The River of the Teachings
Continues to Flow
Stewarding the Yoga lineage that Baba Hari Dass (“Babaji”) generously shared with his students over the decades has always been a dynamic, responsive process. This is true, both in the sense of adapting and refining the practices in order to meet students most effectively and appropriately, as well as in the creation of organizational structures that ensure and conserve the integrity of the teachings and the spirit with which Babaji developed them.
While teaching formats have changed over the years, certain elements have served as through lines in the way these practices are held and shared. As we welcome another cohort to Mount Madonna’s 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training program this month and gather for our 48th annual Liberation Retreat next month, we celebrate the richness of these shared practices and look forward to the future.
One important feature of the lineage we uphold and share is its experiential root, with practices being taught from teacher to student over time. Experiential practices are an expression of the essence of qualified non-dualism, Vishishta Advaita, which teaches that both experience and liberation are within human nature, and that experience is a vehicle for self-development.
Another key element of this lineage is the dynamic process in which the teachings are held, where the experience of the practitioners informs and enriches the content over time. The publication of Babaji’s commentary of the Bhagavad Gita illustrates this well: the examples he gave and the drafts he wrote were edited by his students over the years to reflect the wisdom gained during the weekly classes.
Finally, providing experience-appropriate classes, and pathways for deepening over time, is a signature of how methods are shared at Mount Madonna. The design of Mount Madonna’s annual retreats reflect this commitment, with three levels of sadhana (spiritual practice) offered daily and clear guidelines about what is appropriate for each level, in order to support students’ ongoing progress in a safe and expandable container.
Babaji’s style was focused on classical essentials, but it was also responsive; especially during the early years, Babaji adjusted and adapted the methods he perfected in India to better fit the Western student. He taught students who have now — some after five decades of practice and teaching — become the Senior Teachers of this lineage. These teachers are sharing the practices with a new generation of students, who will become the trained teachers of the next wave. In addition to the Yoga Teacher Training programs, the lineage teachings are shared through our annual retreats, at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, on campus in the Redwood Yoga Room, and in a range of online classes offering philosophy, asana (postures), pranayama (breathing techniques), and meditation. They are also more implicitly infused into our organizational and administrative structures, and reflected in our mission, vision, and values.
What does it mean to carry forward the legacy of Babaji’s teachings, now, in his absence? How do we preserve the integrity and spirit of the body of practices, philosophies, and ancient wisdom that we were taught, while ensuring that these teachings remain accessible and alive for new students and devotees? If lineage is like a river, continually moving and flowing over changing landscapes, tending to the health and vitality of this river is our ongoing, honored task.
To this end, we want to share some developments in the structures and processes by which Yoga is held at Mount Madonna and within the Hanuman Fellowship.
In 2012/2013 the Panchayat (council of elders) and leadership groups formed two groups to ensure that Babaji’s teachings would be honored, conserved, disseminated, and kept vital and adaptable. The first, and largest, of these groups is the Teacher of Yoga Advisory Group (TYAG), which holds responsibility for keeping Babaji’s teachings vital, accessible, and authentic, while providing guidance and training for newer teachers as appropriate. Secondly, the Kriya Sadhana Group (KSG) holds responsibility to honor, conduct, and monitor the advanced practices available by invitation.
These two groups work alongside the existing Yoga Committee and Yoga Administration groups. The Yoga Committee holds responsibility for ongoing overview of current Yoga offerings and oversight of regular practice and teaching of Yoga at Mount Madonna (including retreats, on campus, online, and for credentialled and other programs). The Yoga Administration team determines dates, curriculum, teachers, and all that is needed to facilitate our credentialed programs currently consisting of YTT 200 and YTT 300 programs.
The TYAG, the largest of these groups, encompasses all the members of the other groups and then some. It currently has 31 members, and includes teachers from the U.S. and Canada, each with ten to 50 years of teaching experience within the lineage. The group has been convening recently, and has formed four new subcommittees: TYAG Leadership (to act as administrative support for the group), Ethics (to review the Ethics Statement regularly and address any ethical issues that arise); Nominating (to seek, vet, and present nominations for the TYAG); and Practice (to lead the process for reviewing and updating practices as necessary). These subcommittees are now meeting and active as well.
As the Hanuman Fellowship and Mount Madonna approach the 50 year milestone, Babaji’s lineage and teachings are being tended with care and energy. This legacy is made up not only of methods and practices, but also the communal, dynamic spirit in which these practices are shared and shaped over time. The structures and institutions will shift and change, and the names of the committees and their members will be different in the years to come, but the river of the teachings will continue to flow.
— The TYAG Leadership
Sarada Diffenbaugh, Soma Goresky, Stephanie Conway, Radha Mallery, Lizzy Lokamātrī Gamberdella, & Mangala Norskog
