I promise, soon I'll come back to the planet and give you a blog you'll want to read, but for now I'm blissed out beyond comprehension...
...can't address chakra lore except to say that
KATEY ROCKED MY JUJU RAINBOW!!!
oh, and that
i'm proud to be a part of this pride.
i love you all. i'm right by your side.
---
Svāsana -
a pose of complete surrender.
no "extra" breath - drop the ujayii.
no mudras - relax the tongue from the roof of the mouth.
not a single thought to follow...
...
yet, an image can be of benefit to rest the mind on...to set the body to...
so, here's mine (do you have one?)
Svāsana:
imagine yourself as you'll be 300 years from now.
how will you sit? how will you lie? what thoughts will inhabit your mind?
what woes will etch out your tale?
300 years from now.
pour moi,
i see my bones bleached white by a desert sun.
buried to the ribs in dark red sand,
pelvis offset by the scurrying of hungry creatures.
skull half full of shifting grains,
like an hourglass whose time is infinite.
(I bury a friend on Tuesday. Bastard went and died on me.)
Svāsana.
The pose of the dead.
Still Alive.
K
----
katey's channeling of janis joplin doing kirtan has inspired me.
someday, when I've got a class, I will sing them this song in svāsana:
a lifetime of accomplishments of which the dirt knows none,
only in death can one truly return
return the carrots, the apples and potatoes,
the chickens, the cows, the fish and tomatoes.
in one glorious swoop, let the deed be done
and bury me deep so that I can be one...
and all around my muscle and all around my bone,
don't incinerate me or seal me from
the dirt which bore me, the bed that which from
the rain falls upon and the fruit comes from
for the dirt is a blanket, no fiery tomb,
no punishment, reward, or pearly white room
and you who say that in death we will pay,
the dead they can't hear a word that you say
your words are not kind, sober or giving,
they only put fear in the hearts of the living
so put away your tongues and roll up your sleeves,
pick up your shovel and bury me deep.
put away your tongues and roll up your sleeves,
pick up your shovel and bury me deep.
Bury Me Deep
Poi Dog Pondering
Monday, May 16, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
The Guru Is In You
Lovin' me some mantra!!
Katey - your voice is liquid gold. Sarah - your energy is liquid light. I love you both with a smiling heart.
(The rest of ya...'nuff said.)
Few notes on tonight:
- yes, yes!..mantra inspires community and connects us to the oral tradition of the oldest civilization on earth (duh...!)
- mantra helps the busied mind by focusing "attention" on the mantra while "consciousness" is allowed to expand
- as SOUND, mantra bridges the gap between physical and subtle bodies elegantly and powerfully...each syllable (born of "subtle" intention) echoes it's waves down to the cellular level (formed in "physical" space) further refining the intention which sings back down to the body (dot dot dot)
- - - As always, my emaily things are best read aloud. Still, READ ON AT YOUR OWN PERIL!!! I'm a verbose mofo and I got a few brews in me!!! - - -
The sense came up tonight that we need to receive our mantras from a guru for them to be most effective. That is, maybe we can't just read them from a Barnes & Noble eBook or hear it on a Snoop Dogg track for us to be fully lit up as Mantra Monsters.
I say that's exactly one-half bullshit.
---
Here's a note I received from a dear friend recently - maybe some of us can relate:
---
"I need your brain and expertise..
I feel like I want a guru? But I'm not sure exactly what that entails in the formal sense? Could (X) be mine? I realize she's not necessarily Hindu or Buddhist but she is my teacher and on the verge of bi-locating and portal traveling?
Do I need to frame a picture of her and make a shrine around it and pray daily? Do I pray to her as of she were my God?
Do I need her permission to do these things if that is something I desire to do?
...hmmm what does it mean to have a guru?"
----
"The Guru Is In You."
yogani
The spiritual connection you wish to deepen is primarily an internal experience, yes? It's a feeling, a power, a world inside of you.
So, in absolute truth, the guru is in you.
But, of course, we all need rich outer knowledge to open ourselves to deeper inner experience.
You've come a certain way down the road to enlightenment - perhaps more than most - yet you feel like you need more "lessons" or more "guidance" to enrich your spiritual life (read: inner life). This is true.
The very fact that you desire greater teachings at this stage in your growth is your call for a guru. It has begun. The beacon may be weak as of yet, but you are calling out to the universe for a teacher - and we both know the universe answers (sometimes a bit too quickly for our tastes!).
If you long deeply enough, you will attract the teachings that you need - à la guru.
So, desire * (as always) is the first step.
Then, with sharp ears, you'll begin to hear the lessons via whatever "guru" the universe sees fit for you. It could be (X), it could be Sexy Yoga Guy, it could be the wind through a silver whistle. There is no cookie cutter answer as to the form a teacher will take.
Finally, you have to take action on those outer world teachings, thus expanding your own inner world spirituality and continuing the cycle of desire and fulfillment - that is, you'll have to continue the infinite feedback loop of bringing outer world experience into your inner world experience (as with the mantra...intention feeds experience feeds intention...)
theguru is a stream of consciousness. it begins with an inner experience of longing - longing for deeper spiritual connection. theguru flows forth then on a stream of desire * & like a magnet it draws from the universe a teacher: a Guru. the message, the vibration of the Guru then streams back to the source - to the source of original desire - which resides within the spirit of the calling animal.
here's the kick: 2 people sitting side by side in front of the same Guru...one opens up to the message, the vibration of the Guru, one does not. One's inner experience - read spiritual connection - expands to new depths, inspiring (of course!) new longings for deeper teachings...the other hears only the words, feels only the air...no expansion of inner experience.
so, you tell me: wherein lies the Guru?
The Guru is in You!
(think of us in class with SriKateyHariAum: some of us are in rapture and some of us are looking at our watches)
The old saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear." So you have to ask yourself, "what have I done lately to get ready?"
Well...?
---
As to the mechanics of a traditional guru, it usually requires absolute surrender to the will and guidance of the guru. This means material surrender, mental surrender, sexual surrender, spiritual surrender.
On one hand, it's really easy to get fucked over on this more traditional path (especially in l'America) simply because people are rarely what they seem to be on the outside. On the other, if you land a solid teacher, you can open up to the universal flow faster and more safely than you can in solitude.
In this traditional sense, you'd be best off able to sit at the feet of your guru to experience both the verbal and vibrational teachings. (X) is perfect for this...but you'd be wise to visit her (and her feet!) at least once a year or so. This will keep the vibrations strong and the teachings will further ingrain themselves in your consciousness.
----
Reflect on all of this.
Continue to purify yourself in preparation for deeper teachings.
And most important, stoke the fire of desire for true spiritual connection.
The universe will conspire in your favor, I guarantee it.
- - -
[note: too many "hot" words to define them all. but "desire" needs elucidation.]
* herein, we need to reconcile "desire", come to terms with longing. in this model of Guru, is the initial source - desire - ill-based? is the longing for deeper spiritual connection "mis-guided?" or rather "mis-seated?"
let's start again, shall we?...
...in many of the great spiritual traditions, desire is suspect at best.
desire implies a future outcome...even when it attempts to revision the past through regret or to hold onto what has been through nostalgia - desire suggests that there is something which isn't that should be...no?
in superficial studies of buddhism, we see the layman try to thwart desire with desirelessness and soon become mired down in hopelessness/helplessness where the crux of the spiritual equation seems to be "how do i get shit done & be as fantastic as i know i am inside without succumbing to the traps of desire?...i.e. if wanting implies attachment, how can i do anything but atrophy on my meditation cusion as i wait for "enlightenment" - reprieve from my suffering?"
Beep...ehhhh...wrong answer.
Desire, in fact, is the source of all magnificence!! It is the grand hero who battles the 2nd Law!!
Attachment to outcomes...expectations placed upon the (universal chaos??) is the mistake...the true cause of suffering.
More on Desire later....
buzzed...riding home now...practice on the morrow...
Katey - your voice is liquid gold. Sarah - your energy is liquid light. I love you both with a smiling heart.
(The rest of ya...'nuff said.)
Few notes on tonight:
- yes, yes!..mantra inspires community and connects us to the oral tradition of the oldest civilization on earth (duh...!)
- mantra helps the busied mind by focusing "attention" on the mantra while "consciousness" is allowed to expand
- as SOUND, mantra bridges the gap between physical and subtle bodies elegantly and powerfully...each syllable (born of "subtle" intention) echoes it's waves down to the cellular level (formed in "physical" space) further refining the intention which sings back down to the body (dot dot dot)
- - - As always, my emaily things are best read aloud. Still, READ ON AT YOUR OWN PERIL!!! I'm a verbose mofo and I got a few brews in me!!! - - -
The sense came up tonight that we need to receive our mantras from a guru for them to be most effective. That is, maybe we can't just read them from a Barnes & Noble eBook or hear it on a Snoop Dogg track for us to be fully lit up as Mantra Monsters.
I say that's exactly one-half bullshit.
---
Here's a note I received from a dear friend recently - maybe some of us can relate:
---
"I need your brain and expertise..
I feel like I want a guru? But I'm not sure exactly what that entails in the formal sense? Could (X) be mine? I realize she's not necessarily Hindu or Buddhist but she is my teacher and on the verge of bi-locating and portal traveling?
Do I need to frame a picture of her and make a shrine around it and pray daily? Do I pray to her as of she were my God?
Do I need her permission to do these things if that is something I desire to do?
...hmmm what does it mean to have a guru?"
----
"The Guru Is In You."
yogani
The spiritual connection you wish to deepen is primarily an internal experience, yes? It's a feeling, a power, a world inside of you.
So, in absolute truth, the guru is in you.
But, of course, we all need rich outer knowledge to open ourselves to deeper inner experience.
You've come a certain way down the road to enlightenment - perhaps more than most - yet you feel like you need more "lessons" or more "guidance" to enrich your spiritual life (read: inner life). This is true.
The very fact that you desire greater teachings at this stage in your growth is your call for a guru. It has begun. The beacon may be weak as of yet, but you are calling out to the universe for a teacher - and we both know the universe answers (sometimes a bit too quickly for our tastes!).
If you long deeply enough, you will attract the teachings that you need - à la guru.
So, desire * (as always) is the first step.
Then, with sharp ears, you'll begin to hear the lessons via whatever "guru" the universe sees fit for you. It could be (X), it could be Sexy Yoga Guy, it could be the wind through a silver whistle. There is no cookie cutter answer as to the form a teacher will take.
Finally, you have to take action on those outer world teachings, thus expanding your own inner world spirituality and continuing the cycle of desire and fulfillment - that is, you'll have to continue the infinite feedback loop of bringing outer world experience into your inner world experience (as with the mantra...intention feeds experience feeds intention...)
theguru is a stream of consciousness. it begins with an inner experience of longing - longing for deeper spiritual connection. theguru flows forth then on a stream of desire * & like a magnet it draws from the universe a teacher: a Guru. the message, the vibration of the Guru then streams back to the source - to the source of original desire - which resides within the spirit of the calling animal.
here's the kick: 2 people sitting side by side in front of the same Guru...one opens up to the message, the vibration of the Guru, one does not. One's inner experience - read spiritual connection - expands to new depths, inspiring (of course!) new longings for deeper teachings...the other hears only the words, feels only the air...no expansion of inner experience.
so, you tell me: wherein lies the Guru?
The Guru is in You!
(think of us in class with SriKateyHariAum: some of us are in rapture and some of us are looking at our watches)
The old saying, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear." So you have to ask yourself, "what have I done lately to get ready?"
Well...?
---
As to the mechanics of a traditional guru, it usually requires absolute surrender to the will and guidance of the guru. This means material surrender, mental surrender, sexual surrender, spiritual surrender.
On one hand, it's really easy to get fucked over on this more traditional path (especially in l'America) simply because people are rarely what they seem to be on the outside. On the other, if you land a solid teacher, you can open up to the universal flow faster and more safely than you can in solitude.
In this traditional sense, you'd be best off able to sit at the feet of your guru to experience both the verbal and vibrational teachings. (X) is perfect for this...but you'd be wise to visit her (and her feet!) at least once a year or so. This will keep the vibrations strong and the teachings will further ingrain themselves in your consciousness.
----
Reflect on all of this.
Continue to purify yourself in preparation for deeper teachings.
And most important, stoke the fire of desire for true spiritual connection.
The universe will conspire in your favor, I guarantee it.
- - -
[note: too many "hot" words to define them all. but "desire" needs elucidation.]
* herein, we need to reconcile "desire", come to terms with longing. in this model of Guru, is the initial source - desire - ill-based? is the longing for deeper spiritual connection "mis-guided?" or rather "mis-seated?"
let's start again, shall we?...
...in many of the great spiritual traditions, desire is suspect at best.
desire implies a future outcome...even when it attempts to revision the past through regret or to hold onto what has been through nostalgia - desire suggests that there is something which isn't that should be...no?
in superficial studies of buddhism, we see the layman try to thwart desire with desirelessness and soon become mired down in hopelessness/helplessness where the crux of the spiritual equation seems to be "how do i get shit done & be as fantastic as i know i am inside without succumbing to the traps of desire?...i.e. if wanting implies attachment, how can i do anything but atrophy on my meditation cusion as i wait for "enlightenment" - reprieve from my suffering?"
Beep...ehhhh...wrong answer.
Desire, in fact, is the source of all magnificence!! It is the grand hero who battles the 2nd Law!!
Attachment to outcomes...expectations placed upon the (universal chaos??) is the mistake...the true cause of suffering.
More on Desire later....
buzzed...riding home now...practice on the morrow...
Friday, April 15, 2011
A White Prayer Flag
My mind managed to trick my body into the studio tonight.
Praise Siva. Om hare om.
Deep Stretch - that was the class.
I was gonna to get off easy...no vinyasa, no bleepin' warriors, no Awkward shit. It'd be like yoga in the park. Or spa yoga. Yoga on the Wii. Ya know...imaginary yoga. Just sittin' around in a warm room with some groovy folks thinking about enlightenment.
Enter: Reality. aka Deep Stretch.
There was no escape in this yoga. No, no. It was the unholy opposite of escape.
The deeper and LONGER I sank into a posture - each pose was held for 3 mins plus! - the less I had to distract me from the central theme - letting go. True, we lengthen the side body, we extend the fingers, we focus on breathing, but foremost we surrender to the great force of Mother Earth. That very same force - the planet's gravity - which our entire musculo-skeletal system is designed to counter (and most of our spiritual practice attempts to ascend).
Here's a sexy paradox: yin yoga = hard yoga.
The utter stillness of it all, it's downright maddening. Bent over in a humbled twist of man flesh, there are only so many adjustments I can make, only so many times I can scan my body, only so many chores I can do before I get down to the real work. Letting go.
Breath by breath. Inhaling - creating space. Exhaling - exploring space. Softer, softer, softer still. Melting away layer after layer of previously unrealized tension. (you know the feeling...you're in the full expression of the pose, deep as you're gonna be...but then something triggers an awareness of new, deeper tension...maybe down in your hip...and you breathe and you shudder through its release...aahhh...)
It's too much. I'm not sure I'll be back.
Not until I feel more prepared to swim alongside all which I try to keep beneath the surface.
Or better still, not until I can honestly relax heavy on the earth, nestled in the arms gravity's unyielding embrace.
G'night.
k
Praise Siva. Om hare om.
Deep Stretch - that was the class.
I was gonna to get off easy...no vinyasa, no bleepin' warriors, no Awkward shit. It'd be like yoga in the park. Or spa yoga. Yoga on the Wii. Ya know...imaginary yoga. Just sittin' around in a warm room with some groovy folks thinking about enlightenment.
Enter: Reality. aka Deep Stretch.
There was no escape in this yoga. No, no. It was the unholy opposite of escape.
The deeper and LONGER I sank into a posture - each pose was held for 3 mins plus! - the less I had to distract me from the central theme - letting go. True, we lengthen the side body, we extend the fingers, we focus on breathing, but foremost we surrender to the great force of Mother Earth. That very same force - the planet's gravity - which our entire musculo-skeletal system is designed to counter (and most of our spiritual practice attempts to ascend).
Here's a sexy paradox: yin yoga = hard yoga.
The utter stillness of it all, it's downright maddening. Bent over in a humbled twist of man flesh, there are only so many adjustments I can make, only so many times I can scan my body, only so many chores I can do before I get down to the real work. Letting go.
Breath by breath. Inhaling - creating space. Exhaling - exploring space. Softer, softer, softer still. Melting away layer after layer of previously unrealized tension. (you know the feeling...you're in the full expression of the pose, deep as you're gonna be...but then something triggers an awareness of new, deeper tension...maybe down in your hip...and you breathe and you shudder through its release...aahhh...)
It's too much. I'm not sure I'll be back.
Not until I feel more prepared to swim alongside all which I try to keep beneath the surface.
Or better still, not until I can honestly relax heavy on the earth, nestled in the arms gravity's unyielding embrace.
G'night.
k
Monday, April 11, 2011
Hot Weekend
I ran into one of the Heidi's tonight.
Couldn't help but notice the heavy rings under her eyes when she looked over at me and said,
"Kevin, you look tired."
Yep. I've got the same Bikram© eyes.
Ripples in my body pond from a giant yoga rock (pronounced "rick") that landed square on my bhava.
-
I miss Katey.
-
Hands to heart center, melting forward, "friendly" full body adjustments in Prasarita Padottanasana. The whole enchilada.
But still...
RIck is the man...a true yogi. Wit, wisdom and whippings all wrapped up in a grumpy cuddle bear. Honestly, a year ago when I first stepped into his class, I didn't like the guy. Didn't want to like the guy. Couldn't believe this type of yoga existed...
Don't reach for water?? No "extra" movements?? NO FANCY FINGERS!?!? My mind screamed: "Shove that tapas right up your ass!"
The very idea of a "prescribed" yoga, of a singular scripted sequence - (it took me a couple classes before I realized it was actually a script, even with Rick's swirls added in) - the idea of an immutable series was totally incongruent with what I perceived the art of yoga to be. A yoga multivitamin, really?
I saw yoga as personal expression; yoga as the flower's path - a path of living mystery. Who the hell really knows what pose is gonna to happen next??
But then again, as one fellow in that movie said, yoga is all that it is supposed to be and nothing more..... And to quote Rick, "that which challenges us most, brings us the most."
I, myself, find Bikram very challenging.
Thank you, dear sir, for a powerfully productive and enlightening weekend. No bullshit, I've come much closer to the "hot" lineage and the philosophy of Bikram yoga through your tutelage. In the crowds behind Josh, I bow to you as a disciple bows to a guru.
Whoever makes money on lactic acid, thanks you, as well.
---
As to Bikram Chowderhead, here's my 2 cents*: He is a visionary who, like many of his kind, sees his path as the only path. And frankly, that single minded passion is the paradox that simultaneously makes him appealing and repulsive.
Forget the copyright madness...in my mind Bikram has EVERY right to suggest that if you put his name on your class or your studio that it should meet determined standards. If it was Kevin's Stand-Up Yoga Hour or Tia's Ustrasana Bump Yoga, we'd expect certain standards as well, respectively.
But, who is Bikram to put 5,000 years of yoga into a SINGLE hour and a half? How can this one man encapsulate an entire cultural lineage with such determinacy?
Yet, the evidence is strong, the experience is clear - we've all felt it - Bikram "hot" yoga will likely transform your body - and it will certainly fuck with your mind.
The gift Bikram is giving, his genius if you will, is to see the demographic of the West and all of it's most prevalent ailments, and to provide a simple complex of postures that will significantly remedy many of those ailments. The penicillin analogy - I get that. Put together one effective elixir that can battle 90% of the ills.
That is a gift of genius.
---
I'm fading now, but in the next day or so I'd like to share some more thoughts on my experience with Bikram (and Rikram!), meander a bit on the biz of yoga (a la Yoga, Inc.), toss some ideas out about Josh's community teaching model, and invite you to the giant yoga party I'm planning to throw for all of us (and all of them!)! Oh, and check out Tom's meditation class tonight.
Praise god.
And the devil, too.
K
*Note: probably worth only 1/2 a cent on the open market
Couldn't help but notice the heavy rings under her eyes when she looked over at me and said,
"Kevin, you look tired."
Yep. I've got the same Bikram© eyes.
Ripples in my body pond from a giant yoga rock (pronounced "rick") that landed square on my bhava.
-
I miss Katey.
-
Hands to heart center, melting forward, "friendly" full body adjustments in Prasarita Padottanasana. The whole enchilada.
But still...
RIck is the man...a true yogi. Wit, wisdom and whippings all wrapped up in a grumpy cuddle bear. Honestly, a year ago when I first stepped into his class, I didn't like the guy. Didn't want to like the guy. Couldn't believe this type of yoga existed...
Don't reach for water?? No "extra" movements?? NO FANCY FINGERS!?!? My mind screamed: "Shove that tapas right up your ass!"
The very idea of a "prescribed" yoga, of a singular scripted sequence - (it took me a couple classes before I realized it was actually a script, even with Rick's swirls added in) - the idea of an immutable series was totally incongruent with what I perceived the art of yoga to be. A yoga multivitamin, really?
I saw yoga as personal expression; yoga as the flower's path - a path of living mystery. Who the hell really knows what pose is gonna to happen next??
But then again, as one fellow in that movie said, yoga is all that it is supposed to be and nothing more..... And to quote Rick, "that which challenges us most, brings us the most."
I, myself, find Bikram very challenging.
Thank you, dear sir, for a powerfully productive and enlightening weekend. No bullshit, I've come much closer to the "hot" lineage and the philosophy of Bikram yoga through your tutelage. In the crowds behind Josh, I bow to you as a disciple bows to a guru.
Whoever makes money on lactic acid, thanks you, as well.
---
As to Bikram Chowderhead, here's my 2 cents*: He is a visionary who, like many of his kind, sees his path as the only path. And frankly, that single minded passion is the paradox that simultaneously makes him appealing and repulsive.
Forget the copyright madness...in my mind Bikram has EVERY right to suggest that if you put his name on your class or your studio that it should meet determined standards. If it was Kevin's Stand-Up Yoga Hour or Tia's Ustrasana Bump Yoga, we'd expect certain standards as well, respectively.
But, who is Bikram to put 5,000 years of yoga into a SINGLE hour and a half? How can this one man encapsulate an entire cultural lineage with such determinacy?
Yet, the evidence is strong, the experience is clear - we've all felt it - Bikram "hot" yoga will likely transform your body - and it will certainly fuck with your mind.
The gift Bikram is giving, his genius if you will, is to see the demographic of the West and all of it's most prevalent ailments, and to provide a simple complex of postures that will significantly remedy many of those ailments. The penicillin analogy - I get that. Put together one effective elixir that can battle 90% of the ills.
That is a gift of genius.
---
I'm fading now, but in the next day or so I'd like to share some more thoughts on my experience with Bikram (and Rikram!), meander a bit on the biz of yoga (a la Yoga, Inc.), toss some ideas out about Josh's community teaching model, and invite you to the giant yoga party I'm planning to throw for all of us (and all of them!)! Oh, and check out Tom's meditation class tonight.
Praise god.
And the devil, too.
K
*Note: probably worth only 1/2 a cent on the open market
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Beloved - What's In a Name?
Om pria, y'all.
Holy mother of ganesha...is Patti freakin' amazing, or what?! "Now for the heavy, deep and real." Who says shit like that and gets away with it...seriously?
One take away for me is the beauty of seeing dharana as a practice of "becoming aware of the gaps between thought"...that is, experiencing dharana as the practice of focusing all thought on one "object" - the failure of which is to lose the thought stream and its object of concentration...not allowing the thought stream to carry us to its ocean, if you will.
Dhyana would appear to be the reciprocal practice - not allowing any single thought stream to carry us away AT ALL - that is, dhyana is (in part!) the practice of sitting in stillness and witnessing action (fluttering thoughts), whereas dharana is more the practice of sitting in active concentration and witnessing the breaks in that intense action of concentration (also, fluttering thoughts!).
They offer two polar avenues to mastering the mechanics of the mind. Not unlike how abhyasa (effort/discipline) and vairagya (renunciation/non-attached awareness) - Patti's "two pillars of yoga" - are practiced by the master yogin to create a dynamic balance. Skillful living always dances between inhale and exhale, between giving and receiving, between trying and letting go.
It's riding the wave of Katey's "spandha" - the in/out pulse of the universe.
Anyway, Patti's a babe and has me mesmerized continuously.
------
Thank you Meagan (sp?) for being such a stoic yet welcoming mirror in the eye-to-eye meditation we did. There was a gentle moment of dissolving that - for lack of verbal artistry - had our colors bleeding together. I sensed myself pondering myself even while I pondered you. Gratzi.
-----
Did anybody write down the 7 (?) internal gaze points that Patti outlined. (e.g. third eye, navel chakra, nose bone thing, etc)? Can you shoot them to me? I wonder if those are the technical drishtis of yoga? I thought there were nine.
-----------
Chrissy turned me on to this video about getting into padmasana (padma = lotus). Though I've never been comfortable even just crossing my legs "native american style", within 3 minutes of watching this video I was in full lotus floating 6" off the ground with white light shooting out of my butt.
Not exaggerating, nope.
Also of great worth is the work of Erich Schiffmann - .
------
An exercise in devolution:
Tolle speaks of the name - that is, our individual names (Kevin, Heidi, Sharon) - as a basket into which we toss the stuff of our lives...experiences, objects of possession, beliefs, dreams, etc... We do this, or rather the unfettered ego does this, in an effort to have a greater sense of self.
The more I fill the basket of my name with material goods, with bitter or with sweet memories, with accomplishments and failures, with stories I tell myself about the "cruel and beautiful world", the more my ego feels confident in its continued existence.
And the more I lose contact with my deeper self - my atman. Reuniting with (or remembering) atman is the realization of yoga, the source of enlightenment we all contain within us. Egoism is allowing the world of form to distract us from that realization.
Of course, upon examination, we realize we are never satisfied with the contents of our basket. We continually feel the need to throw things out out and toss things in the basket as we seek fulfillment from the fleeting world of form.
One of the great processes of initiation in many spiritual practices is to be "renamed" by a guru or through some ceremony. Called "now names" or "spirit names" in some traditions, the devotee forgoes the basket of name that defined his/her previous ego and is reborn with a new name, ususally one that invokes powers outside of the individual (Rainbow Walker or Lama Surya Das or Madonna).
I offer two seeds to your garden:
Who would you be today, in this moment, without your name? Imagine, here and now, that you have no name. How would you then answer the eternal question "who are you?"
What might your spirit name or nom de plume be for this chapter of your life? Without attachment, it's safe to play with new names a bit. Try Talks With Rain. Or Stirring Tiger. Or Tender Heart Bear. Or Ziji Boom-freakin-basa.
Someday, I hope to meet each of you again outside the basket of our names.
Aho.
K
Holy mother of ganesha...is Patti freakin' amazing, or what?! "Now for the heavy, deep and real." Who says shit like that and gets away with it...seriously?
One take away for me is the beauty of seeing dharana as a practice of "becoming aware of the gaps between thought"...that is, experiencing dharana as the practice of focusing all thought on one "object" - the failure of which is to lose the thought stream and its object of concentration...not allowing the thought stream to carry us to its ocean, if you will.
Dhyana would appear to be the reciprocal practice - not allowing any single thought stream to carry us away AT ALL - that is, dhyana is (in part!) the practice of sitting in stillness and witnessing action (fluttering thoughts), whereas dharana is more the practice of sitting in active concentration and witnessing the breaks in that intense action of concentration (also, fluttering thoughts!).
They offer two polar avenues to mastering the mechanics of the mind. Not unlike how abhyasa (effort/discipline) and vairagya (renunciation/non-attached awareness) - Patti's "two pillars of yoga" - are practiced by the master yogin to create a dynamic balance. Skillful living always dances between inhale and exhale, between giving and receiving, between trying and letting go.
It's riding the wave of Katey's "spandha" - the in/out pulse of the universe.
Anyway, Patti's a babe and has me mesmerized continuously.
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Thank you Meagan (sp?) for being such a stoic yet welcoming mirror in the eye-to-eye meditation we did. There was a gentle moment of dissolving that - for lack of verbal artistry - had our colors bleeding together. I sensed myself pondering myself even while I pondered you. Gratzi.
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Did anybody write down the 7 (?) internal gaze points that Patti outlined. (e.g. third eye, navel chakra, nose bone thing, etc)? Can you shoot them to me? I wonder if those are the technical drishtis of yoga? I thought there were nine.
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Chrissy turned me on to this video about getting into padmasana (padma = lotus). Though I've never been comfortable even just crossing my legs "native american style", within 3 minutes of watching this video I was in full lotus floating 6" off the ground with white light shooting out of my butt.
Not exaggerating, nope.
Also of great worth is the work of Erich Schiffmann - .
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An exercise in devolution:
Tolle speaks of the name - that is, our individual names (Kevin, Heidi, Sharon) - as a basket into which we toss the stuff of our lives...experiences, objects of possession, beliefs, dreams, etc... We do this, or rather the unfettered ego does this, in an effort to have a greater sense of self.
The more I fill the basket of my name with material goods, with bitter or with sweet memories, with accomplishments and failures, with stories I tell myself about the "cruel and beautiful world", the more my ego feels confident in its continued existence.
And the more I lose contact with my deeper self - my atman. Reuniting with (or remembering) atman is the realization of yoga, the source of enlightenment we all contain within us. Egoism is allowing the world of form to distract us from that realization.
Of course, upon examination, we realize we are never satisfied with the contents of our basket. We continually feel the need to throw things out out and toss things in the basket as we seek fulfillment from the fleeting world of form.
One of the great processes of initiation in many spiritual practices is to be "renamed" by a guru or through some ceremony. Called "now names" or "spirit names" in some traditions, the devotee forgoes the basket of name that defined his/her previous ego and is reborn with a new name, ususally one that invokes powers outside of the individual (Rainbow Walker or Lama Surya Das or Madonna).
I offer two seeds to your garden:
Who would you be today, in this moment, without your name? Imagine, here and now, that you have no name. How would you then answer the eternal question "who are you?"
What might your spirit name or nom de plume be for this chapter of your life? Without attachment, it's safe to play with new names a bit. Try Talks With Rain. Or Stirring Tiger. Or Tender Heart Bear. Or Ziji Boom-freakin-basa.
Someday, I hope to meet each of you again outside the basket of our names.
Aho.
K
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Aparigraha - Non-possessiveness
Bon soir, mes amis.
Study group yesterday was happenin'. Chrissy rocked in leading the call and response Siva Mantra! We did a few rounds of nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing) and then took turns leading vinyasas. We just about got through the entire sequence, including the floor series, with verbal adjustments.
Even when someone was leading, others would throw in alternate verbal adjustments...we were really trying to cover as many corrections as we could in an effort to build the basket from which we'll later draw just a few adjustments (pose by pose) during a class. I figure having 6-10 adjustments in the bag for each pose is a really strong start for us. As Katey tells us, we may only use 2 or 3 per pose during a class - choosing them by rote, by inspiration, or by looking around at the room and calling out particular adjustments that need to be made - but we don't always want to use the same 2 or 3.
That would be boring as bikram.
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Aparigraha - Non-possessiveness
Here and now, I give it away...a herculean effort of imperfection.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bxu4Du7M08YsZTRjZTc1ZjgtM2JkNC00N2FjLWFkOWYtOTIzMjE3ZGVhMDk2&hl=en&authkey=CI6v9ooI
Karma yoga...it's easier than hatha.
Z
Study group yesterday was happenin'. Chrissy rocked in leading the call and response Siva Mantra! We did a few rounds of nadi shodana (alternate nostril breathing) and then took turns leading vinyasas. We just about got through the entire sequence, including the floor series, with verbal adjustments.
Even when someone was leading, others would throw in alternate verbal adjustments...we were really trying to cover as many corrections as we could in an effort to build the basket from which we'll later draw just a few adjustments (pose by pose) during a class. I figure having 6-10 adjustments in the bag for each pose is a really strong start for us. As Katey tells us, we may only use 2 or 3 per pose during a class - choosing them by rote, by inspiration, or by looking around at the room and calling out particular adjustments that need to be made - but we don't always want to use the same 2 or 3.
That would be boring as bikram.
------
Aparigraha - Non-possessiveness
Here and now, I give it away...a herculean effort of imperfection.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bxu4Du7M08YsZTRjZTc1ZjgtM2JkNC00N2FjLWFkOWYtOTIzMjE3ZGVhMDk2&hl=en&authkey=CI6v9ooI
Karma yoga...it's easier than hatha.
Z
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