Swamiji in Ukraine – International weekend-workshop 2013
Friday, 13 September 2013
Swamiji has arrived to the capital city of Ukraine, Kiev, in the early afternoon and was welcomed according to the Ukrainian tradition with bread and salt. Ukrainian bhaktas from Kiev and Cherkassy warmly greeted Swamiji and some were even dressed in national costumes. Straight from the Kiev airport Swamiji drove 3 hours to the city of Cherkassy to the north-east from Kiev. In Cherkassy, where the majority of Swamiji Ukrainian disciples reside, the weekend program started with the lecture at the Youth Palace in the downtown Cherkassy. The hall was absolutely full. Swamiji gave beautiful lecture on Bhakti Yoga. After the lecture he had a brief meeting with the Ukranian organizers.
Saturday, 14 September
Weekend seminar in Cherkassy is held at the sanatorium "Ukraine", which is located just outside of the city in a very nice park zone full of pine trees. The atmosphere is very peaceful and the air is fresh and thick. In the morning Swamiji went to see possible place for the Cherkassy Yoga In Daily Life society's ashram. Cherkassy members of YIDL are longing for ashram, where all the people could come for classes and satsangs. The morning program of the seminar consists of prayer, meditation, followed by asanas and pranayamas. Then comes the lecture. Swamiji in his morning lecture stressed the importance of yoga asanas, pranayamas and meditation for balancing and maintaining the health. He was talking about the latest research at some big American medical centers and universities on benefits of yoga for body and mind. At the end of the lecture Swamiji led the asanas and Khatu Pranam.
The evening satsang started with prayer. Then Swamiji answered some
questions and talked about antakaranas. The bottom line for us became
Swamiji's words repeated by him several times this day:
- "The best medicine for the human is a human."
Sunday, 15 September 2013
The last day of the seminar in Cherkassy was full of events and nice surprises. Morning lecture with Swamiji about relations with our dear ones was very inspiring and emotional. Many people shed some tears during the lecture.
After the lecture it was a Mantra diksha ceremony and 12 people became disciples.
In the evening it was a traditional yoga "kasha" - buckwheat porridge that is a very popular dish in Ukraine. Cherkassy Yoga In Daily Life society has made it a seminar tradition to cook kasha on open fire before closing satsang and the satsang itself is around a big fire. The kasha was delicious and disappeared in a few minutes. Swamiji was sitting on a stage, which was decorated with OM symbol made of burning candles. He gave the instructions to yoga teachers in Ukraine on how the classes should be properly conducted.
Then we had beautiful time with our beloved Gurudev sitting around huge fire. People made circles around the fire singing badjans, mantras and Ukrainian folk songs. Swamiji spoke about fire and other tattvas and then we had beautiful meditation on fire. We tried to convey the messages the fire was sending us. It was magical.