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What is a Cult?

The word “cult” is commonly used in modern English language in a way that is a departure from the original definition.  “Cult” used to refer to any identifiable group of people practicing a specific belief system, religion, set of customs, etc.  Now the word “cult” is used as a label for groups that the predominant culture sees as counter-culture, dangerous, misguided, fanatical, and usually under the sway of a deranged and charismatic leader.

In this article I would like to shed some light on the subjects of cults, mind-control/brainwashing, and traits of people susceptible to cult influence.  My purpose is to help the reader in discerning whether a group, a spiritual path, a set of spiritual teachings, or a group leader show signs of being a cult.

The negative idea of a cult is not a new phenomenon.  The yoga tradition has been dealing with the arising of strange sects that skew the original teachings in order to take advantage of people for at least 2,800 years.  The ancient texts of the yoga tradition contain sections that describe the qualities of a highly realized teacher in order to develop discriminative wisdom in the student.

As a youth growing up in the New York metropolitan area I was exposed to many large and powerful cults.  In the 1970’s it was impossible to go to the airport without being pounced upon by the Hare Krishnas and the “Moonies” – devotees of the Korean Christian cult leader Sun Myung Moon.  There were many groups vying for members at that time.  Scientologists were always on the sidewalks in New York offering their free testing to see if you were “clear.”

I was amazed that people could be taken so easily by blind faith in a person that claimed to be their only true way.  Observing cults and their leaders for four decades I have noticed a set of characteristics common to cults, their leader(s), and to the people who succumb to their proselytizing.

First, we’ll look at the defining features of a cult.

1. Infallibility of the cult leader(s)

In a cult, the leader or group of people forming the leadership are very often believed to be infallible.  Their supposed infallibility is usually based on some notion that the leader is somehow a direct manifestation of “God” or Ultimate Reality; or they are the appointed spokesperson for God during this era.

But, according the yoga tradition, infallibility is not a trait found in humanity.  All human beings, even our enlightened masters, can be mistaken.  It is a condition of being human.  Enlightenment refers to one’s deeper wisdom; the ability to know the difference between transient phenomena of the object world and that which is not transient such as our essence-nature.  Enlightenment does not confer infallibility.

Many religious groups believe their prophets, leaders, and even books (as in the case of the Abrahamic coalition of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) to be infallible.

The Roman Catholic Church is a prime example of cult infallibility.  It is Catholic doctrine that the Pope, the supreme leader of all Catholics, is infallible in matters of faith because he is God’s voice on earth.  He draws his authority from the apostle Peter who was thought to be the first pope appointed by Jesus.

It is quite easy to take a look at Catholic history to see horrible crimes against humanity committed by papal decree, some still ongoing.  It is obvious from the examples given below that the pope has often erred egregiously in “matters of faith.”

• In the1490’s the Pope issued a papal bull stating that the natives of the continent of South America were to be forcefully converted for their own good, and that it was better for their souls to die while being converted than to live outside the church.  Of course, this led to the massacre of multitudes of natives.  Could anyone imagine this action being a divine decree?
• Presently, we can see the doctrine of papal infallibility and the damage it causes through an examination of the Church’s unwavering stance on contraception.  As Africa is decimated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic (in some countries over 50% of the population is HIV positive with an average life expectancy under 38 years!) the Pope still teaches of the evils of contraception and condoms.  Speaking for God? – I think not.

We’ve looked at the Catholic Church as an example of cult leader infallibility.  Mainstream religions tend to escape the cult label but as we have just seen, most of them would be easily described by infallibility of the leader and the following characteristics.

The more obvious examples of Jim Jones, Reverend Moon, and others like them clearly fall into the cult category of infallibility.  And in the case of Jones, his supposed infallible/divine status led directly to the tragic deaths of 900 of his followers – men, women, and children.

It is time to leave behind the dangerous faith-based paths that promise rewards or realities that cannot be manifested in the here and now through practice.  I am pleased to say that my Indian and Tibetan teachers never posed as infallible, and in fact taught me just the opposite.  An advanced state of spiritual cultivation does not include infallibility.  It is simply not an issue.

So we are warned to be wary of people claiming infallibility, no matter how great they may seem to be in their spiritual and secular lives.  The true Yoga-Tantra tradition embraces humanity with its exceptional creativity and weaknesses, such as fallibility.

2. The cult or its leader(s) possess the Ultimate Truth

One of the most compelling selling points of a cult is that the cult declares they alone know the real God or the way to Ultimate knowledge, or that their leader is in possession of this Ultimate Truth.

The modern religions that came out of the Middle-East are still at war over possession of the Ultimate Truth, and the “Holy Land” itself which belongs only to the rightful possessors of this “Truth.”  They each believe that they alone have this knowledge and that by being part of this sect of “chosen ones” they are “special,” “saved,” and “closer to God.”

And it is not only the mainstream Middle-Eastern religions that espouse this doctrine.  The big three (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) also have esoteric spin-offs sects which can qualify as cults.  An example is a group in Melbourne, Australia that practices Kabala, the esoteric tradition of Judaism.  The rabbi who leads this group says that Kabala is open to all people to know God completely, but… “Jewish souls” are special and innately closer to God.

And I’ve met many members of eastern sects who also believe they know the real identity of God and because of that they have special access to God by virtue of belonging to a particular sect.  One woman came into my center in Sydney, Australia to tell me that her guru is the only one in the world who knows God’s real name and that without knowing his real name you could not become one with him and would eternally wander in delusion.

The Hare Krishna movement (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) functions in a very similar way to a fundamentalist Christian sect (which its founder modeled it after on his first trip to the United States).  To the Krishnas, the ultimate savior is Krishna and all one need to do to be saved is to recognize him as such and constantly remember his name.  This will sound familiar to people raised in Protestant Christian sects.  The Hare Krishnas even have a book that supposedly comes from God and “proves” their claims (the Bhagavad Gita – which they grossly misinterpret to support their fundamentalist view).

In contrast, the great virtue of authentic Yoga-Tantra and especially the tradition of the Mahasiddhas, is the belief that all authentic sects based on Veda, Tantra, or Yoga lead one to the Ultimate Truth, which is the source of everyone, is uncreated, and is inherent in all beings, waiting to be recognized.  The ancient Indian traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh) teach that the Ultimate Truth is who you are, and it is a type of amorphous all-pervading potentiality of Loving-Awareness rather than a special God you know or have special access to.

The teaching of Kashmir Saivite Tantra tell us that the ultimate destination for all sentient beings is the same – we will all be enlightened by returning to our Source, and the one who has “special access” to their Source is the one who actively pursues the path – the one who puts forth self-effort.  It is taught that we are all inherently at one with the Ultimate – our Source – but that it does take effort to realize and embody this truth.

Saivite Tantra teaches that we are attracted to a spiritual path due to our karmas (our specific set of previous conditioning which compels our preferences and actions).  And that even if we are attracted to a path that declares they are the only “true way” – eventually we will awaken to a wider view and accept that all others’ views and ways as valid entry points to the One Source we all possess (or arise from).

Sometimes newcomers to Yoga-Tantra can misunderstand a teaching because the wording in English resembles some aspect of their former religion.  When a Yoga-Tantra guru is explaining knowledge of the Ultimate Truth and how to realize that Ultimate Truth through tantrik methods of meditation they are not saying that they alone possess the Ultimate Truth or the only way to that Ultimate Truth.  The Yoga-Tantra guru is describing our own inherent nature, which is the same for all sentient beings.  The meditation methods used to realize our essential nature are not said to be the best in comparison to other methods used by other sects. Rather it is understood that that if you are practicing the meditations of Yoga-Tantra instead of some other method, that it is your karma to have this preference.

In summation – no group, no sect, no leader is in possession of Ultimate Truth to which others do not have access.  Anyone who says otherwise self-qualifies for cult status.

Infallibility of the leader(s) and solo possession of the Ultimate Truth are the two qualifiers that apply to the teachings of the cult and its leadership.

Now I’d like to turn our attention to the cult mindset and examine some cult characteristics expressed in the behavior and thinking of the membership.

1. Isolation and segregation of the sect through xenophobia and/or a superiority complex.

The members of cults are often taught that they are special or superior to others.  They are often brainwashed to believe that they are only safe amongst each other or that since all other people are wrong or dangerous in their view, they should not associate with them for fear of being contaminated by the “outsiders” wrong ideas.

There is often a restriction on what materials a student may study and with whom they may associate.  Quite often the cult member is forbidden to be with their family.

This leads to the classic cult characteristic of keeping to themselves – segregation.  Though group isolation in itself does not define a cult it is often used to preserve the identity of a cult.  Isolationism prevents the infiltration of “dangerous ideas” into the cult.

Tantrik Yoga especially runs contrary to this in that Tantra is very syncretic and absorbs everything it finds useful from traditions it comes into contact with.

Also, Tantra as a spiritual path in particular is especially inclusive.  The masters of the early Tantrik tradition wrote and taught extensively about transcending all types of social segregation.  Tantra is anti-caste, anti-elitist, and anti-misogynistic, (more accurately, pro-feminist).

Therefore, real Tantra which embraces the world and humanity is not segregationist or xenophobic.

2. Poor Discrimination

From my observations of cults it appears that the cult member must be disempowered in a fundamental way that prevents healthy discrimination.  It not only takes a charismatic leader, a special doctrine, and proselytizing to create a cult – the cult would be nothing without highly suggestible people to brainwash.

Unfortunately, some people don’t want responsibility for their life and decision making, and they choose to join cults because it is easy to follow the herd.

But for others, susceptibility to “cult-think” can come from the member not having a strong sense of self.  The cult member has very little to no sense of their authentic personality and its needs, desires, strengths and weaknesses.  A person with a disintegrated personality is an easy mark for a cult because the cult supplies the identity that our self-image mechanism (ahamkara) so desperately needs.  Cult members are not encouraged to develop their strong, individual sense of self, personality, and purpose in life.

Tantrik Yoga on the other hand teaches that the path of Tantra is impossible to traverse without a strong, clear sense of self and that self’s needs, desires, strengths, and weaknesses.  Tantrik methods expand the creative power and discriminative awareness of the student to bring out each person’s unique expression of enlightenment.

With a strong sense of self the student can exercise discrimination to discern whether a potential path or teacher smells of cult.  Without discrimination the student is a victim waiting for a perpetrator.

This is why it is recommended that a person utilize psychotherapy or hatha yoga before they learn Tantra if they have issues of co-dependency, poor self-esteem, lack of authentic personality, or fantasies about the spiritual path and its purpose.

I have also observed a strange type of susceptibility to cults in the hyper-academically oriented person.  Two famous writers on Yoga, Tantra and the enlightenment path in general whom I know, were previously involved in a cult with a leader who said, “There has never been, nor will there ever be a more powerful manifestation of God on earth than me.  All you must do is surrender to me and you are saved.”  How could these intelligent men, well-trained in the metaphysics of India and Tibet, fall for such a narcissistic megalomaniac?

I’ve found that if a cult leader is very intelligent and has a super-charged personality, that academic types are easily put in doubt because their intelligence lacks the discrimination that wisdom gives.  Their intellect meets a rational argument that they can’t fault and because of this they fall in with a teacher/cult that is obviously coercing, manipulating, and actually harming students.

So, we all need good discrimination based on our essence to avoid being susceptible to cult brainwashing and point of view.

3. The Desire to Belong

Many cult members exhibit a strong desire to belong to a group.  They crave intimacy, acceptance, affection, and positive re-enforcement that they possibly did not receive from family, friends, and school during their important years of social and personal development.

This causes the strong, irrational, and highly emotional attachment to the cult leader and the members.  The truth is that it is not the fault of an authentic teacher of Tantrik-Yoga if students show up who lack a clear sense of self and the discrimination and ability to self-nourish/self-love.

These students make an authentic situation into their “personal cult” through their sycophantic orientation.  Their need for group acceptance and love, etc. is satisfied by using the spiritual community to get these needs filled.  All of the authentic communities of Tantrik Yoga that I have visited around the world have this type of student mixed in with the students who are very clearly self-possessed.  And due to their inherent weakness of personality the needy student cannot self-reflect and remove themselves from Tantrik practice and get the psychotherapy they need.

This is a difficult and basically unavoidable situation because the last two points depend on the student – not the teacher or the group.

4. The Cult Member Needs/Wants to be Told What To Do

Due to the above-mentioned characteristics the person who is susceptible to the cult mentality is not in a position to successfully navigate the details of their life.  Thus, the cult leader or the appointed spokespersons/hierarchy is often in a position of telling the members what to do and how to live.  It is not so in the authentic tradition of Tantrik-Yoga.  A true guru never tells a student what do and just as my guru never told me how to live my life, I never tell students what they should or should not do, but rather I seek to enable them to cultivate the skills, discrimination, and wisdom to make their own responsible choices.  The path of Tantrik-Yoga is not possible without the student’s claim of 100% responsibility for their life choices, direction, and consequences.

This concludes a basic overview of what constitutes a cult from the Tantrik perspective.  I hope that this information is useful and helps potential students of any tradition to decide whether, 1. they are fit for spiritual practice (meaning, psychologically self-possessed), and, 2. whether or not the group and leader they are deciding to get involved with is interested only in their benefit.

It may be best for the newcomer to follow the advice I give potential students of our tradition: take 2 or 3 years to check out the school, the teacher and the student-body.  Attend teachings without making any commitment during that time.  Weigh the school against others that you are currently investigating and when you feel sufficiently self-possessed and have made a wise discriminative choice of a school enter the practice with a happy heart that you have found your spiritual path.

May all beings be free.

-Dharmanidhi

The Structure of a Kula

Sri Ramanuja Acarya (Sri Rami) during one of his many teaching visits.

(Dharmanidhi’s introductory note:  Our dear spiritual friend and advisor, Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari, has written this wonderful, concise article on kula from his Vaishnava lineage’s perspective.  His years of experience as a lineage representative are evident in his words.  And though some of the terminology used may differ from that of Kashmir Shaivism, the message and its functional importance is identical.)

There is a sutra in Kautilya’s Artha Shastra which goes

Sukhasya mulam dharmah

Dharmasya mulam dhanam

Dhanasya mulam karyam

Which means – the root of happiness is Dharma, the root of Dharma is wealth, and the root of wealth is work.

A kula, or spiritual family, works as a single unit and as such finds its happiness in the Dharma practice that it engages in – both individually and collectively. But for this Dharma practice to take place a wealth and labour basis is required.

In order to efficiently structure such a community one needs to consider three things:

1. A broad-based grass-roots parishioner community, which supplies the work-power and financial support for the community.

2. A selected few who are interested and have the aptitude for further vocational training and an intention to serve the parishioner community.

3. A few rare individuals who want to dedicate themselves fulltime to personal practice and who will be supported by the rest of the community.

The other factors to consider on an individual basis are:

Svabhava — personality

Bhumika — stage of attainment

Adhikara— capacity

A society is comprised of individuals – and each and every individual is unique, having differing personalities, aptitudes, levels of development, motivations, pasts, etc. When structuring a community it is important to take these factors into account.

Kulas usually arise centered around a charismatic figure or an enlightened guru. According to the Tantras there are 2 broad types of gurus:

1. Anuvritti-prasann-acharya

2. Kripa-matra prasanna-acharya.

The former are those strict and formidable teachers who rigorously test each and every aspirant to assess their personality, attainment and capacity. They have very few disciples and, having very few organizational needs, dedicate their lives entirely to spiritual practice.

The latter are those highly compassionate teachers who initiate and teach anyone who shows the slightest interest. These are the gurus who have many disciples and eventually become bogged down with organizational issues and politics and spend less time in their own spiritual practice and more time herding the flock.

In Vaishnava Tantra the kula is envisaged to exist in 6 stages:

§ 1. Adveshi – This is a passive state in which one comes into contact with the Kula either through a member of one’s own family who has joined or lives nearby a kula center. In this stage one simply bears no ill-will towards the organization, but also no great attraction either.

§ 2. Anukulan – A stage in which one is sympathetic to the Kula members and the Dharma teachings, visits the temples, experiences joy and personal upliftment during the festivals, and makes some form of contribution in service, cash, or kind.

§ 3. Namadhari – One who, becoming more attracted by the Dharma and desiring greater involvement, applies for and receives basic initiation and thus joins the community but does not necessarily study the doctrines or practice regularly and sincerely, but regularly attends teachings and festivals.

§ 4. Mantra-pathi – In this stage one begins sincere spiritual practice, studies the teachings of the acharyas and siddhas and chants the mantras regularly, performs intensive sadhana, and tries to work on oneself to spiritually improve.

§ 5. Ekanti - One who devotes most of his/her time to spiritual practice, devotional service and the study and propagation of the teachings of the acharyas and siddhas. These are the vocational members of the community who have dedicated themselves to study, practice, and teaching

§ 6. Parama-ekanti – The final stage in which one renounces everything and devotes oneself entirely to spiritual practice and devotional service.

Although these are thought of as stages in one’s development it is important to note that these represent stages in a gradual and protracted spiritual evolution – not one to be fast-tracked in a few years. Many people may remain in one stage for their entire life on the planet.

The vast majority of the parishioners are comprised of #2 Anukulans and #3 Namadharis. They are regular family guys who are the grass-roots of the kula, they have regular jobs and lives and have a “religious” rather than a “spiritual” life.

The #4 Mantra-pathis are the few who have a greater commitment to their own spiritual transformation. Of their own volition they regulate their lives and introduce those spiritual practices and elements of sadhana that they can easily assimilate and accommodate within their regular lives of balancing spirituality with domestic responsibilities. There is no compulsion and they digest as much as they can without getting reflux.

The #5 Ekantis are those who decide to undertake vocational training and approach the guru with this view in mind. The guru then tests these applicants and decides if they are suitable to the task. They then begin a protracted period of intensive study over a number of years — the aim being personal development and the teaching and guidance of the other members of the community.

The #6 Parama-ekantis are those very few individuals who retreat from worldly life and live as hermits and anchorites — they have little to do with the community affairs but are supported in their needs and aspirations by the community.

In the modern world we have been imbued with notions of aspiration, competition, achievement, failure etc. all of which we transpose onto our spiritual life. This is completely unhelpful when it comes to spiritual progress. Neophytes often cannot deal with the sadhana overload and instead of simply downgrading and loosening up they become dejected and drop out altogether burdened with feelings of failure and diminishment of self-esteem.

Another factor to consider is the Vedic injunction not to teach unless requested to do so. It is the responsibility and indeed an indication of the sincerity and development of the aspirant to seek out the guru and to request teaching, and to engage with the teaching in a more proactive manner.

The formula for requesting teaching is:

Bhagavan maitrena cakshusha pashya

Shivena manasaa anugrahaana

Praseeda maam adhyaapaya

Which means: “Venerable sir, regard me with a friendly eye, accept me with a benevolent mind, have compassion and teach me!”

The teacher is enjoined not to deliver the teaching until the students are ready and this they do by formally requesting such teaching. Obviously in the beginning this is not possible – one needs some rudimentary knowledge before one can really ask questions or request teaching. The kula is now at the stage when they should no longer be spoon-fed and have enough knowledge to ask the proper questions and to request the appropriate teachings.

Jai Gurudev
Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari

The Definition of Adi-Yoga

Photo from Adi-Gate1 Manual

Adi: primordial, source, first, original
Yoga: union, method, path

Adi-Yoga is a comprehensive system of Hatha Yoga. It is called “Adi,” which in Sanskrit means primordial or source, because it is Yoga in its original form as it was practiced and transmitted by the Himalayan masters of the tradition.

The Sanskrit word “Yoga” in Adi-Yoga has three meanings. First, the word yoga means union or joining together. This refers to the Yogic view that when the world of opposites is unified in your experience of self and Universe, a bliss that is your true Nature is revealed.

Yoga teaches that the suffering you experience is due to being bounced between the poles of pleasure and pain, desiring and rejecting, happiness and sadness, control and out-of-control, etc. By practicing the path of yoga (its second meaning is “path”) dualities are resolved and the inherent, uncreated and non-dual bliss and freedom of your true nature is discovered. Classical, authentic Hatha Yoga as presented in the Adi-Yoga system is a complete path of spiritual cultivation. It has been practiced since before the Upanishads were written and the Buddha was born.

The third relevant definition of yoga is “technique or method.” Adi-Yoga has an incredible amount of techniques available for the practitioner to work with. In the traditional practice of Hatha Yoga it is considered very important for you, the student, to find the right combination of methods that is appropriate for your capacity, competency, and emotional-mental disposition (adhikara, bhumikara, svabhava in Sanskrit). Adi-Yoga has what are considered “outer” and “inner” methods of practice.

The modern impressions of yoga come almost entirely from the outer practices such as postures (asana), breathing practices (pranayama), and concentration exercises (trataka), but the tradition has a well-developed range of inner methods as well. These include, but are not limited to: meditation with and without form (sapeksa and nirpeksa dhyanam), using the subtle channels and energy centers (kriya), purifying the five elements of being (tattva suddhi), working with deities (deva yoga), sleep and dream practices (susupta yoga, svapna yoga), the method of transferring consciousness at the time of death (muncara), etc.

Adi-Yoga is the Way of the Mahasiddhas
Mahasiddhas were the great adepts of the original Tantrik system of yoga. Originally they were Indian Saivists, but as Tantra spread to Tibet and Bhutan, Tantrik Buddhism also began to develop a Mahasiddha tradition. In appearance, as well as practice, the Mahasiddhas of Saivite and Buddhist origin were virtually indistinguishable. They lived a philosophy, practice, and lifestyle that were beyond religious definitions and affiliations. They were beyond restrictions of caste, sect and socially accepted mores.

Through they never formed a formal school; the live experience of their raw awaked state was passed on via oral instruction and direct transmission. With some notable exceptions, most Mahasiddhas ridiculed harsh disciplines, asceticism, empty rituals, study of texts, etc. though most made extensive use of these methods in their pre-enlightenment years of training.

Adi-Yoga is a system of spiritual cultivation handed down intact from generation to generation from the Mahasiddhas, without dilution or corruption.

Adi-Yoga and Kashmir Saivism
Adi-Yoga is informed by the non-dual philosophy of Kashmir Saivism. Arguably, the greatest Indian philosopher-yogin to ever live was Abhinavagupta who formed the Trika School of non-dual Saivite Tantra. Abhinavagupta refers to Mahasiddha Matsyendranatha as the founder of Kashmir Saivism. It is Sri Matsyendranatha that is credited with refining and systematizing most of the Hatha Yoga presented in the Adi-Yoga system.

Adi-Yoga is Pan Himalayan and Central Asian
During the last six thousand years there has been a lot of transfer of spiritual ideas and techniques by masters throughout the Central Asian and Himalayan regions.
The Mahasiddha, Kashmir Saivite, Tibetan Buddhist, and Adi-Yoga traditions are the products of a tremendous amount of cross-fertilization. It does not seem likely that there was one origin to the yoga of the Mahasiddhas. There are many similarities and identical practices between the yoga systems of the Indian Saivas, Nathas, the Zhang-Zhung Bon, Tibetan Buddhist, Chinese Chan and Daoism. Adi-Yoga shares many of the same yoga practices found in these systems.

Discovering the Unity of Body, Mind, and Speech
One common ideological theme to the practices of the above listed systems is that they are decidedly not transcendental. The body, energy, and the mind are worked with to realize their fundamental unity, and their indivisibility with the universe. Reality is discovered within your actual situation and is not a transcendental experience; hence working with the body and its energies is of primary importance in Adi-Yoga.

The 11 Limbs of Adi-Yoga
Adi-Yoga can be likened to a pie with eleven slices. All eleven slices or aspects of Adi-Yoga point to, and can potentially reveal the “center;” your Source or True Nature.

1. Asana- training in the classical postures of Hatha Yoga to cultivate the experience of the body its energies as manifestations of essence.
2. Pranayama- training energy cultivation via the breath.
3. Mudra- training in the physical placement and gestures of the hands, eyes, and whole body to control movement of energy in the subtle channels of the body.
4. Bandha- training in directing, concentrating and liberating the subtle energies of the body.
5. Meditation- detailed instruction in both conceptual (visualizations, mantra, concentrations, etc.) and non-conceptual methods of meditation.
6. Kriya –training the inner movement of consciousness and energy.
7. Sastra – studying the texts of the yoga tradition as aids to practice.
8. Ayurveda – the principles and practices of Ayurveda (Tantrik science of life and healing) support the practice path of the Adi-Yogin
9. Transmission – the supra-mental method of teaching that maintains the freshness of the experience of awakening.  Transmission preserves the essential fruit of the teachings and practices and is the beginner’s link to the primordial masters state of realization.  Transmission is grace. Grace is the unqualified gift that the enlightened masters of this tradition bestow upon those with pure hearts and minds.
10. Initiation – formal initiation is given to Adi-Yoga acaryas, hermits and those undertaking practice retreats to master a vidya.
11. Integration- training yourself to recognize your true nature in each moment regardless of the difficulty or ease of the situation you find yourself in. Applying the twenty-one precepts of conduct as gateways to integration practice.

Re-Invigorating the Hatha Yoga Tradition
Presently, the once sacred system of Hatha Yoga is in a state of dishevelment and dilution, similar to the situation that prompted the famous yogi Svatmarama to pen the text called the Hatha Yoga Pradipika wherein he says:

“The highest state of yoga is unknown due to darkness created by varying ideas and concepts. In good will and as a blessing, Svatmarama offers light on Hatha Yoga.”
Ch 1, v. 3, HYP

Adding to the general confusion about Hatha Yoga as a science, our modern yoga scene has broken the guru-disciple chain, which is the ancient form of quality control and turned the teaching of Yoga into a commercial venture.

The system of Adi-Yoga is neither diluted nor modernized to make it more palatable to the general public or to make it commercially competitive with modern renderings of yoga.  In the ancient world that still informs Adi-Yoga today, the number of adherents did not prove the efficacy or legitimacy of a school, this is still true today.

Adi-Yoga is firmly rooted in the original intention of the masters: to preserve and make available a path for those who want to end their suffering and realize their True Nature. It is hoped that Adi-Yoga and other classical approaches to Hatha Yoga can re-invigorate the tradition, and that people will realize the unique value of a path of spiritual cultivation that has the body and our immediate experience as its base.

How is Adi-Yoga Taught?
Format of teachings
Adi-Yoga is learned in a group course called a “gate.” Each level of Adi-Yoga has a gate, where you are introduced to the techniques and concepts of that level enabling you to practice solo or with others afterwards in a group class of the proper Gate.

The emphasis is on personal practice in Adi-Yoga and group classes are used to refresh and inspire you as well as for you to enjoy the larger energy of community generated when Adi-Yogins practice One-to-one instruction is also available and will allow you and your Adi-Yoga instructor to fine tune what you learn and pace it appropriately for you. This is the way yoga has been taught for thousands of years and Adi-Yoga wants to preserve this important aspect of learning yoga.

For the First, Second, and Third Gates all physical technique, philosophy, chanting etc. is taught together. From the Fourth Gate onward each aspect of Adi-Yoga has its own gate. For example, you may have studied asana up to the Third Gate and may therefore practice in an Adi-Yoga Third Gate level class. And you may not want to learn more extreme postures but you may still desire to learn more philosophy or more expanded awarenesses that you can apply to your present level of asana. You are able to do this by taking the higher philosophy Gates and awareness gates while not having to take the next asana Gate.

Retreats
There are annual retreats in Adi-Yoga practice held at Kailash Akhara, the Adi-Yoga center in Thailand and in the United States. The general Adi-Yoga curriculum is offered on retreat as well as one-off topical teachings.

How are Adi-Yoga teachers certified?
There are basically two types of teachers certified to teach Adi-Yoga: instructors and acaryas. Instructors must learn Adi-Yoga through the Third Gate and practice for two years before applying to be trained as an instructor. The future instructor then completes a demanding course of study and is certified to teach First, Second, or Third Gate. Acaryas are Adi-Yoga instructors who have taken formal initiation and are junior representatives of the lineage. They are certified to instruct Fourth Gate and up, as well as the First, Second, and Third Gates. They also keep certain vows and commitments. All Adi-Yoga instructors and acaryas will be listed by name and what level they are authorized to teach on the Adi-Yoga website. Only the teachers listed on the website have finished the proper course of study and passed the rigorous examinations enabling them to instruct the Adi-Yoga system.

Discovering Samsara

To some degree we are all able to feel tensions, aversions, and emotional-physical reactions to environments and situations, and in my first few years of meditation and sadhana these reactions were felt and experienced much as they had been before in my life. Our culture and role-models taught us that experiencing something that was pleasurable or rewarding (which varies according to the group one identifies with) should lead to an attempt to maintain it, and that experiencing something that was not gratifying should lead to an attempt to make that feeling go away. This seems natural enough, but I am now discovering how unnecessary and energy wasting it was (and is) to go through this process – the way I had been interacting with the energies of life was conditioned by the cultural norms I had been brought up with and used as reference points, but I believe some of these reference points do a disservice to the general well-being of many people.

For example, last fall I went several months feeling very stressed and anxious because I was far behind in all of my classes at university. From cultural conditioning, I immediately and repeatedly labeled this feeling as “bad” and went about trying to combat it by exercising, pulling late nights of study, going to see teachers, etc. I was unaware that the feeling could be dropped on the spot and that mental and physical peace restored at the very instant I felt anxious. I was unaware that the thoughts about needing to do this, that, and the other to rectify this situation that I found myself in were propelling samsaric karmic activity further. It is a trap to think that since the activities I was exercising were not “bad” that I was not perpetuating my own suffering. Good intentions aside, I was distracting myself from Presence.

This cycle happens from moment-to-moment (not just from situation to the next) on all scales of the game. The above story is a large external example, but such things also go on in the minutest scale – in the form of every single thought and concept that pops into my mind. Although you may be different, I have found that every thought I have causes some emotion, and then that emotion is either grasped on to or rejected, until the next thought comes and another reaction follows, which I will then invest more mental energy in (if not physical energy) in some seemingly appropriate manner as I was taught to deal with it both by example and by my own self-conditioning.

When I was growing up, it was never explained to me that the thoughts and feelings I was having was just energy moving and changing. Or that this energy I was experiencing was indicative of a greater natural wisdom. There was no mention of larger cycles of time and energy. It was as if the fact that humans were but a single species on planet Earth, which orbited the Sun, which was part of a solar system with nine planets, that was in one of six arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, that was in a cluster of galaxies, among billions of other galaxy clusters inside a Universe (forget about the scientifically unproven traditional notions of realms of being and consciousness) made no difference at all, and that the psycho-emotional and physical realm of human interaction was truly the only thing that mattered. The primacy of human intellect, in my formative years, erased even the trace amounts of lessons about inter-being, and sensitively/energetically relating not only to my environment but even to other people as well. I was lead to believe that mental formations – which were based on a very limited self-concept that completely erased any contextualization of myself, and the human race in general – were concrete and real objects that should be responded to. For example, we see a movie where a boy dates a girl and the ex-boyfriend gets jealous and needs to do x, y, and z to win the girl back (and we learn when we are jealous that if we make ourselves better, than we too can be sexually fulfilled), or we watch the news and see that some new technology will help us learn Latin that will help us on the SAT tests (so we do not buy the gadget due to money issues, and feel ill-prepared for the SATs when we go in to take them), or we read a book and discover how eating organic will make us more beautiful and spiritual (so we rush off to the organic market to buy organic crackers for our kids, but are angry and tense because we are running late). We never are asked to observe an emotion or desire and meditate on it; we are never pointed towards a reality where there is more to experiencing life than obtaining some image of an external/materialistic version of contentment and satisfaction. We are taught that our thoughts – and the emotions they cause – need to be tended to. Good thoughts make us feel good, bad thoughts bad, spiritual thoughts spiritual, anxious thoughts anxious, fine thoughts fine, and we live our lives trying to ensure that the thoughts (and therefore feelings) we hold are in line with our extremely limited self-concept.

A more natural state however, is not one where a myriad of thoughts are given a huge investment of time and effort, or one where tranquility and harmony are obtained like an object.

You, perhaps, are different – but for me every single feeling I used to have could be traced back to a thought or conceptualization of some sort. Having my thoughts create my emotional/phenomenological experience of the world lead me to manipulate and rectify “things” to get what I thought was necessary. However natural it may seem, and however little suffering we may think we feel (especially if our concept of suffering is that of having to be a victim of some external atrocity) this cycle is for many of us a major part of our samsaric suffering.

Samsara is not based on the content of the thought itself. The content could be “good” or “bad,” spiritual or mundane, random or logical, but – as far as I can tell from my own experience, the content of the thought still makes absolutely no difference! It is the energetic investment that I put into my thoughts that really perpetuated the suffering.

Through meditation I began to see this, and I started to use strong effort to drop the thought, and then observe how the emotion would immediately dissolve after the concept had been let go of. With so many thoughts at any one moment, doing this was frustrating at first. But that feeling, too, was based on a concept, which was dropped and the emotional reaction of frustration was also lifted. By doing this technique I was able to taste the good-heart-feeling of an ever-purifying experience of presence, and this gave me much encouragement and motivation.

The expectations, ideas, and desires I hold still distract me from Presence and prevent me from fully “being here,” but not nearly as strongly as they once did. Although this may seem a bit extreme – letting go of ALL concepts/thoughts, etc.- it is just a baby step along the way that is allowing an opening for me to experience things energetically first, without having to filter through a self-absorbed mental facility. Once the energetic reaction is always first (the hallmark of “being intimate with your energy state”) it seems to me that my responses will actually have the potential to be appropriate and uncontrived – in other words an expression of Essence.

If your experience of life has been anything like mine has been, it may be really difficult to see that you are “suffering,” but perhaps that is because, in relation to the culture and people that you learned  from, the idea of suffering is far from the view of our lineage. The suffering is the distraction from your Essence Nature. The distractions are conceptual fantasies based on our sense of self, and self-absorption. The conceptual fantasies are intensified and ingrained by our continued involvement with them.

It may take several years, like it did for me, to realize that one – you have tensions, and expectations, and hopes, and desires swirling around in your experience every moment; two – that you become involved in maintaining a state of being that fits another concept you hold as a state of being you wish to be in (as an object); and three – that this is suffering. But if you do see this then you can choose to dissolve the conceptual fantasies, and reside in an energetic experience of life. It seems to me that we will lose a lot of what we are familiar with, and a lot of what we have been taught by our culture and peers about “normal” functioning by doing this. However, I am also starting to see how the skills, virtues, and other natural capacities I have are not erased now that I am starting to engage with life from an energetic base. In fact, the skills and natural virtues and propensities we all have, will surely allow us to effectively function and interact with the world. What is more is that these skills and virtues -coming from a person who is always energetically and sensitively engaging with life – will actually bring an aliveness and sincerity into our interactions that could never have been there before. Projecting and experiencing life through a samsaric lens created by the thoughts and emotions we carried in reference to a limited self-concept is not the expansive state that is truly natural and free from suffering.

May we all discover the depth and breadth of our suffering, and desire to change. May all beings know their true Nature.

Hari Om

Jaya Guru Dev

The Body is the Yajna – Connecting to the Sacred Fire of Our Body

This article is fruit of a specific inspiration by one of my teachers, Hart de Fouw.

Living and growing up in a society where ritual is not at the forefront of our experience, how can we relate to fire ritual in an embodied sense? The external act of offering items into the ritual fire, the yajna, sometimes seems almost magical and mysterious to someone who has not developed the correct relationship to it. One way we can view yajna is to relate it to the primacy of the body, a basic tantric teaching. How does fire ritual inform this notion that the body is the yantra of consciousness?

The body is the yantra.

The body is the havan, the ground and vessel of the sacred fire.

The body is vessel for our consciousness.

Through the body, karmas are burned.

So many things go into and come out of this body. How much awareness do we bring to this process?

In the preparations for the fire ritual, no drop of ghee, no twig is left unattended before it goes in the sacred fire. So many ‘pure’ elements go into the fire. We purify the ritual items by bringing attention to them through gestures and mantras. Consciousness is what enlivens. We nurture the hope that, because of the pure things that we offer into the fire, as they get transformed they shall produce results. They will be of benefit to someone or to all, in some time and space.

Until we realize our own body is the yantra, we will be disconnected from what is going on in the external ritual. We won’t get it. The body is the yantra. There is a yajna going on inside of us right at this moment and every moment we are alive. We want to sanctify what goes into the sacred fire of our body, just as we sanctify what goes into the yajna. For example, just as we recite preliminary mantras before the yajna, it is important to say a prayer before our meals, to acknowledge the sacred connection between what we take in and what we become. Consciousness also needs to be applied to what comes out of the body through our actions, our karmendriyas, our organs of action. That is how we manifest into the world.

Let the next fire ritual you attend remind you that what you are reproducing in the ritual is what happens all day long in the rest of your life. You are the fire. You are the ritual in your every choice of action and in what you bring into your body and your life.

Enjoy and be that transformation!

Contributed by SriAcala

Jyotisha – The Study of Light

By Bette Timm
Editorial assistance by Danielle Williams

All objects in nature are created in time, developed in time, and destroyed in time. With this understanding, we are able to highly value a scientific system that can measure the effects of time. Such a system was developed over 5000 years ago in India and continues to evolve; it is called jyotisha, or Vedic astrology.

This greatly respected and widely practiced system of astrology is a fundamental part of India’s rich cultural tradition. Yet it has only recently found acceptance in the West, following the enormous popularity of hatha yoga and the growing emergence of teachers of Vedic philosophy and spirituality. Like hatha yoga, ayurveda, and various forms of meditation, jyotisha originates from the Vedas, or the spiritual texts of India. It is, in fact, a Vedanga-a limb of the Vedas.

The word jyotisha itself roughly translates as “the science of light.” Just as we perceive light through the organ of our eyes, jyotisha is the eye of the Vedas through which light, both inner and outer, is understood.

Outer light is represented by the planets, the luminary bodies that orbit the earth and shine upon the backdrop of our solar system. The practice of jyotisha employs both astrology and astronomy, and much of its body of knowledge comes directly from observational astronomy. But jyotisha is equally a reflection of the inner light that shines within an individual. It is the astrologer’s job, through horoscope interpretation, to help illuminate a person’s sense of their own inner light

Ultimately, at its finest, jyotisha synthesizes these two types of light. It links intuition and scientific calculation, combines the left and right side of the brain, marries the masculine and the feminine. The result is a complete system that speaks to every aspect of life.

A good astrologer perceives a person’s life experience by noticing how planets assert their influences on that person. Like people, the planets each have a unique, multifaceted personality. Just as we relate to each person in our lives in a singular way, so the planets relate to us. Through a horoscope, we can see the patterns of these rich relationships. We can begin to identify the lessons each planet offers us. This helps illuminate our lives, bringing us more clarity, greater insight, and ultimately a freedom of will that might otherwise elude us.

The fine line between destiny and free will becomes much more easily traversed through jyotisha. This ornate system helps us to see what we can change in life and what we likely cannot change. It gives us the ability to choose to view our circumstances in new and perhaps broader ways. Jyotisha gives us an opportunity to affect our fate through awareness.

As a holistic system, and as a mirror of the rich complexity of Indian culture, the practice of jyotisha is guided by the power and grace of a deity; in this case, Ganesha, the elephant god. Ganesha is known for removing obstacles, and astrologers hope that properly honoring him will help dissolve any barriers that might obscure the brilliance of inner light-the light by which they can clearly see the patterns in one’s horoscope and the influences of the planets at any given moment.

Ganesha also blesses new beginnings. The birth chart represents the beginning of a human life. The very act of visiting an astrologer also signifies the start of something-greater insight, deeper exploration, new directions. Further, jyotisha uses the map of the stars to determine auspicious dates for the commencement of special events, such as marriages, business launchings and contracts, and long distance travel. The art of jyotisha enables an often profound ability to time the events in our lives, and to identify times of greatest opportunity to affect change. For all of this, Lord Ganesha helps provide clarity, wisdom, and refinement.

The supreme aim of jyotisha is to illuminate our lives, creating peace and understanding for ourselves and others. Such illumination is not bounded by cultural context. Jyotisha is as useful a guide to a modern American as it was to an Indian person centuries ago. It bridges the gap of time and space to become readily applicable to any culture.

Book Review

A Goddess Among Us by Swami Mangalananda
Review by Kiranamayi Sarasvati

A Goddess Among Us tells about the life of the great saint Anandamayi Ma. I picked this book up because I am always searching for the opportunity to read about female practitioners and I always enjoy learning about the lives of great realized beings. I have to admit the book in and of itself did not rock my world (it may yours) but it is a fun, light, and easy read about Anandamayi Ma’s life of service. Good for those times when you want to give your thinking brain a rest from those expansive Tantras but still want to connect to the great masters and deepen the bhava (feeling) of love and compassion. This book sheds light on her all-encompassing love and service that transformed the lives of her disciples and of many fortunate people that were graced by her presence.

On a personal level, A Goddess Among Us expanded my view of enlightenment. I am not speaking about the classic image of the wandering sadhu raining blessings on all those around them and manifesting mystical siddhis at will – where the renunciate sanyas path is seen as the higher, purer, more “right” road to realization. Anandamayi Ma fits this classic image well and this book gives many examples of her lila (play) at this level. But looking at enlightenment through this more transcendental paradigm, which is represented through Anandamayi Ma’s life, gave me a fresh and deeper insight into the seemingly paradoxical truth that even in a fully-realized being, dualistic views like these can still exist. Once again I found that the concept of enlightenment that I unconsciously held on to shattered and that one really can’t point to what enlightenment is, what it should look like, or how an enlightened being should act.

Overall I recommend this book for its fun siddhi stories, to see what we as humans are really capable of, for its beautiful and rare images of Anandamayi Ma, and especially for its wonderful insight into the life of a woman who lived fully for others, who truly lived the life of service to all.

“Whether you know it or not, I am your nearest and dearest – your very own Self.” -Anandamayi Ma

Permaculture as Spiritual Practice

Beginnings of a permaculture garden at the Thailand Retreat Center

Caring for the earth. Caring for others. Sharing the surplus that you grow. These are the ethics of permaculture. Last fall, when Dharmanidhi explained that the new retreat center in Thailand would be created based on permaculture principles, I had no idea what that was. When he described the bounty of the food forests, and the pond on the land as a big fridge,that sounded amazing. It seemed almost unbelievable in a way, since it’s so opposite to standard conceptions of commercial growing practices. I have always loved growing plants, marveling at the beans, flowers, and lettuces as they grew. I grew them in the standard way, with each seedling having little connection to the next, only insofar as occupying the same plot of soil in time and space. As I learned more about permaculture, I understood better that “Nature” as an ecological system does not need any outside assistance. I saw that we do a poor job at living with her because we do not mimic her beauty and wildness in our gardens – we try to control gardens as ‘we’/modern Western culture try to do with just about everything. It doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t work for the short-term or long-term.

By building your garden based upon permaculture principles you create communities and you embody connections that already are there between you (microcosm) and Ma Earth (macrocosm). You grow plants in their own harmonious guilds, and you start to really sense how you are truly connected to Mother Earth and to all things, including the pruner in your hand, the bugs munching on your greens, and the weather patterns. Feeling that you are part of this macrocosm, relating to the natural world around you as your very own self/family in a new way that opens your heart and thrills you with creating nourishment from the soil, and watching life grow before your eyes all offer an immense sense of satisfaction and an opportunity to really be in the present moment. We understand more clearly that we cannot exist without each other and we are one being. Does that sound familiar?

A year after hearing about permaculture for the first time, I’ve attended a five-day permaculture class with Scott Pittman (who worked with Dharmanidhi in Thailand on the retreat center), I’m enrolled in the beginning permaculture class at Merritt College, I’m trying to infiltrate our ornamental garden with the first glimmerings of a food forest, and I’m looking forward to a future as a permaculturist. Wow! And the more I learn the more excited I get. I feel I have just tasted a tiny morsel of this huge field – there’s soil to study, all the plants and their purposes, the many beneficial beasts, harvesting water, and more. Studying this seemed a perfect course for me this summer, and when I arrived at the Seeds of Change farm in the mountains near Santa Fe, I immediately felt at home. Everything about permaculture just seems to make sense on an intuitive level. It feels very ‘natural’ – i.e., without effort. As in Nature, things take care of themselves when we are not disturbing it. As I learn more, it feels so organic, harmonious, commonsensical, and VERY creative. I’m fascinated constantly as I learn more – it feels like ANYTHING is possible.

Everything I’m learning about permaculture makes so much sense, why didn’t I hear about it before?!

Perhaps it’s like the veil of Maya lifting to reveal your essence nature. Was it really there all along? Well, Mother Nature has definitely been taking care of herself for billions of years, so she must not need our help! Your traditional gardener thinks they have to work to kill insects, pull weeds, till the soil, and plant seeds each year. The average gardener usually works against natural processes and creates a space where the soil’s natural balance is disturbed by digging, planting plants that serve only one function which is often simply ornamental, planting vegetable gardens in long rows where no synergy is possible, using pesticides which destroy the natural, necessary, and beneficial relationship between insects and plant life, etc. Too much effort!

In permaculture, that same plant might be ornamental, but it might also be a nitrogen fixer, edible, medicinal, a great mulcher, offer shade or ground cover, and if it’s perennial you don’t even have to plant it each year! If we study a forest in the wild we see that it has no need of fertilizer, hoeing, or seeding. It takes care of itself. This is the model we work towards in our food forest or permaculture garden. We create an environment where each part has multiple functions, where water comes from multiple sources, and where there is a feedback system that keeps it all running and in check. And eventually with very little “work” necessary, your food forest flourishes on its own.

What I love about permaculture:

1. Stacking of functions – each plant and tree serves multiple purposes in the food forest. A tree creates shade, offers transpiration, assists in rainfall, holds heat under the canopy, feeds insects, shelters birds, creates a root network to bring nutrients up from the earth, and provides habitat for animals.
2. Creating guilds (kulas!) of plants that all help each other out when planted together so that humans don’t need to interfere/do as much. And it’s more like it is in ‘nature’ where plants and other creatures naturally come together to keep the ecosystem in balance.
3. Natural methods of ‘planting’ rainwater. This means that we don’t lose all the precious rainwater that will actually ‘grow’ or multiply if we direct it and plant it in the ground in natural earthworks – the earth! In our area (Northern California), we get about 22” of rain per year – that can be increased with very little effort. If an acre of land gets 1” of rain per year, and you have created a proper catchment surface, you’ll increase that 1” to 27,000 gallons of water.
4. Ease! The famous permaculturist Mary Stout rarely watered her garden, and used to ‘plant’ it by tossing seeds or sprouting potatoes on to the earth and MAYBE kicking a little dirt over it! She also had this to say, “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do if I don’t have to do it. And I don’t have to do it, so I don’t.” She also gardened in the nude! See how much fun and how natural it
5. Networking! In my classes people are so helpful and creative and communal. They are always bringing food, sharing recipes, gardening tips, extra fruit and veggies from their gardens, giving their two cents – all very much from a place of love. It’s amazing. Human communities are now forming through these beautiful plant communities, and all are connected. I love this. And it reminds me of kula.

Inspiration – I recommend a book called “Rainwater Harvesting” Volume 2, by Brad Lancaster, who taught for two days at the class I took with Scott. There’s a beautiful story in the introduction about a community in the Thar desert of Rajasthan, and how a single man named Jagveer Singh inspired a re-invigoration of a dried up, dying farming community named Laporiyah through small efforts at planting the rainwater. Over 13 years, through careful management and a community motivated to grow, they raised well levels from 60’ deep to just 15’ below the surface, they have 2 crops per year, and the community works together to strategize their success. Interestingly, each year on the 11th day after Diwali, the 3000 villagers “march through neighboring villages promoting water harvesting, conservation of common lands, tree planting and empowerment of the people.” After marching, they have a day of worship when people bless the water “bodies” they have dug themselves, anoint trees with kumkum, and tie ‘rachis’ around each other’s wrists and the trees, “connecting them all and signifying the brotherhood of them all, including the watershed that now supports and unifies them.” This story brought tears to my eyes when I read it – a desert and community reborn through care, love, and working together.

I intend to plant more greenery, food, and water in the world through permaculture, from Thailand to the US. Jaya Ma! Jaya Gurudev!

With love,
Tara

Urban Farming, Part I

Ward Teuton, City Farm Boy, from Vancouver, Canada, gave a presentation at The Light House (a sustainable building center in British Columbia, Canada) recently about his methods of Urban Farming. He farms 15 private gardens in Vancouver, offering landowners fresh produce from their own backyards, while in return he provides other families with local food, all while making a profit. He shared with a large audience his trade and techniques for acquiring land, soil preparation, planning, planting, watering, pests, harvesting and marketing. These practices are major keys to urban community and sustainability.

Ward asks – why urban farming? 17% of food costs come from the distance our food has traveled. Fuel charges, highway maintenance, noise, and air pollution are some of the costs we pay to have our food delivered to us an average of 3000 miles. By investing locally, money stays in our community – 45 cents is kept in the community by local spending. By contrast, if we buy from larger non-local chains only 15 cents is re-invested into locally. The flavor and quality is noticeable, and by working together with neighbors and farmers, we build community.

Acquiring land can be done by advertising in newspapers or on Craigslist. Word of mouth works well, as does talking to family and friends. Scouting neighborhoods and knocking on doors is perhaps the best method for selecting south-facing land with sunlight and good soil. Ward pointed out that many of the responses he got from advertising were in regards to inappropriate land. Sometimes, the right piece of land is in search of a good farmer. A condo rooftop in downtown Vancouver’s new Yaletown district had been built with a rooftop in its design. Before long, the rooftop was a weedy mess and becoming a liability. Word of mouth found City Farm Boy, and Ward began farming the large gardens space. He noticed that due to its elevation the soil stayed warmer and crops grew better, and despite his concern about pollination, bees found the 18-story rooftop.

The relationship with the garden owners is based on creating a win-win situation. Ward has developed an arrangement in which he asks for a 3 year commitment from the garden owner, and in turn they can harvest seasonal veggies for their kitchen, or a row is allotted for them to cut. The farmer does all of the gardening, decides what is grown, and needs to be able to come and go as the weather dictates. He or she may take requests for the garden owner that certain crops be grown, but the ultimate decision is up to the farmer.

Soil Preparation – concete can be removed with a jackhammer. Sod can be given away on Craigslist or rototilled in to reclaim turfgrass. In the summer, a clear plastic tarp can be placed on top of the sod or rototilled garden to solarize the ground, killing pests and sod together. Alternately, beds can be built. Another method is to lay cardboard or newspaper down on grass in the shape of the desired garden or garden extension, and covered with a layer of compost, followed by a layer of woodchips to keep weeds at bay; then, plant through the wood chips into the compost and by the time the plants grow down the cardboard and grass will be digested and the roots will get though. Soil can be tested, although it is expensive and unreliable, says Ward, as one area may be fine or good, but in an urban setting, 15 feet away might be completely different. Cleaning growing medium with oyster mushrooms is an easy way to be sure the soil is free from toxins. Bioremediation with Fungi, developed by Paul Stamets can be achieved in the following way: put down a layer of wood chips on top of a pile of questionable soil, and inoculate with oyster mushroom spores available at Fungi Perfecti  (www.fungi.com) , cover with a tarp, keep moist, and leave for a month, monitoring weekly. You will have clean, live soil, ready for growing.

Bioremediation with Fungi

Mushroom Cultivation

The soil can be amended with bonemeal, bat guano, compost , kelp, chicken manure (which leeches fast), horse manure (which takes 2-3 years to release into the soil), limestone (to correct acidic pH), alfalfa pellets (in the fall for the potash), and fish fertilizer (for nitrogen).

Planning gardens depends on garden conditions. Ward suggests planning at the point of selling – see what is popular at the farmer’s market, and what is lacking. Look at the growing space available – lower light areas will be good for growing lettuce, spinach, and mushrooms. He recommends standardizing bed dimensions to calculate yields desired. Crops like pumpkin will have a low yield due to the space used to grow. Corn has a long growing season. Baby carrots take only 50 days and radishes only 30 days. Vertical trellises can increase the area of the garden. Bush beans are a good winter crop. Mizuna lettuce is competitive and will outgrow weeds -it can be planted tightly and straight cut. Growing your own transplants will save you lots of money. Per 1000 square feet of garden space you can estimate $1000-3000 revenue. This will take very little time if managed correctly.

Garden pests are always in competition for your crops. Cats are among the largest of pests, seeking a warm place to sleep, crushing one square foot of garden space per nap. Ward recommends a motion-detector sprinkler. For other pests such as the carrot fly, he says he will generally cut out the infested spot, and that is often sufficient. He may also cover the crop to deter carrot flies, which he finds works well. In France, workers carry a small bag on their belt and put in snails, to be cooked up in the evening. Aphids can be sprayed with safer soap but the ladybugs don’t like it either, so Ward planted a patch of daisies near his fava beans. The ladybug population exploded and the favas never got touched. Aggressive weeds like buttercup are such fast growers they need to be pulled up and taken away from the garden.

Watering can be taken care of with a timer. The Orbit brand timer has 4 controllers to manage 4 sprinklers. Micro-irrigation is another good option, which involves low-pressure flexible tubing to deliver water to the base of each plant. This works well for tomatoes, and to avoid spraying neighbors. The trick with watering is to let the soil dry out between waterings, which will also kill disease organisms. Rooftop soil composition is often made up of 60% sand, making the beds susceptible to over-watering, as the nutrients (such as nitrogen, which is water soluble) will get washed away.

Ward Teuton keeps the roots on when he harvests. He places them into a white tray, which keeps the plants cool. He keeps cool water in the tray and harvests early in the morning to keep the sun off the plants. A few ice cubes keep the water cool, and a shade cloth will also keep plants out of the sun, and misting them keeps the leaves moist and cool. He tries to handle the plants only once.

Marketing can be done directly at the farmer’s market where farmers are in high demand, and so, says Ward, little notice is needed. The cost for set up is $500-$1000 – for a sign, small shelter, a cash box, tools, and a table. City Farm Boy pays approximately $1000 in Farmer’s Market fees per year. “The bigger the pile, the better”, says Ward, remarking that customers are prone to impulse buying even at the Farmer’s Market. “Make sales easy” says Ward, and price everything at $3 per bundle or bunch. Ward also runs a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, where there are no set-up fees. CSA is a model of farming and distributing food that restores the link between the farmers and city dwellers. Each family pays at the beginning of the year, and receives regularly scheduled boxes of fresh farm food. Restaurants also buy from growers, though payment is less reliable. Wholesalers buy, but often want to pay later.

Urban farming is a means for people to reclaim local land, whether it be a neighbor’s backyard, an unused plot of land, or a rooftop – bridging the wide gap between food crops and the family table. By investing $3 in a packet of seeds instead of buying a head of broccoli (or cup of coffee), with some time and a little work, the whole community can be fed; or a person can provide all the needs of his or her family. Just as we say “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Could we also say “Give a man a meal, you feed him for a day, help him plant a garden, and you feed him for a lifetime”?

Contributed by Kundalima