YREC's Yoga News 2003 (Part 1)

Winner of the 2003 Essay Contest "Yoga and World Peace"
YREC's essay contest closed on June 30. The winner was Megan McDonough, who is teaching Yoga to business people. Click here to read her essay. We will also bring the essays of runners-up in due course. Participation in this year's contest has been encouraging. Alas, like most other nonprofit organizations, YREC has suffered from a lack of donations since 9/11. We will, therefore, not be able to hold the contest in 2004, unless additional funds can be secured.

The Holy Businessman/Busy Holy Man
Christian Fabre, a French business tycoon resident in South India, is otherwise known as Swami Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadhuta. He started out with four sewing machines in the 1970s and today orchestrates 35 factories with over 60,000 employees. His guru granted him initiation into the swami order on the condition, Fabre would maintain his business.

YREC's Distance Learning Program in Full Swing
SCROLLWe are accepting new students throughout the year. Only those seeking credits from Sonoma State University for our course must start at the beginning of each year. For more information about our distance learning program, click here.

The Vatican on Yoga and New Age Thought
On February 3, 2003, the Vatican released a 90-page booklet entitled A Christian Reflection on the "New Age." In the making for six years, this document is primarily designed to offer guidance to bishops, who have been puzzling over the New Age movement and alternative spiritual practices. The tone of the treatment is surprisingly conciliatory and allows Christians to engage in Eastern practices like Yoga, though not of course as a spiritual discipline. This latest pronouncement of the Papal See is a positive step by comparison with a 23-page booklet published by the Vatican in 1989, which warned Christians about yogic meditation and other meditation systems.

Ramakrishna Universal Temple
The Vivekananda Vedanta Society, Chicago, recently purchased 15 acres to build the first Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple in North America. The purchase was made possible by a unanimous vote of the Village Council of Homer Glen in favor of annexing the land from an unincorporated area of Will County. The village's official philosophy is "Community and Nature in Harmony," which fits well the new temple's spiritual orientation. Construction will begin in May 2004, and the total cost is expected to be c. $6.5 million. The Society hopes to complete the project for its 75th anniversary in December 2005. Donations are needed.

New Book by Georg Feuerstein
Watch out for The Deeper Dimension of Yoga, a volume containing 78 essays on various aspects of Yoga. This 432-page book authored by Georg Feuerstein and published by Shambhala is now available in bookstores. You can also order it from Amazon.com at a 30-percent discount.

 

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