Yogafly2

Om to Guruji and Joan Suval

Satsang yesterday with Joan and Guruji - intense. The heart center, city of Brahman, has been undergoing physical and spiritual tremors. The kind where I'm not sure if it's because I have not done enough cardio lately but then my left arm will suddenly shoot up during meditation. And I realize the tremor in the heart is the origin. It's not common that people with heart disease have manifestations like this kriya.

In satsang yesterday, Joan, in full Guruji mode - what a fabulous combo of forces - asked me directly what my question is. And explained to the group that I have been with Guruji many lifetimes. And she asked me why is it that I have that mistrust, that knot (granthi Vishnu) in the heart? And I said, I wish I knew! And Joan explained that the answer was in the question.

And Dorothy - sitting next to Joan - said "look, she's thinking hard, Joan," about my face as it looked up at them. And I was thinking that I didn't have a question, not really. I just had this feeling in my chest, in my heart - palpable, big, tremors, vibrations. And Joan said so what is it about trust? And spoke to the group as I sat there and felt that I was going to cry. But that wasn't the question nor the answer either.

"Do not seek illumination unless you seek it like a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond." - Ramakrishna. These words I read in "Franny & Zooey" in 6th grade/7th grade when I realized that this "illumination" thing was what I wanted in this life. But what the heck is it??????

And all of a sudden, I got it! And I said just that, "I got it!" And I began to explain that even though I have always DONE everything through intuition, not through intelligence, really. I am very average in terms of intelligence, but I can intuit the right answer in any given moment - even when it pisses everyone off. That even though I shot from the hip. That I did not trust this intuition, the feelings inside, the guidance inside - UNTIL I had my thinking mind analyze it. And when my thinking mind gets in the way - BAM the heart chakra gets all knotted up - knots upon knots upon knots as Joan says.

And just this REALIZATION - AHA!!!!!!

is going to switch the whole paradigm of this existence. woah. I mean seriously, it's TREMENDOUS. For something tremendous has happened...

now I have to go do the laundry. and empty my car out. and get it ready for the mechanic - whom Guruji guided me too. I mean, seriously yesterday, Guruji came to me 1) wondering why I was driving the wrong direction and ended up at the right Gulf station in Monroe where Armando will make sure my car is in good shape to drive across the country and 2) in the form of the Red Hot Chili Peppers when I was thinking about my STUFF -- I turn on the radio and I get, "GIVE it away, give it away, give it away now. Give it away, give it away, give it away now..." So there was no qualms about donating everything to the Ashram - have fun with the stuff. Donating to St. Something church down the street. Giving stuff away in NYC. the only things I'm keeping are books and clothes. amazing how stuff comes any way.

And the stories from Dave Washburn of Guruji's maha siddhis. And this quote from Neem Karoli Baba when asked about Sai Baba's siddhis - including manifestation of vibbhuti:
"He has reduced God to the miraculous."

phenomenal explanation. Phenomenal explanation. the mundane is also the sacred. the sacred is also the mundane. Now let me remember this as I clean out my car now...

OM NAMAH Shivaya.

And Krishnamurti's Coca-cola, coca-cola, coca-cola mantra buzzing with fizzy pop. pop. pop. pop. we don't stop.

Volare!

one of my favorite words - in every language - "Volare!  Cantare!" - Gypsy Kings style

Joan Suval asked me to sing it in her satsang on Saturday.  To demonstrate that energy is bigger than matter. 

That lovely question that I get asked - "Are you a singer?"

Nah.  I just love to sing:

Tell me "who am I?"

Not this body, nor this mind.

Tell me "who am I?"

Not this body, nor this mind.

I am the light that illumines the world.

We are the lights that illumine the world.

Dorothy asked me and Tina on Sunday

at Ananda Ashram - with her arms wrapped around me and Tina on either side of her (she's my Jewish grandmother, taught me how to be a princess)

"What is the purpose of life?"

And Tina Zym and I said simultaneously -

Tina: "Love"

Me: "Bliss"

in Unison - and Jyotana - said well, it's the same thing, isn't it?

Yoga and Stress Management

I forget that this job that I have is quite stressful until I realize what having absolutely no stress is about.  Like this past weekend.

I only have 3.5 days left of this wonderful job - which I completely appreciate for every dimension it has taught me - and for all the amazing people I have met here.  But really, it's an incredibly stressful environment.  Deadlines galore.  And managing 1001 deadlines. 

How to do it, while staying meditative?  In deep refreshing meditation?  That's the key to all of this.  Also lots of time away from it.  I took 2 months off last year. 

This year - it's time for my 2 months off again.  Work is always present.  It's the non-work that I have to "work" towards.

You should see how much I get done when I'm completely relaxed........amazing grace.

Shawn Harrison gives good relaxation.  Yoga nidra in class with her yesterday - my whole heart energy shifted.  Bliss.

Perspective is a wonderful thing

And in my advertising world..."for everything else, there's MasterCard."

http://www.dropular.net

total silence with Nisargadatta Maharaj yesterday and the day before, leading the way.

How to get the 4th state?  Questioner asks. 

1.  Waking

2.  Dreaming

3.  Deep Sleep

4.  Turiya

And Maharaj answers - through "desirelessness and fearlessness"

astonishing dream last night that just held this form seized in fear - and one of the other states woke up and began to chant Om Namah Shivaya.  The body relaxed.  And intriguingly, it realized a lesson in fearlessness. 

powerful mantra, this Om Namah Shivaya. 

Om Namah Shivaya.

Sunrise Yoga on Broadway

And the neon lights are bright on Broadway....

The brilliant mind of Mayor Bloomberg has it so that Times Square will be closed off to street traffic - it will be total pedestrian landia.  How awesome is this meritocrat?

And there will be Yoga at Dawn.  First 724 people to sign up get in...

Om to New York.

Many Pranams to Clayton Horton and YSSF

I highly encourage everyone who would like a 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training integrating all aspects of Yoga (not just asana), the way we do at Ananda Ashram

(if the Board of Education of the State of New York did not just help us cancel, yes, with the help of the Boards that run Ananda Ashram our 2009 Yoga Teacher Training ------ yes, my anger has finally subsided) ---->yes, peace-loving yoginis who are very happy and  mostly blissful have anger.  And I don't see it as an issue.  It is just anger.  And sadness.  And all the passing emotions of which, I am not...

Anyway, back to Clayton Horton - and Yoga Society of San Francisco and Ananda Ashram's sister Ashram - Brahmananda Ashram - they will give you the whole shebang and not just asana.  And you can really, truly say you teach yoga and not just a bunch of exercises that could really be classified under various forms of physical exercise, including gymanstics

(I'm saying this as an ex-gym-nast ("kris-stinky" they called me because I would smell like a gym locker after gymnastics practice, I still smell like a gym locker after I run, etcetera...it's quite beautiful and foul at the same time)....

Go here:

http://www.yssf.com/index.htm

and infinite pranams to all of you who still love me even when I have my tempestuous temper tantrums. 

When the State Regulates Yoga

Bharati shared the following article with us from the Daily News:

I will have to say that I read the first paragraph with my train buddy hedge fund investor on our Blackberries.  But I am wearing flip-flops and my corporate-ish dress.  And the reason why we need the gentleness of yoga so much is because we are tense in New York.  The whole entire city is tense and constantly on the frenzy. 

Begs the question on what is YOGA?  I have been chanting the Bhagavad Gita again and again....What is yoga to the masses?  What is Yoga to Ananda Ashram?  What is Yoga to the State of New York?

Albany fools tie yoga in knots: State bureaucratic crackdown is downright crazy

Tuesday, May 19th 2009, 4:00 AM

You might think of the people who run yoga studios as sandal-wearing, granola-crunching sorts who would sooner wrap a leg around their neck than harm a flea. But in the eyes of Albany bureaucrats, these gentle souls are a threat to public order.

That's the silly upshot of scary letters that the state Education Department fired off to studios across New York last month.

In dense legalese, the letters accuse the studios of breaking the law - and threaten to slap them with $50,000 fines.

Their alleged crime? Training future yoga instructors without a license.

There's only one thing wrong with the state making this charge: It's utter nonsense. Not a single yoga studio in the state has ever applied for or received a license before. In fact, the notion of requiring yoga studios to get licenses never even occurred to state officials until a month or so ago.

What changed? Someone in the Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision heard that other states were regulating yoga studios and decided that New York should get in on the action.

So, dozens of otherwise law-abiding small businesses were suddenly told they were violating Section 5001(1) of the Education Law, operating a professional school without a license.

The letters instructed studios to "cease operating" immediately - even if they were in the middle of a training session with future instructors who had already paid thousands of dollars each.

The studios were warned not to start up again until they're properly licensed. There's a $250 application fee, a $50 registration fee for instructors and directors and a $100 fee for school agents. They must also pay to have their curriculum reviewed - by whom and according to what standards, no one can say.

The whole nightmarish process, studios were initially told, would take eight to 12 months. That delay could well force some studios to shut down permanently.

"We're a very small, independent neighborhood studio," said Liz Buehler of Yoga High on the lower East Side. "Teacher training coming up in September was going to be a big source of revenue for us. We're concerned we're not going to have the resources to go through a lengthy licensing process with the state - not to mention the fees."

State bureaucrats couldn't care less. To them, passing along a 2,500-year-old spiritual tradition falls into the same category as training plumbers or pet groomers. Officials say they have to protect tuition-paying students - and the people who attend their future yoga classes - from fly-by-night operators.

But the danger to consumers is entirely theoretical. Department spokesman Tom Dunn acknowledged to me that it has never in its history received a complaint about subpar yoga training.

And even if you accept the need for new regulations, the department has no excuse for the Kafkaesque way it has handled enforcement.

One day, the state raised not a finger. The next, it was telling studios to shut down instantly.

The officials kept saying, in effect, "We have no choice. The law is the law." If so, the law is stupid and should be changed.

The Education Department - chastened ever-so-slightly by the blowback - has softened its line a bit, meeting with yoga studios to "discuss various options for compliance," Dunn said.

He added that the department now believes it can issue licenses in as little as 30 days - which is a lot better than eight months, but still not good enough.

Education Commissioner Richard Mills and Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch should tell their people to back off. It's not the yoga studios' fault that the Education Department failed to enforce its own law all this time.

Owners deserve a little fair warning. Better yet, one of the more evolved members of the Legislature should put in a bill to exempt yoga studios from government nosiness altogether.

New Yorkers need all the relaxing exercise they can get in these tense times. Albany should take a cleansing breath - and let the people bend and twist in peace.

whammond@nydailynews.com

 
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/05/19/2009-05-19_albany_fools_tie_yoga_in_knots_state_bureaucratic_crackdown_is_downright_crazy.html#ixzz0G2qEWcPb&B

Ganesh is Fresh

MC Yogi:  "You say Jai, I say Ganesh"

Jai

Ganesh

Jai 

Ganesh

And then Bhagavan Das chimes in with "Jai Ganesha, Jai Ganesha..."

Here's me and Ganesha at Jivamukti Yoga School for the Ananda Ashram Spring Gala.  Me and Sunny Sims, the ocean of Sunny - we chant the Hanuman Chaleesa together and burst into giggles of rapture...

More photos soon:

I promise my heart to paint more when I'm in Texas

Because Matthew told me I levitate when I paint. I would like to burn each one the way we do with Lanka - which is what I painted with Matthew - the city that Hanuman burns down. Because I only love to paint for the sheer joy of it, not because something beautiful comes. That happens when my sister paints - always something beautiful. But with me - it's simply the shakti - which isn't necessarily beautiful. I know from experience. "To paint is to love again, and to love is to live life to the fullest," this from my beloved friend whom I despise and admire nonetheless, Henry Miller.