Yogafly2

Why Meditate

There's ten thousand reasons to meditate.  But mostly lately, I meditate to just empty empty empty until I become one with all and the source of all things.  It's quite satisfying - not in any temporary way, either.  It's satisfying in the most deeply satisfying of ways.

I met Nirmala Devi at Ananda Ashram studying Sanskrit with Manorama.  We seem to be opening up Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj's books lately:

From Nirmala Devi's Daily Inspirations

 Nisargadatta Maharaj

Meditation

Questioner: All teachers advise to meditate. What is the purpose of meditation?

Maharaj: We know the outer world of sensations and actions, but of our inner world of thoughts and feelings we know very little. The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of, and familiar with, our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness.  Incidentally practice of meditation affects deeply our character. We are slaves to what we do not know; of what we know we are masters. Whatever vice or weakness in ourselves we discover and understand its causes and its workings, we overcome it by the very knowing; the unconscious dissolves when brought into the conscious. The dissolution of the unconscious releases energy; the mind feels adequate and become quiet.

Q: What is the use of a quiet mind?

M: When the mind is quiet, we come to know ourselves as the pure witness. We withdraw from the experience and its experiencer and stand apart in pure awareness, which is between and beyond the two. The personality, based on self-identification, on imagining oneself to be something: 'I am this, I am that', continues, but only as a part of the objective world. Its identification with the witness snaps.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Excerpt from “I Am That”

Chapter 6. Meditation

YOGALife 1 Training at Love Yoga Co-op - January 2010 - March 2010

Lauran Janes and I are finalizing our curriculum for our YOGALife Training (series of weekend workshops) -  1st 100 hours - at Love Yoga Co-op in Austin, Texas from January 2010 through March 2010.  For those interested in earning a 200-hour yoga certification, you will take YOGALife 1, a trainining intensive in the Summer of 2010 and then the next 100 hours of YOGALife from September to November 2010.

For those who just wish to deepen their practice of YOGA (Most of those signed up are in this category) - you have a couple of options including taking the entire 3 months training for $1500 or taking one weekend workshop at a time at $185 each weekend.

A full course curriculum will be announced shortly.  Here's a sneak peek at some YOGALife weekends:

1) Self Expression Through Sound -

Wake up your pipes and channel the Force in your heart!  Vibrations inside deepen our relationship to Source.  Create an outlet through Sound to Express your Self.

2) Anatomy of the Mind-Body-Spirit -

Anatomy from a purely physical perspective is just one aspect of who YOU are according to Yoga.   Let’s review our human form from the 3 levels of Mind-Body- Spirit and then a 4^th level – Energetic, thereby expanding the definition of Anatomy beyond Physiology and Biology. 

3) Prana - The Yogic Power of Breath -

Expand your lung capacity and your experience of life through breath and movement.  

4) The Extraordinary in the Ordinary - Yogic Scriptures Unscripted

An in-depth look at Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita as they bring light and meaning into life’s challenges. 

5) Contact Yoga - The Art of Hands-on Assists 

Learn the fundamentals of steadfast support to help each other experience the fullest effects of Yoga asanas.

6) Eat, Drink, Yoga - 

Explore the balance of Sustenance and Indulgence with YOGA in your everyday eating and drinking LIFE.

Urban Yogis Web site Relaunch - www.urbanyogis.com

www.urbanyogis.com

Ullasini (Khwan) and Anthony Biduck just relaunched the Urban Yogis Web site.  Check it out!!!  I met this couple at Ananda Ashram and I adore them.  I owe them an article on yoga.  I do.  I do.  I do.   The article is formulating itself.  I really ought to finish it this week.  Pictured above is Ari and me in triangle in front of the Apple store off 59th Street.  Ari and I both played Jatayu in Ananda Ashram's Ramayanas - consecutive years.  Ah, NYC urban yoga, where we get to be barefoot in the concrete jungle.  

Intro to Ayurveda at Love Yoga Co-op - November 7, 4:30 pm

Introduction to Ayurveda

with Kerry Meath

at Love Yoga Co-op - www.loveyogacoop.com, $10 per person

2525 South Lamar, Austin, TX 78704

Ayurveda is a sister science to yoga and one that is extremely beneficial to understand as a student of yoga.  Originating in India over 5000 years ago, Ayurveda is an ancient and profound science that allows individuals to discover balance.  The strength of Ayurveda lies in its embracing the individual constitution of every person, instead of relying on a one-size fits all approach.  In this process a person becomes empowered to begin looking at their environment and connecting it to how they may be feeling physically or mentally.  One uses this growing understanding of Ayurveda to bring in qualities that foster and maintain balance.  During this lecture Kerry will briefly go into the history and basic principles of Ayurveda.  Briefly addressing how some of the basic principles may impact your yoga practice, as a student or teacher.

 

Photo of Lord Dhanwantari (God of Ayurveda) from http://technoayurveda.wordpress.com/

About Kerry Meath:

Kerry recently moved to Austin and is excited to share her love for Ayurveda with others.  Kerry has been actively practicing and studying alternative healing modalities for the last eleven years.  She studied full time at The Ayurvedic Institute under the guidance of Dr. Vasant Lad, a world-renowned Ayurvedic physician.  She holds an honors B.A. from Brown University, is a Registered NAMA Professional Member and Certified Yoga Teacher.  Kerry currently offers private Ayurveda Consultations and Seminars around the country. 

Grace and Gratitude

  This morning, I had a conversation with David about how I was going to spend the day plucking money off trees.  And shared this conversation with Heather, visiting me here in Austin from New York - who said - "yes, let's walk and maybe we'll find a $100 bill on the ground."  This, after walking to get her water bottle at Beets Cafe - yes it was there!  And then to Juanita's tacos for a coupla migas and potato tacos, we walked up the street to my apartment and there on the ground was a $10 bill.  And I said, "holy shit,"  several times when I saw it.

I picked it up and we couldn't stop laughing!  How uncanny eh?  God is having such a great laugh with me right now as he holds me through the mind's uncertainty about finances and its flow at the moment.  But all I can hear is Padre Pio and all of my friends in the "invisible world" telling me to have faith.

And grace happens every second. All these little momentary reminders of "all my needs will be met," such as finding this $10 bill is a reminder to relax.  to breathe.  to work with love.  to create more beauty.  every moment.

Ladies, join me and Omkari (Anita Stoll) for our Gratitude: the Grace of Acceptance weekend retreat at her sweet bungalow on Lake Austin.  November 20 and 21.  It will be a grace filled weekend for sure.

Sublimation

Last night in satsang with Omkari and her kula - I learned something very important about this thing called "sublimation" - Chapter 2, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, translated by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati - Sutra 34 through the Yamas - ahinsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha.

Ashok - our guide - taught us that when the mind is moving into different states and especially into negativity that rather than pushing anything away, we focus on something that brings us that reminder of love and perfection.  He gave the example of focusing on Baba Nityananda, for instance.  So with this focus, the disturbances of the mind are not stifled - just viewed from another standpoint.  

And just as any teaching is just a bunch of "blah blah blah" unless you apply it, Omkari and I meditate afterwards and I watched as my mind spun into a thousand billion places all at once, worry, blame, fear, etcetera and then I focused on Sarasvati - Om Aim Sarasvatyai Namaha.  And I got it.  I am not any of this stuff that thunders like a tornado through this mind.  And I witness it all even as I panic at the letting go of identifying with it all.  

It's a bit strange to understand that none of this stuff actually stops, ya know.  Even through meditation, this mind is on maximum overdrive.  It's just that through meditation, we no longer identify with a lot of it.  And then eventually, with any of it.  

 

what is love?

by Baba Muktananda

"dependent love is that which expects something.  independent love arises on its own from within."

prema ananda mukta - "love bliss freedom" 

amrtam prema - "nectar of love"

I'm listening to a CD of teachings from Baba Muktananda - and mantras from the Siddha Yoga lineage.  I thank my friends Vidura Barrios and Harshada David Wagner for this CD.  And a sweet memory of sitting at Harshada's immersed in the bliss of listening and sharing these teachings.

On Saturday, we chant together to bless Charly Pivert's new space for Anusara Yoga in Austin, Texas.  My heart swims with gratitude.

Prayers from my dad

"Jesus, Mercy.  Mary Help me."

- my dad asked that I repeat whenever I felt worry and it became a song in my heart

and this one:

Lead, Kindly Light

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead thou me on;

The night is dark and I am far from home;

Keep thou my feet.  I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou

shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path; but 

now Lead me on;

I loved the garrish day, and spite of fears,

Pride ruled my will:  remember not past years.

So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still

will lead me on,

O'er moon and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone; and with morn those angels faces smile

which I have loved long since,

and lost awhile.

- John Henry Cardinal Newman

Contemplative Aromatherapy with David Crow in NYC

Contemplative Aromatherapy 

with DAVID CROW of Floracopeia 

October 30 - November 1, 2009 

Come experience this meditation-based approach to understanding how pure essential oils can transform consciousness and benefit your emotional and spiritual wellbeing. 

David Crow will lead guided exploration of how: 

• Botanical fragrances enhance and deepen concentration and meditation 

• Contemplative practice helps us recognize the hidden dimensions and intelligence of 

          botanical fragrances 

• The Yoga of Olfaction and classical Buddhist meditation methods support study of the 

          mind/body relationship 

• Plant essences awaken our awareness of bio- logical unity and sensitivity to all beings 

This special retreat is offered on a donation basis in accordance with Buddhist tradition. 

A wide variety of Floracopeia essential oils will be available for sale.

Times: Fri  7 – 10pm • Sat & Sun 9am – 6pm 

Joanne Depalma Inc.; 545 W. 45th Street 6th Floor; New York  New York 

Contact: Andree Stolte 917-721-9878 andreestolte@gmail.com 

For details about the retreat: www.floracopeia.com/blog/?p=302 

David Crow, LAc, wrote In Search of the Medicine Buddha, a book about his studies of Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine in the Himalayas.  The founder of Floracopeia–a company which supports ecologically sustainable agriculture through the production of essential oils and aromatic treasures all over the world– Mr. Crow’s work has been featured in numerous magazines and he’s spoken on panel discussions with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 

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