About me: Part 4

After taking my Sivananda Yoga Teachers Training Course, I started teaching straightaway at the Sivananda Yoga Centre, which at that time was in Notting Hill, London. My first class was the overflow class and I forgot to do the Sun Salutation! Fortunately that was the only time that happened.
Everyone living at the centre followed a daily routine, getting up 5.30am for meditation at 6am, chanting and reading. We had time afterwards to do our own hatha yoga practice, before staff meeting, where we'd go over the schedule and tasks for the day.
 The residents, like myself were required to do some regular karma yoga(selfless service). My tasks were usually teaching, cooking and cleaning. I used to man the stand at the Mind Body Spirit Festival every year.
In those early days, I found it really hard living in the centre and often found myself clashing badly with other residents! It wasn't easy getting up everyday 5.30 either, though we had a lie in on sundays till 6.30!

I moved out after a year. I preferred living out, though I spent as much time as I could visiting the centre.
In 1990, since the Notting Hill place was rented, the Sivananda group found a place to buy in Putney, and I remember viewing this with my Guru, Swami Vishnu-devananda. I have no idea how they were able to envision the beautiful centre that exists there now. At that time, it was a paint shop at the front, and at the back, there was a long hall which was a carpentry workshop. We did a lot of hard work on those buildings every weekend coming up from Sussex. The new Sivananda Centre was inaugurated in september 1990. Since the kitchen was not ready for use at the new place, I cooked for about 300 people back in Notting Hill, and the food was taken over by car.

We had a big procession that day through the high streets of Putney to announce the opening of the new centre.
Karma Yogis(volunteers) were demonstrating yoga asanas on the back of one lorry, and myself and others were chanting on the second lorry. Students were handing out flyers in the high street.
That evening, there was a special Satsang(meditation, chanting & discourse), concerts with Indian and classical musicians and dancing. I'm afraid I missed all this since I was busy in the kitchen, but the hall was packed and everybody enjoyed the occassion.
Many students have passed through the Putney Sivananda Yoga Centre.
I used to teach a lot of beginners courses and cooking workshops.

I loved cooking at the centre, and used to make big feasts for all the special festivals and concerts. I had the honour of cooking for my Guru, when he passed through London. I made rice, dhal and ladies fingers for him.
Sometimes Swamiji would gaze directly at somebody, and you knew he could see and knew everything about that person. There's nowhere to hide, though when he did that to me, I had to look away!

At Heathrow

He was open and powerfully loving. He made everyone feel at home. He always enquired after us and would ask how we were, even when he was bedridden and having dialysis 4 times a day. This didn't stop him from visiting all the ashrams and going on pilgrimages to the Ganges and to the temples of  South India. He was shining, with silver hair, beautiful skin and large open eyes, tremendous prana(vital life force). His mind was very sharp, and we would be given the honour of reading the newspaper. Swamiji always liked to know what was going on in the world.
     


Once, while reading the Ramayana(epic tale from India), I was reading the section where Hanuman had found Sita in the Asoka Grove, and he was up in the tree. Inorder to gain the trust of Sita before giving her Rama's ring, he sang the glory of Ram. Swamiji was crying like a baby, tears gushing out, he was so deeply moved. He loved the Ramayana and the Srimad Bhagavatam. The Ramayana relates the story of Rama, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, representing the ideal Son, Brother, Husband and King. The tale in itself is fantastic with colourful heroic characters and there are deeper esoteric meanings behind the tale from which we can learn the right way of conducting ourselves in life. The Srimad Bhagavatam relates the glory of Lord Vishnu and his incarnations particularly the avatar(incarnation) of Krishna. It is one of the great Puranas and demonstrates the importance of  Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion. It is inspiring and uplifting to hear these epic kathas(tales) chanted, as Swamiji loved to do on a regular basis.

There are numerous versions of these epics available. I have selected a few links here, including a Srimad Bhagavatam that is available for the kindle.
www.yogastall.com