from Sílvia Martins
Letter to Acharya:
It is with a heart overflowing with gratitude and affection, and with great humility, that I write this letter. It is very difficult for me to put into words, and in a foreign language, what it feels like to have the privilege of being a student of Acarya.
When I came into contact with Acarya’s teachings, through Sadvidya Foundation in Sintra, in January 2019, I was going through a very difficult phase in which I was feeling an enormous lack within me and a great need to seek for something that I didn’t know what it would be, but which I felt was vital to my existence. I already had contact with yoga, and wanted to deepen that contact, but I felt that nothing I had experienced so far gave me the feeling of being what I was looking for.
When listening to Acarya’s words, I realized that they weren’t echoing in my mind, but in a deeper part of my being that I had forgotten existed. It was as if they were illuminating a path through the fog, and my whole being reacted as if it were a well-known path, but one that for some reason I had forgotten. Every word I heard brought me great emotion and relief. At the end of the video, and after the debate, it was as if I had recovered the pure joy that accompanied me as a child, and the feeling that everything was okay, that the worst was over.
After this first lesson, many others followed and, a few months later, the opportunity to take part in public lectures and a retreat in India and, of course, the chance to finally meet Acarya in person. It was an extremely important moment that confirmed the strong connection I already felt. And it was a great joy and honor to be accepted by Acarya as his student.
Since then, my life has naturally presented even greater or lesser challenges, but my heart has never felt the agony it used to.
Acarya’s presence in my life and his teachings have guided me and helped me immensely to navigate this incredible ocean that is life. They have increased my faith that, if we allow it, Life presents us with the conditions that best serve us.
I am learning to live a simpler life, with fewer needs and to enjoy more fully what the Universe offers me. I feel that I have only taken a few steps and that the path will be long, but my heart overflows with gratitude and joy and a smile lights up my face, knowing that I am in the best company.
I ardently wish to honor Acharya and his teachings, which I consider so precious.
With gratitude and affection,
Sílvia Martins
Letter to BYD:
I would like to extend to BYD all the gratitude and affection I feel for Acharya’s presence and teachings in my life. It is BYD’s countless activities and projects that allow Acharya’s teachings to reach more and more people and further afield.
It is a joy and an inspiration to visit BYD and come into contact with the people who work there and witness the generosity, affection and openness with which they welcome us every year. It is an enormous learning experience to see the principles we learn about yoga applied in practice, both in the treatment of animals and the land, and in the way people act.
It’s wonderful to know that through BYD and the work of Acarya and everyone involved, the most original and authentic knowledge of yoga will be recovered and maintained and that many children will have access to it early on in their lives. I know that this is a very important contribution to making the world a better place.
I feel deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn from the BYD teachers. It’s wonderful to be able to study the yoga sutra and learn Sanskrit on a regular basis, from a distance, with such noble, honest and good teachers like Gaṇapathiārya and Ādarśārya.
All the teachers I have met since joining the Sadvidya Foundation in Portugal have been a great source of learning for me. It’s a blessing to be able to meet weekly in Sintra with the whole community, under the guidance of such noble beings as Jonathan and Stacey, and to be able to practice remotely under the guidance of such a good teacher as Lior. Heartfelt gratitude to all.
It’s a joy to celebrate BYD!
Long live BYD!
