Long pilgrimage, the wonderful story of the Sivapuri Baba. By Gaby

Before I introduce the Sivapuri Baba to those who do not yet know him, I will let his words speak for him:

The Baba at 121 years!

"God has sent Wisdom with you. Wisdom is your friend, your mother. Wisdom plays with Desire and by their unlawful contact they gave birth to Mind. This Mind marries a girl named Chapalata (restlessness) and by this he got the five senses. This Mind has got another wife too, whose name is Hope (expectations) and by this second wife he got two sons namely Anger and Greed. Thus a family is set up and they make a home to live in this body. This unlawful playing of Wisdom and Desire is Avidya (ignorance). And in course of time, as Mind experiences fears and anxieties through the five senses, he becomes much distracted or disturbed, and then turns back to his mother Wisdom and cries for help. Wisdom then comes and consult YOU, meaning Soul, who then tells her you should renounce your family and to remain in communion with YOU or Soul. This communion with Soul, is what we call Realization or Bodha"

From Budhanilkantha, Katmandu, one can walk to Shivapuri easily. At the top you can find the place where the Sivaprui Baba had his hut. The place is loaded with strong vibes, No wonder one would like to settle here for Sadhana. You can also visit his Samadhi in a small forest behind the airport and the golf-course a place called Dhruvasthali. Nothing really special here, just a profound calm and silence, something that quickly invades your meditation.

Born in 1826 in Kerala, he completed his education under his grand father and Guru tutelage. At the age of 18 he becomes Samnyasin and followed his grand father in the forest. After the death of his grandfather, he took the final vows and became Govindananda Bharati, only to return to the forest in complete solitude for the next 20 years. But he had made a promise to his gran father to accomplish a pilgrimage around the world after having reached Rtambhara Prajna or Absolute Realization of God. The pilgrimage was to last another 50 or so years traveling the world, mostly on foot, meeting Queen Victoria, Theodore Roosevelt and many other world leaders. He ended the pilgrimage by finally settling in Nepal, near Kathmandu on the Sivapuri peak, at the age of 100 year where he started to be known as the Sivapuri Baba. The author wrote the book after several interview with the Baba when he was far past 100 years. He died at the age of 137. His teaching are amazingly simple, it was the teaching of "Right Life" or Swadharma that the Baba emphasized most.

Baba-ji tree trunk hut, the large tree has now fallen

Nowadays, when modern self-titled-yogi flock on the beaches of Goa for a new age version of Yoga, you can still find in the Himalayan forest some traditional yogi (they don't call themselves yogi...). In the last month, I was lucky enough to meet "Baba-ji" (the terms just mean father but is used in respect) who has been in the forest for over 18 years, the first 5 living in a tree trunk, Baba-ji is 53, from Haryana (India) tall and really handsome, long haired and long bearded, we exchanged a few lines (in English, yes) then tea and I was invited for lunch. During our discussion we talk about self-inquiry and the nature of the human soul.


More recently I met another amazing soul in the person of a Swami who has lived in his Sivapuri forest hut for 22 years before starting building an ashram on the more accessible slope of Budhanilkantha. Swami-ji is 88 and has long white dreadlocks, his eyes are sparkling, his English his impeccable but he also speaks Bengali (he is from Bengal) Hindi, Nepali, Sanskrit, he is a musician, writer, philosopher, painter and let's stop here as I can already hear you ask, "But how do you learn all this staying alone in a forest?".

Both these saint men exude vitality, happiness, wit and by no means show their age as they are so active and fit. Many modern yogis under the comfortable excuse of following a "tantric" or an "integral" route are often critic of the renouncers. But meet Baba-ji or Swami-ji and you will start asking yourself who has renounced what? Materialism is the renouncement of Life they would probably tell you as the Hindu proverb goes "They who Live have all things, they who withhold have nothing".

Don't look for the truth in Goa or to Rishikesh, the self declared "Capital of Yoga", serious seekers come to the Himalayas and get the book:

"Long Pilgrimage, The Life and Teaching of Sri Govindanda Bharati known as the Shivapuri Baba" from John G. Bennett, ISBN 99946-956-7-3, really worth reading...

Sadhana Bhumi, Nepal the other home of Yoga. By Gaby

It does not come naturally to associate Yoga and Nepal. The first thing that comes to your mind is Trekking, not Yoga. It is funny that just the opposite applies to India, you would not think Trek but Yoga. The fact is that there are wonderful mountains to trek in India and amazing yogis associated with Nepal. So why is this almost natural segregation?

When we refer to yoga, we are talking about a tradition of several thousands of year and Nepal or India as political boundaries are from the 18^th century only, and obviously the Vedic Rishis and sages of the Upanishad who where so eager to transcend the limitation of the mind had other things to do than bother about political boundaries!

When we say yoga is India’s contribution to the world, this “India”, the historical India is the subcontinent and its geographical extent goes far beyond today’s Indian political boundaries. In fact it includes all the foothills of the Himalaya (much of today’s Nepal) up to the mountains of Afghanistan to the west and to what is today Bangladesh to the east and would even include Sri Lanka to the South.

Nepal, just like India, was shared and ruled by a number of local princes. The unification was done in 1768, under Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha king, and Nepal was often referred to as the Gorkha Kingdom. Gorkha was a name referring to the 8^th century Hindu warrior saint Goraknath, disciple of Matsyendranath who is said to have brought Hatha Yoga to the world, after having heard it from Shiva himself, when he was spending some time at the bottom of the Ocean with Parvati.

So here are a few reasons to correct this mis-perception:

Nepal today offers a unique blend of Hindu and Buddhist culture, the two main religious influences over Yoga practices. In the Newar culture of the Katmandu Valley, some temples are the place of Hindu festival on certain days and Buddhist pilgrimage on another, completing an interesting and unique fusion. Some of the last genuinely tantric practice alive are also present and represented by the Vajrayana Buddhism tradition since Nepal host a large Tibetan refugee community.

Katmandu valley alone has 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites related to both Hinduism and Buddhism, some of these places are some of the most visited pilgrimages site in the sub-continent and here the tradition is very alive. Together with the hundred of temples, shrines, monastery, stupas, pilgrimage sites, it makes the Katmandu Valley the most amazing “full size” mandala, a unique tribute to the spiritual architecture of its Vedic and tantric past.

Baghwar, one of the powerful place of the Shivapuri National Park

The Himalaya: home of Yogis for thousand of years. Also called “Tapo Bhumi” the land of practice (tapas) and mostly home of the God-heads Bhrama, Vishnu and Shiva (as described in the old Purana “Himavatkhandah” or “chapter on the Himalaya”) the Himalaya is home of many caves, hermitages and most importantly the “ageless body” of all these famous enlightened masters who have escaped to Nirvana and are waiting to inspire you.

The Mahasiddhas and the Nath tradition is at home in Nepal. Matsyendranath and his disciple Goraknath, founder of the Hatha Yoga tradition are also ever present in what was once called the “Gorkha Kingdom”. During spring one of the most amazing festival takes place in Nepal: the huge chariot of “Rato Matsyendranath” is man-pulled across the city of Patan, a festival not be missed!

Of course, last but not least, Nepal is also the birth place of Lord Buddha (Lumbini). There are many more reasons to come to Nepal of course but they 

When people ask us why we are conducting yoga training and retreats in Nepal, these are a few of the reasons we give, but there are many other, somehow insignificant but powerful. For example, my taxi driver phone ring is the Gayatri mantra, when I pay the electricity bill, it is shakti bill, when I go to the ATM it is LAxmi bank (the Goddess of wealth). Here you cant escape it, and evrytime you meet someone, greeting is Namaste "the Divine in me salutes the Divine in you".

Recently I was reading a post on a website: "Come to Goa, India, the motherland of Yoga", I could not stop laughing, in Goa you will find tourist, the true yogis have always delved in the Himalaya!

For more info about Yoga Training in Nepal check yogi-nomad.org

Kathmandu, Nepal

December 24, 2011 

For information about yoga and trekking: http://www.trekkinginnepal.com/

For more info about classes and retreats in Kathmandu http://www.yoganepal.com ; http://pranamaya-yoga.com