Sun Yoga Discovery
Sun Yoga Discovery
Sun Yoga Discovery
in West Bengal, near Calcutta in 1967 !i"ing ne#t to an as$ram t$roug$out $is c$ild$ood, $e de"elo%ed an early interest in &oga and s%irituality By t$e age of eig$teen, $a"ing s%ent a large %ro%ortion of $is life %racticing &oga, $e made t$e decision to dedicate %art of $is life to walking t$roug$ e"ery state of 'ndia s%reading t$e message of (Uni"ersal Unity, )eace and Brot$er$ood( *lt$oug$ $is s%iritual training is from a Hindu background, Sunyogi(s message $as always been directed at %eo%le of all religions His ideas are based on a religion of $umanity t$at makes no distinction between colour, race or religion a %at$ for all mankind wit$ a common goal t$at is unity, %eace and brot$er$ood Sunyogi(s +ourney t$roug$ 'ndia did not start until 1997 ,or two years %rior to $is +ourney $e stayed in *urobindo assram in )ondic$erry %racticing &oga and making many im%ortant disco"eries -$e most im%ortant of $is disco"eries was (Sunyoga( .ery little is known about Sunyoga/ it is mentioned in some of t$e ancient 'ndian scri%tures, but at t$e time of Sunyogi(s disco"ery, only one ot$er %erson 0Hira 1atan 2anek in 3u+arat4 was known to be %racticing it in t$e modern world 5ow, fi"e years later, t$ere are many %eo%le t$roug$out 'ndia %racticing Sunyoga, taug$t by Sunyogii on $is tra"els )ondic$erry is on t$e coast of sout$ east 'ndia, looking o"er t$e Bay of Bengal 6uring $is time at t$e as$ram, Sunyogi s%ent e"ery morning meditating on a rock looking out at t$e sun(s reflection off t$e sea His daily meditation u%on t$e reflected sunlig$t ga"e $im great %leasure, but at t$is time $e did not consider it to be a form of &oga *s $e continued t$oug$, Sunyogi became aware t$at, t$roug$ t$is met$od of meditation, $e was some$ow able to absorb %owerful energies from t$e sun(s rays Sunyogi began to e#%eriment by looking directly at t$e sun 7 initially as it was rising, t$en day by day $e began to concentrate on it as it rose $ig$er into t$e sky He continued $is meditation and after a cou%le of mont$s t$e sun started to a%%ear as a 8clear $a9y ring wit$ soft blue sky inside8 -$e $ars$ brig$tness disa%%eared and $e felt it become increasingly soot$ing *s time went on, $e started to see 8 se"en brig$t colours radiating from t$e sun, slowly reac$ing closer to t$e ground8 -$ree mont$s after starting $is concentration on t$e sun, Sunyogi felt t$ese rays 7 t$e sun(s cosmic energy 7 touc$ $is body, creating wit$in $im an undescribable feeling of %eace and calm S$ortly after t$is e#%erience, Sunyogi returned to t$e as$ram to eat $is usual food, but $e found t$at $e was unable to digest $is sim%le %late of c$a%atis His body re+ected t$e food, yet $e felt t$at $e was fully nouris$ed, and t$at %er$a%s $e $ad found a way of absorbing t$e sun(s energy directly into $is body So, as an e#%eriment, Sunyogi sto%%ed eating breakfast and continued concentrating on t$e sun Si# mont$s later, $e sto%%ed eating $is dinner, t$en si# mont$s after t$at, $e sto%%ed eating food at all ,rom t$e 17t$ *ugust until t$e 7t$ 6ecember 1996 Umasankar7+i sto%%ed eating and slee%ing
altoget$er His body weig$t remained t$e same and $e continued $is daily routine working in t$e as$ram in a %erfect state of $ealt$ S$ortly after t$is %eriod of $is life, $e began $is +ourney t$roug$ 'ndia teac$ing $is disco"eries to %eo%le $e met along t$e way 6uring $is tra"els, $e $as become a source of great interest to a number of scientific and medical researc$ centres w$ere $e $ad $is claims tested, e#amined and "erified 7 at least u% to t$e le"el of so%$istication t$at modern scientific instruments are ca%able of reac$ing ' $a"e met Sunyogi :1,;;; km after $e started walking barefoot t$roug$ 'ndia ' $a"e now witnessed $im li"ing wit$ no food, water or slee%, s%ending %art of eac$ day staring at t$e sun as if it was as soft as t$e moon <n a number of occasions ' $a"e watc$ed $im enter Samad$i 0t$e ultimate state of liberation attained t$roug$ &oga4 during meditation, and ' $a"e felt $im sto% $is %ulse t $roug$ s$eer concentration He does not seem to feel t$e cold 7 $e sometimes sits barec$ested at nig$t w$en ' am feeling cold wearing t$ick woolly clot$es and wra%%ed in a blanket His % ersonality is %atient, gentle and calm and $is attitude towards ot$ers is like t$at of a close friend or a brot$er He is always true to $is %$iloso%$ies and all $is claims 7 ' belie"e 7 are 1;;= true Updated... March 2004 -$ree and a $alf years later, $a"ing com%leted $is 6>,;;;km barefoot +ourney t$roug$ e"ery state of 'ndia, Sunyogi and ' $a"e met again to add a few sections to t$e website 'n addition to t$e original website, written in >;;;, we $a"e added t$ree sections on %ractical meditation tec$ni?ues/ %$otogra%$ meditation, eye7to7eye meditation and sun meditation -$ese can gi"e some guidance, but if you are genuinely interested to learn more about sunyoga, t$en it is best, if you can, to meet Umasankar7+i at one of t$e conferences $e organises in 'ndia Updated... May 2009 *not$er fi"e years on and Sunyogi and i meet again Sunyogi Umasankar $as recently com%leted a two7year retreat 0gnata"asan4, s%ending muc$ of t$is time in an isolated as$ram at an altitude of @7;;m near t$e source of t$e 3anges, $ig$ in t$e Himalayas Sunyogi $as come down from $is retreat wit$ fres$ ideas, $umbled and ins%ired by $is life and e#%eriences in t$e Himalayas 6uring $is retreat Sunyogi made t$e decision to start eating food again Auoting from t$e B$ag"ad 3ita, Umasankar7+i tells me (a true yogi neither eats too much or too little, nor sleeps too much or too little...( $e $as decided to take t$e middle %at$ 7 too many %eo%le $a"e only been interested in $is ability to li"e wit$out food and drink, and t$is $as detracted from t$e true goal of self7realisation, bot$ for $im and for $is students !i"ing wit$out food, $e e#%lains, is a (siddhi(, or %ower t$at is ac$ie"ed on t$e %at$ to realising t$is goal, but not t$e ultimate goal
-$e %ur%ose of one(s s%iritual +ourney, e#%lains Sunyogi, is )eace, ac$ie"ed t$roug$ t$e union of indi"idual and uni"ersal consciousness ,i#ing one(s attention on siddhis, suc$ as deri"ing one(s energy from t$e sun, can block %rogress towards ac$ie"ing t$is goal 6es%ite t$is, $owe"er, $e acknowledges t$e im%ortance of t$is %articular sidd$i, es%ecially at a time of increasing concern o"er global food su%%lies and resources, and would still be interested to offer $imself for serious scientific researc$ if t$e o%%ortunity arises