1993 – Convention

From Yoga Sagar – 1993 Commemorative Volume

Message to Swami Niranjan

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Niranjan, Namo Narayana.
I send my good wishes for the convention. You call it ‘Tyag Jayanti'.
I call it ‘Samarpan Muhurta', the moment of dedication. It was that time, an auspicious moment in my life, which I experienced fifty years ago in the divine presence of my guru – Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj.
To this day, I have always remembered it as a great moment of dedication. You will be able to help the movement of yoga and rededicate yourself to the great cause of human evolution.

Namo Satyananda

29 August, 1993, Rikhia

The Abhishek

A memorable ceremony during the convention was the performance of the vedic Sudarshan Yajna, propitiating Vishnu, the sustainer of the universe. Acharyas from Sringeri Math had arrived specially to perform the ritual. On completion of the yajna, kumbha abhisheka of Swami Niranjan was performed. He was bathed with the waters of a kumbha, or pot, that had been collected from oceans, rivers and tirthas and in which medicinal and tantric herbs had been steeped throughout the ceremonies. The water was also charged with the mantras chanted during the yajna. The abhisheka was performed as recognition of Swamiji as successor to Swami Satyananda. Swami Vidyananda Giri, Acharya of Kailash Ashram, Rishikesh, presented a chadar, cloth of honour, to Swamiji, consecrating the occasion.

International Yoga Fellowship Movement Charter

Mission statement

We, the sannyasin disciples of Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati who are spread all over the globe, on the eve of the fiftieth year of sannyasa celebration of our guru and master, hereby dedicate ourselves to work with determination, sincerity, love and compassion to spread the message of the ancient yogic tradition, to uplift the global and individual consciousness for a better tomorrow. In order to work harmoniously for a spiritual tomorrow, we hereby adopt this charter, which will provide us with a direction for the fulfillment of our guru's yogic and humanitarian mission. Imbued with love for our guru and compassion for mankind, we pledge to carry the light of yoga from door to door and from shore to shore.

Essentially it is a charter of global yogic aims for universal harmony which was introduced for all sannyasins and disciples of Swami Satyananda during the World Yoga Convention. The charter was established by Swami Niranjanananda to coordinate yogic activities and projects throughout the world. Its central body is an International Coordinating Committee comprised of representatives from all major Satyananda Yoga centres in Europe, North and South America, India, South-East Asia and Australia. The charter's main purposes are:

  1. To allow a pathway for new yogic directions and inspirational ideas to flow from Swami Satyananda into the community and society at large for the upliftment and evolution of humanity.
  2. To pull together the ideas and projects from small local groups and village communities regarding the uses of yoga in education, health and therapy, seva, service to others, and mind and body research. The charter will provide a forum for support and encouragement for valuable new ideas growing out of our ever-increasing knowledge and experience of yoga.
  3. To provide a forum for regulation and standardization in yoga teaching and activity in order to maintain the highest quality of understanding and respect for the tradition of yoga, especially with regard to the names and trademarks associated with Sri Swamiji's work.

Message to Participants

Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

If we can learn to open our hearts, grace will descend on to earth. It is with this hope that I have come here, and this is the message that I have brought. Enough of dabbling with yoga in our life, what have we derived from it? Maybe some degree of health, of well being, but now is the time to take a definite step. We have to experience the simplicity of life and live according to the principles of human dharma. That is the final message of yoga.

We can work together to build a better life and a better society by changing ourselves. The change has to come from within us, and we have to be ready for this change. This transformation of consciousness, energy and mind is the spirit of yoga.

November 1993, Munger, India