni recommends the practice of hatha yoga, with its systematic exercises (asanas) designed to make the body flexible and strong. Hatha yoga is not for flexible people, it is designed to help make your body more flexible. Today we live sedentary lifestyles - many of us spending long hours sitting in front of a computer. This inactivity is not good for us. Our diet contains a large percentage of processed foods, which also has an impact on our health.

By practising hatha yoga we can counter-act many of the miseries that arise from the body - back aches, hip replacements, RSI. Many of these problems appear later in life, as the result of compounding years of mistreatment of the body. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so it's better to start when you have your health. Don't wait until you have a problem to fix it - take preventative action. But even if it's too late for that, it's never too late to start to regain your health. You need to take control of your life. The choices you make determine the fate you meet. When we go to the doctor, expecting him to give us a pill or a medicine to fix our problem, we are relinquishing responsibility for our situation. We want to pay someone to fix it, without owning the responsibility for it ourselves; and an industry has sprung up that is happy to take our money in exchange for giving us this convenient feeling of "it's not your fault" (in other words: you are powerless, and therefore not responsible).

This is not an argument against modern medicine, which is responsible for many wonderful innovations that help people with genuine acute medical problems. However, many of our chronic ailments are the result of our own disuse and misuse of the body God has given us.

Yoga practice is also good for the mind, and this is what stops most people from doing it. It requires control of the mind to even do yoga practice. To go to a yoga class regularly and there listen to a teacher tell us what to do and follow their instructions is too much for some people. However, that's the best thing we can do. What many people do not recognise is that they are being victimized by their mind. When the mind rebels against the instructions of the teacher, after some time of persevering in the class you come to the realisation that you are not your mind, and in fact your mind can be like a little devil sitting on your shoulder saying: "Don't listen to that! Do this instead!"

Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita that the mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. The controlled or trained mind is our best friend, and the uncontrolled mind is our worst enemy. It is our mind that pushes us to do things, often things that are against our long-term interest. It is the uncontrolled mind that leads us astray against good advice, and that torments us with fear, guilt, anger, and many other negative emotions.

Training the mind through the practice of yoga not only brings the mind under control, but it also makes us aware of our existence separate from the mind. Your mind changes along with your body. Look back at over your life - ten years ago you thought a different way, similar to the other people your age, when they were that age. A five year old body has a five year old's mind to go with it. In the teens, then the twenties, then the thirties, we think a different way, because we have a different mind, linked to the biology of our body.

There is a saying:

• In your twenties you are very concerned about what other people think about you;
• In your thirties you don't care about what other people think about you;
• And in you forties you realize that, actually, no one was even thinking about you

While these differences in the mind due to the different ages of the body are there, they are something that you experience. You are separate from both the body and the mind. You are not the body - you have a body. You are not the mind - you have a mind. You change your mind all the time. The mind is something separate from you - it is part of your experience. You are the being who experiences both the body and the mind, and the miseries that arise from them. The practice of hatha yoga mitigates those miseries, as explained by Narada Muni.

When we hear the word "yoga" today, generally we think of hatha yoga - the yoga exercises. However, this is only a small part of what yoga really means and what yoga really is. In its fullest sense, the word yoga means the linking process that reconnects us with our original spiritual nature. The counteraction of the material miseries arising from the body and mind is only a preliminary step in that process. You can't sit down to meditate or contemplate if you're disturbed. As the saying goes, a man with an empty stomach doesn't want to hear about spiritual knowledge. Once we can get some peace and space in our life for contemplation, yoga takes us further, to understanding who and what we are beyond the body and the mind.

You are a unit of experience. For a few decades you experience this body and mind as it goes through a number of transformations and stages of development. Completely identifying with the body and mind and the objects in the field of the senses of that body and mind, most people never stop to think: "What is it that is experiencing this? Who am I? And how do I come to be in this situation?" These are the kinds of questions that characterise a real human civilisation, one in which the full potential of the human form of life, the ability to ask such metaphysical questions, is realised. Without this level of inquiry we have wasted our potential, and live merely as animals with technology - a disaster for the individual who misses that great opportunity, and also for a world that is subjected to animal propensities magnified through empowering technologies and unleashed on the environment.

The human form of life offers to the living entity, the unit of experience called atma in Sanskrit, the opportunity to understand the situation that we find ourselves in. Just as a battery inserted into different toys will animate them and cause them to "come alive", similarly the atma causes different bodies to come to life when placed within them by the material nature. If you look at a clock, an mp3 player, and a marching bunny, they all look different and manifest different symptoms, yet they are all powered by the same battery. In the same way, the same atma powers the different physical bodies that we see. The different bodies offer different varieties of experience to the atma, and different facilities for enjoying life. The human form of life offers the unique facility of performing the kind of meta-analysis that we are discussing here. Other animals have no capacity for memory or learning (eg: single celled creatures), limited capacity for communication but no learning (eg: ants), some capacity for communication and learning (eg: birds), or advanced capacity for communication and learning (eg: chimpanzees, whales). However, all these forms of communication and learning relate only to the phenomenal world of experience. Only the human form of life offers sufficiently developed cognitive capabilities to communicate metaphysical concepts - talking about the atma, the unit of experience that experiences being in the body and mind of the different forms of life, animating them and experiencing through them.

So we can alleviate many of our immediate problems arising from an unhealthy body and an out-of-control mind through practice of hatha yoga; and then spend some of our valuable time looking at the bigger picture and the deeper issue of our identity and destiny.

This weekend we went to the Brisbane Yoga Fest.

This is the third year of the grass-roots, community event organised by Jonathan Murphy and his partner Tanya. We've participated each of those years, and watched as the festival has grown in scope.

(Apologies for the photos - I'm not such a good photographer. Sound is more my thing)

For the last two years it's been held at the Old Museum in Bowen Hills, a wonderful piece of architecture:

This year we didn't have a yoga stand, as our underground studio (aka: our house) is already at capacity with 12-16 people coming to the evening classes. Adina-lila and Prema Yogi organized a prasadam stall. The piping hot soy chai and vegan gluten-free carob muffins were a big hit with the punters after the chai tent wallahs cancelled due to sickness (Oink oink).

Here's a shot of Brian, an Atma old-timer from when we first started in 2004, helping out:

Bhakta Leonardo serving out:

I got there at 2pm, as Param and I had to teach three classes at the temple in the morning. Param taught a class at Yogafest at 3pm. This year there were three studios with classes going all day. Param had about 100 people for her class. Afterwards a bunch of people asked her where she teaches. She had to tell them: "Nowhere!". Those who know, know... ;-)

There were a number of stalls around on the grass outside the Museum:

I made an appearance at the Fusion Hot Yoga stall to sign autographs:

The Fusion Hot Yoga Posterboy ;-)

I got totally soaked and frozen riding my scooter home from the temple before coming to Yogafest, but that was a brief 30 minute shower in an otherwise clear, sunny autumn day in Brisbane:

Here's a shot of the sky at around 5pm, which is sunset here at the moment:

Here's a close up of the green bin in that picture:

Ajñata-sukrti - unconscious chanting of the Holy Name.

A beautifully clear, full moon night:

Every week we have kirtan followed by dinner at our place on Saturday night. We call it "Krishnafest". It starts at 5pm and anyone is welcome to come and throw a few dollars in the box to help with the cost of the cooking ingredients.

This week we are starting at 4pm, for a couple of reasons:

• We're recording the kirtan.
• Param and I have to go to a friend's engagement party afterwards.

So remember: 4pm this week, 5pm otherwise.

Carmella Baynie, kirtan singer and Voice in Yoga teacher, is visiting Brisbane in April.

She is doing four workshops:

Thursday 16th April 7pm - 9pm
Friday 17th April 7pm - 9pm
St Anne Presbyterian Church Hall, 145 Ann St

Saturday 18th April 12pm - 3pm
Sunday 19th April 12pm - 3pm
The Yoga Den, 43 Vulture St, West End

The cost of each of the workshops is $50 per person, with discounts for groups of six or more. If you are interested in attending get in touch as we will organise a group discount for Atma Yogis.

Or you can book directly on Carmella's website: www.carmellavoice.com

Here's a video featuring Carmella at Atma last year:

Atma Yoga doco (2008) Part 2 from Sitapati das on Vimeo.

It's taken a lot of energy to get everything out of the Albert St studio and bring the facility to the condition that the landlord wants. He has a $17k bond that I need to get back - I borrowed the money and need to pay it back.

In one week Param satya and Prem Yogi have gotten the place together at 40 Glenrosa Rd to continue the community. On Saturday we had our first Krishnafest. It was also a welcome back for Prem, who just got back from Mayapura, and a going away for Acyuta Bhava, who is going to help at The Loft in Auckland, New Zealand. We had 19 people for that.

Tonight we had our first yoga class. One person came - Ian, who lives in the next suburb and usually comes to atma on Mondays. Vinita came over to help out. We took prasadam and discussed Bhagavatam and science.

I took some photos of the place this evening, afterwards.

For the last three years we haven't had any chairs, now suddenly we have 16.

The dry bhoga (ingredients) used to live in a cabinet outside Govindas. Now they are in our kitchen.

Wow! This used to be my bedroom. Prahlad and I slept on the floor in here with a bookshelf and a table. Now it's a lounge for discussions and chilling out.

That's the guitar that Clemens left me. I've left it there for kirtan.

The entrance. Prem says it's "Zen".

Blankets and straps.

I shot some more, but they are still uploading from my phone.. maybe tomorrow.

Redesigning the Atma website (<- that's the old one).

Here's the new logo, in progress:

Release early, release often, eh?

I'm not so handy with Inkscape, but I watched graphics avenger Andy Fitzsimon design the last blog header, so I picked up a few things. This one is looking pretty rocktastic.

Feel free to leave feedback, especially if you know what you're doing with inkscape and can give specific instructions.

Atma Yoga doco (2008) Part 2 from Sitapati das on Vimeo.

Part Two. Part One can be found here.

Hey, check this out. This is a way cool documentary that Vrajadhama made about our yoga school, Atma Yoga.

We were talking about this last night, and I think that the experience of watching the video is like coming to Atma. I summarize the experience of most people as: "I came for the yoga, I came back for the food, I stayed for the company".

We connect with people initially on a common platform, and offer our assistance and association to help them with their physical body and mind, and as they take advantage of that, build relationships, and make Atma their home away from home they start to inquire into what makes us tick, and take advantage of the other things we offer at Atma, such as the philosophy, spiritual knowledge, and Krishnafest programs.

This is Part One. Part Two is uploading now.

Atma Yoga Doco (2008) Part 1 from Sitapati das on Vimeo.

Here's a draft preview of the cookbook that we've been working on - "Eating for Enlightenment".

• Eating for Enlightenment Cookbook (.pdf, 170 KB)

I haven't done anything with it for a while. On Raivata's request I thought I'd better share it now - "release early, release often".

I'd like this to be a collaborative project and useful resource for devotees around the world.

If you want to contribute some recipes for it, send them to me at sitapati (at) worldsankirtan.net. I'll credit you as an author if I include them.

If you have a short article about vegetarianism, veganism, cooking, consciousness, anything like that, send it and I'll consider it for inclusion as well. I'd like to have a good mix of philosophy and recipes in it, then we'll do a print run.

Chekkit!

Eating for Enlightenment by Campak Gaur dd, Prem Yogi das & Sita-pati das is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.

As you may have noticed, I'm a little short on words these days. Here's an article that I whipped up for the upcoming Janmastami magazine here in Brisbane. I would have like more time to rewrite and edit it, but anyway - life is short.

In the heart of Brisbane city since 2004, Atma Yoga offers guests a yoga class, dinner and dessert five nights a week. Additionally Brisbanites can attend discussions on philosophy, join a study group reading Bhagavad-gita, or participate in a kirtan (devotional singing) session.

Atma means the body, the mind, the soul, and the Supersoul. Yoga means to unite. When all four of these are united, the perfection of human existence is achieved - integrated life: fully human and fully spiritual.

At Atma Yoga we provide people with the knowledge, the tools, and the support to do this.

Atma Yoga was opened by Param Satya devi dasi, Sitapati das, and Acyuta Bhava devi dasi in October 2004, intially in a space opposite Govindas in Elizabeth St. In March of 2005 the new yoga studio opened at 233 Albert St, above Rocking Horse records.

Unique among yoga schools in Brisbane, Atma offers yoga students a full vegetarian meal after every class. "Yoga is so much more than simply a set of physical exercises. It is a complete lifestyle, and at Atma we strive to offer the whole experience of that to guests," says Sitapati.

During the week there are lunchtime and evening yoga classes in the studio space, as well as philosophical programs in the Atma lounge. On Saturday evenings the Atma staff hold "Krishnafest", a program where they share the spiritual tradition from which they derive their practice and teachings. This is the tradition of Gaudiya Vaishnavism - inaugurated by the great teacher and incarnation of Godhead Sri Krishna Caitanya of Nadia in the 16th century, and handed down from teacher to student over the last 500 years.

The basic teaching of this tradition is that we are not this body. Rather the body is a vehicle for our soul, which is an eternal unit of consciousness and exists in a pure relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This relationship can be uncovered through a lifestyle of purification and especially by the practice of chanting the maha-mantra: "Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare".

In the ancient Vaisnava scripture, Srimad Bhagavatam, the great sage Narada Muni explains to King Yuddhistira:

"By good behavior and freedom from envy one should counteract sufferings due to other living entities, by meditation in trance one should counteract sufferings due to providence, and by practicing haṭha-yoga, prāṇāyāma and so forth one should counteract sufferings due to the body and mind." (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.24)

Hatha Yoga, the practice of physical yoga asanas is beneficial for all people today. Our modern bodies are frequently chronically sick and uncomfortable. The body is the vehicle of the soul. Without good health, higher thinking is difficult, for two reasons: with ill health or bodily discomfort you are distracted and you are disturbed.

Practicing yoga asanas under guidance also helps to train you to control your mind with your intelligence, to direct your senses according to a higher plan. Our body and our mind are instruments of self realization, or instruments of bewilderment, depending on whether they are correctly used, or simply abused.

Our diet affects our health, including our strength and flexibility, two things that yoga asanas increase. We are what we eat. Processed, denaturalised, and recombined foods and vegetables grown in mineral-depleted soils using pesticides and chemical fertilizers disrupt the hormonal balance of the body and create the present paradox of overweight people suffering from malnutrition. Neither the body nor the mind function properly in this state. It becomes difficult for such a person to correctly assess the priorities of the human form of life. When this bodily situation is combined with our present information-overload society narrowly focused on consumption and economic growth, a person is easily bewildered and lost.

Aside from the ingredients, most people have neither the knowledge nor the time to be able to prepare themselves nutritious and delicious meals.

At Atma Yoga we provide people with healthy, nutritious food prepared with a spirit of love. We cook every night and also provide cooking classes to help guests to learn to do the same. We don't serve meat because Krishna doesn't recommend this as food for civilized human beings. It may be eaten in emergency situations, but otherwise it lowers the consciousness of the eater, and increases the amount of suffering on the planet. How do we think we will avoid suffering while causing unnecessary suffering for others?

Prior to this, Narada Muni states: "By discussing spiritual knowledge one can conquer lamentation and illusion".

The Atma Yoga lounge exists for discussing spiritual topics, and especially the knowledge contained in sacred texts such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.

For more information on program times and the Atma Yoga center visit the Atma Yoga website at www.atmayoga.com.au.