Yoga Author To Make Rare Appearance At Godstow Retreat Center In Redding

Redding — After completing three years of silent meditation in a yurt in the desert of Arizona, Buddhist Master Geshe Michael Roach will make a rare appearance at Godstow Retreat Center on Sunday, February 29, from 3 to 6 pm, to discuss how yoga really works.

Geshe Michael will be sharing techniques that have been kept secret in Buddhist monasteries for centuries. These techniques combine inner wisdom methods with the outer physical yoga practices to achieve the form of yoga that was originally practiced in ancient India. Geshe Michael has brought these practices neatly together in a simple program anyone can do in his new book The Tibetan Book of Yoga, released by Doubleday on February 17.

“When you practice Tibetan Heart Yoga, you use more than just your body,” says Geshe Michael. “You also work from the inside: using your mind, your heart, your thoughts, and your breath. This results in a strong and flexible body, and a happy and healthy heart. It is simple and profound, and anyone can do it — no matter what age or physical condition and no matter what spiritual tradition one follows.”

In the book, which he will be signing at Godstow, Geshe Michael explains how the Tibetan monasteries kept alive the wisdom or visualization side of yoga when the yoga lineage was damaged by Muslim invasions of India around 1000 AD. Geshe Michael is the first American to receive a Geshe degree, or Doctorate of Buddhism, after completing a rigorous 22 years of study in a Tibetan monastery. With the permission of his teachers, Geshe Michael is now sharing the inner details of yoga so people can understand how yoga was intended to be done and get more happiness from their yoga practice.

“When I told my Lamas that 20 million Americans were practicing yoga, they couldn’t believe it,” said Geshe Michael, “They rejoiced and said, ‘We should at least tell them how it really works.’”

“We’re looking forward to the local community being able to meet Geshe Michael. He has extraordinary teachings on yoga to share with people,” said James Connor, president of Godstow Retreat Center. “This wonderful opportunity is more than a book talk and a book signing. It’s a rare opportunity to meet and ask questions of one of America’s great spiritual masters.”

Godstow Retreat Center is at 30 Putnam Park Road. Further information is available at www.godstow.org or by calling 938-2330.

Geshe Michael founded Godstow Meditation Retreat Center and the Asian Classics Institute, which translates Tibetan and Sanskrit texts into English to train teachers. He has lectured widely across the world and is the author of several spiritual books including The Diamond Cutter. This book explains how he applied Buddhist principles to business to turn a $50,000 loan into the $100 million Andin Corporation, before retiring to teach full-time. Today Andin is one of the largest jewelry wholesalers in the world.

Geshe Michael also founded of Asian Classics Input Project, which is among the world’s largest databases of ancient Asian manuscripts. He is currently building Diamond Mountain University in Arizona, which will be the first University in America to specialize in the complete teachings of the Buddhist path.