By Yogacharini Maitreyi
We have many worlds within
I grew up with my grandfather speaking to me about one big family , of Carls Sagan, Aryabhata (an Indian astronomer and mathematician who lived around 3000 years ago) and of Greek gods. Though Aryabhata was popular, he mentioned how six thousand years even before Aryabhata Indians had advanced astronomical observations. He spoke of many civilizations and their ways. He spoke of pharaohs being mummified as they thought that would make them live forever and of some Romans both rich and poor abandoning their newly borns in a practice commonly called exposure that exposed those babies to the elements.. He spoke of the best and the worst in each civilization.. He said that though everything seemed larger than life for a child of 10 such as myself, all these worlds were within me. That is the beauty of the Yoga life where we see our highest and divine self yet are not afraid to see and shift our shadow or darkness as well.
Positive vibrations from different cultures uplift.
He loved Beethovan and I listened to the symphonies as well as listened to MS Subbulakshmi’s suprabatham (South Indian classical music) and saw my grandfather cry to his favourites “Ram Niranjan” and “Guruji” by Kumar Ghandarva (North Indian Classical musician). Music was not only to feed one’s soul but to free one’s mind from limited perceptions. Positive vibrations not only uplift us but evoke altruistic qualities within us so we become a blessing unto the world. That is the science of manthra (chants to streamline the mind) and kirthan (soul song) where the vibrations shift physical, emotional and mental patterns for the better. Kirthan opens our heart to the cosmos and the divine
Even plants know what you think
He made me aware of how plants could sense what I was feeling. Ayurvedic herbalists chanted and asked the plant to participate in another’s healing before plucking their leaves or whichever part was required. He spoke of how “The secret life of plants”, a book in English was speaking about similar yogic principles. The book mentions that an equipment was attached to the plants, which indicated when the plants were agitated or had violent tremors when a person with the intent to harm the plant would enter the room. Also other plants which were not going to be harmed had tremors and empathised with the plant that was to be harmed. Being around him I realised we impact the world around us just by what we think. I saw how my negative thoughts could create tremors not only in plants but also in other living beings .
This was a key to help me see , feel and realize that we are all interconnected and impact each other even though we may not notice it .
Yoga helps us realize our interconnectedness
Yoga is a set of tools like asana (science of body language), pranayama (expansion of energy), manthra (sounds to shape shift into the sacred) etc and many practices like yama (conscious restraint), niyama (conscious cultivation) that enable us to realise this inter-connectedness. The word Yoga itself means, yuj (root word in sanskrit) or yoking or bringing together.
We see that what we put into the system with love and discernment will come to us a thousand fold.
We are more similar that separate
I was soon my grandfathers helper in watering the hundreds of plants in my home with him and sometimes even speaking to a few of them as I went about it.
Just by living with him I was able to feel that we are all more similar than we would want to believe. All living beings are looking for peace, happiness and to feel fulfilled.
All of us want to feel safe, respected and utilize our full potential. All of us want to be valued and all of us want to love and to be loved
This is the Yogic principle of Vasudhaiva kutumbakam. This means the world is one family and is also engraved in the entrance hall of the Indian Parliament. It is mentioned in the Vedic texts , the Maha Upanishad and the Hitopadesha
This expansive thinking is what is the need of the hour to unite us and not divisive thinking based on religious fanaticism, colour or race as we see increasingly nowadays. This same broad perspective of yoga is what I share with my students and guide them on a path of self awareness, self discovery and Self realisation.
Two principles by R. Krishnamurthy
I would like to share two things to live by, as my grandfather, my first guru, told me. He said “Walk in the world like you do not care who this world belongs to and walk like this world belongs to you.”
By that he meant “Do not get intimidated by wealth or power or enamoured by it. Do not care or give too much importance to those external trappings.” The next thing is if something needs to be done in the world, take care of it, protect it, stand up for what is right and nurture it and be compassionate ,just as if it belonged to you. Through all of life,what stood me good was these two simple yet profound principles.
As I traveled to different countries, I remembered with gratitude how my first guru taught me to embrace many worlds. On this world yoga day let us all do the same.
Below is a poem dedicated to my grandfather, my students and everyone on the evolutionary path to allow them to see and embrace the worlds within and without.
THE ETERNAL EMBRACE
There is a space
Where I’m neither man nor woman,
Young nor old
No colour, no race, not even a face
All I feel is my heart bursting with love
Holding the divine and you, in a long warm embrace
Yogacharini Maitreyi is a practical mystic who trains Arkaya yoga teachers& healers and creates conscious community around the world. She has trained many corporate heads in self mastery programs. She also runs a foundation for children living in slums in Chennai. She is in Vancouver in the summer to train Arkaya Teachers Next TT starts in July 2017 in Vancouver. Residential 33 day self healing and teacher training progrm starts 25th Jan 2018 in India. E-mail: infoarkaya@gmail.com; www.arkaya.net
