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YREC's Yoga News 2003 (Part 2)
Scientist
Achieves Near-Invisibility
As reported by Ananova on February 5, 2003,
Professor Susumu Tachi at Tokyo University has invented a system of optical
camouflage that mimicks invisibility. It is hoped that this new photographic
technology will prove useful to surgeons, but of course we can envision
all kinds of other—not so benign—applications as well. The ability
to become invisible has long been counted among the great paranormal feats
of yogins, and, for instance, is mentioned in the Yoga-Sûtra
(3.21) of Patanjali.
Yoga at Zaca Lake
 Toward
the end of June 2003, Max Strom and Georg
Feuerstein conducted a successful four-day seminar at magical Zaca
Lake near Santa Barbara, a sacred refuge of the Chumash tribe. Max and
Georg's respective expertise afforded 40 eager students a valuable experience
in integrating yogic postures with the spiritual side of Yoga. There clearly
is a need and a demand for more integrative programs of this kind.
Deepak Chopra Wants to Create
a Human Shield in Iraq
According to Gomemphis.com, health-and-meditation guru
Deepak Chopra proposed that he, the Pope, and the Dalai Lama should be
part of a human shield in Iraq to avoid the now seemingly inevitable humanitarian
disaster. Donald Rumsfeld, America's defense secretary, feels quite differently;
he threatened to treat those serving as human shields in Iraq as war criminals.
Accreditation for YREC!
 Sonoma
State University approved YREC's distance learning course for its educational
extension program. Students may now qualify for academic credits and CEUs.
This is a wonderful first step toward full accreditation as a degree-granting
institution.
Solar Energy for Food
On February 14, 2003, Heera Ratan Manek from Ahmedabad completed
a 411-day fast on boiled water alone. He claims to be fed by the Sun,
and, according to the physicians supervising his fast, seems to be in
good health. Mr. Manek is a lay practitioner of Jainism and a mechanical
engineer aged 64.
A Billion Mantras for the Goddess
 Starting
on 16 April and ending on 27 May, 2003 (41 days), Swami Sathyananda Saraswathy
of Sree Rama Dasa Ashram in Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala, will conduct a forty-one-day
worship of Goddess Lâlitâ across India in order to bring peace
and well-being to the world. More than 10,000 priests, 5,000 assistants,
3,000 volunteers, and 300,000 reciters (from the public) are expected
to participate. The ceremony, which is called sahasra-nâma-arcanâ,
will involve reciting the 1,000 names of the deity one million times,
making a total of one billion mantras.
India is Honoring Its Past
On February 4, 2003, the Indian Ministry of Tourism and Culture
at long last announced a plan to excavate the lost cities on the banks
of the former Sarasvati River. Aerial photography has revealed several
thousand settlements under the sand dunes of the vast Thar Desert. Another
prominent archaeological target is Kurukshetra where the infamous Bharata
war was fought probably 3,500 years ago. (Indian tradition places the
war even farther back at 3,102 B.C.)
Was Einstein Right Once Again?
Recently Edward Fomalont and his colleagues of the National
Radio Astronomical Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia, measured
the speed of gravity waves and confirmed Einstein's prediction: they travel
at the speed of light. Curiously, these astronomers readily admitted that
their margin of error is no less than 20 percent! So, really, Einstein
could have been wrong after all.
 Annual
Award of $1008 for the Best Essay on Yoga
In January 2003, YREC will offer an award in the amount of
$1008 for the best essay on Yoga. The purpose of this competition
is to encourage Yoga practitioners to study the extraordinary spiritual
heritage of Yoga more deeply. YREC has put together a panel of published
writers on Yoga to judge the entries. The panelists are Stephen
Cope (Yoga and the Quest for the True Self), Georg
Feuerstein (The Yoga Tradition), Suza
Francina (The New Yoga for People Over 50), Gary
Kraftsow (Yoga for Transformation), Judith
Lasater (Living Your Yoga), Leza
Lowitz (Yoga Poems), Richard Rosen (The
Yoga of Breath), Erich
Schiffmann (Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness),
and Deborah Willoughby (editor of Yoga International). There
will be no competition in 2004!
 Tamil
Nadu's Population Hails From Africa
According to a newsrelease in a recent issue of Hindustan Times,
research conducted by geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells (see photo) with
the help of immunologist Prof. R. M. Pitchappan (Madurai Kamaraj University)
has led to a surprising discovery: The population of the Madurai/Usilampatti
areas in Tamil Nadu descends directly from settlers who came out of Africa
some 60,000 years ago. Apparently the migrants traveled from Africa to
the Middle East, on to Kutch in northwestern India and then to South India's
eastern coastline. From there the migrations went on to Australia. Tamilians
and Australians have long considered themselves original inhabitants of
their respective lands. This finding will undoubtedly lend fuel to the
scholarly debate on Dravidians vs. Aryans and, sadly, no doubt also to
ethnocentric politics.
A New Yoga Magazine
 In
January 2003, a new publication called Yoga Magazine is being launched
in the United Kingdom, with an expected circulation of 50,000 readers.
It will compete with Yoga and Health, which so far has been the
only British-based Yoga magazine. For more details visit www.yogamagazine.co.uk
Quantum Ether—The Rebirth of a Yogic Concept
A vacuum by definition is empty, right? Not so, say some quantum
physicists. Increasingly it looks like empty space is actually more like
a liquid that behaves rather oddly. Scientists have already begun to speculate
that this quantum ether might allow them to create a worm hole, which
would tunnel through space-time and thus, at least in theory, make instant
space travel possible. For students of Yoga, this quantum ether looks
very much like the old-fashioned akasha. For an overview on this
fascinating topic, see the article by Paul Davies at newscientist.com.
FOUND: The Lost Teachings of Yoga
 Sounds
True just released Georg Feuerstein's
6 audiotapes/2 CDs on The Lost Teachings of Yoga by Georg
Feuerstein, as well as a two-tape/CD abridgment. The lost teachings of
Yoga are all those wonderful teachings that Western practitioners tend
to ignore but that embody Yoga's incredible transformative power.
 Yoga
Gems
Georg Feuerstein's book, Yoga Gems,
has just been released by Bantam. It is an anthology of inspiring
quotes from the writings of modern Yoga masters, East and West. Yoga
Journal has called this "an unusually valuable compendium of
yogic wisdom." This handy volume contains inspiring quotes on the
process of inner growth, the value of silence, how to meditate, universal
kinship, dealing with grief, loss, anger, and jealousy, developing self-discipline,
and bringing out the good in all you say and do. This beautifully designed
paperback has 256 pages and costs $12.95. Amazon.com
offers it at the discounted price of $9.48. A calendar based on the book
has been released by Andrews McMeel.
 Chagdud
Rinpoche Has Passed Away
The hearts of Nyingma practitioners around the world are filled with
sorrow at the passing of Chagdud
Tulku Rinpoche, the spiritual head of Chagdud Gonpa (founded in 1131
A.D.) and founder of the Chagdud
Gonpa Foundation and the Mahakaruna
Foundation. This great meditation master, healer, physician, and artist
left his body on November 16, 2002. He was one of the respected elders
of the expatriate Tibetan community, who still received his training in
Tibet. His son Jigme
Rinpoche is succeeding him.
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