Sri Anand Yoga
Let the Mystery Unfold
Seven Key concepts of SAY
1 Participation (as against seclusion)
2 Cosmic Play (as against boring homework)
3 Joyous and Creative (as against painful and mundane)
4 Integral and Evolutionary manner (as against one sided and stagnant)
5 Interaction and harmonisation at all levels (as against static and isolation)
6 Here and Now (as against at some future event)
7 To attain enlightenment of Self and of All (not just for the self but also for the whole humanity)
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Explanation of the Key Concepts mentioned above
1 Participation
Sri Anand Yoga is based on participation in the world activities. It is not a solitary discipline to be performed in the seclusion like many other spiritual paths. In fact it is not at all a spiritual path. SAY is firmly grounded in the here and now reality of day to day life. Participation involves interaction. Interaction leads to play of emotions. And this is precisely the field of work of SAY. If there is no participation in the world activities then one can remain safe in his cocoon in his comfort zone and have the illusion that he has mastered his emotions. The real test is when one is immersed in the world activities and at the same time is able to develop a witness mode from within so as to remain undisturbed emotionally.
2 Cosmic Play
There is a sense of Play at the Cosmic Level and we are all Players. It is like a cheerful sport activity. We are not puppets in the hands of some higher entity and this world is not a jail. We are not slaves of circumstances. We have free will and free choice. This world is not a prison or illusion or sinful place. It is a sports
ground of our Play. SAY considers our world as Raslila of each human being at its center and the whole world as the performing artistes.
3 Joyous and Creative
Our life is Joyous and Creative. There are no sorrows or miseries fundamental to this world. As the name Sri Anand Yoga suggests, this is a yoga of joy. We may have to suffer through painful experiences. There is no denial of this fact. In SAY we do not program our minds to feel joy when in fact there is pain. The existence of pain and suffering in this world is not denied in SAY. Neither is there any superficial motivational preaching or sermon from high pedestal of authority.
The master key to this dilemma lies in the SAY philosophy and practice. We live at two levels. At the inner level we have a 'sakshi bhav' - witness mode who is undisturbed by the goings on in the outer world. At the outer level there is a 'player' who actively takes part in the activities of the world. This is precisely the 'two birds' philosophy of our Upanishad. SAY practice eventually integrates these two modes of our nature. There is no much of a benefit by just reciting this verse and understanding and accepting its meaning at the intellectual level. It makes only superficial level change in our outlook towards life. This is the reason in spite of the the gem of this wisdom (and several other such teachings), our life remains as it is - confused and stressful. SAY practice results in a deeper level transformational change in our being and in our life. Then this philosophy doesn't remain as a high philosophical teaching but it becomes our way of life.
4 Integral and evolutionary manner
There is no destruction of existing systems of living but rather evolution of new world order from the existing world order in a graded and continuous manner. There is no revolution but only evolution. The development is at all levels of the Society. It is not restricted for the privileged few. This approach is very fundamental to SAY philosophy. SAY does not try to 'convert' a person into its philosophy in a sense of religious conversion. One evolves into his natural and logical next level station in an evolutionary path. This path is the path on which the whole of humanity is progressing. But it is only at a very slow manner which is typical of all evolution. To reach this station may take countless more births. But it is SURE TO HAPPEN, anyway - even without the practice of SAY. What SAY does is to make this evolutionary journey a substantially rapid progress on the path.
5 Interaction and harmonisation at all levels
We aim for the development of all our faculties – physical, mental and spiritual, with equal importance. This is not an exclusive physical, mental or spiritual discipline. All of these are of equal importance. Itis a synthesis of all the three levels of our existence. It is a holistic approach in a real sense. This approach does not just remain at the philosophical level but through the various practices of SAY we realise it in real life. There are various SAY practices at all the three levels and also at integration of these.
6 Here and Now
The benefits of Yoga are to be reaped ‘here and now’ in our current incarnation and not in some other world or next incarnation. This is a crucial aspect of SAY. We are not doing good deeds to have our spiritual passbook credited so that in our afterlife we can reap the benefits from our bank balance out of the credits earned from good virtuous living. In SAY we believe in this moment, which is the sole undisputed reality. The benefits of SAY are reaped in this life itself. Actually they are reaped from the day one of our walk on the Path.
7 To attain enlightenment of Self and of All
The journey of Sri Anand Yoga takes us to the final goal of the enlightenment of Self and of all of the humanity. Enlightenment means having the true knowledge of our Self as Cosmic Creator. It is not just the knowledge we have, but most importantly the realisation in life of this knowledge.
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