“Satyam Yoga Centre” - From Dream to Reality

This article will retrace how a thought became a reality.

India

In 1995 I was fortunate to be a participant in the inaugural Certificate Course of Yogic Studies at Bihar Yoga Bharati, which later became the first yoga university in the world. After one of Swami Niranjan’s absorbing satsangs I pondered the meaning of what I had just heard and its affect on me. Swamiji was speaking about some changes that were taking place in the Sannyasa Tradition and that Swamis of the future would be highly trained in yogic topics and better able to meet the demands of an evolving society.

Swamiji said that there would be a trend toward residential households becoming small yoga centres and in this way Swamis, Karma Sannyasins, Jigyasus and yoga teachers would be able to reach out to more people in society. Anyway, I was thinking about this because I had been recently initiated into Poorna Sannyasa and was wondering what to do when my course finished. All course participants travelled to Rikhia (Jharkhand) and then on to the Paramahamsa Alakh Bara which is the Tapo bhoomi of Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati for karma yoga during the Sat Chandi Maha Yagya.

A period of seven years had passed since my last visit to Munger in mid 1988 and I was overwhelmed and filled with joy at seeing Paramahamsaji again. Much had happened since my first meeting with Paramahamsaji that I will never forget. What inspired me the most was his absolute surrender to his inspiration and guidance. At this stage Paramahamsaji was living in partial or virtual seclusion on the top floor of Ganga Darshan. He was giving darshan and satsang in private to some of us lucky enough to be there. On one of many such meetings, I asked swamiji if he would ever come to Australia again and his reply was, “I will not even leave this building unless I receive the message to do so”. Two months later he received that message and left Ganga Darshan. When I heard about his departure, I recalled what he had told me and this cemented for me that, if you receive some inspiration or inner guidance from your Guru you must follow it.

Anyway during the Yagya I had a dream that I was going to open a yoga centre and it would be called the Satyam Yoga Centre. I wrote back to Australia and told a friend of mine Margaret Rosekelly (Sannyasi Mantrabindu) about my dream, and asked her if she would help me. I forgot about it for two years until Mantrabindu and I returned from yet another visit to Paramahamsaji and Swami Niranjan. We spent one month in India with the large Australian group and then ventured off to Nepal to continue the adventure.

Nepal

Mantrabindu and I arrived at beautiful Kathmandu Nepal on 18^th December (1997) and on the very next day surprised Swami Niranjan by turning up at a function that he was attending. Swamiji, was on his first visit to Nepal to give satsangs, and also to inaugurate a small yoga centre on the outskirts of Kathmandu (which was the home of Dr Alakshakti. Nepal).

Another auspicious and strange event happened shortly after talking to Swami Niranjan after a Satsang in Kathmandu. Swamiji had asked me to come to dinner that night, with his Nepali hosts. I do not like grovelling to anybody, so the thought of having to line up and ask Swamiji’s host his address, as we had a dinner invitation did not wash. I walked out of the ashram and started to walk the many miles back to Kathmandu. I must have looked a strange sight, a westerner wandering along the main road wearing two Geru Dhotis, the traditional attire of a Swami.

Along the way we came across a mountain which looked like it had a monastery at the summit. It was a slight detour but looked interesting. Mantrabindu and I walked up the many steps to the monastery. We found out that it was an ancient 2000 year old ancient monastery named Swayambhunath Temple.. Follow the link, and read about the underground chamber where the 8th century Tantric master Shantikar Acharya” lives” in meditation. I had a strange feeling of being here before, and that a joyous moment was about to happen as I stood at the top of the winding mountain path that led into the monastery for about one minute, and almost expecting it, I then saw Swami Niranjan come hastily walking up the steps towards me followed by his entourage. We both looked visibly amazed to see each other there.

I thought it very auspicious, meeting my Sannyas Guru, unplanned on a mountain peak, and in an ancient monastery overlooking the beautiful Himalayas. And to top it off Swami Niranjan and myself were on our first trip to Nepal, and had arrived in Nepal weeks apart. The whole of our Nepalese trip was just such a beautiful and memorable adventure.

After waking early on 21^st December after having dreamed about Swami Sivananda, we caught a taxi to the strange Dakshina Kali temple in a misty valley that was about a half hours drive from Kathmandu. With Swami Niranjan standing beside me, we all witnessed a strange (and hopefully forgettable) ritual at the Kali temple which was conducted by the locals.

The next day we said goodbye to Swamiji at the Kathmandu airport when he was departing back to India, and snapped a very memorable photo of Swamiji who was beaming with joy.

Paramahamsa Niranjanananda Saraswati ~ Jan 1998 Kathmandu Airport, Nepal

20^th December we had another very memorable event when we met “Yogi Naraharinatha” the Guru of the Goraknath Akhara in Kathmandu. His spiritual radiance was immense, and I was transformed by the remarkable tranquillity that emanated from his being. Through a Nepalese interpreter I spoke with Yogi Naraharinatha and asked him a few questions which he graciously replied.

Yogi Naraharinatha” the late Guru of the Goraknath Akhara in Kathmandu

I asked him which type of Yoga did he practice, and he replied; Ashtanga Yoga (This is my view meant the real kind + Goraknath’s famous Kundalini/Laya Yoga). I also asked him where he was originally from, and he told me he was from a small village in mid western nepal, and that his Guru was Mahant Yogi Chipranath . I was then quiet for a while thinking about Yogis such as Babaji when he quickly and effortlessly read my thoughts, and told me that Maha Siddha Babaji lived at Siddhashram in Tibet. The isolates location/coordinates that Yogi Naraharinatha told me where Babaji lived, will forever remain confidential. I will visit Siddhashram, someday in the future.

Yogi Naraharinatha then told me that he recently returned from a visit to Vaishnav Devi http://www.vaishnavdevi.com/about_vdevi1.aspx with a couple of hundred thousand of Nath Yogis from all over India and Nepal. A Natha Yatra (pilgrimage) which he lead, as the head of the Nath lineage. He then showed me his two Shaligrams, which he had brought back from his journey. The radiant Guru (on 22^nd December) then asked me to visit him again in a few days at his austere jungle ashram (Bhadreswar Ashram) at Devghat, which is a very special place. We then caught a beautiful flight over the Himalayas (where I took the oval shaped photo of the Himalayan range on this page http://satyamyoga.com/new%20contents.htm on the way to Pokhara.

If anybody is fortunate enough to go to this remote place they will know what I mean. On the 30^th December we took a magical bus ride (the views of the aqua marine rivers, rapids, mountain passes, gorges etc) from Pokhara to Narayanghat. Staying in a modest hotel room in Naranyangarh (150 klms west of Kathmandu or ½ way to Lumbini), we visited Yogi Naraharinatha’s Jungle Ashram at Devghat on the 31^st December but he had not arrived yet.

Daily we patiently waited, for three days for the Guru to return from a trip to Gorakhpur, which is the chief Goraknath Ashram in India.

Read more here about Pilot Baba’a meeting at the Gorakhpur Goraknath Temple, with Nepal’s Yogi Naraharinath.

I have linked Pilot Baba’s fascinating auto- biography (online version), and here on page 2 of chapter 28. Himalaya Unveils Mystery you will see the reference to Yogi Naraharinath, and here for all chapters Pilot Baba's Autobiography. You will find references to the Kodari waterfalls, and the beautiful Narayani River.

While waiting we toured the Devghat area, visiting the gurukul ashram (Galeswar Ashram) of Swami Atmananda Giri which is near confluence of the Kali Gandaki and Trisuli Rivers (this is one of the main tributaries of the Ganges) and is a very peaceful inspiring place. At Devghat there are some temples and a large sandy beach. It was mentioned in the Skanda Purana.

It also is known as Deoghat and Harihara Chhetra. There is a major festival here, the Tribeni Mela, during the Nepali month of Magh (Jan/Feb). While at Galeswar Ashram we got to know one of the Guru’s disciples. After getting permission from his Guru one of Swami Atmananda’s disciples showed us some famous nearby caves. High up in the cliffs overlooking the Narayani River were two caves that we were shown. One was where Sri Vashishta used to meditate, and the other was a cave where according to ancient mythology a piece of Sati fell and enshrined now is a statue of Devi.

More Devghat Information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devghat

Rishi Valmiki Statue ~ in a cave near Devghat

Devi ~ in a cave at Devghat

Saying goodbye to friends at Bhadreswar Ashram at Devghat.

A medical college was being constructed on the adjoining property to the ashram, and the two young men on the right were medical students

On the second last day of the Devghat visit, I had almost given up hope of seeing Yogi Naraharinath again, so after packing belongings and readying for the return to Kathmandu the next day I reluctantly went to sleep.

During the night of the 2^nd January I had a very clear and vivid dream (in colour) of a young Nepalese man, looking straight at me. Later that night at about midnight there was a disturbing knock at my hotel room door. To my total astonishment, when I opened the door it was the very same young Nepalese man that I clearly saw in my dream who’s name was Jaya Bista.

Jaya said that his Guru has sent him to locate me, and asked me to visit him tomorrow at his Jungle Ashram at Devghat.

Devghat ~ at the confluence of the Kali Gandaki and Trisuli Rivers

Mounamurti – emerging from a quick swim in the near freezing Narayani River

(between Devghat & Narayanghat)

As soon as the sun rose (2^nd January) I was quickly off to visit the revered Guru who had returned late in the night. He was preparing to go to a large Mela (spiritual gathering) later in the month, and showed us great hospitality.

Yogi Naraharinatha told us about the humanitarian, charitable remote area development organisation that he had founded in Nepal called “Remote Area Development Nepal”. Then he made us the secretaries of the Australian Branch of the Remote Area Development Nepal. Soon photos and the sealed certificates (photo below) were completed to formalise the association.

Through our translator Yogi Naraharinatha then told me to acquire a number of spiritual books that he was translating, from the Goraknath Mandir at Gorakpur India.

I was then asked by one of his disciples if I wanted to take diksha/ initiation by the Guru into the lineage, but I was not keen on the ritual where a large part of the ear cartlidge, above the ear lobe is cut out and pierced for the huge earring. I was promised this would not happen to me, but I was unconvinced.

Sadly I missed a great opportunity to learn directly from the great Guru the Nath tradition, however I did receive initiation into a Shakti Bija Mantra from one of Yogi Naraharinatha’s disciples, who throughout our brief stay was the most hospitable person imaginable.

Out side the entrance to the Goraknath Akhara ~ Kathmandu

Later that day we said goodbye to my new found friends, but promised to visit Yogi Naraharinatha one last time in Kathmandu in a couple of weeks before leaving Nepal for home. On the last day visiting Yogi Haraharinatha in Kathmandu at the Goraknath Akhara, he gave me personal invitations to the Yoga Mela he was organising later in the month, just incase I could make it. I told Yogi Naraharinatha that my Sannyas Guru, Swami Niranjan was also visiting Kathmandu from India, and he gave me an invitation for Swami Niranjan as well. Sadly Swamiji had already departed back to India and my flight out of Nepal was before the Mela started.

Invitations pasted below to show authenticity.

Yogi Naraharinatha entered Maha Samadhi at the age of ninety two on 26^th Feb 2003.

I still can not believe how vibrant he looked, when I met him in Dec 97/Jan98 at the age of eighty seven years. Click below for his condolences http://satyamyoga.com/Yogi%20Hariharanatha%20condolences.htm

NP016.04

Full Resolution Version

Country / Post	Nepal
Date of Issue	3 November 2004
Primary theme	History
Subject	Yogi Narahari Nath
Width	34.0 mm
Height	30.0 mm
Denomination	5.00 NPR
Number in set	1
Layout/Format	sheet of 50
Perforations	14 by 14
Stamp issuing authority	His Majesty's Government of Nepal Postal Services Department
Printer	Austrian Government Printing Office
	Contact the issuing stamp authority

In 2004, Saint Yogi Narahari Nath was nationally honoured throughout Nepal with the issuing of the above tribute. He will be sadly missed, by all who’s lives he touched.

On the 6th January caught up with my Sadhu friends near the Pashupatinath Temple area, one of the Yogis a well-known Tantric Guru, known as “Puna Giri” who is sometimes called Bharati Baba http://satyamyoga.com/Photo%20Gallery.htm asked me to stay on with him (fourty days, time enough to awaken my third eye Ajna Chakra the exact words he said) for some time, and learn what he had to offer. Reluctantly I had to refuse, promising to look him up on my next visit.

That day I also met a austere Vaishnavite Sadhu named Mouna Baba, who had been practicing mouna for the past 13 years after undertaking a vow of silence for 24 years. He understood my gestures and broken Sanskrit when I asked him if he had gained much peace or bliss and “Anugraha throughout his austere sadhana,” and he gave me a blessing whilst gesturing much ANUGRAHA divine grace was indwelling.

Another Guru and Yogi that I met was Swami Paramahamsa Ram Krishna Das (Dood Dahari Baba or affectionately known as “Milk Baba) http://milkbaba.com & http://www.magicmouse.com/milkbaba/ (nice biographical info) from the Ram Mandir at Pashupatinath Temple. He had walked to Mount Kailash on pilgrimages and back to Kathmandu six times (no easy feat) on pilgrimages, and has reportedly lived only on milk for the last thirty years.

On the 7^th January we caught the bus ride of a life time which was a crowed 8 hour journey (only114 Klms) from Kathmandu to the Tibetan border village of Kodari. The bus climbed endless mountains (Doulikel has an awesome view of he Himalayas) around what I thought many were scary hairpin corners with thousands of feet drop offs right next to the bus. As we got further along the ride the scenery got more breathtaking, beautiful mountains Himalayan vistas, raging rivers and rapids, wandering mendicants and huge magnificent waterfalls. We were the only foreigners in the crowded bus and were happy when another foreigner boarded the bus at Jiri. Peter an Austrian hiker who was hiking alone near the Mount Everest base camp, said the snow was (Winter in Nepal) was too deep that’s why he had to turn back and head to Jiri. The views around Kodari are WOW.

On the 8^th January we walked (amazing views) downstream to Tatopani (Hot springs) through a few villages along the way. At Tatopani there were lots of locals and Nepalese tourists enjoying the natural hot water shower, so I decided to go for a swim in the freezing water that was cascading nearby that was coming upstream from the higher Himalayan Glaciers in Tibet. After finding an isolated spot, I stripped off (handing my clothes to Mantrabindu) and had a brief swim in the river that was flowing from the Holy land of Tibet through the border gorges between Tibet and Nepal.

We met up with two travelling Aussie Satyananda Yoga teachers at Kodari, Poornam and Gurubhakti and snapped some happy photos. Earlier in Kathmandu, I had introduced Gurubhakti to some of my new Sadhu friends around the Goraknath Akhara, and the Pashupatinath Temple area.

On the 9^th January (after having an amazing dream about Shiva) we returned by bus (the hell ride) from Kodari to Kathmandu. We sat in the back row in the bus which was packed to the ceiling with people and animals, goats, chickens it was amazing. We went through some military checkpoints where soldiers borded the bus and checked out passports. It was good to safely get back to Kathmandu as the bus ride in some parts was heeps scary. On one occasions the bus came to a stop on a narrow road that hugged the side of a huge cliff and all of the passengers exited the bus except us and the driver. I guess nobody could speak English, but when the bus kept moving along the narrow pass I looked out of the window, we were hanging out over the side of the cliff with the bottom thousands of feet below. When we had passed the most dangerous spot the bus came to a halt and everyone again bordered the bus. Phew…. I was happy to survive that one..

On the 12^th January with Jaya, our Nepalese friend from the Goraknath Akhara we went on a big hike around Kathmandu from Pashupatinath to Boudanath then to another Buddhist Monestary on a hill overlooking Mount Shiva Puri then walked through some Tibetan villages.

It was during this walk, that Jaya (with the blessing of his guru) asked me if I wished to stay in Nepal to help him and his Guru with their spiritual work. Jaya said that I could stay for 10 years and the Goraknath Akhara would build me a house, and that I was truly welcome to stay as their guest. I felt extremely honoured by this gesture and offer, but I had to sadly refuse on the basis that Mantrabindu and my three young children back home in Australia would not understand.

We were pretty tired then got an Auto Rickshaw bach to Thamel in Kathmandu where we ran into another couple of Aussies Swami Amarananda & Shambhu who we had travelled with in India to Rikhia and also who we met up with in Pokhara.

Next day 13^th we sadly left the beautiful Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, flying back to Calcutta. After the past two months in India and Nepal, I now felt a different person having experience so much.

Milk Baba ~ Ram Mandir Jan 1998

Milk Baba, a Vaishnav ascetic also gave me Mantra Diksha / initiation in the traditional way in his small kutir “Ram Mandir” which is on the banks of the Bhagavati River opposite the Arya Ghat (cremation grounds) and the sacred Shiva temple of Pashupatinath.

Mounamurti talking to Tantric & Aghori Yogis, Kathmandu Jan 1998

Jata Baba ~ Goraknath Akhara

Mouna Baba ~ near Pashupatinath Temple

Many dedicated Yogis, Mendicants live temporarily around the temple grounds, many wander off back to India and then again travel back each year. The beautiful views of the Himalayas, from around the Pokhara area are timelessly etched into my mind, and a photo of this area now appears on my main contents page > http://satyamyoga.com/new%20contents.htm < it was absolutely inspiringly and breathtaking. The month spent in Nepal was timeless, and seeing the beautiful country and meeting so many Sadhus, Yogis and a few special Gurus left a deep imprint in my mind.

20^th January, we finally arrived back in Sydney.

Australia

On returning to Australia I was feeling full of renunciation and was fully ready to participate in a one year Sannyas Training Course, that was soon (28^th February) to be held at Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain NSW Australia. However, my ideas of Sannyas (which were deep in my mind for the past 33 months since my Poorna Sannyasa initiation) which included renuouncing everything & living in the ashram of my guru did not convince me of the need to leave society. So I decided to stay in the South Coast NSW region where I was living and open a much needed yoga centre and see what happens. After I completed a small business management course, Satyam Yoga Centre was born July1, 1998.

This morning after deep contemplation about the above paragraph (19.11.08), I had a dream and inner experience which validates my decision above, that the right decision was made. During the brief experience just before waking up, I clearly heard the voice of my ancestors say to me “ Cut ties, No way, Neti, Neti “ There was also some other dialogue in Hindi or Sanskrit which I could not understand, but I clearly understood the famous phrase from the Upanishads “Neti Neti” which means “not this, not this”.

It was tough going starting to teach yoga full time from scratch. We (myself, and my dedicated assistant Sannyasi Mantrabindu - who is now my wife) began teaching yoga classes out of our rented beach house, and rented venues throughout the Shoalhaven region of the south coast of NSW. With $0 dollars in the bank in order to get the message out we had to resort to hand delivering brochures into letterboxes, and we walked for about 4-5 hours per day delivering brochures for months.

In all we visited about 75,000 letterboxes all over the shire including the following towns, Culburra Beach, Orient Point, Currarong, Callala Bay, Callala Beach, Myola, Greenwell Point, Terara, Nowra, Bomaderry, North Nowra, Cambawarra, Berry, Shoalhaven Heads, Huskisson, Vincentia. Classes slowly built up from this, but after about one year, I wanted to learn more about anatomy and physiology, so both Mantrabindu and I enrolled in a two year full time Diploma of Health Science course near Wollongong (about a 1 hour drive north).

Around this time I decided we needed a website to get the message out to our students, and to the broader Yogic community. Assistance was offered by my good friend Octavian Sarbatoare (Atmabhakta) (whom I met at Mangrove Mountain Yoga Ashram in 1994) who showed me some basic webpage editing procedures, and then I was on my own. This was really early days on the net in 1998.

Bihar School of Yoga in India, and the Satyananda Ashram in Australia (both) did not have websites at this stage, so we both started creating web pages trying to promote what we loved. Atmabhakta who has an in-depth knowledge in the classical Yogic and Tantric philosophies and was an adept in Sanskrit, churned out miles of web pages whilst I focused on Yoga Sadhana articles and teaching the Satyananda Yoga that I knew. Between the two of us we must have had three hundred yogic web pages in cyberspace within 12-18 months.

In 1999 Mantrabindu resigned from her good local government job so that we could both undertake the learning curve together. We left the hard work we had put into the Shoalhaven Region, to move north to Wollongong so we could complete our studies. In 2000 we started teaching in Wollongong under another business name “Alpha Health Science Services” which we thought was a good idea as it reflected a scientific tilt on Yoga that we both could now deliver competently. This strategy worked, and we progressed in gaining credibility in certain areas of society.

Around this time the official Satyananda Yoga / Bihar Yoga websites got off the ground, so we slowed down to see what the official message would be. Throughout this time Atmabhakta created and hosted a website known as the “Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati Virtual Spiritual Centre”. He poured a lot of creative energy into this project and then handed it over to me to look after, which I did until the official BSY website http://yogavision.net was well established. I then removed the site form cyberspace and focused on the Satyam Yoga Centre website which was gaining popularity internationally.

Mantrabindu finished her degree in Health Science in April 2003 whilst we were running our own yoga studio (in a 100 square metre leased commercial office space) in Wollongong. As 2003 drew to a close, I became very disillusioned about having to portray Yoga in a scientific light to maintain financial viability and decided to close our Yoga studio.

I vowed then to keep the Satyam Yoga Website alive forever, and dedicate it to the preservation of Classical Yoga.

Throughout the past ten years that the Satyam Yoga Centre Website has been in existence, I have had valued feedback from around the globe from many spiritually minded persons. Additionally there have been thanks of support and inspiring guidance (some written, some verbal, as well as some inner) from a few gurubhai’s (which have been warmly appreciated) who are very important to me (Gurubhai’s - Yogic brothers and sisters who are initiates of my Guru).

IN APPRECIATION

I would like to pledge my continual support and the full resources of the “Satyam Yoga Centre’s Website” to the following Gurubhai’s missions of seva, whom I now mention.

Swami Anandakapila Saraswati

Swami Ajnananda Saraswati

Swami Janakananda Saraswati

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Swami Satyadharma Saraswati

Swami Mounamurti Saraswati

Satyam Yoga Centre

http://satyamyoga.com

last updated 19^th November, 2008