Table of Contents
Foreword
By EDITORIAL BOARD
Dear Divine Souls,
The Editorial Board would like to thank our Readers for the heartfelt welcome of the first issue of the Sunyoga Newsletter. We are delighted for all the good words, suggestions, and the sent articles, which will be gradually published. With the creation and composition of the Newsletter, we are fulfilling the wish of Swamiji Sunyogi Umasankarji, whose idea was to spread his teachings that way and keep the Sunyoga Family together.
The President of Universal Peace Center, Mrs. Smita Chatterjee, together with the Editorial Board of the Sunyoga Newsletter, the Lachhipur ashram workers, and Sunyoga disciples, who helped in preparations, would like to immensely thank all of you for the numerous participation in the events in Lachhipur ashram on June 21-22. On the 21st of June, we celebrate World Yoga Day,, and on the 22nd of June – Sunyogi’s Birthday and Motherland Day in India. You can find a celebration report in this issue of the Sunyoga Newsletter.
We want to invite you to participate in the conference in New Delhi on the 2nd of September. Swamiji Sunyogi Umasankar will talk, “The Power of Sunyoga and Sudarshan Chakra,” presenting his discoveries made during the meditation in the Himalayas for the last year (i.e., the first year of the current retreat). D.R. Kaarthikeyan and dr. Vikas Saxena will be co-hosting the conference. Please register for the event! The number of seats is limited.
In conclusion, we would like to remind you that the Sunyoga Newsletter is free of charge and can be freely shared with whoever is interested in reading it.
We wish you a fruitful reading!
Sincerely,
Editorial Board
Quote from the “Essence of Sunyoga”
How do we attain sustainable growth?
For everything we do, we need to have a strong foundation. In Sunyoga, the foundation is built out of the first three of the eight steps (limbs) of Ashtanga Yoga: Yama, Niyama, and Asana. These are essential parts of Sunyoga where we need to focus. If we can build a strong foundation, climbing up to the top will not necessarily have to be so hard, and we will not fall so easily. We cannot come to the second floor before we build the first floor.
Here is an example to illustrate this point. We learn the alphabet by writing all the letters one by one, so when we go to primary school, we can write effortlessly. After going to college and becoming highly educated, we no longer need to worry about the alphabet, numbers, and the construction of proper sentences. Highly educated people continuously read. Much knowledge is recorded in their memories; like computers, their mind uses stored information to formulate sentences.
Similarly, Yama, Niyama, and Asana establish the foundation of Sunyoga. The more we practice, the more these steps are naturally incorporated into our lives. We progress by careful practice, from the precepts of Yama, Niyama, and Asana to Samadhi. However, after the Samadhi stage, spiritual growth will automatically continue. In Sunyoga, the Nirvikalpa Samadhi stage, which ends and completes the eight steps of Ashtanga Yoga, is only the beginning of Yoga.
Once the foundation is in place, how do we keep going more in-depth with our practice?
The core teachings of Yama, Niyama, and Asana enable us to live an active life and be aware. The biggest enemy that keeps us from doing good work is laziness. To rid ourselves of inactivity, we must first search for our purpose in life and find our direction. Next, we need to use our energy and the energy from the Cosmos efficiently. It will be possible if we are disciplined, punctual, and good time managers. The higher our determination, the more we can empower our work, and the faster we will reach our target. Our determination is unlimited, so there are no limits on how quickly we can achieve our goal.
We must understand how perfect the Universe is because a higher intelligence always cares for and provides for us. If we do not learn to feel gratitude and respect for everything around us, all beings in the Cosmos, especially our primary roots, parents, and relatives, will block us. We think we know best, but when we realize that there are forces of a much higher intelligence at work, we can surrender and allow them to take us to where it is best for us.
As in shooting an arrow, we need direction and power to hit our target. As long as we focus on the target, we do not need to think about how the arrow will fly in the air. We will have focus, speed, and accuracy depending on our determination level. Our gratitude and surrender to God or the Cosmic Consciousness remove any friction that may delay or block the arrow, letting the higher intelligence naturally perfect the direction of the arrow’s flight towards the target.
Meditation or any activity is best done with the 5 Ps:
1. Patience (Earth element),
2. Punctuality (Water element),
3. Perfection (Air element),
4. Purification (Fire element),
5. Pleasant (Peace) (Space element).
If we have trust in our work, we will not be waiting on a result as we know it will come sooner or later. That is true patience. For the work to be practical, we better do it on time; this synchronization gives us extra resonant power. Following every detail in the process provides our perfection. When we free the mind from thoughts, we are free to burn imbalances as the heart is focused on unconditional love. This purification leads us to balance and harmony and makes us experience pleasantness.
At the same time, the 5 Cs may pull us down:
1. Comparison (Earth element),
2. Confusion (Water element),
3. Criticism (Air element),
4. Craziness (Fire element),
5. Chaos (Space element).
With our judging mind, we start to compare ourselves with others or compare things in the past and future. This creates confusion about what is accurate and true. Our ego blows up, it starts to claim control of the truth, and we start to criticize everything that is not in line with our created ego illusion. As we continue on the same harmful path, a more significant gap between our ego-self and true self emerges, and we go insane due to the friction of a fractionated self. As this goes on, we will end up in chaos.
Calendar
• the 2nd of September – conference in Delhi with Swamiji Sunyogi Umasankar. The title of Sunyogi’s talk is “The Power of Sunyoga and Sudarshan Chakra.”
• every month – Sun Meditation courses in Lachhipur ashram, West Bengal, India (contact Ashram Office for details: Prasenjit +918348986030)
• August 5-7 – Sun Meditation course levels 1 and 2 in Gausson, Brittany, France (Contact: Sébastien David, sidibeseb@gmail.com
• every Sunday – Sun Meditation course level 1 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India (Contact: Prashant Bhatt, +919324269483)
• the 14th of August – Dr. Nitin Nayak, MD, will have a guest presentation at our Sunday meeting: “Body-mind connection” on the 14th of August from 8:30 pm-9:30 pm IST. Zoom-link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2022021820
Bio: Dr. Nitin Nayak, MD, is an eco-spiritual leader, integrated medicine physician, certified yoga teacher, and NLP trainer NFNLP USA. He is the founder of AHA, Anubhuti Healing Awareness programs using bodywork, Tao Tibetan yoga, and movement meditation for healing and awakening. He leads sexuality and awakening workshops using spiritual and emotional release. A pioneer in body wisdom and psychology, he utilizes the body as a tool for emotional healing. As an integrative doctor, he uses western and eastern modalities like rebirthing, emotional release, EFT, deep tissue myofascial therapy, medical Qi Gong, spa and bodywork therapies, movement, art, sound and dance, Tao Tibetan practices,, and meditations.
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Ashram Celebrations on June 21st-22nd – World Yoga Day and Sunyogi’s Birthday
On World Yoga day, the 21st of June 2022, Sunyoga practitioners from different local areas arrived at Lachhipur and Universal Peace Centre. The group gathered for meditation and preparation for the next big day. In the evening, there was a long meeting where everyone shared their experience with Sunyoga.
The 22nd of June started with morning Puja followed by parikrama. The photos of Babaji, Swamiji, and his mother were taken from place to place around the nearby village by around 20 people.
Over the night,, several chefs had worked on cooking food for the next day, and there were big pots of rice, aloo posto, and misti prepared for the hungry anticipating the local population. After the parikrama, a homa was started. Soon also distribution of plants and books began, and people could donate their blood in exchange for an entire mango tree.
Lunch was served to the large group of people that had to fight to get a seat to eat during the peak hours.
All this happened on the day of Sunyogi’s birthday. In his absence, his old school teachers, that still are alive, came to the celebration to honor Sunyogi and the special day.
For a couple of hours, Sunyogi was available online to meet and greet friends and relatives after his one year of Sadhana, staying away in a remote place in the Himalayas. In the evening, there was music by tabla player Tapas Chakraborty with friends. Finally, the birthday celebration ended with the traditional cake distribution with the non-tradition of having the celebrant live stream online.
Donation
If you wish to donate to the ashram, please find the detailed information at the website https://sunyoga.org/donations/:
Direct online transfer:
At the website https://sunyoga.org/donations, you can send a direct bank transfer through Razorpay. Unfortunately, it works only inside India.
For internal donations (inside India):
Name of the Beneficiary – Universal Peace Centre
Name of the Bank – State Bank of India
SWIFT CODE – SBININBB339
IFSC CODE – SBIN0009891
Account Number – 33676353645
Branch Code – 009891 (Branch code is always the last six characters of the IFSC Code)
Branch – Kutikonarpur (West Medinipur), West Bengal, India.
For international donations (outside of India):
Name of the Beneficiary – Universal Peace Centre
Name of the Bank – State Bank of India
SWIFT CODE – SBININBB104
IFSC CODE – SBIN0000691
Account Number – 40108912804
Branch Code – 000691 (Branch code is always the last six characters of the IFSC Code)
Branch – New Delhi Main Branch
Address – N. D. Main Branch 11. Parliament Street New Delhi. Nct of Delhi 110001
If you send money from abroad, we need the receipt of the money transfer, so our bank can accept the transfer to our account. Please, send the receipt to sunyogiindia@gmail.com.
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Useful links
• Website: https://sunyoga.org
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/SunyogiUmasankar
• Telegram: https://t.me/Sunyoga
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SunyogiUmashankar
• Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/SunYoga/
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Meet Our Ashram Workers
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Lachhipur ashram
workers who keep it running daily: Gita maa, Prasenjit, Swapan, Naboda, Mira with family, and a holistic doctor. They are the core of the ashram. Gita is leading Aarti and is responsible for the kitchen, Prasenjit runs an ashram office, Swapan is an ashram driver accountable for buying supplies, and Naboda is a Goshala worker taking care of our cows’ well-being. Mira, with her husband and daughter-in-law, are mainly responsible for building maintenance. The holistic doctor takes care of the community by giving medicine to people who come to the ashram for help with different illnesses.
The Gayatri Mantra
The Gayatri mantra is one of the oldest and most potent Sanskrit mantras. It comes from The Rig Veda (10:16:3).
Mantra text
Om Bhur Bhuvah Swah
Tat-savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi
Dhiyo Yonah Prachodayat
Translation
On the entire world
May there be well-being in all,
We meditate upon the auspicious godly
light of the Lord Sun,
May that heavenly light illumine our
thought flow in our intellect.
Bhur-Bhuva-Swah denotes three worlds from all fourteen: (1) Bhu-Loka, the physical earth; (2) Bhuvar-Loka, the more delicate matter space; and (3) Suvar-Loka, the heavenly world.
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The Vanaspati Amritam
Now a new batch of Vanaspati Amritam is ready for distribution. Order direct from us for the best price. Note that we can only send within India. Contact Prasenjit to order (Whatsapp: 8348986030, Email: prasenjitsasmal31@gmail.com)
More information about Vanaspati Amritam: https://sunyoga.org/health/vanaspati-amritam/
The Vanaspati Amritam balances all 12 elements in the body. By ingesting this, it helps the body to become balanced so it can strengthen its immune system to defend itself effectively. The 12 elements are derived from Cosmic Energy as follows:
Benefits of Vanaspati Amritam: Boost Immunity, Treat Chronic Fever, Protection Against Microbial Infection, Treat Diabetes, Improves Digestion, Reduce Anxiety, Fight Raspatory Problem, Treat Arthritis, Reduce Asthmatic Symptom, Improves Vision, Reduces Aging, Reduce Blood Sugar Levels, Have Anticancer Properties, Reduce Cortical levels, Reduce Symptoms of Depression, Boost Testosterone and Fertility in Men, Increase Muscle Mass and Strength, Reduce Inflammation, Normalize Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels. Improve Brain Function (+Memory).
Ingredients: Sun Energy (6th Intuitive element), Agnihotra Fire Energy (Space element expending energy), Thought Energy (Fire element expending energy), Copper Bhasmya (Air element expending energy), Giloy Powder (Water element expending energy), Agnihotra–homa ash (powder) (Earth element expending energy), Anahata Chakra (Mental and Physical connection), Raw Honey (6th Intuitive element, physical connection), Amalki powder (Space element contracting energy), Turmeric (Haldi) powder (Fire element contracting energy), Neem powder (Air element contracting energy), Ashwagandha powder (Water element contracting energy), Rock Salt (Sendha Namak) powder (Earth element contracting energy).
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Land prospect for GFHU at Ghir National Park
As many of you know, a plan was formed by Swamiji a long time ago to build a fully independent and sustainable community. For several years we have been looking for a place where we can start our project. In June, we were introduced to a 200-acre land in Gujarat district next to the Ghir National Park. Swamiji and the ashram president Smita Chatterjee went to Ahmedabad to meet up with the Sunyoga branch in Gujarat.
We were shown pictures and a map of the land and prepared for an 8-hour-long car trip to the ground the next day. We arrived in the evening and were welcomed by the two owners and their workers.
The current owners of the land are two diamond merchants with a significant interest in organic farming. They have now worked for several years to grow mango trees and have planted 11 000. They say they are ready to sell this land if they find a suitable buyer they trust and are prepared to take good care of the project they have started.
They prepared lunch with an unlimited supply of fresh juicy mango at our arrival while there was heavy rainfall. Afterward, they took us to the land for our introspection. The land was well taken care of, and wide varieties of mangoes and other medicinal plants and fruits were growing there. We could see a significant variation of nature, with mango trees, land for cultivation, water (river and lake), and forests and bushes full of wild animals.
We went to a nearby temple for veneration. Soon though, we got a call and were told that lions had been seen on the land. So we left and went on a photo hunt. We were fortunate to catch the sight of some deer before we reached the lions. We stepped out of the cars, walked to the peaceful lion lying, and waited for us. We came may be as close as 30m to get a good glimpse of the local rarity.
The Ghir forest is known to host many different types of wild animals, and we could see Swamiji was delighted to be in such wild nature with its beast as neighbors.
In the evening, Swamiji went for a walk among the Mango trees to look at the different varieties of mangoes. We got to pluck and eat the delicious mangoes directly from the trees.
There was not much lodging, so many of us slept outside in nature which was a fantastic experience. The place seemed very suitable for building our Global Family Home University project. It is one of several options considered a possible places for GFHU. The other thing is to find a solution on how to fund the project financially.
Personal coaching: Mr. Axel Johansson, from Sweden, a very senior Sadhak, Level 5, authorized by Swami Ji, is available in an ashram on an extended stay in India. Anyone looking for any advice, has any doubt, or needs personal coaching regarding Sunyoga Sadhana is advised to contact him by Indian number: +91 7409063393, Whatsapp: +46738157961, email: contact@sunyoga.org, or in person at the ashram with prior permission.
The Sunyoga Newsletter has been published by the Universal Peace Centre, located in Lachhipur village, Paschim Medinipur district, Harinagar, in West Bengal, India, 140 km West of Kolkata. For more information, visit the website https://sunyoga.org.
The editorial board: Smita Chatterjee, the President of UPC in-charge, Vikas Saxena, PhD, Urszula Libal, PhD, Tristan Bousquet (Prakash).
- Email: contact@sunyoga.org
- Ashram Office: +918348986030
Om Anand Om
