mandala.
The tradition of yoga is ancient, enduring and ever evolving. During
archaeological excavations in the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan,
statues were discovered showing Shiva and Parvati sitting in various
yogic postures. These artefacts are evidence that yogic techniques have
been practiced for more than five thousand years. Its techniques were
developed and passed on within a guru-disciple relationship, largely by
word of mouth so that the personal experience of the master could be
understood by the disciple. It was only during the latter part of the
twentieth century that yoga became more widely known. Prior to that, it
was believed that yoga was meant only for sannyasins and sadhus who had
renounced the world for a life of contemplation and reflection.
Yoga is an ancient and complete
humanistic spiritual science which evolved through thousands of years of
study and inner experience… There are a variety of yogic paths to suit
different human needs and temperaments all of which assist in the
liberation of human potential and creativity. Understandably, many of
the paths interact and flow into each other and, individually or
combined, they are tools designed to help us become caring and
considerate, loving and compassionate human beings.”
Why do People practise Yoga?
Yoga today is practiced by many people around the world for reasons as
diverse as maintaining good health and wellbeing, improving focus and
concentration, learning the art of relaxation and as a way of stilling
the busy mind and so gaining inner peace and tranquillity. Researchers
at RMIT University in Melbourne conducted the world’s largest survey of
yoga in 2006 with over 4000 Australian’s participating. RMIT and the
University of Queensland, Australia, are now collaborating with
universities in India, the UK and USA to conduct the first world survey
of yoga and meditation. The Australian survey found for instance that
yoga is the 13th most popular form of physical activity in Australia,
ahead of Aussie rules football and dancing, with an estimated 7-12% of
the population practicing yoga.
One in five respondents reported practicing yoga to assist with a
specific health concern, most commonly, stress, anxiety and depression,
sleep and anxiety disorders or back, neck and knee problems (e.g.
chronic lower back pain, disc injuries and arthritis). Women’s health,
respiratory problems and cardiovascular problems were also reported as
being helped by yoga. In fact 96% of people reported that yoga improved
their problem.
It is no surprise that the survey found that the reasons most commonly
given for starting yoga were ‘health/fitness’ and ‘flexibility/muscle
tone’ (76%) and that only 18% initially saw yoga as a spiritual
practice. However it is interesting that the survey went on to find that
this more than doubled to 41% once practicing, showing that people come
to yoga for the physical and stay for the spiritual.
Satyananda Yoga Tradition
There are many yoga schools in the world today and each has its lineage
and tradition. Bihar School of Yoga, known internationally as Satyananda
Yoga was founded by Swami Satyananda Saraswati who was inspired by his
guru Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh, one of the key visionaries of the
twentieth century, to bring yoga from philosophy to practice. He did
this from a belief that yoga would be the need of society in the future,
through its capacity to bring balance and harmony between mind, body and
spirit. The recent Australian survey would suggest that he was right.
Swami Satyananda felt that the Vedantic tradition, as a philosophy,
would not be able to help society, rather it needed practical
foundations. The practical foundations of this tradition were provided
by the Tantras through yoga.
Tantra
refers to a large range of practical teachings which lead to the
expansion of human consciousness and the liberation of primal energy
(kundalini). The unifying principle behind the diverse systems of Tantra
is that the material world and its experiences can be utilised to attain
enlightenment.”
www.yogavision.net
Tantra is widely misunderstood in the west as a series of sexual
practices. The real Tantra aims to awaken the dormant potential in the
human personality and its key tools are mantras (vibrational tuning
through sounds), yantras (concentration symbols to liberate the
consciousness), chakras (realisation of psychic centres), mandalas
(perception of macrocosmos in microcosmos), tapasya (practices of
self-purification), Raja Yoga (integral yoga), pranayama (yogic
breathing practices), self surrender, shaktipat (transmission of energy)
and tantric initiations (a process incorporating all of the above
imparted by the qualified master to a deserving disciple).
Swami
Satyananda developed an Integral Yoga which seeks to integrate and
develop the whole human personality. Swami Satyananda made use of
ancient wisdom and applied it in practical ways to make it relevant for
modern living. He drew from the tantric tradition the practices of
kundalini yoga, kriya yoga, mantra yoga, laya yoga, the advanced stages
of pratyahara and dharana, and the advanced stages of dhyana and
samadhi. From the vedic tradition, Swami Satyananda took the components
of bhakti yoga, karma yoga, jnana yoga and developed a system of
meditation from the tantras and the Vedas.
Swami
Sivananda described yoga as, “Yoga is integration and harmony between
thoughts, words and deeds, or integration between head, heart and hands”
and this could be said to succinctly describe the aim of Satyananda
Yoga. Swami Satyananda aimed to help people develop this integration
though the range of yogic paths described above and through the
development of yoga as lifestyle.
Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati
Swami
Niranjanananda Saraswati is the successor to Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
He is both disciple and master and is carrying forward the vision begun
by Swami Sivananda and developed by Swami Satyananda.
Swami
Niranjanananda was born in 1960 in Madhya Pradesh, India. He was an
exceptionally gifted child who was considered to be a yogi from birth
and was selected by his guru, for a special upbringing and education. It
is said that when he was four he had an inner calling and gathering a
small bundle of clothes, set off for Munger, where Bihar School of Yoga
(BSY) is situated. His father is said to have had difficulty in bringing
him back from the railway station! Not long after, he went to live at
BSY and his secular and spiritual education was personally supervised by
Swami Satyananda. At the age of ten, he was initiated into Dashnami
sannyasa (the tradition of renunciation and dedication to spiritual
life.)
At the age of 11, the young Swami Niranjanananda
was sent overseas to further his training and education. He lived in
many ashrams and yoga centres throughout North and South America, Europe
and Australia, including London where he lived with Swami Pragyamurti at
the Satyananda Yoga Centre in Balham.
He travelled widely in these countries,
assisting in the development of ashrams and centres, and conducting many
yoga programs. During this period of his life, he not only furthered his
education, but also achieved a profound understanding of the needs of
the different communities and countries he visited. As well as acquiring
fluency in many languages, including Hindi, English and Spanish, he also
made intensive studies in Sanskrit and ancient texts and is, today,
considered a master in this field.
In
1983, Swami Niranjanananda was recalled to India and, although only
twenty-three, was appointed president of BSY. He also took over the
administration of the ashram and its associated organisations. In 1990
Swami Niranjanananda was initiated into Paramahamsa Sannyasa by the
leading spiritual luminaries of India. In 1993 he presided over the Tyag
Golden Jubilee - a world yoga convention in honour of his guru's fifty
years of dedication to sannyasa and the upliftment of humanity. This
event was attended by people from all over the world, who came, not just
to listen to various spiritual masters, but also to eminent scientists,
doctors and educationalists, who discussed the results of yoga in their
particular field. During this convention, Swami Niranjanananda announced
his retirement from the presidency of BSY in order to have more time to
travel overseas and spread the message of yoga on a more global scale.
Since 1994 he has toured extensively throughout the world, including
North and South America, Africa, Europe and Australia, as well as making
extensive tours within India where he has been instrumental in
introducing yoga into prisons, medical colleges, villages, schools and
the army.
In 1994
he founded the Bihar Yoga Bharati, Institute of Advanced Studies in
Yogic Sciences (BYB) at Munger, India as an educational and charitable
institution for advanced studies in yogic sciences. It is the
culmination of the vision of Swami Sivananda and Swami Satyananda. BYB
is the world's first accredited institution wholly devoted to teaching
yoga. A comprehensive yogic education is imparted with provision to
grant certificates and diplomas in yogic studies. It offers a complete
scientific and yogic education according to the needs of today, through
the areas of Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Psychology, Applied Yogic Science and
Yoga Ecology. Swami Niranjanananda is its present chancellor.
Swami
Niranjanananda has authored over twenty books and guides national and
international programs. He is a man who belongs equally to both East and
West. His cosmopolitan background has contributed to his inherent
understanding of people and their particular needs, no matter what
society or walk of life they come from. He is respected and loved as a
spiritual master, not just because of his infinite wisdom and
compassion, but because he is a man who radiates joy and celebrates each
moment of life.
Swami
Niranjan (SwaN) is a modern master of yoga who is adept at making use of
the wisdom acquired by his predecessor’s and applying that wisdom to
contemporary life, with its range of problems and issues. Most of all
perhaps, he inspires through his presence and his dedication to serve,
love and give. He will be in the United Kingdom in July and everyone
from whichever yoga tradition they may belong to, is most welcome to
attend the programme’s and to be in his presence.
References
Saraswati, Swami
Niranjanananda (2000), ‘The Growth of Satyananda Yoga or Bihar Yoga’,
YOGA January 2000, Sivananda Math, Munger, Bihar, India
Saraswati, Swami
Satyananda (2004), ‘A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric
Techniques of Yoga and Kriya’
Paramahamsaji Swami Satyananda 1923
- 2009