The 7th country on this wonderful tour is Brazil. It is an immense country three times the size of India with only 225 million inhabitants. It is the lungs of South America as well as the rest of the planet because of its dense rain forests and jungles that filters and purifies earth's air. From the Amazon jungle in the north to the gorgeous beaches in the south, Brazil has every imaginable terrain except alpine mountains. The plains of central part are so vast and fertile it can feed the world. In fact, Brazil has one of the highest trade surpluses of any country. It is rich in oil, food, and industry that it requires absolutely nothing from outside its borders. The richest part of Brazil, though are its people. They are smiling, friendly, happy, hospitable and energetic. Their culture, music, architecture, and way of life is imitated the world over. To visit Brazil is to visit a land of wonder and awe.
Our first city in Brazil that we visited is Rio de Janiero. Rio is everything you have ever thought of and more. After our 3 hour flight from Buenos Aires we were warmly received by Dev Dharam Kaur, Sat Mander Singh and Harjinder Singh. After dropping off our luggage we were immediately invited to a wonderful Lebanese lunch in the restaurant owned by Sat Mander Singh's family in the old town section of downtown Rio. The tour was welcomed with a huge feast of wonderful Lebanese vegetarian food as it has been the tradition for the past 5 years!
From the lunch we were immediately escorted to The Central Bank of Brazil where S.S. Gurubachan Singh was invited to speak to the employees of the bank on how Kundalini Yoga can serve the employees to be more productive and focused at work. We were welcomed by the President of the Workers Union. The employees learned several meditations to handle stress and invigorate themselves mentally and physically. It was the first time in the history of the Bank that anyone was invited to teach stress techniques to this most conservative Brazilian institution.
The day ended in Rio with the Lord of Miracles lecture to a beautiful group and cross section of Rio's society by S.S. Gurubachan Singh. Following that lecture Dr Ardass worked with the participants teaching them healing techniques using breath and mantra. By the end of the evening we were all ready to rest - after we enjoyed our wonderful pizza at Don Camillios Restaurant!
The following morning in Rio we found ourselves relaxing and recuperating in the morning and preparing ourselves for our afternoon flight to Belo Horizonte, our second city in Brazil. Belo Horizonte [means beautiful horizon] is the third largest city in Brazil. It is the home of ABAKY which is the Brazilian Association of Friends of Kundalini Yoga and its 31 yoga centers city wide. It is also the home of the third Gurdwara in all the country. Sardarni Sahiba Dr. Guru Sangat Kaur for the past 9 years has developed the sangat of Belo Horizonte. They are organized professionals who have a deep love of the Guru and all the teachings of Kundalini Yoga by Yogi Bhajan. They are a well established organization that serves and serves. From teaching yoga to the city's business leaders to serving langar at many orphanages they are effective and well known. Their numerous seva projects have been so successful that they constantly are having people from all walks of life wanting to work with them.
Our first stop was an orphanage in one of the poorest sections of Belo. There the sangat teaches the children yoga, chanting mantra and meditation. The children were so excited to receive the tour that many of them requested to put on turbans for our arrival. For more than an hour, the children did celestial communication, meditation and chanting. Everything was then followed by snacks of pizza. The children were so affectionate that it was hard to keep dry eyes. The work done by these sevadars is absolutely beautiful.
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| Our sweet group in Rio de Janeiro enjoying the best Lebanese food in Brazil at Sat Mander Singh's (second from right) restaurant. |
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| Before we entered the Central Bank of Brazil, where S.S. Gurubachan Singh led employees of the bank in a meditation seminar on how to reduce stress and be more effective in the work place, we stood for a picture together. |
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| A Brazilian woman sits in meditation at the Lord of Miracles Tour lecture in Rio de Janeiro. |
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| In Belo Horizonte a group of members from the Sangat make weekly visits to a refuge for children who live on the streets to feed them and teach them yoga, meditation and celestial communications (which the children are practicing in this picture). The Lord of Miracles Tour was very happy to share some time with the children and bless them all. |
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| S.S. Gurubachan Singh gets bombarded with loving hugs from all the children at the refuge center. |
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| High school students at a local school in Belo Horizonte smile as we are given a tour for the first "pilot school" to feature Yogic and Dharmic teachings modeled after MPA (Miri Piri Academy) in Amritsar, India. |
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| Ram Das Singh leads some high school students in dancing bhangara, they were all overjoyed and were great dancers! |
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| Siri Sahib Singh, Ram Das Singh and Sat Kartar Kaur all gave a Gathka demonstration for the students. Pictured above are Ram Das and Siri Sahib sparring. |
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| Dr Ardas Singh surrounded by a large group of students at the high school in Belo Horizonte. |
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| The sangat meditating at the Lord of Miracles Tour lecture in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. |
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| A sweet Brazilian baby gazes at us as we visited a second refuge for children where members of the sangat teach the kids yoga, meditation and celestial communications. |
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| A teacher with her class of children wave to us as we are given a tour of the second children's refuge. |
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| A group of kids give a HUGE hug for a photo. :-) |
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| The men fight to keep their arms up during a meditation at the mens course taught by S.S. Gurubachan Singh in Belo Horizonte. |
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| The entire sangat was invited by Liv Avtar Kaur and Rai Singh for a beautiful lunch at their countryside villa just ourside the city of Belo. |
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| Three beautiful leaders of the sangat in Belo smile for a picture, (L to R): S.S. Dr Guru Sangat Kaur Khalsa, Dr Guru Tej Singh and Simran Kaur. |
For more than 2 years, Dr Guru Sangat Kaur has wanted to bring Miri Piri Academy to Brazil. She has created a plan with many of Brazil's top educators to create this system. Working in conjunction with Dr Guru Tej Singh who is the President of Brazil's largest university [more than 600 campus throughout the country] they have begun a pilot program with a local school to gradually implement the Dharmic teachings and Kundalini Yoga found in the school system that Yogi Bhajan created at Miri Piri Academy in Amritsar. It was a great privilege for the tour to visit this school in an economically challenged area of Belo Horizonte. What we found was a wonderful energy and spirit on behalf of the staff and students during our visit.
After a tour of the school, we were escorted to the gym for a welcoming program given by the higher classes. S.S. Gurubachan Singh spoke to all of them about the great opportunity they have in becoming a second Miri Piri Academy and how they were the pioneers of a new way of education. Dr Ardass spoke to them on being an excellent human and this is a great way to accomplish it. All of this was followed by Ram Das Singh giving a powerful gatka explanation and demonstration. He also sparred with Siri Sahib Singh and his wife Sat Kartar Kaur who are in charge of dharmic studies at the new school. The students were enthralled! Following the gatka demonstration, Ram Das taught them all how to dance bangara. That brought the house down!
That evening we all went over to the main yoga center for the Lord of Miracles lecture given by S.S. Gurubachan Singh. For 2 hours, the participants learned new techniques to connect with themselves and understand that their life is their breath. By the end of the evening everyone was bright, bountiful and full of bliss.
The next day found us leading a group of Brazilian men in our 4th Men's Course. The course is based on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan for men and it was the most successfully attended of any course. What is of great interest is that in a "macho" country of South America more men want to learn the art of a graceful and successful life. For more than 2 hours, S.S. Gurubachan Singh led the men in a series of yoga, meditation and discussion on the art of a successful man. The key, he taught, is in the delivery of stability!
For the rest of the afternoon, the tour was invited to the country home of Liv Avtar Kaur and Rai Singh. There the entire sangat dined on a wonderful feast prepared by our hosts. Brazil is known for its hospitality and warmth and enjoying the wonderful company of more than 40 sangat members we all left with full stomachs and full hearts. That evening we found ourselves enjoying homemade pizza with family and friends and preparing ourselves for our flight the next day to Bogota, Colombia on this wonderful 8th Lord of Miracles Tour in Honor of Guru Ram Das.
This is Ram Das Singh reporting from 39000 feet somewhere over the Amazon Jungle en-route to Colombia.