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Inspiration

Ganapathi Vidya Homa: Why Obstacles Are the Path

SA
Sivananda Ashram Bahamas
Nov 10, 2026
8 min de lecture

Source : Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas

À regarder · 7

Before dawn on Paradise Island, a group of yoga students and staff stands in a circle around a sacred fire, chanting in a language most of them only partly know, while a Nambudri priest feeds ghee into the flames. The ceremony is the Ganapathi Vidya Homa, a fire ritual that invokes Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, and the goddess Saraswati, the power of illuminating knowledge. It is performed at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas, on a morning the community marked as the anniversary of the mahasamadhi of Swami Vishnudevananda. The video of that morning runs just over an hour. Most of it is chanting, silence and the rhythm of offerings. But in the opening stretch the speaker stops the ritual to explain why the ceremony exists at all, and that explanation holds a idea worth taking seriously: on the spiritual path, obstacles are not a detour from the work. They are the work.

Lecture · 8 sections

What is a homa, and why is a fire ritual part of a yoga retreat?

A homa is an offering into fire, and the teacher in the video frames this one as a very old form of worship. The priest, Krishna Nambudri, comes from Kerala in South India, and the speaker describes his lineage as a blend of two traditions: the Vedic way of worship, where fire ritual originates, and the tantric way, where yantras, mantras and other instruments enter the practice. The fire is the divinity made visible. Participants offer ghee into it, and the speaker says that as the fire burns, it burns away limitations.

That detail matters for how the ceremony is understood at the ashram. The teacher is careful to separate this from private devotion. The puja, she says, is about the individual, but the offering is made in a shared space, and the Vedic and tantric elements sit side by side. The fire is not decoration. It is a visible instruction in what the practice is for.

Is yoga a science, and what is the spiritual path actually walking toward?

The speaker opens with a claim that will sound strange to a modern reader. Yoga and Vedanta, as taught in this lineage, are a "divine science." They are not natural science, she says, but they are a science, and their subject is the liberation of the soul, or the removal of the suffering that all human beings experience.

Then comes the definition that organizes the rest of the talk. The spiritual path, around the twenty-first minute of the video, is described as an inner path. It is not measured in steps, like a walk from a dock to a reception desk. The movement from point A to point B is "the transformation of our own identity," moving from who we currently take ourselves to be toward a transformed sense of self. The work is done in the mind, on the limiting forces that keep us from seeing clearly.

The speaker also explains a word that comes up often in Indian spiritual teaching. Those limiting forces are called obstacles, and the yogis describe them as karmic. In everyday speech "karmic" can sound mystical or fatalistic. Here the speaker defines it plainly: it means powerful, carrying great momentum from the past. An obstacle is not a sign that something is wrong with you. It is a habit with a long history and a lot of force behind it.

Why would a spiritual path be full of difficulty?

This is the teaching the ceremony is built around, and the speaker treats it as counterintuitive. Many people assume that once they commit to a spiritual path, life should become smooth. The speaker says the opposite. To cultivate expansion, which she describes as the development of divine qualities, one has to overcome the limiting factors within. The yogis teach that you develop love by confronting its opposite, and purity by struggling with what is impure in you.

"The limitations reveal the limitless."

The teacher, in the video, around the twenty-third minute

The line is compressed, and the speaker admits it is hard to grasp at first. Her reasoning is practical. If everything around you is already pleasant, there is little friction for growth to push against. The speaker attributes to Swami Sivananda the idea that obstacles are blessings in disguise: they are forces that push us forward, even though they are unpleasant and nobody wants them. The attitude she recommends is not passivity. You should be active about obstacles, but handle them with wisdom, and she names prayer as the greatest of those forms of wisdom. You ask the divine for help overcoming them, and you refuse to be discouraged, because a difficulty is not proof that something has gone wrong. It is an opportunity to grow.

What are the four kinds of obstacles?

The speaker sorts obstacles into four categories, and the sorting is one of the more useful parts of the talk for anyone who has ever stalled on a practice and wondered why.

  • Physical obstacles: illness and bodily limits, the most visible kind.
  • Emotional obstacles: described as the main force through which resistance to the spiritual process arrives. The speaker says we all know this well.
  • Mental obstacles: summed up as "you don't know what you don't know." The mind is locked into its own assumptions, and that lock is itself the obstacle.
  • Spiritual obstacles: the most subtle. The speaker says we are usually not aware of them at all, yet they are the most powerful.

The list is not a ranking of what to fix first. It is a map of where resistance hides. Emotion is the most common doorway, but the deepest problem, by the speaker's account, is the one you cannot see. That is why the ritual asks for divine help rather than relying only on self-correction. The ceremony is a way of admitting that some obstacles are beyond the reach of the ego that is trying to overcome them.

What is titiksha, and why does it matter for practice?

The speaker names a specific capacity that makes the whole process workable: titiksha, the power of enduring difficulties. A yogi, she says, develops a proper attitude toward difficulties, and without that attitude, progress is not possible. This is the hinge of the teaching. Obstacles will keep arriving. Titiksha is the skill of meeting them without collapsing into self-blame or turning away. The speaker is not promising that difficulty will end. She is describing how a practitioner can keep going while it continues.

Who is Saraswati, and why invoke her next to Ganesha?

The ceremony pairs two divine figures. Ganesha is the power that removes obstacles. Saraswati is invoked as the illuminating power of knowledge. The speaker's explanation of Saraswati is one of the most philosophically dense passages in the transcript, and it deserves care.

In the yogic teaching, the divine mother has two aspects. The first is avidya maya, the power of ignorance through which creation manifests. The speaker calls this the creative power, and it is the aspect that produces the world of appearances. The second is vidya maya, the power that dissolves creation and reveals the self. Yogis worship the mother in this second aspect, as knowledge. So the worship of Saraswati, in this ritual, is the worship of the illuminating knowledge of the self. The same power that generates the world is the power that, understood rightly, lets you see past it.

The speaker's framing gives the pairing its logic. Ganesha clears the path; Saraswati lights it. Obstacles are removed and the path becomes visible, and the two are needed together. Clearing the road without light leaves you walking blind, and knowledge without the courage to meet resistance remains theory.

What does the fire actually do?

The speaker's final point in this stretch returns to the fire. She describes the flame as a visible form of the divine, and says it burns limitations. The ritual is not a transaction in which you buy relief with ghee. It is a symbolic act of surrender: you put something into the fire, and the fire transforms it. The obstacles you bring are the same kind the teacher has just described, and the offering enacts the belief that they can be burned down rather than endured forever.

Where to go from here

The video is an hour long, and the chanting in the transcript is largely rendered as fragments, so this article does not attempt to reproduce the mantras. What the opening teaching offers is a frame that anyone can use. Treat the spiritual path as an inner path, measured by transformation rather than distance. Expect that the limitations you meet are where the growth is. Learn to tell the four kinds of obstacle apart, paying special attention to the mental and spiritual ones that are hardest to see. Cultivate titiksha, the capacity to endure difficulty without giving up, and bring prayer and wisdom to the work. For a fuller understanding of the ritual itself, watch the full recording of the Ganapathi Vidya Homa, which includes the chanting, the offerings and the closing portion of the morning. For anyone interested in the wider teaching, the Sivananda Ashram's own materials on Vedanta and yoga, including its live online courses, are the natural next step.

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Transcript

[0:02] performing this.

[0:04] So we just began

[0:08] TTC and the ATC

[0:11] and the whole asham is about the yogic

[0:15] knowledge and teachings and practices.

[0:19] And as we will see the yogis explain

[0:22] that in addition to the aspect of the

[0:27] illuminating knowledge

[0:29] a fundamental primary part of the

[0:34] spiritual process is how to work with

[0:38] obstacles.

[0:40] So we are going to stand up. The priest

[0:43] is going to

[0:45] declare the salpa and then we are going

[0:48] to proceed.

[1:01] Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

[1:11] Foreign

[1:17] speech. Foreign foreign foreign speech.

[1:27] for

[1:58] Shri

[2:24] sadu.

[2:26] for

[2:37] shanti

[2:41] shi shi. Oh peace, peace, peace.

[2:52] Foreign

[2:54] speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

[3:23] Mama Ashrah

[3:26] Mur

[3:29] analy

[3:37] Guru Anuga

[3:49] Gabi

[3:50] home.

[4:10] Fore!

[4:32] Foreign! Foreign!

[4:36] Foreign

[4:45] speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

[4:56] forchech.

[5:25] forch.

[5:55] forch.

[6:05] [clears throat]

[6:35] Okay,

[6:39] [laughter]

[6:55] >> [clears throat]

[7:04] >> That van you can stop.

[7:21] Stop. Stop. Stop.

[7:28] Stop.

[7:37] There's a air coming here.

[7:51] for

[8:00] today.

[8:02] Oh,

[8:20] that's foration.

[9:20] Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

[9:30] Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

[9:41] Foreign

[9:49] speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

[10:09] for

[10:39] forch.

[11:18] Foreign

[11:31] speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

[11:40] Oh,ch.

[12:09] forchech.

[12:39] foreign

[13:09] Foreign

[13:14] speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

[13:24] foreign.

[13:54] foreign

[14:23] speech. Fore!

[14:34] Foreign! Foreign!

[14:54] forch.

[15:33] for

[15:58] my home.

[16:01] foreign.

[16:26] Foreign [clears throat]

[16:33] speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech.

[17:24] Oh.

[17:32] Oh.

[17:39] Oh.

[17:45] Om sah

[17:49] sah

[18:05] shanty

[18:07] shanty

[18:09] shanty.

[18:11] Oh peace, peace, peace.

[18:33] Omniv.

[18:37] [clears throat] So

[18:39] today is a

[18:42] very auspicious day. It is the day of

[18:46] the mahas samadi

[18:48] of Sami Vishnu de Vananda.

[18:52] And Sami Vishnu de Vananda

[18:56] dedicated his life for the peace of

[18:59] humanity in the yogic sense

[19:03] and

[19:05] uh

[19:06] we are going to have a celebration in

[19:10] the evening a special celebration and

[19:13] we're going to repeat special mantra

[19:16] during the day

[19:19] and we begin this uh special day with

[19:24] the Ghanaati Vidya

[19:28] which is the

[19:30] uh worship invocation

[19:34] of two aspects of the divinity

[19:39] which is Lord Ganesha or the divinity as

[19:44] the power which removes obstacles

[19:48] and the divine mother Sarasati which is

[19:50] divinity as the illuminating power of

[19:53] knowledge

[19:56] and [clears throat and cough]

[19:59] the

[20:01] we also have here in the altar the moti

[20:07] of the sudashana chakra and the

[20:11] narasima.

[20:13] So

[20:15] this asham is a yoga vanta asham.

[20:20] The what is being done in the asham is

[20:24] the study practice teaching of the yogic

[20:29] and vantic teachings

[20:33] as h come from the lineage of

[20:37] samishaandanda

[20:40] and this is a what we call a divine

[20:44] science which means it's a science it's

[20:47] not a natural science

[20:50] But it's a science. It's a divine

[20:52] science.

[20:54] And it's a science that has to do with

[20:57] the

[20:59] liberation of the soul or removing

[21:03] the natural suffering which all human

[21:06] beings experience.

[21:08] And the spiritual path uh or the

[21:13] spiritual knowledge

[21:16] uh has to do with expansion, right? So

[21:21] when we talk about what spirituality

[21:24] means or we talk about the path,

[21:27] right? So it's not the path like from

[21:30] the dock to the reception,

[21:33] right? That's a path.

[21:35] But still we call it a path. Right? So

[21:39] the path here is an inner path. It's a

[21:43] path from our current identity to a

[21:46] transformed identity to the path is an

[21:49] inner path means it has to do with me.

[21:52] Right? So it has to do with the

[21:55] transformation

[21:57] of our own uh sense of self. That's the

[22:00] path. So

[22:04] the

[22:05] the moving from A to B on the spiritual

[22:09] path is the transformation of our own

[22:12] identity. That's that's how we proceed,

[22:16] right? So it's not about you know like a

[22:19] what do you call steometer

[22:21] right like you measure how many steps

[22:23] you did

[22:25] right so it's not a steometer path

[22:30] and the idea is that the it has to do

[22:33] with the inner work that each one of us

[22:37] puts h in order to purify the limiting

[22:41] forces in our own mind that's basically

[22:44] what it is these limiting force are

[22:46] called obstacles

[22:48] and the yogis said they are karmic. When

[22:52] we say karmic it means it's very

[22:54] powerful. That's all it means right? It

[22:57] means it has great momentum from the

[23:00] past. That's all the word karmic means.

[23:04] Powerful. Okay. And

[23:08] the idea is that the spiritual path

[23:13] which is a path of expansion

[23:16] is a path of overcoming.

[23:19] Right? So sometimes we think that

[23:22] the spiritual path it should be a smooth

[23:25] path right once I once I enter such a

[23:30] path in a series everything should be

[23:33] very smooth

[23:35] right but actually it's the very

[23:37] opposite because the in order to

[23:41] cultivate

[23:43] expansion or divine qualities the yogis

[23:46] teach we need to overcome the limiting

[23:50] factors within us. That's how it's done.

[23:53] The limitations reveal the limitless.

[23:57] Okay. But in a way that at the moment is

[24:00] difficult for us to understand. So

[24:02] actually obstacles are there. Swami

[24:04] Shivanand says as God sent blessings in

[24:08] disguise.

[24:10] They are actually the forces which are

[24:13] going to push us forward. But obstacles

[24:17] are unpleasant. So we don't want them

[24:20] right but

[24:22] regardless of what we want or don't want

[24:26] it's a path of um overcoming. So the

[24:30] yogis say how do we develop love? We

[24:33] need to overcome its opposite.

[24:36] That's the only way we can do it. Okay.

[24:39] How do we develop purity? We need to

[24:42] overcome and struggle with its opposite.

[24:45] Okay. So, so the idea is that it's a

[24:49] path of overcoming. This is how we

[24:52] develop divine qualities, right? So, if

[24:55] everything is already nice around us,

[24:59] then um it won't be very

[25:04] potent for our evolution.

[25:07] Okay, it's difficult to understand, but

[25:09] that's exactly how it is.

[25:11] So,

[25:13] [clears throat]

[25:14] so the idea is that uh the obstacles

[25:18] come in various ways. There are physical

[25:22] obstacles

[25:24] which come in our own body as of course

[25:28] ill health these type of things and then

[25:33] most of the obstacles are emotional

[25:35] obstacles. So the emotions are the main

[25:39] force which through which the resistance

[25:43] to the spiritual process comes right we

[25:45] all know it very well and then we have

[25:49] mental obstacles which you can sum up as

[25:53] you don't know what you don't know right

[25:56] which means we are locked into our mind

[25:59] and that's an obstacle right because we

[26:02] don't know what we don't know

[26:05] And

[26:06] finally there are spiritual obstacles

[26:10] uh which are very very subtle and we are

[26:14] usually not aware of them at all but

[26:17] they are the most powerful ones.

[26:20] And so we are uh invoking the power of

[26:24] divinity to help us overcome.

[26:30] And overcome may not mean what we think

[26:32] it means but to give us the blessings to

[26:36] overcome

[26:37] erh the obstacles on our path. Okay. So

[26:41] this is a very important thing. So we

[26:44] should not be passive about obstacles.

[26:47] Uh we should be very active about them

[26:50] but we should uh handle obstacles with

[26:53] wisdom

[26:55] and prayer is the greatest wisdom.

[26:59] So, so the idea is that we pray to the

[27:03] divine to bless us to help us to

[27:07] overcome obstacles.

[27:11] And

[27:12] also it's very important to understand

[27:15] that we don't need to be discouraged

[27:17] when we face obstacles.

[27:20] It doesn't mean that something is wrong.

[27:22] Okay? It's natural. It's unavoidable and

[27:26] it's just an opportunity to

[27:30] grow. This is how we should see it.

[27:33] Okay. So, a yogi develops a proper

[27:36] attitude towards difficulties. That's

[27:38] very very important. Without it, we

[27:42] cannot progress. This is called titika.

[27:44] The power of enduring difficulties. Very

[27:48] very important.

[27:49] So

[27:52] then the divine mother sarasati

[27:55] is the illuminating power. So in the

[27:59] yogic teachings

[28:01] the divine mother has two aspects.

[28:06] She is called avidya maya. The power of

[28:11] ignorance by which creation is

[28:13] manifesting. It's the creative power.

[28:16] It's called avidia. And then there is

[28:19] the vidya maya. That's the power which

[28:23] dissolves creation and reveals the self.

[28:27] As yogis we worship the divine mother in

[28:30] her vidya maya aspect the knowledge.

[28:34] Okay. So every aspect of the mother as

[28:37] avidya and vidya saraswati also the

[28:41] creative power of sarasati is called

[28:44] avidya. It has to do with the knowledge

[28:47] of creation itself.

[28:49] As yogis we worship Saraswati as the

[28:52] illuminating power vidyaya. Okay. So

[28:57] h so this is what the worship of

[29:01] Sarasati stands the illuminating

[29:03] knowledge of the self

[29:05] and

[29:07] then the fire which you see

[29:11] represents the divinity here.

[29:15] Uh this is a very ancient way of

[29:18] worshiping.

[29:20] Our priest Krishna Nambudri who is a

[29:24] Nambudri priest comes from Kerala from

[29:28] South India and this is a very ancient

[29:31] tradition and the Nambudri typically are

[29:37] um combining both what we call the Vic

[29:41] way of worship where the fire worship

[29:44] comes from and the tantric way of

[29:48] worship where the yantras the mantras

[29:51] and many other things are coming the way

[29:53] they worship it's like an inner

[29:55] meditation it's mostly silent not much

[29:58] is vocal

[30:01] and so the nambud typically they combine

[30:04] both the vic and the tantric so the vic

[30:12] aspect we see here the fire and the fire

[30:15] from very ancient times is a means to

[30:18] worship the divinity

[30:20] Because the fire is illuminating. It's a

[30:24] light and divinity is light. It's

[30:26] consciousness. It illumines.

[30:29] And it's transforming. Anything you put

[30:32] in the fire gets burned. Gets

[30:35] transformed.

[30:36] And the divine light is transforming. It

[30:40] burns impurities.

[30:42] So uh when it illuminates us then it

[30:48] burns it burns our limitations our

[30:52] obstacles our impurities.

[30:55] So this is why the fire

[30:58] and

[31:00] now um Krishna Buddha is going to invite

[31:04] everyone to come and make an offering.

[31:08] the

[31:10] offering that we are uh going to do,

[31:13] you're going to receive uh leaves

[31:17] and when you come with your right hand,

[31:19] you offer them to the altar

[31:23] and then Krishna and Budra will help you

[31:26] to make an offering of ghee into the

[31:30] fire and the intention is the intention

[31:34] that we described.

[31:36] So the removal of obstacles in your

[31:39] path, you can even hold certain

[31:42] obstacles maybe which you want to

[31:45] specially pray about but don't limit

[31:47] yourself. It's most obstacles we are not

[31:50] aware of. So we want to give everything

[31:53] and also the illuminating power to bless

[31:58] us that our spiritual practice will be

[32:02] successful our learning and also the

[32:07] puja is about the individual but it's

[32:10] also about the universal. So we pray

[32:12] that the same will be for humanity at

[32:16] large that may obstacles be removed from

[32:20] humanity and may the illuminating power

[32:23] of knowledge shine in people's minds and

[32:27] hearts.

[32:28] So when you come you can hold this

[32:31] intention as your offering and we are

[32:34] going to have

[32:36] kan

[32:38] as we are uh coming and making the

[32:41] offering. So

[32:44] Rada can chant the kan and we are going

[32:46] to make a line

[32:49] and

[32:51] uh as we said with the right hand you

[32:53] can come one by one and make the

[32:54] offering.

[34:10] >> [music]

[34:11] >> Sh.ish.

[34:13] [singing]

[34:17] [music]

[34:22] Gradation,

[34:24] graduation, genes,

[34:29] [music]

[34:36] [music and singing]

[34:42] [music]

[34:43] [singing]

[34:46] shall

[34:48] [music] we shall take

[34:51] all 1 2 3

[34:55] >> [music]

[35:01] [singing]

[35:02] >> I don't.

[35:05] [music]

[35:12] [music]

[35:18] [music]

[35:21] Oh sh. [music and singing]

[35:31] [music]

[35:36] [music]

[35:41] [singing]

[35:44] [music]

[35:50] [music]

[35:51] Oh sh.

[36:00] [music]

[36:02] [singing]

[36:07] [music and singing]

[36:13] [music]

[36:19] [music]

[36:24] >> [singing]

[36:26] >> Sh. [music]

[36:34] [music]

[36:42] [music]

[36:45] [singing]

[36:48] I am [music]

[36:50] Heat.

[36:51] Heat.

[36:53] [singing]

[36:55] [music]

[37:02] Oh

[37:03] my

[37:06] [music]

[37:06] [singing]

[37:08] god.

[37:12] [singing]

[37:13] [music]

[37:28] [music and singing]

[37:31] Heat. Heat. N.

[37:34] [music]

[37:41] Oh

[37:43] [music]

[37:46] sh. [singing]

[37:48] [music]

[37:54] [music]

[37:58] [music]

[38:05] [singing]

[38:07] [music]

[38:11] Heat. Heat. [music]

[38:19] [music]

[38:21] Heat. Heat.

[38:24] [singing]

[38:27] [music]

[38:30] [singing]

[38:31] Heat.

[38:33] [music]

[38:36] Heat.

[38:41] [music]

[38:46] Heat.

[38:49] [music]

[38:55] [music]

[38:56] Heat. [singing]

[39:04] [music]

[39:10] >> [music]

[39:13] >> Heat. Heat.

[39:17] [music]

[39:23] [music] Heat. Heat. Heat.

[39:26] [singing]

[39:31] [music]

[39:33] Heat. Heat.

[39:38] [music]

[39:44] Heat. Heat. N.

[39:48] [music]

[39:53] [music] Heat. Heat. N.

[39:57] [bell]

[40:02] [music]

[40:04] Yeah.

[40:05] Heat.

[40:11] [music and singing]

[40:16] Heat. Heat. N. [music]

[40:19] [singing]

[40:25] [music and singing]

[40:26] Heat. Heat.

[40:31] [music]

[40:38] [music]

[40:43] Heat. [music]

[40:47] Heat.

[40:55] [music]

[41:00] >> [music]

[41:07] >> Heat. Heat.

[41:11] [music]

[41:15] [music]

[41:19] transformation

[41:24] to [music] be

[41:26] the

[41:30] [music]

[41:38] [music]

[41:43] [music]

[41:46] Oh God.

[41:50] [music]

[41:55] Oh God.

[42:17] Omniva. So we'd like to thank Krishna

[42:20] and Budri for this wonderful ganapati

[42:22] vidya. Give a very big hand. [applause]

[42:31] And we thank also our kitchen staff for

[42:33] preparing wonderful prasad in honor of

[42:36] this ganapati vidya.

[42:39] >> [applause]

[42:41] >> And uh now we will go over the schedule

[42:44] uh for the rest of the day. So as S

[42:46] bramanand G mentioned this is a very

[42:48] blessed and auspicious day the Maha

[42:50] Samadi day of Swami Vishu Deanandanda.

[42:53] So we'll be honoring this day with the

[42:55] practice of a kiran chanting the divine

[42:59] name from 8 in the morning until 8 at

[43:01] night in the main temple chanting omnimo

[43:04] vishnuand.

[43:06] So there'll be staff chanting the whole

[43:08] day. Any of the students and guests are

[43:11] most welcome to join even for a few

[43:13] minutes and just to connect to the

[43:15] special energy of the day.

[43:18] So for the rest of the schedule at 8:00

[43:23] we'll have an all levels class on the

[43:25] beach platform. 9:50 the the branch

[43:29] 11:00 the asham welcome and history

[43:32] tour. At 11:30 for those who are

[43:35] starting the treat oneweek training of

[43:39] traditional Indian Iveda body treatment

[43:41] course with Ishwari and Vidya there will

[43:44] be the inauguration ceremony with

[43:47] Krishna Mudi at 11:30 at the Vanadorga

[43:49] temple and followed by that in the

[43:52] Anapura Devi house they will start their

[43:55] training for the rest of the guests at

[43:58] the 12:00

[44:00] we will continue we'll have a workshop

[44:02] as part of the breath of bakti program

[44:05] with Shell and Anton in the here on the

[44:07] garden platform. 4:00

[44:10] the yoga class on the beach platform

[44:13] weather permitting. 5:50 the dinner 7:00

[44:16] the chanting of the Bhagavad Gita

[44:18] followed by a short study in the main

[44:19] temple and at 8:00 tonight in the

[44:22] evening satsang we will be having the

[44:24] special puja

[44:27] for Vishnu Masami and this will be a

[44:29] puja dedicated for world peace

[44:35] and for the TTC's and the ATC's enjoy

[44:38] your day off [snorts] study and relax

[44:42] make sure to do your 1 hour of karma

[44:43] yoga and then we meet here for the

[44:45] evening satsang and you're most welcome

[44:47] to join any of the classes and workshops

[44:50] during the day. Now today, November 9th,

[44:54] is also a very blessed day as today is

[44:56] the birthday of our well-being center

[44:58] manager, Bad Mavatin. [applause]

[45:13] Om

[45:19] om sah

[45:39] shanty shanty shant.

[45:45] Om peace, peace, peace.

[46:04] >> [clears throat]

[46:04] >> So,

[46:08] but needs to be with us.

[46:17] So, today we are celebrating Padavati's

[46:20] birthday. We want first of all to give

[46:23] her a big hand. [applause]

[46:32] So Padmati

[46:35] she joined the asham about 15 years ago

[46:39] when

[46:40] >> 12 years ago and um she held a some high

[46:46] executive

[46:48] job in which state it is?

[46:52] >> Illinois.

[46:53] >> Illinois.

[46:54] >> Illinois.

[46:54] >> Illinois.

[46:55] So some high official and and then she

[46:59] moved to a tent in the ash

[47:02] and uh she was my neighbor in the tent

[47:06] for quite some time and

[47:11] see so she shifted

[47:14] and [clears throat] and since then she's

[47:18] um very dedicated serving the asham in

[47:23] many ways in recent years with the

[47:25] well-being center

[47:27] and um we celebrate this uh birthday

[47:34] that um Padmavati will have a long life,

[47:42] good strong health,

[47:44] inner peace and happiness,

[47:47] prosperity on all levels and attain the

[47:50] goal of life in this very birth and will

[47:54] continue to be um a major contributing

[48:00] power in this asham and this

[48:02] organization

[48:04] and

[48:05] um

[48:07] be part of this mission in a very

[48:09] central way

[48:12] and we are going to

[48:15] pray

[48:16] for with this intention for Padmavati

[48:19] for her birthday. We are going to repeat

[48:22] the Mahamrita mantra three times with

[48:26] this intention.

[48:40] Fore!

[48:50] Foreign! Foreign!

[49:00] for

[49:26] shant. for

[49:55] Jotaya. for

[50:20] Shanty

[50:21] Shanty

[50:23] Shanty.

[50:26] Om

[50:28] peace peace peace.

[50:41] Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to

[50:46] you. Happy birthday dear mati.

[50:52] Happy birthday to you.

[50:58] [applause]

[51:03] [applause]

[51:04] Okay. So now Pad Navati will light her

[51:08] birthday candles.

[51:51] >> [applause]

[51:56] >> Now we will open a message from the

[52:00] Shivanand Upanishad

[52:03] to get a message

[52:06] of inspiration for Padmavat for her

[52:09] birthday from Samish Shivanand.

[52:12] >> [snorts]

[52:12] >> Shall we tune our hearts and minds to

[52:14] the master?

[52:40] There is a a photo of Samish Shivananda

[52:44] sitting on a swing.

[52:49] It's quite an extraordinary photo.

[52:54] And [clears throat]

[52:56] the caption underneath the photo reads,

[52:59] "As food is necessary for the body,

[53:03] prayer and meditation are necessary for

[53:06] the soul." Om 1st July 1949

[53:12] Shri RS Ramas Swami

[53:18] M A B A

[53:21] Is there really any happiness in this

[53:24] world?

[53:26] Then why do you cling to these mundane

[53:30] objects?

[53:32] Search within, look within, meditate and

[53:36] rest in the supreme abode of peace and

[53:40] immortality. Now

[53:44] never, never delay a second.

[53:48] Plot on, march forward, realize now and

[53:53] be free. May you reach the goal of life

[53:57] in this very birth. Shivananda omats

[54:02] very beautiful message page 99. So

[54:06] Baravi can take a photo.

[54:16] Now we have some

[54:18] birthday gifts.

[54:27] You want the good all at once. So little

[54:31] by little,

[54:34] little by little

[54:38] because that's how it happens.

[54:50] Yeah.

[54:57] [applause]

[55:03] [applause]

[55:08] >> Oh, smiles.

[55:10] [applause]

[55:17] >> [applause]

[55:22] [applause]

[55:35] >> Oops.

[55:38] [applause]

[55:42] And there is a beautiful

[55:44] card

[55:46] pad.

[55:55] The light is good. Make up your mind to

[55:58] tread the spiritual path. Be patient. Go

[56:02] slowly. Go ahead. Be deliberate. Assert.

[56:07] Recognize. Realize I am the immortal

[56:10] soul. This is the discipline. This is

[56:13] Shiva's Shiv means Shivaandanda's

[56:16] message.

[56:19] Very beautiful.

[56:21] [applause]

[56:27] Now I know that our time is short but I

[56:30] know that Padawati really wants to say

[56:33] something

[56:35] knowing Pad Navati. So we will allow her

[56:39] to say a few words [laughter]

[56:43] >> since since the time is so short. I

[56:46] actually did think a little bit about

[56:48] this because Swami G often asks me to

[56:50] speak and um I have so much to share

[56:55] with those of you who don't know me but

[56:57] I won't but I will say in summary

[57:02] this place this practice

[57:06] all of this satsanga these people these

[57:09] teachers have made me a better human

[57:12] being

[57:14] so I've learned many many things from

[57:18] teaching yoga to um giving Ayurveda body

[57:22] treatments to being a a counselor in

[57:26] Ayurveda to leading well-being centers

[57:28] to learning how to lead from the heart

[57:31] and not only the mind

[57:34] um and but the big oh I also learned

[57:38] something very important that you might

[57:40] not think of and I would I never would

[57:43] have thought of it helped me care for my

[57:45] mother in her final years of life in a

[57:50] very profound way and we did not get

[57:52] along very well before my experience

[57:55] here at the ashram

[57:57] and so that also all of these were

[58:00] blessings and I am a better human being

[58:04] because of this place and all of these

[58:08] people here. So thank you.

[58:11] [applause]

[58:20] So wish Pad Mavati a very happy birthday

[58:24] in this blessed day. And now we are

[58:27] going to conclude with the

[58:31] final prayers and then we are going to

[58:34] stand for the aati.

[58:38] You can sit. You can stay here.

[58:51] for

[59:18] triumph. for

[59:39] shantu.

[59:50] Save. for

[1:00:19] pur.

[1:00:29] Om shanty

[1:00:32] shanty

[1:00:34] shanty

[1:00:38] peace peace peace. Adorable Lord of

[1:00:43] mercy and love. Salutations and

[1:00:46] prostrations unto thee. Thou art

[1:00:49] omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient.

[1:00:52] Thou art sat ananda. Thou art existence,

[1:00:56] knowledge and bliss absolute. Thou art

[1:00:59] the inddweller of all beings. Grant us

[1:01:02] an understanding heart, equal vision,

[1:01:05] balanced mind, faith, devotion, and

[1:01:08] wisdom. Grant us in a spiritual strength

[1:01:11] to resist temptation and to control the

[1:01:13] mind. Free us from egoism, lust, anger,

[1:01:17] greed, hatred, and jealousy. Fill our

[1:01:20] hearts with divine virtues. Let us

[1:01:23] behold thee in all these names and

[1:01:25] forms. Let us serve thee in all these

[1:01:28] names and forms. Let us ever remember

[1:01:31] thee. Let us ever sing thy glories. Let

[1:01:34] thy name be ever our lips. Let us abide

[1:01:36] in thee forever and ever.

[1:01:52] Arati, please stand up. You're welcome

[1:01:54] to follow the Arati at page 118.

[1:02:04] Oh.

[1:02:10] Vigna

[1:02:31] Vula.

[1:02:39] Ji

[1:02:41] vana

[1:02:50] radish

[1:02:53] jihanoh

[1:03:01] shank

[1:03:03] sambah

[1:03:06] Jesi,

[1:03:23] Mahali,

[1:03:26] Mahaki,

[1:03:28] Jarati,

[1:03:30] Anjan,

[1:03:32] Anjan,

[1:03:34] Numa

[1:03:36] Jaort

[1:03:45] Jas

[1:03:53] Ji

[1:03:55] shishwara

[1:03:57] shishwara

[1:03:59] basar

[1:04:02] ji

[1:04:03] shankara

[1:04:13] Sguron

[1:04:15] Sgur

[1:04:17] Shivand

[1:04:19] Ji

[1:04:21] Vishnu Dean

[1:04:23] Vishni

[1:04:30] Austia

[1:04:33] Austia

[1:04:45] Dhar

[1:04:48] Ji

[1:04:49] Jesus Gur Moses Gur Buddha Guri

[1:04:57] Mohammed Gurana

[1:05:00] Guravast

[1:05:02] Gurab for

[1:05:32] foreign

[1:05:40] [singing]

[1:06:01] mama.

[1:06:11] Buddha.

[1:06:48] So thank you for joining us for this

[1:06:50] wonderful ganapati vidya. So just to

[1:06:52] mention that the yoga class this morning

[1:06:54] will start at 8:15 on the beach platform

[1:06:57] and everybody is welcome to enjoy some

[1:06:59] of the prasad and the birthday cake and

[1:07:02] if you could kindly help us to clear the

[1:07:04] platform and have a wonderful day.

SA
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Sivananda Ashram Bahamas

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Questions fréquemment posées

It is a Vedic fire ritual that invokes Lord Ganesha, the power that removes obstacles, and the goddess Saraswati, the power of illuminating knowledge. Participants offer ghee into a sacred fire, which the teacher in the video describes as a visible form of the divine that burns away limitations. At the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas, the ceremony blends Vedic fire worship with tantric elements from a Nambudri priest's tradition.
The teacher explains that expansion and divine qualities such as love and purity are developed by overcoming their opposites, so the limiting forces within us are part of the process. She describes obstacles as karmic, meaning powerful and carrying momentum from the past, and attributes to Swami Sivananda the idea that they are blessings in disguise. Without resistance, there is little to push growth forward.
The speaker sorts obstacles into physical, emotional, mental and spiritual categories. Physical obstacles include illness, emotional obstacles are described as the main force of resistance, mental obstacles are summed up as not knowing what you don't know, and spiritual obstacles are the most subtle and usually unnoticed yet the most powerful.
The teacher defines titiksha as the power of enduring difficulties. She says a yogi must develop a proper attitude toward difficulties, because without it progress is not possible. Difficulty is treated as an opportunity to grow rather than proof that something has gone wrong.
In the teaching the speaker describes, avidya maya is the power of ignorance through which creation manifests, the creative aspect of the divine mother. Vidya maya is the power that dissolves creation and reveals the self, and yogis worship the mother in this aspect as knowledge. Saraswati is worshipped in this illuminating, vidya aspect during the homa.
The speaker in this video describes yoga and Vedanta as a divine science rather than a natural science. Its subject is the liberation of the soul and the removal of the suffering all human beings experience. The spiritual path is framed as an inner transformation of one's sense of self, not a measurable physical journey.

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