The astonishing truth of the matter is that at no single moment does your body exist at all. There is nothing at all solid or constant about it.

Ninety-eight percent of the atoms in your body were not there a year ago.

The skeleton that to you seems so solid was not there three months ago. The configuration of the bone cells only seems constant; atoms of all kinds pass freely back and forth through the cell walls, and you acquire a new skeleton every three months.

Your skin is all new every month. You have a new stomach lining every four days.
The actual surface cells that contact food are renewed every five minutes.
The cells in your liver turn over slowly, but new atoms flow through them, like water in a river course, making a new liver every six weeks. The content of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen in your brain cells is totally different today from a year ago.

All of these body cells are continually demonstrating their universal rejuvenating capacity; but, you insist on functioning as a static non-creative retention (you call it, “my body”) of an objective aggregation of mechanical specialization.

It is impossible to see the bright new world that surrounds you as long as you are hell-bent on retaining and defending your own historic genetic establishment. It became (in spatial terms) a massive retention of potential light energy compacted to an incredible density. This is you as a black hole. Aah but here too, at this point occurs the great reversal. The quasar of your reunion follows in a Holy Instant.

Remember that every single cell in your body is a complete enfoldment of the Universal Reality of the entire cosmos. This continuity of body time is not sequential. It need not suffer the conflict of sequential memory that requires a continuing direction of separation to retain its linearity unless you demand that it do so. Every organ in your body, produced and stereotyped in the exclusive specialized redundancy of your genetic self-replication, longs for the freedom of your ultimate experience.

See now how simply you can evolve a continually resurrecting body association by staying in the constant moment of your reunion with the eternally creating Mind of God. It is occurring spontaneously each moment. It is the only way to heal and be healed. How lovingly the contraptual memories of your self-conceived `physical body mind identity’ and the chaotic projected illusions of form that surround it respond to this miraculous healing process that is the extension of your newly illuminated mind.  For more information:  http://www.miracleshealingcenter.com

“Talk as much philosophy as you please, worship as many gods as you like, observe all ceremonies, sing devoted praises to any number of divine beings — liberation never comes, even at the end of a hundred aeons, without the realization of the Oneness of Self.”

–Sankara, Crest Jewel of Discrimination

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H a t h a     Y o g a

There is often confusion in the western mind, regarding this branch of Yoga.  Many people think that Hatha Yoga refers only to asanas (poses)– or to asanas and pranayama (breathing).  The goal of practicing asanas and pranayama is the same as for all other forms of Yoga sadhana (spiritual practice) – that goal is the experience of Union or God-Realization.

Asanas a nd pranayama are tools for harnessing the mind and prana (vital energy) to facilitate the attainment of this goal. Good health, flexible body, and all of the other wonderful benefits, are the “side-effects”.

Asanas and pranayama are only the first two steps of Hatha Yoga.  Also included is a lifestyle that is in accordance with the ethical and moral basis of Yoga, as well as a regular practice of meditation. Hatha Yoga begins with the physical body.  By gaining control of  the physical, the practitioner gains control of the prana, and by controlling the prana, one gains control of the mind, which is actually where true release and freedom begin. In this sense, “control” means simply bringing the full awareness of the mind into every moment, every cell, and seeing the body as it truly is, a thought in the mind.

For this reason, the teaching of yoga is not a profession, but a sadhana (spiritual practice or service).  It is a manner of transmitting the direct personal experience and divine energy from teacher to student, according to the ancient system of Guru Parampara, inspiring the remembrance in each individual of the knowledge of their radiant wholeness and true, eternal Self.

-With excerpts from the Sivananda Yoga Teacher’s Training Manual
by Swami Vishnu-devananda

“A universal theology is impossible,
but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary.”
-A Course in Miracles

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“Listen, – perhaps you catch a hint of an ancient state not quite forgotten; dim, perhaps, and yet not altogether unfamiliar, like a song whose name is long forgotten, and the circumstances in which you heard completely unremembered. Not the whole song has stayed with you, but just a little wisp of melody, attached not to a person or a place or anything particular. But you remember, from just this little part, how lovely was the song, how wonderful the setting where you heard it, and how you loved those who were there and listened with you.

The notes are nothing. Yet you have kept them with you, not for themselves, but as a soft reminder of what would make you weep if you remembered how dear it was to you. You could remember, yet you are afraid, believing you would lose the world you learned since then. And yet you know that nothing in the world you learned is half so dear as this. Listen, and see if you remember an ancient song you knew so long ago and held more dear than any melody you taught yourself to cherish since.

Beyond the body, beyond the sun and stars, past everything you see and yet somehow familiar, is an arc of golden light that stretches as you look into a great and shining circle. And all the circle fills with light before your eyes. The edges of the circle disappear, and what is in it is no longer contained at all. The light expands and covers everything, extending to infinity forever shining and with no break or limit anywhere. Within it everything is joined in perfect continuity. Nor is it possible to imagine that anything could be outside, for there is nowhere that this light is not.

This is the vision of your True Self, whom you know well. Here is the sight of One who knows his Father. Here is the memory of what you are; a part of this, with all of it within, and joined to all as surely as all is joined in you. Accept the vision that can show you this, and not the body. You know the ancient song, and know it well. Nothing will ever be as dear to you as is this ancient hymn of love that you sing to your Father still.

And now the blind can see, for that same song they sing in honor of their Creator gives praise to them as well. The blindness that they made will not withstand the memory of this song. And they will look upon the vision of the Son of God, remembering who he is they sing of. What is a miracle but this remembering? And who is there in whom this memory lies not? The light in one awakens it in all. And when you see it in your brother, you are remembering for everyone.”

-A Course in Miracles, Ch. 21 – The Forgotten Song

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* The links below are posted by WordPress, so they may or may not be of interest;)

*With  passages from: “Sivananda Yoga Teacher’s Training Manual”
by Swami Vishnu-Devananda

1. Proper Exercise – Asanas (steady poses)
2. Proper Breathing – Pranayama (prana = vital energy)
3. Proper Relaxation – Savasana (pose for maximum relaxation)
4. Proper Diet – Vegetarian (lacto or vegan)
5. Meditation and Prayer – Dhyana and Vedanta (True Knowledge)

Yoga is a life of self-awareness and gentle discipline based on the tenets of ‘simple living and high thinking.’  The body is given a whole new purpose in true Yoga, as simply a vehicle for extending Light.  In alignment with this one, true purpose, there are some guidelines that will help it  to function smoothly and gracefully, much as we would care lovingly for our car.

An automobile requires five things:  a lubricating system; a battery; a cooling system; fuel; and a responsible driver behind the wheel.  Here is how the 5 points of yoga fills those needs:

Proper Exercise: acts as a lubricating routine to the joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons and other parts of the body by increasing circulation and flexibility.

Proper Breathing: aids the body in connecting to its battery, the solar plexus, where tremendous energy is stored. When tapped through specific yoga breathing techniques (pranayama), this energy is released for physical and mental rejuvenation and healing.

Proper Relaxation: cools down the system, as does the radiator of a car.  When the body and mind are continually overworked, their efficiency diminishes.  Relaxation is nature’s way of recharging the body, calming the mind, and connecting with the spirit.

Proper Diet: provides the correct fuel for the body and the calm clarity of the mind.  Optimum utilization of food, air, water and sunlight is essential. Pure, simple natural food that is easy to digest and absorb (organic when possible) is ideal for the smooth, healthy functioning of your body/vehicle. A gradual transition to a vegetarian diet is ideal for yoga.

Meditation and Prayer: Meditation and prayer restores peace of mind and clarifies the thoughts, offering a true vision of your Being and purpose.  As the intellect is purified, the spiritual Self is brought into focus and the lower egoic nature is controlled and re-directed through steadiness and higher thought. All things are seen in a new light!

For more information see:
“The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga”- by Swami Vishnu-Devananda
”Sivananda Companion to Yoga” -  Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
”Yoga Mind and Body” – Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
“A Course in Miracles” – Jesus Christ
“Meditation and Mantras” – by Swami Vishnu-Devananda
“The Yoga Cookbook” – Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre
“Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing” – by Usha Lad and Dr. Vasant Lad

www.sivananda.org – for a wealth of resources about Yoga
www.acimi.com – Spiritual Awakening with A Course in Miracles, the Vedanta of the West