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As children, Jenness and I often watched Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the
Town" television show on Sunday nights. Among the performers we saw
over the years, one old-time vaudevillian, named Erich Brenn, always
held our attention, and we've thought about him often in relation to
yoga science.
This performer had a rather simple act. Before him stood three long
banquet tables. Secured to the tables were upright wooden dowels, each
measuring about three feet in height. The performer proceeded to
balance a spinning dinner plate atop one of the dowels on the table
and kept it balanced by twirling the dowel. Then he balanced a second
and a third plate. By the time he started to balance the fourth one,
he had to run back to the first and re-twirl the dowel. And then he'd
run to balance the fourth plate and a fifth plate and a sixth
plate--until there were twenty or so! By the end of the act, to keep
all his plates in the air simultaneously, he was dashing back and
forth like a madman. Needless to say, it was a riveting sight.
That vaudevillian was a great teacher--a true guru. His act has taught
us a lot about our own habits. When we were twenty, we said to
ourselves, "We can do that," and we
balanced a few plates in the air. When we were thirty, we said to
ourselves, "We can do that, too," and up went a few more. When we were
forty, "We can do that." When we were fifty, "We can do that."
But as we entered middle age, we began to realize that a lot of our
time was being spent just rushing to keep all those plates in the air.
We had taken on so many obligations,
it sometimes felt as though we were enslaved to tiring and stressful
expectations, disappointments and hassles. We had become so busy
keeping all our plates in the air that we hardly had time or energy
for nurturing ourselves and our loved ones.
To help us end such bondage, yoga science poses these questions: "Are
you being kind to yourself when you choose--consciously or
unconsciously--to balance so many plates? Are you practicing ahimsa
(non-injury) by keeping so many plates in the air?" Remember, each and
every thought and desire is merely a suggestion of what to give your
attention to; it is not an imperial command. You can always have
control over your actions.
Swami Rama of the Himalayas always marveled at the intelligence of his
Western students, but he also recognized our lack of patience. He
likened our condition to that of a first-time gardener. The novice
tills and fertilizes the soil, carefully plants the seeds, covers them
gently, waters them, says a prayer and retires for the night. Waking
the next morning filled with exuberance, he races to the garden to
survey his new crop, only to be emotionally devastated because nothing
has sprouted. Concerned that the seeds might have been defective or
eaten by some pest, the gardener digs up the seeds, trying to discover
the problem. Of course nothing is really wrong with the seeds. The
problem is a lack of patience and understanding of the process.
Anything worthwhile takes love, trust and self-discipline.
Remember: be kind to yourself; put some conscious effort into learning
to love yourself. Be patient, and try not to take on too much too
soon. Throughout your entire spiritual practice (sadhana), start with
what's easy and the choice will be exactly right for you. In order to
be the right choice, it must be easy. If you wanted to become a body
builder, you wouldn't rush into the gym and, with no prior experience,
begin to bench-press two hundred pounds. You'd start by lifting just
the bar with no additional weight. Then, you'd gradually add five
pounds, then ten pounds, then twenty--until you reached your ultimate
goal.
Ahimsa must begin with you, and in order to apply the precept of
ahimsa to every thought, word and action, you must exhibit patience
and love. In the words of William Shakespeare, "How poor are they that
have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degree?"
Give your sadhana a little time, but continue to test, experiment,
evaluate and trust the teaching. Slowly, slowly, you will begin to
recognize that there is a perfectly compassionate and benevolent
wisdom beyond the mind--always eager to lead you for your highest and
greatest good.
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A few years ago I saw a documentary about penguins, which depicted the
lives of these droll creatures almost from the first moment. They
looked so human that I found it easy to identify with them as they
grew into adults, impeccably attired in evening coats and tails, and
set about learning to live in the world around them.
To me it seemed a most inhospitable environment. Penguins hatch in
craggy Antarctic rookeries high above frigid waters, which are
probably covered with ice for half the year.
But the little ones evidently felt quite cozy in those precarious
nests. For some time, while they are protected by their parents, they
eat, sleep, and do precious little else. But once the young birds
begin to molt, their parents make a drastic move. Up to this time they
have been loyal and attentive, inspiring examples for the rest of the
avian world. But when it comes time for the children to grow up, the
parents simply walk out. There is a great parade of them away from the
rookery, and the scene they leave behind is sorrowful indeed. The
fledglings I saw looked so dazed that I had to keep reminding myself
it was all part of a larger picture. Unless the parents leave them,
the children will sit in the nest and never grow up, having their five
meals a day, quarreling over who gets what, and never learning to fend
for themselves.
With their parents gone, the children naturally began to feel hungry.
One day passed; they suppressed their hunger. Two days passed, and
their stomachs grew insistent. Finally, after three days or so, they
could stand it no longer. Some of them ventured out of their nests.
Penguins are inquisitive by nature, and one of the fledglings in this
film was more inquisitive and daring than any of the others. I called
him Peter, and he really captured my imagination. I could almost see
what was going on behind those curious, beady eyes as he waddled to
the edge of the cliff and peered down at the cold, gray waves crashing
against the rocks below. Instinctively he must have known that the sea
meant fulfillment. If he could only get into the water, he would not
die on the rocks but live as a penguin should. But his senses were
telling him just the opposite. He hurried back and told the others,
"This is death! Better to stay here and go hungry than to face such a
terrible fate."
The rest of the rookery were all too willing to agree. "This may not
be much of a life," their faces said, "but it's better than violent
death. Who knows? Mom and pop may still come back."
But mom and pop did not come back, and finally the hunger grew so
fierce that they could not live with it any longer. One morning Peter
made his way slowly back to the edge of the cliff. He was still
afraid, but anything must have seemed better to him than starvation.
He closed his eyes and repeated his mantra. Then, with one brave leap,
he hurled himself out into the air. The expression on his face said
clearly, "My number is up!" We heard a great splash; I could almost
feel the shock of the icy waters. Peter disappeared beneath the waves.
There was an agonizing pause. Then, to my great relief, up bobbed a
bright-eyed, slightly sheepish little face. Peter churned with his
wings and waggled his tail vigorously. Within minutes he was swimming
gracefully through the waves, at home at last. "Hey," he squawked up
to his friends. "Come on down! This is what we were born for."
Some of the other penguins waddled to the ledge and poked their heads
over to see. But even after seeing Peter's exuberance, only two or
three were willing to take the plunge. Most of them decided to
approach their destiny by stages--that is, they hunted for ledges by
which they could walk down. They took a lot of time about it too,
looking for just the right ledge and then descending with excruciating
care. Only after they were perched about six feet above the water
would they cautiously fall in. But once they were in, they too began
to crow. "Hey, Pete, wait up! You were right; this is really living."
Still some were not prepared to take this last little six-foot plunge.
They just sat there on the lowest ledge, and no amount of frolicking
on the part of their friends could induce them to dive in. But even
for them, all was not lost. Gradually the tide rose, and one by one
the waves washed every penguin into the sea.
I found this a very heartening ending. The whole of life, the mystics
of all religions tell us, is moving inexorably toward the sea of joy
and fulfillment that we call God. Some great saints like Teresa of
Avila or Mahatma Gandhi plunge into this sea boldly. Many of the rest
of us, busy with other pursuits, wait for the tide to rise. But none
of us is lost. Life has a goal, and in the Hindu and Buddhist
perspective, even if it takes hundreds of lifetimes, evolution itself
will carry us to the fulfillment of life's purpose, which is
Self-realization.
On the other hand, even though we cannot be lost, we can surely dally.
Here we have a uniquely human choice: shall we wait for millions of
years, knocked about in the painful process of evolution, until we
finally enter this sea of joy; or shall we try to enter now, in this
very lifetime, by taking our personal evolution into our own hands?
Whatever our past, whatever our condition, this is something that can
be done by every one of us through the practice of meditation.
From The Supreme Ambition, reprinted as Climbing the Blue Mountain
by Eknath Easwaran, founder of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation,
© 1982; reprinted by permission of Nilgiri Press, P. O. Box 256,
Tomales, CA 94971, www.easwaran.org.
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Individual Counseling
Yoga Self-Therapy
Leonard Perlmutter
AMI Founder and Director
Member: International Association of Yoga Therapists
Yoga Self-Therapy is
based on the perennial psychology of yoga science. Each
individual counseling session will teach you how to free
yourself from habits and expectations that cause stress and
give rise to illness. By observing and training your internal
processes, you can become creative in all relationships while
establishing a state of personal contentment. By learning to
rely on your own Divine inner wisdom you become free to make
choices in life that continually improve your physical, mental
and emotional wellbeing.
AMI Home Center, 60 Garner Road, Averill Park
By appointment only.
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The Heart and Science of Yoga:
A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom from Fear
Review by Gregg St. Clair, Healing Springs Journal
We live in
glorious times don't we? We have information available to us
today that we never transferred to only an inner circle of top
students. This usually involved years of dedication proving
your desire to learn, followed by years of practice in the
more external realms of knowledge, and only then would a
master be willing to share the deepest levels of their art,
most highly guarded secrets. But today every esoteric subject
matter is available through books or just a quick click away
on the world wide web.
Everything has pluses and minuses and this is no exception.
Yes, it is all right there for us, but so is fast food. So how
do we discriminate what is valuable or not for our total well
being? Trial and error is, of course, an option, and something
most people have to go through on their path--be it with diet,
exercise or meditation. But when you find the right thing you
know it. This is how I felt when I read The Heart and
Science of Yoga: A Blueprint for Peace, Happiness and Freedom
from Fear by Leonard Perlmutter. I keep wanting to call it
the "Art" instead of the "Heart," probably from being
conditioned by other book titles, but "Heart" definitely works
better. Why? Because you can tell that that is where the book
comes from and that is where it is aimed.
The Heart and Science of Yoga is a manual showing how
ancient wisdom can help us with life today in an increasingly
chaotic world. No longer does one need to travel to India to
learn the deepest secrets of yoga for it is all contained in
this one book. Some might claim that there is too much
information (and at 538 pages they may be right), but not me.
It is written in a style so easy to read and so relevant to
spiritual development today that its information will be
beneficial, almost crucial, for everyone, not just yoga
practitioners.
Leonard Perlmutter has something rare among yoga practitioners
and meditation instructors today, not only a blessing from his
famous teacher Swami Rama, but a direct request to pass on the
knowledge he transferred to him and to become a full time
teacher. Leonard and his wife Jenness have founded and operate
the American Meditation Institute in Averill Park, New York--a
short drive from the capital city of Albany. A tranquil oasis,
the Perlmutters are dedicating their lives to creating
positive change in the world based on the teachings of yoga
with meditation as the key.
The book covers in detail the eight limbs of yoga is of course
more than different contortionist postures and includes a
blueprint for spiritual growth including, proper disciplines,
proper conduct, proper exercise, proper breathing, proper
control of the senses, proper concentration, proper meditation
and finally self realization. I particularly like how they use
quotations and references from all of the worlds religions,
including literature and even current sources (did you know
Elvis was a guru?), making the book very accessible if not
down right enjoyable to read.
With the invention of the airplane, the telephone and now the
world wide web, it has become obvious that it is one world and
we must act together if there is going to be hope for the
future. Unfortunately people become so caught up in their own
realities that they fail to see the bigger picture. But we are
spiritual beings, and as we busy ourselves with the illusions
of the world it separates us from our spirit, creating a
source of suffering that is only going to continue. I take
comfort in the fact that yoga has an 8000 year old history and
though I am a scientist, I don't need another double blind
study to know that it works. The key is, we have to practice
something to take control of our mind & lives, or they will
take control of us. If you are looking for a tried and true
system that has helped millions of people, then The Heart
and Science of Yoga is the perfect companion. I recommend
it for everybody. |
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A meditator who has attained balance and calmness is like the
infinite sky in which storms may rage but which have no power
to disturb the serenity of the infinite. Most people develop
attachments--clinging to possessions and habits. The fear of
not gaining what one wants and the fear of losing what one
possesses makes an individual miserable. But the meditator who
has attained the state of balance and equilibrium knows that
everything in the world is meant as a means for spiritual
unfoldment. No relationship is meant to disturb the mind.
Meditation teaches people how to develop discrimination and
will power so that unnecessary desires lose their
attractiveness. Then, one can live in the world with
joy--discharging normal duties without suffering. Such human
beings are always aware of the truth, that they have come to
this world as travelers on a long voyage. Such traveling
guests do not carry burdens on their backs, because the
traveling would then become a painful experience. They always
remember that life is like a crowded bazaar, and they devise a
method of traveling through that bazaar without being hurt or
hurting others. For the meditator, the world is a base camp
where he or she can compose and gather resources for the
onward journey. As a mountaineer has a base camp where he
prepares himself to go to the summit, so is the case with us
and our stay in the world. Let us make our journey pleasant
and facilitative instead of becoming lost.
"Perennial Psychology of the Bhagavad Gita," ©1986.
The Himalayan Press, Honesdale, Pennsylvania.
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The Heart
and Science of Yoga™
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QUESTION: Can you suggest a practice to
help me bring greater balance into my life?
LEONARD: Learning to train the senses is an important step in
attaining real balance, freedom and happiness. In yoga science, this
form of discipline is known as pratyahara. Like school children, our
senses are without the capacity to discriminate. Anyone who has ever
worked in a business environment knows that if all the employees were
seventh graders, running a successful operation would be impossible.
And yet that's very much the situation we find ourselves in when the
untrained senses reign. "Let's look at something pleasurable," sight
clamors. "Let's smell something pleasant," the nose butts in. "Let's
hear something delightful," the ears insist. "Let's taste something
delicious," the mouth suggests. "Let's touch something lovely," the
hands propose. Very little balance and no real fulfillment results
from satisfying this crew's constant demands. For instance, you may
love chocolate ice cream, but if you followed the taste buds'
suggestion and ate only chocolate ice cream at every meal, you'd
quickly grow quite sick of it and your health would suffer. Based on
personal experience, I can assure you that the life of a yoga
scientist is never dull or drab. Remember that you're never asked to
give up sense pleasures, only your attachment to them. This life is to
be enjoyed. However, to fully appreciate the world without regrets,
you must establish balance--choosing your actions with mindful
attention and discrimination.
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All events are held at the AMI Home Center in Averill Park unless
otherwise indicated.
SUNDAY meditation & Satsang FREE
Every Sunday 9:30-11:00 AM. Love donations accepted.
MAY 2006
MAY 1 - JUNE 12: Easy-Gentle Yoga
Kathleen Fisk, Monday Nights, 6:30 - 8:00 PM, (6 weeks)
MAY 9 - JUNE 13: American Meditation
Tuesday Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, (6 weeks)
with AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter
MAY 12: DINNER, MOVIE & SATSANG
The Legend of Bagger Vance - with Will Smith and
Charlize Theron. Friday Night, 5:30 - 10:00 PM
MAY 15 - JUNE 26: Bhagavad Gita Study
"Renouncing Fruits," Monday Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
with AMI founders Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter
MAY 18: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Commonwealth Club talk by AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter.
Thursday, 5:30 - 6:30 PM.
MAY 19: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Book Signing & Talk by Leonard Perlmutter.
Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA, Friday, 7 PM.
MAY 25: INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
The Heart and Science of Yoga (American Meditation)
Thursday Night, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
JUNE 2006
JUNE 2-4: Weekend Retreat
Friday to Sunday with Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter.
See Retreats Page for more details.
JUNE 7 - JULY 12: American Meditation
Wednesday Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, (6 weeks)
Empire State College, 111 West Street, Saratoga Springs
JUNE 19 - JULY 24: Easy-Gentle Yoga
Kathleen Fisk, Monday Nights, 6:30 - 8:00 PM, (6 weeks)
JUNE 22: HOUSTON, TEXAS
MD Anderson Cancer Center talk by Leonard Perlmutter.
Thursday, 5:30-8:30 PM.
JUNE 29: INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
The Heart and Science of Yoga (American Meditation)
Thursday Night, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
JULY 2006
JULY 21 - 23: Weekend Retreat
See Retreats Page for more details.
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Tell
a Friend about AMI
If you know someone who might benefit from our American Meditation class, let them know
about the AMI program or call us with their name and address and we'll send them a
brochure with our current class schedule.
Karma Yoga --- the practice of selfless and skillful action
If, as part of your practice, you have a few extra hours during the week
and are interested in helping grow the American Meditation Institute, we need your
dedicated, volunteer energy. As a student of yoga science, you are already familiar with
the kinds of practical services the Institute provides. Each month we write, edit and
publish this newsletter, teach an average of thirty new meditation students and present
stress-reduction seminars to various businesses and organizations. We also invite visiting
speakers of interest to our area, organize seminars on yoga science and do continuing
personal counseling.
Our immediate needs include press relations, seminar management,
clerical assistance and general delivery work. Remember, whatever time or talents you
possess will be put to meaningful, productive use.
If you have the time, please call the Institute at (518) 674-8714.
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©Copyright 2006 American Meditation Institute for Yoga Science & Philosophy. All
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