Dear Aspirants,
My humble pranam to the benevolent Swamiji, our ever generous Acharya and all the Great Souls gathered here today.
It is a great day to be here celebrating 24 years of the BYD, inaugurating the 25th year and commencing a new course in Yoga, Ayurveda and Jyotisha for the Indian public. When I first met Acharya in 2005 this place was almost barren. With such human effort BYD has been cultivating the land, building structures and most importantly preserving and propagating the knowledge of ancient India.
Over the past 18 years my family has received innumerable support from Acharya and the BYD teachers. From classes on asana, yoga theory and samskrita to personal guidance, they have shared generously the wealth of Yoga, Ayurveda and Jyotisha.
A few examples I would like to share with you:
My wife and I were married through Jyotisha at Lakshmi Narasimha temple in Akkihebbal. After we returned to America we tried to have a child for many years but suffered miscarriage after miscarriage. We visited doctor after doctor in the US but nothing worked, in the end they shrugged their shoulders and said “It’s an implantation problem, we can’t do anything about it.” We consulted with Acharya and Ganapati Bhat and through the Jyotisha they recommended several rounds of remedies including offerings, chanting and Ayurvedic treatments with Dr. Ramachandra and Dr. Prasana Venkatesha. After a year and a half we did another prashna to see how the remedies were working and what more was required. The chart said everything was working well but we need one final support of a priest to chant to Vishnu 10,000 times on our behalf. The reading indicated that this was the final step for us to have the child. BYD arranged a priest and the very month this work was completed we conceived a child after trying for 7 years. Without their support we never would have had our son.
In the west this astrology is viewed as something done by quacks. Nothing could be further than the truth here in India. Time after time I have been amazed by the accuracy and insight of this science. If you give some small information they will go on describing the situation precisely, in such detail. Jyotisha is a wonderful tool to support mankind, it should not be lost in this Kali Yuga. BYD is safeguarding this knowledge by raising a new generation of astrologers who are also skilled in Ayurveda and Yoga. Additionally BYD is developing a Jantar Mantar to bring ancient Jyotisha practices into the modern day.
Studying Yoga theory with Acharya has changed my entire character. When I arrived to India I had no moral compass – how to act and behave with others in society. Thinking back to my behavior and decisions in my youth now makes me cringe with embarrassment. Where will we get the guidance in the West? Most people have left Christianity, the few moral guidelines it gave linger on – thou shall not kill, lie or steal. We do not have the comprehensive view espoused by the great rishis of India. More than that we have no logic to back up these statements. Thou shall not kill – but we go to war, we eat non veg food. The philosophy is very shallow. Studying here with BYD has given me a new approach to life by enlightening the noble qualities and providing tools to discern right and wrong action.
A few years ago I was appointed by this nature to run an organization teaching music to thousands of children in public schools throughout our state. Inspired by BYD we are teaching music in a different method than is normally taught in America. We teach to the heart instead of the dry, academic method normally used. Our classrooms become community centers with older students coaching younger ones and we are always looking for opportunities to foster noble qualities in our students. Children respond to this type of education, many of our students come to our music room at lunch recess and after school to learn more. Without parents asking they practice for many hours at home. They are engaged with full heart.
Unfortunately in our schools today we can see the first hand effects of modern culture and technology on our children.
Our children, and really our whole society, are becoming consumed by internet technologies and mobile phones. Young children constantly are using these devices, teenagers are suffering from a multitude of mental health disorders and parents are not present emotionally for their own children. We are struggling against this.
There is a proverb about alcohol: The man takes a drink, the drink takes another, then the drink takes the man.
We have certainly taken the first drink of technology and now our whole culture is getting lost in our online media addiction.
Educators are worrying about this trend but instead of thinking about the root we go on inventing new devices. Many children can not sit still, they have become like zoo animals unable to sit at a desk. Now we have invented a new special chair for these children. Most chairs have 4 legs, or at a minimum 3. But now our new chairs in the West have only one leg, very fat, and it is round on the bottom so it is totally unstable. We make these hyperactive students sit on this chair and they rock this way and that way and make circles while in class, this is the only way we can make them sit and stay at a desk. We have cut an artery but are only treating it with a band-aid.
Unfortunately India is chasing the West in the race to “modernize” all aspects of life. Have you seen the new terminal at Bangalore airport? Wow, how grand it is! We can even say that India is surpassing us.
Please do not make the same mistakes that we have. What India does not see is the disease in our country. 50% of marriages end in divorce. 1 in 7 children suffer a mental health disorder. We need real education to guide students for true happiness and fulfillment in their life.
Every step India makes towards the west opens one door and closes countless others. Please honor the wealth of knowledge and traditions established in this country. You people are the keepers of this knowledge. You have the capacity. You must keep the flame alive for the future generations.
Children need love. Children need role models. Children need long term relationships with caring teachers. Students have this here in the BYD gurukulam. The teachers here practice what they preach. They devotedly serve the society with full heart. Through their great teacher they have achieved what they preach so they are really the ones who can guide others in the inner world, this is the greatness of Bharati Yogadhama.
We westerners are like children too. We would be lost without all the people here today who work to make Bharati Yogadhama what it is. We thank you for your service and support of this great institution.