Between 6th and 8th June 2008, under the patronage of Atman, the International Federation of Yoga and Meditation and hosted by MISA Yoga School (the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute), the inaugural International Congress of Yoga and Alternative Therapies – Yoga and the Planetary Ancient Wisdom – took place in Bucharest, Romania.
Yoga Practitioners from Europe and all over the world gathered in Romania’s capital for a genuine marathon of spirituality. As the first event of this kind, the Congress represented a test of spiritual fraternity, a test that was successfully passed by both the organizers and the participants. The result: three days of spiritual celebration which brought together more than 1000 enthusiastic people from twelve yoga schools from eleven different countries. Over the course of the Congress, participants had the chance to see 32 invited speakers, all offering original lectures, seminars and workshops, covering a vast range of subjects dedicated to the ancient yoga system and its everlasting and incommensurable wisdom.
The first Congress showed without any doubt that even nowadays yoga is not only a trend, not only a modern and fancy hobby imported by Western people from the East. Teachers and lecturers of yoga and ayurveda impressed the audience with both the large variety of traditional yoga forms they spoke about, and the depth of theoretical and practical knowledge they acquired in these domains over years of intensive practice. Joyfully participating in conferences, seminars and workshops, all those present in this Congress understood that humanity is at the dawn of a new era, a new time, when authentic spirituality will regain its importance, when God will regain the first place He should have in everyone’s life.
Some of the topics that were covered as both theory and practice included most of the traditional forms of yoga: hatha yoga, mantra yoga, laya yoga, karma yoga, maha vidya yoga and tantra yoga. Studies of fundamental spiritual principles were also presented, such as the principles of occult resonance, polarity, correspondence (also known by the modern name as the occult holographic principle), the principle of cause and effect (or karma), all demonstrating a solid background knowledge. Outstanding experiences accumulated through spiritual practice were described in lectures and seminars that were dedicated to therapeutic methods derived from ancient traditions, such as music therapy and yoga therapy. The value of ancient yoga wisdom was revealed even by its ability to be applied in future science, such as the mysterious free energy, probably the only realistic solution for the survival of humanity over the next centuries.
Spirituality firstly represents the ultimate science of life. Thus, approaching spirituality can be done truly by identifying and then gradually merging with the mysterious source of the universal life. The human being has a creative potential within it, its own source of life, which is simultaneously the connection to this universal source. In order to master this connection, the yoga practitioner has to train first and then to successfully apply amorous continence – brahmacharya. Certainly, the crown of the lectures given at the Congress was the extensive presentation given by yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru on the subject of amorous continence. Including traditional aspects, esoteric meanings, practical methodology, the challenges and ways to overcome them, and even spiritual revelations, the first comprehensive development of this important spiritual subject was building, here in the western world.
One of the highlights of the Congress was the Yoga Contest for Promoting Spiritual Values – a great opportunity for yogis who have been practicing traditional forms of yoga taught by the ATMAN schools for many years. Their example was extremely inspiring. The contest was not a competition between yoga practitioners but rather a chance to share the amazing results which can be obtained by systematically, perseveringly and correctly applying traditional yoga techniques. Because of the spirit of fraternity that manifested, instead of a competitive one, the participants created a state of beneficial unity, succeeding in overcoming their individual limits by far, even establishing records. A second year student from the Czech Republic was able to hold one of the most strenuous hatha yoga postures, Chakrasana, for 20 minutes and 17 seconds, an amazing achievement, considering that the average time for holding this posture is around 2 minutes.
The occult principle of resonance was later applied in an even stronger and elaborately orchestrated exercise. A unique spiritual manifestation created by MISA and its spiritual mentor, yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru: the yang spiral meditation.
Authentic spirituality and objective art cannot be separated from each other. Both aim to complete the development of the human being’s creative potential, allowing him to unite ecstatically with the Creator by actively taking part in His process of Creation. Thus, one evening of the Congress was completely dedicated to spiritual art through the play, “The Ten Faces of God” performed by the Sophrozin theatre group. Both performers and participants had the chance to contemplate and to meditate upon the Ten Great Cosmic Powers, the “pillars” of the spiritual tantric tradition, through direct experience.
