Nearly all of us unquestionably and whole heartedly accept that the experience of ‘I’ is defined by the body/mind and the differing roles that we find ourselves playing in life. In turn our perception leads us to believe that each of us is a separate, individual entity that is in full control of our life. Yoga, and in particular the understanding defined by Advaita, tell us that ultimately this is not the case.
Tutor(s): Swami Nishchalananda and Swami Satyadaya
Yoga tells us that the ‘I’ is more fundamental than these different expressions of energy (body/mind/emotions etc.) that we assume our self to be.
This is a follow up course from the July 5th 2020 online seminar, open to those who attended then, and also new participants interested in Advaita.
Advaita encourages, in fact demands, that we question what our senses lead us to believe to be true and that we also question our concepts and ideas of what we believe to be true. It does not ask that we dismiss, or belittle, our day to day experience, just that we are willing to explore the unknown, to seek for the very depths of what lies hidden beneath the surface of what we assume the ‘I’ to be. This is the very essence of the spiritual search. We just need to take the plunge.
Does the path of Yoga, or the realisation of the meaning of Advaita, mean that the world will all of sudden transform to fit an idea of how we think things should be? No. Our understanding of who we, and all other beings, are fundamentally will change and this leads to deep peace, joy and fulfillment. We will carry on living our lives as we feel we must, engaged with what we feel is important; however, our relationship to life, as a whole, will have changed.
During our online day together, we will investigate the nature of the ‘I’ to awaken the possibility of realising and reconnecting with what we are on a fundamental level. We will share asana, meditation, yoga Nidra and satsang to aid our enquiry via the following zoom sessions:
9.30-10.15am with Swamiji, including both introduction and a guided meditation
10.40-12.10 with Sw Satyadaya, including a yoga class and further teachings/ meditation
12.30-13.15 with Swamiji, offering further teachings/ meditation
14.45-15.45 with Sw Satyadaya, including yoga nidra and further input
16.00-17.00 with Swamiji, satsang or questions and answers
The emphasis of the day will be on personal experience rather than theory and dogma.
