The essence of “social yoga” is to create a society in which all people share the bounty of the universe together and live like brothers and sisters. This is what the ancient Rg Veda hymn, Samgachadvam, says.

My guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti once said:

“What is society like? It is like a group of people going on a pilgrimage. Try to imagine the scene! Suppose one of the pilgrims is struck down by cholera. Will the rest of them continue on their way, leaving the sick man behind? No, that would be inconceivable for them. Rather, they will break their journey for a day or two, and cure him of his disease. If he is still too weak to walk they will carry him on their shoulders. If some people run short of food, others share what they have with them. Together they share their possessions, and together they march ahead, singing in unison.”
Recently someone sent me an email with a story that captures the essence of a society moving together, with no one neglected. Here it is
Eight Children were standing on the track to participate in the running event.

* Ready! * Steady! * Bang !!!

With the sound of the Toy pistol, all eight girls started running.

Hardly had they covered ten to fifteen steps, when one of the smaller girls slipped and fell down, and she started crying.

When the other seven girls heard this sound, they stopped running, stood for awhile and turned back, they all ran back to the spot where the girl had fallenl down.

One among them bent, picked and kissed the girl gently and said - `Now the pain must have reduced’ . All seven girls lifted the fallen girl, pacified her, two of them held the girl firmly and all seven joined hands and walked together to the winning post.

Officials were shocked . Applause of thousands of spectators filled the stadium.
Many eyes were filled with tears!

YES.

This happened in Hyderabad [INDIA], recently!
The meet was conducted by National Institute of Mental Health. All these special girls had come to participate in this event and they are spastic children.
Yes, they were supposed to be mentally Challenged.
What did they teach this world?
Teamwork??
Humanity??
Equality among all ??

Most of all - LOVE and COMPASSION

Successful people help others who are slow in learning so that they are not left far behind. This is really a great message…spread it!

We can’t do this ever because we are not mentally challenged and claim to teach and help the mentally so called challenged.!

HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW BLIND PEOPLE SMILE ALL THE TIME?

STOP ANY SORT OF MARGINALISATION IN SOCIETY.

Love and Compassion FOR ALL !!!

7000 years ago, or so, Sadashiva, the founder of yoga, said that one of the seven secrets of spiritual success is to have a balanced mind.

What does this mean? One should not have a superiority complex, nor should one have an inferiority complex.  Everyone knows that a big ego is an impediment to spiritual growth. However, just as the “umbrella of ego” can prevent you from feeling the rain of spiritual grace, an inferiority complex can cause you to stop striving for perfection.

The balance between the two extremes is hard to achieve but it is possible.  The best way to achieve it is to remember that you are the son or the daughter of the Supreme Consciousness. If you remember this, you can never harbor an inferiority complex. Similarly if you remember this, you will be reminded that whatever strength you have has been provided by the Supreme Consciousness.

About 1500 years ago Caetanya Mahaprabhu gave a wonderful and concise formula for achieving this balanced mind. He said:

Trńádapi suniicena taroriva sahiśńnuná
Amáninaḿ mánadeyaḿ kiirtaniiya sadá harih.

One should be as humble as the grass and as tolerant as the trees, one should give respect to those whom no one respects, and always do kiirtan to the Lord.

So, when your vanity rears up, just remember the example of the humble, but strong, blades of grass that absorb a lot of wear but always bounce up again. Remember the example of a tree that gives everything to people but asks for nothing in return. Turn your attention to the people in society who are neglected and in all your spare moments, sing a spiritual song to God.

Any yogi can tell you that yoga will help you to become calm and overcome stress and depression. but up until now there has not been enough scientific proof to convince the skeptics. This may be changing, take a look at this excerpt from the Los Angeles Times:

Study Shows Hard Evidence That Yoga Elevates State of Mind

THE NOTION that yoga is a tonic for the mind, as well as the body, isn’t such a stretch anymore.

Practicing yoga might boost a neurotransmitter associated with regulating depression and anxiety disorders, according to a new report in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine and McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., used magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging to measure levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, in the brains of eight regular yoga practitioners. They found that the yoga group experienced a 27 percent increase in GABA levels after an hour of yoga, while 11 control subjects, who read for an hour, received no such benefits.

“The study shows that there’s a neurochemical response to the practice of yoga that’s similar to neurochemical responses we see when people are treated with antidepressants,” says lead author Dr. Chris Streeter, an assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

Although yoga has been associated with a reduction in depression and anxiety, the study is one of the first to provide hard evidence. “This is a behavioral intervention that you can use to augment treatment,” Streeter says. “I would recommend it.”

– Los Angeles Times

I’ve been fasting today. I do it four times a month and am seldom bothered by hunger (I’ll explain why later). But today was different and in the afternoon at around 5.00 PM I had “demon hunger” and couldn’t concentrate on some computer work that I was doing. I really felt like eating something!

I contemplated taking some fruit, which is generally a good idea whenever you are in this kind of predicament. For example, suppose you are trying to lose weight by cutting down on high calorie snacks in-between meals, and all of a sudden you get the “munchies” well if you eat an apple or some other fruit it sometimes does the trick and your hunger is gone.

But instead of grabbing an apple, I resorted to a “yogi trick,” I drank two glasses of lemon water. I made it by squeezing lemon into the glass and adding a bit of salt and water. This lemon water drink is great for giving strength and it also works to allay the hunger. I drank and then went back to work (which includes typing this blog entry). So if you really want to stick to your fast, before you to for fruit, try the lemon water.

And remember one thing: you will not go to hell if you take some lemon water or eat a fruit. Fasting is not a “religious” act (though it has value if you use the time that you save from shopping, cooking and cleaning and do something spiritual during the gained time). Fasting will help you to maintain your health, so do your best to do it regularly (twice a month is great).

Now, I promised to tell you how I usually avoid hunger altogether on the fasting day, so I will do it. Before you begin a fast you have to prepare yourself physically, and most important mentally.

Let’s start with mental preparation. The night before the day when you will be fasting you have to remember that tomorrow is the fasting day and set your mind to it. It’s final, tomorrow you are fasting. If you have this kind of determination, then your desire to eat will not even start working on the day of fasting. It just shuts down. It is amazing but it is true.

If you don’t make this kind of mental preparation then when you wake up you will be thinking of breakfast or of eating sometime. If you decide to fast right then, on the spot, you will also think about why it might be good to eat (you can always find a reason!). And in the midst of this quivering mind-set hunger usually wins the day! So make up your mind the night before and you will be surprised at how helpful it is.

Second, and this is why I was hungry today, prepare yourself physically. The day before the fast make sure that you get enough liquids and also enough calories. My meals yesterday must have been too skimpy and that is why I got hungry. In any case the day is almost over and tomorrow I will dig into some yogurt and fruit!

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It is not easy to follow a spiritual path in an age of materialism. You may be trying to improve yourself with yoga and meditation, but your neighbors, friends and even family members may be moving in a different direction.

One of the ways you can gain the strength needed to stick to your path is by associating with like-minded people.  When I first began yoga there were some days when I didn’t feel like doing it, but I was with some friends who were also into yoga and they said, “come on let’s do our yoga postures together.” So that really helped. Imagine if I had had friends who would have said,”yeah, yoga is for sissies, come on let’s go and drink some beer.” I wouldn’t be here now writing this yoga blog!

So, if you want to remain consistent and strong in your yoga practice hang out with like-minded people. Find some friends who also wish to move on the spiritual path. Good company in Sanskrit is called Satsaunga (sometimes written, satsanga). Sat signifies the unchangeable supreme truth and saunga means company.

Here is what my guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti has to say about satsaunga:

“Even a golden vessel needs polishing occasionally. Unmaintained it gathers dust and dirt and loses its lustre. Similarly, even a good person or a sádhaka needs proper maintenance, for in a world of constant change, care must be taken that the change be always towards the better or the higher. Keeping good company is essential for this positive development. While bad company strengthens the bondage of the soul, good company is conducive to liberation and salvation. The keeping of good company is conducive to liberation and is known as satsauṋga in Sanskrit. When satsauṋga is followed, either physically or mentally or both, the subconscious mind, and thus the conscious mind, are charged with better and higher influences. This change will move the follower forward towards higher and better goals.”

You can find out more about this approach to yoga at www.anandamarga.org 

India is the home of yoga and I am visiting here for the next month. I hope to share some insights with you during this trip and show you some pictures soon. So come back in the next few days

In India one of the most famous prayers is the Gayatrii Mantra or Gayatrii Rk. Here is what my Guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti has to say about it:

By meditating on this divine effulgence we get the inspiration to move along the path of blessedness. That is why we meditate and that is why we are to meditate. We must meditate. This prayer is of the cardinal type, hence it is a necessity. We should do it, we must do it. Prayers like, “Oh God, give us food, give us drink” are all non-cardinal; hence they are useless and should always be discouraged. I told you that your requirements are better known to Him. You do not know what you actual requirements are. He knows. In several portions of the Yajurveda also, prayers are like this “guide our intellect unto the path of blessedness.” 

Today I was riding in one of New Delhi’s famous three wheeled autorickshaws.

The driver was a very good young man and said that he was working in this job due to family circumstances, but he had originally intended to study more and get a better job. He said that if he had a better job and more money then he could help society with social service.

Actually we can all do something regardless of our capacity. The charity of a beggar is in fact worth more than the charity of a rich person, because the beggar is making a greater sacrifice.

There is an incident in India’s epic tale, The Ramayana that illustrates this point well. In that story, the hero Rama had to build a bridge spanning a huge distance of ocean. Helping him were strong apes who carried boulders for the bridge’s construction. There was also a small squirrel who carried pebbles, out of love for Rama. The monkeys taunted the squirrel saying that his pebbles were useless. Rama intervened and said that the squirrel was working to his capacity and that his contribution was equally valuable.

Here is what my Guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti said about this:

“You know the story of the Rámáyańa. During construction of a bridge, the big monkeys carried large stones while the small squirrels brought only tiny grains of sand. Is there any difference between the carrying of tiny grains of sand by the squirrels on the one hand and the carrying of a whole mountain by Hanumán on the other? Both are equally valuable. You may be a small entity like a squirrel, but your existence is in no way insignificant.”
So help others according to your capacity and don’t worry if you are not rich enough to be a famous philanthropist. Your heartfelt help made according to your own capacity is as good as a gift of one billion dollars.