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Sanatan Kriya: 51 Miracles … and a Haunting In our ensnarement with the inventions of modern science and technology that promise to erase the boundaries of time and space, have we forgotten that there are no boundaries except those that we create with our limited five senses? That there is a limitless world of gyan that can only be experienced by the grace of the guru is something even we, in India, have forgotten.
The fault lies with the times we live in, and the times are defined by the people who lead us. What else can explain the exploitation and deception in the name of yoga? A 22,000-year-old science, yoga was documented four-and-a-half-thousand years ago by Sage Patanjali. It is the key to the treasure that lies within each of us but not possible to unlock without the guru. But often the gurus that we have today are inadequate, and at times exploitive. The result is that the gullible and the desperate, lured with promises of miraculous cures, are being taken for a royal ride. On the other hand, there is a burgeoning thinking class that suffers from informed disdain about "yogis" and "swamis". However, when it comes to truth, it is never a losing battle. Sanatan Kriya: 51 Miracles `85 and a Haunting is an attempt to tell the truth about the profound, precise and time-tested science of yoga. Sanatan Kriya, one learns from the book, is a simple technique. It has been adapted from ancient texts by Yogi Ashwini to suit the needs of the fast-paced modern person. Many of the 51 practitioners recount their despair as they ran in search of alternative cures when modern medicine gave up on them. Instead of getting cured, they ended up emptying their bank balance. The practice of Sanatan Kriya, they say, opened their eyes to the "unknown facets" of yoga: it cannot be bought or sold; it is not about complicated twists and turns of the body; charity and service are its core and yoga should be practiced only under the guidance of a guru. Adding authenticity to the claims are medical certificates, names and pictures of the narrators, who include journalists, fashion designers, military men and scientists. Some of them have experienced such life-transforming situations that they have made it their life’s mission to carry forward the message of their guru, some as young as 21. Yoga is so powerful
that, if practiced in totality and under the guru’s guidance, can
make an ordinary person access the forces that run creation, says Yogi
Ashwini in "Guruspeak" that garnishes every story. However,
hardly any narrator seems tuned in to the profound dimensions of yoga.
There is the fervour of the faithful in their stories but not the
enchantment of the inspired seeker. Therefore, it would take a very
discerning reader to connect with the subtleties and beauty of yoga
and of the "guru-shishya" bond.
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How
did this happen? After all, it is India where the unique guru-shishya
parampara nursed a human being’s deepest quest for knowledge,
not just of the unseen but also of the unseeable. It is here that we
learnt to navigate the deep and limitless internal world where gyan
is a flow from the guru to the shishya, gyan that is to
be experienced, not acquired.