CONTENTS

Lead Article

Now or Never
Sadhguru on Grasping the One-in-a-Million Chance to Evolve Spiritually

Musings

A Perfect Union
Sadhguru on the Geometry of Creation

6 8

Sitting Still
Sadhguru on the Human Systems Comfort Factors

Isha Hata Yoga Sadhguru on How to Enhance Your Sadhana Leela Series The path of the playful part LIV:

Part 4: The Impact of Clothing, Jewelry, and Spectacles

10

Yoga of Devotion
News & Happenings

11

Yaksha 2014
Celebrating the Magnificence of Indian Classical Music and Dance

13 16

Mahashivarathri 2014
A Night of Divine Exuberance

Sharing Experiences

Miraculous Ways of Devi

Yantra Recipients Share their Experiences

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Upcoming Programs and Events Isha Yoga Program Highlights Isha Recipes Zen Speaks

This Month: Green Papaya Salad Self and Other

April 2014

YAKSHA 2014
Celebrating the Magnificence of Indian Classical Music and Dance
For the fifth year in succession, Yaksha, Ishas annual celebration of music and dance in the week leading up to Mahashivarathri, brought us an exquisite line-up of artists. We look back at the highlights of seven evening performances that were a veritable feast for the ears and eyes. Day 1 Malavika Sarukkai (Bharatnatyam dance) Day 2 V. V. Subrahmanyam (Carnatic violin)

On 20 February 2014, Padma Shri Malavika Sarukkai, the Bharatanatyam dancer par excellence, opened this years Yaksha with an exquisite performance. She presented some of her favorite pieces, starting with a wonderfully emotive offering to the Lord of the cosmic dance, as Malavika put it Shiva himself. This was followed by a nrittanjali or pure dance, then Shringaralahari, an ornamented dance in praise of the goddess. Through a perfect choreography of gestures, expressions, and movements, she told mythological stories in a most dramatic and captivating manner. This included an episode from the Ramayama, the slaying and deliverance of the demon Maricha, and an animated depiction of Krishnas childhood pranks. The final item was a tillana, a powerful rendition of pure dance. The entire performance was technically sound and yet very accessible. In the beginning, the dancer had said, I look for the responses of wonderment the aha moment. We certainly had many of those!
April 2014

For this evenings performance, members of an illustrious musical family that traces back to the musical assemblage of the Maharaja of Travancore took the stage: Carnatic doyen V. V. Subrahmanyam (violin), his brother V. V. Ravi (violin), V.V. S.s son V.V. Murari (violin), and Ravis son Raghava Krishna (vocals). They began their concert with an especially composed tribute to Shiva, which started off Isham Girisham Jagadisham and went on to hail Linga Bhairavisham, the Lord of Linga Bhairavi, which earned them appreciative applause. Naturally, their program included pieces of some of the greatest Carnatic composers, from Muthuswami Dikshitar to Shyama Sastri and Tyagaraja. The artists dedicated this evening to Linga Bhairavi, and their masterful play seemed to reflect a divine touch of ease and grace. As their program concluded and Sadhguru thanked them, the artists were visibly overwhelmed by the opportunity to meet him.
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Day 3 Pandit Venkatesh Kumar (Hindustani vocal)

Before the concert, the soft-spoken Pandit Venkatesh Kumar shared his first impression of the Isha Yoga Center: In spite of eroding values, in spite of outside influences, it is Gods Grace that places like this still find root in India. In some small way or the other, we are able to keep this culture intact it never fully dies out. Pandit Venkatesh Kumar began his recital with the very old raga Shree, which is particularly associated with Lord Shiva. The array of hauntingly beautiful ragas included Tilak Kamod with Tirath ko sab kare and Durga with Sakhi mori rumajhuma. A faster paced composition was the famous, well-loved Jai Jai Jai Durge maata. He finished with the traditional raga Bhairavi, singing a song much loved in Isha: Yogeeshwaraya, Mahadevaya.

After the sound check, Carnatic vocalist N. Vijay Siva met the Isha Media team and expressed his appreciation of the ashram space: As you come to these hills, the mind quietens, and you know you are in the presence of divinity. As the sun went down behind the hill, Vijay Siva opened the concert with a brief invocation to Ganesha, followed by Nada tanumanisham, in which Shiva is described as an ever increasing embodiment of sound. This was followed by a number of devotional compositions addressed to Lord Muruga, Goddess Meenakshi, and Rama, and a wonderful rendition of Jambupathe, to Shiva as a representation of the element of water. Another short, literary piece, Aadum deivam nee described Shivas dance, as he picks up an earring with his foot and places it in his ear. In a poem that praises through derision, the poet questions the wisdom of Parvatis father in giving his daughter in marriage to The Destroyer. A couple of Tamil pieces completed this concert by an amazingly accomplished vocalist.

Day 5 Pandit Kushal Das (Hindustani sitar)

Day 4 N. Vijay Siva (Carnatic vocal)

When asked to describe his approach to music, Hindustani sitarist Pandit Kushal Das explained, In our classical tradition, we are taught to regard the raga as a person. And we strive to become more and more familiar with it. Once you achieve a certain intimacy and proficiency, it can be truly meditative. For this concert, Pandit Kushal Das dedicated most of his time to the beautiful evening raga Jhinjhoti,
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on to tell how Adiyogi explored and expounded to the Sapta Rishis or seven sages 112 ways in which a human being can access the ultimate nature of the cosmos, and how he sent them to different parts of the world to spread this knowing. He explained that the whole cosmos is a complex vibration of energy, and where there is a vibration, there is bound to be a sound, and that Shambho is that sound. He then started the Shambho meditation, during which this key sound, chanted by hundreds of thousands of people, reverberated across the grounds at the Velliangiri Foothills. He said that there is a constant longing for union in human beings. But running after money, success, pleasure, or intoxication are inefficient ways to achieve this. The only enduring way to experience union is when one arrives at a state of yoga. He concluded by urging people to strive to achieve this enduring kind of union.

Nirvana Shatakam Sounds of Isha Manipuri Drums

This was followed by the Nirvana Shatakam, chanted by Isha brahmacharis and brahmacharinis, a Sounds of Isha concert, and a vibrant performance by a Manipuri drum group.

Ashit Desai Rajasthan Roots

Midnight Meditation

With a mix of geet, ghazal, and bhajan, renowned vocalist Ashit Desai and his ensemble delighted the audience. In the early morning hours, the band Rajasthan Roots stirred up the audience with their energetic folk tunes.

Closing

He said that if we grow in consciousness, we can become a limb of Shiva, the vast emptiness, or if we dissolve completely, become Him. After this introduction, Sadhguru initiated the midnight meditation with the powerful Maha Mantra Aum Namah Shivaya.
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Program Highlights
Date
14 Apr 2014 56 Apr 2014 56 Apr 2014

Program
Shoonya Intensive Residential Program Shambhavi Mahamudra Shambhavi Mahamudra Bhava Spandana (Ladies/English) Residential Program Inner Engineering Inner Engineering Inner Engineering Retreat Residential Program Inner Engineering Retreat Residential Program 21-Day Hata Yoga Program Inner Engineering with Sadhguru Yantra Ceremony with Sadhguru INSIGHT: The DNA of Success with Sadhguru

Place
Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Birmingham UK Sidney Australia Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Bandra West, Mumbai India Hyderabad India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Atlanta, Georgia USA Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore India

Contact
0422-2515300 +44-973740773 programmes.uk@ishafoundation.org +61-432268672 australia@ishafoundation.org 0422-2515300 98197 40540 mumbai@ishayoga.org 85000 64000 hyderabad@ishayoga.org 0422-2515421 ieretreat@ishafoundation.org 0422-2515421 ieretreat@ishafoundation.org 0422-2515300 hatayoga21day@ishayoga.org +1-678-390-4742 register@InnerEngineering.com 9442504720 yantra@lingabhairavi.org 83000 84888 leadership@ishainsight.org

58 Apr 2014

915 Apr 2014 915 Apr 2014

1013 Apr 2014

2427 Apr 2014

425 May 2014 1618 May 2014 26 June 2014

2730 Nov 2014

These programs are conducted in English, unless indicated otherwise. Current at the time of print, however subject to change. For full program schedules and updates, please visit our website: www.ishafoundation.org.
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