A report on DR ANANDA’S WORLD TOUR 2008

October 22, 2008

DR ANANDA'S WORLD

TOUR 2008

It was surely

a marvelous world tour for me traversing five countries in nearly two months with

ten flights and numerous train and road journeys, meeting thousands of people

who shared the love for Yoga and Indian culture. Swamiji's spirit and Amma's blessings

were there with me for sure as the entire tour went off without any hitches and

was an unqualified success in all aspects.

MY FIRST OFFICIAL

VISIT TO THE UK

The first

part of my journey to the United Kingdom was the first time I was going to be

teaching there though I had been carried in and out by Amma and Swamiji when I

was a mere toddler. Landing at Heathrow which I was going to see four more

times on this tour was easy but then the car journey down to Cornwall in the torrential

rain with Catherine Davis ably driving Janita and me home was quite a start

indeed. Both Cathy and Dr Alan Davis have been students of Swamiji for many

decades having studied with him at the Sri Kambaliswamy Madam and it was truly

a restful and refreshing start to my hectic tour. Their third daughter Fay was

on holiday from university and a delight to meet. The beaches, hills and cliffs

of the area were a great treat with a healthy nature walk thrown in for good

measure with the natural berries giving us the energy to continue. I learnt

that seagulls aren't too different a menace than crows in India and that

they have a horrible squawk! Having a chance to meet and teach students of Cathy

and Shirley who did the correspondence course with Swamiji was a nice

experience with an Iyengar teacher who had dropped in for the class even

confessing how much more she had learnt in such a short time. I was happy to

spend a day with Alan in his surgery where I got to experience first hand the

work of a GP in the UK.

I realized that patients and their issues are actually very similar all over

the world though the way they express them may be different in many ways. Alan

has authored an excellent novel "Cornwall Cree Nation" and it is a must for

anyone who wants to understand the differences and meeting points between the

old and new worlds. A chance to meet Nandini Devi and Barnaby with their

daughter Satya was an added bonus as whenever I heard Swamiji talk of the UK, his favorite

Nandini would surely be mentioned many times. After the lovely time in Cornwall it was time to travel up to Wales and I had many new experiences thrown into

my train journey up to Bristol.

The travel over the beautiful English countryside and especially the coastline

rain line at Plymouth

was something to cherish.

Jeremy Dixon was

there at Bristol

to pick me up and we chatted all the way as we drove down to Pontypridd where I

would be for the next week with Kalavathi and family. Lloyd gives her so much

support in all ways and both Keshavan and Hamsa are growing up so well. Had a good

glimpse of how Kalavathi has to juggle many things and my admiration for her continues

to grow. She had me teach some of her classes at Cardiff and then closer home to get me in the

groove and we had an excellent Indo-Welsh music evening with great music and a

great audience. Lloyd had organized a lady violinist and his friend who plays

the one handed Indian drum to come and perform with me and it was fusion at its

best when Lloyd joined in on the piano!

I really

enjoyed the St Fagan's Museum

of Welsh life that is an

excellent treat for anyone who wants to see how the human living place has

evolved over the past few centuries. Seeing the parts that were in the 1920s

enabled me to see the UK

that Swamiji must have seen when he first came there in that period. Quite

different than what I was seeing today! A special treat was to meet Jeremy's

parents who are such lovely people and then to have some stunning photos taken

by Jeremy's dad who is a professional photographer- what better time and place

to be than there!!

Kalavathi

organized the three day intensive retreat at the Hilston

Park near Monmouth in South Wales and it was an excellent venue out in the

countryside on top of a hill. She spared no efforts in creating an Ashram atmosphere

with help from Jeremy and other dedicated students of hers. A lovely Kolam at

the entrance made it seem like India

right from the start. A full Ashram schedule with Arthi in the morning, Hatha Yoga

classes, Pranayama and theory sessions, Mantra, Bhajans and Satsangha in the

evening coupled with workshops on Chakras, Kolam making and Sari draping helped

all the 40 participants feel as if they were in the Ashram at ICYER. I enjoyed

meeting up with Janaki the octogenarian student of Swamiji who had also

attended his retreat in the UK

three decades earlier! It was interesting that the venue we had my first UK retreat was quite close to where Swamiji had

given his UK

retreat too. Sonia Allen Wall had come with some of her students and it was

nice to meet up with her after many years. She had been one of the best correspondence

course students with Swamiji and has remained dedicated to him and his

teachings. Other familiar faces included Avril Kirk a long time associate of

the Ashram, Sharada and Shanthi who had done the ICYER course in recent times,

Kalavathi's mom, Vera and Pat who had done the short courses at ICYER, Dr Vinod

from Scotland and Catherine from Ireland who had spent a couple of years in

Pondicherry. Lovely representatives from the Friends of Yoga Society were a nice

addition to the group as Swamiji was involved with that Society in the early

days of its inception. After three sunny days of laughter and fun filed

Sadhana, all participants left with happy faces and energized hearts of Yoga.

The next day

I caught the morning train to London and met Birgit,

Chris and their daughter Sophie at Paddington and then had a lovely two hour

chat with them as we got to Heathrow, had lunch and boarded the flight to Basel to continue into

the Swiss part of my tour.

MY SECOND

VISIT TO SWITZERLAND

Sridevi was waiting

with a big smile to greet me at the Basel

airport and then drove me home where I met her lovely husband Felix. A day of

sightseeing in Basel

with Sridevi and Revathy led me on a nice boat ride, a visit to an ancient

historical Christian pilgrimage site, hundreds of Pumpkins of every shape,

color and size, an excellent anatomy museum and a lot of walking. Sridevi and I

then undertook a wonderful train journey through Switzerland

from Basel to Locarno with a stop at Mt Pilatus on the way.

Had my first cable car ride to the top and enjoyed the view, the weather and of

course the lovely Pasta up there 2500 meters above sea level!

Hariharan and

Patti were ready with dinner for us at their home in Locarno and it was fun to play around with

Jaya and Nila who are energetic beyond belief. Jaya actually had a bad fall and

broke a few teeth while I was teaching my first class at Ascorna in a school

gymnasium with three dozen enthusiastic students. She was however back to

normal the next morning waking us all up with her babbles.

Hariharan

knows how to squeeze a lot of time into a teaching day and so the three day

seminar that he organized at Monte Verita was a real test for both the students

and me. We had a great time with Sridevi and Revathy joining the group in

addition to Billy and Alexandra who had made the long journey from Germany to be

with us. The seminar had 20 eager participants who learnt the art and science

of Pranayama in a step by step manner as per the teaching of Swamiji with his

words flowing out of my mouth as I taught the classes with him always in mind.

This happened many times on the tour and I would often stop and wonder what I

was saying because it would be pure Swamiji and not me at all! I always pray

that I should be worthy of being the son of Swamiji and Amma as they have set

such high standards that it seems impossible most of the time to even think of

those lofty standards. I do however try my best and then leave the rest to

Swamiji for he knows best!

OFF TO BERLIN FOR THE SECOND

TIME

Latha and Prema

are lovely hosts and this time they had organized my own private flat near

their houses so that I had some time and space for myself. Much appreciated at

that point of time as I did need to relax and recuperate a bit after the hectic

first two weeks of the tour. We had excellent company in the form of Sangeet

Bird, a correspondence course student who has endeared herself to Amma and me

with her excellent work and lovely dedication to the teachings. She has also

answered the correspondence course questions in a poetic manner and been a

great student. Latha, Sangeet and I had a great time visiting different parts

of Berlin on

a boat ride down the River Spree and then had a nice time with Prema at the

hospital where she works in an efficient and loving manner. A three-day seminar

on Hatha Yoga at the Finnish Centre in Berlin

was attended by a dozen dedicated Sadhakas most of whom had undergone the

correspondence course either through the ashram or with Asha and Keshav Rekai

at their Yoga School. Having dinner at the Indian

restaurant with Keshav was a special time for me as I have grown up knowing him

and Asha for so long and then to visit their Yoga school seemed like a great

family reunion. It gave me great pleasure that Keshav also found time to be at

my talk that took place at the Tagore Cultural Centre in the Indian Embassy

where I talked about Mudras and Pranayama in the Gitananda Yoga tradition. This

was my second visit to the embassy and felt very happy to have their open

invitation to come back for more talks whenever I am in Berlin.

An enjoyable

musical evening at Latha's house with her son Jacco who is a professional

classical musician and teacher at the university and a chance to meet other

members of the Gitananda Yoga Society was much appreciated. Latha's husband

Simore is a wonderful humble man who supports all her activities and

participates with a great sense of humor thrown in for good measure.

The two day

seminar at her house was on Yantra and two dozen members of the Gitananda

family participated enthusiastically in leaning this great science of numbers,

name and form. At the conclusion, Madeline who is now the chairperson of the

society gave us a lovely concert of her songs that I enjoyed tremendously. We

then had a lovely Indian meal at a South Indian restaurant with Dosas made by a

guy from Pondicherry!

At the end of

the day, I rested in my apartment and started to wonder what was in store for

me on the next segment of my tour, my first visit as an adult to the US of A, a

bit of trepidation on this journey into the unknown!

MY FIRST TRIP

TO THE USA

Though I had

been to the US

with Amma as a toddler this was the first adult visit and the first time I

would be teaching and lecturing here. From what I had gathered from all the US

based Yoga magazines earlier, I wondered whether I would be able to hit the

right cord with the American Yogis who seemed so caught up with a single aspect

of yoga, namely Asana. Rajudev was waiting to meet me at the gate and we had a

lovely talk as we found our way to the parking lot by traveling up and down the

airport for he knew as much as me about the new international airport! Doris, his better half was ready with a nice dinner when

we got home and Antonio, the conference organizer was there to meet me. Antonio

and I have corresponded over the past five years and have developed a wonderful

kinship over the internet but this was the first time we met and what a

meeting! i had just come out of the bath and so the first view he had of me was

half naked with a bath towel wrapped around me!

Rajudev and

Doris were determined that I have a good experience and spared no efforts in

making me at home. I saw a lot of San Francisco

in that week including the Muir Woods, the Golden Gate Bridge

and the lovely beaches. I also learned that sea lions are very human as they

keep pushing the others off the board into the water to get on it themselves. A

wonderful film, "Groundhog day" was an enjoyable watch as it had some very

subtle spiritual truths buried in it- when given another chance, we usually

mess it up until we are ready to transform ourselves. Doris

was so motherly in her affection and care that I actually started to tease her

by calling her Mom every time. Such love doesn't flow easily and I was

completely soaked in it.

I learned a

lot from Rajudev and had a great time re-reading his class notes from the time

he spent with Swamiji in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is an amazing man

and has helped me understand and internalize many aspects of Swamiji's

teachings that I would not have otherwise. Despite the age difference and the

fact that he knew Swamiji and Amma even before I was born, he has showered

immense love and respect upon me that completely floored me. At a time when

many of Swamiji's students cannot visualize me as an adult and think I am still

that "small kid who knows nothing", to have such a really great Sadhaka and

Yogacharya do so was heart warming. Thanks Rajudev for giving me that gift.

Your presence in every one of my classes enabled me to give off my best!

Rajudev had

organized an excellent get together of the North American Chapter of Yoga

Jivana Satsangha and it was a marvelous day indeed at the Santa Sabina centre.

Lalitha Devi made the journey from New

York and it was lovely to see her again as both

Swamiji and Amma have so much affection for her that she is very dear family.

We had a great time with the Hatha Yoga, Pranayama, theory and Mantralaya with

a bit of my singing and also had very tasty food at the nearby university

cafeteria that made me feel like going back to university once more just for

the food!

Antonio, the

organizer of the International Yoga Therapy conference had invited all the

presenters to his house for a pre conference meet and dinner that turned into a

gala time with healthy interaction between all of us. Getting to meet the great

American Yoga teachers such as Larry Payne and Rama Jyothi Vernon as well as

the eminent researcher Dr Sat Bir Singh Khalsa was a joy. Larry and I got along

tremendously from the very moment we met and spent a lot of time chatting about

the modern world of Yoga and Yoga therapy. I also got a chance to meet Neil Pearson,

Mukunda Stiles, Nina Priya and Amy Weintraub who are amazing human beings as

well as other eminent personalities who would be teaching at the conference.

The

conference got off to a grand beginning with a ceremony conducted by Antonio on

burning away our negatives for the positives to create a better environment for

others like the incense that burns to give off fragrance. My first session was

on energizing Chakras and within a few minutes of the class I realized that

people were ready for real Yoga and that I could be myself without

qualification.

The first

panel presentation was an astonishing experience as Larry Payne who was to

speak got up from the panel and invited me to come and take his place on stage

to share my views. I was blown off my feet with that magnanimous gesture that I

would have never expected anywhere in the world and it was happening right here

in the USA!

Larry set the stage for a successful conference with that heartfelt gesture

that I will treasure for my whole life. I hope that I will be able to do the

same for others in the future as it propelled me to do my best in all ways

possible.

Three morning

classes, three panel presentations, three workshops and a keynote on Yoga and

modern medicine in a three-day conference were already a lot and then I had to

deal with family too. Amma's sister Kathryn and her twin brother Joey made a

long journey to come to San Rafael

and be with me over the weekend along with Kathryn's partner Terry and Joey's

daughter Kathleen. It was a new experience for me as they had last seen me when

I was three and now we meet 33 years later! We had a great time over lunch and

dinner with lots of stories and catching up for all the time missed. Over the

next few days I suddenly found a dozen cousins of mine on the net and it was

becoming a grand family reunion of sorts. I had the chance to talk to a few of

my aunts and uncles and also a wonderful long talk with my grandmother who has

a great sense of humor and timing even as she traverses the eighties.

All in all I

can only describe my American experience as a magical one that enabled me to

see that there are sincere people on the Yoga path willing to see the grandness

of Yoga. I do hope that I can bring Amma and Rama Jyothi together in the future

as it was so wonderful to see the inner understanding that came through when

Rama spoke. She and Amma would make a lovely pair indeed. Antonio did a great

job of Karma Yoga and I hope that more people will see the work he is doing and

support him in it as it is unique and much needed in this world. Emmet was a

great help to him and played a vital role in keeping things under control with

a dedicated band of volunteers. The musical evening was really enjoyable with

Dr Mark Schillinger joining me on the keyboard and drums to create lovely music

and then we had a lot of fun enjoying Antonio and his barbershop quartet who performed wonderfully.

A day to rest

after the conference with some sight seeing and packing and then I was ready to

go back home- to my European home at the Gitananda Ashram in Savona, Italy.

THIRD TIME IN

ITALY,

MY EUROPEAN HOMECOMING

Going to Italy seems to

be a relaxed homecoming for me and maybe I have had a few Italians births in

the past for I do enjoy Italian food a lot and am getting a grip on Italiano

too. I tease them that very soon I may give them entire classes in Italiano!

Priyananda was waiting for me at Milan

and the drive back to the Gitananda ashram was full of our talk and music for

he loves Indian music so much that I cannot stop singing once I get in the car

with him. Svami Yogananda Giri, Ma Uma Shakti and Hamasananda were there with

my darling sister Atmananda (Lilavathi). Atmananda is such a wonderful dancer

and enthusiastic student that she managed to learn the entire Devi Stuthi in

praise of Durga Lakshmi and Saraswathi in two classes flat! When she dances my

compositions they seem to come alive more than at any other time.

My mind was

clear and I gave an excellent concert on Vijayadasami at the Shakthi Mandir

with Priyananda on the mridungam but still my body was not sure where it was

due to the 9 hour time difference between USA

and Italy.

Three nights of insomnia ensued before I started to sleep again and by then I

was ready to come back to India.

In the meantime I managed to give Atmananda and Priyananda some Yantra lessons

and also a bit of music and dance tuition whenever possible. Svami Yogananda

and his team at the Gitananda Ashram are planning on publishing Swamiji's books

in Italiano and have already completed the translation work on my best book,

Yoga: 1 to 10. It may well be my best Christmas present. I support their work

completely and see that they have dedicated themselves completely to Swamiji's

message of Yoga as a way of life.

Hamasananda,

Priyananda and I traveled to Milan

for the Milano Yoga Festival that was now in its third year and seems to be

getting bigger every year. My two workshops on Mudras and then Stress

Management were well received with good attendance and interest and I also

presented a talk on the Ashram's new book on Pranayama in the Gitananda

tradition before being swamped with the Italian media for some rapid fire

interviews. Sabrina is doing a good job in organizing the festival and she has

ambitious plans to create a space especially for those who want to go deeper

into Yoga by organizing some residential retreats in the near future. Her

marriage to Johnny on Swamiji's birthday (24th July) this year seems

to have brought out the best in her and she was shining with happy energy.

Sankara and Anna

made the four hour drive down to Milan

with their lovely twins and I really enjoyed their presence that was full of so

much love. I love to witness Sankara's dynamism and deeply appreciate his

wonderful Seva for the Ashram through the www.icyer.com

website that he has developed in such a wonderful manner. Hariharan and Patti

also made the journey down from Locarno

and so we had a grand Yoga family reunion at the MYF 2008 with lots of fun.

When I got

back to Savona a pleasant surprise awaited me as

Shobana and three of her students had made a 16 hour drive down from the Czech Republic to be with me for the last two

days of my stay in Europe. Shobana is doing a

wonderful Seva through her teachings in the Czech Republic and has created

amazing interest in Swamiji's teachings there in the past two years with many

of her students taking up the correspondence course and others joining the 6

month course. She is such joyous company that we spent many hours talking about

her experiences and listening to the lovely Bhajans by her students. They all

attended my lecture at the ASYA OM city centre of the Ashram in Savona and we had a grand

time singing Bhajans in the car as we traveled back to the Ashram. Thank you

Shobana for that wonderful gift you gave me by making that Herculean effort to

come and be with me. Students like you make me want to teach more and more as

you are such gems that can take Swamiji's vibrant and unique message to the

world for the future.

The 15th

morning saw us leave the Ashram early and make our way to the Milan

airport where I had a send-off party of five enthusiastic members who couldn't

spot waving me good luck as I boarded the flight to Brussels and then back home. My thoughts were

filled with happiness at the success of the entire tour that was marvelous and

magical and I realized how Swamiji was with me for every moment of it, for it

couldn't have been so otherwise.

The love,

respect, gratitude and care that was showered upon me at every step overwhelms

me completely and motivates me to strive and do better as I grow with every day

of my life being a chance to repay the great debt I owe Swamiji and Amma for

making me what I am today.

-- Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi BhavananiChairmanICYER and Yoganjali Natyalayam25, 2nd Cross, Iyyanar NagarPondicherry, South Indiawww.icyer.com

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