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Welcome friends,
we have a feature here
called the "Seed of the Week,"
and this is the latest one:
"True spirituality does not 'pay'; it gobbles everything."
--Sadhguru,
in "Door To Attainment Is Always Open,"
Times of India, 21 Jan 08
(available in PDF at www.ishafoundation.org)
For a previous "Seed of the Week," check out
the "Forum Topic" section on this page.
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There is a beautiful story about a caterpillar that lived much of its life believing that it had
come into being only to eat and sleep and do what the rest of the caterpillars did. However it
was unhappy. Somehow it sensed that its life had another dimension not yet experienced.
One day, driven by a strange longing, it decided to become still and silent. It hung from the branch of a tree,
weaving a cocoon around itself. Inside the cocoon, although  constrained and uncomfortable, it waited, sensing and aware. Its patience bore fruit, for when the cocoon burst open, it was no longer the lowly worm that went in, but a beautiful, resplendent, winged butterfly which dazzled the sky. It soared and flew, no longer limited to its worm-like existence, but free and unbounded. The caterpillar had been transformed into a thing of air and lightness, magic and beauty.
Once the transformation had taken place,  it was impossible for the butterfly to return to being a worm. In the cocoon, the caterpillar had become one with its inner being and in this union it reached its ultimate nature.
What happened in the cocoon can be described as yoga.
Yoga is the path towards being boundless.
Yoga transforms and liberates human beings
so that they can reach this unbounded state. Humans, unlike animals,
are not merely existing. They are becoming. To evolve as a human being is
to become aware of one’s limitations; to strive, with intense passion,
towards the transcendence for which
we all have the potential.
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Never in history has humanity been as comfortable yet as insecure as it is now. Advancements in physical sciences and technologies have resulted in greater prosperity, but a sense of personal fulfillment and joy is tragically absent. The sacred science of yoga is a powerful possibility to experience the inner dimensions of life that give us the energy, passion and insights for a state of boundless joy.
The word Isha means the formless primordial source of creation and Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, plays a vital role in the  well-being of the individual and the world. Set up as a non-political and non-religious organization, Isha Foundation does not promote any particular ideology, religion, race, but transmits inner sciences of universal appeal.
Isha Foundation functions through over 150 centers worldwide. Empowered by over a quarter million volunteers, the Foundation is engaged in initiating multitudes into the science of inner well-being. In addition, it has also pioneered several renowned initiatives for world peace, outreach programs for life-term prisoners, destitute children, and battered women. Also initiated are several projects to serve as models for rural upliftment, education reform, environmental stewardship, and holistic and healthy living of the Indian people. For instance, one of the programs aimed at rejuvenating the poverty stricken and dilapidated rural population has been successful in bringing relief to over 750,000 people in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, South India. Recent Isha Foundation events to promote peace include peace walks, mass meditations and an International Day of Peace celebration, attended by thousands.
Driven by a sense of oneness, love, and a deep longing to reach out and share, Isha endeavors are entirely an outcome of the selfless dedication and the spirited efforts of its volunteers. Spread around the world and belonging to different nationalities and regions, this melting pot of cultures serves as a model for a new paradigm of humanity.
For more, check out the official Isha site www.ishafoundation.org by clicking on this triangle image below:
Isha Foundation - A Non-profit Organization
Here are some other helpful Isha links:
Sadhguru’s Portal
The US Center
Isha Yoga
Isha Vidhya
Dhyanalinga
Isha on NowPos
Project Green Hands
Action for Rural Rejuvenation
Isha Foundation Australia MySpace Group
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This movie features Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass,
Thich Naht Hanh, Father Thomas Keating, Barbara Marx Hubbard,
Riane Eisler, Robert Thurman, His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
Father Richard Rohr, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee,
Hasan Qazwini and Mantak Chia:
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"Something within you is longing for boundlessness."
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is the founder and spiritual head of the Isha Foundation.  A delegate of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United Nations, his initiatives for world peace and his outreach programs for life-term prisoners, destitute children and rural rejuvenation are internationally renowned. By working in harmony with all spiritual traditions, Sadhguru helps transform individuals as a lasting way to establish a peaceful and prosperous global society.
Recognizing that there can be no universal transformation without individual transformation, Sadhguru has dedicated his life to presenting powerful methods of self-transformation to people from all walks of life.
He developed Isha Yoga, Yoga of the Divine, as a set of scientifically structured programs that have touched and transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. He devotes his life to advance human consciousness by helping individuals break through limitations into their natural unbounded state. In his own words, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev distinctly defines his life and work: "This life for me is an endeavor to help people experience and express their divinity."
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Posting proposals for this group's Forum Topics and Bulletins
The Isha Yoga group here on MySpace is a community of meditators and interested friends who gather here to enjoy ourselves and share our joy. As Sadhguru puts it, joy is "the very basis of life, ” so let's celebrate and live it here too! With this in mind, we the moderators of this group propose the following guidelines for sharing in the Forum Topic and Bulletin sections of this group page:
(1) Let’s avoid religious topics. The Isha Foundation is a non-profit organization that’s not tied to any particular religion, so let’s keep it simpler and stick to spirituality.
(2) Let’s avoid discussing the particulars of the Isha Yoga programs or practices. These are interesting things and worth discussing somewhere but not here because we’re not trained to teach them. It takes the Isha Yoga teachers many years to learn how to teach these yogic practices well, so let’s let them do what they do best.
And finally...
(3) Let’s communicate with each other with the kind of compassion and clarity we’d use with our own children.
So, if you happen to post something else, that’s ok, but we’ll probably just remove it from the public group page. Before removing it, though, we’ll give a copy back to you via e-mail, especially if you’ve written something heartfelt.
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Now, what is there to talk about?
These are our first suggestions, and we anticipate the Forum will expand beyond them:
It's good to say how Isha has affected us, not just the classes but Sathsangs, being with Sadhguru, volunteering for Isha (which some people find to be a deeper experience than the actual classes), the treks, the Dhyanalinga, how you found out about Isha or maybe its Social Outreach projects like Action for Rural Rejuvenation, Project Green Hands etc... Talking about what is in our actual experience only. Lots of people have an Isha story—the ashram is full of them—but you don’t have to have a lot of experience with Isha yoga to have something to say here.
We could also use this as a discussion forum for Sadhguru's words. He talks about every subject under the sun but sometimes people misinterpret what he says, so this could be a place where we can look at this. Maybe a question/answer format might work for this: For example, Q. What does Sadhguru say about sex? A. Well...
We’re a community with diversity, questions, and so many stories, and we invite you to join the conversation.
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