spirit YOGIC WISDOM
“ As we refine our consciousness , every value of self from the body to the breath to the mind , as we refine it , we start to arrive to that state within ourself where we experience meaning of life .”.
Q . What motivated you to learn , practice and then share the techniques and philosophy of Yoga & Meditation with the rest of the world ?
A . I was born here in Rishikesh . I was fortunate enough , my Guru was there when I was born , so I grew up with him in Rishikesh and Lakshman Jhula . It was not a big tourist place then . There was no German bakeries and all these things which are there now . So there was a natural desire in me . I was very much interested in this from a very young age and I was fortunate that it was available . I mean , you have to have desire but there was availability also . So , I got the opportunity from a very young age to meet all these different teachers who were passing through here or living in Lakshman Jhula .
I begun to realize that if one has to experience full value of life , one has to be intelligent about it and yoga and meditation are really the way to get more and more intelligent with yourself . Otherwise we have perversion of meaning and there is no great joy no matter what we have . So , for me , I realized that this is the way to evolve , this is the way how life can evolve , so , I just really got absorbed in it and it was natural by the age of 21 . One thing led to another . It was just a natural expression of who I was inside - to share and teach . Then I started to travel and at 22 , I first went abroad and started teaching there .
Since then it ’ s just been a natural extension of expression of who I am . I am very grateful for it . Everyday , for me it ’ s just who I am , I truly love it .
Q . What ’ s a philosophy of life and how would people benefit from being guided by one ?
A . I think , there is not a single philosophy of life , there is a meaning of life . When we are saying about philosophy of life , we are speaking of a static thing . But life , by its essential nature is dynamic , it is not static . So the meaning , if we give a particular meaning to life , then it becomes static and there is a clash . The Yoga Vedantic teachings are about arriving to that state of consciousness , refining ourselves , at the base of who we are is the Supreme intelligence which has become totality of totality . So , as we refine our consciousness , every value of self from the body to the breath to the mind , as we refine it , we start to arrive to that state within ourself where we experience meaning of life .
We have different ideologies , and philosophies but we find that after a certain while they all seem to be in clash with life . That ’ s why all traditions after a while become irrelevant but the Yoga Vedantic tradition is still relevant and is growing without forced conversion . There is no forced conversion in this , there has
10 YOGIC HERALD JAN 2018