Following Buddha to Tranquility

Muni Yoga is a unique and patented combination of several procedures envisioned to improve the quality of life and enhance spiritual and overall progress of the individual.

Yoga, one of the conspicuous contributions of ancient India to the world,is anamalgamation of physical, mental and spiritual practices and its origin is speculated to date back to the Vedic era. Yoga started gaining popularity in the west as an exercise during the 1980s and its fame is mounting each day and people are fascinated by its aura. That may be the reason the UN general assembly declared June 21 as the International Yoga day recognizing the fact that “yoga provides a holistic approach to health and well-being”.

A couple of terms that we always hear in relation to Yoga are Ashtamga Yogaand Hata Yoga. The hata yoga is referred to as “six-limbed” yoga while Ashtamga Yoga is known as the “eight-limbed” practice. The practices that the two systems generally share in common with one another as well as with the Buddhist yoga system are posture, breath controland the three levels of meditative concentration leading to Samadhi. In Ashtamga Yoga, these six practices are preceded by behavioral restraints and ritual observances (Yama and Niyama). Hata Yoga considers ex-

cess food, excess sleep and excess physical activity as hindrances to attaining the benefits of yoga. So to avoid these factors Hata yoga also recommends the practice of Yama and Niyama even though they are not considered mandatory.

The Yogācāra (“Yoga Practice”) school of Mahayana Buddhism is known to be the earliest Buddhist tradition to employ the term yoga to denote its philosophical system. Yoga was considered as the “union” or identity with the celestial Buddha named Vajrasattva—the “Diamond essence” (of enlightenment). The behavioral restrictions and ritual observances included in Yama and Niyama is not expalined in Buddhist Yoga practice under the same name. But the concept and idea behind these are followed in Buddhism too. The concepts under Yama and Niyama in Ashtamga Yoga are incorporated in Buddhism under the notions of Pancha Sheela (the five rules of good conduct), Arya Ashtamga Marga (the noble eight fold path) and Brahma Vihara (the four qualities). Muni Yoga is a unique and patented combination of several procedures envisioned to improve the quality of life and enhance spiritual and overall progress of the individual. It comprises three stages- Preparatory Procedures, Main Procedures and Complimentary Steps. The preparatory procedures include practising Panchasheela (rules against stealing, killing, sexual misconduct, untruthfulness and intoxicating agents), Arya Ashtamga Marga (right livelihood, action, speech, effort, mindfulness, concentration, understanding and thought) and to be endowed with the qualities of Brahma Vihara - Karuna (to be compassionate to poor, diseased and those in trouble), Maithri (universal love and brotherhood), Mudita (enjoying others success) and Upeksha (equanimity). Buddhist techniques like walking meditation, Anapanasati meditation, Rakshana Mantra (Buddhist way of preventing thoughts that obstruct Meditation) along with Yogasanas, Kapalabhati

Swami Vivekananda in his famous oration at the Parliament of the World Religions at Chicago has mentioned-“Buddhism was the fulfillment, the logical conclusion, the logical development of the religion of Hinduism (and its Philosophy). The great glory of the Master lay in his wonderful sympathy for everybody, especially for the ignorant and the poor. Some of Buddha's Brahmin disciples wanted to translate his teachings into Sanskrit, but he distinctly told them, ‘I am for the poor, for the people; let me speak in the tongue of the people.’ And so to this day the great bulk of his teachings are in the vernacular of that day in India”. Buddha always wanted the concepts and practices to be simple, in a way common man could understand. This influence can be observed in Buddhistyoga and Meditation techniques also. and Pranayama constitute the main procedures.The walking meditation and Anapanasathi meditation are two interesting segments of the program. Lord Buddha proclaimed- “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Meditation helps to drag the mind, which keeps wandering in the past and future, to the present. The practice of focusing one's attention changes the brain in ways to improve that ability over a period of time. Meditation can be thought of as mental training, similar to learning to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.

THE WALKING MEDITATION In Buddhist monasteries, walking meditation is taught before sitting meditation. On an average, 45 minutes of walking meditation is very beneficial, whereas in routine practice 10 minutes of walking prior to sitting meditation is ideal. This helps

in quick concentration of mind. It refers to the observation of the phenomena of walking. If walking fast, one should observe alternate movements of the right and left legs, and if slow, should perceive the lifting of foot, moving forward, bringing it down and then firmly placing it on the ground. At every stage one should focus mind without looking at the feet and change direction at 20 steps.

ANAPANASATI MEDITATION Buddha has given forty objects of meditation which are suitable for different types of people and breathing is one among them which is appropriate to all. Anapanasati is to feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body. The meditator has to sit straight with his spine erect and observe his own normal breathing by concentrating on the tip of the nose or abdomen. It has been scientifically demonstrated that anapanasati slows down the natural aging process of the brain.

Yoga is not just asanas and meditations. Ashtangamarga of yoga talks a lot about self-discipline, love and compassion (Yama & Niyama) and Buddha also talks about the same in a simple way. Concluding with the words of Swami Vivekananda- “The separation between the Buddhists and the Brahmins (refers to ancient Indian philosophy which includes yoga) is the cause of the downfall of India. Let us then join the wonderful intellect of the Brahmins with the heart, the noble soul and the wonderful humanizing power of the Great Master”.

Dr Divya P MD (Ay), PGD HSR Assistant Professor, Muniyal Institute of Ayurveda Medical Sciences, Manipal, Email: drdivyap84@gmail.com

Acknowledgements Dr M VijayabhanuShetty, Chairman, Muniyal Ayurveda

Mrs Jyothsna K G MSc (Yoga Therapy), Lecturer Muniyal Institute of Ayurveda Medical Sciences

GERMANY CALLING: SKILLED NURSES, MIDWIVES IN HIGH DEMAND!

Indian nurses can now bag lucrative jobs in Germany, thanks to a WHO-compliant project to recruit and train healthcare professionals from developing countries to address the massive nursing shortage in the western European country.

“WE CARE”, an association formed by a group of German healthcare employers to tackle growing challenges in the German healthcare sector, will serve as the nodal body for the project.

The programme will be implemented with the support of the respective governments and their agencies. The same will facilitate effective monitoring of the project implementation by the Ministry of External Affairs.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be soon signed with the government agency for recruitment of the nurses. A special consideration will be provided to financially under privileged communities who face social stigma such as orphans, widows, and single women for other reasons, who together form 75 million in India.

Many among such community seldom get foreign job opportunities and this could be a valuable contribution to the society, said a spokesperson for ‘WE CARE’.

India will be a major recruitment destination among other Asian countries, with the association targeting a “controlled recruitment“ of 20, 000 nurses in the next one decade from Asia out of which 10,000 will be from India.

The project also envisages establishing training centers with international standards in India and Germany which will result in employment generation and help them meet internal healthcare personnel requirement.

“We’ve instructed and authorised our member organisation “Medizin Park Rhein-Ruhr AG” to manage the matters with India,” the spokesperson said.

Statistics show that the demographic change in most countries of the EU is leading to an increasing number of older people, often needing long-term care, and a decreasing number of young people who may choose a nursing and/ or midwifery career.

Between 2005 and 2015, the number of people aged 80 or older in the EU rose from 20 to 27 million, which corresponded to an increase of 36%. In comparison, the overall population grew by only 3% during the same period.

The statistics reveal that approximately 600 million people of the Indian population are below 25 years of age as against 20 million in Germany. Certain reports indicate that India requires 10 million jobs to be generated per annum up to year 2030 to maintain the unemployment rate.

WHO estimates that 9 million nurses and midwives will be needed worldwide by the year 2030 in addition to the current shortage of health and nursing personnel.

The same has encouraged ‘WE CARE’ to consider a project to start training centres at donor countries.

Taken together, nurses and midwives make up the largest subset of health professionals in all countries and play a key role in delivering safe, effective and efficient, high-quality healthcare.

“‘WE CARE’ urge each and every employer, the church and organisations in Europe that there has to be a balance between the donor country and the receiving country and to promote ethical cross border migration to avoid any exploitations,” Prof Dr. Winrich Breipohl, Director, ‘WE CARE’, added.