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Sivananda Yoga Ashram – Day Two.
Written June 2nd 2009
Lying on the red concrete floor under our room fan is the coolest place I can find at eleven A.M. to sit and write my first blog from Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Neyyar Dam. It is monsoon season in India, but we haven’t seen rain yet. The weather has been hot and humid, though not unbearable.
So, Fiona and I are now half way through Day Two of the two week beginners yoga course. First impressions?
The volunteers, staff and teachers are kind but not as outwardly joyous as the teachers we have had in our meditation classes with the Brahma Kumaris in Melbourne. Although we came without any expectations, it is difficult to avoid comparisons with past experiences.
Our room is very simple: two single wooden beds with thin mattresses (surprisingly supportive!), a small balcony over looking the town of Neyyar Dam, a standard Indian bathroom with cold water only and a western toilet – a welcome luxury!
After the first evening satsang (group meditation, chanting, reading and lecture) we were both a little concerned we had walked into some sort of religious transformation! The meditation is very traditional – no guided visualisations, just our teachers opening directions to mind our posture, breathing and thoughts and to repeat an Om, or similar, mantra. We then sit silently for half an hour. This is certainly a manageable amount of time, after my experiences at a Vipassana meditation retreat – ten days in silence, eight hours meditation every day. Extreme meditation!
All satsang classes are predominantly filled with Sanskrit chanting which is foreign to us both. The chants are repetitive and the mantras are sung on only two or three notes. This style of worship is sombre and meditative, literally worlds away from the gospel choirs we experienced in Harlem, New York.
I have found it difficult to be spiritually and emotionally uplifted by the chanting, having joined in with my best attempt at Sanskrit yesterday and today. With my eyes open, I observe our teachers (both of whom are Western) with what I perceive to be expressionless, almost grim, faces. We sing “I am bliss, I am bliss, I am bliss absolute, bliss am I” with most people in the room totally devoid of any outward expression, save some swaying and knee tapping. I now find sitting cross legged on the floor not conducive to concentration once my legs start going numb.
Worship is a very personal and individual pursuit and what works for some will not work for all. However, my feeling is this – few people would be unmoved by the unrestrained outpouring of devotion at the gospel service we attended in Harlem. Even if one is without any spiritual or religious inclination, there is something that is stirred in every person in a room so utterly filled with love – the exuberant singing and music making, dancing and general jubilation.
At this stage, I cannot say I am moved deeply, spiritually, by my experience here. But my guess is that our teachers would suggest that it is not their intention to stir an emotional response in worship, unlike gospel worship. There is a reverence held towards having an indifferent attitude towards stimulus. Yoga and Gospel are two very different types of worships and I am aware that I am comparing oranges and apples to some extent, but both groups of people are devotional and share a similar purpose: union with ‘God’. I am happy to observe my perceptions of both experiences and share them with you!
I am not a particularly pious person, though I have always had an interest in religion from a social perspective. I have my own beliefs and am always happy to share in others practice to achieve happiness, peace, enlightenment, contentment and connection with their ‘God’. It helps me define my own understanding of self and all else.
If I had to choose, had to convert, right now, I’d choose Harlem any day. Tears well in my eyes just remembering the sound of their voices.
