OUR REAL NATURE IS BLISS!

OUR REAL NATURE IS BLISS! An Interview with Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani by Diana Timmins (Some parts of this interview have appeared in the Australian Yoga Life magazine) 1. You were four years old when you were crowned your father’s successor – what memories do you have of this time in your life? I owe everything in my life to my dearest and most reverend Gurus, my darling illustrious parents, Swamiji, Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri and Ammaji, Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani. Without them I would be nothing at all. They have given me both my physical as well as my spiritual genetics thus enabling me to manifest my potential as best possible in this lifetime. My childhood was a very beautiful period in my life as I was born and brought up in the Yogic atmosphere of Ananda Ashram at Sri Kambaliswamy Madam in Pondicherry. I was conceived in Yoga and my mother was practicing all aspects of Yoga even right up to the day and the moment of childbirth. Right from the start, I have always been surrounded by the spirit of Yoga and it has always been part of every moment of my life. As a young child I would sit in on most of the classes and even when I was playing in and around the ashram, the vibrations of the classes and the great teachings would be percolating into my cells every moment. I can today very well and truly appreciate how conscious I was during this vital period in my childhood where I had all the freedom in the world, yet was taught responsibility at a very young age. I have grown up with my music, dance, Yoga and Sanskrit chanting as part and parcel of my total life. We had thousands of children come every Sunday for the classes and so I was never short of friends or challenges. We had a great number of animals in the ashram. This included deer, monkeys, geese, rabbits, guinea pigs, foxes and ducks and my close interaction with them taught me the unity of spirit in all beings. As I child I saw the birth of so many animals and also experienced the pain of their passing. This enabled me to understand the bigger picture of life and see the continuity of spirit through birth and death at an early age. 2. Do you think your heart would have led you to Yoga if you had been raised in different circumstances (i.e. non Yoga practicing parents and friends)? Lord Krishna tells us that he will place into the wombs of Yoginis those who have not fulfilled their purpose in the present incarnation thus enabling them to do so in the next. We are all born for a certain purpose and are placed in the very environment where we can best manifest that purpose. I believe I could not have been born any other place, nor to any other parents as this lifetime of mine has to be this way if I am to fulfill my destiny. Yoga is my very being. As an answer to your hypothetical question, I would say “Yes, Yoga would have found me even I had been raised in any other circumstances, for Yoga is my life, Yoga is my very being itself” 3. Have there been any periods in your life when you stopped practicing certain aspects of Yoga? For me Yoga is every moment-ness, so I can safely say that Yoga has always been inseparable from my life. Yet during my medical studies, the physical aspects of Yoga did suffer a bit but I found that the mental, intellectual and spiritual aspects of Yoga often grew a lot as I went deep into my studies. Living in a different region of India enabled my inner growth to occur in so many wonderful ways at that time. 4. Did your relationship with Yoga change as a result of your studies in modern medicine? I have been blessed to have had the base in Yoga before becoming a doctor. Hence I have been able to look at modern medicine with a Yogic perspective. This is unlike most doctors today who look at Yoga with a modern medical perspective. Yoga takes a telescopic view of human nature whereas modern medicine takes a microscopic view. When we are blessed to have both, we understand the human nature much more and more clearly. Understanding the body anatomy, the physiology, the biochemistry and the psycho-pathology has enabled me to put the ancient and living concepts of Yoga into a more modern and scientific framework. This has appealed to the modern mindset and hence I find that I have become a human bridge between the Yoga and modern medicine communities. Doctors trust me more as I am ‘one of them’ and thus I am able to take Yoga into the modern medical framework in a more efficient and understanding manner than if I were not a doctor. 5. Do you think Yoga has gained more acceptance or credibility in the world of modern medicine? Most doctors all over the world today do understand that Yoga can help their patients and hence it has gained acceptability. The scientific studies have enabled it to gain more credibility in the medical community. However, I am afraid that most are looking at Yoga as just another therapeutic modality and trying to put it into their small box. Most are trying to find one asana for one condition rather than trying to understand the grandeur of Yoga. 6. You stated in your session that asanas now get modified for the camera – can you please explain this further (for example, is this largely in the western world rather than the eastern?)? The bottom line is that magazines need to sell. That means you need gorgeous models on the cover flashing smiles at the reader. Hence, an asana that requires the face to be down or turned in one direction get modified so that the beautiful model looks at the camera at the expense of losing the Asana itself. This is a worldwide phenomenon. The same happens in videos and before we know it, these ‘camera friendly’ versions become the ‘accepted’ versions. Twisting postures seem to be the most hit by this trend and then there is no twist in the posture anymore at all. 7. Do you notice much difference between the ways in which Yoga is approached in the western world as opposed to the eastern? Generally Indians seem to have Yoga built into their genes whether they know of it or not. Hence it is part of their attitude towards life itself. Scratch any Indian and you will find a Yogi hidden inside. However we take our cultural heritage for granted and will not appreciate ‘that’ which right in front of us. We lack a sense of discipline and easily fall back on the crutch of ‘it’s my karma’. On the other hand, I find western Yoga students to be more disciplined and capable of greater intellectual analytical understanding. Yet, they are handicapped by the lack of a typically Indian understanding of universal connectiveness and don’t have the benefit of cultural concepts that have been around for thousands of years. Ultimately a good student transcends every barrier and every limitation and I have wonderful students and members of my Yoga family from every corner of the globe today. Where there is a will there is a way, holds very true indeed. At the same time, I would prefer to use terms such as ancient and modern as east and west are too similar nowadays. Modern India is as bad or as good as the west and the modern west has so many true seekers for spiritual evolution. 8. In your talks, you briefly mentioned the different types of consciousness – can you explain further? We experience the manifest universe in many ways. Our perspectives depend on our state of consciousness and awareness. Sometimes we are awake, that is the state of Jagrat. When we are living a dream, it is Swapna. Sushupti is the deep state of sleep wherein we are in tune with the universe and are recharging our spiritual batteries so to speak. In Turiya we are transcend these limitations and have a universal perspective whereas the aim is to go even beyond that into the Turiyateeta, the beyond the beyond that is our consciousness when we attain the liberation of Kaivalya. We can also look at the 14 loka or existential planes of consciousness that we choose to live in. These include the 7 heavens of bhuh, bhuvah, svah mahah janah, tapah and satya loka as well as the 7 hells namely; satala, vitala, mahatala, rasatala, talatala, atala and patala. It is only we who choose to either live in hell or heaven. As my reverend father and guru, Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri would say, “it is not the chosen few but the few who choose”. 9. We hear the word ‘divine’ used in Yoga in many ways, and a term that many people have difficulties grasping. How would you define what the ‘divine’ is? The universe is the divine, nature is the divine and every being is the divine. The divine is ‘that’ which is beyond name and form yet can manifest to us though every name and form that is dear to us. Maharishi Patanjali says that the divine, Iswara is beyond the impurities of klesha and karma. He also implies in the Yoga Darshan that ‘we’ can become ‘that’ divinity itself when we rid ourselves of the impurities that prevent that awareness. Organized religion tries to hold us as slaves by not letting us become the divine whereas true spirituality enables us to become the divine itself. The divine manifests to me though every aspect of nature and all of you in Australia are so lucky to have such beauty in nature. He, She, It manifests to me personally through my father, my mother, my wife, my children, my students, my patients and my teachers. The divine can manifest through anyone and anything that I choose to hold dear to my heart. Yoga is the dearest thing I hold to my heart and so for me the divine is Yoga and Yoga is the divine. 10. In Yoga we are often advised to dissolve the ego but in your talks you discussed the importance of ego. Can you explain? The ego or Ahamkara is an important step in our evolution from sub-human-ness to human-ness on our evolutionary journey towards divine-ness itself. The ego is part of our inner processes, the Antah Karana and is a ladder that enables us to climb high on the path. In fact one of the Samadhi states in the Yoga Sutra the Sasmita is actually based on ego awareness. The ego can take us up to the state of concentration, Dharana but no further as there cannot be ego in real Dhyana or meditation nor in Samadhi, the state of inner absorption. The ego is an essential tool that makes us “do’’ what we “need’’ to do in the lower states of evolution. It gives us a sense of purpose and “inner drive’’ that powers our journey in the initial stages. As we grow, we need to however realize that it is merely a crutch or ladder. Hence it must be discarded if we are to make that find leap of consciousness towards the highest. 11. How would you explain the difference between knowledge and wisdom? We collect information and the assimilation of that into our system becomes knowledge. When we experience that knowledge, it gets transformed into wisdom. When we understand the bigger picture of everything, and take on an universal perspective it becomes Prajna or transcendental wisdom. When we start to live in that plane of highest wisdom of Prajna Loka we begin to know ourselves. The ego is there only in the information and maybe knowledge stages. The others are beyond the ego and hence cannot be copyrighted. Yoga can own information and maybe knowledge but never wisdom for wisdom is universal. 12. What do you mean when you express the importance of attitude and contrary attitude? Maharishi Patanjali advises us to adopt Pratipaksha Bhavanam, a contrary emotion filled attitude whenever we are confronted with thoughts that are of a subhuman devolutionary nature. He calls these negative thoughts as Himsadaya or those that are of the violent nature etc. Excessive desire, uncontrolled rage, greed, delusion, egotistical tendencies and jealousy are enemies of the spirit and pull us down from our evolutionary journey. When we are able to replace the negative thoughts with positive emotion laden ones, we prevent miseries that would occur otherwise. This seems to be practically difficult at times if not impossible as it is quite difficult to love someone who is a real pain in many places of our anatomy. However, one of the simple ways to do this is to say “NO” whenever such negative thoughts are seen to arise in our consciousness. If we don’t say “no” to them, they are then free to grow. If we further water them and feed them with the energy of our voyeuristic nature, we then have to confront gigantic whirlpools of troubles that pull us down into depths of despair. This requires great deal of awareness but it is much better to prevent these miseries by adopting the contrary attitude right at the beginning when such negatives are rising. Don’t let the negatives grow on you for then you lose yourself totally. 13. Your father spoke of Yoga being ‘four-fold awareness’. What does this mean? My beloved father, Swamiji Gitananda Giri defined Yoga as four-fold awareness. Awareness of the body is the first of these four while the second is to be aware of ones emotions. The physical practices of Yoga such as the asana and Pranayama help us in this regard. In the third we become aware of our thoughts and then through such a process of constant awareness, one attain to a state wherein one is aware of awareness itself. This is enabled by the inner practices of Yoga such as Pratyahara, Dharana, and Dhyana leading to Samadhi. Of course, before we attain any of these states of awareness, we first need to be aware of how unaware we are. Waking up is not always pleasant but it is important. 14. There are so many styles of Yoga nowadays – is it advisable for practitioners and teachers to explore more than one style simultaneously? A well digger digs deep in one place and finds water. So does a miner. A puddle digger digs many places but ends up with nothing but puddles. Similarly it is not wrong to explore many styles but please do commit to one tradition and go deep into it if you really want to live and love Yoga. Each tradition has its own logic and hence a cafeteria approach in taking techniques from different traditions and mixing them together may not always produce the same benefits as opposed to using the very same practices within the framework of that tradition. Do feel free to explore, but then please do settle down with one! 15. In terms of family dynamics, what advice would you give to a Yoga practitioner who is in a relationship with someone not involved or interested in that way of life so the two can live in harmony (particularly under the one roof!)? I find that it is best if the entire family gets into Yoga. We have so many families at our city centre in Pondicherry and they all can then grow together. Yoga is a way of life and if you have to live with someone who is living another life, it will indeed be difficult. Talk to each other, find out what is important to each other and then set limits if necessary. If the love is true then Yoga will shine forth and if not then a change may be necessary. Sometimes such a contrast may also act as a stimulant for growth and so is good in the bigger picture. 16. We obviously understand general family dynamics, but how would you describe the dynamics of one’s Yoga family? Love for Yoga is the key component of a Yoga family. A desire to work with each other and help one another evolve on the path towards oneness keeps the spirit together. Compassion, empathy and love are important dynamics that are to be worked on while petty egocentric stuff needs to be kept at the bottom of the pile. The ability to sublimate ones individuality for the sake of the group is an important part of the Yoga family life. Constant growth through Satsangha is very useful and to be open to correction and change at all times is a must. A sense of responsibility and gratitude has to be there for the family to grow together. Joy and fun are part of the Yoga family life at al times. 17. In our Yoga journey, should we follow one teacher / guru only or is it acceptable to have multiple? The guru spirit is one. Yet the guru may manifest at different times though different forms. Guru shopping and guru hoping are not good for ones growth. Most people change gurus because their present guru is too hard on them. They want a loving, caring guru who doesn’t offend them in any way. The role of the true guru is to help us evolve even if we end up hating them for it. They want the best for us even if we don’t know what is best for ourselves. The guru can only lead us on the path and guide us towards the goal. Don’t expect your guru to carry you there on their shoulders. We can learn from many sources and we can grow as a result but the dedication towards the guru needs to be focused. A guru is not just an instructor, guide or teacher. A guru is the one who enables us to realize our innate divinity. This transformation requires one to have with their guru a very personal relationship that is of a very deep nature. How then can one have many? 18. Do you think it is important for Yoga teachers to take a break from time to time to avoid burn-out and ensure they maintain their own individual connection with Yoga? If you love and live Yoga where is the need for a break? If it is just another profession for you, then please do take one at the earliest. 19. How important do you think it is for Yoga teachers to learn the correct names of postures and other Sanskrit words? Every word in Sanskrit is vibratory in nature and every Mantra is a power packed formula. The term dancer pose is very different from the world of connotations and energies opened up when one uses the term Nataraja Asana. Nataraja implies concepts of quantum physics and universal vibrations as well as the sublimation of the ego. Are any of these concepts brought out when we say pose of the dancer? Every science has its own terminology and one needs to learn that to deal with that science. Why should Yoga be any different? I would like to finish off with three very important questions 1. Would you say you are generally happy most of the time? Happiness is my real nature and I am truly always happy. Happiness comes form contentment and I do try my best to live that every moment of my life. Yet there are moments when I fall away from my real nature and then I feel a sense of sadness, frustration or even sometimes anger. This usually happens when I witness the unconscious actions of those in the world of Yoga and spirituality who are selling it without a conscience. It is when I see them more interested in their organizations rather than in Yoga itself. It is when I see us humans behaving worse than any animal would ever do. It is when I see us humans treating fellow beings without any sense of empathy or understanding. At such times I do fall away from my real nature. However I am blessed to have my mother with me at all times and she does get me out of it with a good kick in the back by reminding me of my real nature, that is bliss, that is Anandam 2. What are the main lessons you learnt from your guru and father, Swami Gitananda? Everything I know is what he and my mother have given me and I am nothing without their grace. They have taught me to do my best and leave the rest and that we must live for the sake of humanity and not just to gratify our ego. They have taught me to love life and look at the big picture for it is all about perspective. They have taught me that life is fun. They have blessed me with an understanding of my real universal nature and have given me the tools to reunite with myself through Yoga. What else can I ever ask for? 3. What about your family life, your wife and children-what is there role in your life? Having been born to such illustrious parents, I realise that such blessings can be a double edged sword if one is not constantly vigilant. I have been lucky to have as my Dharmapatni, Yogacharini Devasena Bhavanani who being a longtime student of my parents has imbibed the best of Yoga and the Indian fine arts from her childhood. We have grown up together and in fact joke that it seems like we have been married nearly 25 years through officially our marriage is merely 9 years old. Devasena is a constant support, providing encouragement and stimulation to be thus enabling me to always do my best and grow in the process. She has indeed enriched my life through the manifestation of our darling children Dhivya Priya Bhavanani and Anandraj Bhavanani. Both are multi talented and Dhivya has already performed more than 80 dance performances on stage before her seventh birthday. She is blossoming into a fine singer too while her brother seems to be more interested in the drumming that I do and the artistic yoga asana tableaux he does with the senior boys. I often joke that Dhivya will be the next director of the ashram after her grandmother for she has that talent for organisation and detail. I am amazed at her maturity that is way beyond years and yet she has such sensitivity of heart towards others too. Being the son of the head of an institution is sometimes tough and it doesn’t help that I am more partial to my students than my own kids! Yet, I am happy that they understand the bigger picture and know that I want them to grow as they have very big shoes to fill in the future. Recently Dhivya won a singing competition and came home very happy. Everyone at the Ashram was praising her and appreciating her for having won the first prize but I just said, “Well done, I am happy you did your best. Wining or losing is secondary to me”. Later on, she came to me and said, “Appa, I know that you are very proud of me. I also know that you don’t want to publicly say this as you don’t want others to get jealous”. Imagine a seven year old kid understanding this and being able to see the bigger picture? I went through a bit of a rebellious teenage for a year when I was 17 and I am sure my kids will go through it too. However it is my prayer that Swamiji and Ammaji be with them at all times ad guide them so that they are blessed with responsible heads on strong shoulders for what I have done, they will do only better. Dhivya and Anandraj are surely the future of this Yoga Parampara and with the loving guidance of our beloved Ammaji, I am sure they will surpass all of us in time to come. I often tell Ammaji that she will do a better job with them than she did with me as she knows what mistakes she made in bringing me up and can avoid making the same ones with them! If she thinks that she has done a good job with me, she will do much better with them for she now knows what not to do too.