George Dovas

The following article appears in the recent edition of  SVADHYAYA, the newsletter from the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Hong Kong. George Dovas, from Sydney Australia has been living in Hong Kong for four years where he teaches at the Iyengar Yoga Center as well as working at a fitness centre. George was at Yasodhara Ashram for a few weeks this past summer.

During the summer of this year I spent two weeks at Yasodhara Ashram on the shores of Kootenay Lake in Canada. I had been looking forward to visiting the ashram for a few years, after reading books by and working with the teachings of Swami Radha, the founder of the ashram. Her work had allowed me to gain insights into my own personality, and so my visit was an opportunity to delve deeper into this process of self learning – svadhyaya.

It was late in the afternoon when I arrived at the ashram, in the mountainous interior of British Columbia. My accommodation was a simply furnished room without telephone or television or private bathroom. I was there in time for dinner. At the ashram, three meals are served per day at set times and silence is observed when eating. The silence, on that first day, was confrontational – I was facing my doubts and insecurities.

My mind became turbulent with thoughts. I was having reservations about whether coming to the ashram was such a good idea. Do I “fit in” here? What is “spirituality” and what am I going to gain from this? Am I wasting my time being here? Am I even “spiritual” enough or good enough to be in a “spiritual” community? Why am I here?

After dinner I attended a Satsang in the Temple of Divine Light. Satsang, translates into “in the company of the wise” and is held every evening. It’s a time when everyone comes together to chant, sing and reflect on the day that has passed. There would also be a short talk, normally delivered by one of the Swamis. The temple overlooks Kootenay Lake and with its domed shape roof has powerful acoustics that make the chanting sessions a powerful experience. I found my experience at Satsang to be comforting and centring. It bought a stillness and calmness to my agitated mind .

I had enrolled to attend two three day courses. On the days that the course was not running I was to participate in the half day Karma Yoga program that involved working at the ashram for half a day. The work included duties such as cleaning, maintenance, helping out in the kitchen, or working in the organic garden and orchard.

Often, after a day’s work at the ashram, people would meet and discuss any observations we had made about ourselves during the day’s work. One day I helped pick cherries. I had a notion that cherry picking in the orchard under the day’s sun would be a delight. It proved to be tedious, laborious and not as much “fun” as I thought it would be. It made me appreciate my own work and the fact that I had variety in my normal work.

The courses I took used various methods to help one delve deeper into his mind , to go past all the distractions, doubts, fears and tap into the deeper self. “The Straight Walk” was a walking meditation in which we observed our mind. By doing it I was able to see and understand some things about myself that I was previously oblivious to. Another course, the Buddhist Wheel Of Life was used to help us observe different aspects of our own lives and reveal questions and answers that were pertinent to us.

One evening, the male visitors at the ashram came together to discuss dreams. I have to admit that initially I had flashes of comedy shows about male “bonding” groups. I was surprised to discover how dreams could be used to delve into the subconscious and found the “dreams” session to be a revealing exercise. I read some articles and books on dream analysis and I learned it is possible to remember your dreams and then use them to understand your subconscious more. After that discovery, I woke up every single morning there and recorded at least two to three different dreams from the previous evening.

Personal reflection was used as a tool for self-understanding. In the courses, we were asked to reflect on questions and record our thoughts in journals. In fact, in almost any activity in the ashram, there would be questions and we would have to record our observations, reactions, thoughts and beliefs in our journals. This even extended to Yoga classes where we would be asked to reflect on a pose and the symbols that the pose represented. We would do the pose, reflect on the pose and record our thoughts in our journals. Then we would do the pose again, and write more about how these symbols related to our lives. Needless to say I came away from there with several journals full of personal reflection and writing.

We were to be responsible for finding our own answers. In the Wheel Of Life course, I asked Swami Durgananda what one of the pictures on the wheel represented. Her reply was, “What does it represent to you?” This happened repeatedly, the onus being on the individual to examine his own understanding. It was understandable that the ashram became known as “Yasodhara Ashram – a place where all your questions are questioned”.
The ashram was a valuable learning experience. Although, I learnt a great deal from the courses, the most important lessons came at the most unexpected times and from the most unexpected places – such as cherry picking. Living daily with others in a “spiritual” community was a welcome respite from living in a big city in a modern world. It made me reflect on our modern society and at times feel fairly disappointed at the problems we create for ourselves. Life does not need to be as chaotic as we allow it to become.

During my final evening I was invited to say a few words at Satsang. I expressed how I felt about my experience there. Prior to my visit, the ashram had been a destination that I wanted to visit. Having had the time there, the ashram now became a symbol for life’s journey which to me is one of self inquiry. Now, if I feel any doubt and confusion or if faced with a difficult choice I can always look back at the ashram experience and use these methods.

I will, forever, hold the ashram in my heart as symbolic of what it is that I want in my life – a clear sense of purpose and meaning.

George Dovas