This year will commemorate the 100^th birthday of my beloved Guru, Yoga Master Bishnu Charan Ghosh. The younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship, Bishnu Ghosh is widely recognized as one of the greatest physical culturists of the 20^th century. To honor his memory, we will host the first World Yoga Championship ever in the U.S. at the World Yoga Exposition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, September 25-28, 2003.

In the United States, yoga has grown tremendously in recent decades. Most people who practice yoga are first drawn to it as a non-competitive physical exercise good for relieving stress. Thousands of people have gained tremendous health benefits from its therapeutic qualities. Even more are finding mental and spiritual fulfillment in their practice. Yoga, as it has been transmitted to us from the great sages through generations of master yogis, is an unparalleled vehicle for transformation and Self-Realization. We have proven our vast potential for creating fear and destruction in the world, but if we want to ensure our survival, we must choose instead a path of enlightened living.

What we don’t know about in the United States is that yoga championships have been held for many years. The purpose of these Championships is to demonstrate and educate the general public as to the life-renewing properties of yoga. To further this goal, a Federation of Yoga Associations throughout the world is laying the groundwork for Yoga to become an Olympic event. When people see the healthy, strong, flexible bodies, the calmness of mind, and the beauty of spirit in the competitors, they come to understand the magnificence of what yoga is and what yoga can do for them.

There have been yoga Championships staged in India by the National Federation of India and the All-India Yoga Championship since the early 1900s. Yoga Championships have been hosted in Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Italy by the Yoga Associations in these countries, but never before in the United States. When the Yoga Championship occurs in the United States, it will draw its widest international audience. This is a pivotal opportunity for yogis of all traditions to come together in the spirit of unity and show the national and international community the power of yoga.

At the Yoga Expo, our Championship will be judged by the venerable Master Judges from the All India Yoga Championship and the National Federation of India. Preliminary regional Championships will be held in May/June 2003 and will be judged by American yogis trained by these Master Judges. We expect this to be a truly international event.

From the bottom of my heart, I invite you to join us in making our regional Championships and our first World Yoga Championship held on U.S. soil to be a successful event.

Yours truly,