DHYAN FOUNDATION

Yogi Ashwini, of Dhyan Ashrmam A Yogi becomes an author to change the mass mindset about Yoga A realised soul or Yogi does not have to be an author but under exceptional circumstances. Yogi Ashwini is one such author. A rare blend of the real and ethereal, of the modern and the ancient and a personification of Vedic knowledge, he has been driven to writing by the sheer concern over the popular myths about yoga. As he looks at it, popular interpretation and misunderstanding of the subject are bad enough. But he is even more pained at the exploitation– both commercial and sexual– in the name of Yoga and the other ancient spiritual sciences of India. That this is happening in the age of information makes it rather ironical. For example, you just have to type the word, “Tantra”, on the net to get scores of thousands of websites that link this great Indian system of knowledge to sex. In reality, it is the ultimate formula for liberation from the limiting five senses ...

There would hardly be anyone who has not heard the Gayatri Mantra — Om bhur bhuvah svah, tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat. Maybe a few thousand people also understand what it means. But there would be hardly anyone who knows of the rishi — Brahmarshi Vishwamitra — who got this mantra from the Divine. It is such a powerful mantra that Krishna called it the mother of all mantras — mahamantra — and Ram himself protected the yagyas of this great rishi. Hardly anyone would relate this mantra to Vishwamitra, who is mostly remembered for his love affair with Menaka. This is the first mantra of the Rigveda, the first veda, but for some reason, Vyas, who compiled the Vedas, put it later, like so many other mantras given by Vishwamitra. But why? Vishwamitra was a Kshatriya king with vast resources and power. However, after realising that physical powers and siddhis were just a trap of the physical world and tapo bal (the yogic power of penance)...

Have you wondered why we like being with some people and why we want to stay away from some? The reason is simple, anyone who is calm and at peace, or shant creates a serenity around and people feel good in such a person’s company and those who are disturbed, stressed, anxious or ashant create the same disturbance around them thereby giving signals to people to stay away. The difference is the difference in positive and negative vibrations. The frequency of the waves that a person radiates directly affect his immediate environment, and the Creation at large and as an equal and opposite reaction the state of the person also gets affected by his/her immediate environment. Thus, a person who is troubled, stressed, anxious would spread disturbances into his surroundings, and as its effect, he would, in turn, get more and more disturbed; a vicious circle… and all this would have a chaotic and cumulative effect on the whole environment. The above clearly tells us as to why the p...

#HappyNewYear…What’s New? Ever wondered? You have been here before – in a similar body, among similar people, with similar desires, goals and aspirations and the same set of five problems (which were discussed in a previous article). The change is that your body is weaker, relationships more temporary, jobs less satisfying, the surroundings more polluted, the tastes and pleasures grosser than before. And this change too is not new, the trend has been with every birth and in the present birth, with every passing year, month, day and hour… The Garbha Upanishad, which is a treatise on conception and birth of a child as documented by Sage Pippalada, details the continuity of life and how the fetus in the ninth month of pregnancy remembers its previous births and lives and makes a promise that this birth will be different. But the moment it comes in contact with the outside world, it forgets its promise. This happens, every time the soul takes a body…it is this forgotten ...

Agni or fire is the first word of the Rig Veda. Did you know that according to ayurveda the various agnis in the body are at constant work burning body fuel and along with it body’s resources? For example, in the process of converting food into energy the internal chemical processes affect organs of the body. The heavier the food more the resources required to burn it and convert it into energy, the more the body ages. In a similar manner, fast breathing, sexual act, anger, attachment, greed, violence, sorrow and various kinds of indulgences lead you to engage in intense processing of thoughts, which utilise the body’s resources and engage the various agnis resulting in ageing. So, is there a way to make these agnis ‘shaant’(calm), resulting in anti-ageing, balance and tuning oneself to the subtler frequencies? The answer lies in performing Vedic havans, which are done on a large scale at Dhyan Ashram. Significance of havan and different havan kunds Fire is an eleme...

The article was published in Satya Times (UK)