Flexing the soul
The mingling of their voices creates a vibration that transcends the room, a gentle hum evoked by a simple mantra.
“Om Tara tut-ta-re,” chant the women and men who gather every Sunday at Spokane’s Radha Yoga Center. “Tu-re so-ha.”
Eyes closed, legs crossed as they sit on the floor, they slowly sing the words to a song calling on Tara, the Buddhist goddess of compassion. Over and over again the group chants the mantra as members focus on the names of people on a prayer list, as the soulful melody drones on a small reed organ. This 15-minute meditation is part of “satsang,” a weekly gathering devoted to music, stillness and inspiration.
Since 1989, hundreds of people on a spiritual quest have come to Radha Yoga Center to learn about the teachings of its founder, Swami Sivananda Radha, one of North America’s leading yoga teachers and authors until her death in 1995.
After establishing the Yasodhara Ashram, a spiritual center in British Columbia, Swami Radha spent the last years of her life in Spokane, where followers continue her work in spirituality and hatha yoga.
Those who come to this center in Browne’s Addition seek more than just strength and flexibility for their bodies. Some need solace from sorrow. Others wish to embark on self-discovery by pursuing a connection between the body and the mind. Many long for a spiritual connection.
“It’s a place where you can learn to be true to yourself and to find your heart’s desire,” says Faith Hayflich, who left the San Francisco area for Spokane four years ago to be closer to the ashram and become more involved with Radha Yoga Center. “I’ve learned how to be clear and move toward my ideals. It’s a place for gaining awareness.”
The teachings of the late guru do not constitute a religion. There is no dogma or doctrine to be learned. No Ten Commandments or set of rules to follow. Instead, many have described Swami Radha’s work as a philosophy, a science of the mind that a person can use to better connect with the self, the spiritual and with the world, including one’s faith whether it be Judaism, Christianity or Buddhism.
The philosophy is expressed and learned through the practice of hatha yoga and other “tools” that include interpreting dreams, chanting mantras, listening to the body’s hidden messages through the symbolism of the asanas, or poses, and expressing feelings through sacred dance.
“It’s a way to discover the mind,” says Hayflich, a business consultant and also a teacher at Radha Yoga Center. “How does your mind work? The more you know how it works, the more you can control it. You don’t have to become a victim to thoughts, emotions and moods.”
These lessons and Radha Yoga Center all started with Swami Sivananda Radha, a German native whose name was once Sylvia Helman. A widow after World War II, Swami Radha sunk into a deep depression and only found hope through yoga and her connection with Swami Sivananda of India, who became her guru. After studying at his ashram and becoming deeply involved in the teachings of Swami Sivananda, Radha went thorugh the process of becoming a teacher – or swami – herself. She found a purpose in life once again.
She then moved to Canada, where she established the retreat center on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia.
Many, including a number of women who now teach at Radha Yoga Center in Spokane, were drawn to Swami Radha’s concern for others, her gentle yet practical manner and the way she combined yoga with western psychology with a focus on the “divine feminine” of all religions. Those who knew her well were often moved by her ability to bring people together and transform lives by helping them learn more about their spiritual selves.
Over the years, Swami Radha’s ideas and practice have spread throughout North America and all over the world. Fourteen Radha Yoga Centers are now in existence. One is in England, two are in the United States – in the San Francisco area and in Spokane — and the rest are in Canada.
“The foundation of her work is really selfless service,” explains Swami Radhakrishnananda, a teacher in Spokane who first met Swami Radha through a six-week workshop at the ashram 25 years ago. “By giving back to life, people express their gratitude for what they are given in life.”
While a few followers like Swami Radhakrishnananda have devoted themselves so completely to the teachings that they have become renunciates — they’ve given up sex, relationships and material wealth to fully dedicate themselves to service and to connecting with “the divine” — the vast majority don’t go to that extreme. In fact, most of the students and teachers in Spokane are just regular people who live in the Inland Northwest and work in various fields that include law, medicine, business and education. Many are married. Some have children. They come from diverse backgrounds, but most want to dig deeper in hopes of finding their raison d’etre in life.
Deborah Rose, a nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center, took her first class at Radha Yoga Center in 2002. The experience proved to be so powerful that she ended up cashing some of her stocks to take a leave of absence in order to become a yoga teacher.
While she has kept her job at the hospital, her work at Radha has brought new meaning to her life, she said.
She speaks with both enthusiasm and reverence for all that she has learned, especially for the Divine Light invocation, a standing meditation that focuses on the light as a source of healing and a universal symbol for the divine.
“I’ve gained confidence, peace and a direction in my life,” says the 53-year-old. “I’ve lost self-doubt, poor self-esteem. I’ve lost things that have hindered me from being who I really am.”
Those who come to Radha Yoga Center begin their spiritual exploration by exercise and using hatha yoga to become stronger and more flexible, according to teachers. After a while, they delve into the other classes and begin to investigate the connection between the mind and the body.
This awareness often begins in regular hatha yoga classes, but especially with a practice called “Hidden Language.” While performing a particular pose, let’s say, the mountain or tadasana, students reflect on what the word “mountain” means and what it symbolizes to different cultures. For some, the mountain can evoke images of standing still or taking a stand; for others, it might be a symbol for strength or a sign for obstacles. The reflection continues by asking more questions: Where do I find strength? What gets in my way? What is my mountain made of? What do I believe in and what will I stand up for?
Another way for students and teachers to gain insight by quieting the mind is through the satsang. Every Sunday morning, a dozen or more people sit in a semicircle around an elaborate altar adorned with plants, flowers and glowing candles. At the center is a brass figure of Tara with rose petals at her feet. To the right is a small framed portrait of Swami Radha with her snow-white hair wearing a bright orange sari. To the left of Tara is her Chinese counterpart, a tiny figure of Quan Yin, the embodiment of compassion.
Those gathered here do not worship these statues; rather they use them as symbols for the “qualities of the divine.”
After singing a song accompanied by guitar music, one of the women takes a candle from the altar, making circular motions in the air while the rest of the group chants “Om” three times. “May the light purify all my senses,” she says before taking the candle and presenting it to each person in the room. After passing their hands over the glow, they touch their eyes, ears, nose and mouth before bringing their hands together at the heart.
“The light has a real power,” Hayflich later tells the group during a brief talk in which she quotes from the Bible, the Koran and the Hindu Upanishads. “It is a symbol for the power that is greater than we are.”
Before Hayflich was introduced to Swami Radha’s teachings in 1984, she viewed yoga as something that was “airy fairy” and not useful for such a pragmatic business woman like her. But after experiencing pain in her life, she found that yoga was the only way for her to relax and cry and find healing through movement.
After many trips to Spokane and to the ashram in Canada, she and her husband decided to leave their hectic lives in California behind for a quieter life in Spokane that was more aligned to her spiritual journey. Looking back at her years with Swami Radha and the lessons she has learned, Hayflich says she has become more at peace with herself and with others. Swami Radha’s teachings have made her grow, she says; She has learned to show more appreciation to others, to listen better, to take responsibility for her own well-being, to be a more honest and positive person.
“This kind of learning is so practical for anyone, whatever their stage of life,” Hayflich says. “Through this kind of work, young people can become better students, working people can become better employees, managers, co-workers.
“Everyone becomes happier.”