Bindu 23 - engelsk 7.p65 - Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School

After all, it is not just the laughing or
crying personality, who can be happy
or full of sorrow, the one who feels
attracted to or repulsed by what it
meets in life, but also the deeper
dimensions that reach beyond what is
seen on the surface, beyond the states
of body and mind that you know
already - the whole of your being - that
you can become one with.
“Any therapist who would lead others
to psychic heights and depths must,
himself, be able to attain these heights
and depths of the psyche.
Contemporary psychotherapists will
have to begin by training themselves to
ascend and descend through their own
psyche and thereby experience the
manifold components within man and
the driving forces behind human life.”
(Wolfgang Kretschmer, Meditative
Techniques in Psychotherapy, referring
to his colleague Desoille).
Ashram
In the ashram, the everyday life and the
daily tasks (Karma Yoga) are essential.
In everyday life the residents keep a
routine, and the transformation happens
imperceptibly, naturally with the help
of yoga and meditation - and, in my
experience, above all with Kriya Yoga.
While living in my teacher’s ashram
in Bihar, India, and one day the
conversation turned to the conditions
for teaching Kriya Yoga, he said,
“Kriya Yoga should only be taught
under ashram conditions.”
An ashram is a place where people
live, and they are continuously devoted
to a Sadhana. Sadhana actually means
“that which leads to the goal” and
includes everything that awakens
consciousness and keeps it awake. The
ashram is a place where people do not
pursue any other value than the
spiritual, a place that makes it possible
to take time to rediscover both mental
and physical well-being. Such a place
is built up gradually, with all the daily
pursuits, with facilities for teaching,
but most of all, with a core of people
who are not just visiting, or have
different motives for being there, other
than taking part in this work.
The ashram should give an
atmosphere of security and peace, so
students coming from outside for a
short period, for example on a 3-
months sadhana course, can
undisturbedly devote themselves to
what they came for, with support from
the surroundings, and without feeling
exploited economically or otherwise,
such as it happens constantly in
society. But at the same time the
ashram should be full of challenges,
both in terms of tasks and opportunities
for training and initiation.
Here, however, it is not a question of
striving for a “certificate” one can
flaunt. It is a way of living. I often
heard my teacher say to those present:
“Think about what people normally
pursue, how much time they spend on
education and career, an education
they can use for only a few decades out
of life, and how little time they use for
their spiritual development, a
development they benefit from their
whole life - and for more than that.”
An ashram is traditionally led by one
or more swamis. In such an ashram,
Kriya Yoga can be taught (if it is used
daily by the permanent residents) so
that everybody is intimately acquainted
with what is being taught. The ashram
and its residents must be able to convey
an experience that reaches further than
a mechanical or theoretical learning.
The way I have become familiar
with an ashram, both the one I was in,
in India and the one that has come into
existence here in Scandinavia, is that it
is based on voluntary participation and
interest from the residents and from the
students coming on courses. The
aspirants can stay as long as they want,
but while they are there, it is important
that they do not forget the purpose of
being there and that they want to
participate in all activities - then indeed
the desired effect can be reached.
“You cannot force somebody to be
happy” said Swami Yogananda. Yes,
isn’t it odd, and neither can you force a
flower to unfold. But one hopes it will,
by supplying good conditions,
enriching the soil, giving it light and
air, together with protecting it from
negative influences during growth and
maturation.
Education, school and
ashram
I have called Scandinavian Yoga and
Meditation School a school, because
people should be able to come and go
as they please, without further
attachment than the teaching in which
they participate. This is how it has
functioned for the 25 years the school
has existed.
I have, however, called the yoga
teacher education an ashram. Formerly
in India there was no question of a
yoga teacher education. Education is a
modern concept that is based largely on
theory and learning in class rooms. In
the tradition, however, yoga was learnt
in everyday life - and so it was for a
large part in my training with Swami
Satyananda. Wisdom comes through
the situations where you wake up and
use your awareness and goodwill. This
happens via a daily work so close to
the teacher that at any time he or she
can reflect when you forget yourself,
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