Will you be the Hundredth Monkey? By Gaby

The story: the Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, (also known as snow monkey or Japanese Macaque) has been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand.

Macaca Fuscata, photo credit  E. Tasker

The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant. An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers, too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.

Between 1952 and 1958, all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

The myth: Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes — the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes. By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!

But notice, a most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea — Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes!*

(*Lifetide by Lyall Watson, pp. 147-148. Bantam Books 1980. This book gives other fascinating details.)

However, the story is now popular among New-Age authors and Gurus, it has become and urban legend and part of new ages mythology. For more check here.

I am interested in modern mythology here, and what the myth is telling us is that people desperately hope for change.

The hope: Yoga is all about (self) transformation and transcendence. But change is often difficult and motivation is key. I feel the story of the Hundredth Monkey is a good source of motivation. Although it always seems we are too few who really want to change and even fewer who want to change for the benefit of a greater thing than just ourselves, the mere fact of change may one day trigger a much larger wave of change.

So despite I know the myth of the hundredth monkey is just that, a myth, I still think we do not have a choice but to believe that there is some tipping point, that if we reach a sufficient number, things will really start to change. Everyday I wake up and direct my focus to that endeavor only, create an environment of example, where others can learn, get inspired and finally find motivation to change for the better.

On the other hand I know some interest are working to keep people subject to the same model we have had for the last century, a model that has clearly shown its limits by now, but that solid economical interest protect from evolving to some other model more fair, more environmentally friendly, less based on profit and more based on compassion and Love. Sometime I find the battle impossible, it feels like David facing Goliath. The financial and lobbying power of theses interest, their lack of ethics, their selfishness and short sightedness scares me and I feel they expand so fast that it dwarves all my efforts. At that moment I think about the hundredth monkey.

So if you have read these lines until here I am asking you, will you join us in our efforts?
Will you be the Hundredth Monkey?

With Love&Light, Gaby

Samudra Manthan: The churning of the Milk Ocean. By Gaby

(a modern interpretation)

Dear yogis, you have probably heard the story of the churning of the milk ocean, one of the most famous story of the Puranas. If not let me recall here a summary:

The Devas (demi-god) made an alliance with the Asuras (demon) to jointly churn the Milk Ocean in search for Amritam, the nectar of immortality. They used mount Mandarachala as a churning rod and Vasuki, the king of serpent as the churning rope. But together with Amrita also emerged Halahala a poison so toxic that it could destroy all creation. Shiva was called and, out of compassion, kept the poison in his throat to protect the world form destruction (in the process Shiva’s throat turned blue hence one of his many name: Neela-Kantha, the blue throated God). When the heavenly nectar of immortality emerged, fierce battles ensued between Devas and Asuras for its possession.

I always loved this story, it had an incomprehensible appeal, something more real than its mythological exoticism. I could not stop to compare this ancient myth to a more recent story. Here is another summary:

Homo Sapiens have been digging the earth and the ocean floor to extract pockets of Sun (coal, oil, gas...). Two liters of oil provide energy equivalent to the work of a single bare-handed-man for a year. Today humans consume in a year the energy from oil alone, the equivalent of 400 years of their bare handed work. For example, we can now travel around the globe in a day, allowing us to live in a single lifetime what may have taken hundred of life time before the age of oil.

As a specie, this energy has allowed us to grow from a 2.5 billions in the 50’s (when oil digging really started to get serious) to 7 billions by the end of 2011 (almost 300%!). In a single year we extract from the earth energy captured during millions of years by millions of plants and this more than a hundred million years ago. During this recent period our life expectancy has doubled.

Doing in a life time what could have only been done in a thousand lifetime may not be “immortality” but it comes very close. I would dare to say that oil is our modern “Amrita”.

Further parallel with the myth: since the industrial exploitation of oil, there is hardly a conflict in the world which does not find its source in the dispute for its control. The demi-gods and the asuras are still fighting today.

So tell me where is Halahala?

A confluent of the Bishnumati Khola, Buddhanilkantha, Nepal

 All the toxic products derived from the oil industry, all the plastic bags polluting our rivers, our oceans, all the toxic chemical and pesticides killing animal life at a rate 1000 time the natural rate, the air pollution and acid rains destroying forests. All the carbon that we are returning to the atmosphere and that was once absorbed by the plants to make life on earth possible. Everywhere we can see destruction due to a model imposed by our dependance on oil.

Shall I go further? I think the Halahala of our modern time is for all to see.

In Kathmandu, Halahala is so obviously present that people wear mask for air pollution. In a city of around 1 million inhabitant still surrounded by a lot of nature, it is unusual. Kathmandu won the sad honor of the most polluted city in Asia in 2006, with 6 time more air pollution then the maximum healthy international standard. For the water, the picture above speaks for itself and Nepali specialist Govind P.S. Ghimire calls this a "major crisis" in his 1985 environmentalist report. Any one living in Kathmandu will tell you that it has only gone worse since. But other burdens are also very obvious, traffic has become hell and crossing the city at rush hour is a true challenge for such a small city.

Halahala is everywhere in Kathmandu, catching the city at the throat and asphyxiating it. What was once an exquisite urban mandala, built to honor the Divine Absolute and to respect cosmic harmony, is falling into the darkest pit of the Kali Yuga (The age of loss) in total disconnection with the environmental awareness that should sustain the city.

Back to our mythological story: Kathmandu protector God is Bhairav, a wrathfull form of Shiva. But the benevolent Lord Shiva must be busy somewhere else these days, and it seems we are missing the compassionate yogi who is ready to protect the world from destruction.

May be we need to do more penance and meditation to call him back to this place he once loved so much that he was hiding under the form of a deer in its surrounding forest (see previous post). 

For more information on yoga in Nepal: yogi-nomad.org

Kathmandu, Nepal

January 1, 2012

Yoga Retreats in India

Yoga is an ancient spiritual concept that originated in the East, namely India and Nepal. Yoga is a reference to traditional physical and mental practices that have been used for thousands of years in India and the East and is now benefitting the lives of yoga practitioners throughout the world. Despite its philosophical look it has a physical basis that equals the spiritual. Yoga is a series of practices, action, method and technique that calms the mind and channels energy in positive directions.

It is still not established as to precisely how long Yoga has been with us, but Yoga experts have so far concluded that the history of Yoga spans between 4000 to 8000 years ago to the present day. The earliest yoga findings have been found at the Indus Valley civilization’s sites, and these were active around the Indus Valley region in India circa 1700 – 3300 BC. Of course, there will always be new discoveries and Yoga findings and no one as yet could give a definite timeline for this ancient tradition.

Several seals were discovered at the Indus Valley civilization sites in North West India that showed people in meditative yoga like postures. Many experts agree that these seals were depicting a precursor of modern day yoga. One of the most well known and famous seals discovered in India was discovered by Sir John Marshall and is called the Pashupati seal. It depicts a three faced figure seated on a throne in a version of the Hatha yoga, a cross legged yoga posture. Both heels of the yogi sit directly under the scrotum and the yogi’s penis is erect, with the testicles clearly visible. The position of the heels is an advanced Tantric yoga known as Bhanda. This yoga method has been traditionally used redirect sexual energy and can give the practitioner spiritual powers. The figure on this seal is thought to be Shiva. On the right hand side of this figure a large tiger rears upwards facing him and some suggest it represents the yogi people and the Himalayan region, whereas a depiction of elephant on the Shiva seal represents Eastern India, the buffalo represents Southern India and the rhinoceros represents the regions to the west of in the Indus River.

Whatever the exact starting date of yoga is, one thing is very clear, India has had a long history with the practice of yoga and still today it is considered the primary place in the world to study and practice yoga. Many yoga practitioners wishing to take their yoga studies further often go to India for teacher training courses at the numerous workshops there. There are many teacher training courses in India that take place in workshops at ashrams and yoga retreats in India throughout the year. And the number of yoga teacher training centres in India is growing yearly as the world grows smaller and more people are heading to India the spiritual heart land of Yoga, and learning how to pass on the yoga light itself, by teaching others this ancient practice from India.

Yoga practitioners who travel to India to practice yoga often beeline for the holy city of Varanasi and join one of the many yoga ashrams or yoga retreats that have established themselves there. For many westerners the ultimate yoga experience is to become part of an ashram in Varanasi, experiencing Indian culture first hand and practicing yoga to their heart’s content under the skillful guidance of experienced yoga teachers in a workshop.

Varanasi is one of the world’s oldest living cities where time and has stood still in many ways. For several thousand years and still today Varanasi is one of the most religious areas of Northern India for Hindus and many will go there to be buried in the holy River Ganges that flows through the city. Varanasi has been a centre of Indian philosophy, yoga, mysticism and Ayurveda for so long that many hard core yoga practitioners feel it’s almost a necessity to practice yoga in a Varanasi ashram to achieve a high level of yoga ability. Teacher training courses (TTC) and workshops are also available in many of the Varanasi ashrams and retreats and there is a constant stream of westerners travelling to India and in particular Varanasi to take their yoga practice one stage further and become a teacher of yoga at a teacher training centre. At Varanasi there is a great traditional of teaching yoga, learning yoga and practicing yoga and this tradition still carries on today in ashrams all over the city.

Yoga teacher training courses (TTC) in Varanasi and all over India are usually completed at ashrams or yoga retreats. An ashram is a place where students of Indian philosophies can go to study with experienced teachers and with as little as possible disturbance from the outside world. Ashrams in Varanasi are also called yoga retreats and a yoga class is called a yoga workshop.

Everyone is welcomed at ashrams in India, from beginner yoga practitioners to more experienced people that are taking teaching training courses in yoga workshops, hoping to one day become a yoga teacher themselves. Teacher training courses (TTC) include being taught how to understand, correct, assist, encourage and guide students in yoga. As well as this, the teacher training courses teach people practical teaching methods for yoga workshops, such as making yoga lesson plans and teaching educational techniques to explain the principles of yoga.

The widespread use of yoga throughout the western world is largely due to its health benefits, and many westerners with chronic health problems are now practicing yoga as a resort to tackle these issues. Many people are now aware of the physical benefits of practicing yoga which include improved flexibility, greater strength, better concentration and improved posture.

The Sanskrit word yoga has many meanings and is actually derived from the Sanskrit verbal root ‘yuj’ which means to “yoke” or “join” with the supreme spirit. A fair translation would be that yoga helps a person to absorb and reach a state of union with a divine spirit using the spiritual and physical practices of yoga. Yoga is a scientific practice that teaches people the method of uniting the individual soul with the Supreme soul.

Yogi Nomad has more informationa about Yoga retreats in India and yoga retreats in Varanasi.

For Yoga retreats in other areas and Teacher Training courses in Nepal you can visit us at www.yogi-nomad.org