Série de entrevistas do yogui indiano Uma Sankar, ao canal de televisão chinês Supreme Master Television. Legendado em múltiplas línguas, incluindo o português.
Sun Yogi Uma Shankar: Messages from Mahavatar Babaji
Uma Sankar e a Yoga do Sol: Mensagens de Mahavar Babaji
Parte 01
Parte 02
Parte 03
Parte 04
Parte 05
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Discovery of Sun Yoga India™
Written in November 2000
Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ was born into a Hindu family in West Bengal, near Calcutta in India in 1967. Living next to an ashram throughout his childhood, he developed an early interest in Yoga and spirituality. By the age of eighteen, having spent a large proportion of his life practicing Yoga, he made the decision to dedicate part of his life to walking through every state of India spreading the message of ‘Universal Unity, Peace and Brotherhood’. Although his spiritual training is from a Hindu background, Sunyogi’s message has always been directed at people of all religions. His ideas are based on a religion of humanity that makes no distinction between colour, race or religion, which pave a path for all mankind with a common goal that is unity, peace and brotherhood.
Sunyogi’s journey through India did not start until 1997. For two years prior to his journey, he stayed in Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry practicing Yoga and making many important discoveries. The most important of his discoveries was Sun Yoga India ™. Very little is known about Sun Yoga India ™, and though it is mentioned in some of the ancient Indian scriptures, but at the time of Sunyogi’s discovery, only one other person (Hira Ratan Manek in Gujarat) was known to be practicing it in the modern world. Now, five years later, there are many people throughout India practicing Sun Yoga India ™, taught by Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ during his travels.
Pondicherry is on the coast of south east India, looking over the Bay of Bengal. During his time at the ashram, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ spent every morning meditating on a rock looking out at the sun’s reflection off the sea. His daily meditation upon the reflected sunlight gave him great pleasure, but at this time he did not consider it to be a form of Yoga. As he continued though, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ became aware that, through this method of meditation, he was somehow able to absorb powerful energies from the sun’s rays. Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ began to experiment by looking directly at the sun – initially as it was rising, then day by day he began to concentrate on it as it rose higher into the sky. He continued his meditation and after a couple of months the sun started to appear as a “clear hazy ring with soft blue sky inside”. The harsh brightness disappeared and he felt it become increasingly soothing. As time went on, he started to see “seven bright colours radiating from the sun, slowly reaching closer to the ground”. Three months after starting his concentration on the sun, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ felt these rays – the sun’s cosmic energy – touch his body, creating within him an indescribable feeling of peace and calm.
Shortly after this experience, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ returned to the ashram to eat his usual food, but he found that he was unable to digest his simple plate of chapattis (round Indian flour bread). His body rejected the food, yet he felt that he was fully nourished, and that perhaps he had found a way of absorbing the sun’s energy directly into his body. So as an experiment, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ stopped eating breakfast and continued concentrating on the sun. Six months later, he stopped eating his dinner, and then six months after that he stopped eating all food. From the 17th August until the 7th December 1996, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ stopped eating and sleeping altogether. His body weight remained the same and he continued his daily routine working in the ashram in a perfect state of health. Shortly after this period of his life, he began his journey through India teaching his discoveries to people he met along the way. During his travels, he became a source of great interest to a number of scientific and medical research centres where he had his claims tested, examined and verified, at least up to the level of sophistication that modern scientific instruments are capable of reaching.
I have met Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ 31,000 km after he started walking barefoot through India. I have now witnessed him living with no food, water or sleep, spending part of each day staring at the sun as if it was as soft as the moon. On a number of occasions I have watched him enter Samadhi (the ultimate state of liberation attained through Yoga) during meditation, and I have felt him stop his pulse through sheer concentration. He does not seem to feel the cold – he sometimes sits bare-chested at night when I am feeling cold wearing thick woolly clothes and wrapped in a blanket. His personality is patient, gentle and calm and his attitude towards others is like that of a close friend or a brother. He is always true to his philosophies and all his claims, and I believe they are 100% true.
Updated March 2004
Three and a half years later, having completed his 62,000km barefoot journey through every state of India, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ and I have met again to add a few sections to the website.
In addition to the original website, written in 2000, we have added three sections on practical meditation techniques, photograph meditation, eye-to-eye meditation and Sun Meditation India ™. These can give some guidance, but if you are genuinely interested to learn more about Sun Yoga India ™, then it is best for you to meet Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ at one of the conferences he organises in India.
Updated May 2009
Another five years on and Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ and I meet again. Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ has recently completed a two-year retreat (Gnatavasan), spending much of this time in an isolated ashram at an altitude of 4700m near the source of the Ganges, high in the Himalayas.
Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ has come down from his retreat with fresh ideas, humbled and inspired by his life and experiences in the Himalayas.
During his retreat Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ made the decision to start eating food again. Quoting from the Bhagvad Gita, Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ tells me ‘a true yogi neither eats too much or too little, nor sleeps too much or too little’, and that he has decided to take the middle path, as too many people have only been interested in his ability to live without food and drink, and this has detracted from the true goal of self-realisation, both for him and for his students. Living without food, he explains, is a ‘siddhi’, or power that is achieved on the path to realising this goal, but not the ultimate goal.
The purpose of one’s spiritual journey, explains Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™, is Peace, achieved through the union of individual and universal consciousness. Fixing one’s attention on siddhis, such as deriving one’s energy from the sun, can block progress towards achieving this goal. Despite this, however, he acknowledges the importance of this particular siddhi, especially at a time of increasing concern over global food supplies and resources, and would still be interested to offer himself for serious scientific research if the opportunity arises.
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Basic Principles for Meditation and Sun Yoga India™
Before starting to practice Sun Yoga India ™, it is very important to follow certain principles in order to purify your mind, and to develop your power of concentration through regular practice of meditation. These principles can be explained through the first three steps of the eight steps of Yoga, which are Yama, Nyama and Asana.
Uma Sankar Sunyogi ™ explains Yama, as the foundation of Yoga, the primary stage at which the beginner makes his or her life plan, that is, Who am I? What do I want and why do I want it? What is the purpose of life? What is the relation between what I want and what I am doing now? It is the stage at which one turns inward to question the purpose, to make a plan and start preparing to carry it out. It is the stage at which the sadhak (someone who follows a particular way of life designed to realize the goal of one’s ultimate ideal) begins to surrender to a higher ideal, to listen to one’s heart and decide what one wants.
Once a plan or the seed of a plan has been put together, the sadhak must stick to it. His or her will power should be like – I will do it, I must do it, even if I die I will do it. The path of Yoga is never without challenges, so one must have confidence and persevere. The time it takes to achieve the goal depends on the sadhak’s will power.
The second step, Nyama, is the actual implementation of the plan. The two basic principles of Nyama are discipline and punctuality. At this stage, the sadhak knows what he wants, and why he wants it. The challenge now is to carry out the plan, and not to be distracted by challenges along the way and not to waste valuable time. The stronger the foundation i.e. the plan made in the primary stage, Yama, the easier it is to carry out the second step, Nyama.
The third basic step is Asana, the most important principle of which is to develop a correct posture and attitude. The most important aspect of Asana is to keep one’s spine straight and relaxed. In this way, the divine force can move freely through the main energy channels that run from the top to the base of the spine. At this stage the sadhak can start his or her practice of meditation. There are three sitting postures that are most effective for meditation which are, Padmasana, Sidhyasana and Gomukasana.
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Meditations
Photograph Meditation
To practice photograph meditation, first you need a photograph of your own face with open eyes, not smaller than 12 cm x 10 cm. The photograph should be placed in front of you at the same height as your eyes, approximately 3 to 6 feet away, so that you can focus clearly on your open eyes in the photograph.
Sitting in a comfortable posture, preferably in Padmasana, Sidhyasana or Gomukasana, making sure that your spine is straight and relaxed, start looking at your two eyes in the photograph. Keep your eyes open and try not to blink, and focus all your attention on the two eyes, and begin to calm your mind. Remain staring at the photograph, and do not shift your position. You should try to sit for a minimum of half an hour.
Once your concentration is fixed on two eyes, shift your focus to a single eye. Concentrating on one eye, continue calming the mind and observe the feelings that may arise in your body. The more calm your mind, the deeper you can go into the experience. At the beginning stage, it is likely that many thoughts will enter your mind, disturbing your concentration. Do not worry, just bring your attention back to the photograph, and allow your mind to relax and settle. Gradually the thought process will slow down and you will sink deeper into the meditation.
When your concentration is fixed on one eye, then narrow your focus onto just the pupil. Continue the process. Once you have reached a certain level of concentration, you will see a point of bright light on the pupil. This light is a signal that you have achieved a high level of mind control, and that you have reached the start of the fourth stage, which is Pranayama.
Once the sadhak has reached this level, he or she will be able to safely practice Pranayama breathing exercises (before reaching this stage, certain Pranayama breathing exercises can be harmful). These breathing exercises will take place of their own accord with little effort from the sadhak, and will ultimately lead towards Samadhi, which is the final stage of yoga at which point the soul will unite with the supreme soul.
Having discovered and fixed one’s attention on the bright light on the pupil, the sadhak has completed the photograph meditation stage and is ready to move on to Sun Yoga India ™.
Eye-to-Eye Meditation
Eye to eye meditation is practiced in exactly the same way as photograph meditation (as described above), except that instead of looking at your own photograph, you sit opposite a partner and look into his or her yes.
This can be very useful when there is no photograph available, or if you are organising a mass meditation. The principles are exactly the same as in photograph meditation i.e. focusing on both eyes, then on a single eye, then on just the pupil. Through this technique you can also discover the bright point of light that signifies the start of the Pranayama stage, as described in the photograph meditation above .
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About the Ashram "Universal Peace Centre "
The Ashram is called the Universal Peace Centre ™.
Where is the Ashram?
The Universal Peace Centre ™ is located in Lachhipur village, which is 140 km West from Kolkata in West Bengal, India. The Ashram is currently under construction and due to its limited accommodation capacity, it is necessary to contact the Ashram office to check if there are enough free rooms when you come to visit. We kindly ask you to read Ashram rules at the bottom of the page too. Thank you!
Site: SunYoga.info
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