The characteristics of our family/community

• We welcome all cultures, traditions, and belief systems without judjng but trying to see the very core of them, to the roots which they have in common. We believe that every tradition and every religion has the same seeds of truth in its foundation (even if sometimes this truth can hardly be recognized due to various political, social conditions and limitations that cover it). Yoga is a not a religion, it is a way of living.

• We bring enthusiasm into our lives. Work and practice are approached not through quantity but quality, and therefore awareness, intelligence, love, and creativity are present. A community can risk rapid degeneration if it is focused only on quantity and a franchise-like style in which specificities are ignored.

• We hold the radiance of the Heart as the only authority. Temporal authority, which our administrative roles provide us, flows from this knowledge, this love. And, love has its own ultimate authority.

• We have the faith that a meaningful education should come out of love. Thus people “learn” humbleness, honesty, and the non-dual approach to meditation and Hatha Yoga because they love it.

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The Fundamental Principles 

• Daily life affirmation of the Consciousness of Oneness (this means that, essentially, there is only one inseparable domain of the Heart. Really understanding this principle makes us able to apply it to all our activities)

• Living with an Open Heart (an openness that occurs both internally and externally)

• Cultivating the background of the Stillness of our being—which is Real Knowledge, jnana, and is also the radiance of Love, Bhakti.

Integrating daily life into Spirituality and not viceversa

We encourage ourselves and others to have both a formal and informal spiritual practice, collectively as well as individually.

We are not looking to bring spirituality into our daily lives. That would mean that spirituality is just an annex, a plug-in, and daily life is what really matters. Instead, we reintegrate daily life into spirituality. The ocean contains the waves, not vice versa.

We consider that an authentic spiritual community should rely on a core group of people in which profound spiritual values are already very present..

In order to practice self-enquiry, love, and the constant awareness of the present moment, there is a need for spiritual maturity, a different level of consciousness that represents the background on which the relationships in the Hridaya Community happen.

Honesty and Spontaneity

In our vision, one of the basic principles of a harmonious life is Honesty. Everything starts from being honest with ourselves: realizing at what point we are in our lifes. Only when we are able to come out of illusions about ourselves then we can start growing and changing. When we accept the truth about ourselves without denying any part of our being, then we may start to live with an Open Heart and have a deeper contact with others as there is no need to hide anything. There is les contraction and stress without lying. The modern scientific research has approved that life without lying has noticable benifits even on the level of physical health. In the state of acceptance and honesty we have a possibility to be more relaxed and transparent.

Truthfullness is also one of the 4 Yamas - foundations of Ashtanga Yoga (Yoga of 8 limbs).

We encourage spontaneity, and this gives the freedom, freshness, and dynamic character of the school and of our relationships.

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Acceptance 

When we see something in us or in the outer world and we do not accept it - then it brings us in a state of resistance. We start fighting with reality. We see the outer world as a reflection of what there is inside. Even the science, especially quantum physics, proved that it depends on our perception of it. So if inside we have a continous restance then the world keeps manifesting for us the situation where fighting is needed. With the acceptance of the current situation, feelings a sense of peace and spaciousness comes, so that there is also a space for new possibilities.

 

It is essencial for the inner peace and growth to accept the first Noble truth of Buddhism : suffering is an innate characteristic of existence in the realm of samsara. Rememberance of this brings itself more inner peace and harmony in our lifes as we stop trying to avoid the unavoidable.

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Wisdom of uncertainty

Most people try to find stability thourgh relationships, material goods or just by planning the future. Then the attachment to all this comes and as a consequence, a fear of loosing it. When something goes not as planned a wide range of "negative" emotions can come: from frustration and anger to desperation or even depression. But we have to accept that it will be always like that. There is nothing permanent. Everything comes and goes, so clinging to anything means only creating unecessary strain and giving away one's energy but it doesn't bring any benefit. While recognizing the uncertainty we open ourselves to the flow of life, to the field of new possibilities which otherwise we do not see if we just stick to what has been planned and if we always choose only what we already know. Stability often is a synonimum of stagnation, while instability, uncertainty contains mystery, beauty and opportunitis for the growth. .

A spiritual master Deepak Chopra speaks about the need to apply the Wisdom of uncertainty. So, in our daily life we try to apply this principle of the uncertainty. For instance, constant  rememberance of the impermanency, of Death is a very beautiful and deep practice.

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Healthy and Open communication

Most people talk to each other but do not hear. Many feel offended that other people do not understand them. But the truth is that often they themselves do not even understand what they want or need, and even if they do, they are not able to express it clearly to others. 

We are a family and in order live in harmony we need to be honest and have a clear and healthy communication. We are practicing the famous methods of Marshall Rosenberg "Non Violence Communication" . We learn to see and describe a situation for what it is without exaggerating, making stories, judging etc. We get in touch with our emotions, deepest needs and then to express them to another person in a gentle conscious way, making sure that we do not blame or attack others. So a person in front of us also can not only listen to us, but also really hear what we are trying to understand; can stay open, relaxed without feeling a need to defend or attack. Then it becomes possible to find a healthy solution to almost any conflict or, at least, have more clarity.

For that we need to:

• learn to be in contact with ourselves, our feelings and needs;

• be compsassionate  towards ourselves and others, respect feelings and needs of others not less then ours;

• learn how listen carefully, being truly interested in what the other person wants to share;

• accept that people are not obliged to do anything for us, all we can do is kindly ask them without having any expectation.

Then we can truly be in a contanct with each other, have open and transparent communication, build a healthy relationships and feel at home...

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 Deconstruction of the ego: awareness, acceptance and surrender of personal patterns 

Ultimately, we aspire not just for becoming a better person but to deconstruct the ego and open to the revelation of our true Nature.

We learn about our personal patterns and accept them in order to transcend them more easily. The more we are aware of the automatic subconscious programs that are drivng our behaviour and reactions, the more able we become to surrender those programs.

​Therefore, the emphasis is not on a “nice” social life, but on encouraging inner values, Self-Enquiry, stillness, love, and joy.

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