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Kirtan wallas - Entertainers & Uplifters
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07/04/2008 01:36:31 |
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Posted By :
Arvind Chittumalla
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I have been listening to Jai Uttal's latest CD for almost 2 months now and I never get tired of it. Most kirtans are usually good and I appreciate the intent of the kirtan artists very much. I can't help notice it but some kirtan artists just make you feel different. All kirtan artists are definitely entertaining but very few are uplifting! Jai Uttal is one of those uplifters. He transports you to a different plane of consciousness.
He is one of the very few western artists who pronounce sanskrit words correctly. I am not surprised by the effect his kirtans have on people. Sanskrit is a very powerful language, it's phonetic importance is undermined by many people in the west. Every sound that comes out of our mouth creates a vibration in our body. When Sanskrit mantras are chanted the right way, the vibrations they create in our body can start those chakras rolling and kundalini rising sooner than you would expect.
If words are Gold, Music is Diamond and Silence is Platinium. Silence is the true nature of the soul, it is the medium of our spiritual journey. One of my favorite quotes from the "Brahma Kumaris" about silence goes like this..."Silence is not just absence of sound, it is also stillness of the mind". We are all subconsciously trying to reach this stillness through our āsanas, prānāyama, dhārana and dhyāna. In my view, the 'uplifter' artists take you towards silence through their music. When I chant with Jai (not him personallly but his CD), I experience this silence within me even though I am chanting at the top of my voice!
I encourage my fellow yogis to listen to Jai Uttal, if they have not done so already. Deva Premal is another 'uplifter', also one of my favorites. Check our her latest album 'Dakshina'. She'll take you from the concrete jungle of Los Angeles to the Himalays even before the first song in the album plays fully!
I would also urge visitors on this site to look at the Sanskrit dictionary in the "Yoga Wisdom" section of this site. The pronunciation guide and the glossary will help you very much in understanding common sanskrit terms you will come cross in your yoga practice.
Om Shanti
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Āsanas and Dōshas
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07/11/2008 17:21:39 |
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Posted By :
Arvind Chittumalla
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I have often felt uncomfortable practicing āsanas in heated rooms. Due to this discomfort I have never been to a Bikram Yoga class and have avoided doing the Vinyasa as much as I can. I did not know why I felt this discomfort until I took an āyurveda consultation recently. I found out I am one of those "Pitta" dominat personalities who can get easily irritable in hot environments. These type of people already have a lot of heat in their bodies and when they are exposed to more heat externally, it exacerbates the irritability and their ability to focus in the class.
According to the Āyurvedic concept of “Dōshas”, or energy types, each individual has three dōshas in varying proportions: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Unless there is a balance in these three dōshas, one cannot be completely at peace in the mind and body. I am pretty sure many peopel are not even aware of these imbalances in their body.
I bring up this issue because because these days every yoga studio heats up their yoga rooms. While heating the room to a certain degree has its benefits, yoga studios and instructors should be aware that there will be people with different dōsha balances and extra heat may cause some discomfort to them. They should probabaly choose a certain temperature range in which people of different dōshas feel comfortable. I think this range should be between 75 - 80 degrees.
For the benefit of everyone, one can balance these dōsha imbalances through a well planned diet, āsanas, prānāyama and dhyāna (meditation). First thing to do is get an āyurveda consultation, you will be surprised how much you wil discover about your body in just one consultation.
Om Shanti
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Yoga & Hinduism. Who owns yoga?
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02/11/2011 13:54:11 |
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Posted By :
Arvind Chittumalla
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In the last few months a debate has been brewing about Yoga's roots in Hinduism and who owns Yoga. The way yoga is practiced today may imply that it has its roots in Hinduism, but it is quite the contrary. Yoga was the spiritual faith and way of life during the Vedic period, much before the formation of a Hindu religion. Oneness and universal consciousness were the fundamental tenets of the yogic philosophy. A lot of the Vedic scriptures talked about how one can manifest this universal divine consciousness that exists in all of us. These scriptures did not mention any specific gods, the concept of the trinity: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, was put forth much later. I think that is about the time when Yoga started getting a Hindu flavor, or shall I say, a religious flavor! This may have also been a critical juncture in our belief systems, we moved from non-dualism (Advaita) to dualism. To a Non-Indian, Hinduism is the conduit to yoga. Therefore, it is likely that they may not see a difference between these two. If a person has been on the yogic path long enough, he will soon realize that Hinduism is Yoga wrapped in labyrinths of myths, superstitions and traditions, which ironically are the colorful aspects of life, according to many people. However, there are still a good number of people who can cut through the labyrinths of religious conditioning and embrace yoga as a spiritual path.
Coming to who owns Yoga, I think Yoga belongs to everybody. Yoga is after all a science of self realization. Who owns Chemistry or Physics or Mathematics? They belong to all of us. So is the case with Yoga. If you want to learn a new science, it is perhaps better to learn it from someone who has perfected that science. From that point of view, it makes sense to learn from Indian spiritual seekers, who may or may not be Hindus, for these people have lived the yogic way for millennia. At the same time, I don’t think they are the ultimate source of yoga wisdom. As the global consciousness expands, there will always be great yogis in other parts of the world, who may not have any connection to India, Indians or Hindus.
Om Shanti |
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