A Birthday tribute

[Guest guest]

Respected Amma,

 

Wish you Very Many Happy Returns of the Day and may God

bless you!

 

And on this happy occasion I wish to give you a humble

present as a tribute to your deep interest in the progress of every single

student sent to Ananda Ashram by the good Lord.

 

Twenty one years ago I met Swamiji and you for the first time

to study under revered Swamiji and your good self.

 

Swamiji taught me Pranava AUM and inspired me with the

following words:

 

“The sincere practice of Panava AUM Pranayama is

enough to take you where you wish to go. Frankly speaking you do not need

anything else. You must explore it in all its aspects, immerse yourself in the

sounds rising through the body, feeling its vibrations in all its tissues and

the organs as the sound passes along its path. The mind must listen to this

sound intently, which though it is produced by the human vocal chords, is a Cosmic

Sound, a sound which always is and always shall be. It is not a sound confine

to earth alone, like so many sounds we experience daily, but a sound, which stretches

to infinity and back.

 

Experiment with

it!

 

Let this practice be a real ‘Meditative and Contemplative

Activity’, your opportunity daily to remind yourself that indeed, you are

not human, bound to earth planet, but a cosmic being, a participant in a

universal life.”

 

Then you, for your part, impressed with my dedication, motivated

me by prophesying that I will be making my own contribution to the Science of Yoga

in the fullness of His time.

 

Thanks to the inspiration and motivation by you both, that

is just what I did, with single-minded application to the task, during the last

twenty one years. It has taken me this length of time to define, refine, perfect

each practice, and incorporate them into a sadhana and share my knowledge and experience

with students, whom the good Lord sends to learn from me. I acknowledge with

thanks Dr Ananda, early this year when he visited us, proof reading and

improving on my Instructional Notes on these practices, which I compiled in

1998/9.

 

I’m happy and humbled to inform you that yesterday I inaugurated

at the Augustine Centre/National Institute of Integrative Medicine, East

Hawthorn, Victoria, a Vibrational Breath Therapists’ Course to twelve

students with a program on ‘Chakra Meditation for Healing’ (based

on Pranava AUM/Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga) as the Main Practice, with Savitri Pranayama

and Yoga Nidra as Complementary Practices and Nasarga Bhastrika, Kapala Bhati,

NadiShoddhana/Shuddhi, Mukha Bhastrika and a few other Additional Practices, which

I’ve incorporated into a Sadhana, as instructed by Swamiji.

 

These practices have served me in great stead not only

to experience good health at my ripe old age of 86 years, but also rehabilitate

myself from serious conditions, like a ten year old virulent hay fever in 1991,

heart attack in 1996, stroke in 1997 and Paget’s disease in 2008, and

also evolve spiritually. (Incidentally the heart attack and stroke were as a

result of taking Nadi Shoddhana/Shuddhi to its ultimate rhythm of 64in:32held-in::64out:32held-out

without performing Bandhas). These practices have been tested by me for twenty

one years of almost daily practice and I could recommend them to anyone with

confidence and conviction.

 

And my good friend Prof Avni Sali, who was actively involved

with another dear friend Rev Paul Sanders, Director, Augustine Centre, and me, in

hosting Dr Ananda at a Two Day Seminar in April this year, and with whom I have

been closely associated with since 1986, when he inaugurated my career as a

Yoga Therapist in Melbourne, impressed with my work, has involved his National Institute

of Integrative Medicine to conduct a pilot research program on the Course. This

augurs well for the future.

 

Incidentally I was also a visiting lecturer at his Institute

for a few years at its earlier location and hope to continue with my

association before long, after its reinauguration in a new location recently.

 

The development of Swamiji’s practices into a sadhana

is my gift to you, Amma! Please accept it as my humble present.

 

May God bless and guide you, Amma, in your man-making and

nation-building activity!

 

Love,

Sri Bala