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Yoga is a Living Tradition that Requires a Living Lineage! - Yogavani from Indian Yoga Association

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K’taka SCC & Yogavijnana conducts yoga session and Dhanvantri Homa 

Karnataka State Chapter Committee and Yogavijnana, Associate Centre of Indian Yoga Association recently hosted a series of significant events at their center, starting with an early morning common yoga protocol session led by Dr Veena. This was followed by a Yoga Sutra chanting session conducted…

Shrimath Yoga sets World Record for collective Yoga Nidra practice 

Shrimath Yoga, Associate Centre of IYA achieved a World Record by conducting a Yoga Nidra session with 130 participants practicing simultaneously online. The event, which saw a total of 189 participants, was notable for its emphasis on maintaining engagement, with only those who stayed on…

Chandigarh SCC hosts Independence Day and Teej celebrations 

On July 28, 2024, the Chandigarh Chapter celebrated the 78th Independence Day with great enthusiasm at the Community Centre, Sector 42. The event featured Sister Krishna Goyal as the Guest of Honour and Shri Jasbir Singh Bunty, Area Councillor, as the Chief Guest. Over 100…

YVN celebrates Krutadnyata Mahotsava 

Yoga Vidya Niketan, Member Institute of IYA celebrated Kruytadnyata Mahotsav and the birth anniversary of founder of Yoga Vidya Niketan (YVN), Mumbai, Late Yogacharya ‘Padmashri’ Sadashiv Nimbalkar Guruji on July 28, 2024 at Yoga Bhavan, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. The event honored ten senior teachers with…

YogaPeace Sansthan and IYA organises retreat in Jaipur 

YogaPeace Sansthan, Associate Centre of IYA, led by Yogacharya Dhakaram, Vice Chairperson, Rajasthan SCC organised a special yoga and spiritual retreat at the Akshaya Patra campus in Jaipur on July 28, 2024. Organized in collaboration with the Shri Krishna Balaram Mandir Committee, Indian Yoga Association,…

Project ‘Life’ & Kaivalyadhama jointly organises ‘Pranayama and Meditation’ workshop 

Project ‘Life’ Rajkot & Kaivalyadhama, Lonavala collaborated to organise ‘Pranayama and Meditation’ workshop from July 22-27, 2024. The workshop was led by esteemed Shri Sudhir Tiwari Ji, the internationally acclaimed Pranayama Guru from Canada. Ms. Meetal Koticha Shah, Jt. Executive Trustee & CEO – Project…

Krish Yoga Vidhyaalaya hosts workshop on Shatkriya and Self-Sustainable Living 

Krish Yoga Vidhyaalaya, an Associate Centre of the Indian Yoga Association (IYA), in collaboration with Puvidham Rural Development Trust, organized a two-day residential workshop titled ‘Shatkriya and Self-Sustainable Living’ from August 24-25, 2024. The workshop was held at the eco-friendly campus of Puvidham in Dharmapuri,…

AYG Academy completes Pre-Postnatal yoga batches and workshops 

In August, AYG Academy, Associate Centre of IYA successfully completed two batches of Pre-Postnatal Yoga and Garbhasanskar. These sessions provided essential guidance and practices for prenatal and postnatal care. The completion of these batches marked a significant milestone for the academy, as it was the…

Krishna Wellness Yoga Centre immerses in celebrations 

Krishna Wellness Yoga Centre, Associate Centre of IYA celebrated Raksha Bandhan and Krishna Janmashtami with joy and laughter with students. The teachers of the Yoga Centre including Shri Shyam Ahir, Ms Dakshayini, and Shri Dinesh Chengappa were appreciated for their efforts towards the students. On…

MGYI with TNSCC organises yoga events 

In August 2024, the Mahatma Gandhi Yoga Institute, Madurai, in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu State Chapter Committee of the Indian Yoga Association, successfully organized a series of enriching yoga events aimed at promoting health and well-being. These programs witnessed enthusiastic participation and highlighted the…



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12 Oct 2024

Yogavani

Yoga is a Living Tradition that Requires a Living Lineage!
Editorial

Yoga is a Living Tradition that Requires a Living Lineage! 

Yoga, one of the greatest treasures of our Indian culture is a living tradition. It is a mindful and conscious way of noble living that depends on the Guru-Sishya Parampara, the abundant living reservoir of traditional wisdom of this timeless art and science.

This unbroken lineage, the Parampara passes on the undiluted teachings from the realized master to the dedicated and sincere disciple, who then became a master to his disciples. This safeguards such Universal, pure wisdom of the living lineage for generations to come.
As my Guru-father Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj would say, “The real Guru enables the disciple to manifest their own inner un-manifest potential thus becoming a Guru themselves. The goal is to empower the sishya, and NOT to keep them, limited and disempowered as a disciple forever”

Purity, fidelity and clarity of purpose were maintained by such a seamless transmission based on value, trust, love and reverence. The disciple had to first earn the trust of the Guru and prove to be worthy of the teachings before they were imparted the timeless wisdom with heartfelt blessings. Those on the side of the disciple were received with gratitude and transmitted to the next generation in a similar manner. Utopian ideals and a spirit of altruism were the cardinal principles guiding the uninterrupted transmission of universal wisdom.

This was the traditional system through which the highest quality of teaching was sustained. It was a strict quality control mechanism that ensured the highest understanding and practical applications of Yoga were neither diluted nor degenerated into a business model.

To strike water, one needs to dig deep in one place. Maharishi Patanjali in his timeless Yogasutra advises us to follow “Ekatatva abhyasa”, meaning thereby that one needs to go consistently and persistently as deep as possible on the singular path one has chosen towards transformation and liberation. This is the same with any living system of knowledge as the tendency to go hopping from one tradition to another only leads to one becoming a puddle digger. Such a person never gets to the source of water, nor the life enriching teachings.

The Guru-Sishya relationship is a “One-to-One” relationship that encompasses every human relationship under the sun. This is based on an intimate, dynamic, and experiential connection that ignites, sustains and drives one’s Yogasadhana towards fruition. It is based on a sense of freedom and individual choice rather than dogma and bondage.

The space for such enfoldment is the Guru Kula, the womb of the Guru where the Sishya is nourished and inner growth facilitated in a loving, yet disciplined manner. Just as a mother enables her child to grow in her womb, the Guru enables their Sishya to grow spiritually in a safe and nourishing environment.

This inner growth is natural and adequate time is given for it to occur in a spontaneous and Sahaja manner. It is neither artificial, nor externally forced at any point of time. This facilitates the process of an individual’s growth into their Universal Nature.

The Guru never holds on to the Sishya nor lets them hold on to them. The Sishya is not meant to be a replica of the Guru. They are helped to become the “best” they that they can be. This is true freedom. This is true growth. This is true love. Without such a relationship, can true spiritual growth manifest?

However as with any other human hierarchical system, degeneration set in and the misuse and abuse of power by many ‘leaders’ led to a breakdown of this system with generalized distrust creeping into the sacred relationship.

Many modern mega “Guru-s” are the antithesis of this concept as they lack an intimate direct connection with their followers who just put them on a pedestal and “hero worship” them. They have created “Brands” that often lack substance and are seemingly more based on external packaging than content. This is just mass hysteria and “rock star” tendencies clothed in spiritual terms. They are basically just “Spiritual MBAs” and “Spiritual CEOs”. Disciples have become sheep to be counted and used to create empires.

The same can be said about the “Dead Guru” phenomenon where the follower can worship their dead guru and justify everything they think, say and do as being “Approved by the Guru”. This is nothing but an illusionary “Bhrantidarshan” that Maharishi Patanjali quotes as an obstacle to spiritual progress.

In modern times this has manifested in an “Anti-Guru” movement that tries to bypass this time-tested methodology and make it seem redundant. Terms like “Post-Modern Yoga” and “Post-Lineage Yoga” are brandied around as if no one needs guidance on the path anymore. This is the result of the glorification of the individual ego in recent times, and a tendency to think that we know what is best for us. This to me is no more than an excellent illustration of the saying, ‘The blind trying to lead the blind’.

This lacks rationality as the very soul of the teachings is lost when the teachings are debased into mere techniques and theoretical concepts rather than being transformative tools of self-realization. This has resulted in people trying to ‘DO” Yoga rather than “BE” Yoga.
Yoga is a state of being and the attainment of this exalted “state of being” requires Guru Krupa.

Any version of modern Yoga that tries to bypass the Guru-Sishya Parampara is NOT Yoga anymore but is just a cheap plastic imitation that lacks life, light and soul. It may “look” like Yoga, but is not the real deal anymore.

Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani

( Editor-in-Chief )

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