[v] MS Waikato Trust
Newsletter April 2006 Snippets from Professor
Burks'
Talks Hamilton: MS Waikato Trust
©Arbana Levande
2007
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Teaching Yoga
to the Older Person
By Sn.
Samadhimurti, Hamilton, NZ
Recently I started
teaching yoga to students 55 years and older at our local
Celebrating Age Centre. The class is called cocoon yoga,
after the movie "Cocoon" in which elderly people are
rejuvenated by swimming in a pool with alien cocoons. I saw
it as challenge to the usual beginners and general yoga
classes. And that it was - for the first two months anyway.
Often people stop
exercising as they age and nothing could be worse for their
health. Many health issues have been linked to the sedentary
lifestyle which is typical not just of older people, but of
society as a whole. Extended periods of sitting may lead to
muscular shortening, tightening and weakening. Lack of
weight-bearing activity contributes to osteoporosis. Lack of
movement and stretching leads to joint deterioration and
loss of flexibility as well as other concerns, eg
arthritis/bursitis, high blood pressure, increased body fat
and decreased lean body tissue, osteoporosis, low back pain,
breathing difficulties, poor blood circulation, vision
problems, chronic pain, stress-related symptoms and the
inability to sleep peacefully.
Yoga can be such a
gentle form of exercise that people at any age can start the
practice under a qualified teacher who can take care of
physical conditions in the class environment. The benefits
of yoga are well known and documented. Many of these are
especially relevant to the older generation, such as mental
alertness, improved memory, being in the present and staying
focussed on the task at hand. Yoga postures help to restore
flexibility in the joints and normalise blood pressure. The
flow of blood and lymph are increased which helps to reduce
the effects of aging. Improvements in the immune system,
autonomic nervous system and overall health, stability and
balance, enhanced pain management as well as better physical
and fitness levels are some other benefits. The mere act of
going to yoga classes and practising the postures can boost
the confidence levels. Breathing practices utilise the full
lung capacity and help with purification, and together with
relaxation/meditation can connect the person with who they
really are, with their soul. With the help of yoga,
students, especially older people, may be able to come to a
place of peace, where they
can accept themselves, the aging state of their bodies, and
that life will end one day.
In the past I had
taught a combined class for the general public and Indian
senior citizens who belonged to a local organisation.
The agreement had been that the seniors received a free
class in return for providing the venue. The task had been
to keep the postures safe for the older generation while
simultaneously challenging the other participants. The older
group of people would not listen to gentle reminders to stay
with the simpler version. Nor would they heed instructions
to stay with the safer variation if they were beginners. All
high blood pressure warnings were consistently ignored. In
the end, I resorted to separate instructions for the two
groups of participants to keep people safe, and even then
the success was limited.
In New Zealand Tai
Chi has become quite well known and popular with the older
generation as a gentle movement to keep active, help with
balance and to minimise falls, which are an ongoing threat
to older people. In contrast, yoga is still relatively
unknown in this age group and comes with a sense of being
physically challenging to impossible body contortions. This
new "Cocoon yoga" class had been advertised as a gentle class for the
older person 55+ which could be done sitting on a mat or
chair or wheelchair. It started off with a free introductory
class to which 16 people showed up. In line with the
advertising, people kept their shoes on and sat in chairs.
They performed gentle joint movements and a squatting
practice (stand - sit on chair) as well as a simple
balancing pose, followed by abdominal breathing and a short
yoga nidra sitting in a chair. The class was 1.25 hours
long. I had demonstrated most of the practices, and kept the
voice volume high. The consensus was that the session had
been an agreeable experience. Almost half the group came up
to talk about changing to a different time, and maybe even
two classes per week. Others said they didn't like having
"a
nap" at this time of day as they were looking forward to one
after lunch.
Over the next
weeks, I attempted to slowly change the style back to a
SATYANANDA YOGA® class.
I did not demonstrate all postures any more, but then
noticed that people continued to copy me without listening
to any instructions: when I stopped they stopped, when I
leaned to the right while saying "Lean to the right" they
would lean to the left, and so on. Encouragements to take
the shoes off while practising toe bending were frowned
upon. A couple of people were keen to try the cat (Marjariasana)
on the floor, while someone else refused to attempt bending
the spine back and forth while sitting in a chair, "I can't
do that", she commented while staring at another person on
the floor. During this time, numbers went down until we
reached the low point of two participants.
For a while I
couldn't work out why I wasn't happy with the class, and
obviously the students weren't either. Was it that so many
shoes stayed on? Some people were now bringing mats, and I
wanted to keep the instructions flexible to include people
who preferred sitting on chairs. Eventually I realised that
my frustration was related to the lack of willingness in
several participants to give even simple practices a go.
I also continued to
feel uncomfortable about
"jumping around" in the front of
the room like an aerobics instructor just to fulfil expectation
being able to copy
every move. At first my intention
was to yield to their expectation of a class, in the end I
found I was compromising too much. So I introduced
"listening to the instructions", while lying on their backs,
heads towards the front and doing single leg raises. They
could not see me in this position, so I was able to go back
to teaching the way a SATYANANDA YOGA® teacher
does, observing the group and speaking to what I could see.
For a while, we practised a lot of postures starting from
shavasana - lying on the back!
I needed to learn a
lot about older people and how to best relate to them. The
complete lack of flexibility in some upper backs was new to
me: could some people really not lie flat on their back?
Which postures from the supine position are safe to do with
a pillow under the head? Where should arms be positioned in
postures that require interlocking the hands under the head
when neither head nor arms touch the floor? I now take
special care of wrists and ankles, as well as the lower back
and chest/shoulder areas. I find myself using the English
names for the postures rather than confusing participants
with the Sanskrit names. I leave quite long pauses between
postures to allow for revitalisation.
The fear and risk
of falling is ever present in older people, especially as
their bones may break easily. Therefore, balancing postures
are always included in this class. Participants stand on one
leg beside a sturdy chair with the option of one hand
resting on the backrest for safety and confidence. We also
practise variations of moving the leg on the other side of
the chair out and in with the breath (abduction and
adduction), lifting the knee towards the chest or bringing
the heel towards the buttocks. We found that at this stage,
the standing leg gets tired quite easily and thus we keep
this segment relatively short.
In the beginning, a
few people were quite suspicious of filling in any form at
all, or giving me their name and phone numbers, thinking
that I wanted to sign them up for something. So,
confidential health forms were only introduced after 3
months. Until then I worked under the safer assumption that
everyone in the class suffered from high blood pressure and
joint trouble and didn't know how to take in a deep breath!
Ujjayi pranayama
was introduced quite early into the term, as the lowering of
blood pressure as well as the induced peace and introversion
are a good preparation for yoga nidra at the end of
the class.
Recently, we
developed a chair sequence together to challenge the
cardiovascular faculties of the body a little more without
going as far as practising Salute to the Sun (Surya
Namaskara). This set can be found as an attachment.
I finish with the
words of my 86 year old student who commented to her
neighbour after class: "That was
quite enjoyable, wasn't it?"
Bibliography and
Webpages
http://yoga-health-benefits.blogspot.com/2009/08/yoga-for-elderly-fitness-for-elderly.html
http://www.seniorfitness.net/YOGA.htm
Yoga for the 50+,
With Sara Kooperman and Lisa Ackerman
http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yoga-and-health/yoga-for-elderly.asp
Yoga for the Elderly - Seniors' Way to Be
Fit
http://yoga-health-benefits.blogspot.com/2009/08/yoga-for-elderly-fitness-for-elderly.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/best-yoga-positions-for-elderly-individuals
© Samadhimurti 2009
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Teaching Yoga To
Teenagers
By Sn.
Samadhimurti, New Zealand
For several months
now our charitable trust, Shraddha - Yogic Lifestyle
Education Trust, has been teaching yoga to teenagers at the
local high school.
This class is offered for free to the teenagers and the
teacher volunteers her time.
Why teach yoga
to teenagers?
Teenagers are an
interesting and fascinating, a different type of human being
altogether with their own job description. They are just
finding themselves, forming their own opinions, still
pliable, curious and direct. Here is a great opportunity and
challenge for a competent teacher of yoga to make a lasting
mark for the better in individuals and eventually society as
a whole. The teacher could well be an important role model
with a potentially huge influence on the teenagers'
development.
Benefits of Yoga for Teenagers
As is well known,
yoga is about balance and harmony, stretching and
strengthening, focus and relaxation, happiness and a sense
of general well-being. Teenagers go through enormous
changes: in their bodies, emotions, hormones and world view.
Yoga practices can offer help with a diverse range of
arising issues.
In our sedentary
culture even children are expected to spend many hours a day
sitting at desks or leaning over books and papers, and
sitting in front of the computer screen. Their posture is
naturally improved through yoga practices as their muscles
tone increases. Yoga postures and relaxation further support
the body's natural alignment. Issues such as menstrual
cramps, headaches, sinus and digestive problems,
irritability and pain, etc can be addressed. Fast growth in
teenagers' bodies can lead to tight muscles, tendons and
ligaments, and yoga can play an important part in
alleviating these conditions.
Balancing postures
indirectly teach the teenage mind to focus, and create
harmony and balance in body and mind. These are invaluable
tools for busy teenagers. Learning to centre the mind is a
skill needed throughout life.
Coordination and
physical awareness are improved, thereby lessening the risk
of injury in any physical activity. Through aware and
careful exploration of the body, respect and gratitude for
the body are encouraged. Teens learn to appreciate how much
difference a little effort can make physically as well as
mentally and emotionally, thus strengthening motivation to
take on changes and challenges in other areas of their
lives.
Yoga revitalises
and balances energies and emotions, causing the nervous
system to be calmed. Breath awareness,
full yogic breathing in particular, contributes to the
development of a sense of connectedness to their Selves,
others and the world. Brahmari pranayama and Nadi Shodhana
balance the two hemispheres of the brain. Concentration is
improved through the focus learned in class as well as
meditation techniques. Yoga Nidra especially teaches the art
of physical, mental and emotional relaxation, as the body is
systematically put to sleep while the mind stays alert and
relaxed as it becomes more focused. A sense of knowing,
understanding and acceptance of themselves is developed.
Peer pressure is non-existent during this time, stress
levels are reduced, and a healthy and profound self-image
can develop based on peace and an optimistic attitude.
Set-up and space
When we initially
announced an early morning, extracurricular yoga class, we
did not know how much interest there would be. We were
pleasantly surprised when more than 20 names appeared on the
list after only a couple of days. Sixteen students showed up
for the first class. They were all girls - which was great
as this took one big distraction out of the class
environment.
The gymnasium we
were originally given was not conducive to yoga practice.
Unfortunately, this was the only available room for our
purpose as all other rooms were still alarmed and nobody was
available that early to open up. With a gym next door and
only some bars separating the two spaces, we had to ask
repeatedly for the music to be turned off. Sometimes other
groups came in to practise sports in the hall, and these
activities were only moved into a neighbouring hall after
several discussions.
Over winter our
main problem was that the temperature in the gymnasium was
less than 10 degrees in the mornings. Several times, we had
to start the class with laps of jogging around the hall to
get the body moving followed by a continuous stream of
dynamic, warming postures. Relaxation was out of the
question in this cold environment.
Class layout,
term 2
We started at 7.15
am before school began for the one hour long class. When the
temperature allowed, we sat in a meditative pose in the
beginning and at the end for one minute and watched the
breath. At first none of the students was able to keep their
bodies still or even their eyes closed for more than 5
seconds. After a couple of months approximately a third of
the pupils could sit still and attempt to focus - to watch
their breath - while others continued to display
restlessness and discomfort. Of course latecomers pose a
massive distraction to focus and inner stillness! This
observation is also true for both the way static postures
are held.
The focus of the
class for the first 2 months was on learning the sequence of
surya namaskara (Salute to the Sun). Then several weeks were
spent on refining the practice as well as building up numbers of rounds.
Subsequently, chandra namaskara (Salute to the Moon) was
introduced. Eventually, the sun- (and moon-) mantras were
chanted during the performance of the practice, and the
consensus amongst the teens was that they quite enjoyed
hearing them. A week later the chanting of the mantra OM in
the beginning and end of the class was initiated. At first
there was little success, in time several of the students
joined in.
A short breathing
component was placed before each final 1 minute of "sitting
quietly". Yoga nidra or even short relaxation times between
postures were impossible because of the cold temperatures.
We were surprised
at the relative stiffness of teenagers in forward bends as
well as the apparent weakness in the abdominal muscles.
Other areas of challenge include balancing postures and
holding the inverted pose of vipareet karani asana (half
shoulderstand). Therefore, some of these postures were
included in each class in addition to surya namaskara as
well as various forward and backward bends and spinal
twists. Usually the posture section would finish with either
a balancing / meditative / pre-pranayama or other static
pose.
New class
lay-out, term 3
After approximately
three months the class indicated in feedback forms that
there was too much surya namaskara and that they were
interested in learning other, different postures. A couple
of students felt that their abdominal muscles were getting
stronger. We planned for the next school term to keep the
class interesting by lowering the number of rounds of surya
namaskara and introducing a greater variety of postures.
The next term began
in the middle of winter and the class was now joined by the
rowing team. They had been sent because some of the kids
were really stiff and needed stretching badly, so for the
first time we had several boys in the class. As expected
there was more giggling and checking out what the other
"side" was doing. Yes, all boys sat on one side and the
girls on the other. The class plans were therefore changed
to include many practices of the Pawanmuktasana series 1
- 3
while careful explanations were included in each session
stating which muscle was being stretched and/or strengthened
and which joint was being used/made more flexible, etc to
aid the teenagers' motivation. The attitudes of the
newcomers ranged from: "I'll demonstrate clearly that I
didn't actually want to come and am feeling sooooo bored
right now!" to "I'll give it my best shot."
It seems that many
boys find prarambhik sthiti, the base position of sitting
upright with the legs extended to the front, harder to
perform and hold than girls. The ability to touch the toes
is rarely observed. Churning the mill and rowing the boat
are great dynamic forward bends that energise the body and
aid flexibility in general. The class plan continued to
include postures for strengthening the abdominal muscles as
well as balancing postures which help to focus the teenagers
for the school day ahead.
How much yoga
practice changes the attitude and influences the personality
could clearly be seen when this new intake arrived. The
"old" students, who had now been coming for 3 months, showed
quite a different picture to the new ones. The former had
learned to sit still for a little while, managed to keep
their backs straight and the eyes closed - even when
latecomers arrived or other noises indicated people were
walking through the hall.
New settings,
term 4
We have been
looking forward to the warmer temperatures of spring all
winter, wanting to introduce a short Yoga Nidra at the end
of each class. Recently, we moved into an afternoon slot and
into a warm classroom. Immediately the class structure could
be changed from 95 % to 75 % postures. It includes more
short rests between postures to facilitate awareness of the
effects of postures. Longer breathing practices were now
incorporated and we were finally able to introduce yoga
nidra. The sessions continued to include the dynamic,
strengthening and balancing postures mentioned above. The
teacher would also add the occasional "exotic" posture to
keep the class interesting.
Student numbers
which had been falling during winter were now steadily
climbing. This is probably not only related to warmer weather but to
the general dislike of teenagers for getting up early.
Insights,
learnings and other observations
In the teenagers
own words, they come to yoga for a fitter body, more
strength and balance, fun, and inner peace. They find the
yoga session to be a time for themselves as well as a time
for reflection. They discover more awareness of their
bodies. The teens say they also come because abdominal
breathing is deeper and slower than the normal breath; it
oxygenates the muscles, so it must be good for you! They
participate to boost energy levels, to block out all
negative thoughts, to stretch, relax and become more
flexible. They find the atmosphere peaceful and commented
that everyone is welcome and included. After class they feel
happy, optimistic and calm. Comments were made at how fast
time goes and one teenager who has trouble sleeping at night
said that she would like to practise Yoga Nidra every night.
They acknowledged that the teacher needs to have patience.
Over time we learned that some
teenagers are not interested in having a conversation on
equal terms with their yoga teacher and avoid giving
opinions when asked. Even when questioned as to whether they
enjoyed the class, some looked at each other first, before
carefully nodding.
A bit of humour, clear boundaries and
explicit instructions are essential in a teenage class. Our
teacher is naturally bossy and had no problems with keeping
the class in order. While setting clear rules and boundaries
for the sessions on the one hand, she showed acceptance and
understanding on the other, eg of yawning, or of the odd
comment to neighbours. Giving direct and clear descriptions
and feedback, spiced with a little humour, works well in a
teenage class. It is important to empower students and give
them a sense of achievement by praising their efforts,
capabilities and improvements where apparent. Classes remain
interesting and new by creating an achievable flow of
postures interlaced with some challenges. Fun and a
non-competitive atmosphere are vital for students to feel
comfortable and to want to come back to the next class.
Useful Websites
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2005/isep05/enhance.shtml
http://yogaminded.com/benefits.php
http://www.growingkids.co.uk/YogaTeens.html
http://yogaplay.com.au/teenagers.php
http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/2358
© Samadhimurti 2009
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Yoga and Faith
(Shraddha)
© Sn.
Samadhimurti, New Zealand 2009
During the 20th
century, science has dominated the thinking of humankind.
Anything that cannot be proven or isn’t of material nature
does not exist in this world view. Anything that is not
logical and accurate is mocked. Humankind has lost access to
their spirituality. For many people life has no other
meaning than material possessions, achievements and
comforts. At the same time numerous physical and mental
disturbances, instabilities and conflicts have come into
existence. Diseases related to stress continue to increase.
Stress and unhappiness have become a way of life in many
cultures today. Mental peace is widely unknown and what is
defined as mental health is at best an absence of greater
mental turmoil and does not include peace, harmony and
happiness.
This article looks
at definitions of faith in the sense of the Sanskrit word
shraddha and investigates briefly the difference between
belief, blind faith and shraddha. Inspired by the work of
Andrew Newberg, and assured through Swami Satyananda’s
contributions, it confidently asserts that faith is inherent
in humans. It further explores the role of faith on the
spiritual path with the help of Patanjali’s yoga sutras and
a range of commentaries. This article concludes by stating
that faith is an essential ingredient to mental health and
happiness; humans need to uncover their faith seedlings in
the garden of life, weed out the growths of doubt
continuously and water and nurture their faith plants with
actions born out of shraddha.
Definitions
One predominant
online
definition classifies faith as follows:
1. Confident
belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a
person, idea, or thing.
2. Belief that
does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.
3. Loyalty to a
person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's
supporters.
4. often:
Faith Christianity. The
theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a
trusting acceptance of God's will.
5. The body of
dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.
6. A set of
principles or beliefs.
The difference
between 'belief' and 'faith' can be clarified through the
following statements. 'Beliefs' reside in the past, they are
existing ideas which one subscribes to, while 'faith' looks
towards the future. 'Belief' has to do with knowledge and
understanding; 'faith' relates more to
hope
and trust. 'Belief' may or may not imply that the believer
is certain, whereas 'faith' implies a level of confidence
which approaches certainty.
Swami
Satyasangananda
writes that most religions only provide blind faith, handed
down through the social environment into which one is born
while real and living faith has the power to transform the
whole personality and enrich the quality of life. Swami
Satyananda
explains further:
The word shraddha
is made of two parts: shrat meaning truth; dha
to hold. Thus shraddha means that which holds the truth. The
word faith is perhaps not a correct translation of the word
shraddha. Faith is usually blind, belief is always firm, but
it is not so with shraddha, which comes only after
understanding the truth. Shraddha arises from true
experience. Belief is always learned from other people. …
What most of us generally have is not shraddha, but only
faith or belief.
One more source
conveys that to adopt beliefs about God from parents,
religion and society is a "fruitless exercise" that does not
bring mental peace and calmness.
A different
educator
explains that shraddha is not a blind faith in some
organisation, institution, or teacher, rather, it is an
inner feeling of certainty that a person is moving in the
right direction. And one last online
explanation of faith is that it is the natural inclination
of man to turn towards his source.
"Why God
Won't Go Away"
In their book "Why
God Won't Go Away" psychiatrist Eugene d'Aquili and
radiologist Andrew Newberg explain that the human brain is
"hard-wired" (biologically programmed) to have spiritual
experiences and to believe in God. Another way of saying
this is that the capacity for mystical experience helps to
explain humankind's strong tendency toward faith. Through
their neurological evidence using SPECT scans (single photon
emission computed tomography) of the brain to display
various patterns of brain activity during mystical
experiences such as meditation and prayer, the authors show
that these inner experiences are creating genuine activity
in the brain. Therefore, mystical experience is real
in the sense that there is something actually occurring in
the brain that is not dismissible as something delusional or
hallucinatory. The authors conclude that if humans trust
their perceptions of the physical world, along the same
lines they have to trust their spiritual experiences.
Swami Satyananda
supports the above conclusion by explaining that faith
cannot be learned or acquired rather it is inborn and needs
to be revealed:
Faith is an
inherent quality. You don't have to cultivate it; you have
to discover it. Prana or life force is inborn. You don't
have to cultivate it; you have to realize it. Man is born
with life, with consciousness and with faith. …
Belief can be
learned, cultivated, indoctrinated, structured and
destroyed, but not faith. In yoga, faith is called shraddha.
Shraddha means
'the basis of truth'. There is a basis of
truth in everybody which is a part of their being. They are
born with it. This shraddha or faith has to be realized.
Patanjali and
Shraddha
The goal of yoga
has many names; some call "yoga" the goal, Patanjali says
"Samadhi", self-realisation and enlightenment are other
commonly used terms. In 1984, Swami Satyananda clarified in Rhodos, Greece during a satsang:
Experience is
something which is very intimate to your inner Self. …
Socrates said "Know thyself", Upanishads said
"Atman",
Buddha said "Nirvana" and I call it
"experience". Everything
is synonymous; we do not try to explain the definition or
explanation of names. It is a process, it is a process of
reducing the gross into subtle.
In the yoga sutras
sage Patanjali names shraddha as the first
requisite for this self-realisation. The
sutras themselves are a map of how to reach enlightenment
and each step can be verified by practitioners as they reach
these places. Thus direct experience and confirmation
explain how shraddha can be said to be based in truth.
For example, if one has practised breath awareness
and full yogic breathing or Yoga Nidra and experienced that
these practices induce a calm and quiet mind, this
experience becomes the foundation of the "faith" that
continuing these practices will lead to similar occurrence
of calm and quiet
In other words:
Faith: Having
chosen the Yogic way, one should cast aside all doubts and
be firm in his conviction that the path chosen will lead one
to spiritual salvation. ... One should have immense faith in
the words of the master and the commandments of the
scriptures. One should implicitly trust what the teacher
says. In the case of Yogic path, several road maps are given
and guide posts are described. One's conviction in the Yogic
path chosen can only get further strengthened on such
verification.]
Unshakable faith is
the first and foremost thing for the practice of Yoga.
Without faith, even practice of Yoga leads to nowhere.
Faith, life
and yoga
So far this article
has shown that faith is an inherent quality in humankind,
and that the human brain is biologically programmed to have
spiritual experiences and faith. Faith can be re-discovered
and must be realised for mental health. Unshakable faith is
grounded in experience.
The yogic path is
unique in the sense that experiences along the way to
self-realisation are described and can be verified. This
strengthens faith enormously and a positively reinforcing
circle is created that supports further evolution. To
maintain and nurture this faith in the spiritual path and
the practices described one must align one’s actions with
one’s faith; if one’s actions were to be in discord with
one’s faith, conflict and discontent would be created in the
human mind, and doubt could find an open door.
Swami Satyananda
describes the way to unveil one's faith:
This shraddha or
faith has to be realized. In order to realize this faith, it
is very important to cultivate a greater closeness, a deeper
relationship and a better understanding with someone who can
help you to realize it. God, guru and your concept of a
divine being, are the three things which can help you to
rediscover that faith.
Once more the yogic
path offers a particular access to faith by making guru
- "the dispeller of darkness" - available as an inspiration
and object of faith. Often humans find it impossible to have
faith in something formless, so they either worship idols or
find another way to give form to their object of dedication.
In yoga this extraordinary teacher, the guru, is seen as a
manifestation of the divine and surrender (of the ego) to
the guru (or higher Self) is encouraged. All actions can now
be dedicated to this source of faith and object of
dedication allowing the practitioner to detach from success
and failure. It has been said that faith is the only known
antidote for failure.
"Thy will be done" and surrender to guru lift the serious
practitioner above and away from their emotional turmoil
often caused by interaction with other people and "bad
things that happen", thereby encouraging mental and
emotional health. In this way faith becomes a tool of the
conscious mind to quieten the lower emotions.
More than just
quietening the lower emotions, in total surrender faith
becomes deeper than love:
In the sphere of love, the lover and
the beloved are on the same wavelength. On the other hand,
in the sphere of faith, the perfect disciple's love is for
interior God essence alone. As such, when faith gets
developed, it remains forever and becomes everlasting.
This is how the
yogic path through its access to faith can bring mental
peace, harmony and happiness.
Literature
Newberg, Andrew;
D'Aquili, Eugene G. and Rause, Vince: Why God Won't Go Away,
Brain Science and the Biology of Belief, Ballantine, 2001
Swami Satyananda
Saraswati, Four Chapters on Freedom, Yoga Publications
Trust, Munger, Bihar, India, reprinted 2005
Swami Satyananda
Saraswati, Teachings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Vol V,
Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India
Swami Satyananda
Saraswati, Teachings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Vol V,
Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, India
Swami
Satyasangananda Saraswati, Karma Sannyasa, Yoga Publications
Trust, Munger, India
Web links
November 2009:
http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=729&cn=394
http://patanjali.in/samadhipada-Need-faith-vitality.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/faith
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reader_reviews/index.cfm/book_number/788/Why-God-Won%27t-Go-Away
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/788/Why-God-Won%27t-Go-Away
http://www.heavenlygardens.org/samadhi/step20.htm
http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9139.htm
http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-11922.htm
http://www.urday.com/yogdarshan.html
Four Chapters on Freedom, page 76
http://www.urday.com/yogdarshan.html