Author: Dr. Ehud Bilu

Translator: Shani Evenstain

Avraham Godel (1927-2009) was energetic and vital as a young man, and continued to practice the various branches of Yoga – Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga till the last day of his life.
Godel had first encountered Yoga after suffering from excruciating pains in his spinal cord, which conventional medicine was not able to cure. Serendipitously coming across the book "Yoga and Health" by Selvarajan Yesudian and Elisabeth Haich, Godel begun practicing Yoga according to the book’s instructions. Nine month later, he was fully recovered.
Godel had come to know Yoga on its physical, mental and spiritual aspects. Since that first encounter, he has devoted his life to better understanding its essence, while passing on his knowledge to those who are interested, free of charge. His home, as his heart, remained constantly open to everyone in need.

"I have to thank my good friend Ron Har-Gil [may he rest in peace], Godel’s first student, for introducing me with Avraham’s teachings. It was in one of my army vacations that Ron told me about Avraham and his Yoga, and I was immediately convinced I have to meet him. At first, Avraham refused to teach me any physical exercises; he had focused on philosophical conversations and asked me to wait till the end of my army service. But after Ron’s death he had finally agreed to teach me the practical aspects of Yoga.

I finally took my first steps in the world of Yoga in the early 80s’, studying in Avraham’s house early in the mornings, before going to the army. I would put on something comfortable and run to his house, regardless of the weather, not missing even a day. After a year of practicing in his presence, he informed me that this part of my studies was over, and instructed me to continue practicing independently, twice a day.

In 1985, we traveled together to a Yoga school in Switzerland, to meet Selvarajan Yesudian and Elisabeth Haich, authors of the book which first led Avraham to Yoga. Avraham later published a translated transcript in Hebrew of his conversation with Yesudian that summer, in a book called "Yoga – Questions and Answers with Selvarajan Yesudian" [Israeli Bhrigu Yoga Publication House ] It is possible and highly recommended to meet Avraham in Ashdod where he still lives. He would be more than happy to meet anyone interested in Yoga – to talk, teach and pass on his 40 years of experience”(Bilu).

 

A Message to the Disciple

"When I meet someone suitable for receiving a message,” says Avraham, "I ask him – Do you want to know the truth that will allow you to be constantly happy? I’ll say a word, and you’ll make a suitable gesture, with one or two hands, whatever’s comfortable to you – no time to think. When you say to yourself "I love," you put you hand quickly… [I put my hand on my heart]. Both the most primitive man and the most genius one, no matter his nationality or religion, when asked that question, points to the center of his chest", he says. "The brain is a great machine, busy thinking all the time. But where do feelings lie? They lie in the middle of the heart, at the center of the chest. That is where the ’I’ - the divine spark, the spirit, is to be found. After meditating, the spiritual work in the brain begins. But when we work with the brain, we are in darkness, in a state of ignorance, of separation. ‘The brain had bankrupted!’ He who wishes to be happy, must go deeper, to the center of the self, to the heart.”
"God is beyond good and evil - it is pure and that is where happiness lies. The recipe for attaining happiness is forgetting the past, using it only in order to learn from past mistakes. Why should we dread the future? It will arrive, weather we like it or not. Live only in the present – that is the essence of all happiness. Other things that give pleasure to man are but passing pleasures. Pleasure is short as a lightning, and will always drag another after it. In order to reach purity, it is essential that we free ourselves from everything that is temporal, sticking to that which is eternal – to the "I". It is indeed a difficult task, but we should make a true effort to let go of our desires and cravings, beginning with the lowest physical temptations."
 
"The back of the hand is visible, and the inside of the hand is hidden. A coin has two faces as well. Accordingly, God is one, but has two manifestations – the physical and the spiritual. The stars, the sky, the body – everything we see with open eyes, belong to the visible side. However, once we close them and stop thinking, everything becomes clearer and purer – that is spirit. As for death, man is transferred to a different dimension, where he rests for a while, and then re-incarnates as a baby, continuing his soul’s path towards self-amendment. Inside all of us there are two forces – the satanic, and the divine. Each man must conquer his satanic side and gradually transcend, becoming divine.”

Finally, Avraham sings a song he had written –
"For everything passes with the wind,
Yet there is a wind that can never pass,
It is the wind that lifts the spirit,
The spirit that will never pass." 

Print article

  

Send to a friend