Jim on Swami Dada
By Jim Catapano
Due to my (hopefully soon to be history) current career in advertising, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make my date with Dada at IYI. I am so grateful that I did, because it was an honor and a privilege to be in his presence and have my question answered by him. I was particularly curious about Dada’s view of Yoga in the Western World, which had picked up on limb 3–Asana–and turned “Yoga” into merely a way to achieve physical beauty and fitness. I myself am just as guilty with getting carried away with this and getting stuck on the 3rd step of an 8 step staircase, as Dada explained. Later visits to see Dharma Mittra and other teachers at the Yoga Journal Conference rammed this home for me; it’s as if the Universe was reminding me to mind my Yamas and Niyamas.
Dada, at 91, was the youngest and most cheerful presence in the room. The closer you get to enlightenment, the cuter you become! His answers to our questions made me smack myself in the head and go “of course!” But there’s something special about hearing those answers straight from a Guru. “I can see God more clearly than I can see you,” said Dada to a student desperate to see his creator, and like most of us, has forgotten that God can be seen in everything. Most of the questions were about God, happiness and purpose; Dada explained that we can find our life’s meaning “in the silence.” We can find our answers by meditating every day—Dada suggests 3 hours, again, another reason to give up the day job!