Our

Wholeness

advanced divider

A Teacher Transforms Aimless Life into Manifesting the In-dwelling Divine

Satbodh Foundation does not believe in slicing up life into fragments. It views life in its wholeness- in the Divine Whole that is indivisible. So Satbodh Foundation does not pit Science against Spiritualism, Physical against Mental and Spiritual, Matter against Consciousness, Scientific Discovery and Invention against the Inner Adventure and Discovery as enshrined in Yogic Science. Satbodh teaching is thus inclusive and assimilative. It takes science with reverence. It considers that scientific enquiry is as much a part of the unfolding Supreme Being as the yogic enquiry is. Both seek the Unity of Existence in the One.

  • Life is not to be split up into fragments 
  • It should be seen as a whole 
  • All parts are important making the Divine Whole 
  • Science and spirituality are not opposed to each other
  • Both are seeking the Unity of Existence in the One

“The super-conscient, not the sub-conscient, is the true foundation of things. The significance of the lotus is not to be found by analyzing the secrets of the mud from which it grows here; its secret is to be found in the heavenly archetype of the lotus that blooms forever in the Light above.”

– Sri Aurobindo

Sigmund Freud and Romain Rolland

advanced divider

Two Stalwarts, Two Views
One Spiritual Another Physical

To better understand things, let us cite two towering giants: Sigmund Freud and Romain Rolland. Freud was an Austrian neurologist and discoverer of the Unconscious while Rolland was a French mystic and writer. Let us see how they differed in their understanding of the sub-conscient and the super-conscient. 

Freud rejected what Rolland defined as “oceanic consciousness” attributed to the Indian mystic Ramakrishna Paramhamsha who would experience the Oneness of Life and Cosmos during his spiritual trances, samadhi. 

Freud said he was doubtful whether anything like the “oceanic consciousness” exists.  He ascribed such experiences to regression in infancy and explained it in terms of infantile, unformed ego- sense. He averred that he didn’t find anything like a consciousness in man that is superior to the mind. 

With all respect for him, Satbodh begs to differ. Satbodh believes that the “oceanic consciousness” or “Cosmic Consciousness” that Ramakrishna Paramhamsha experienced is not just a reality but we all can get connected to it -the Super-Consciousness, the Consciousness of Oneness and Bliss.  

Satbodh believes that looking down up cannot unravel the whole mystery of the Creation. Freud sought to explain the higher lights by the lower obscurities. Spiritual knowledge cannot but reject such explanations.

Consciousness

All is Dance of One Energy, Conscious Energy, Seeking Fulfillment in Life

Satbodh family does not believe in treating man’s life in separate and conflicting terms of physical, vital (life), mental and spiritual.  It views life as Consciousness playing in all these elements: a mere film, as Swami Vivekananda says, between two oceans-the subconscious and the super-conscious.  

All is Consciousness. Connecting the physical, vital and mental to the light of Consciousness is of supreme importance for Satbodh family. Since all is Consciousness what is needed is to unveil this Consciousness hidden behind the three elements: physical, vital and mental.

  • Body, life, mind are not conflicting elements
  • They should be connected to Consciousness
  • Consciousness is playing in all these elements 
  • Thus, Consciousness is to be unveiled
  • Consciousness unveiled leads to Superconscience

Subconscious & Superconscious

Subconscious Is Animal Dynamism; Superconscious Is Divine Dynamism

Satbodh Foundation stresses that the yoga beginners must have sufficient knowledge of the subconscious. For without such knowledge, they cannot connect to the Super-Consciousness which is the goal. The subconscious, lying between the Inconscient and the Conscient, is wrapped in the darkness of instincts and passions– a great obstacle to yogic advancement. It must thus be transformed, not by getting into its obscurities but by opening it to the Super-Conscience, the obscurities to be lighted up by the transforming glow of Super-Conscience. Satbodh family believes that the whole must be known before the part is known; the highest must be known before the lowest is analyzed.

  • Sub-conscience holds base instincts, passions 
  • Impedes advancement of the yogic journey
  • Must be transformed by the Light of Super-Conscience
  • Whole to be understood before parts are understood
  • Highest to be known before lowest is analyzed
our teaching

“We pray to God to bless us with the power of the Alchemists-not those alchemists who turn metals into gold, but those who help Matter change into Soul, the transient into the Eternal, human into the Divine, not through magic but through self-finding, unveiling and reunifying with the Source-the Divine, the One.”

– Yogi Simant

Classical Yoga

Yoga Is Harmony of Differences, Oneness in Multiplicity

Satbodh Foundation believes in the vision of Wholeness. It affirms that all parts of a man, from the base to the top, from the gross to the subtle, are to be blended in a harmony, all transformed and illuminated, so that the Consciousness moves from high to higher stages. 

  
Satbodh family focuses principally on the classical form of Hatha yoga which, as old as the Upanishads, seeks to harmonize all parts so that the transition to Higher Consciousness is smooth. 

Satbodh family views Hatha Yoga as a perfect stepping stone to the higher stages of yoga, the yogic journey culminating in the human consciousness becoming the Divine Consciousness.

  • Yogic vision is the vision of wholeness
  • Hatha yoga is as old as the Upanishads
  • All parts of a man, from the base to the top, must be blended in harmony
  • Once this is done Consciousness moves upward
  • The yogic journey culminates in the human consciousness becoming the Divine Consciousness.

Teachers

Teacher Is More Important Than Teaching.

Satbodh Foundation believes that an ideal teacher is more a loving guide than a stern instructor. He shows the way to knowledge instead of imposing knowledge from outside, armed with the conviction that knowledge lying veiled should be unveiled by the students themselves under the teachers’ watchful, affectionate guidance.  The teachers’ role is to encourage, cheer and motivate and the rest would be done by the students themselves.

  • An ideal teacher inspires 
  • He should be more a guide than an instructor
  • Knowledge should not be imposed from outside
  • Vedanta says all knowledge is lying veiled in man
  • Teachers must encourage students to unveil knowledge