Compiled by: Yogini Katyayani (A lecturer for the teachers training course at the School of Yoga)
References from: Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha - Swami Satyananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga
Yoga Darshan - Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga
Kundalini Tantra - Swami Satyananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga
Hatha Yoga Pradipika - Swami Muktibodhananda of Bihar School of Yoga
Yajurveda/Atharveda/Samveda - Dr B.R Kishore
Light on Yoga - B.K.S Iyengar
There are six main systems of thought in ancient philosophy. Satyananda Yoga tradition focuses on three: Vedic, Tantric and the Samkhya philosophy.
The Vedas
While Brahman was sitting and meditating on the supreme creator; Brahma (God) came to him and gave him what ls known as the word AUM; which became known to the world as the Vedas. The Vedas are the most ancient of all scriptures and contain divine knowledge about what was, what is, and what shall be; all is AUM. Brahman revealed these scriptures orally to the Rishis and ancient seers. They were men who were blessed with spiritual powers and who lead holy lives. It was while they were in deep states of meditation that the scriptures were communicated to them in the form of hymns, verses, songs and mantras.
As these spiritual teachers evolved through the teachings of the Vedas; they began to share this knowledge with disciples and aspirants that were searching for the truth to life. The knowledge of the Veda was kept a secret and was never written down or exposed to the public. It was passed on by word of mouth so that its meaning was kept clear and pure. The disciples were personally guided on the path so that there was no misunderstanding and confusion about the teachings of the scriptures. As the disciples grew and attained a higher state of consciousness, they in-turn became sages and masters who continued to teach and share the knowledge of the Vedas.
Tantra
In the lndus Valley; archaeological have discovered artifacts resembling Shiva and Shakti that date back 5000 years ago; which means that Tantra originated many years before this. After the Vedic period; while Rishis and seers were meditating they began to see the chakras and the divine in the form of Shiva and Shakti. Shakti represents the mother Goddess that personifies the intelligent creative force; and Shiva represents the Maha Yogi and supreme consciousness. Through observation, the Rishis and the seers began to understand how nature and the animals live in harmony with their environment and with their own bodies. Slowly they began to imitate different animals and started experiencing changes in their bodies and minds. The practices balanced the pingala/ida; male/female; sun/moon; positive and negative energies within them and awakened the energy centers known as chakras. The word Tantra is a combination of two words; expansion and liberation. Tantra is therefore the science of expanding the mind and consciousness by liberating dormant energy in the chakras, which results in self realisation (moksha). It is the union of Shiva and Shakti in the crown chakra which brings about eternal spiritual consciousness that transcends both time and space.
Eventually the Rishis composed a few postures into asanas that make up a part of Hatha Yoga as we know it today in order to "activate"? the dormant chakras. The word Hatha is composed of two mantras. Ha = Ida and the moon energies; and Tha = pingala and the sun energies. From this we can see how yoga as we know it today, has its roots in Tantra.
Samkhya Philosophy
This philosophy is especially notable in connection with Patanjali's Raja Yoga. The system is regarded as scientific and is one of the six well known systems. In the Gita (verses l to 72) Krishna explains the relations of the body and soul and speaks of this descriptively according to Samkhya philosophy; and only afterwards does he add his own special teaching. From verse 1 to 38 he explains the wisdom of Samkhya and from verse 39 onwards he discuses the celestial route of yoga in a practical manner.
The Samkhya system talks of one reality having two forms; in one form the process of growth and decay take place continuously i.e. creation, preservation, transformation and destruction. In the second form there is one continuous state of being.
Vedas, Tantra and Samkhya a sum up the three philosophies of Bihar Yoga Bharati - Satyananda Yoga.
WHAT IS YOGA? - Extracts from lectures at the school - June 2005
Compiled by: Yogini Katyayani ( A lecturer for the teachers training course at the School of Yoga)
References from: Hatha Yoga Pradipika – Swami Muktibodhananda of Bihar School of Yoga
Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha – Swami Satyananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga
Kundalini Tantra - Swami Satyananda of Bihar School of Yoga
Since the beginning of time immemorial man has contemplated life, his existence and his destiny here on earth. He has searched for thousands of years to unravel this great mystery and enigma.
Many have tried to solve this mystery and only a few have been successful. In the west, great thinkers such as Einstein, Hippocrates and Plato dedicated their lives to contemplation and delved deeper and deeper into their psyche in order to comprehend the greatest secret there is: themselves. The great thinkers and spiritual teachers in the East, Rishis, through their desire to find answers to these questions went into deep states of meditation. During their deep and profound meditation; the Rishis understood that the purpose to life was to become enlightened. They then formulated this knowledge and information into the practices of yoga as we know them today.
Yoga is a system of step by step practices that are designed to ultimately take us into deep states of meditation. It predates all existing religions and provides practical techniques applicable to men and women of every race, any age and any spiritual level. The nature of each individual is different and therefore different forms of yoga were designed to fit each person's spiritual and physical abilities. eg: If you are an emotional person, the path of Bhakti yoga is recommended as it involves love for alI beings and devotional service to humanity. Yoga is not a religion but rather a philosophy and science that will enhance your faith and commitment to whatever religion you belong to.
Yoga first teaches us discipline and self control. In many yoga texts man has often been depicted secretively as a charioteer been led by 5 wild horses (representing the 5 sense organs) running frantically aII over the place. Yoga is then seen as the process that gives us the reins to control and direct our lives so that we can stay focused and concentrated at reaching our goal. Can you imagine riding a coach being pulled by 5 wild horses each riding off in a different direction. It would be disastrous! The same applies to ourselves; our minds and our emotions which are forever changing direction and we never seem to land contentment and satisfaction. Although yoga has been very effective today in the treatment of impossible and incurable diseases, the therapeutic affect of yoga is only a byproduct and purely incidental. The true system of yoga focuses on the whole personality which is made up of 5 different koshas (levels).
first level = physical (anamaya kosha)
second level = energy (pranamaya kosha)
third level = mind and emotions (manomaya kosha)
fourth level = higher mind (vigyanamaya kosha)
fifth level = the self/ our spirit our essence (anandamaya kosha)
Human beings currently focus mainly on level 1 and 3; the physical level and the mind level. It is to this point that most yoga schools teach yoga in the west. But yoga doesn't stop there. Through yoga we want to eventually be able to activate and become more aware of pranamaya kosha, vigyanamaya kosha and anandamaya kosha. Through the integration of these 5 koshas a process of holistic growth takes place. Yoga is designed for the development of the whole personality and for the evolution of human consciousness. If it is not being used for this purpose, its true objective has been lost.
Unlike other systems that teach meditation techniques from the start where you are confronted immediately with your mind, yoga works with the physical body (anamaya kosha) first. This is for most people a practical and familiar starting point.
Through the practice of hatha yoga which includes the shatkarmas (cleansing techniques), we purify the whole body; the stomach, the intestines, the nervous system and all other systems so that a state of absolute health is achieved. This is essential otherwise we would sit for meditation and dwell on alI our illnesses and not be able to keep a quiet and concentrated mind. Yoga works at toning the nerves, strengthening the muscles, loosening and making the joints strong, so that we become more flexible and are able to sit comfortable and steady in a meditative posture for extended periods of time.
Once we have brought the physical body into a state of harmony, we then start to balance the mental and emotional body (manomaya kosha). Through the practices of asanas and pranayamas we are not only working the physical body but start to influence the more subtle aspects of our being.
“SWAMI ANANDANANDA’S TATTWA SHUDDHI COURSE IN SOUTH AFRICA, MARCH 2005
The central concept that I understood during the Tattwa Shuddhi Course taught by Swami Anandananda during his visit to the South African School of Yoga – Satyananda Yoga Tradition, March 2005, was that of spontaneity. At first it might seem that this concept contains elements which are contradictory to the general perception of yoga as a science based on control, discipline and constant monitoring of one’s self. This is not so! If we take ‘spontaneity” not as an indulgence of impulses but rather as that which occurs is produced or performed through natural processes without external influence, we begin to understand this word as implying an easy effortless flowing with life, an awareness of our intuitive knowledge. This concept so construed once applied to all aspects of yoga suggest that we keep all our practices from hatha yoga, asanas, pranayama through to any other advanced practices easy, effortless. The moment we find ourselves struggling through any form of yoga our deeper awareness which the practice should induce is lost, our concentration shifts to the practice itself. The moment, thought, when our body or mind falls into a practice spontaneously, easily then we can fully appreciate its benefits, the ultimate goal of the practice itself.
Simple techniques often prove, then, to be the most beneficial. Tattwa Shuddhi contrary to my expectations was one such practice. Once the awareness was drawn inside the technique itself did not involve complicated breath patterns, long visualizations, but rather the mind is able to concentrate on the technique without much effort. Both the yantras and mantras are simple. They follow each other in logical sequence. What was intriguing about this technique was the way the rational, logical mind was made to accept this practice. It could, in fact, concentrate easily as it could understand the possibility of the body being made up of elements, those elements which the five senses have always experienced in this incarnation. This effortless acceptance of the practice by the conscious mind made the latter relax to such an extent as to allow the subconscious mind to participate especially through the practice so that when it came to comprehending those elements which had no mantra or yantra, awareness of the process could be maintained as some kind of understanding was achieved.
After having risen up from the densest element earth through to water, fire, air and ether respectively from the lower part of the body to the head, the practice required to carry one to elements not perceived with the 5 senses. Even though understanding of these had no base within that part of the mind related to the 5 senses, by now the transition from knowing because of physical experience to knowing originating from feeling was possible. That element which is the ‘I’, that which gives us a sense of our individuality can be understood as containing the element of ether/space as the “I” needs another dimension – that of time to be. The concept of ‘mind’, that higher, intuitive mind can absorb the I as it exists by transcending time and space but still contains elements which are particular to the individual, it understands oneness but still from the perspective of the ‘I’. Energy was understood in terms of that creative force, that impulse which contains all creation including the ‘pure mind’ but still needed movement, direction. Finally consciousness can be perceived as the purest state of being – the final dissolution and all the possibilities of the elements. Substance that is and is not at the same time. This technique of Tattwa Shuddhi and its teacher Swami Anandananda were ultimately an experience in humility. We are all made of the same things. We may have different quantities of the same elements but the potential to transmute and transcend is present in everyone.
Bless you for making this Tattwa Shuddhi Course possible in our School.
Namo Narayan
Deborah Boscarino
“SWAMI ANANDANANDA’S TATTWA SHUDDHI COURSE – IN SOUTHERN AFRICA, MARCH 2005
Greetings from South Africa. We have just completed a Tattwa Shuddhi course delivered by Swami Anandananda Saraswati, at the South African School of Yoga. The impact this program had was profound. Not only did I learn more about the Satyananda philosophy and its intricate system, I was also given a very powerful life-skill tool. Through the Tattwa Shuddhi purification process a state of calmness is obtained that allows me to live fully in the moment. The state of centeredness that remains long after each practice, impacts not only on the individual but on everything and everyone around. Never have I been more grateful of being right here, right now.
One thing that stood out remarkably is how Satyananda Yoga is delivered by all its teachers with such warmth and in a manner of “human-ness”. Allowing one to practice with love and joy.
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for your blessings that allowed Swami Anandananda Saraswati to visit our school and our wonderful Kamalavidya to arrange this experience. Having access to this knowledge is a privilege indeed. Thank you.
With love and light
Namo Narayan
Nicole Kretzschmar
