Sangha

Spiritual Activism in a Violent World

In the wake of yet another gross example of racism and another senseless murder in the U.S., many people I know are searching for some way to actively respond to a world that has given birth to so much violence and injustice. In Integral Yoga, we often speak about how we can embody the spiritual principles and practices we embrace in proactive ways to make a real difference.

For far too long, many committed spiritual seekers I know have limited their response to sending prayers for peace, expressing their dismay to each other, and recommitting themselves to spiritual practice to establish peace in their hearts. These are all very important choices, but right now I don’t think they are enough. These actions are invisible to the world around us—I saw a protest sign recently that read, “Silence is Violence.” Spiritual practice should lay the groundwork for further action.

It is crucial that we sustain a regular meditation practice to touch the ground of being we all share and to awaken the natural compassion that arises in the heart when we experience this interconnection. Understood in this context, our spiritual practice is a responsibility, not simply a personal pursuit. Only then, will this sense of oneness be strong enough that it manifests in our hearts and minds as we interact in the world.

But we need not wait for some level of enlightenment to take Yoga off the cushion or mat and into the street. We can purposely practice moving, talking, and thinking with peace and compassion in our hearts.

We bring compassion into conversations when we listen deeply to another person and make a real effort to understand and respect their needs, instead of stubbornly defending our own. We can approach even those with whom we disagree with an open heart and an effort to build on the common ground we share, instead of focusing only on the differences.

At every opportunity, we must speak out against injustice when we see, hear, or witness it and be a presence of peace in moments of conflict. Even when we cannot help directly, we can offer support to those who are fighting against racism and violence. We must make our voices heard to those seeking election, so that policies that support social justice are enacted at every level of government.

We must stand in solidarity with the voices of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) stating that systematic racism and injustice due to police violence must end. We cannot just stand by and watch the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many others who have suffered from our country’s failure to address the racial inequality that has plagued our society for centuries.

We must also speak up against the derogatory language, hate speech, and acts of violence directed at Asian populations since the outbreak of the pandemic. I’ve read more than once that we must act now to strengthen the immunity of our societies, not only against COVID-19, but against the virus of hate and discrimination.

A recent message from the Interfaith Council of San Francisco articulates our intention to join with many others in supporting changes that value all peoples, regardless of race, eradicate all forms of oppression, and recognize the unity behind all diversity.

“The overwhelming national response to George Floyd’s death, manifested in peaceful protests, not only honors his life, but powerfully expresses the threshold of tolerance we as Americans have reached for injustice, systematic racism and discrimination against people of color. This powerful resurgence of a long overdue civil rights movement will not be silenced until structural change is realized. We lift our voices and stand in unity and solidarity with our sisters and brothers of color in proclaiming that BLACK LIVES MATTER.” —Interfaith Council of San Francisco

For the last 2 months, the residents of the Integral Yoga Institute here in San Francisco have been gathering to send out prayers for all those who are suffering from the pandemic. We will continue to do so and keep equally in our prayers all those suffering from racial injustice. We also commit to educating ourselves to uncover unintentional racism, to searching our own hearts for prejudice of any kind, and to using every opportunity to promote the yogic understanding that we are all one.

Please join us for a free panel and community discussion we will hold on Sunday, June 14, 4:30 – 6 pm PDT, entitled Responding to Racism – A Spiritual Perspective. Integral Yoga Minister Kamala Itzel Hayward will speak on the essential role that acknowledging racism and other forms of oppression plays in the spiritual journey. Mazin Jamal Mahgoub will follow with a talk on effective activism grounded in spiritual principles.

Swami Ramananda is the President of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 35 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.

He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe and South America. Ramananda trains Yoga teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Sevika Ford2020-06-07T14:58:33-07:00June 3rd, 2020|Tags: black lives matter, Sangha|

The Woodstock Spirit is Alive and Well in San Francisco

by Rev. Premanjali

This year we’re in the midst of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco on Dolores Street. Through the years, the sangha has been through some notable moments in history, but at the moment, we are experiencing an unprecedented shift in how we serve the community. As the COVID-19 pandemic spurs us to persist through the unexpected, IYISF continues to offer classes, workshops, and meditations online to stay connected with the community.

Going back to 1969—a year prior to its opening—the first Integral Yoga teachers arrived in San Francisco from New York. They began teaching classes in an apartment until the beautiful Victorian-style building on Dolores Street was purchased a year later.

1969 was also the year of an event that came to define the 60s counterculture, the Woodstock Festival. At the last moment, Swami Satchidananda was helicoptered in to open the festival by the organizers who were hoping he might bring a peaceful mood to what was beginning to unfold as a potentially chaotic scene. From the moment he chanted, “Om,” he did calm the more than 400,000 young people at the music festival on a farm in upstate New York. And, in doing so, Swami Satchidananda attained rock star status—much to his own surprise. The festival rapidly became legend as did he.

In August 2019, the 50th anniversary of Woodstock was celebrated. During that anniversary, Phil Goldberg (author of American Veda) wrote an article for Elephant Journal in which he noted:

“For my part, I want to commemorate one brief but highly significant moment that occurred in the opening hour, on August 15, 1969. It does not get the attention it deserves. Of all the iconic Woodstock images—writhing mud-soaked bodies; impassioned performers like Jimi Hendrix; ecstatic faces and strung-out faces—one captures the spiritual zeitgeist of the era: Swami Satchidananda addressing the multitude. It’s a potent symbol of the meeting of East and West that transformed America’s spiritual and cultural landscape. Fifty years on, millions of people meditate, chant mantras, and stretch on Yoga mats, and the swami who came to be called ‘The Woodstock Guru’ deserves much of the credit. The image of the Hindu holy man blessing the most famous rock festival in history will endure as a symbol of the time when a generation of Americans turned Eastward and inward. No one contributed more to the modern Yoga boom than Swami Satchidananda, who started training American teachers in the late 1960s.”

Over the past fifty years, the San Francisco IYI has been a continually welcoming presence, offering the teachings of the classical path of Yoga to all who have come through its doors. During this time, Integral Yoga teachers have positively touched the lives of thousands of students as they have shared the Yoga practices and teachings. Swami Satchidananda famously declared that, “More people have been killed in the name of God than in all the wars.” He called on all religions to abandon rhetoric and behaviors that create conflict and instead embrace the teachings of universal peace, love, compassion, and sisterhood and brotherhood common to all faiths. “Paths are many,” said Swami Satchidananda, but, “Truth is one.” Integral Yoga teachers have continued to invoke Swami Satchidananda’s universal message of peace, kindness, compassion, inclusivity—celebrating both our unity and diversity as spiritual seekers.

In looking back we also gain inspiration for looking forward. In his classic eleven-volume text, The Story of Civilization, historian Will Durant expressed the hope that India would “teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, pacifying love for all living things.” That turned out to be prescient for as Phil Goldberg also noted, “The image of Swami Satchidananda at Woodstock will always be a symbol of the moment when a battery of unconventional baby boomers turned eastward—and inward—in such large numbers that the process became irreversible.

We can all be proud that the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco is carrying this legacy forward—hopefully for another 50 years and more! We hope you will join us in our online offerings. It is a great opportunity for those outside of the San Francisco Bay Area to connect with the teaching and sangha from a distance.

This is part 2 of a post from February 26, 2020.

Sevika Ford2020-04-29T15:49:07-07:00April 29th, 2020|Tags: Sangha|

Serving from a Deeper Place

by Swami Ramananda

With much of the world practicing social distancing, we are connecting online in unprecedented numbers and in myriad ways. We are all faced with both the threat of severe illness and the anxiety that isolation creates, driving literally millions of people to their devices for information, support, security or some sense of relief. While there are numerous platforms and apps being used for this, the real connection we all crave is with the innate peace that is the very ground of being.

The connection that is most meaningful and healing for us does not take place online but in the spiritual Self. Here, we can rest in a place that is unchanging and free, where we know no separation, and where natural compassion springs forward unbidden from the heart.
This pandemic has exposed the artificial nature of the many boundaries we humans have created between ourselves. The ways we divide ourselves—by nationality, race, religion, politics, and more—have no relevance to a microscopic virus that makes no such distinctions. It seems ironic that something so small has brought our world together in such a big way, and is bringing the world economy to its knees.

The scriptures of Yoga clearly articulate that the divisions we experience are created in minds that perceive reality in a very superficial way. We draw a circle around ourselves, defining who we are and limiting our ability to feel connection. We unconsciously build armor around our hearts to protect ourselves from being hurt.

The intention of all spiritual practice is to quiet all of these limiting beliefs and habitual thought patterns that imprison us, restricting our ability to feel love and compassion beyond those close to us. A regular meditation practice empowers us to disengage from this self-image we create and become aware of the fears that drive our addictions and selfishness, and give rise to the barriers that divide us.

Self-awareness enables us to recognize the fear-driven behavior of others and refrain from judgment when we see selfishness, knowing that others struggle in the same ways we have. Now more than ever in history, we are exposed to the inhumane actions of others by the media. And now more than ever, we need to practice looking deeply at others to see the essential nature beneath the surface and come together in addressing this challenge we all face.

In the same way that healthcare workers all over the world place no importance on the reputation, race or religion of virus-stricken patients, we can reach across the old fences we’ve built to offer respect and support for those around us. We can reach out to the housebound to bring them supplies. We can reach out from the heart to anyone we know who is alone and in need of comfort. We can fill our hearts and minds with mantras and send healing energies outward, praying for the many that are suffering great losses.

The world needs the presence of people whose hearts are anchored in peace, whose minds are stable enough to be present to the multiple stresses we face without being lost in reactivity. Our spiritual practice is a responsibility. We may not be able to open our doors to each other but we can open our hearts in countless ways to breathe goodwill and harmony into the collective consciousness.

Swami Ramananda is the President of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 35 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.

He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe and South America. Ramananda trains Yoga teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Sevika Ford2020-04-03T16:37:11-07:00April 3rd, 2020|Tags: Sangha|

Community During Adversity

by Swami Ramananda

The profound benefit of spiritual community is perhaps experienced most powerfully during difficult times when we most need support. Years ago, I viewed a short videotape of some African water buffalo scattering in all directions when attacked by a pride of lions. Some lions captured a young buffalo and held it down as others gathered to kill and eat it. Slowly the water buffalo gathered into a tightly-knit group and crept towards the lions. All at once, the buffalo charged the lions together, heads down, and chased them off, saving their young one.
I remember this video when I think about how this pandemic is both challenging us and bringing us together in new ways. Especially when we are in such physical isolation, facing the myriad fears and frustrations that arise can be too much to bear alone. In whatever ways we can gather to practice or pray, to share our distress or console each other, we experience a unique form of strength and find new ways to go forward. I encourage everyone to reach out to friends and find groups of like-minded people to connect with online. Together, we can practice, share stories, cry with and inspire each other, and be reminded of the vast spiritual heart that can embrace all our stories and pain and still remain at peace.
In addition to our other online offerings, I teach a Hatha Mixed Level class on Saturday mornings at 9:30am. Also, please join us for our online Satsang on Saturday, April 11 from 6-7:30pm PST and Saturday, April 18 from 6-7:30pm PST.

Swami Ramananda is the President of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 35 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.

He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe and South America. Ramananda trains Yoga teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Sevika Ford2020-04-03T16:39:08-07:00March 31st, 2020|Tags: Sangha, Satsang|