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forum_RSS Latest posts http://surya-world.org/forum Sun, 20 May 2012 02:34:45 +0000 30 Déménagement de Surya Montréal http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/506-demenagement-de-surya-montreal/
juste pour aviser nos chers membres du forum que Surya Montréal déménage ce vendredi 18 mai 2012.
Les cours sont suspendus pour une semaine et reprendront les lundis à compter du 28 mai et ce pour 4 semaines dans un nouveau local. Ceci permettra de faire un test sur un mois dans ce nouveau lieu avant l'été et de prendre le pouls de ce quartier, qui n'est autre que le Plateau Mont-Royal où j'ai enseigné et habité par le passé.

xoox
Stan
.]]> Sun, 20 May 2012 02:34:45 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/506-demenagement-de-surya-montreal/ Fundraising http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/167-fundraising/ It is true we dont have someone dedicated to this task but we should by no means stop the group reflection on this subject.

Something that Stan mentioned in another post triggered something in my mind and we need to all start work in our different ways to raise funds for Surya.
Particularly as we will be going to India in 2 months, which is not very long.
I am not sure what the presentation of our humanitarian project consisted of during the most recent paris masterclass but we need to think about how we can generate funds and not just skills and resources for the ashram.

A few weeks ago Stef came across a model which we could use for the time-being, until we get more serious benefactors. The principle of it is that any member is welcome to create their own fundraising page, and try to raise as much money as they can until the day before the charity event, or in this case the day before we travel to India. The person who raises the most money will get an amazing prize (we need to decide what). Here is an example of how it can work:

Go to: www.globalgiving.org

1- Create a profile on the Global Giving Site. This will require a Login Username and Password.
2- Once you have created your profile click on “my profile”.
3- Next click on “Fundraisers”.
4- Next click on “Create fundraiser”.
5- Fill out the new fundraising template (title of fundraising eg. "Raising Money for the Premanada Ashram", fundraising goal eg. €1000, description, etc) – press continue when finished filling in form.
6- Next click on “Add or remove projects”.
7- Next click on “Find Projects”.
8- Type in eg. "Raising Money for the Premanada Ashram”.
9- Once you find the project click on its highlighted link to go to its main fundraising page.
10- Scroll down to middle of the page on the right hand corner click on "add to fundraiser".
11- Repeat steps 6-10 to add another project.
12- Finally click on “Promote Fundraiser by Email” – this allows you to email people.

We should probably just have a clear description of who/what the money is for with images and perhaps even links to the ashram if possible.

What do you all think? At least it's an immediate start and we can email it to everyone we know.

]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 05:26:30 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/167-fundraising/ Farm Land in Thaïland http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/386-farm-land-in-thailand/
I don't know if I talked to Stef about that already, or to my beloved in SF, or if I just dreamed the whole conversation (life in Panama's countryside a bit different from my usual pace lol) but I just wanted to share something with you all.

I was reading a book on investing, targetted towards sound investment in crisis time and to benefit from future trend.

The book is heavy on commodity because they usually go fine when the stock exchange does not (and we can see these days it definitely does not!) and because increased need is to be expected on longer terms.

What really caught my attention in this book is that the author mentions buying farm land and farm properties in south-east Asia (he mentions Thailand and Vietnam mostly) to profit from the rising trend and demand on commodities. In parallel, I was reading an issue of "Chine Plus" that I snatched at the airport lounge which them was a potential shortfall of agricultural commodities in China, forcing them to buy even more abroad AND, in another article, an overview of how Chinese consumers are going more and more organic for their food.

All of this reinforced the relevance, for me, of associating with Stef's Thailand contact, whom you met last time, to get some farm land there and start producing organic, base (or more elaborated, à la Trader's Joe) product, specially with the possible associations with Alter Eco's founder who Stef knows too.
That would also be the ideal start for a potential Surya Ecolabel, dear to Dominic, that could be experimented there then extended to spirullina farms or something...

Anyway, I just wanted to post this to let you know that I am very enthusiastic about this particular opportunity, because every piece of the puzzle seems to be there and it appears to me much more crash- or crisis-proof than the other things we discussed.
I'm all in, and can even stretch y savings a bit to contribute (modestly but for real) financially to buying some land if necessary.

OK, going back to the countryside now!!

Take care all,

Anthony]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 05:23:56 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/386-farm-land-in-thailand/ Pranayama http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/335-pranayama/ les 4 étapes du souffle (les 4 A) suivantes:

Attention

sur nez gorge poitrine diaphragme abdomen
revenir observation passive du souffle au niveau des narines

Harmonisation

5-5 sur 5 cycles
On égalise les 5 temps de l'inspiration et de l'expiration
en mettant en place une respiration profonde
la poitrine se déploie puis abdomen dans un second temps l'abdomen se vide puis la poitrine (= Ujjayi breathing)
revenir observation passive du souffle au niveau des narines

Allongement

10-10 sur 5 cycles
(inspiration et expiration)
revenir observation passive du souffle au niveau des narines

Altération (Retention)

5-5-10 sur 5 cycles
avec jalandhara bandha (menton qui touche poitrine pendant la retention)
puis revenir observation passive du souffle au niveau des narines entre chaque exercice
5-10-10 sur 5 cycles
Puis la même chose (même étapes) en respiration alternée
5-5 sur 5 cycles
10-10 sur 5 cycles
5-5-10 sur 5 cycles
5-10-10 sur 3 cycles uniquement
et toujours revenir observation passive du souffle au niveau des narines entre chaque exercice]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 05:22:33 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/335-pranayama/ <![CDATA[Nourrir l'autre]]> http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/490-nourrir-lautre/
Un geste banal à l’hôpital, un soins, une nécessité de survie. Nourrir est un geste plein de sens, où personne qui veille sur l'autre devrait faire preuve de patience, de douceur, et se libérer du temps pour être suffisamment présente.

Nourrir , c'est donné des aliments ( des nutriments) pour maintenir une vie... Une vie qui s'exprime peu parfois, mais qui s'exprime ! Dans cette cuillerée donnée de mouliné, invariablement les mêmes, des semaines durant, apporter dans une bouche ou les lèvres s 'ouvrent de manière peu gourmande , ou il est difficile de voir les yeux du patient plissaient de plaisir...quel est le sens, ou comment donner du sens à ce soins ?

Un collègue aide soignant, du nom de Moise, m'a dit quand j'ai commencé « Ma chère petite infirmiere , il y a nourrir et Nourrir, tu comprends... ? » . Oui je le comprennais, mais je constatais aussi mon impuissance, je le regarde faire, il a ce truc, ce savoir faire, ce savoir être... que je n'ai toujours pas aprés 15 ans dans le metier qui m'interroge depuis 5 mois maintenant.

Qu' apportons nous quand nous portons une cuillère à la bouche d'une personne ?

Nourrir le ventre, ce geste complice tellement difficile à réaliser, car nous devons y mettre toute notre présence, notre intention, notre attention...pour nourrir aussi le regard et l'âme

Comment faire savoir à l'autre que l'on essaie de le comprendre, et que l'on voudrais ce faire comprendre...à travers cette nourriture, comment signifier je suis là en respectant l'autre dans son besoin d'être nourrit.

Comment nourrir un personne dans une chambre d’hôpital, véritable métaphore, absence de décoration, mur terne d'une vie sans âme, ou le patient trône en son centre, ou la télévision et omniprésente et crache la publicité. Comment se nourrir mutuellement ?

Soutenir l'autre en le nourrissant, lui dire je vous comprend , en le regardant dans les yeux !
Répondre à un besoin psychique, cette « nourriture affective » pour reprendre le titre d'un essaie de Boris Cyrulnik , peut prendre diverses formes : être aimé, avoir de l’importance, avoir de la valeur, etc....

Sans ces contacts « affectifs nourrissants », nous ne pouvons ETRE !

Imaginons un instant que nos liens subtiles qui sont « affectivement nourrissant », les uns avec les autres disparaissent, qu'il ne reste que de la fonctionnalité ou de l'utilité ( boire, manger respirer, éliminer) . Notre vie deviendrait insipide n’est-ce pas?

merci de m'apporter vos lumiéres ?

Attached Images

]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 05:17:07 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/490-nourrir-lautre/ Spirituality http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/304-spirituality/
I've not had the time to read all your presentations yet, not to speak about the main sections. I saw a lot of people talking about spirituality (see karla's presentation ^^), I guess people who "belongs" to different disciplines and "traditions". So if I may :

What is spirituality, what do you call that way ? Are you all talking about the same thing ?]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 05:16:10 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/304-spirituality/ Terrain à Pondichery (field in pondy) http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/445-terrain-a-pondichery-field-in-pondy/ Son double statut (occidental et indien) peut créer des facilités.

Cela peut certainement servir la cause de Surya non ?]]> Sat, 19 May 2012 05:13:05 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/445-terrain-a-pondichery-field-in-pondy/ <![CDATA[Conférence "La Nutrition ou la Première Médecine"]]> http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/480-conference-la-nutrition-ou-la-premiere-medecine/ Centre Universitaire Malesherbes.
108 Boulevard Malesherbes, 75017 Paris
Métro Malesherbes

Programme :
http://institut-protection-sante-naturelle.eu/actualites/la-nutrition-ou-la-premiere-medecine/

Inscription:
http://institut-protection-sante-naturelle.eu/actualites/la-nutrition-ou-la-premiere-medecine/
Ou par téléphone au 06 11 61 39 13]]> Fri, 18 May 2012 04:44:30 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/480-conference-la-nutrition-ou-la-premiere-medecine/ Lessons from Ken Chung by Ray van Raamsdonk http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/271-lessons-from-ken-chung-by-ray-van-raamsdonk/ Lessons from Ken Chung
I first heard about Kenneth Chung in 1982 when I visited Eddie Chong's school in San Francisco. I was told that you could hear the air whip from his punch and that every kind of kick that Eddie threw at him was easily handled with just the PoPai movement from Wing Chun. That's all I knew.

In 1992 I decided to take a holiday in San Francisco and managed to locate one of Ken's students through whom I eventually connected with Ken. I explained we were not maniacs and sincerly wanted to improve our art. So Ken agreed to meet me. I phoned John Adams, one of Ken's students and asked, what was good about Ken anyway? John told me he was very very soft and he could cut through you like a hot knife cuts through butter. I had already read an article about Ken in Inside Kung Fu and had a good impression already. But I wanted to pin down why he was good. Our club already stressed a good stance, accurate angles, suppleness in the touch, stickiness and proper training during the Chi sau and not just wild fighting. From our experience, some of us were not that bad. So I wondered how could Ken's stuff be really different?

I was to find out that Ken was a master of the soft approach. He was what I had in mind for the ideal master. Many martial artists can totally demolish their opponent's but the master in my mind can do so with perfect control, with relaxation, without the need to intimidate or hurt the student in any way. Is this and unrealistic movie master image? I didn't think so because we do this to beginner students all the time. So naturally a good master should be able to do the same to us? More important to use though was not then master's fighting prowness but the master's ability to improve our skill so that we could also reach mastery level. Kenneth Chung was humble in my opinion. He felt he was good, he didn't claim to be the best and he said just call me Ken.

Ken suggested a two hour private lesson in order for him to explain his Wing Chun method to me. The first thing he said was "I want to feel your touch." You can talk all you want but you can't hide your lack of skill when you are in contact with an expert. The first thing Ken did was to uproot me effortlessly. No one had done that to me in a lot of years. I already learned the value of a good stance from Karate in 1968, from Hung style Kung Fu in 1969, from Tai Chi in 1975 and from Wing Chun after that. Apparently my stance was still not good enough. Next he asked me to do something. I thought I would be able to do something because if there is an arm sticking out then I can always apply Pak sau or Lap sau. Anything stiff I could jerk. To my surprise I had nothing to work with. Ken offered me no resistance whatsoever. He was totally relaxed the whole time. Never did he stiffen a muscle even for an instant. My success rate was zero percent. In our club we practiced pretty fast hands but as soon as I would even think of starting something with Ken, I was already countered. A flurry of movements could never even start. Ken said, "you guys have very flowery hands." We keep our attacks simple but Ken's were even simpler. When Ken moved there were no signals, nothing moved. He hit powerfully and effortlessly. He did not intimidate me, he handled me with masterful skill. Ken was always one step ahead. Ken showed me many many things but when I was leaving he said , really the only important thing to work on is the stance. Where have I heard that before? Ken did not teach me any specific techniques, nor did he show me any drills. He also didn't hold anything back. There just were no secret moves. Yet my Wing Chun improved significantly in just two hours. When I got back to the club I had no new moves to show but my way of doing the actions I knew before had changed for the better. Having hands on practice with an expert and having the right mental concept is what made the difference. Whatever I told the club, they all decided that we should get Ken to Victoria for a seminar. So in January of 1993 Ken agreed to visit us. I found that Ken could talk Wing Chun non stop for almost 24 hours of the day. He was like an ocean of knowledge. If we could absorb it, he was happy to give it. He didn't believe in the concept that you have to hide things in Wing Chun. Ken thought only if your Wing Chun was limited, would you have to hide that fact. Nothing replaces a real seminar but here are just a few tips that Ken passed on to our club members. Maybe these will also help someone else, then again maybe we are the only one's with imperfect technique. What I found most beneficial about Ken's teaching was that he tried to improve our skill. He didn't just introduce "more new things" but he tried to improve the way we did our Wing Chun. I would say that the junior members of the club did not quite appreciate Ken but the senior members were convinced it was the way to go. Ken's knowledge was was at a very high level but his movements were so simple. So here are a few tips from Ken. Hopefully I got most of the points noted down corectly. Any errors are mine.

1. Don't be greedy with the hits. Often people are already hit without realizing it.
2. You don't always have to strike high. This exposes you to low hits.
3. Many people have no rooting. The stance is weak, not sunken. The knees should be in. You should feel like you are melting into the ground. You can practice for a lifetime but if your stance is poor you will have wasted all of your effort. If you meet the right Wing Chun guy, you will be in big trouble.
4. Don't act before you know what is going on. You must feel what is happening first. People act before they feel. Random flurries won't work. You can't just rely on speed.
5. The head should not be forward. Keep the head back or it will get hit and it also brings the whole posture down to stiffen up the hands. Keep the head up and rely on your touch.
6. Many students use too much force. Remember, Wing Chun is a ladies style and therefore brutal energy or brute strength should not be used. We are all getting older, some day you can no longer rely on your muscular strength. The speed and power approach is limited. You can only take that approach so far. I have yet to see a limit in the soft approach.
7. It is important to connect the hands with the feet. Many people get shoved back instead of being able to neutralize the force by absorbing it or by turning the stance. Stance training, such as stepping and turning is very important.
8. When the opponent retreats, don't just stand there. You must come forward. If you stand there you wil get kicked.
9. Most people's hitting is too tense and relies too much on muscle power. Yip Man who was 120 pounds and five feet four inches tall. He had a very heavy but relaxed hitting power. When you feel my force you will feel it is very soft but yet it is very substantial. It has a bite which you cannot ignore. The force doesn't come from tensing, it doesn't come from speed.
10. The shoulders should not come forward. They should stay back. Practice the first set slowly in the mirror and watch that the shoulders stay back.
11. Face the opponent square and hit down the centerline. Face the opponent properly first before you hit.
12. Don't chase the opponent's hands. Just hit the central axis of the opponent.
13. Flowery movements are not good in Wing Chun. Simple connected movements will do.
14. Sore shoulders come fom trying to fight against energy. You should not lift the Bong sau, it should spiral forward with minimal shoulder use.
15. Try to use the concept of neutralizing force along the tangent of a circle. The circle can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.
16. Many people apply their energy at the wrong moment. Try to feel when is the best time to apply your energy. Try to feel when the opponent's energy starts up
17. Don't push the force away. When nearly all students apply the Pak sau, the Bong sau, the Fook sau, the PoPai, they are pushing the force away. They are scared of the force, they want to get rid of that force. Instead you should accept that force, welcome that force. The principle in Wing Chun is "Receive what comes." Receive means to really accept it, don't push it away.
18. When you are studying Wing Chun, don't think about weight lifting, about tournament competition, about self defense, about the other styles. This is going off the Wing Chun path. Your training will take much longer if you do. First pack in the proper Wing Chun concepts. Get the Wing Chun skill, then think about self defence.
19. Most people's fighting is too fast for them to realize what is going on. They should feel what is going on first. Don't just move in random ways. Every action in Wing Chun should produce a result. Don't just play with hands. (Note: Wong Shun Leung also told us: don't just play with hands)
20. Most students (in our club) are too tense. You have to constantly remind yourself to relax. The tense way cannot work. You will get tired and it will fail against strength.
21. It will take 1/2 a year to change from your old habits to new habits. Changing habits starts with having the proper concept in your mind.
22. The sets or forms should be performed slower and softer. The first set should take 20 minutes to perform. More is of no benefit. When the Tan sau comes out, you should not see it visibly move. Similarly when the Fook sau goes back, you should not see it visibly move.
23. Use "wet noodle" energy, not brutal energy.
24. Proper standing and turning will develop muscles which you have not so far developed. These are around the knee area. Without these muscles, your stance will be weak. The slow first set Tan sau, Fook sau sequence also develops muscles around the elbow area which you cannot see. The Wing Chun power is hidden view. We do not want large bicep muscles. Repetition is the the key.
25. Try to relax, slow down, be soft. Find out what is going on.
26. Position comes first by training the form accurately. Without proper position your hitting accuracy will be off and your power transfer will be reduced. Without proper position, you cannot neutralize force. Without proper position, you will be off balanced. Proper position comes from performing the first set accurately in front of a mirror. Sensitivity to force comes next. This comes over a long period of time from slow sticking hands practice. Timing comes next. Power comes last. Speed comes before power.
27. In fighting, don't trade punches with your opponent, worry about your defense first.
28. Always travel the shortest distance which is the straight center line. The opponent can start first but we get there sooner.
29. With age your body deteriorates. You cannot rely on muscle power. You must rely on position and sensitivity. Every opponent has weak points. You must find the weak points. A larger opponent does not have the advantage with position and sensitivity.
30. With protection, the larger opponent will win. Brute force methods have the advantage in this case. For Wing Chun, it is more fair on the street with no protection. The smaller person cannot have a good chance against a larger opponent with protection. Wing Chun is sneaky. It uses the surprise element.
31. You cannot just rush into a kick. If he can kick you, you can kick him. If he can punch you, you can punch him. When he lifts the leg to kick, you can lift the leg to kick his supporting leg or groin or shin area. Then step in.
32. You should hit through the person's body, not aim for the surface. It is where the energy is applied that makes the difference. A chop to the shoulder is different than a palm hit to the front of the body. It takes 20 pounds of force to smash a nose. A small person cannot play around but must hit seriously.
33. If you are lazy, you won't learn much. If you are too greedy and want too much, you will also stop your progress.
34. If the attack is not committed, then don't react. With a commited punch or kick, you can react and win because the opponent cannot recover. The centerline path will get you there before him.
35. Don't look at your hands. Feel what is going on. Don't look down.
36. In Wing Chun we do not talk in terms of Chi or internal energy or in terms of isotonic or isometric exercise.
37. It doesn't matter who learned from who in the Wing Chun world. What matters is how much training you have put in. How good is your skill?
38. With the external method of training Wing Chun, you will reach your limit very fast. You can train for ten years, then all of a sudden, someone with one years training can match your skill. You will wonder what happened to those nine years?
39. I learned from Leung Sheung from 1962 to 1967, for 5 years. Then again from 1968 to 1972 for another 5 years. Leung Sheung always pushed the soft way. At first many of us did not appreciate his words. It takes a long time to realize the proper way. Words cannot adequately describe the way. You have to feel it before you can understand. (Note:Ken does pure Wing Chun but has had experience with some of the top people in Chen style Tai Chi. This experience convinced him even more that he is on the right track.)
40. Remember Wing Chun stresses the soft touch. It is a woman's style. Yip Man was a small man but none could touch him. Leung Sheung was a large man so why should he learn from a small man? Wing Chun is not an externally powerful style. Don't think power, speed and beautiful form. We don't want the pumping iron kind of energy. We acquire energy through the soft touch. In Wing Chun you cannot see the muscles that are developed. Bicep muscle build up is not required.
41. In Wing Chun we are always ready to fight. We do not need to warm up, take off our glasses and get into a strong fighting pose.
42. Whether you can defend yourself depends on who is your opponent. First pack in your Wing Chun skill, then worry about defence.
43. Ken said he still has to repeat the same advice to his students even afetr ten years. The students get pressured by outside forces (martial arts, movies, articles) to drift away from the Wing Chun path. They have to be constantly reminded of the same thing over and over again like a broken record. Ken said the soft touch works. Plant this seed in your head.
44. It is very difficult to breakdown an existing structure. If you come to Wing Chun from another martial art, it is very difficult to change you. It is easier to build a structure from the ground up (someone who knows nothing) than to breakdown your old habits, your old prejudices. It takes at least two years to build a proper foundation. It takes six months of effort to break a two year habit.
45. Ken said the first set of Wing Chun looks stupid to others but it is very good martial art. After 15 minutes of proper first set training, you should feel very warm.

The above is only a small sampling of some of the kinds of things that Kenneth Chung said. Each point you have probably heard before. Every point you may think is common sense, but when students apply Their Wing Chun, all this common sense goes out the window in the heat of the battle. Ken could apply what he said. It is only when I felt how Ken performed his Wing Chun that I started to appreciate many of the things I had heard before. Even videos do not do the job. One of our students had seen Ken in a video and didn't think that much of it. He said I don't really go for the soft stuff. You need a balance, too much Yin is bad. When this student met Ken, the student was totally shocked at how good Ken really was and how little he himself knew about Wing Chun. The student used to think he was good. Now he was embarassed at how little he knew.

From my analysis of Ken Chung, I would say his Wing Chun is a feeling art. Often, when two people do Wing Chun drills, the position, the feeling, and the timing will interact in the wrong way. However both people will be having a good time but are really learning nothing. In Ken's mind the most important training at the start is correct positioning. Correct positioning starts with the correct stance. Without the stance being correct the hands and feet will not be able to coordinate in the proper way. The drills will turn into disconnected hand exercises which make the practitioners think they are learning something but they are not. They are feeding their ego by thinking, "Oh, my hands are getting pretty good!"

When the position is correct, that means the stance the arm angles, and the centerline is accurate, then you are ready to work on the second step which is to apply the feeling to tell you when and how to change your structure to match your opponent's structure. We must feel what is happening first, then change our structure to the best one to match the opponent's structure. This part of the training is difficult to get without one on one practice with someone who has got it. For this reason, Ken wanted us to feel him. To probe and experiment with him so that we could feel how he is reacting and changing according to the input we give him. When we try to push him, pull him, disengage from him, turn our stance on him, how does he react? What does he change to? What movements change to what other movements and why? This feeling part must be practiced very slowly over a long period of time before the proper angle and pressures are applied.

When the positions are correct, the proper feeling can be applied. When the positions and relaxation levels are good, then the timing can be applied. Timing means during what part of the opponent's energy cycle do you apply your energy? When working with Ken he will let you feel the peaks and valleys of his energy and guide you when to apply your movement. He will point out, if you are using too much strength or too little strength, or you are leaning forward, or your stance is not sunk or your head is not back, or your hip is not straight. He can make you feel the difference. It is the feeling element which is very important. A two people drill without concern for these proper elements will not lead to a good level of skill. Ken knew we did many drills but the proper position, the feeling and the timing were not correct. Therefore he wanted us to feel these things on him first so that we could be convinced that we must change to improve.

Ken was trying to tell us, the proper concept: first intellectually, second by having us feel it and third by telling us his personal experience. From his experience, people can practice very hard for years and years without getting anywhere because they have the wrong concept. I think in Ken's mind, just doing drills, leads to an unconnected art. Instead, all positions, feelings and concepts should be linked together within the framework of sticking hands. This should be practiced very slowly at first.

Note: Without having had the proper foundation taught to me in the first place, I would have had a difficult time to appreciate the art which Ken displayed. Sometimes different people have to tell you the same thing before it starts to sink in.
About the Author

Ray Van Raamsdonk started martial arts in Calgary Alberta in 1967 under a 7th degree black belt named Olaf Simon while studying mathematics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. In 1969 he moved to Toronto and joined Hung style club in Chinatown run by masters Jim Lore and Jack Chin. In 1975 he moved to Vancouver and started studying Yang style Tai Chi under master Raymond Chung. In 1976 he met Patrick Chow, a private student of Yip Man. After a year or two, Chow returned to Hong Kong. After some years he moved to Victoria, still training Tai Chi and practicing what Wing Chun he had learned. In 1981 he hooked up with a student of Wang Kiu by the name of Dr. G.K. Khoe. In the late 1980's, Ray produced a Wing Chun newsletter called Wing Chun Viewpoint. Over the years, he have met various Wing Chun personalities from different lineages. Some of these people include Wong Shun Leung, Tsui Shan Tin, Chung Kwok Chow, Eddie Chong, Kenneth Chung, Emin Boztepe and students of other people from the Leung Sheung lineage, from the Moy Yat lineage, from William Cheung's lineage etc. In 1992 he went to San Franciso to take a private lesson from Kenneth Chung and has met him several times since.]]> Wed, 16 May 2012 14:08:37 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/271-lessons-from-ken-chung-by-ray-van-raamsdonk/ Who Discovered the Americas? http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/499-who-discovered-the-americas/ The toltecas had a guru from India call Asuramaya, that is why they were very good in astrology, because Asuramaya who was very gifted in astrology...that is why the name of the Mayas origin...
that is why probably the traditional people in America call Indians and indigenist....

Now are discovering that India is the Motherland of our race..

here Another proof that India is Cradle of Human Civilization....

WHO DISCOVERED AMERICA?

The Indians were mighty navigators and pioneers of culture centuries before Columbus was born. They established their cultural empires in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Cambodia, Champa, Annam and Siam and ruled there until after the 14th century.

As the seeds of herbs and trees are carried to distant places by wind and birds, so in ancient times mankind and culture spread over the world through the tides of great Indian and Pacific oceans. The Hindus were mighty navigators and pioneers of culture centuries before Columbus was born. They established their cultural empires in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Cambodia, Champa, Annam and Siam and ruled there until after the 14th century. Evan today Cambodia's King bears the title of the great Varman rulers of India, and Bali has a Hindu Raja. Hindu migration to America was vigorous from the first to the twelfth century A.D.

Cambodia, the ancient Kamboja, was one of the earliest to receive the culture of India. The name of its river Me Kong was derived from Ma Ganga (mother Ganges). In the first century A.D. a Brahman called Kaundinya came to Kamboja from Kanchi, the capital of Pallava kings in South India, married the Kamboja Princess Soma and was elected king of the country. Champa, at present Vietnam, figures prominently in the story of India's cultural expansion. Vietnam was the footboard for the pilgrims to America. A prince of Kalinga (Orissa) founded the Hindu State of Java in the first century A. D. Java is the ancient Yava Dveepa mentioned in the Ramayana and other Sanskrit texts. Bali Dveepa is still a stronghold of Hinduism. Borneo is the ancient Suvarna Dveepa or Sri Vijaya. On the Indonesian national flag still flutters our Garuda. From Angkor Vat to America Hinduism and its gods and temples have left their imprint. Siam was the centre of Hindu culture for centuries and boasts of rulers with names such as Rama, Praja Deepak and Dharmaraja. The same pioneers of culture who ruled such large areas in the Pacific for fourteen centuries also went to far off Mexico and Peru and established cultural empires.

Ship-building

Indian ship-building had developed at least 2000 years ago and according to Dr. Ekholm, Director of the Museum of Natural History in New York, and Dr. Robert Heine Geldern, there appears to be little doubt that ship-building and navigation were sufficiently advanced in southern and eastern Asia at the period in question to have made trans-Pacific voyages possible. As early as the time of Ptolemy in the second century A. D., Indian ships sailed to the Malayan Peninsula and Indonesia not eastwise but across the Bay of Bengal. In the third century horses were exported from India to the Malayan Peninsula and Indo-China on indication that there must have been ship of of considerable size.When the Chinese Buddhist scholar Fattein return from India around A.D. 400 he embarked on a ships which carried more than 200 sailors and merchants and which therefore must have been larger than the ships of Columbus and early Spanish explorers.""Ships of that size able to cross the Indian Ocean and the China Sea with their dangerous cyclones could certainly cross the Pacific as well.""According to French and British historians the Hindus excelled in the art of constructing ships and for centuries the British and the French borrowed from the Hindus many improvements in the naval architecture.
Only two authorities will suffice:

""In ancient times the Indians excelled in the art of constructing vessels, and the present Hindus can, in this respect, still offer models to Europe, so much so that the English, attentive to everything which relates to naval architecture, have borrowed from the Hindus many improvements which they have adopted with success to their own shipping. The Indian vessels unite elegance and utility, and are models of patience and fine workmanship."" (Les Hindus- P. 181).

""Indian vessels are so admirably adapted to the purpose for which they are required that, notwithstanding their superior science, Europeans were unable, during an intercourse with India for two centuries , to suggest or to bring into successful practice one improvement."" (Sir John Malcolm, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 1)
Astec Calendar

The fact that the Hindus were capable of sailing to far off countries like Mexico and Peru is proved by the official historien of Mexico, who in his book published by the Mexican Foreign Office.

""Those who first arrived on the continent later to be known as America were groups of men driven by that mighty current that set out from India towards the east.""

The U. S. Ambassador Miles Poindexter states in his book The Ayar-Incas that primitive Aryan words and people came to America especially from Indo-Arya by the island chains of Polynesia. The very name of the boat in Mexico is a South Indian (Tamil) word: Catamaran.

After 17 years of research I can now claim to have proved my theory of Hindu colonisation of America. The stones in every corner of America speak of Hindu influences.

Let us begin with the Astec calendar known as the Astec Chakra of the Hindu Astronomers. It is the foundation stone of Hindu culture in America. The ancient Americans believe in the four Hindu ages (Yugas or cycles). This Astec calendar (of Hindu origin) depicts the Hindu ages of the world. Mackenzie, author of Myths of Pre-Columbian America, says, ""The doctrine of the world's ages (Hindu Yugas) was imported into pre-Columbian America. The Mexican sequence is identical with the Hindus. It would be ridiculous to assert that such a strange doctrine was of spontaneous origin in different parts of old and new worlds."" The very sculpture of the Sun in this calendar bears the imprint of India.

Game of Pachisi

Witness the complicated game of Pachisi as it is played in India and Mexico. Seventy years ago Edward Taylor pointed out that the ancient Mexican game of Patolli was similar in its details to the game of Pachisi played in India and the whole region of Southern Asia. ""It seems clear,"" he wrote, ""that the Mexican game must have come from Asia."" Subsequently Stewart Culin showed that even the cosmic meaning of the Mexican game, its relation to the four quarters of the world and to the calendars ascribed to them was essentially the same as in Pachisi. Dr. Kroeber, leading anthroplogist of California, observes that ""the mathematical probability of two games invented separately, agreeing by chance in so many specific features, is very low. The close correspondence between the rules of the two games indicates a real connection."" Dr. Kroeber however could not find more evidence to link India with America and decided to leave the issue unsolved expressing the hope that fuller and more accurate knowledge would some day solve the dilemma. Dr. Robert Heine Geldern, the famous anthropologist of Vienna, and Dr. Gordon F. Ekholm have now presented enough evidence to support the thesis that Americans had definite cultural links with the people of South-East Asia at least 2000 years ago.

The Lotus Motif

Their researches in the last three years support the theses. I presented 26 years ago in my book Hindu America. They begin with the lotus in India and Mexico. (Lotus is one of the most sacred symbols of India. Hinduism is essentially embodied in the lotus. One of the most frequent motifs of early Indian art is the lotus plant.) The same kind of lotus motif occurs in America at Chichen Itza (Mexico) as a border in the reliefs of the lower room of the Temple of the Tigers. ""It is certainly remarkable that in India as well as in Middle America, the rhizome, a part of the plant not normally visible because it is submerged and deeply buried in mud should have been the basic element of a whole motif and, moreover, be stylized in the same unrealistic manner as an undulating creeper."" The two learned anthroplogists are definitely of the view that "" such a combination of highly specific details cannot be accidental. It suggests the existence of some kind of relationship between Maya art and not only Buddhist art in general but the school of Amravati of the second century A. D. in particular.""

The most obtrusive factor in the customs and beliefs of the Maya civilization according to experts is unquestionably Indian. Maya architecture bears unmistakable seal of Hindu architecture as you can see from the picture of Maya palaces and temples.

Atlantean figures appear in India in the second century B. C. They played an important role in Indian art and are found even on very recent Siamese temple. In America they can be seen at Thula in Central Mexico and Chichen Itza. Gods and ceremonial figures standing on crouched human figures are found in India from the second century B. C. onwards. In Central America they occurred in many Maya sculptures, especially at Palenque. From Sanchi to Central America the pattern is similar.

Those anthropologists who until yesterday completely denied any contact between ancient America and Asia are much perturbed today to find that their so-called 'cross' of Palenque (Mexico) is no longer a cross but an exact copy of the Hindu Tree of Life on Mount Meru (Sumeru), the mythological centre of the world. A representation of the Hindu Tree of Life is presented in a shadow play from Java. This depicts the Hindu celestial tree on Mount Meru. This Javanese specimen and the so-called Mexican cross have the same demonic figure in the centre and branches of the tree are clearly visible even to a layman. Javanese specimens are of course recent but the fact that the motif appears in an already highly conventionalised among the reliefs of Angkor Vat in Cambodia about the middle of the 12th century indicates that it must be of considerable antiquity. We find stairways flanked by serpent-balustrades in South-East Asia and Middle America. The use of half columns flanking the doors and of groups of small columns set in panels in characteristic of Cambodian architecture. Highly similar combinations appear in certain Maya buildings.

Common Ceremonial

Most of you in India are familiar with the Charak Puja ceremonial observed in Bengal and several States in South India. This Hindu Ceremonial also observed in Mexico historian call it the mexicon and peru. The Spanish Valador ritual. A relief of Bayon central temple of Angkor Thom in Cambodia represents a rite similar to the Mexico Valador. The use of parasol (Chhatra) is an age-old sign of royalty and rank in India, Burma, China and Japan. The Maya Astec and the Incas also used it as a sign of royalty. Frescoes of Chak Multum in Yucatan show two types of parasols both of which correspond to types still in use in South-East Asia.

In reading descriptions of the palace and court of the Astec emperors of Mexico, any one familiar with South-East Asia cannot fail to be reminded of the courts of Burma, Siam and Cambodia. The same applied to the form of government. Thus the institution of four chief officials in Mexico and Peru corresponds to the four ministers of state and Governors of the four quarters of the Kingdom in Hindu Buddist empires of South-East Asia. In both cases this institution is based on cosmological principles. This indicates similar pictorial story of the Hindu Buddist origins in the field of art, religious architecture, government, kingship, cosmology and mythology proves close cultural contacts between ancient India and countries of South-East Asia with the countries of Central and South America. Dr. Robert Gelern and Dr. Ekholm have come to the following conclusion:

"The large number of highly specific correspondences in so many fields precludes any reponsibility of mere accidental coincidence nor would it help us to take refuge in any kind of explanation based on some alleged psychological laws. There is no psychologial law which could have caused the peoples on both sides of the Pacific to stylize the lotus plant in the same manner and to make it surge from the mouth of a jawless demon's head, to invent the parasol and use it as a sign of rank and to invent the same complicated game (Pachisi). There is no explanation other than the assumption of cultural relationship. We must bow to the evidence of facts even tough this may mean a completely new start in our appraisal of the origin and development of the American Indian higher civilizations.""

The Ayar Rulers

The use of throne, the litre and of fans mounted standard like on long poles as insignia of rank and royalty in the countries of Central and South America bears the strong imprint of India. It may be observed here that the last Ayar ruler of Peru was carried in his palanquin on the day the Spaniards invaded Peru. His turban with the plume and his Mudra of the hand are unmistakable proofs of his Hindu origin. His four Ranis performed Sati after he was murdered by the Spaniards. A hundred Ayar rulers ruled Peru.

The Mexican national throne preserved in the National Museum of Mexico bears the typical Hindu Buddist disc of the Sun. The Mexicans also had the Hindu Simhasan (Lion throne). A scene of Buddha-Sangh as preserved in a relief temple in Java has its parallel in the famous pyramid temple in Piedras Negras, Guatemala. This is the finest piece of Maya sculpture in America. Is has no real incidence in Maya Arts history but it does have a remarkable similarity to a number of ""Life of Buddha reliefs"" of the Boro Budur in Java. There is no way of knowing what the subject matter of the American relief might be but the composition with the placing of the figures on several levels is very similar to the one in Java.

Images of Gods

India has the reputation to be the land of gods but Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia and Honduras had more gods and richer temples than we had in India at any time. Shiva, Ganesha, Indra, the Sun, Hanuman, Vishnu and his tortoise incarnation (Kurma Avatar) were some of the Hindu gods worshipped in central and South America. I present to you the galaxy of our Gods preserved in the museums of America. Here you can see Shiva, Ganesha and even his rat from the Inca mythology in Peru, Ganesha from the temple of Diego Riviera in Mexico City, various images of Hanuman and Shiva from the Guatemala Museum, Shiva Linga from Vera Cruz in Mexico City. The Mexican Vishnu in spite of his Mexican features can be easily recognised from the mace (Gada) and Chakra that he holds in his two hands. The image of Vishnu's tortoise incarnation preserved by the United Fruit Line in the museum at Quiragua, Guatemala, is the greatest puzzle for anthropologists. They have named this image as the Turtle Stone although any one familiar with Hindu mythology can see that it is Vishnu's Kurma Avatar (Tortoise incarnation). Indra is preserved in the Mexican National Museum as well as Vaman Avatar called the Diving God. There are two images of this Hindu God, one from Bali and the other from Mexico.

Hindu Rituals

The largest temple in Mexico City was the temple of Lord Shiva, the War God of the Mexican whom the Spanish invaders found entwined by golden snakes. This temple was built in the 15th century and had 3000 Deva-Dasis to perform religious ceremonials. The Mexican temple had the Gopuram style. Here you see a reconstruction of the same after it was destroyed by the Spaniards. The temples at Tikal in Mexico also bore the imprint of our famous temple at Madura. No wonder E. G. Squire in his American archaeological researches in 1851 wrote:

"It is believed a proper examination of these monuments would disclose the fact that in their interior structure as well as in their exterior form and obvious purposes these buildings correspond with great exactness to those of Hindustan and the Indian Archipelago.

Sir Stamford Raflles wrote, "The great temple of Borobudur might readily be mistaken for a Central American Temple."

""From child-birth to cremation and Sati the Astecs observed almost all Hindu rituals including the Gurukula system of education followed in India. The Incas of Peru with Ayar Brahman ancestry observed the sacred thread ceremony, the ear-piercing ceremony all other Hindu rituals and rigidly observed the caste systems of India. It is not without reason that the Spanish author Lopez says in his book Le Races Aryans de Peru : ""Every page of peruvian poetry bears the imprint of Ramayana and Mahabharata.""

Sanskrit was the sacred language of the rulers and quichua the language of Peruvians. The Aryo-Quichua vocabulary prepared by Lopez proves it.

Taken from: http://vedicempire.com/]]> Tue, 15 May 2012 16:22:09 +0000 http://surya-world.org/forum/index.php?/topic/499-who-discovered-the-americas/