Yoga
Karma Yoga
Tantra is the ancient and often misunderstood science of awakening Kundalini-Shakti energy lying dormant at the base of the spine. Unfortunately, many people have misconceptions or limited concepts of what Tantra actually means. Tantra philosophy says that energy is required to do anything, and energy comes in many different forms. Through the regular practice of Tantra Yoga we learn how to generate and conserve energy using practical techniques as well as lifestyle choices. Our ashram’s philosophy is to channel this energy to transform ourselves to higher level of consciousness and to do good work for the benefit of society.
Tantra is the ancient and often misunderstood science of awakening Kundalini-Shakti energy lying dormant at the base of the spine. Unfortunately, many people have misconceptions or limited concepts of what Tantra actually means. Tantra philosophy says that energy is required to do anything, and energy comes in many different forms. Through the regular practice of Tantra Yoga we learn how to generate and conserve energy using practical techniques as well as lifestyle choices. Our ashram’s philosophy is to channel this energy to transform ourselves to higher level of consciousness and to do good work for the benefit of society.
For this reason, Karma Yoga is an integral part of our ashram. Karma in Sanskrit means action, but there is a great difference between karma and Karma Yoga. Karma is simply the action of doing, whereas Karma Yoga is the act of selflessly doing for others. Many of our actions are driven by our desires and we expect something as a result, but when we are able to act without any expecting any fruits from our labor, this is Karma Yoga and one of the best paths for purifying our heart and mind. When done from the heart, Karma Yoga enhances the practical aspects of yoga, brings greater peace of mind and expands an individual’s consciousness.
The external world of actions, thoughts and situations is a testing ground. It functions as a mirror, in which one can see where he is at and find out about oneself. It is a playground in which the mind-body instrument can be sharpened and made receptive to higher knowledge and awareness, by cutting through the veil of ignorance. Many people go to quiet places to find peace, they don’t realize they are carrying the source of their unhappiness within them and that is has nothing to do with the external world or circumstances. If you want to progress on the yogic path it is not necessary to become a recluse and retire in a mountain cave. The environment will definitely bring some calmness, but mental blocks will remain within the mind and prevent from meditation. The world is not to be shunned. It is a place to be used in order to remove our faults and imperfections.
Many people regard spiritual life, including yoga, as something separate from their daily activities. This is a wrong statement. A person must work and fulfill his duties, but at the same time transform it by doing karma yoga. This is the path to spiritual experience. Eventually one will reach a stage in which he feels an inner silence and peace amongst even the most intense activities and noisy environments. There will be peace in every situation and one will be in the state of meditation. As stated in the Astravakra Gita:
“The enlightened one neither avoids the crowd, nor seeks the forest. Under all conditions, in any place, he remains perfectly balanced”.
The Ishavasya Upanishad clearly emphasizes that one must live in the external as well as the internal world. One without the other leads to delusion and away from the path to higher knowledge. We must be neither too much in, neither too much out, it can be compared to standing on the door. There must be a perfect balance between introversion and extroversion. This is stated as followed: “Those who follow the path of action alone will surely enter the blinding darkness of ignorance. Furthermore, those who retreat from the world in order to see knowledge through constant practice of meditative techniques, similarly remain in the quagmire of ignorance”.