Opening of New International Yoga Institute in Hong Kong

[Guest guest]

 

Grand Opening of the All New International Yoga Institute, Hong Kong

 

By Sravaniya DiPecoraro, Director

 

A monument to the genius and devotion of Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja.

 

After two months of renovation of the premises, Saturday, November 2, 2002, marked the celebration of our Grand Opening. Attending the festivities were His Holiness Ritadhvaja Swami, Hong Kong government employees, lawyers from the High Court, local Chinese folk, new-age energy healers, fitness-club owners, Buddhists, Indian congregation young and old, yoga teachers from various schools and their students, our students, and devotees. Here are some pictures of the fire sacrifice and other goings on, plus the text of my opening address, which explains more about the Institute and its mission.

 

For the past twenty-one years in Hong Kong, yoga teaching has been a primary source of ISKCON’s reaching out to the community and of people remaining in regular contact with the devotees, taking prasadam, and learning about the process of Krishna consciousness. Now that yoga exercise is becoming a booming fitness industry, we are upgrading the level of practice and knowledge of our teachers as well as training up new teachers.

 

The International Yoga Institute (IYI) will be offering a certification course towards the end of next year, and any devotees interested in learning how to practice and teach yoga are welcome to send their contact information to us at yogaiyi@netvigator.com and join our mailing list. We will release more details on the program as soon as we have them. In the meantime, check out our website, www.yoga-iyi.com.

 

We are collaborating with other yoga schools and teachers in the area. For students interested in the philosophy and culture of yoga, we have the Higher Education Forum, where we give lectures and PowerPoint presentations on topics such as All About the Atma and Guna Guidelines: Vegetarianism from an Energy Perspective.

 

On January 11th, IYI will be hosting members of the Yoga Society of Hong Kong for discussion and dinner. Due to a widespead reputation for its delicious "100 percent karma-free vegetarian buffet", the temple has also done a great deal of outside catering for local spiritual gatherings.

 

The IYI studio is a fantastic venue, and more groups are taking advantage of the sacred space. At the end of March, we’ll be hosting the Hong Kong Network of Religion and Peace for an interfaith forum— with dinner, of course— as requested by the chairman of the Vegetarian Society of Hong Kong.

 

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

Your servant,

 

Sravaniya devi dasi

 

 

Address for the Inaugural Ceremony

 

Dear distinguished senior members of the assembly, my esteemed colleagues, my students, ladies, and gentlemen,

 

Today is both a joyous and momentous occasion. At a time when the ancient and subtle science of yoga is experiencing a renaissance in human civilization, I find myself standing with a foot in each of two very different worlds—one, the restricted inner circle of the spiritual ashram and the other the wide outer circle of western liberal culture and society in general. In Hong Kong— a place that traditionally witnesses the collision and resolution of many opposites— the time has apparently come for an interface of material and spiritual culture, of science and religion. Serious yoga practitioners are being called, as it were, to "come down off the mountaintop and into the market place," for the good of all.

 

I am speaking today to the members of both camps, and beg everyone please to bear with me if my language may seem strange to you. The lion and the unicorn speak in somewhat different tongues.

 

At this moment, the International Yoga Institute is involved in a process of reincarnation and Time, that eternal manifestation of God, is thrusting us forward. As usual, the Lord is exquisite in His timing. The 16th of October marked the 21st anniversary of the incorporation of Hong Kong’s oldest yoga school— IYI. This corporation has proven itself to be an autonomous entity with a life of its own. It existed before any of us came on the scene and will no doubt be here when we are gone.

 

IYI is part of the universal plan for the evolution of mankind on this planet. Some would say that it is the desire of the Supreme Godhead, Sri Krishna, manifest in the year 1981 through the vision and agency of His Divine Grace Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. Coincidentally, it was around that time that Goswami Maharaja encouraged me to spread the practice of hatha yoga as a vehicle for teaching Krishna consciousness.

 

His idea was, at the time, a great innovation bordering on heresy and no man of a lesser character than Goswami Maharaja could have possibly pulled it off. There is no doubt in my mind that I owe my present livelihood in no small part to his direction, and I am not alone—many in this assembly owe him more than we can ever repay. In any case, this institution is a monument to both the genius and the devotion of Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami.

 

Whatever our external distinctions may be, the members of the IYI teaching team are all cooperators in that mission. What exactly is our calling? I would say that our vocation is to teach by our own example how to live in a healthy relationship to God and to His creation, ultimately making such a strong connection with Him that our perpetual revolution in the cycle of birth and death is terminated once and for all. Material existence is the root of all diseases, and to cure that is true healing. This we do by our practice or sadhana (the daily renewal of our character), by prayer, sacrifice, and austerity. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna recommends the purifying effects of sacrifice and austerity even for mahatmas, for great souls.

 

However, Lord Krishna prescribes one further activity, and that is charity. Charity is the voluntary acceptance of inconvenience for the sake of one’s fellow creatures: to go out of one’s way to benefit them. If, as the Bhakti cult asserts, the ultimate spiritual realization is that God is love, how can such realization be attained without love for one’s fellows? What passes as love in our world today is merely selfish attachment— a poor rhinestone when compared to the diamond of genuine concern. Moreover, of all charitable acts the greatest gift is giving transcendental knowledge of the self and the Higher Self, for this knowledge can end all suffering.

 

This, then, is the heart of the IYI mission.

 

The mission of IYI is to improve the quality of life for humanity by interesting the general members of the public in the scientific techniques and timeless disciplines of authentic yoga culture; and within that context to provide higher educational services, therapeutic physical and psychological tools, and spiritual friendship with people of all faiths.

 

Human life is essentially a religious one. Due to my American upbringing, however, I can well appreciate the idea behind a secular state free from the oppression of religious tyranny. Nevertheless, it should be noted that just because there is false religion, this should not discourage the sincere seeker after genuine spirituality from finding his lost connection with the Divine within himself and in all things. It is the very lack of this connection that burns the hearts of the people and which is perhaps the impetus behind the current yoga revival. People everywhere are looking for practical ways to heal themselves, to fill the inner emptiness, and they think yoga may help. Those who have taken up yoga seriously have not been disappointed.

 

Yoga has become more than a movement; it has exploded into a huge business, and business as we know is the arena of activity not for the virtuous but for the clever, the greedy, and the avaricious.

 

The best yoga teachers are not business men and women. They are educators. Perhaps as they mature they will become sages. Like it or not, they are all the world has left to lead them to drink from the eternal wellspring of divine wisdom represented by the unbroken line of spiritual masters. Whatever their personal shortcomings may be, yoga teachers the world over can succeed if they remember Sri Krishna’s job description in the Bhagavad-Gita:

 

Samo damo tapa saucham

ksantir arjavam eva ca

Jnana-vijnanam astikyam

brahma-karma sva bhavajam

 

Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom, and religiousness— these are the natural qualities by which the brahmanas work.

 

This verse is embroidered in gold upon the soul of every IYI teacher.

 

IYI is coming forward now to take its place along side other distinguished yoga schools in Hong Kong. What we offer the community is:

 

1. Authentic eight-limbed yoga system for body, mind and spirit

 

2. Progressive syllabus

 

3. International team of teachers instructing in Chinese and English

 

4. A yoga teachers’ agency providing corporate yoga services

 

5. Vedanta philosophy

 

6. Teachers’ certification program

 

And this, too, should be mentioned: that all the teachers on the IYI team follow Yama and Niyama (non-violence, truthfulness, sexual morality, respect for others’ property, simplicity; purity, contentment, austerity, study of the self and surrendering one’s life to God). In other words, IYI teachers are real live yogis.

 

Speaking on my own behalf, let me say that today is a dream come true for me. I began teaching yoga in Taiwan in 1983, when there was no such thing as a sticky mat in Asia, and my hourly fee was the equivalent of HK$100 for an hour. For nearly 20 years I have carried on without a studio in the mode of "have mat, will travel, call Sravaniya."

 

Many here in Hong Kong can be heard to say that I was their first yoga teacher, but this is my good fortune, not theirs. Perhaps I should have paid them to let me learn how to teach. In any case, I never imagined that yoga would become as popular as it is today, but I pray that a few of the many who are attracted by its practical benefits will find the real benefit of yoga described in the Bhagavad-Gita:

 

Manusyanam sahasreshu

kascid yatati siddhaye

Yatatam api siddhanam

kascid mam vetti tattvatah

 

"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth."

 

To know that Supreme Other who is sitting in our hearts, accompanying us on our journey through countless lives— and to reconnect with Him in our original relationship of pure love— this is the real meaning of the word yoga.

 

And I have another dream: To establish that bhakti yoga is a path not for less intelligent romantics or those of a more sentimental, emotional temperament, but that bhakti yoga is the perfection of spiritual cultivation, and that Bhagavat Vedanta— the scientific understanding of the Absolute as the Supreme Person— is for the greatest philosophers, the thinkers with heart. What our world needs is understanding, caring, and love between people, not apathy and selfish egotism masquerading as enlightenment. We are all one family because that Eternal Divine Person is our Father.

 

It is fitting that I thank certain individuals who have made today possible.

 

First of all, I beg to thank my spiritual master Srila Prabhupada for saving me from ignorance and setting my feet upon the right path. And I would like to ask Srila Prabhupada to kindly thank Krishna for letting me in on this project. We must be in the universal flow because everything has gone so smoothly.

 

Next, my heartfelt thanks to Srila Tamal Krishna Goswami, my Godbrother and benefactor, who encouraged me to share yoga with others through teaching and who opened this school in Hong Kong at a time when practically no one was interested. He is also the spiritual master of most of the teachers at this school, and I thank him on their behalf for giving them shelter at his lotus feet.

 

Thanks to His Holiness Ritadhvaja Swami for gracing us with his presence today and His Holiness Giridhari Maharaja for his blessings and confidence in me.

 

I must thank Yogini devi dasi and Chandrashekhara das for asking me to help direct and organize the school. Yogini deserves special credit for managing IYI for several years before my tenure. She is an extraordinarily caring and nurturing lady, so much so that her students tend to stick to her forever. I also acknowledge and thank her for her great humility and cooperative attitude, which is very rare in this world.

 

Thank you to my friend and student Polam Lau for his expert advice on the studio design.

 

Thanks to our friend and contractor, John Yip for his meticulous workmanship and execution.

 

Thanks to the students of IYI for their loyalty and sticking with us during this move, and for bringing their friends to join our classes.

 

Thanks to Krishna Kanti devi dasifor saving the school by teaching overtime during a recent crisis of staff.

 

Thanks to Bhaktivinod das and his wife Sri Radhika devi dasi for their encouragement and friendship, which means so much to me, and to Bhaktivinod’s continuing dedication and commitment to IYI over the years.

 

Thanks to Mr. Guruprit Singh and his wife, Anita, for their support and care.

 

Thanks to little Arjun for keeping Nimai company in the office.

 

Thanks to my son Nimai Sarana das for saving the day by stepping into administration and sitting in the office hot seat. His troubleshooting ideas have brought the office out of the 19C and into the 21C.

 

Thanks to Radha Kunda devi dasi for helping with administration and for kindly saving lunch for Nimai.

 

Thanks to Dhananjaya Prabhu for the fantastic IYI and Barefoot Philosopher web sites and for his personal encouragement.

 

Thanks to Krishna Bhringa das for his expert technical support and keeping things running.

 

Thanks to all the devotees of ISKCON Hong Kong for their good will and association.

 

Last but definitely not leas,t my thanks to my right hand, Bhavatarini devi dasi, without whom I cannot function at all. She gets everything done before you know it, and remains even tempered even when she’s pulling me down off the roof. She is a jewel on earth, and I’d be lost without her.

 

Thanks to all of my colleagues— especially Ming Lee, Robin Tassie— and students for your friendship and support over the years. Thank you all for coming to celebrate this event.

 

May the yoga community in Hong Kong grow strong in love and understanding and continue to work together to help others.

 

Om tat sat.

 

Sravaniya DiPecoraro,

November 2, 2002

 

 

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