Tag Archives: Auroville

Jean Claude Garnier

Jean Claude Garnier was born on 10 March 1948 at Rouen in Normandy, France. Seriously ill during his childhood, he discovered yoga by reading Indra Devi’s book; she was the first American to study yoga with Sri Krishnamacharya. He was then 14 years old.

Krishnamacharya & Desikachar & Indra Devi

Krishnamacharya, Desikachar & Indra Devi

He followed his path with the companions of the “Communauté de l’Arche”, founded by Lanza Del Vasto, the first Christian disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. He was 20 when, on their recommendation, he met Jean-Paul Boudon (Satyananda Bihar School) and B.K.S. Iyengar.

At the beginning of his first two-year trip to India, while digging wells and improving land for agriculture, he met Vinoba Bhave, Gandhi’s successor. He studied yoga with Swami Gitanandha in Pondicherry and then stayed for a time at Sri Aurobindo’s ashram where he met “The Mother”.

Jean Claude, digging the foundations of the Matrimandir, Auroville, India

He came back to France in 1972, and lived for a few months in Father Dechanet’s hermitage. In 1973 he started his first yoga classes in Rouen. At the same time, he pursued his yoga teacher training with Denise and André Van Lysebeth in Switzerland.

He then studied with Jean-Bernard Rishi who at that time was one of Pattabhi Jois’s students. He met BKS Iyengar through Noël Perrez and was so impressed that he went to Puna to study with him for several years.

On a trip in South India in 1978 he met Sri Pattabhi Jois who became his Master. He studied with him every year until 1998.

To better understand anatomy and the locomotor system, Jean Claude decided to learn general and cranial osteopathy. He then began psycho-corporal psychotherapy in accordance with W. Reich’s theories, and followed several courses to become a psychotherapist.

JC en1973 en Eka Pada Shrisasana

JC en1973 en Eka Pada Shrisasana

He then learned energetic osteopathy, acupuncture and dietetics. He has been a vegetarian for 47 years.

Jean Claude enjoys combining all his knowledge and experience. He divides his time between teaching yoga – in Brussels, at the Institute he has lovingly created in Uccle, and in France, Greece and India – and giving treatment in energetic, general and cranial osteopathy, and acupuncture.

The yoga teaching he gives is faithful to the Yoga Korunta transmitted by Sri Pattabhi Jois at the “Asthanga Research Institute” in Mysore.

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Pondicherry, a little bit of France in India…

The coast of Coromandel, close to Pondicherry, is ideally suited for a charming stay: beaches of white sand, Hindu temple complexes, small fishing villages, the ancient French counter where the past is still present, a stay in a charming hotel – all this will make your Yoga workshop an unforgettable experience.

 

The town, Pondicherry or Puducherry, is often referred to as Pondy. Pondicherry has a unique architecture, inherited from a mixture of cultures and its French and Tamil colonial past.

Pondicherry has a special ambience and charm, completely different from the rest of India. Formerly a French colony, today it is an Indian territory, 160 km from Chennai (Madras), 100 km from Mahābalipuram, along the Coast of Coromandel, in the Gulf of Bengal. Take a stroll, walking or on a cycle rickshaw, through the charming streets with evocative names, where you can admire the finest examples of colonial architecture.

 

 

Immerse yourself in the old marketplace, at the junction of Nehru Street & Mahatma Gandhi Road, with its surprising fragrances from the fish, fruit, vegetable and flower markets, buy coffee or tea in “The Lakshmi Coffee”, go out for lunch at “Energy Home”, a surprising and absolutely delicious cuisine, 35a, Chety Street. Visit Sri Aurobindo’s ashram in Auroville. Enjoy a French breakfast at “Baker Street”, 123, Bussy Street, or an Indian one in a house with traditional Tamil architecture, the “Maison Perumal”, 44 Perumal Koil Street: dosai, idly, kalapam and uthappam, from 7.30 until 10.00.

 

Pondicherry is 100 km away from Mahābalipuram, 2 hours by bus or 11/2 hours by car.

Visit of Auroville, a utopian, mystic and environmental project located 20 minutes from Pondicherry.

Auroville, the “the city of Aurora”, was conceived by “The Mother” as a place for a universal community life, where men and women would learn to live in peace, in perfect harmony, beyond all beliefs, political affiliations and nationalities”.

 

To-day around 1.600 inhabitants, from some thirty countries, live in this utopian and mystic place. In its centre stands the Matrimandir, the soul of Auroville. Inside there is a room coated with white marble, in which a huge solid crystal (70 cm diameter), the biggest in the world, is exhibited. It is devoted to meditation.

On January 20th 2009, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, inaugurated the Tibetan Pavilion. The architect drew inspiration from the Kalachakra Mandala plans.

 

 

Staying a few days in Auroville, walking around and meditating in the Matrimandir, are wonderful experiences.

 

For this experience, you must obtain a pass from the reception of the Visitor Center to visit the Matrimandir and the gardens surrounding it. It is also necessary to have another ‘’pass’’ for a session of meditation to the Matrimandir. A shady trail, 2 km from the Centre of the Matrimandir visitors.

 

Timetables for the “pass” to the visitors Centre
  Morning Afternoon
Week 9h30 to 13h 13h30 to 16h00
Sunday 9h30 to 13h Close
 
Opening hours of the Matrimandir visitors
  Matin Afternoon
Week 9h30 to 13h30 14h00 to 16h30
Sunday 9h30 to 13h00 Close

Auroville, accueille pass

Tout Pondi-logo

Auroville is located 6 km north of Pondicherry which lies 100 km from Mahābalipuram.
It takes 01.45 hours by car and 2 hours by bus to go to Pondicherry, around 100 km from Mahābalipuram.

Visit the Ashram in Pondicherry

When in Pondicherry I warmly recommend you to pay a visit to the ashram of Sri Aurobindo on “Marine Street” in the old French Quarters. It is a beautiful colonial style mansion where the faithful meditate. In 1920 a French woman joined Sri Aurobindo and became his spiritual companion, since then known as “The Mother”. Sri Aurobindo’s teachings are a synthesis of traditional and modern Yoga. The aim of his Yoga practice is to develop inner spiritual life. With this practice the unique Self is revealed, thus developing a supramental spiritual awareness that transforms human life.

 

Sri Aurobindo´s ashram was founded on November 24, 1926. In December of the same year, Sri Aurobindo decided to abandon public life to dedicate himself solely to the action of the Supramental Force, leaving the management of the ashram in the hands of “The Mother” (Mira Alfassa), who continued his work after his death in 1960.

In 1968 “The Mother” refers to the project of a new village in the following terms :

“There shall be on Earth an unalienable place, a place that does not belong to any nation, a place where all beings of good faith, sincere in their aspirations, can live free as citizens of the world…”

 

Auroville, situated ten kilometres north of Pondicherry, the project of an experimental modern and spiritual village, came to life in 1969,

In the ashram you can meditate at the feet of Sri Aurobindo’s and “The Mother” “Samadhi” that is covered with fresh flowers, a peaceful place, accessible every day from 8.00 – 12.00 and 14.00 – 16.00

 

Pondicherry is 100 km away from Mahābalipuram, 2 hours by bus or 11/2 hours by car.