SEMINARS ON BHAVAS IN SPAIN
H. Sequeira
Sadhaka J. started practicing Yoga to come out of severe depression
nearly 30 years ago, and built up a giant printing press (printing on
plastics, metals, cars, electrical appliances and so forth. He was a
happy man. He was doing his duty/dharma fully, to family and employees.
But last year was a debacle. Most of his customers vanished. There was
no money in the kitty to pay the employees. The printing press is about
to close down.
Spain has the worst recession in Europe. Nearly 20% unemployed. Among
the new job seekers from college and technical institutes, 35% could not
find employment. Spain is in a depression at present and to come out of
it nothing simple can help.
We have been conducting seminars on Bhavas sporadically since the
pioneering work of Dr. Jayadeva and the able team at The Yoga Institute
nearly 20 years ago. But this year we decided to go all out and conduct
various seminars on Bhavas in different provinces of Spain, where nearly
20 senior teachers and over 50 instructors are conducting regular yoga
classes.
With the senior teachers we started working on booklets on Bhavas during
the last year. There was some trepidation whether we could do justice to
the theme. But the students (many who had lost their jobs, businesses
and had heavy loan to pay) took to the Bhavas like ducks to water.
Moreover, there was bonding through Bhavas. Far flung groups of students
were brought together. We tried to create unity among them, tried t- o
knit them together. Bhavas became the glue. Through unity strength
aisvarya was shared.
Thus we conducted Bhava seminars in Ordizia in the Basqueland where Dr.
Maria Jose, Senior sadhaka , has helped thousands during the last 30
years in ‘Casadelaindia’ a magnificent setup guided by the Government of
India and governed by a Board of the University of Valladolia and the
Embassy of India; in Vitoria in a new Center set up by a senior Sadhaka
Vazquez; in Santander in the marismas, where Epi, a senior teacher
conducts classes for dozens, en Torrelavega where Cefe (another senior
teacher) conducts regular classes), en Cacicedo (a junior Javier, who
helped prepare the texts along with another Javier – a senior), there
was splendid response; and finally in the magnificent Franciscan Retreat
House in Aranzasu, a national seminar on Bhavas was
conducted.
MAGNIFICENT RESPONSE
From feedback on site, as well as later entries in Bhivalog …. an
exchange web site, where students make entries for others to read, we
found that the effort was worth it. Our grateful thanks to The Yoga
Institute, to Mrs. Gauri Patanjali Yogendra, to Deepak Gupta, to
Niranjan Gogia and many others who helped in preparing the texts on
Bhavas.
“The Bhavas are helping us to cope with the distress we are going
through” is a common entry in our Bhavalog. And we might add grow
spiritually to learn to grow with myriad crisis that the Spanish are
facing now during these trying times, where things are disintegrating
fast.
The Bhavas are not a miracle but for the Spaniards Bhavas are working
like miracles to come out of deep depression and face life
squarely.
Published in the April 2010 edition of Yoga & Total Health Magazine.