Tattva

COME JOIN IN ON THE YUVA SANGAM NEAREST YOU. In August and September, Yuva Sangams are occuring in Texas, Indiana, and Seattle.

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Kriya Yoga is fundamentally meant for householders for self realization. It is a guaranteed way of Enlightenment if correctly practiced under the guidance of a realized guru, according to Sadguru Yogiraj Sri Sri Mangeshda, founder of Sadguru Mangeshda Kriya Yoga Foundation, which organized a Kriya Yoga Mahashibir in Mumbai recently.

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My mother introduced me to yoga in 1970 in St. Louis, Missouri.  As a divorced mother of two, she was a force of independent feminism and as such explored all radical alternatives including the ancient science of life. A nimble, nubile nine year old, I took to the postures with ease. I especially enjoyed the vision of my mother and her girlfriend in their purple and orange leotards and tights which they called their pumpkin suit and eggplant suit. Both of them were relaxed and full of lightheartedness as they cared for their body-mind-spirit. It was great to be allowed to tag along for that groovy grown up experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) announces an offering (“yajna”) of one million Sun Salutations, known as Surya Namaskar, to create awareness among the people about Yoga and its advantages in achieving a healthy body, mind and spirit. This will be the third Surya Namaskar Yajna (SNY) since it was first launched in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

“Shiva Shiva Shiva Shiva Sambho, Mahadeva sambho.” This mantra was chanted by more than 500 people from various ethnic groups in Times Square, New York City on the morning of June 21, 2008. The summer solstice was a day of yoga in the heart of Manhattan, one of the largest and busiest cities in America. Read the rest of this entry »

The second annual offering of salutes to the Sun, known as “Surya Namaskar Yagna” successfully achieved its objective of promoting “Health for Humanity.”  Surya Namaskar is a 10-step body conditioning method that uses the ancient Indian Yoga techniques.  Each year Hindus worldwide celebrate January 14th as Makar Samkranti - the day the sun enters the sign of Capricorn or Makar, resulting in a change of season. Makar Samkranti brings in longer days, thus the festivity symbolizes sunshine in the life.  During this auspicious time, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, USA (HSS) local centers, along with several Yoga groups and community organizations, actively participated at over 140 locations all across the U.S. in this unique public health awareness campaign that started on January 12th, 2008 and concluded on January 27th, 2008. 

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For the second consecutive year, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) announces offering (“yagna”) of one million Sun Salutations, known as Surya Namaskar, to create awareness among the people of the world about Yoga and its advantages in achieving a healthy body, mind and spirit.

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Padmasana is a yoga classic and is one of the most recognized poses. Famous depictions of the lotus-posture include Shiva, the meditating ascetic god and Buddha. Padma means lotus in Sanskrit, in this asana the legs look like blooming lotus.

This asana has been given a great importance in the Yogashastra as it is best suited for Pranayam & Dhyana. BKS Iyengar has a 22-page chapter titled “The Art of Sitting in Pranayama” in his book Light on Pranayama. Of the 22 pages nearly 12 are devoted for explaining Padmasana. His instruction for doing Padmasana is excruciatingly detailed. Some of the details he highlights are as follows.

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Ushtrasana, or the camel posture is a sitting yogasana, and is a culturing posture. Read the rest of this entry »

 Yoga is becoming popular all over the world. While the term yoga brings to mind several postures to the most of us, yoga transcends twisting and bending, and is essentially a way of living. It is the means by which the individual self (Jivatma) expands from its narrow constricted personality to the all pervading, blissful state of existence, or the Paramatma. Thus, Yoga (yuj) joins Jivatma with the Paramatma. While there are four streams of Yoga, namely, Raja Yoga (path of will), Bhakti Yoga (path of devotion), Jnana Yoga (path of knowledge) and Karma Yoga (path of action), the yogasanas that we are familiar with fall into the path of Raja Yoga. Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga is the 8-limbed yoga which discusses in detail the various yogasanas amongst others like pranayama, dhyana and dharana. Yogasanas, or yogic postures. The various Yogasanas that exist are either sitting, standing supine or prone postures, and are either cultural, because they culture the body, relaxing, or meditative. Ultimately, the goal of yogasanas to bring harmony and calmness at the Annamaya Kosa (body level), and in turn create calmness and peace at the mind level. Read the rest of this entry »