Celebrating The First International Day of Yoga

PEACE DÉJÀ VU
As a child I made a series of paintings about the peace of the world:
beautiful and happy girls from different countries, dressed in the
costumes of their regions, and holding hands as a symbol of union.
Holding hands and chanting the meal prayer during ATTC.
For me, this moment represents the peace of the world,
in real life.
Just to be polite, but without much conviction, I joined the
group. And there the magic occurred: men and women, students
of the TTC and the ATTC, between 18 and 60 years old, people
from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, England, Switzerland, the
Netherlands, Spain, Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Morocco,
Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Canada, United States, Mexico, Guatemala,
Colombia, Chile, and Argentina. All of us together, holding our
hands with love, intention and intensity, while those who knew
the prayer from the Bhagavad Gita recited:
Brahmaar panam Brahma Havir
Brahmaa gnau Brahma naa Hutam
Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam
Brahma Karma Samaadhinahaa
The process of eating is Brahman. The act of offering is Brahman.
The offering itself is Brahman. The gastric fire by which the food
is consumed is also Brahman. He alone attains Brahman who,
in all actions, is fully absorbed in Brahman.
Then we all joined saying:
“OM bolo sat guru sivananda maharaja ki – JAI!!!
Om bolo sri Vishnudevananda maharaja ki – JAI!!!”
That “JAI”, lifting our arms while still holding our hands, in a
single voice, in one cry; just that one second crystallised 30 days
of experiences and learning for me and gave sense to everything:
Tat Tvam Asi, sutras, neurotransmitters, Sat Chit Ananda, serotonin,
cortisol, 12 pairs of cranial nerves, synapse purusha, the mahavakyas,
kaivalya, samadhi. There, wearing our yellow and white uniforms
(instead of traditional costumes), we all were one, we all were
Brahman, we all were God, like the waves of an ocean, but
grounded in the Earth and with our hearts opened. There and
then I experienced the feeling of the Absolute. In a second, I saw
my whole life like it was a movie and it all, finally, made sense.
In a second, I felt the OM in each one of my cells. I had never
before felt so much love within.
Around us, the mountains, the sky, the sun, the flowers, we,
I, God. For the first time I felt the unity with everyone and every -
thing, and I understood, more than 30 years later, that desire
which has always dwelt in my soul. This, what I perceived as
emptiness, was my need for unity. This, the unity, my reason for
being; my purpose in this life. And because nothing is a coincidence,
there I also understood that Sivananda’s organisation had come
into my life for me to be part of Swami Vishnudevananda’s
dream: to build peace in the world through the practice of yoga.
There, next to the Ganges River and the Himalayas, I felt for
the first time that I was where I wanted to be, where I needed
to be and I was so intensely happy then that even now, months
later, I still am so.
“We are much more than yoga students
and teachers. We are instruments of
peace because we have experienced
the feeling of unity.
Not until that moment did I understand the goal of the
Sivananda Organisation, as Swamiji conceived it. It is much more
than providing yoga courses. We are much more than yoga students
and teachers. We are instruments of peace because we have
experienced the feeling of unity. I know that each one of us, now
that we are back in our home countries, will have a deep sense
of our responsibility to share with the world that state in which
body, mind, and soul are one – more than giving information and
techniques. That’s yoga and that’s my first step towards peace
in the world.
And because nothing is a coincidence, there I also understood
that the Sivananda organisation had come into my life for me to
be part of Swami Vishnudevananda’s dream: to build peace in the
world through the practice of yoga.n
To meditate and sing next to the Ganges River
is a very inspiring experience
YOGALife |Autumn/Winter 2015
53