Swami Mukundananda’s Visit to Minnesota

Honorable Shri Swami Mukundananda is conducting series of Life Transformation Programs across the United States. During his 12-city tour, he conducted four-day yoga workshop from September 13rd to 17th at the Hindu Temple of Minnesota. Swamiji is a founder of JKYog, a renowned Yoga Guru, an international authority on mind management, and a Vedic scholar.

The four-day program was attended by local Indian nationals and migrated Odiya community from Minnesota and surrounding areas. Swamiji has studied the yogic techniques from reputed Yoga Universities all across India. He has incorporated the best practices of Hatha Yog and founded a holistic system of Yog, called as Jagadguru Kripaluji Yog.  During the yoga session at the temple, Swamiji explained various yoga postures along with the medical benefits related to them. The yoga instructions were easy to follow. Seniors, children, and youth were able to participate in the yoga practice with ease. More than 300 people attended the workshop. It was surprising to see peoples’ motivation during the pandemic.

 My experience was amazing on this Life transformation Program by Swamiji. It was a program I have never attended before. The program started with Yoga and Swami explained the benefit of each Yoga pose. And the meditation part was just mind-blowing. It was very relaxing and the Roopdhyan technique is the unique technique which liked the most. Looking forward to attending more programs by Swamiji. - Narayan Jha

The life transformation program with Swami Mukundanandaji has totally changed my view towards life. I have been attending these programs for quite a few years and every time I attend, I feel that I get to learn so much. I am actually a Yoga person, and the way Swamiji instructs and guides are so amazing and he adds more value to it by explaining the importance and benefits of yoga practice and each pose. So thankful to JKYog and Swamiji for giving us the divine knowledge and that too at no cost. Thankyou. - Ashu chaudhary

The yoga session was followed by the subtle body relaxation and guided meditation. This type of meditation, known as 'Roopdhyan’ is the most effective of all techniques, as devotees take deep dive in devotion and focus their thoughts to the Absolute.

The Roopdhyan mediation was followed by Swamiji’s discourse on mind management.

During his discourse, Swamiji emphasized on the importance of mind. He mentioned that mind is an internal machine which continuously generates thoughts and engages the individual throughout by the power of its thoughts. Quoting metaphysical poet John Milton, Swamiji said, “The mind is a place of its own, and in itself can make heaven out of hell and hell out of heaven.”

He mentioned that mind is so powerful that it can either break or make an individual.

After establishing the importance of mind, he explained that the mind and its thoughts can be controlled by the intellect. It is the intellect which tells the mind what to do and what not to do. For example, a sweet-tooth diabetic would not indulge in excessive sweets, because he knows if he does, it will affect his health. That kind of control comes from the intellect.

Going deeper into the topic, Swamiji mentioned that intellect is driven by our values and belief systems. He said that our beliefs should be based on the perfect source of knowledge. Once we have established the right set of beliefs and values, we can leverage the immense power of the mind in a right direction.

In his lectures, Swamiji presents the ancient knowledge of the Scriptures in a very scientific way. He weaves the Vedic wisdom into the latest stories of the modern-day world, which today’s audience can easily relate to. He narrates the examples from the far East and West, full of mysticism and information.

His presentations were very engaging as he shared parables and stories. It kept the audience spellbound for hours.

The program concluded with the lively Bhajans and Aarti. In the end, dinner prasad was served to everyone who was present at the program. Swamiji graciously sat with his devotees at the dinner table and interacted with them.

In addition to yoga, meditation and lectures, there was a book-corner at the venue which had a rich collection of books.

The books included many Amazon bestsellers by Swamiji like The Science of Mind Management, 7 Mindsets for Success, Happiness and Fulfilment and 7 Divine Laws to Awaken Your Best Self. 

The most popular of all was 'The Song of God' - A Commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Mukundananda.

There were also books on the topics of Healthy Diet, Yoga for the Body, Mind and Soul, as well as Bal Mukund books for the children.

These books are also available online to purchase.

https://www.jkyog.org/store/home-04.

Apart from the evening program, there was an arrangement for morning walks with Swamiji at the devotees’ houses.  The morning walk with Swamiji was a great opportunity to interact with him ask questions. Many devotees were able to dispel myths and misconceptions associated with the spiritual path during their conversations with Swamiji.

The Life Transformation Program and the four-day yoga workshop in Minnesota provided a wholistic approach to nurture the body, mind, and soul. Confined and isolated during the past months due to the pandemic, the evenings filled with spiritual dialectics was a stress buster for many of them. The event was so successful that Odiya press covered it and broadcasted it on their channel.

Link to Odiya Channel News Coverage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC0DR9S8el0

Along with life-changing programs, JKYog offers series of online courses and activities for adults and kids. These activities and meetings are based on health, diet, yoga, and mental wellness. Most of the meetings are conducted regularly on zoom and anyone can join these meetings from the comforts of their home. There are online classes for children as well, known as Bal Mukund classes.

Also, there are Satsang Centers in various cities of United States. These centers provide a platform of spirituality to the people from all walks of life and backgrounds.