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

the sexual element of Tantra in my
book to refute the idea (which certain
orthodox yogis had tried to spread) that
yoga required absolute chastity.
However, I will say in defence of
celibacy that it has a great effect in
relation to one’s spiritual strength and
determination, as long as one does not
do it with fanaticism and turn “the lust
of the flesh” into something sinful or
dirty, in order to defend oneself against
it.
If one cannot or does not want to
live in brahmacharya (actually, “to be
one with the whole - with the all,”
commonly interpreted as celibacy) for
the whole of one’s life, it is
recommended to keep celibacy during
the periods where one works intensely
with oneself and/or goes through an
initiation. Then there is a greater
chance of a breakthrough to true
calmness, insight and stability.
Continence, or a moderate or
economical sex life, can bring about
quite a different strength and
invulnerability - compared to the
perforated, depressed or emotionally
irritable state, one is in, without
knowing why, when maintaining an
exaggerated or disharmonious sex life.
The Tradition
There is no doubt that a teacher, when
he or she has finished the training, can
grow and become unique in relation to
his or her teacher - however, to teach
from the tradition implies that a direct
break with the teacher does not take
place. My relationship with Swami
Satyananda has evolved from just
being a pupil, to the somewhat closer
relationship of being a disciple, to a
period where I had to show what I
stood for, each day - time in itself gave
me no credit; to a friendship, to
something more, based on great mutual
respect for each other, based on an
experience of unity and on an
acknowledgement of each other’s
differences. (See also Bindu no. 5.)
How does this relationship start? A
short quotation from my diary in India:
The fear that exists of everything
new,can also emerge during learning,
when ideas and expectationsmingle
with understanding.
The teacher must be able to take away
fear from the pupil,
so that the pupil can experience and
understand the new
without hindrance -
and in so doing later meet and conquer
fear on his own,
with greater wisdom and strength.
And another time, under different
circumstances, I wrote:
To slate your teacher,
in your thoughts or in front of others,
does not change reality, and
does not entitle you to take something,
to which you have no claim.
I cannot take credit for the yoga I teach
or for Kriya Yoga; nor can my teacher
Swami Satyananda - although, the way
I see it, he has really shed light upon
Kriya Yoga - and nor can his teacher
Swami Sivananda, no matter how great
pedagogues they were and how much
they have brought forth from the
tradition.
With this attitude, peace of mind is
maintained, and one can teach without
the fear that arises when one is assertive
at the expense of others, or takes credit
for something which can not be owned,
or is stolen (in the sense that one
reduces one’s demands on oneself and
on the conditions of teaching).
The pupil can, nevertheless, very well
become an exceptionally good teacher.
“The disciple may well be psychically
higher developed than oneself” Swami
Satyananda said (one evening in
Gondia, where we rested between two
of our arrangements, in a private home
where we stayed as guests - “we” were
a small group of 9 people, on a 3
months tour round northern India).
But who can compare?
The answer came one day when he
said to me: “Have respect for where
you are, and be who you are, then all
thoughts of who is higher or lower, in
front or behind, lose meaning.”
Liberation, when seen from this
point of view, lies in being yourself -
and, as I see it, in looking upon life as
a gift and receiving this gift. Not what
you are going to achieve tomorrow, or
the unpleasant events that might come,
but what happens now, is where you
really live the life that you after all
have been given. Without fear of how
others live and without the wish to live
like others - thereby frustration and
misery are avoided.
Concerning the teaching of Kriya Yoga,
then the task is entrusted to you, you
are permitted, and you are prepared for
it and tested - beyond what even a
comprehensive yoga teacher education
otherwise consists of. That is why, so
far, it is only swamis who teach the
tradition I have chosen to teach from.
“Earlier, Kriya Yoga was only for us,
the swamis, it was our meditation. It
was secret and we used it for our own
sake. It was only passed on to the ones
who had taken sannyasa.”
(Swami Satyananda).
Also see the two previous articles on
Kriya Yoga in Bindu no. 4 and 5.
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