ATMA KRIYA YOGA OM CHANTING NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS FOR JUNE 2018 1. International Seva-Sadhana Travel in Cambodia (Part 2) 2. Spreading Vegetarianism Worldwide 3. Time for Quality Atma Kriya Yoga 4. A Group Practice and Our Sadhana 5. Yoga and Meditation at the Just Love Festival 6. Unity OM Chanting and Full Moon OM Chanting 7. International Events at Shree Peetha Nilaya 8. Local Events
1.INTERNATIONAL SEVA-SADHANA TRAVEL IN CAMBODIA (PART 2) OM CHANTING ORGANISATION AND SADHANA TRAININGS French School of Siem Reap Two French teachers and a speech therapist were trained to become OM Chanting organisers. They feel that OM Chanting (OMC) can support their pupils in their studies and promote their well-being. We organised two OMC sessions to demonstrate how to perform OMC with children: one session with 10 high school students and the other with 15 kindergarten children. They were all receptive to the practice and readily accepted the experience. The technique was adapted for smaller children: we brought them together in a large circle and sang OM together for two minutes to help them get in touch with the sound. New Hope Cambodia This is the school where the first mission took place last year. Dalin Vong, a dedicated teacher who was trained as an OMC organiser last year, has performed an OMC with 300 children every week since then! We had the chance to witness such an OMC and it was a marvellous experience.
The principal of the school gave us the possibility to train the whole team of teachers in sadhana, including himself and the manager. Enthusiastically they learned Babaji Surya Namaskar (12 participants), Simply Meditation (seven participants) and Atma Kriya Yoga (six Atma Kriya Yogis). And in order to support Dalin, we trained three more OMC organisers. We have developed a trusting relationship with the manager and the director of the school and they did not hesitate to dedicate a room for sadhana practice. The teachers now have a place to practice their sadhana together, and the room is used for OMC every Monday. We were lucky enough to meet the founder of the school and his family. On our last day they told us that we are always welcome and we will continue our work there in 2019. HUMANITARIAN ACTIONS We received a generous donation before leaving Europe and we decided to feed underprivileged children in rural Cambodia. We have carried out three humanitarian missions and fed about 450 children. We distributed food and beverages to 120 students at Anjali House and we participated in a humanitarian mission with several local monks. We helped them to buy food at the market and a spontaneous collaboration from heart to heart was born between us. The monks showed us how they cook the food for the children and we went together and distributed the meals to more than 300 students in a Cambodian countryside school. As we had some food left over, we went to another village and gave the rest of the food to a local spiritual function where around 50 people had gathered. Then
we sang bhajans together for all the villagers. It was an open-heart sharing with the villagers, the monks and our group. It was a very rewarding experience for everyone. Finally, the day before our departure we gave food to about 30 children in a poor village together with local Canadian expatriates. BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCES We have lived many beautiful experiences during our Cambodian trip. One of them happened in a poor village close to Siem Reap. We organised an OM Chanting for 25 children at the local school. At the beginning, younger children were hanging around, running and playing. When the pupils started to chant, these children came around the OMC circle and observed what was happening with great interest. They started to cool down, most of them sat down and used a mudra. Some of them chanted with us, others just sat quietly. Everything turned peaceful in the village and it was a wonderful moment to experience. CALL TO SEVA AND ACTION If you feel an inner calling to join us, please come and do seva with our Seva-Sadhana International Team! Travel with us and live a loving adventure at the feet of our Beloved Guruji! Your presence is important to help our mission, however if you cannot travel with us yet you would like to support us, we would greatly appreciate a donation. You can keep in touch with us by sending an email to vishwagodaavarimata@gmail.com With much Love, Cambodia Seva-Sadhana International Team
2. SPREADING VEGETARIANISM WORLDWIDE Excerpt from Paramahamsa Vishwananda s Gurupurnima speech, 19 July 2016 Jai Gurudev everyone! If I ask you one thing, would you give me? Audience: Yes! SV: One thing that I would like from you is that you spread vegetarianism, you know, spread that people should not kill animals. You promise me that? Audience: Yes! SV: Good! You see, human beings for their own satisfaction, you know, for the satisfaction of their tongue the brutality that they give towards animals it s really miserable to see. You see, if you want peace, firstly we have to change the mind, no? And to change the mind is not an easy thing, but we can make it easy by start controlling. Like Bhagavan Krishna said, If you want to control the mind you start by controlling the senses. So start putting Sattvic food inside of you and encourage people to become vegetarians. Like that, this will reflect upon the mind, you know. What you put inside of you it also reacts very deeply on the mind. So much brutality in this world is due to what also we consume, no? People which are vegetarians, they don t have such aggressiveness inside of them. They are more serene and calm. Here you can see clearly the state of how one can change the mind, change the way we think for a better world, for a world with peace and love. So start whoever is not vegetarian, I guess all of you are?! Audience: Yes. SV: I hope I don t need to come behind you and poke you, because for me Mother Nature will do that work. So it s better you do it by yourself, you know, because if she does it, she has her ways. Maya Devi is very powerful. All of you know that, eh? So don t let her come to you. Due to that promise, change. You will see that all goodness will come to you. You see, the blessing of Mother Nature will flow to you and with that the Grace and blessing of Giridhariji, because He is the great protector of animals. So, your body is a temple, you know, where the Lord resides Himself with all His splendour and all His love. So let s remind everybody of this sacredness to keep this body healthy. So that s one thing I ask you. That s it. Nothing else. Jai Gurudev!
3. TIME FOR QUALITY ATMA KRIYA YOGA Nowadays, the average Atma Kriya Yogi is a person who lives in the world and has a job and other responsibilities, such as taking care of the family, house, etc. This means that we need to organise ourselves well to be able to have some daily quality time practice. Who among us gets up later on some days because our children were sick the night before? Or because we didn t feel well? Or because we stayed up late working? Here we can add as many situations as we want. In addition to this, the day-to-day routine doesn t usually allow us to practice in depth and simply enjoy being in the energy of Atma Kriya Yoga. For these reasons, the best opportunity to go deeper into our practice is to participate in an Atma Kriya Yoga (AKY) retreat. As you may know, since 2015, AKY retreats have been organised with great success in different formats: at the ashram and outside (Portugal, Latvia, Austria ); big groups and small groups; etc. I had the opportunity to participate in a Yogi Retreat at the ashram last year and honestly, this time was precious. Imagine, coming from a busy job in the city, running from one place to another most days and arriving at the ashram, in the middle of the countryside, to warm and sunny weather (it was in May- June), peace everywhere and AKY, AKY, AKY an oasis for the soul. It was a bit of a hard-core retreat (as Ruchita called it once) since we would get up before 3:00h to do our practice from 3:00h to 05:00h and finish with a parikrama around the ashram to watch the sunrise. After enjoying a japa walk, seva in the garden, OMC and some introspection and self-analysis time, we would end the day with more AKY practice, every day in a different place. By the way, I strongly recommend for you to try and do your AKY outside on a rainy day maybe not with heavy rain and well protected. It might surprise you! In 2018, retreats are focused on each country. Fortunately, this year there will be many opportunities to participate in such events: Germany, Greece, Portugal, Japan, Spain, Austria Don t miss the blessings of AKY retreats! And give your soul this present. It s really worth it. JAI GURUDEV! Vichitra, Spain Please see the dates for the next retreats below. If you would like more information, you can send an email to sadhana@bhaktimarga.org.
Greece (German organisation) 21-28 September Island of Zakynthos Max 12 participants; possibility of AKY initiation Price: 185 (with 2 x overnight stay and full board) Spain 28-2 September Lanzarote Slovakia (Price all inclusive, no additional costs.) 22-24 June 139 24-26 August 139 November (dates to be confirmed) 139 INSTAGRAM instagram.com/bhaktimargasadhana/ ATMA KRIYA YOGA ON FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/atmakriyayoga/ MAHAVATAR BABAJI FACEBOOK PAGE https://www.facebook.com/jagadgurubabaji/ BHAKTI MARGA SADHANA HOMEPAGE sadhana.bhaktimarga.org TELEGRAM telegram.me/omchanting
4. A GROUP PRACTICE AND OUR SADHANA All Bhakti Marga Sadhana practices, with the exception of OMC, can be practiced individually, and often they are. We mostly practice on our own out of convenience, as by practicing alone we can easily choose the location and time for the practice. But the fact is that, when we come together, even if we have difficulty focusing (as there might be more noise in the room), the outcome is much more powerful. It is more powerful because when we come together, it s easier to forget about ourselves and our personal blockages and go beyond our limitations. The group energy created will then support each one of the individuals in their sadhana. Therefore, even if it creates an additional effort to come together weekly or monthly, the end result will definitely be worth it. This is even more so when we are having troubles in our sadhana with low motivation or problems focusing; by coming together, we can see our motivation easily renewed. Are you interested in a group practice? Contact your teacher to see when the next group practice is scheduled. If there isn t a group practice near you, we are livestreaming our Atma Kriya Yoga practices at Shree Peetha Nilaya every Wednesday at 18:00h and every Sunday at 07:00h CET. Remote group practice can offer similar benefits, so please join us in Germany whenever it s not possible to come together in your own hometown. With love, Anjali Dasi
5. YOGA AND MEDITATION AT THE JUST LOVE FESTIVAL The Just Love Festival, our most awaited festival of the year, is almost upon us. And as we are all deep in the preparations, it is time to take the Yoga Hut to the next level. You might ask, 'How can it be taken to the next level? Last year was already amazing!' Well, this year we will be in the back garden, giving us a beautiful view with more space and more silence. Our schedule is set and filled with practice and contemplation, including a workshop on love and meditation by Rishi Tulsidasananda. Here is a preview: - Guided meditations - Silent walk with the Divine Name - Common group practices - OM Chanting - Family Maha OM Chanting The Yoga and Meditation Garden will be a perfect place to rest and revitalise before jumping back into the Just Love Festival s numerous concerts. We will also have a juice bar, giving everyone a great excuse to mingle and talk about the spiritual side of life. We are excited to provide you with a garden where you can journey to your inner world, full of discovery and meditation. For more information keep an eye on: JUST LOVE FESTIVAL https://www.justlovefestival.org/yoga-and-meditation JUST LOVE FESTIVAL ON INSTAGRAM instagram.com/justlovefestival/
5. UNITY OM CHANTING AND FULL MOON OM CHANTING UNITY OM CHANTING THURSDAY 21 JUNE WORLDWIDE When Paramahamsa Vishwananda initially taught OMC, it was introduced as a self-healing technique that also benefited the world. In recent Satsangs, during the International OMC Days, He spoke more about how OMC cultivates peace and helps the world. The more people connect, the more peace that connection will generate. Through connection, when your heart opens up, you are transforming, you are becoming peaceful. When you are becoming peaceful, automatically you are spreading it in the circle around you. Of course, when people keep spreading it, that peace expands ' 'All of you are bringing peace to the world, because you have transformed yourself first. By you transforming, peace is spreading, and this is what connects you to the world, that is what connects you to each other. Unity OMC was created in 2017 as a way to connect the world through the shared intention of world peace. The program is continuing in 2018 with an even bigger focus: connecting OMC with other global communities who share similar values and dreams for a better tomorrow. There are planned two more International Unity OMC dates in 2018: - 21 June - 21 September Unity OMC is the perfect vehicle for social outreach because it spreads love, cultivates inner and outer peace, and brings socially-minded people together to help humanity through OM. Our goal is to reach out and form bonds with other organisations who might like to include OMC in their celebrations. If you, or someone you know, is interested in exploring the possibilities of collaborating, uniting efforts with other groups, and sharing OMC to build even stronger communities committed to world peace, please contact your local OMC Organiser for more information about how you can help. Info of Unity OM Chanting in your country: https://sadhana.bhaktimarga.org/om-chanting/unity-om-chanting
FULL MOON OM CHANTING Thursday, 28 June Dedicated to Finding inner calm and patience Let us come together from 20:00 21:30 JUST LOVE FESTIVAL justlovefestival.org OM CHANTING VIDEO www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi3azwiipnw
5. INTERNATIONAL EVENTS SHREE PEETHA NILAYA SRI YANTRA DRAWING COURSE ENGLISH AND GERMAN, 1-3 JUNE Info and registration: OM CHANTING WORKSHOP GERMAN, 3 JUNE Info and registration: JUST LOVE FESTIVAL YOGA AND MEDITATION GARDEN, 15-17 JUNE Info: SRI YANTRA DRAWING COURSE ENGLISH AND GERMAN, 29 JUNE-1 JULY Info and registration: ATMA KRIYA YOGA COURSE ENGLISH, 29 JUNE-1 JULY Info and registration: COLOR THEORY & ORNAMENTS / ICON GERMAIN, ENGLISH, 30 JUNE From 09.00 21.00 With Jaahnvi Fee: 120.00 Info and registration: jaahnvi@bhaktimarga.org or 0049/1783204827
JUBILEE OF LOVE 7-17 JUNE Through the Grace and generosity of Paramahamsa Vishwananda, the world has been blessed with five amazing spiritual practices to help us all advance on our spiritual journey: Atma Kriya Yoga, Simply Meditation, OM Chanting, Project Mantra, Babaji Surya Namaskar. If you want to celebrate Him in person, come to Shree Peetha Nilaya in Germany and take part in the once-in-a-lifetime Jubilee of Love which takes place 7-17 June 2018. The 10- day celebration includes a 4-day inauguration of the new Bhutabhrteshwarnath Mandir temple, an extraordinary 2-day birthday party honouring Paramahamsa Vishwananda s 40 th birthday, and the 3-day Just Love Festival. The Just Love Festival will feature a Yoga and Meditation Garden with mini-courses in all of our meditation and yogic practices. It promises to be the party of the summer and is a great way to meet Bhakti Marga family members from around the world, to learn more, and to experience everything Bhakti Marga Sadhana offers. As with any true Master, Paramahamsa Vishwananda asks for nothing in return from us. However, a beautiful way to say Thank You to Him for the gifts you have received through your sadhana practice, is to share your experiences and love with everyone you know. Invite them to come and have their own experience. Ask them to come along with you the next time you go to an OM Chanting circle or tell them about Project Mantra.
7. LOCAL EVENTS LOOK FORWARD TO LOCAL EVENTS IN JUNE