I have been writing a daily blog as you my dear ones are aware. It is a troubled time. Cost of living has risen. The weather is unpredictable. In India, we are becoming toast and here we are freezing. There are air, train and bus strikes. We look around and life after Covid has changed for all of us.
How does one keep one’s spirits up? I received the answer from my Guru. I consult the Bihar School of Archives frequently and I found that I had unearthed a treasure. These lectures given by Swami Satyananda Saraswati are a gold mine. He started travelling the world over in the 1960ies and gave lectures on every subject connected with Yoga. And the beauty is that all of us can understand them and inculcate them in our daily life. It is as if one has a permanent light in one’s hand, which enables us to practice Yoga which will lead us to liberation.
Swamiji said,
Be like the ocean which remains undisturbed as the turbulent, rushing waters of rivers come to it. Enjoy sense gratification but don’t let them overpower you. Don’t despise life. There is no virtue in retiring to a wood and sitting enchanted in the solitary of Samadhi. Heroism lies in remaining steadfast in the tumult of life when scales are heavily loaded against you and the samadhi of self–equilibrium. Life is yoga, religion is yoga, your day-to-day life is yoga. Yoga is a system, a technique for stilling the turbulence of mind for harnessing it and maintaining its resilience. Aparigraha is helping others and seeing no difference between man and man. Do not accumulate and mentally aparigraha means not to collect unnecessary stuff which has no relevance in one’s life. Release it through self–awareness, sadhana and reflection. You will gain fluidity as your resistance to change becomes less and less.
He defined a yogi as one who enjoyed a happy, harmonious life? One who was afire with enthusiasm in his/her daily life. Adverse circumstances did not put one down, one rose to the challenge. One strove for the betterment of society and welfare of humanity. We can all learn from this.
Aim Hrim Klim
Photo by Ashin K Suresh on Unsplash