American Meditation Institute * www.americanmeditation.org * July - August 2006  Vol. 9 No. 5





 

Namaste.
I pray to the Divinity in you.

 
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."
~George Bernard Shaw~

 
My uncle Jack was one of my gurus. When he ruefully watched the antics of the new generation, one of his favorite expressions was a sad and surprised, "We used to be the kids." My uncle's inability to remain innocent, open and playful throughout his life brought him much suffering. For me, his plight was an important teaching--it inspired me not to get caught in the same trap.

Suffering is created when we search for peace and happiness outside ourselves, and not within. The greatest skill in the world is knowing how to create a bridge between the external and internal life. In order to be open to the ever-present light of guru that will dispel darkness, each of us must be willing to be continuously led by our own eternally youthful and unerring inner wisdom.

A shining exemplar of this philosophy was Satchel Page, who played his last major league baseball game when he was 58. While seemingly unaffected by age, Page did take note that "age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." There's a lot of yogic truth in his words. The more we lovingly and joyfully care for the body as our instrument of action in the world--without identifying with it--the more the body will serve us reliably with the very best health its potential can provide.    
 
In service--with love and respect,
Leonard and Jenness

 




YOGA SCIENCE   IN BRIEF

Yoga Science Helps Breast Cancer Patients

In one of the first studies of its kind, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas has announced that women going through treatment for breast cancer felt better when they practiced yoga. "Our belief is that something as simple and brief as a short (yoga) program would be very useful," at combating side effects from cancer treatment, said Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, a psychologist who led the pilot study. Yoga incorporates meditation, controlled breathing, imagery, stretching, relaxation and physical movements. According to study participant and breast cancer patient Teresita Ladrillo, "There's something to be said for being still." The National Cancer Institute recently awarded M.D. Anderson a $2.4 million grant to study the effects of Tibetan yoga on women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.
 
Cancer Opens a Door

When this 50-year-old Australian businesswoman learned she had cervical cancer two years ago, she was devastated. But at the height of chemotherapy, she started meditating. Now, Maree Reeves credits meditation with changing her entire mental outlook. "Meditation has definitely produced a calming flow, stopping the negative and harmful chatter in my mind."
 
Prenatal Yoga

Worldpress.com reports that during her recent pregnancy actress Angelina Jolie practiced specific yoga postures to enhance her immune system and decrease potential complications of child birth.
 
Meditation and Attention-Deficit Disorder

Dr. Alarik Arenander, of the Brain Research Institute claims that (TM) meditation can reduce hyperactivity. The Seattle Times reports that children who practice it twice a day have shown marked improvement almost immediately. Arenander claims "Children don't have to rely on a pill to improve behavior. They realize they now have a tool in meditation that makes them who they want to be."
 
Physiological Analysis of Hatha Yoga

Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by David Coulter provides a comprehensive overview of the anatomy and physiology of hatha yoga with special emphasis on the musculoskeletal, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. Every yoga teacher, health professional and yoga student interested in exploring these fascinating and profound aspects of hatha yoga will benefit from the wealth of information provided in this book.

 

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It was a beautiful, sunny morning. Ram Dass, known for his 1971 best seller "Be Here Now," was leisurely walking to the tennis court with friends when he was blindsided by an intense wave of guilt. He had just remembered the sage advice of Mahatma Gandhi, who suggested that every action we take is to be examined in light of its possible effects on the least fortunate among us. "How then," he pondered in his despair, "can I possibly justify spending time playing a meaningless, self-indulgent game of tennis--when instead, I could be serving the down-trodden of the world?"

People who are trying their best to give loving support to others sometimes find it difficult to give that same love to themselves--without suffering the consternation of guilt. Ram Dass's dilemma can provide a vital lesson in dealing with the feeling of guilt: loving yourself is not always a selfish act.
The highest precept of yoga science is ahimsa. It means non-injuring, and it is the guiding yogic principle underlying every successful relationship--with others and with yourself.
In practical terms, ahimsa is the same wisdom as the Golden Rule that instructs human beings to "Do unto others as you wish to have done unto you." Mahatma Gandhi always insisted that, "Ahimsa is an attribute of the soul--to be practiced by everybody in all affairs of life. If it cannot be practiced in all circumstances, it has no practical value."

The sages of yoga science teach that every thought, word and action in every relationship--including our relationship with ourselves--must be in harmony with ahimsa. When you skillfully serve ahimsa in mind, action and speech, you are automatically in harmony with the universal law of dharma--that which
supports individual and social order by guiding humanity toward its highest destiny. Practice ahimsa and you will experience a loving, healthy, creative and productive life. If you do not practice ahimsa, the consequence will be some form of physical, mental, emotional or spiritual dis-ease or pain.

Although yoga science acknowledges the multiplicity of changing names and forms, it recognizes only One Absolute Reality. Therefore, if you think, speak or act in a harmful or injurious manner, that injury will ultimately come back upon you. The Bible teaches that, "As you sow, so shall you reap," or, in modern parlance, "What goes around, comes around."

Your senses, ego and unconscious mind took control of the city of life many years ago. Yoga science helps you rectify that situation by placing all faculties of the mind in service to a super-conscious intelligence greater than the mind, and a truth that never changes. Even in a sea of change and turbulence, the innate wisdom of the eternal soul serves as an unerring beacon leading you toward your highest and greatest good.

Habit and the undisciplined nature of the senses and ego have convinced most human beings that they are separate from everyone and everything else. They fail to perceive the unicity within the diversity. Without the understanding that each of us is a part of the Divine Reality, not apart from it, we may find it difficult to love and nurture ourselves.
"If I indulge myself, that would be selfish and that's not yogic," we often think. Well, yoga science explains that there's nothing wrong with being "selfish"--if the real Self being served is the intuitive inner wisdom of the Divine Reality and not the limited personality ruled by the ego. The truth is that if you disregard your own intuitive wisdom and you're not kind to your Self in mind, action and speech, you diminish your capacity to fully benefit others--because on the highest level of consciousness there really is no "other." When you serve the discrimination of your buddhi (conscience or Holy Spirit) as it advises being gentle and kind to your Self, everything and everyone benefits--including you. Even the most simple and inwardly loving actions (including your thoughts) have effects more far-reaching than you can imagine. This Self-love could take many forms: a game of tennis or golf, a vacation, or even saying a firm but loving "no" to someone whose thoughtless habits might otherwise harm you.

To play or not to play? That is the question.
In Sanskrit the word lila is used to describe the vast, joyful and spontaneous play of creation. The word "play" implies fun, and lila is the Divine Reality's game that we are well equipped to enjoy. Whether we understand the word play to mean a theatrical production or the everyday events of an infinite cosmic game with defined rules and regulations makes little difference--we are the players.

As skilled actors in life we're required to play a variety of roles as perfectly as we can, but no truly accomplished performer identifies so completely with the role that she forgets who she is. Likewise, the skilled athlete is never so consumed by the winning or losing that he forgets how to play the game. As Shakespeare says, "The play's the thing!" So, Ram Dass did play tennis that sunny morning, secure in knowing that his recreation would empower his commitment and creativity to serve others.
When recreation is endorsed by the wisdom of a purified buddhi, you are to serve your true Self whole-heartedly. If, however, you can see that the suggestion merely represents an habitual or lethargic avoidance of serving the shreya, the desire to play is to be willingly sacrificed.
When recreation reflects the wisdom of your buddhi-yoga practice, you effectively re-create yourself to more perfectly fulfill the purpose of your life. Appropriate play recharges your batteries, clarifies your insight and energizes your will force to help you become an instrument of love in every situation.

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The Heart and Science of Yoga:
Connecting Mind, Body and Spirit

The following is a transcript of a speech presented by AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter
at The Commonwealth Club of California, the nation's oldest public affairs forum--
May 18, 2006, San Francisco, California.

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times," begins "A Tale of Two Cities"--the epic Dickens novel about the French Revolution of the late 18th century. In the 1960s, President Kennedy warned our nation and the world that humanity was approaching a similar time of great opportunity and great peril. "This New Frontier," the President foretold, "is here, whether we seek it or not. It would be easier to shrink back from this frontier, to look to the safe mediocrity of the past, to be lulled by good intentions and high rhetoric. But I believe the times demand new invention, innovation, imagination and decision."

In the years since the 1960s, our modern civilization has channeled its creative energies into scientific, technological and commercial growth, and has produced many astonishing and beneficial achievements. In light of such greatness, it's hard to understand why there remains so much underlying insensitivity, alienation, divisiveness and worldwide violence. Science, technology and commerce may provide the standards by which we measure progress, but shouldn't we also have found a way to live at peace--with our own selves and with others? Shouldn't we have developed and adopted a practical and civilized philosophy by now--one that teaches the necessary skills for all people to realize their unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and Happiness?

Such questioning is not meant to impugn the genius of science and of commerce. Who among us would want to retreat to earlier times that lacked today's plentiful and nutritious food supply and the medical miracles that extend and enhance our lives? Yet in the face of the relentless stress and enmity between individuals and cultures that threaten to destroy our civilization, where are we to find the innovative, creative genius that President Kennedy spoke of that will help humanity overcome the dangers we face?

In March 1775, a group of patriots convened at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. At that convention, a thirty-nine-year-old man rose to his feet to deliver one of the most inspiring speeches in world history. Although he spoke about the desire to be free from the tyranny and oppression of the British Crown, Patrick Henry's words could very well apply to the stressful, complicated and uncertain nature of modern American life and our own personal desire for unbounded Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. "They tell us that we are weak, unable to cope. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction-by lying supinely on our backs hugging the delusive phantom of hope-until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak-if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power."

In some ways things have changed dramatically since Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech, but most human beings are no less plagued today by the painful stress of daily life, the desire for freedom from worry and the endless search for happiness. In addition to our own personal duties and responsibilities, the world around us presents many formidable challenges. With apologies to Thomas Paine, "These (too) are the times that try men's souls."

Concerning such perplexing issues, Henry David Thoreau offered some helpful insight. "I went to the woods," Thoreau explained, "because I wished to live life deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Unlike Thoreau, yoga science and philosophy does not require that we "go to the woods" to learn the essential facts of life. In fact, true freedom and unbounded Happiness can only be experienced from within the constellation of our own relationships. Toward that goal, life itself is the greatest of all teachers-if we can develop an ear to hear and an eye to see.

With history as our guide, it's easy to conclude that the desire to end pain, misery and bondage is both universal and timeless. How to fulfill that desire to be truly free-in the midst of every modern circumstance, relationship and challenge-is the essence of Yoga Science.

The realization of peace, happiness and freedom from fear begins with one simple recognition: "You are a citizen of two worlds." Clearly, you are a citizen of the ever-changing material world of animal, vegetable and mineral matter. In this familiar environment, the body is your vehicle for action and your mind is your most powerful instrument for evaluating circumstances and motivating your body into action.

You are also a citizen of the distinctly non-material, yet profoundly real world of consciousness. Within this subtle world of consciousness exists an intuitive library of knowledge that unerringly identifies which of your possible actions will lead you to realize peace, happiness and freedom from fear and which will lead to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dis-ease. How to employ that inner wisdom is the basis of Yoga Science.

Yoga means union. It represents a trustworthy, ever-accessible bridge between your own intuitive inner wisdom and the actions you take in the world. The choice to base your outer actions on your own inner wisdom is the essence of all forms of yoga. The Science of Yoga is based on the same truth that formed the basis of Newton's Third Law of Motion: for every action, there is an equal reaction. Yoga Science clearly states that whenever human beings think, speak or act physically in the world, a unique consequence develops. If humanity learns to base its thoughts, words and deeds on intuitive inner wisdom, we are destined to experience the peace, happiness and freedom from fear we all desire. If humankind bases its thoughts, words and deeds on fear, anger and self-willed desires--in opposition to their intuitive inner wisdom--we are certain to experience physical, mental, emotional or spiritual dis-ease, or pain. And if we don't heed the message of pain at a low decibel level, the decibel level will get louder and louder--until we can't avoid addressing the pain.

Inner conflict, therefore, is the "Mother of all Problems." When mind, action and speech are in conflict with intuitive inner wisdom, conflict and pain will always be experienced outside the mind--in the context of some relationship. The press, historians and politicians might label that outer pain Columbine High School, 9-11, Osama bin Laden or Adolph Hitler. You might attribute your personal pain to an insensitive spouse, greedy oil companies or an incompetent president, but the simple fact remains that whenever there is a disconnect between inner wisdom and outer action, external conflict and pain always become manifest somewhere in the human organism.

Yoga science helps human beings reduce the dis-ease associated with our complex, fast-paced, modern world. Yoga is a very practical science that can be applied easily in every circumstance and relationship. By practicing the science of yoga you will learn to deal confidently and skillfully with common, everyday situations. Take worrying for example.

To one extent or another, we all worry. If the truth were known, most of us squander a tremendous amount of creative energy attending to notions of what the future might or might not hold. Just as Gulliver was hopelessly bound by the Lilliputians' slender threads, many of us are held captive by habitual thoughts generated from our own fertile imaginations.

How alluring that unending train of hypothetical "what if" situations can be! "What if this should happen? Oh, dear, what if that should happen? And what if neither happens?" So much of life is spent imagining things that never were and never will be. Because of all our concerns, we often can't even get a good night's sleep. And the more attention we give our worries, the worse we feel-physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. But this need not be the case.

By meditating daily and practicing the other allied disciplines of Yoga Science, you will quickly learn that that every thought and desire is only a suggestion. Thoughts and desires are not imperial commands. They are neither good nor bad. They are simply the fuel for human action, and every desire is composed of three basic components: Energy, Will Power and Creativity (consciousness). Yoga Science is a transformational science. It is a combination of conservation, ecology and banking because it helps you accrue the necessary resources to fulfill the purpose of your life.

How? By remembering and employing the truth that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, but it can be transformed.

When you learn to willingly and consciously sacrifice your attachment to the merely pleasant, comfortable and familiar attraction of habit, you really give up nothing of value. The intrinsic power of those desires is not lost to you. Instead, as you sacrifice those desires that are in conflict with your intuitive inner wisdom, the debilitating and contractive power of your fear, anger or greed is automatically transformed into internal reserves of Energy, Will Power and Creativity.

Conversely, when you act against your inner wisdom in thought, word or deed, your internal strategic reserves of Energy and Will Power and Creativity are diminished.

The major crisis of the American culture today is not one of IQ--intelligence quotient. Rather, the problem we face individually and collectively is one of WQ--will quotient. In the twenty-first century, countless people possess the intellectual capacity to make brilliant decisions, but because they are habituated to serving ego and sense gratification, their reserves of Will Power to serve inner wisdom have become bankrupt. Without sufficient Will Power to exercise discipline and discrimination, their reserves of energy and creativity are similarly diminished. The more these reserves are depleted, the tension, stress, anxiety and pain we experience becomes more frequent and severe.

As in banking, our personal balance sheet always reflects whether deposits or withdrawals have been made. The choice of solvency or bankruptcy is up to each individual.

In modern American life we all need Energy, Will Power and Creativity to fulfill our many duties and responsibilities. We have obligations to ourselves, our family, friends, business associates, society, the animal kingdom and the good earth Herself. We need a tremendous amount of energy, but where are we going to get all this energy? A certain amount comes from the food we eat and air we breathe, but the demands of modern life are tremendous, and we may sometimes find ourselves without the reserves necessary to fulfill all our obligations.

Yoga science teaches that the creative energy we need is always available in the form of our thoughts, desires and emotions. A ready supply of power arises within you daily in the form of fear, anger and greed. If you do not expend this power kinetically in the present moment, you can consciously conserve and transform it for use at another time. Yoga Science offers a systematic, practical method for conserving and transforming energy. It's very simple, and all it takes is knowing how to direct your attention appropriately, based on the intuitive wisdom already within you.

Before the printed word, the ancients used icons to teach the philosophy of yoga science. In India, the Lord as Nataraja, "Lord of the Dance," exhibits infinite love and wisdom by pounding the dwarf of ignorance with His mighty foot. The pain rouses Ignorance from his indiscriminate infatuation with the charms, attractions and temptations of the material world with which he has been playing, and calls his attention toward the raised foot of Nataraja--symbolizing that true unbounded Life, Liberty and Happiness can be experienced only by basing one's outer actions on one's intuitive inner wisdom.

As all Americans struggle with the painful, post 9-11 reality, it's critical that we contemplate the meaning of the pain we've experienced and be open to previously untried solutions. Remember, it was Albert Einstein who said that, "A problem cannot be solved on the same level at which it arose." To heal ourselves and the world, each of us must think beyond the norm.

For guidance on this sort of issue, New York Times reporter Tom Friedman turned to one of his mentors, Rabbi Tzvi Marx. The rabbi offered a Biblical analogy. "To some extent," said Tzvi, "we feel after 9-11 like we have experienced the flood of Noah--as if a flood had inundated our civilization and we are the survivors. What do we do the morning after?"

Well, the Rabbi asks, "What was the first thing Noah did when the floodwaters receded and he got off the ark? He planted a vineyard, made wine and got drunk." That's right. Noah's very first reaction to the flood's devastation and the many challenges he faced was to numb himself to the world.

"But what is God's reaction to the flood? It's just the opposite," says Tzvi. God's reaction was to offer Noah a new set of rules to regulate and transform previous human behavior.

And this is where the analogy with our present situation begins. After the horrific "deluge" of 9-11, the death of almost 2,500 Americans in Iraq, the pain of $3.25 per gallon gasoline, the fear of a nuclear armed Iran or a bird flu pandemic that might kill two million Americans, we are faced with two basic choices. We can either numb ourselves to the world, continuing our habitual busy-ness, or we can become motivated to change ourselves, and, therefore, the consciousness of the world, in a more profound manner. 

The teachings of Yoga Science provide a practical framework for experiencing the peace of mind and fulfillment all humanity seeks. Just as the physical sciences investigate the laws of the external universe, Yoga Science is an educational body of knowledge for knowing our internal landscape, the nature of our consciousness. We are citizens of two worlds-the outer world of action and the inner world of wisdom. To experience peace, happiness and freedom from fear, we must learn to act skillfully according to our objective knowledge of both worlds.

Through a consistent meditation practice and applying the wisdom of Yoga Science in our daily lives, each of us can become increasingly free to employ our intuitive inner wisdom to heal every relationship, to put an end to terrorism and to transform the life of the planet so that humanity can realize its glorious potential.

 

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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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The Heart
 and Science of Yoga


QUESTION: I am happily married with three beautiful children, but the relentless pressure of work, homelife and time required for the kids' extra-curricular activities sometimes feels overwhelming. Does yoga science address these kinds of concerns?

LEONARD: The speed at which we operate make moment-by-moment decision-making extremely challenging. Rushed judgments are often based on our reactionary habits of the fear that we won't get what we want or that we might lose what we have--rather than a conscious evaluation of alternatives and consequences. Yoga Science always encourages us to consider possible choices that we otherwise might overlook. The prevailing tide of our culture suggests that to be happy or successful we should be driving at one hundred miles per hour in the passing lane of life. But Yoga Science teaches us that true happiness can be found by driving comfortably in the far right-hand lane at a slower and safer rate of speed. Each of us can do it, of course, if we are aware that we have a choice, and if we can rely on the wisdom of our discriminatory faculty rather than the suggestions of others. Certainly, there are circumstances that occasionally require us to drive in the fast lane, but we don't have to make it a dangerous habit. The decision is ours, and must be made consciously moment by moment. When the choices we make reflect our own intuitive inner wisdom, the consequences are certain to lead us for our highest and greatest good. Sometimes that means swimming with the tide of the culture, and sometimes it means swimming against it. Yoga science grants us an unhurried state in which we can choose wisely.
 





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Maine Schools Consider Meditation


Portland Press Herald--Thirteen-year-old Francis Meisenbach is a meditator. He is also captain of his hockey and soccer teams, sings in two school choruses, plays the fiddle and the piano and consistently makes the honor roll. Recently, Francis participated in a conference aimed at introducing meditation into the daily curriculum of the Maine public school system. He hoped to persuade educators and the public that by teaching children to meditate for 10 minutes twice a day as he does, test scores rise, behavioral problems will fall and the need for medications will all but disappear. Also speaking at the conference was Dr. Ashley Deans, director of the Maharishi School of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa. Deans explained that meditation (TM) has helped his students score repeatedly in the top one percent on national standardized tests, as well as win more than 100  academic and sports honors over the past decade.


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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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.

JULY 2006

JULY 11: GURU PURNIMA
Tuesday Night, July 11: 7:30 - 10:00 PM
Click here for more information

JULY 18 - AUG 22: AMERICAN MEDITATION
Tuesday Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, (6 weeks)
with AMI founder Leonard Perlmutter

JULY 17 - AUG 7: BHAGAVAD GITA STUDY
"Renunciation and Action," Mon. Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
with Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter (4 weeks)

JULY 20: INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
The Heart and Science of Yoga (American Meditation)
Thursday Night, 6:30 - 7:30 PM

JULY 21-23: WEEKEND RETREAT
Friday to Sunday with Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter.
See page 6 for more details.

JULY 31 - SEP 11: EASY-GENTLE YOGA
Kathleen Fisk, Monday Nights, 6:30 - 8:00 PM, (6 weeks)


AUGUST 2006

AUG 14 - 28: SACRED JOURNEY
Living Purposefully--Dying Gracefully (Katha Upanishad)
Monday Nights, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, (3 weeks)

AUG 18-20: WEEKEND RETREAT
Friday to Sunday with Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter
See Retreats Page for more details.

AUG 24: INTRODUCTORY LECTURE
The Heart and Science of Yoga (American Meditation)
Thursday Night, 6:30 - 7:30 PM
 

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 Rights Reserved