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As the morning sun rose; the chants of 80-odd people from all walks of life, different parts of the globe and age groups reverberated throughout TERI Retreat Centre. They had all gathered at 6:30am to perform the Surya Naman. Thus, began three blissful days that would take each participant to a different dimension within himself.
The much awaited retreat organised by Dhyan Foundation commenced on 2nd December. TERI’s 100 acre campus, well known for its green and environment friendly ambience was a perfect place for Yoga and Nature to sync with each other. It is said that Sun God is the only God that is visible to the naked eye. Moreover, Viswamitra, who is considered to be the greatest of all Sages, mastered the Gayatri Mantra and paid reverence to the Sun God daily. The sadhna allowed him to create a new dimension (parallel universe). This was re-enacted under the guidance of Yogi Ashwini whose perfect chants left a sense of peace and vitality in the atmosphere of the campus.
After a not-so-light breakfast everyone went through a short two and a half hour session performing the various asanas. The asanas, which looked so easy when watching a Dhyan member perform would bring lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ when we had to do the same and yet we were far from perfection. These asanas were a necessary prelude to the ultimate asana Sukham Sthiram Asanam. After a number of acrobatic postures all of us were able to do the shava asana almost perfectly. Despite all the strain and discomfort the session left us rejuvenated, energetic and well prepared for the day ahead.
The much awaited session with Yogi Ashwini started immediately after lunch. Yogi Ashwini explained the Surya Naman practice, its importance and the significance of samyam. He explained that samyam means “to become that” meaning that there are three things one has to take into account while doing the kriya. First the name, second the shape and third and most importantly its property. He spoke on various aspects of our physical world and importance of building up good karmic balance by speaking the truth, service to others and charity. He also highlighted the importance of maintaining sukra in the body and how a sadhak should enhance this for converting it into ojas and the tej, which would then catapult him into the yogic path. Sukra is destroyed in the body by four things — anger, emotional congestion, alcohol intake and an orgasm.
The session on the first day concluded with the Surya Naman in the evening and Yogi Ashwini enlightening the audience on Pran Prathista, interestingly it is only after this kriya that the divine energy enters the form.
The second day once again saw the participants gathering in the morning for Surya Naman. This was followed by breakfast and an asanas session. The second half of the day was eventful. It stared with tratak practice, which was followed by introduction to
Tattva Shuddhi. The introduction itself took us into a different dimension and everyone felt light and exhilarated. The session continued after dinner wherein Yogi Ashwini made us go through ‘past life regression’. All who went through this, experienced various dimensions of time and space (lokas) which left them asking for more. The reason for doing past life regression was to prove to the sadhaks that time and space mean nothing to a yogi and there is an existence beyond the present that we are living in.
The third day started as usual with Surya Naman followed by practicing the asanas. However, the best was yet to come. In the evening the session commenced with Yogi Ashwini conducting a havan (it being an amavasya night); the powerful chants during the havan of the shri maha mrityunjaya jaap brought immobility and tranquility in the surroundings. He then took us further into Tattva Shudhi as a continuation from the previous day. The experience of that day was indescribable. The journey into each chakra took each of us into a totally different world where some of us felt we did not want to return. The whole experience was mysterious, enchanting, and magical and left us with a feeling of oneness with ourselves. We realised that we are not what we think we are and we had a chance to meet with our very own persona.
It was truly a life time chance for all those present there to learn about the subject of Yog and recognise its power. At the end, we were left bewildered and enchanted wanting more. On the last day, everyone left with one thought — when is the next retreat?
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