yoga magazine interview Tom Kelly EN

Y: At age 24 you entered the Self-Realization Fellowship monastic order in California. Why? (What has lead you towards this step?) T: The very short version is: My earliest memories as a child were centered around great love for my parents. Shortly after that came a great love for sports, God and girls. By 18 I knew I didn't want to live the lifestyle of my parents and so was very eager to go off to college. By the second year of college (I was 19) I discovered that the girl who I thought was "the one" and whom I was very much in love with, broke my heart for another guy. I never wanted to feel the pain of a broken heart ever again. That left me with sports and God. I knew right then that only God could mend my heart, not sports. During this time I found the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda and have not missed a day of meditation since. That was in 1970.
My dedication to the yoga path led me to applying to be a monk in 1973. I was accepted a year and a half later after spending those 18 months cooking for the monks as a resident lay disciple. The reason I went in and the reason I am more motivated than ever today is for the TOTAL divine experience of God's love!

Y:You have been a monk at this monastery for 25 years, can you describe us what your life was like? T: Life was extremely focused on service and meditation. The usual day began with a gong at 5:30am for private meditation. Group meditation was at 7am. Breakfast at 8am. Work from 8:30-noon. Meditation from noon to 12:30pm. Then lunch and back to work at 1:30. Work ended at 4:30. We had 60 minutes for recreation then group meditation at 6pm till 7pm. Light dinner followed. Then back to work or private meditation and study. On an average we meditated between 4 to 6 hrs a day. The ashram was also like a fish bowl. I lived with 90 other monks in very small living arrangements. You almost couldn't sneeze without everyone knowing about it. We came from all over the world. We were virtually rubbing shoulders with each other day after day for many years. You learned to get along with everyone because if you had sharp edges to your personality, the constant rubbing of the daily life and interaction would eventually smooth out even your roughest edges. In a nutshell, life in the ashram pointed in one direction and one direction only: toward complete surrender and dedication of one's life to God.

Y: You met your wife Trisha while you were a monk, this must have been a major changing point in your life, can you explain to us what happened with you (both)? T: I met Trisha after I had been in the ashram about 8 years. I was giving a sermon at one of the temples and she along with the rest of the congregation greeted me afterwards. That was the first time I saw her again in this life. She was pregnant with her first child. That was in 1982. I was the youth minister to her children growing up in SRF. As the years went by (and the only time I saw Trisha was in temple activities such as meditations, lectures and picnics) I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trisha was a soul friend from past lives. I told God over and over that this life was for God and that I would get together with Trisha again next life. The whole story will come out in our first publication which we hope to have out in 2008.

Y: After spending so many years in the monastery and than coming back into another society where rent, electricity bills etc need to be paid and other values dominate every day life; How did you experience this change in your life? Did you know right away what you wanted to go do - start Soul of Yoga or where you searching for a while? T: It was culture shock to say the least. The only thing I knew was that my spiritual life was going to remain the central focus of my life. I initially thought I was going to go back to school and get a master's degree in psychology. This kind of transition I would not want anyone to have to go through. But if you do, stay true to yourself. That's what I did. And what staying true to myself means is to always follow the heart. My meditations and practice of bhakti yoga (devotion) led me to the right thing that I should do in everything. It led me to marrying Trisha 8 months after leaving the ashram. She is the safety of the ashram now for me. Not to mention that she still helps me through all the practicalities of living in the world. Together we birthed the Soul of Yoga.

Y: You and Trisha founded Soul of Yoga, please describe to us what Soul of Yoga is about? It is obviously about a lot more than some fancy yoga moves. T: The Soul of Yoga is about one thing: remembering who you really are. We have only two guidelines for students: 1) honor thyself and 2) practice radical self-acceptance and self-love. We are about the "how-to's" of day to day spiritual living. Application of spiritual principles is our passion. We are building a community of like-minded and like-hearted souls so we can constantly remind ourselves of our ultimate goal -- Oneness with Source. Hatha yoga is only one step in Patanjali's 7 step path. It purifies our daily efforts and puts us in a state of deeper connection with our hearts. This is why we have named our trainings and programs: Sundara College (Sundara is Sanskrit for majestic beauty of the soul): Yoga School of Life.

Y: The yoga you teach seems to be a mix of different styles/influences raja yoga, hatha yoga, kundalini yoga and yoga flow I think to have recognized could you describe us what you offer during your yoga class. There seems to be a message on both spiritual and material (the body) level? T: My first priority in every yoga class is to offer the highest consciousness and vibration that I am able to be in tune with. After 18 years of public lecturing on the Science of Raja Yoga while as a monk (and now every day in my yoga classes, although I do not like the word "lecture", a better word is "inspiration"), I feel closest to God when I open my heart and let Her speak through my voice. So in some ways, these classes are "Spirit" led. The flow is never the same. We tune in with the yogi's attending and want only the highest holistic experience for them as souls temporarily housed in physical bodies. The styles, the breathing, and the poses in each class all flow from one supreme purpose: awareness of Source -- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You could say I like to start at the very top (the highest consciousness) and at the very bottom ( the focus of grounding in the body through extreme mindfulness on breath and basic alignments in the poses) all at the same time throughout the entire class.

Y: I understand you are a passionate surfer! Please tell us about surfing ? Are there similarities between surfing and yoga? T: Remember what I said earlier. One of my earliest passions was for sports. I could have played college baseball or played professional golf. When I started surfing at 14 years old, that was it. There is nothing like the ocean for me. It is vast, ever-changing and a Force of Nature unlike any other. Every day the ocean has a different mood and every wave is different. One needs all the qualities that make for a great athlete: poise, agility, strength, flexibility, fast instincts, power, timing and a "go for it" attitude. There can be no hesitation in big surf. When I was younger I used to drive many miles in search of the best waves for that day. Now, I don't care about the waves. I drive to one spot only: Swami's, named after my guru, Paramahansa Yogananda. I surf right underneath the ashram that I entered into in 1974. I just love the ocean. She is divine mother to me. I live and paddle on Her surface and she lives in, around and beneath me. I am the wave: She is my ocean. I am a bubble and only She can make me the eternal sea of divine joy. On a more practical note: I am a fire sign and I need to "cool" off every day!

Y: What does your average day look like? T: Trish and I get up at 6:30 and meditate for over an hour. I then journal and write. I make a protein health drink then go off to teach yoga. After that I either have a meeting or go surfing. After that, interview, counseling or more meetings. Before dinner I meditate again. I only teach one evening class during the week. On those evenings I am off I tend to emails and writing. On weekends we are totally busy with classes, trainings, programs and weddings. And this year more time will be dedicated to writing our book.

Y: What would you like to communicate to the people reading this interview? T: I would like to tell you how I would love to meet you and have you join us for a yoga class, a retreat, a "Yoga school of Life" seminar; a teacher training; an evening with the community; or (and I like to think big) a lifetime of spiritual practice and growth together! I would also like to tell you that even if we never met physically in this life, we can still meet in Spirit when we sit down to meditate. That is the best place to meet-- soul to soul, heart to heart. Time and space are no barriers to divine love. Open your heart to love and give this pure love back to Divine Mother over and over again. I will see you in Her universal arms!