YOGA for LIFE A Vedic Learning Intensive Retreat with Jeffrey Armstrong ~ Kavindra Rishi Founder of VASA Vedic Academy of Science & Arts 4 days with Vedic Tantra Master and Yogi, Jeffrey Armstrong (Kavindra Rishi) in beautiful British Columbia. A note from Jeffrey & Sandi Flash-Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram Sometimes when we propose to do great things, events still conspire against us. But once in a while, the Transcendental descends to Earth and holds back the forces of chaos to give us a taste of the Divine. When we planned the recent conference so carefully, we could only hope for such an outcome. After all, we had been dreaming this first four-day gathering of our international students for over ten years. For us, you were all both the fulfillment and the substance of that dream. Your Seva empowered us, your sincerity moved us, your devotion inspired us, your cooperation steadied us, your courage was marvelous, your tears confirmed our belief in what we do, your laughter echoes in our home, and we joyfully watched the widening of our circle of beauty and Divine Individuality. There was not one moment during which we felt you falter or lose focus on the goal. Your heroic vows excited us and we are now inspired to teach this way again and again. The taste of your love lingers in our hearts, where you will always be smiling in the ecstatic kirtan of the Holy Names. May the knowledge we shared always be with you. Kavindraji What a great opportunity it was to serve our student body at this retreat. Everyone arrived very excited and left very tired yet inspired to incorporate a daily spiritual practise into their lives. It was wonderful to see everyone perform the tapasya to achieve their results. How blessed we all are. Jai Guru! Sandiji
Garuda A note from Anthony, We all took a vrat at the beginning of the retreat and got initiated to further ourselves in the knowledge so we can arrange our life to live/remember as the eternal soul. By taking this vrat we opened ourselves to the knowledge and NOW we need to further that vow and remember the knowledge everyday. I wanted to thank each of you distinct, beautiful atmas that it was a pleasure to meet you, serve you and share in a fantastic weekend. I also wanted to thank Jeffreyji, Sandi and Richelle for their vrat to exemplify a yogic/vedic lifestyle and to embody the knowledge for all of us to learn from. Garuda Das Anthony Kuschak Special Events Coordinator VASA
Photos on this page are taken by professional photographer Robert Leon. He took some fantastic shots of everyone. If you wish to have enlargements please contact him at www.robertleon.com
RECAP of events by Richelle Devi... We arrived for registration on Friday afternoon at 3pm and received our Spiritual Toolkit for collecting all of our handouts. Jeffreyji opened the Retreat by explaining the significance of a vrata or vow, and what it would mean to be in the flash-ram - four days of keeping up the ashram pace! We started each morning at 7am with mantras, which were a favorite part of the retreat for everyone. Then Anthony Kuschak coordinated the carpooling over to YYOGA Studio in silence for a Hatha yoga workout: Jeffrey taught the opening class, Richelle Devi the 2nd day, and Maggie Reagh gave us a class the 3rd day. Breakfast followed and then the morning sessions. Afternoons included two excursions Saturday to the Buddhist Temple in Richmond, and Sunday to the UBC Botanical Gardens suspension Canopy Walkway. On Sunday a few students had to face their fear of heights and/or motion. We were suspended 30-75 feet above the forest floor! Our evenings included fabulous summer dinners and more sessions with Jeffreyji we went until 10pm each night! Opening night, Sarala Thompson did a sizzling rendition of Fever, Pete McCormack and Frank Fitzpatrick provided rousing kirtans each evening and Hemalayaa Behl got us all loosened up and energized with a Bollywood-style dance session.
Jeffrey initiating everyone into the Sun/Moon Meditation! Another tool in the Spiritual Tool Kit. cont d The Intensive was unique in that we covered a lot of ground each day from morning mantras, to a yoga workout, to lectures, poetry readings, afternoons in the Garden at Deva Loka for tea breaks, and a special game we played at mealtimes to sharpen our Vedic Sanskrit Vocabulary. Everyone was a winner! Thank you to all students who assisted in the various duties required to put this event together and to those who help maintain Deva Loka day to day- week to week!
The Deva Seva Team: Michelle Baljit and Richelle Devi
Pete & Frank Kirtans!
QUOTES from participants: Excepts in most cases... If you are interested in expanding your knowledge of the world, yourself and your service to this remarkable planet the being she supports ( and if this last sentence makes sense to you and you consider yourself a truthseeking mystic) I can not recommend this retreat seminar intensive highly enough. Diverse, detailed and expansive ideas of how to live your dharma your truest nature are explored with fearless clarity and joy, and a remarkable breath of wisdom. Pete McCormack Jeffrey continues to amaze me with his in-depth knowledge of the Vedas & uncanny ability to make the most complex of concepts accessible and comprehendible to even beginning students. The love, integrity and commitment that each part of the seminar is infused with foes far beyond most of the seminars and programs I have experienced in my 20+ years practicing yoga. Frank Fitzpatrick This was the most inspirational experience of my entire spiritual life the handouts were magnificent, beautifully formatted, relevant and useful. The weekend offered the right balance of information, FUN, food, music, adventure and emotions. The morning mantras with the group were amazing! Wish we had more time next year! Amy Armstrong I am so glad to have had the experience of this seminar. Overall it was an extremely nourishing, informative, and challenging experience that I am so grateful to have had. Pia Shandel AMAZING! Thank you! Spending 4 days on this magical ride of wordy wisdom, belly-blessing food, voices vibrating together with sounds from within, on high, of the people, the persons, the One who feeds us as we play in this garden terrarium of Bhagavan. The Guru s gifts, laid out like a bowl of pearls, I am now going to string together these drops of knowledge, the river, the ocean awaits with my new necklace, I m ready to dive in and see who else is swimming in that milk, pearl divers all. With each teaching my view expands, which only excites me with the prospect of an ever-growing connection, on Earth, as it is in Vaikuntha. Glen Anderson I was moved to tears during meditation, I was provoked during lectures to think more expansively, I was highly engaged by Jeffrey s accessible style and effective use of humor, and I was inspired by the elevated spirits of everyone in the classroom. In short, I left with the powerful one/two punch of an elevated spirit combined with specific techniques to strengthen my yogic practice NOW or Shut up! Signup! Show UP! Michelle DeAngelis The retreat has made me more determined than ever to study the Vedas and follow the daily practices. Guruji s knowledge and teachings have really changed my life in countless ways. Nothing can express my deepest gratitude for the experience of Divine love. Namaste to the great soul, that I have the honor to call my Guru. Robert Leon I have tears of joy & relief & ecstasy in my eyes. I am very happy that I traveled to participate in this gathering. I could say that receiving the mantras, being initiated into these ancient techniques is worth more than the price of the seminar. I could say that meeting & hanging out with this team of participants is worth many times the price of the seminar. I could say that the feeling of love I find in my heart now is worth many times the price of the seminar. But really, it was ALL quite priceless. Chuck Hunner
More QUOTES from participants: Thank you Jeffrey, Sandi and Richelle for a lovely weekend and for being a bright light on my Path. (Zoltan penned a fabulous in the moment poem which we don't have room for in this newsletter) Zoltan Toth Jeffrey is an extraordinary teacher. I think every yoga teacher and serious student of yoga should be learning from this great teacher who is solid in the knowledge of the Vedas and his lineage. Jeffrey is entertaining, charismatic and fun, which makes learning easy! I greatly appreciate his approach to living in the material realm with the transcendental goals of serving (Krishna) in the highest good for all. Hemalayaa Behl I wished there were more days to the retreat so we could cover Jyotish. This weekend has opened a way to be personally engaged with the Divine and with that feeling of connectedness and expanding possibility. I knew this intellectually that it was possible but this retreat brought it to an experiential reality within me. It s with deep gratitude to all involved for the grace & blessings& connections during this retreat that I recommend it from all parts of my being. Annette Hunner I have attempted to live some of the knowledge that I have learned remotely and thru a few of the Wed classes you offer but these four days skyrocketed my understanding of why a serious spiritual practice is so important and needs to be firmly established and maintained. I now have a new framework and tools and ongoing support. That is a priceless gift; my sincerest thank you. Matt Granlund Jeffrey s teachings have completely changed my world view on so many levels. I now have a perspective from which to see not only my own life and situation, but also why our world is in such a bad state. I used to get depressed but now I see a clear way to my own wellbeing through the Vedic teachings which have provided a different view on why we are here than is commonly shared in our culture. Jeffrey and Sandi don t just teach they also live the teachings in every way and are inspiring role models and sweet friends. Love to you both and to Richelle. Michelle Hall I particularly appreciated doing the japa practices as a group and found that on the second and third day when we all got into the groove that I had an understanding of mantra practice that I had not had before. Marina Szijarto When I chanted this morning I experienced my atma in a way that was profound. During the Om Hari Om chant it was as if I was not in the room but inside my heart. It was delicious. Anthony Kuschak Being raised in a Sikh family and going to temple, I had to do Seva occasionally, but I was never able to last very long in the kitchen, nor was I truly in the mood. Now knowing that I am cooking and cleaning for Krishna, I ve never had so much energy and passion I actually went home last night and stayed up until midnight cleaning and listening to kirtan. Baljit Rayat This retreat helped me to grow in my Seva, deepen my knowledge, and see where it needs more reinforcement, i.e. Vedic vocabulary/retention. It has helped me to see and experience my dharma as I create it with my traits, personality and rasa. Sarala Thompson I am truly a beginner with this beautiful Vedic knowledge and never felt for one moment that I was being spoken down to in any way. Although this knowledge is so vast and difficult, Jeffrey s way of delivering it, is with so much love and care that you will walk away from it learning so much and not feel intimidated. I love the aha! moments I felt Anjanette Clisura