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The
annual International Yoga Festival, organized
jointly by the Uttarakhand Tourism and Parmarth
Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, took place from March
1- 7. It was officially inaugurated in a huge
ceremony performed by the hands of the Honorable
Governor of Uttarakhand, H.E. Shri Sudarshan
Agarwal. The concluding ceremony was graced by the
presence of numerous spiritual leaders from
Rishikesh and Haridwar.
This years' festival included more than 350
delegates from 38 countries across the world,
including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany,
Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Kazakhstan, Singapore,
South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, UK and
USA and many more.
During the one week festival, the participants
imbibed the nectar of: Kundalini Yoga, Iyengar Yoga,
Meditation, pranayama, kriya yoga, yoga nidra, nada
yoga, reiki and more.
The participants were blessed also with the
presence, satsang and divine words of revered saints
and spiritual masters, including H.H. Pujya Swami
Chidanand Saraswatiji, H.H. Pujya Sri
Shankaracharyaji, Bhanpura Peeth, Swami Divyanand
Teerthji, H.H. Pujya Swami Hans Dasji, H.H. Pujya
Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji and Shaktiananda Ma.
Yoga is not merely for our bodies, Pujya Swamiji
explained to the hundreds of participants, but
rather yoga is for our bodies, minds, hearts and
souls.
click here to read Pujya Swamiji's full,
enlightening article on the 8 Limbs of Yoga and how
they apply to our lives whether we consider
ourselves yoga students or not.
Inauguration - March 2,
2007
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Pujya Swamiji
welcomes His Excellency;
His Excellency bows to Pujya Swamiji |
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The Yoga Festival was officially
inaugurated on the 2nd March by the hands of the
Honorable Governor of Uttarakhand, Shri Sudarshan
Agarwal. It began with a beautiful demonstration of
yoga by the divine rishikumars of the Parmarth's
gurukul.
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The
Rishikumars demonstrate yoga at the
inauguration |
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Pujya Swamiji
chants prayers on the banks of Ganga at the Inauguration
His
Excellency the Honorable Governor delivers his address
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The lighting
of the inaugural lamp;
the Honorable Governor garlands Gurmukh
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Pujya Swamiji leads the divine Ganga Aarti being
performed by His Excellency, the Honorable Governor with
the Respected Tourism Secretary, Dr. Sandhu and the
respected yogacharyas
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The Honorable
Guests and Yogacharyas perform Ganga Aarti |
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Programs & Classes:
During the one week
festival, the participants imbibed the nectar of:
Kundalini
Yoga
Iyengar Yoga
Meditation
Pranayama
Yoga Nidra
Anusara Yoga
Nada yoga
Reiki
Shinto Yoga
The participants were blessed with the presence, satsang
and divine words of revered saints and spiritual
masters, including H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand
Saraswatiji, H.H. Pujya Sri Shankaracharyaji, Bhanpura
Peeth, Swami Divyanand Teerthji, and H.H. Pujya
Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji.
Pujya Swamiji gives a discourse on Yoga in the Bhagavad
Gita
Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji
gave a beautiful talk on Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita in
which He spoke about the messages of the Gita and how
they pertain to our daily lives, particularly in terms
of the practice of Yoga. Pujya Swamiji also gave
question-answer satsangs where participants opened up
and asked so many deep questions, about life,
philosophy, yoga, marriage and so many other subjects.
Each answer was filled with understanding, insight and a
great depth of wisdom.
Pujya Sri Shankaracharyaji gave inspiring talks
on the connection between science, spirituality and
yoga. He spoke of the revelations of the ancient seers
and emphasized the importance of spirituality and yoga
in our lives. He also gave profound and deep
question-answer sessions in which the audience was free
to ask any question in their minds. It was truly an
eye-opening, enlightening experience for all.
Pujya Swamiji welcomes
Pujya Sri Shankarachrayaji; participants gather to
listen
Pujya Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji came also and gave
his blessings and darshan at the aarti.
The yogacharyas and
speakers included Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
from Hollywood, USA, Shri Birjoo Mehta from
Mumbai, special guest renowned Vedantist
Dr. David Frawley (Pt. Vamadeva Shastri) from
USA, Sadhvi Abha Saraswati from
Rishikesh,
Dr. Mrityunjay Athreya from Delhi, India,
Karin O'Bannon from USA, Sadhvi Bhagwati
Saraswati from Rishikesh,
Rohini Khatri from Hyderabad, Brahmachari
Vishwa Pal Jayantji, from Kotdwar India,
Desiree Rumbaugh from USA, Hikaru Hashimoto
from Japan,
Bhavini Kalan
from South Africa, Kate Towsey
from South Africa, Shaktiananda Ma
from Argentina, and more. Further, Mrs. Geeta
Athreya
taught the beautiful art of Indian vegetarian
cooking!.
Some highlights from Pujya
Swamiji's talk on Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita are as
follows:
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The Bhagavad Gita is the journey from despondency to
devotion. Arjun began despondent and ended devoted!
Through teaching him the wisdom of yoga, Bhagwan Krishna
showed Arjuna how not to be despondent. Each of us is Arjuna and we also face so many problems in our
lives. The battlefield of Kurukshetra is within us,
every minute and every moment. Through meditation,
through yoga we can understand that these
undercurrents of battle are within us and we can
learn how to take care of them.
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As soon as Arjuna realized that he was in trouble,
that he was broken and despondent, he asked Bhagwan
Krishna for guidance, and guidance was given.
Whenever we go to God, sincerely, with devotion and
an open mind and heart, we receive the answers. The
problem is that today people take pills, drinks, and
so many other things to take care of their inner
battles rather that asking God.
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In the Gita, Bhagwan Krishna tells us to fight the
battle.
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There are 700 Mantras in the Gita and every mantra
tells you how to become a Yogi. But there are a few
mantras which give particularly powerful
instructions of how to embark on the path of yoga.
In the second chapter, Bhagwan Krishna explains a
few crucial aspects of living yoga in every aspect
of our lives. 1)
How to perform karmas/actions without attachment, 2)
The importance of being steadfast in yoga and
balanced in failure and success. 3) That evenness of
mind is yoga.
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In our lives we must perform action. We must not be
idle or dull, but we must perform that action
without attachment. Usually, we become too much
attached to the fruit of our labor, too partial.
Lord Krishna says "when you see me in everyone, then
and only then are you serving me." For people who
can really see the divine in everyone, then all
their actions become divine. The fruit comes but it
doesn't bind them.
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"Be Steadfast in Yoga". What does it mean to be
steadfast in yoga? Yoga means union, union with the
Divine. Yoga is not just about postures. Being
healthy is not enough. You must also be united with
the Divine. To be steadfast in yoga means that
whatever we do, wherever we go, whomever we meet, we
are united with Divinity. It means we are calm,
peaceful, loving, nonjudgmental, caring, sharing --
all of the aspects and characteristics that we
associate as Divine. When we become one with the
Divine through Yoga, these aspects become our
permanent nature.
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Lord Krishna says that in order to be a yogi, we
must also be balanced in success and failure. Our
problem is that usually when we have success we are
happy, but when we have failure we are upset,
broken, and even angry with God. A yogi is not
like a light bulb that gets switched on and off
depending on success or pain. A true yogi is not
broken in moments of pain or failure. It
should not be the case that someone makes a phone
call and you are off, or you are on! A yogi learns
how to stay calm and composed in all moments, in
successes and failures.
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Yoga is not only 90 minute class, yoga is every
minute.
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We have to be very careful also of how we behave
with others if we want to really be a Yogi. We have
so many desires and expectations of others that when
these are unfulfilled we become angry. A yogi
controls all those behaviors and expectations.
Otherwise our body may be performing great postures
but the mind, senses, and intellect will not be in
shape.
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We must also be moderate in our lives if we want to
really be a yogi. We must be moderate in how much we
sleep and also in when we sleep. Do we sleep so late
at night that we miss the whole morning? this is not
yoga. Also we must watch our dreams - what you
dream says so much about who we are. Yogis do not
have scary or fairy dreams. These dreams come from
the media, not from meditation. That's why before
sleep there should be meditation not media!
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And our eating - we must be moderate in how much we
eat and what we eat.
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Live a life of Parmarth "Live a life for the welfare
of all, not for self but for all"
Click here to read Pujya Swamiji's beautiful
article on the 8 limbs of yoga and how they apply to
our lives, whether we consider ourselves a "yogi" or
whether we are just looking to walk the path of
dharma.
Kundalini
yoga class
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Shri Birjoo Mehta teaches Iyengar Yoga |
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Hikaru
Hashimoto leads Shinto Yoga |
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The
audience sits in the satsang with Pujya Swamiji and
Pujya Sri Shankaracharyaji
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The
Rishikumars put on a great song and dance
show as well, much to the great delight of
the participants.
Thanks so much to Divine Souls Smt.
Bellaben and Shri Yogeshbhai Patel of Tampa,
Florida for generously providing the
costumes |
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A beautiful
camp fire is organized, around which Pujya
Swamiji gives satsang and darshan |
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Aarti and yagna:
Yoga means union. It is union of the breath to the body,
of the mind to the muscles and of the self to the
Divine. During the day, the participants received
classes in asana, pranayama, meditation and so much
more. However, according to Patanjali's 8 limbs of yoga,
the 8th limb, the highest branch is Samadhi - divine,
blissful union with God. Through the classes and the
teachings we were able to teach the first 7 limbs - yama,
niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana and dhyan.
However, the 8th limb of samadhi was possible only
through attaining that divine union! The easiest place
for that is the evening Ganga Aarti. We gathered
together each evening (as we always do at Parmarth
Niketan) for the divine Ganga yagna and aarti ceremony,
a time filled with prayer, with meditation, with song
and with divine communion. Click here to see the
beautiful Ganga Aarti personally.
The participants - from every corner of the globe, from
every religion and culture, from every walk of life --
all found the aarti to be a time which was so
spiritually uplifting and rejuvenating.
Click here to see the
meaning of Aarti and
Yagna
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The yagna and
aarti are beautiful and uplifting times for
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Concluding Ceremony:
The concluding ceremony
of the International Yoga Festival was blessed, in
addition to the presence of Pujya Swami Chidanand
Saraswatiji and Mahamandaleshwar Pujya Swami
Asanganandji, by the presence of Mahamandaleshwar Pujya
Swami Hans Dasji, Pujya Acharya Balkrishanji and many
other revered saints. It was a divine, sacred ending to
a beautiful festival. The revered saints all spoke about
how yoga is something that should be lived every moment
of every day and affect every aspect of our lives. They
spoke about how the very purpose of life is to get
closer and closer to God, and how through practicing
yoga -- alone, in silence, going within oneself -- one
can get a taste of that divine connection.
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Pujya Swamiji welcomes Pujya Swami Hansdasji
and Pujya Acharya Balkrishanji |
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The concluding
ceremony, graced by the presence of so many saints
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Pujya Swami Hansdasji and
Pujya Acharya Balkrishanji share beautiful
words of wisdom |
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Other pictures:
Visit of Pujya Sri Sri Ravi
Shankarji:
Pujya Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji came to Parmarth
Niketan (he frequently comes as he travels regularly
to Rishikesh for camps) and graced the participants
of the International Yoga Festival with his presence
and inspiring words at the aarti.
Pujya Swamiji welcomes Pujya Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
and applies sacred ash from the yagna at the
conclusion of the purnahuti (final offering) of the
Ganga Yagna
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Pujya Swamiji and Pujya Sri Sri Ravi
Shankarji discuss the myriad projects of
IHRF |
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Pujya Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji shares beautiful words
with the participants
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Mealtimes:
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The beautiful dining area |
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Honoring of Yogacharyas:
Pujya
Swamiji blessed all the yogacharyas with a special
shawl, a sacred rudraksh mala and also a yearly
diary which was provided by the Honorable Governor
of Uttarakhand.
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left: Dr. David Frawley; Right: Gurmukh and
Gurushabd |
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left: Sadhvi Abhaji (Mataji); Right:
Birjoo and Trupti Mehta |
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left: Karin O'Bannon; Right: Hikaru
Hashimoto |
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Left: Desiree Rumbaugh; Right:
Brahmachari Vishwa Pal Jayant |
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Pujya Swamiji with (left) Gurmukh and
Gurushabd and (right) the group from
Switzerland |
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Group photo!!!
Pujya Swamiji with Hikaru Hashimoto and the group from Japan
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For links to all previous updates and Divine
Messages, click
here.
back to top
back to top
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