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FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
- Manraj Grewal, Chandigarh Newline, Indian Express
Chandigarh, February 6, 2002
"You can chart this course with yoga and a good guru", believes Jyoti Subramanian.
Can a 10-minute daily regime of breathing exercises lead to a quantum jump in marks? Sounds a little implausible, but it can. And no one knows better than Jyoti Subramanian. This Yoga Practitioner was quite surprised when students of St. Peter's in sector 37 began getting better grades soon after she taught then these techniques." It's no miracle, the exercises merely increased their concentration," Jyoti explains.
For her, these are collateral benefits that come your way when you go looking for a higher reality. The one that adds a zing to your life. It's this search that prompted Jyoti to enter the folds of Hamsa Yoga Sangh International in '96. Her initiation itself was, to say least, quite dramatic. Jyoti recalls how see 'saw' Yogiraj Sat Gurunath, the founder of Sangh, at a congregation here. "I closed my eyes and this person materialised out of nowhere. It was only later when i saw his picture that i realised it was him." Taking it as divine call, Jyoti journeyed to the Pune ashram of Gurunath and ended up staying to learn Yoga in true guru-shishya parampara.
Today, this busy mother of two teenagers, who helps husband Jujhar Singh run Panchvati and a poultry farm. Practices it every day. For least an hour. The must-dos include 20 minutes of breathing exercises, 20 minutes of asanas and 20 minutes meditation. "You can stretch these over a day," says Jyoti. Explaining the science behind the' miraculous' benefits of the breathing exercises, Jyoti says: "It's simple, the higher the oxygen level you take in, the healthier you are. And at emotional level, you throw out anger, lust, greed, and bring in love and peace."
Other benefits include an increase in stamina and concentration. Jyoti says:" You become much more centred person, calmer and less flappable." Healing is another fallout. But Jyoti who hasn't taken any pills for last four years, rues that people approach her only when they are left with no other alternative."I don't grudge this, but we shouldn't forget the true end of toga: to be one with god."
For many, happily wrapped up in the present-day world, this goal may not command that immediacy, but Jyoti says by-products of this path itself have started attracting many youngsters to it. "We get people from the age of 8 to 80. And number of youngsters wanting to learn yoga has increased many folds, what with Miss India also raving about it." A case study of worldly desires leading to otherworldly concerns. Not a bad start.
HAMSA YOGA FOR THE SOUL
- Latika Sakhuja
December 16, 2004 Times of Chandigarh, Times of India.
Fitness springs from the mind and then reflects on the body. Inner peace is born from the silence of the soul and the best way of achieving this is through yoga and meditation. A simple method of staying fit, it requires no long-drawn preparations and is not bound by time. Be it an early morning or a calm winter evening, the middle of the day or the silence of the night, there is no right or wrong time for meditation. Over time, a number of forms of yoga and meditation have evolved. Jyoti Subramanian practices and teaches Hamsa Yoga. "Words cannot express the difference that practicing yoga and meditation can do for a person; till they do it they will not understand. This requires no props and all that is needed is sun energy.
It cleanses all evil thoughts and flushes out negative energy. Undoubtedly one starts feeling more energetic and rejuvenated," she says.
Hamsa means the swan, and symbolizes the soul. This form teaches ancient practices of Kriya Yoga and Hamsa Yoga and derives energy from the sun. like most other practices, the lineage of this form comes from Lord Shiva who enlightened Babaji Gorakhnath. It is now in the hands of Gurunath, the third guru.
Ajay Duggal, HoD, chemical engineering, Technical Teachers Training Institute, has been practicing Hamsa Yoga since the past five years. "I had gone for a discourse by Gurunath and was inspired to join the basic course. During the course I experienced an improvement in my health and I was more at peace with myself. I had the usual complaints of acidity. Since the time I have started practicing Hamsa Yoga my health has greatly improved. Over the years I have also realized that my patience level has increased helping me in dealing with daily problems. Importantly, it has also improved my relationship with the children," he says.
His wife Anju Duggal says, "I make it a point to pull out a little time during the day to meditate, the best part about meditation is that you do not have to get ready for it or prepare yourself. You can meditate just about anywhere."
The benefits from yoga usually take a little time to show. In fact one needs to be patient and give a practice at least six months before taking a call on whether to switch or continue with it. "People have the misconception that yoga is for the body and meditation for the mind, actually these go hand in hand. Yoga trains the body while meditation trains the mind. Also one needs to understand that it takes time for yoga and meditation to show results. A lot of time people are too impatient to wait," says Jyoti.
HAMSA YOGA, FOR THE BODY MIND AND SOUL
- Jyoti Subramanian talks to Geetika Sasan Bhandari about the benefits of Hamsa yoga
May 2003, Chandy Times, Times Of India Chandigarh
Propounded by Yogiraj Sat Gurunath after his meeting with Shiv Goraksha Nath Babaji, Hamsa Yoga was originally founded by the Nath Sampradaya and aims for earth peace. On a practical level, Subramanian talks about how it differs from the other, more common form of Yoga. Over to Hamsacharya....
Hamsa Yoga has made me very content and joyous person. What I like about it is this fact that it is very flexible and suited to modern day we live in. It does not call for you to spend a long period of time on it at one stretch, you can break it up and do it in parts throughout the day ; and it does not ask you to give up anything you like alcohol or non-vegetarian food. It is a totally internal process. What we aim to do is to trap Sun's energy directly and take it into ourselves, so in a sense, we are working towards transforming the body into a light, which is the process of evolution.
Hamsa Yoga is complete because it is a combination of hat, raj, and kriya, which is body, mind, and soul. The common form of Yoga we know hat yoga (this is to do with body and is about asanas). Hamsa Yoga on other hand, combines all three, and, as i tell everyone, gives you what you want from it. If you want to gain from it on physical level, that's what you will get, but if you want to direct all that energy to evolution of your mind and soul, then that is what will happen. As a teacher, I ask people not to waste energy asking for physical and material objects but to look at the broader perspective.
Hamsa Yoga also helps cure physical ailments and maladies as it is holistic and you heal yourself. This process will happen, nevertheless, whether you believe in it or not. For example, when you meditate and concentrate on stomach, all the problems to do with that area will be taken care of, and so on.
The entire process takes about an hour plus but as i said earlier you can break it up and so the asanas at one and the meditation later. It's in three parts: We start with Suryanamaskar and then go on to pranayam or breathing exercise (for the mind). We then go on to the asanas and have only seven basic asanas(for the body) and then get on to meditation(for the soul) Meditation here is only at one level for everyone and is called The Way of The White Swan(hamsa is the swan of life and symbolises the soul).
The entire process is aimed at making you one with nature and once you come to terms with yourself you will go with nature or with the flow and not try to oppose it so you become better reconciled with what you have. For examples, if you are on the plump side, then you will start accepting and accepting your body as it is instead of trying to fight it and ultimately feel good about yourself.
THE MASTER, Hamsacharya Jyoti Subramanian
- Jaskiran Kaur Chandigarh Newsline, Indian express.
Tuesday October 10 2006
"Fitness is a point of view. It has to be holistic....it cannot be contained in the body," Hamsacharya Jyoti Subramanian finishes her yoga class at Ozone and leads us to the path she's following.
"I was introduced to yoga in 1972 and since then I have been sharing this beautiful experience," says Jyoti who is now the disciple of Himalayan Master Yogiraj Siddhanath and teaches Hath-Raja yoga techniques. Also a reiki expert, crystal healer and master of lady Kwan Yin magnified healing, she has dabbled extensively in Native American shamanic rites.
"The techniques of Hamsa Yoga include asanas and pranayam, meditation and chakra awareness and lead to a holistic healing of the body, emotion and mind. We guide students to realize their true potential as individuals, bringing peace and joy to their life along with a sense of well-being," Jyoti defines her work.
Right now she is working on higher meditative techniques of Kundalini Kriya, and her book on discipleship, 'One Master, One Disciple.'
"Good health means holistic health, making one aware of one's chakras and the self. Yoga believes that disease is the last stage. The roots lie in mental and emotional levels. For instance, blood pressure is a result of anger, so we'll cure the anger first." Jyoti talks of reversal of disease not as a miracle but a scientific experience.
"Every individual reacts in a different manner, and that's where the personalized attention comes in handy. I feel yoga should be a part of everyone's lifestyle for it's about one's own evolution, tackling the imbalances of body and mind and being consistent."
Mind you, consistency is the key here.
LIFE, UNINTERRUPTED
- Parul simplyCity, Indian Express
April 9, 2008
"The book has its own Karma and is doing its work." Jyoti Subramanian talks about One Master One Discipline (ed: Disciple), A thrilling Spiritual Adventure in a matter of fact manner. The author is quick to point out that book doesn't preach or give any moral lessons and doesn't fall in the bracket of "good" books. This is Jyoti's attempt to put into words paranormal experiences that cannot be otherwise explained, the difference between knowing and realizing, faith, "and the search for eternal joy and a new life thats filled with light." Jyoti, a yoga teacher and practitioner, healer, reiki expert...says she wrote the book in spontaneity, the words flowed sans any effort. "It came out itself, I was just the medium, "the spine of the book, says Subramanian is Gurunath, her guru whom she met ten years back and he is the thread on which the words and experiences are strung.
Jyoti who had a vision during a seminar in Chandigarh and later found Gurunath in a forest ashram in Pune, was initiated into Kriya Yoga by the Guru. As she takes seat at her yoga studio in Chandigarh, she describes it all in the book as the 'opening of the door' and how he breathed new life into her, showed her a path and way to eternal joy, which she'd been seeking forever. A master guides one towards self-realization, "while guided meditation and yoga practice gives you freedom from inhibition and makes you look inwards." Jyoti in the book expresses her spiritual awakenings which occur in flashes about her past lives, connections with people and places, "at the Sukhna I felt radiation of light from the huge peepul tree, could see ancient yogis meditating under the tree and feel energies. Other daily paranormal experiences and spiritual adventures is what I've attempted to put into words," Jyoti says her master has cleared her doubts, made her a more balanced human being, one who is able to deal with inner crises, adversity and other human begins (ed: beings?) with courage and grace. And it's this journey of life, her various roles, of a wife, mother, seeker, as a yoga teacher, Kundalini experiences, she as a disciple, inner transformations...that the author writes about candidly. "Yes, it's all autobiographical and I've been brutally honest about my life, feelings, experiences and I hope these will give many the wings to freedom," Jyoti"s already penning another book, this time, it's spiritual fiction!
ONE MASTER ONE DISCIPLE by Jyotii Subramanian
- Posted in Worth a Read by Tamanna
Monday 22 April 2013
If you found the “Pray” section of “Eat Pray Love” absurd ,or the coincidences Gilbert refers to ( her husband signing the divorce petition or the effect of her chanting of Guru Gita on her nephew far away) way too much to handle, then this book “One Master One Disciple” is not for you. In fact this is a book not for any sceptic but for a hard core believer and not even someone who is just dabbling in meditation or some form of new age healing . To be able to read, let alone appreciate this book, you need to have Faith- in every sense of the word. Faith that there is a Power above who manifests Himself in various ways; faith that this Power is all pervasive though we may not be able to see or feel it with our blinded eyes; faith that human life is but an episode in a long karmic chain; faith that the ultimate aim of human life is God realisation and most
importantly faith in a Guru- that when the time is ripe and your search genuine, a Guru will come to guide you, show you the way and that this “guru-shishaya” bond is something that cuts across life spans. If the reader has this kind of faith, then this will be a worthwhile reading. Or else, as the author goes on to recount her journey and her experiences on the spiritual path, it will sound like nothing more than ramblings and imaginings of a fevered mind. Out of body experiences, astral travel, divine interventions, past life revelations, black magic, visitations by Divine souls- all this and much more is a part and parcel of author’s daily life. Unless the reader too is a “sadhak”, a seeker on the spiritual path, all this will be enough to put him off rather than make him read.
Jyotii Subramanian’s book belongs to the same genre as Paramhansa Yoganananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” and Christopher Isherwood’s “Ramakrishna and His Disciples”. Same genre though not the same league for those were all time greats Saints, Gurus who have inspired millions down the ages and continue to do so. And, to her credit, the author makes no attempt to claim a place among them either. All that this work seeks to do is present a straight from the heart account of her own wanderings in the wilderness, her phoenix like resurrection from the depths of despair under the guidance of her Guru , Yogiraj Gurunath Siddhanath.
What strikes one immediately is the author’s alarming honesty. Anyone who is familiar with Chandigarh, the city that the author has been residing in and still does, will also know that for all its modern exterior, Chandigarh is a very small, closely knit conservative society organised unofficially into cliques. People who have been residing here for sufficiently long period of time, like the author herself, know everyone else in the city. In this kind of a society, for the author to openly admit to her own and not simply her husband’s extra marital dalliances, is nothing short of social hara-kiri. Yet she does so, not to incite gossip, but to show her path to salvation and therein give hope to all sincere seekers. And if the reader is willing to lap up all of these personal details and believe them, why not believe her spiritual adventures as well?
The style is very matter of fact and straight forward, nothing really to write home about. In fact at times the descriptive passages may not seem interesting enough. But the worth of such works lies not in their style, plot, characterisation or other such standards used for judging works of literature but in their insights into the spiritual life of the protagonist-author and whatever they can contribute towards the spiritual yearnings of the readers. The reader, even the genuine seeker, may not agree with her understanding of spirituality, her reflections that are interspersed throughout the book, may even argue whether experiences such as those that she has described should in fact be shared with the world at large. But what one cannot argue with is her genuine quest and the blessings of her Guru that keep her going- achieving and reaching out for more. And for that alone, it is worth reading.
STUDIO STYLE
simpliCity, Chandigarh Newsline, Indian Express
Monday, June 15, 2009
- Parul
The feel is that of an ashram and it integrates all the five elements. Jyotii Subramanian's yoga studio at Dale farms in Chandigarh transports you to another world. Here, Jyotii follows and teaches the practices of Hamsa Yoga Sangh and its founder Yogiraj Siddhanath. A special and intimate place is what Jyotii wanted for her to guide students to a holistic way of life, through specialised practice of Hamsa asanas, exercises to balance chakras with awareness, access solar energy to heal the body and mind and breath control to facilitate letting go of stubborn and deep-rooted syndromes that lead to fear, grief, anxiety, negative thinking. Designed by architect Ajay Johl, breathtaking ids the special roof here, built and created by an artist from Rohtak according to an old technique without any iron to support the span. "The large terrace allows students to practice Siddhanath Surya Yoga and the mainstay of the practice is the Mahavatar Babaji's Kundalini Kriya Yoga," Jyoti says the centre organises meditations on full moon nights to radiate earth peace through self-peace and all this is done at a pace to suit the individual student, with options of monthly classes, as well as weekend courses.
EXCELLENCE REPORTER
#Most 'Meaning Full' Website On Earth
Yoga
Jyoti Subramanian: The Meaning of Life....Unconditional Liberated Living
by Excellence Reporter on March 28, 2016
In the quest to look for a “meaning” for existence, we are constantly engaging with external stimulus. Depending on our idea of what will take us towards this ideal way of living to make us whole and wholesome, we engage, we acquire, we hoard or jettison acquisitions and relationships. For me true gnosis comes only when we make the turnaround towards inner introspection. A difficult and often painful enterprise of self discovery.
Imagine yourself as a rough spiked metal ball rolling through fibreglass or wool, who feels the icky stickiness of the clinging material. We live our lives like this, our living driven by inhibitions and bias imposed upon us by external forces, we become slaves of our conditioning. Proudly claiming to have got out of one rut of drinking and smoking to find we have tied ourselves to yoga and health food. Yes one important step to self discovery is to know when a habit, even if positive, has become a crutch and learn to let go of it.
To constantly peel off the inhibitions and habits imposed by society, family, our own mindset, is a prerequisite for liberated living. To understand and accept that we are the product of our circumstances and like in a beautifully cut gemstone our flaws inflicted by life and fashioned in its crucible of fire are what makes us unique.
Dissolving all limitations and attachments that define us to radiate love, peace and joy unconditionally is an effort worth taking. Then having filed and smoothed the rough spikes through self effort we move through life acting, not reacting. The feeling of joy at this freedom of being cannot be explained in words.
The path to achieve this are many and one may find the one most suitable to ones temperament but ‘uncondition’ ourselves we must, to truly live in sacred freedom.
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~Jyoti Subramanian, author and senior teacher of Siddhanath Yoga.
