I am very fortunate to be living right at the seashore. When I get up in the morning, I can go right out to the beach if I don't have any classes scheduled for the morning. When you look out at the ocean, especially in the off season when there fewer people around, it seems to be a metaphor for just about everything.
Sometimes, I will walk along the beach and look for seaglass. Seaglass is basically discarded glass bottles that have fallen into the ocean, broke into many different pieces, and then land on the ocean floor where time, water, salt, and movement smooth out the jagged edges. The pieces of glass are moved back to the beach after many years by storms, rough waves, and every day tides. After the tide moves out, you can see a few glistening pieces here and there.
Seaglass is not really that easy to find. Mostly there are rocks and shells on the beach in large numbers. Finding seaglass is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's best to concentrate on what you are doing to find it. If you are walking along talking to someone, you will not have enough directed attention to find seaglass. You have to focus yourself to look for certain colors like green, brown, rose, and milk of magnesia blue. Milk of Magnesia blue is extremely rare because they don't make blue glass bottles anymore. When your attention is directed in this way, looking for seaglass becomes a type of walking meditation. After I come back, I feel like i've been on a "Mental Vacation". Most of my mental energy has been spent lately on ways to make a living, running from class to class or client to client......getting stuff done. Repetitive thoughts of various kinds start to become boring and stale. When you are walking along, allowing the wind to blow through your hair, breathing the fresh sea air, looking for your desired object, you can get away from your usual mudane issues.
I never find a lot of seaglass, so what I do find has "special-ness". I've found a few pieces of milk of magnesia glass but no more than 2 or 3. I found an ambered colored piece that still says "no retu" on it. I found part of the very top of an old milk bottle that is still rounded. There's a connection between the bottle's past and the present moment when i'm finding and picking up this piece of glass.......sequences of events from past to present.......recovering something that has been discarded and broken ,and smoothed and changed by forces greater than itself. These ideas are halligraphic and true for everything on the planet.
I often think about sequences of events in my life. .....all of the people that i've known and all of the different experiences that i've had. I bet you do the same...wondering what is happening when things come back around again changed and made new by forces beyond your own control.
In Master Patanjali's Yoga Sutra(book 2, 2.1)--That which is seen is there to serve the seer. Our world is made up of many different events, some good and some bad. All of it is there, however, to point out something. You don't have experiences just to say," I've had so many experiences." Something is meant to unfold. You noticing the unfolding with your careful attention......that is what Master Patanjali is saying.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Are you there God, it's me Jeff Reed?
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna(who represents the physical manifestation of God) and Arjuna( Krishna's warrior student) are walking through a vineyard. Krishna says to Arjuna , "Arjuna, what do you see in front of your eyes." Arjuna replies, "I see a vine with many bunches of grapes on it." Krishna says, " Look again, look more closely."
Arjuna took a second look. when he looked again, he could see the face of Krishna in each grape and the image of Krishna throughout the length of the vine. The basic fundamental nature of everything is God.
Look into things, instead of at them. Practice cultivating a mind that is able to see the presence of God in every thing, every one and every situation......including "bad" ones. I'm definately not the first person to say that there is great value in looking at a negative situation as a secret gift to you. By staying open to the unfolding of the teachings in the loss, problem, or difficult person, you will move toward the secret treasures not easily seen with the first glance.
No matter what, it's the god-force that determines the outcomes. Master Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra (2.1) says, practice yoga to reduce both physical and mental impurities, develop a capacity of self-examination and reflection, and understand that, in the final analysis, we are not masters of everything we do.
We are not masters of everything we do????? Is Jeff Reed the master of everything he does? ? Is Jay Cutler??? Mike Tomlin?? Barak Obama???
Has Jeff Reed not worked hard perfecting the art of kicking???? He is so reliable and has accomplished many great game winning field goal kicks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. How could he have missed two in the same game, it's statistically impossible. Maybe it was something else then.....the forces that be, maybe the wind. Something that's statistically unmeasureable. Jay Cutler too.....he lost his first game as a Chicago Bear quarterback against their arch-rival the Green Bay Packers the week before. The Fans of both teams expecting their outcome to be the wining outcome.... The Bears won at the very end with a field goal kick that was not affected by the wind. Look closer now....where's the divinity in this?
If you're a Steeler fan, the season has just started and an early loss does not hurt as much as a loss in January. By losing , the Steelers are able to see their errors more purely than if they where the one's to win by a kick. The timing of losing early in the season will give them more room to examine themselves and improve so they will not be placed in the position of having to win just by a fieldgoal kick in the future.
If you are a Bear's fan, Jay Cutler is now relieved of the burden of looking bad in your eyes. The Chicago Bears get to win against the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. All is well in Chi-town.
But wait......They won only by a field goal kick...
so, you see....
Arjuna took a second look. when he looked again, he could see the face of Krishna in each grape and the image of Krishna throughout the length of the vine. The basic fundamental nature of everything is God.
Look into things, instead of at them. Practice cultivating a mind that is able to see the presence of God in every thing, every one and every situation......including "bad" ones. I'm definately not the first person to say that there is great value in looking at a negative situation as a secret gift to you. By staying open to the unfolding of the teachings in the loss, problem, or difficult person, you will move toward the secret treasures not easily seen with the first glance.
No matter what, it's the god-force that determines the outcomes. Master Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra (2.1) says, practice yoga to reduce both physical and mental impurities, develop a capacity of self-examination and reflection, and understand that, in the final analysis, we are not masters of everything we do.
We are not masters of everything we do????? Is Jeff Reed the master of everything he does? ? Is Jay Cutler??? Mike Tomlin?? Barak Obama???
Has Jeff Reed not worked hard perfecting the art of kicking???? He is so reliable and has accomplished many great game winning field goal kicks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. How could he have missed two in the same game, it's statistically impossible. Maybe it was something else then.....the forces that be, maybe the wind. Something that's statistically unmeasureable. Jay Cutler too.....he lost his first game as a Chicago Bear quarterback against their arch-rival the Green Bay Packers the week before. The Fans of both teams expecting their outcome to be the wining outcome.... The Bears won at the very end with a field goal kick that was not affected by the wind. Look closer now....where's the divinity in this?
If you're a Steeler fan, the season has just started and an early loss does not hurt as much as a loss in January. By losing , the Steelers are able to see their errors more purely than if they where the one's to win by a kick. The timing of losing early in the season will give them more room to examine themselves and improve so they will not be placed in the position of having to win just by a fieldgoal kick in the future.
If you are a Bear's fan, Jay Cutler is now relieved of the burden of looking bad in your eyes. The Chicago Bears get to win against the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. All is well in Chi-town.
But wait......They won only by a field goal kick...
so, you see....
Monday, September 14, 2009
It's all just Emptiness
There's a side of human nature that makes us unhappy when we see someone else getting something that we really wanted to have for ourselves. There's a belief that life isn't fair and that karma doesn't really work consistently all of the time. Why do bad people prosper and good people suffer???
With karma, we are both subject and object at the same time..what we do we do to ourselves , since the mind is the movie projector of our experience. The bad people prospering and the good people suffering are actually projections from our own minds. There's nothing really out there, except what is planted in your mind. To change these projections, you must change the contents of your own mind. If the mind is a movie projector, then you must go to the projector itself and change the reels. It's foolish to throw popcorn at the screen....this is just the after effects of the karmic imprints.
What does the term "emptiness" mean from the perspective of karma? Emptiness means that everything we see is valueless from it's own side and that we project values on experiences/things. The values come from us, from our actions toward others karmic seeds are imprinted. For example , if we are not honest with people in our lives then we see people being dishonest toward us.....in various ways and degrees.
Karma is relative. Every karmic act is mixed; nothing is purely "bad" or "good". Even at the level of mental intention, no act done by a normal living being is devoid of at least some selfishness and thus at least some negativity. If the predominant intention or belief is that one's act is "good" that plants one kind of impression on one's consciousness. But if one is aware that the act seems to harm another, that awareness also leaves a karmic imprint on one's mind.
we are subject and object, we experience ourselves as we do because of what we've seen ourselves do to others. But also and simultaneously, we experience others the way we do because of who we think we are.
It's enough to remember "what goes around comes around". States of deep meditation roast the seeds of negative karma......sit down and work out the antidote mentally....when you take away the pain of another, your pain is taken away. When you trick another person, you also will be tricked. Realize that you control what is coming back to you.
The Diamond Cutter Sutra is called the "diamond cutter" because it takes reality as you know it and cuts it.....it's not by grasping for things that you get them, it's just the opposite...it's by giving things away.
With karma, we are both subject and object at the same time..what we do we do to ourselves , since the mind is the movie projector of our experience. The bad people prospering and the good people suffering are actually projections from our own minds. There's nothing really out there, except what is planted in your mind. To change these projections, you must change the contents of your own mind. If the mind is a movie projector, then you must go to the projector itself and change the reels. It's foolish to throw popcorn at the screen....this is just the after effects of the karmic imprints.
What does the term "emptiness" mean from the perspective of karma? Emptiness means that everything we see is valueless from it's own side and that we project values on experiences/things. The values come from us, from our actions toward others karmic seeds are imprinted. For example , if we are not honest with people in our lives then we see people being dishonest toward us.....in various ways and degrees.
Karma is relative. Every karmic act is mixed; nothing is purely "bad" or "good". Even at the level of mental intention, no act done by a normal living being is devoid of at least some selfishness and thus at least some negativity. If the predominant intention or belief is that one's act is "good" that plants one kind of impression on one's consciousness. But if one is aware that the act seems to harm another, that awareness also leaves a karmic imprint on one's mind.
we are subject and object, we experience ourselves as we do because of what we've seen ourselves do to others. But also and simultaneously, we experience others the way we do because of who we think we are.
It's enough to remember "what goes around comes around". States of deep meditation roast the seeds of negative karma......sit down and work out the antidote mentally....when you take away the pain of another, your pain is taken away. When you trick another person, you also will be tricked. Realize that you control what is coming back to you.
The Diamond Cutter Sutra is called the "diamond cutter" because it takes reality as you know it and cuts it.....it's not by grasping for things that you get them, it's just the opposite...it's by giving things away.
Monday, August 10, 2009
If everybody hurts, how can my true nature be bliss???
In The Yoga Sutra, Master Patanjali says "The physical practices of asana must be performed with equal qualities of both steadiness and joy.".........sthirasukhamasanam 2.46 . Having both steadiness and joyfullness it makes it possible to reduce the obstacles in our path to Yoga. By Yoga (with a capital Y), it means that we realize that our own true nature is bliss , or wellness, or oneness with all there is...... How ever you want to think about it.
That being said, how was your day today???? Did you get to realize your own true nature?? No, it hasn't happened yet...a lot of things were wrong today. For one, it was really hot today....and humid. You are in the middle of problems at work, your dreams have not come true, your ship has not yet come in, your kids are menaces, your spouse is greedy or wants a divorce, the septic tank has over flowed, your colon has gone spastic, no publisher will publish your writing....Boo Hoo. No Steadiness or joy for you.
Well-being or oneness or whatever you are calling it, is a part of everything. Not often do we think like this, we are programed to sense and report our discomfort especially at the physical level. Then you take a pill and you are no longer able to feel your discomfort. And you are far away from oneness.
The first step to realizing oneness is allowing yourself to feel and feel accurately. Feel your pain now. Notice that other people are feeling similar things. Everybody hurts.
The next step is to let go...especailly of your pain. when you practice yoga asanas regularly, it's like clearing the slate. After a while, your body no longer aches. "Sukham" is sanskrit for lightness, comfort, and happiness.....it also means the possiblity to experience expansion of movement in the body. Yoga asana works on the body at the gross(large) physical level but it also works mysteriously on the subtle body and the emotions tied to it.
Then after the letting go step, your mind is able to rest more easily on things that are not physical discomforts or mental discomforts. Your mind can move in the direction of a single pointed focus...."sthira" is sanskrit for steadiness or alertness.....it's the kind of steadiness without grasping or trying. Trying is never part of this....it's more like arriving or placing your attention well.
The practices move you away from physical and mental dullness toward the direction of joyfull well being....without medication....Yoga is independence or more correctly "dependence inward".
BKS Iyengar says, " the minds of men are in a thousand pieces and their bodies are in one single piece.... but the mind of a yogi, is in a single piece and their body is in a thousand pieces."
The comfort of the body and the ease in which it moves , feels and experiences freedom contributes greatly to the quality and the steadiness of the mind. Contentment is the entry level state to experiencing Yoga as innate joyfullness...when you practice asana, you practice contentment.
That being said, how was your day today???? Did you get to realize your own true nature?? No, it hasn't happened yet...a lot of things were wrong today. For one, it was really hot today....and humid. You are in the middle of problems at work, your dreams have not come true, your ship has not yet come in, your kids are menaces, your spouse is greedy or wants a divorce, the septic tank has over flowed, your colon has gone spastic, no publisher will publish your writing....Boo Hoo. No Steadiness or joy for you.
Well-being or oneness or whatever you are calling it, is a part of everything. Not often do we think like this, we are programed to sense and report our discomfort especially at the physical level. Then you take a pill and you are no longer able to feel your discomfort. And you are far away from oneness.
The first step to realizing oneness is allowing yourself to feel and feel accurately. Feel your pain now. Notice that other people are feeling similar things. Everybody hurts.
The next step is to let go...especailly of your pain. when you practice yoga asanas regularly, it's like clearing the slate. After a while, your body no longer aches. "Sukham" is sanskrit for lightness, comfort, and happiness.....it also means the possiblity to experience expansion of movement in the body. Yoga asana works on the body at the gross(large) physical level but it also works mysteriously on the subtle body and the emotions tied to it.
Then after the letting go step, your mind is able to rest more easily on things that are not physical discomforts or mental discomforts. Your mind can move in the direction of a single pointed focus...."sthira" is sanskrit for steadiness or alertness.....it's the kind of steadiness without grasping or trying. Trying is never part of this....it's more like arriving or placing your attention well.
The practices move you away from physical and mental dullness toward the direction of joyfull well being....without medication....Yoga is independence or more correctly "dependence inward".
BKS Iyengar says, " the minds of men are in a thousand pieces and their bodies are in one single piece.... but the mind of a yogi, is in a single piece and their body is in a thousand pieces."
The comfort of the body and the ease in which it moves , feels and experiences freedom contributes greatly to the quality and the steadiness of the mind. Contentment is the entry level state to experiencing Yoga as innate joyfullness...when you practice asana, you practice contentment.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Guru Devo Maheshwara
Everyone needs a teacher in their lives no mater who you are or how important you seem to be. The teachings of Yoga say that our entire lives are our gurus. A guru is anyone or anything that removes your darkness and misknowing. One's birth, present life situation, accidents and illnesses are keys to the doors of happiness if you have the correct perception.
The Guru Mantra pays respect and appreciation to various forms of the enlightenment principle active in our lives:
Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwara
Guru Sakshat
Param Brahma
Tasmai shri Guruvey Namaha
It's translation is: Our moment of birth is our teacher, the duration of our lives and all the experiences we accumulate are our teacher, our misfortunes and calamities are our teachers. The guru is near by and within ourselves. The guru is indescribable and beyond all form. All efforts are offered to the teacher.
Most people don't see things this way and are unavailable to be taught or are in a hurry to impose their knowledge on others.....So it's through calamities, problems and misfortunes that we learn the most because suffering certainly can get our attention pretty fast. That's Guru Devo Maheshvara. Devo Maheshvara is another name for Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction. This is the transformational aspect of life, including all illnesses, tragedies, accidents, difficulites and ultimately the death of the body. It takes spiritual maturity to embrace difficulties. The greatest spiritual growth can come from appreciating difficult times in your life and face them fully with an open heart.
These things beyond our control require us to surrender our personal willful control and be open and available to what is to come. Devo Maheshwara can be wrathful but it's that wrath, like a parent quickly preventing a child from touching a hot stove, that moves us back on course with swiftness. The key word is Swiftness....not dwelling... that is important. Professional athletes that dwell on what happened in the past lose their jobs pretty fast, it's those that come into each game anew that are the most successful. Think about it. Be Ready, Be Attentive, Be Willing. Don't be stingy......always go for the great moment in sports. It's your life and you've just been kicked off the bench by Shiva. See.. surrender, in the yogic sense, doesn't mean to give up but it means "not my will but thy will be done" and there's no yoga without surrender. Yoga means to become unified with what is. Your team requires you to make this very play, right at this very time. Shiva wants it to be you.....be one with all that is.
For some people, i am their guru. I am physically part of their world and they look to me as an example and also as a touchstone in their times of need. When i teach the physical practices of yoga and meditation, i do my best to be a living example how joy and not force is the most successful way to proceed.....less striving and more fun. The impossible is made possible then. Being one with all there is takes you far away from were you started out.
If it hasn't happened yet, Guru Devo Maheshwara will require you to meet the challenges in your life with an open heart. And everybody loves a player with great heart, they're the ones that make the history books and have movies made out of their lives. Ask Rudy.
The Guru Mantra pays respect and appreciation to various forms of the enlightenment principle active in our lives:
Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwara
Guru Sakshat
Param Brahma
Tasmai shri Guruvey Namaha
It's translation is: Our moment of birth is our teacher, the duration of our lives and all the experiences we accumulate are our teacher, our misfortunes and calamities are our teachers. The guru is near by and within ourselves. The guru is indescribable and beyond all form. All efforts are offered to the teacher.
Most people don't see things this way and are unavailable to be taught or are in a hurry to impose their knowledge on others.....So it's through calamities, problems and misfortunes that we learn the most because suffering certainly can get our attention pretty fast. That's Guru Devo Maheshvara. Devo Maheshvara is another name for Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction. This is the transformational aspect of life, including all illnesses, tragedies, accidents, difficulites and ultimately the death of the body. It takes spiritual maturity to embrace difficulties. The greatest spiritual growth can come from appreciating difficult times in your life and face them fully with an open heart.
These things beyond our control require us to surrender our personal willful control and be open and available to what is to come. Devo Maheshwara can be wrathful but it's that wrath, like a parent quickly preventing a child from touching a hot stove, that moves us back on course with swiftness. The key word is Swiftness....not dwelling... that is important. Professional athletes that dwell on what happened in the past lose their jobs pretty fast, it's those that come into each game anew that are the most successful. Think about it. Be Ready, Be Attentive, Be Willing. Don't be stingy......always go for the great moment in sports. It's your life and you've just been kicked off the bench by Shiva. See.. surrender, in the yogic sense, doesn't mean to give up but it means "not my will but thy will be done" and there's no yoga without surrender. Yoga means to become unified with what is. Your team requires you to make this very play, right at this very time. Shiva wants it to be you.....be one with all that is.
For some people, i am their guru. I am physically part of their world and they look to me as an example and also as a touchstone in their times of need. When i teach the physical practices of yoga and meditation, i do my best to be a living example how joy and not force is the most successful way to proceed.....less striving and more fun. The impossible is made possible then. Being one with all there is takes you far away from were you started out.
If it hasn't happened yet, Guru Devo Maheshwara will require you to meet the challenges in your life with an open heart. And everybody loves a player with great heart, they're the ones that make the history books and have movies made out of their lives. Ask Rudy.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
"I Would Like To Speak to the Manager"
"Yoga is skillfulness in action."----Bhagavad Gita 2.50
To allpeople on the yogic path finding a way to transcend past negative karmic patterns is very important. Every thought, word, and deed that we have continues to plant karmic seeds in our mind that will later flower into actual experiences. We have the ability to make them positive, negative, or neutral. We need to think, act, and be skillful at all times.
Everything that occurs in your world is a chance for you to plant new seeds. If you live somewhere like New York City, you get more than your fair share of chances just walking to the subway!!! When you view something happening in front of you, it's your reaction to it that plants the seed. For example, you go into a crowded restaurant on Bleeker St. to have a nice dinner with a friend that you adore, and next to you, at a table that is too close for your comfort, is the world's rudest person. What should you do????? This person is sooooo rude that your server is in tears.... it's unbearable , really. The rude person also smells bad too. So, what do you do....you promised yourself to plant only good or neutral seeds.
That's Right!!!! Act with Compassion. Why......because everyone and everything has the potential to be your teacher. This is the planting of a great and powerful seed, the seed that can flower into you being a great teacher in the eyes of others.
Karma returns your efforts. And everything comes from your own mind.
When you view the actions of others, you get to glimpse the quality of that individual's mind. Someone that acts rudely and treats others poorly is in a lot of pain. You can see this pain because a seed in your store house of karmic seeds has flowered. To quit seeing things like this, don't plant the seed again by getting angry at this person. To plant a good seed, then be happy- no matter what. To plant a neutral seed, notice their behavior but leave the reataurant without reacting. To plant a negative seed, complain about your experience.
The sanskrit term "Avidya" means "mis-knowing" or "mis- understanding" where your world comes from. When we misunderstand the proper action to take to plant a more favorable karmic seed, we put ourselves right back in the position of having this happen again in our world. When you complain, you get more things to complain about coming into your world. When you're happy, you get more happiness coming into your world too.
In the "Yoga Sutra" Patanjali says,"Be happy for those that are happy, be indifferent to the unvirtuous, and be compassionate to those that are suffering." He did not say, "complain to the management about your terrible dining experience."
Eventually, with careful attention, you will have many, many joyous people and experiences coming into your direct experience. Good Luck
To allpeople on the yogic path finding a way to transcend past negative karmic patterns is very important. Every thought, word, and deed that we have continues to plant karmic seeds in our mind that will later flower into actual experiences. We have the ability to make them positive, negative, or neutral. We need to think, act, and be skillful at all times.
Everything that occurs in your world is a chance for you to plant new seeds. If you live somewhere like New York City, you get more than your fair share of chances just walking to the subway!!! When you view something happening in front of you, it's your reaction to it that plants the seed. For example, you go into a crowded restaurant on Bleeker St. to have a nice dinner with a friend that you adore, and next to you, at a table that is too close for your comfort, is the world's rudest person. What should you do????? This person is sooooo rude that your server is in tears.... it's unbearable , really. The rude person also smells bad too. So, what do you do....you promised yourself to plant only good or neutral seeds.
That's Right!!!! Act with Compassion. Why......because everyone and everything has the potential to be your teacher. This is the planting of a great and powerful seed, the seed that can flower into you being a great teacher in the eyes of others.
Karma returns your efforts. And everything comes from your own mind.
When you view the actions of others, you get to glimpse the quality of that individual's mind. Someone that acts rudely and treats others poorly is in a lot of pain. You can see this pain because a seed in your store house of karmic seeds has flowered. To quit seeing things like this, don't plant the seed again by getting angry at this person. To plant a good seed, then be happy- no matter what. To plant a neutral seed, notice their behavior but leave the reataurant without reacting. To plant a negative seed, complain about your experience.
The sanskrit term "Avidya" means "mis-knowing" or "mis- understanding" where your world comes from. When we misunderstand the proper action to take to plant a more favorable karmic seed, we put ourselves right back in the position of having this happen again in our world. When you complain, you get more things to complain about coming into your world. When you're happy, you get more happiness coming into your world too.
In the "Yoga Sutra" Patanjali says,"Be happy for those that are happy, be indifferent to the unvirtuous, and be compassionate to those that are suffering." He did not say, "complain to the management about your terrible dining experience."
Eventually, with careful attention, you will have many, many joyous people and experiences coming into your direct experience. Good Luck
Monday, May 11, 2009
Do you want to be right or to be free????
One day when the Buddha was teaching, a person came along and spit in his face. The Buddha's reaction was ,"Thank you, now I am free." he was now free from the karmic bondage of that particular situation. His response to not react in anger freed him from the cyclical affects of karma. When you react in anger, you get anger in return...... it does not matter if you are right or wrong. Reacting in anger ties one to the "Wheel of Samsara." In sanskrit, samsara literally means "same suffering".
Your argument might be, " what if someone has hurt me so deeply that he/she deserves my retailiation?" If you respond in anger, then you will create more oppurtunities in the future for you to be angry. Remember, You are responsible for making your world the way you want it. Ask yourself the question, "Do I want to be right or do I want to be free?" By chosing freedom, you become aware that you have a choice and that you have access to evolving your reactions to outer events. You no longer act like a child, you are peaceful in the moment and you are creating a more peaceful future.
This is how you fix things at the very root of the problem and not react with frustration to the affects of the problem. You can probably think of a time where you tried to fix a problem after it has been created. It is very, very difficult to do--all involved parties have to want to change fully and completely. By going to the root-- your mind and its reactions--- you insure a better future outcome.
All of your reactions to outer circumstances come from you. Knowing this, you can sit down everyday and do some mental gardening. Go back mentally to a situation that caused you to react in anger and make a vow to yourself to choose a different reaction. See yourself reacting differently. You are planting new karmic seeds that are like brand new plants. They are fragile and you have to protect them. Everyday you practice having better and beter reactions. Eventually, all troublesome situations will stop..not because the world is different but because you are different. You have chosen being free over being right.
If you have led a life that has been full of anger, pain, and frustration and you find it difficult to meditate on change, then doing physical asanas, like twisting or inversions like shoulderstand and headstand, can help. Twisting asanas help because they act on the abdominal region which is the seat of the ego and egocentric reactions. Inversions help because the physical act of turning the body upsidedown turns your mental perspective upsidedown as well. Patanjali said in the Yoga Sutra," when experiencing troubling thoughts, think the opposite thought."
The teaching of yoga as found in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra does not say that anger is wrong or right or good or bad or justified or not. Patanjali does not pass a value judgement on any action for it's own sake. He speaks to those who seek enlightenment, to those who want to disentangle themselves from the cycle of karma. To them he says choose your actions wisely, according to the results they will bring, be sure that those results are in alignment with your aims.
Your argument might be, " what if someone has hurt me so deeply that he/she deserves my retailiation?" If you respond in anger, then you will create more oppurtunities in the future for you to be angry. Remember, You are responsible for making your world the way you want it. Ask yourself the question, "Do I want to be right or do I want to be free?" By chosing freedom, you become aware that you have a choice and that you have access to evolving your reactions to outer events. You no longer act like a child, you are peaceful in the moment and you are creating a more peaceful future.
This is how you fix things at the very root of the problem and not react with frustration to the affects of the problem. You can probably think of a time where you tried to fix a problem after it has been created. It is very, very difficult to do--all involved parties have to want to change fully and completely. By going to the root-- your mind and its reactions--- you insure a better future outcome.
All of your reactions to outer circumstances come from you. Knowing this, you can sit down everyday and do some mental gardening. Go back mentally to a situation that caused you to react in anger and make a vow to yourself to choose a different reaction. See yourself reacting differently. You are planting new karmic seeds that are like brand new plants. They are fragile and you have to protect them. Everyday you practice having better and beter reactions. Eventually, all troublesome situations will stop..not because the world is different but because you are different. You have chosen being free over being right.
If you have led a life that has been full of anger, pain, and frustration and you find it difficult to meditate on change, then doing physical asanas, like twisting or inversions like shoulderstand and headstand, can help. Twisting asanas help because they act on the abdominal region which is the seat of the ego and egocentric reactions. Inversions help because the physical act of turning the body upsidedown turns your mental perspective upsidedown as well. Patanjali said in the Yoga Sutra," when experiencing troubling thoughts, think the opposite thought."
The teaching of yoga as found in Patanjali's Yoga Sutra does not say that anger is wrong or right or good or bad or justified or not. Patanjali does not pass a value judgement on any action for it's own sake. He speaks to those who seek enlightenment, to those who want to disentangle themselves from the cycle of karma. To them he says choose your actions wisely, according to the results they will bring, be sure that those results are in alignment with your aims.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Advanced Meditation--What's in it for me????
There are a lot of students currently taking asana classes with me, but i would have to say that not many of them have a regular meditation practice. Even advanced students.....they find meditation unglamorous. What would happen if you sat and watched your breath on a regular basis????? It would change your life and they way you view reality......you would realize that things that you see come from you and you alone. All blame rests squarely in your lap for the good and the bad.
When you start to advance your meditation practice, the focus of your mind is strengthened much like it is when you workout. You know that the first time you workout benefits are already starting to happen even though you can't see them yet. When you are new to meditation, counting the breath for 5 breaths is difficult... but results are starting to happen. If you advance to 5 unbroken minutes, your concentration has become so much greater than the average person. The average person's mind is very distracted....it's hit by thousands and thousands of mental images in a five minute period of time. It's a miracle that we can form a complete thought!!! If you can advance your meditation practice to 15 undistracted minutes, your consciousness begins to shift....the point that you are focusing on becomes big like a screen in front of your eyes. This is an amazing moment for you because now you are open to experiencing freedom.....freedom from the anger, fear, and frustration which is a baseline to most lives. Now you want to meditate.
However, meditation takes discipline and people need a little bit more of a carrot than just freedom. They want to earn money, have a perfect relationship, be radiantly healthy and really, really thin.
What are the karmic causes for these things????? Actually His Holiness The Dalai Lama is speaking about this subject tomorrow in NYC..... The karmic cause for having wealth is being generous. The karmic cause for having a perfect relationship is to respect other people's relationships and taking your vows and the vows of others seriously. The karmic cause for having radient health and being thin is to protect the life and health of others. Most people would think just the opposite--to horde money and ideas, to hit on other peoples partners, or to be self absorbed , vain and somewhat of a hypochondriac. Karma has to do with causes not effects, those are all responses to effects. Hospitals can only respond to effects--do you see--nurses and doctors actually contribute to this cyclical illness stuff.
You have to get in at the root of the effect that you want....you plant the seeds for this stuff in meditation. When you sit in uninterrupted concetration, you are actually painting the picture of your life. This is a high tantric practice.......to see ultimate reality by stilling the mind.
Yes , it is true that we create our lives all of the time. The problem is that your mind is not strong enough....the focusing. Things you want come into your awareness along with other things that confuse and distract you. You don't have a clue because the mind is getting hit with so much information all of the time. When unaware, you go with something easy.....
when aware, you accept only what you want.
I can say that i've been working on these things for at least four years or so.....about as long as i've known Gesche Michael and about as long as I decided that i was sick of living under life's thumb. I was sick of the pain of not having enough money, duplicitous relationships, and tired and injured everyday in my career. It took a while......because now i'm starting to see the effects that i want.....if I can do it, you can do it too. I'm only an ordinary person.
When you start to advance your meditation practice, the focus of your mind is strengthened much like it is when you workout. You know that the first time you workout benefits are already starting to happen even though you can't see them yet. When you are new to meditation, counting the breath for 5 breaths is difficult... but results are starting to happen. If you advance to 5 unbroken minutes, your concentration has become so much greater than the average person. The average person's mind is very distracted....it's hit by thousands and thousands of mental images in a five minute period of time. It's a miracle that we can form a complete thought!!! If you can advance your meditation practice to 15 undistracted minutes, your consciousness begins to shift....the point that you are focusing on becomes big like a screen in front of your eyes. This is an amazing moment for you because now you are open to experiencing freedom.....freedom from the anger, fear, and frustration which is a baseline to most lives. Now you want to meditate.
However, meditation takes discipline and people need a little bit more of a carrot than just freedom. They want to earn money, have a perfect relationship, be radiantly healthy and really, really thin.
What are the karmic causes for these things????? Actually His Holiness The Dalai Lama is speaking about this subject tomorrow in NYC..... The karmic cause for having wealth is being generous. The karmic cause for having a perfect relationship is to respect other people's relationships and taking your vows and the vows of others seriously. The karmic cause for having radient health and being thin is to protect the life and health of others. Most people would think just the opposite--to horde money and ideas, to hit on other peoples partners, or to be self absorbed , vain and somewhat of a hypochondriac. Karma has to do with causes not effects, those are all responses to effects. Hospitals can only respond to effects--do you see--nurses and doctors actually contribute to this cyclical illness stuff.
You have to get in at the root of the effect that you want....you plant the seeds for this stuff in meditation. When you sit in uninterrupted concetration, you are actually painting the picture of your life. This is a high tantric practice.......to see ultimate reality by stilling the mind.
Yes , it is true that we create our lives all of the time. The problem is that your mind is not strong enough....the focusing. Things you want come into your awareness along with other things that confuse and distract you. You don't have a clue because the mind is getting hit with so much information all of the time. When unaware, you go with something easy.....
when aware, you accept only what you want.
I can say that i've been working on these things for at least four years or so.....about as long as i've known Gesche Michael and about as long as I decided that i was sick of living under life's thumb. I was sick of the pain of not having enough money, duplicitous relationships, and tired and injured everyday in my career. It took a while......because now i'm starting to see the effects that i want.....if I can do it, you can do it too. I'm only an ordinary person.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Fifteen Minutes of...not fame but peace
People in any profession can benefit from doing total relaxation every day. When co-workers and employees are overwhelmed by stress, they are much less effective in thier work and often miss work because of sickness. This is costly for the organization, so fifteen minutes of total relaxation after 3 or 4 hours of work is practical.
Maybe there's a place in the office where you can practice total relaxation for fifteen minutes. It's not costly to set up a stress management program in your company or organization; all that is needed is to train someone in the technique of mindful breathing. To do mindful breathing, stop what you are doing and become aware of your body, breathe in and breathe out, and relax.
For example, when the telephone rings, stop whatever you are doing and breathe in and breathe out before you pick up the phone. That way, when you answer, you are calm and compassionate; the person on the other end will hear this in the quality of your voice. It will help you become more fully present on the call.
Just one in-breath and one out-breath can help stop your habitual thinking and go back to the here and now; your mind will connect right away with your body. it's very easy and it takes maybe five or ten seconds at most-- from a state of dispersion, you become mindful and concentrated.
This is considered meditation. Meditation consists of two elements. The first is stopping, calming the mind, and concentrating. The second is looking deeply to get insight.
When you meditate, you need an OBJECT to place your attention on. You cannot concentrate on nothing. The object could be the steps of your breath, an actual object or even a concept like gratitude, appreciation etc. When you concentrate, you merge with the object of your attention.
If you sustain the concentration you will receive insight, the second element of meditation.
Actually, we cannot MAKE ourselves meditate. We can only make ourselves concentrate. To develope our ability to concentrate, we have to learn to not allow our faculty of attention to become distracted by every thought that passes through the mind. It is the nature of the mind to think. thinking is a form of talking. To interrupt it, you return again and agin to your object(the flow of breath etc).
Meditation is an effortless state that arises after continued concentration. Through practice you get closer and closer. If your concentration is interrupted many times during practice.....Stop, notice you have drifted off, and return again to your object. It doesn't matter.
What matters is that you are diligent. Don't give up---try again.
After a period of not engaging with the thoughts, they begin to quiet down. Space between thoughts becomes apparent. Your state of consciousness begins to shift and is typified by a peaceful feeling which affects both body and mind. This peacefulness is the result of identifying with the infinite rather than the finite.
Mantras can also be used as the objects of meditation. "Let Go" is a very powerful mantra. With each inhale, silently say "Let", and with each exhale say "Go". In doing so you are letting go of resistances. When you let go, you automatically let God.
By letting it go, it all gets done.
----Tao Te Ching
Maybe there's a place in the office where you can practice total relaxation for fifteen minutes. It's not costly to set up a stress management program in your company or organization; all that is needed is to train someone in the technique of mindful breathing. To do mindful breathing, stop what you are doing and become aware of your body, breathe in and breathe out, and relax.
For example, when the telephone rings, stop whatever you are doing and breathe in and breathe out before you pick up the phone. That way, when you answer, you are calm and compassionate; the person on the other end will hear this in the quality of your voice. It will help you become more fully present on the call.
Just one in-breath and one out-breath can help stop your habitual thinking and go back to the here and now; your mind will connect right away with your body. it's very easy and it takes maybe five or ten seconds at most-- from a state of dispersion, you become mindful and concentrated.
This is considered meditation. Meditation consists of two elements. The first is stopping, calming the mind, and concentrating. The second is looking deeply to get insight.
When you meditate, you need an OBJECT to place your attention on. You cannot concentrate on nothing. The object could be the steps of your breath, an actual object or even a concept like gratitude, appreciation etc. When you concentrate, you merge with the object of your attention.
If you sustain the concentration you will receive insight, the second element of meditation.
Actually, we cannot MAKE ourselves meditate. We can only make ourselves concentrate. To develope our ability to concentrate, we have to learn to not allow our faculty of attention to become distracted by every thought that passes through the mind. It is the nature of the mind to think. thinking is a form of talking. To interrupt it, you return again and agin to your object(the flow of breath etc).
Meditation is an effortless state that arises after continued concentration. Through practice you get closer and closer. If your concentration is interrupted many times during practice.....Stop, notice you have drifted off, and return again to your object. It doesn't matter.
What matters is that you are diligent. Don't give up---try again.
After a period of not engaging with the thoughts, they begin to quiet down. Space between thoughts becomes apparent. Your state of consciousness begins to shift and is typified by a peaceful feeling which affects both body and mind. This peacefulness is the result of identifying with the infinite rather than the finite.
Mantras can also be used as the objects of meditation. "Let Go" is a very powerful mantra. With each inhale, silently say "Let", and with each exhale say "Go". In doing so you are letting go of resistances. When you let go, you automatically let God.
By letting it go, it all gets done.
----Tao Te Ching
Monday, April 20, 2009
Unknown Pleasures
When someone sends sexually explicit images/messages to you online, what are they trying to say???? If their profile picture is half -naked or in a bathing suit, what are they trying to accomplish?????? Would it increase their chances for having some sort of relationship with me????? Do they have a handle on some "unknown pleasures" that i should be drawn to check out????? Wouldn't this have just the opposite effect on me...to delete them.
Are we all deceiving each other????? Deep down we feel there is nothing good, beautiful, and true in us; and at the same time we are desperate to show other people how good, beautiful, and truthful we are.
What would the Buddha think about this???? What is the ultimate truth of love????
Sitting at the foot of the bodhi tree on the night when he realized the truth, the Buddha discovered something that was very surprising. He saw that the good, the beautiful, and the true are to be found in everyone. People think that the true, the beautiful and the good exist somewhere else, in someone else. They don't know that they are true, beautiful, and good at their core. Our whole life, we are looking for someone else to replace what we feel is missing.
We don't need to deceive each other, because the thing we are looking for is already in us. If we have it all ourselves, couldn't we bypass having relationships with others????
Now is our best chance, actually. When the understanding is there, we know what to do and what not to do to bring happiness and peace to another person. True love is the desire to bring happiness and peace to another person.....being generous, not selfish... being sweet, not bitter.
When there is true love, the pain of the other is our own pain; the happiness of the other is our own happiness. True love is characterized by attentiveness, respect. If we have this attention then when we see the suffering of the other person, we can't go on causing them pain. If we have respect, we cannot go on like that.
Our true teacher is within us, the real object of our love is ourselves. We have to know how to love ourselves, how to return to our true nature, to see the good, the true, and the beautiful within us. Then we will be able to see it in others. When we have seen real beauty, goodness, and truth in ourselves and others, we will no longer be deceived by outer displays.
Are we all deceiving each other????? Deep down we feel there is nothing good, beautiful, and true in us; and at the same time we are desperate to show other people how good, beautiful, and truthful we are.
What would the Buddha think about this???? What is the ultimate truth of love????
Sitting at the foot of the bodhi tree on the night when he realized the truth, the Buddha discovered something that was very surprising. He saw that the good, the beautiful, and the true are to be found in everyone. People think that the true, the beautiful and the good exist somewhere else, in someone else. They don't know that they are true, beautiful, and good at their core. Our whole life, we are looking for someone else to replace what we feel is missing.
We don't need to deceive each other, because the thing we are looking for is already in us. If we have it all ourselves, couldn't we bypass having relationships with others????
Now is our best chance, actually. When the understanding is there, we know what to do and what not to do to bring happiness and peace to another person. True love is the desire to bring happiness and peace to another person.....being generous, not selfish... being sweet, not bitter.
When there is true love, the pain of the other is our own pain; the happiness of the other is our own happiness. True love is characterized by attentiveness, respect. If we have this attention then when we see the suffering of the other person, we can't go on causing them pain. If we have respect, we cannot go on like that.
Our true teacher is within us, the real object of our love is ourselves. We have to know how to love ourselves, how to return to our true nature, to see the good, the true, and the beautiful within us. Then we will be able to see it in others. When we have seen real beauty, goodness, and truth in ourselves and others, we will no longer be deceived by outer displays.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Karma does not mean Good Luck
It's not easy to explain how the circumstances of our current life situation are created. We can see it as M.C. Escher's "Drawing Hands" where people/ideas/situations are co-creating each other. People with similar ideas and ideals are brought closer together while those that differ move further away. Consciousness would be all there is then.
But why do we think what we think to begin with? What is our role in thinking? Are we the thinker of the thought or are we the listener???? Who just said that?????
After all, our brains are just really meat. When we are alive, we are animated pieces of meat. Our brains are meat with chemical reactions. If I cut your head open I would not be able to see any of your thoughts because they aren't located in your brain.
Do they come from outside the brain from something called mind???? as in the mind of God or in the case of "Drawing Hands" the mind of M.C. Escher.
What and how we think comes from Karma. Thoughts come from Karmic seeds planted by our actions from this lifetime and past lifetimes......with Karma , reincarnation is a given. Karma is actually the sanskrit word for causation. It does not mean good or bad luck. But you definately caused it......just as you caused me writing to you.
If our Karmic impurities are burned away, what do we get?????
the Law of Karma says that at some point you performed the actions that resulted in your present situation. Karma is an opportunity for us to learn, through experience, how it really feels to suffer from a particular experience. By suffering we learn compassion, which brings us closer to all beings. That's a gift not a punishment.
Okay-----so what do we get then from our good and noble actions????? lots of money, a new car, an apartment on Park Ave, Tom Brady or Giselle Bunchen????
We get ACCESS TO BETTER , MORE SERENE THOUGHTS. This is called Equanimity of mind. Equanimity of mind leads to freedom from anxiety, anger, frustration, and other bad feeling states. Equanimity of mind leads to a source of happiness that is lasting.......and leads to being with others experiencing equanimity. And perhaps, some fabulous prizes listed above.
To ensure good Karma, give thanks for whatever happens to you. The act of giving thanks itself creates good Karma. Being happy when others are happy creates good Karma. Geshe Michael Roche calls this "rejoicing in the good Karma of others". When you are happy about another's good Karma you automatically share in that good Karma. This good Karma accumualtes, creating it's own magnetic field, which attracts more good Karma.
Activities that generate good Karma---acceptance, giving thanks, forgiveness, rejoicing in other's good deeds, being happy when others are happy.
Try it and see if it generates mental clarity and peace. The way of Karma is such that it will assure us of continued placement in "bad" situations until we transcend them.
But why do we think what we think to begin with? What is our role in thinking? Are we the thinker of the thought or are we the listener???? Who just said that?????
After all, our brains are just really meat. When we are alive, we are animated pieces of meat. Our brains are meat with chemical reactions. If I cut your head open I would not be able to see any of your thoughts because they aren't located in your brain.
Do they come from outside the brain from something called mind???? as in the mind of God or in the case of "Drawing Hands" the mind of M.C. Escher.
What and how we think comes from Karma. Thoughts come from Karmic seeds planted by our actions from this lifetime and past lifetimes......with Karma , reincarnation is a given. Karma is actually the sanskrit word for causation. It does not mean good or bad luck. But you definately caused it......just as you caused me writing to you.
If our Karmic impurities are burned away, what do we get?????
the Law of Karma says that at some point you performed the actions that resulted in your present situation. Karma is an opportunity for us to learn, through experience, how it really feels to suffer from a particular experience. By suffering we learn compassion, which brings us closer to all beings. That's a gift not a punishment.
Okay-----so what do we get then from our good and noble actions????? lots of money, a new car, an apartment on Park Ave, Tom Brady or Giselle Bunchen????
We get ACCESS TO BETTER , MORE SERENE THOUGHTS. This is called Equanimity of mind. Equanimity of mind leads to freedom from anxiety, anger, frustration, and other bad feeling states. Equanimity of mind leads to a source of happiness that is lasting.......and leads to being with others experiencing equanimity. And perhaps, some fabulous prizes listed above.
To ensure good Karma, give thanks for whatever happens to you. The act of giving thanks itself creates good Karma. Being happy when others are happy creates good Karma. Geshe Michael Roche calls this "rejoicing in the good Karma of others". When you are happy about another's good Karma you automatically share in that good Karma. This good Karma accumualtes, creating it's own magnetic field, which attracts more good Karma.
Activities that generate good Karma---acceptance, giving thanks, forgiveness, rejoicing in other's good deeds, being happy when others are happy.
Try it and see if it generates mental clarity and peace. The way of Karma is such that it will assure us of continued placement in "bad" situations until we transcend them.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Turning Shit into Shinola
The highest compliment that I ever received from a reviewer when I was a choreographer/dancer of my own small company was, "Lynn Rescigno certainly knows how to turn shit into shinola." My company had an extremely small or sometimes zero budget and I had to go out and look for dancers that were let go from other companies. The dancers considered themselves flawed but my strength as a director was uncovering hidden beauty in other companies' castoffs. The secret for doing this was letting go of what "proper/correct/beautiful" dance was supposed to be like. Lots of unexpectedly wonderful things came about when I was able to play like a child instead of work like a boring rule-fixated perfectionist. When you look into things instead of at them, then hidden secrets are revealed to you.
I would say that the biggest problem-solving skill that we can ever acquire is the ability to let go of controlling any certain outcome. This is difficult for us because then we are vulnerable----like a child. But that is the point.
Look at something as if you are seeing for the very, very first time.
By letting go of control, the things we need can come to us. An example of this is the breath. You can say an exhale is letting go and an inhale is receiving what it is that you need. It's really that simple.
One of my teachers says that we don't have control over anything at all. We can respond to events that come our way but we can't control them. Our responses then become our practice. When we respond with a sense of opportunity rather than with a sense of crisis then we make shit into shinola.
An example of this happened to me just the other day when my car would not come out of PARK. I walked to work and taught my classes, then i was going to use my AAA membership and then use my money to pay a mechanic to fix the car. I had a sense of control about my circumstances.
But because of all the walking and teaching, i was too tired and needed a break from everything. I walked to Starbuck's in Red Bank, NJ. At Starbuck's, I saw a friend who owns a really old car(1978) and he knows many things about repairing cars. He was more than happy to look at what was wrong with my car. We got out the owner's manual and just played with ideas for a while. It turned out that a fuse was blown and was very easy to change and fix.
I did not expect things to be solved so easily and maybe the things that you face aren't this easy but letting go of trying to take complete control of everything will allow for solutions to be made possible.
My being prepared with money and AAA were not even part of my solution. The best thing that happened that day was accepting the help that came my way. For everything else there's VISA, but letting go of control is priceless.
I know many people will say that they are not able to trust that their needs will be met without their attention to controlling anything and everything possible. But they will be.....
Amit Goswami, my teacher and quantum physicist, uses the example of M.C. Escher's "Drawing Hands". The two hands draw each other into existence.......You can't tell which hand is actually the hand of causation since they are both existing simultaneously. They are both being created and are creators of each other. They exist because of each other and are the answers to each other's questions. So actually, your problems and your answers are existing simultaneously too. Don't blame me for this........I did not make the world but this is an idea of how it works. This is just basic tantra.
On Facebook recently, Terry McClusky posted a picture of his food at a diner in L.A. It was a picture of scrambled eggs and a piece of chicken on a plate. He wrote,"The answer to the age old question of which came first the chicken or the egg, they both arrived at the same time."
I would say that the biggest problem-solving skill that we can ever acquire is the ability to let go of controlling any certain outcome. This is difficult for us because then we are vulnerable----like a child. But that is the point.
Look at something as if you are seeing for the very, very first time.
By letting go of control, the things we need can come to us. An example of this is the breath. You can say an exhale is letting go and an inhale is receiving what it is that you need. It's really that simple.
One of my teachers says that we don't have control over anything at all. We can respond to events that come our way but we can't control them. Our responses then become our practice. When we respond with a sense of opportunity rather than with a sense of crisis then we make shit into shinola.
An example of this happened to me just the other day when my car would not come out of PARK. I walked to work and taught my classes, then i was going to use my AAA membership and then use my money to pay a mechanic to fix the car. I had a sense of control about my circumstances.
But because of all the walking and teaching, i was too tired and needed a break from everything. I walked to Starbuck's in Red Bank, NJ. At Starbuck's, I saw a friend who owns a really old car(1978) and he knows many things about repairing cars. He was more than happy to look at what was wrong with my car. We got out the owner's manual and just played with ideas for a while. It turned out that a fuse was blown and was very easy to change and fix.
I did not expect things to be solved so easily and maybe the things that you face aren't this easy but letting go of trying to take complete control of everything will allow for solutions to be made possible.
My being prepared with money and AAA were not even part of my solution. The best thing that happened that day was accepting the help that came my way. For everything else there's VISA, but letting go of control is priceless.
I know many people will say that they are not able to trust that their needs will be met without their attention to controlling anything and everything possible. But they will be.....
Amit Goswami, my teacher and quantum physicist, uses the example of M.C. Escher's "Drawing Hands". The two hands draw each other into existence.......You can't tell which hand is actually the hand of causation since they are both existing simultaneously. They are both being created and are creators of each other. They exist because of each other and are the answers to each other's questions. So actually, your problems and your answers are existing simultaneously too. Don't blame me for this........I did not make the world but this is an idea of how it works. This is just basic tantra.
On Facebook recently, Terry McClusky posted a picture of his food at a diner in L.A. It was a picture of scrambled eggs and a piece of chicken on a plate. He wrote,"The answer to the age old question of which came first the chicken or the egg, they both arrived at the same time."
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Intrigue & Miracles in the Present
It is extremely important to learn to live in the present, we also must learn how to do so happily. Living in the present unhappily is really no better than being miserable due to resentments regarding a time gone by, or fearful and anxious due to the imagining of a time yet to come.
We must learn to be fully present and completely detached at the same time--just like watching a play or a movie unfolding. Being fully present means paying attention to what's happening.
We will succeed in staying in the moment only if we really want to be there. How can we do this???? especially when things are seemingly not going right, when unwanted things occur, or when we are confronted with a present that doesn't seem so desirable.
One way is to try to see everyone we meet and everything that happens to us---even or especially the difficult people and incidents--as special and meaningful. If we do so, we will be much more interested in the unfolding events of our lives. We will be aware of the synchronous miracles which keep us perpetually intriqued and excited by what's happening in front of our eyes. We will be living a sacred and meaningful life rather than a profane and meaningless one. Things are not intrinsically or inherently ordinary and common and we can see clues pop into our awareness like "messages in a bottle."
Swiss psychologist, Dr. Carl Jung called this experience "synchronicity". Synchronicity is the phenonmenon of "meaningful coincidence" and it helps reveal the meaning behind the events of one's life.
Scientist David Bohm said," Everything is connected to everything else. We are not sure how this connectedness works, but there is a certainty, there is a separateness without separateness."
Being interested and aware in the unfolding of our days events, we can take the next step or say the next line without confusion or stress. Acting in the moment is acting without having to think and acting on how things feel.
The method of learning to be happy in the present is an extension of what's called "guru yoga"---of deriving teachings and guidence from everyone we meet and in everything that happens to us. The word "Guru" is sanskrit for one who removes your darkness.
In addition to learning how to stay grounded happily in the present, we also need to sort of float above it. We must learn how to keep up with change. Time never stands still. Being overly attached to what's happening now is guaranteed to bring unhappiness when what's happening now ceases and something new occurs.
We need to be at ease with what might seem to us to be paradoxical or contradictory instructions. In terms of living happily in the present, we have to be grounded and detached at the same time----riveted to the present because of the miracles and teachings that are potentially all around us all the time: but also with a relaxed attitude about the passage of time and the fact that everything is in constant flux.
We must learn to be fully present and completely detached at the same time--just like watching a play or a movie unfolding. Being fully present means paying attention to what's happening.
We will succeed in staying in the moment only if we really want to be there. How can we do this???? especially when things are seemingly not going right, when unwanted things occur, or when we are confronted with a present that doesn't seem so desirable.
One way is to try to see everyone we meet and everything that happens to us---even or especially the difficult people and incidents--as special and meaningful. If we do so, we will be much more interested in the unfolding events of our lives. We will be aware of the synchronous miracles which keep us perpetually intriqued and excited by what's happening in front of our eyes. We will be living a sacred and meaningful life rather than a profane and meaningless one. Things are not intrinsically or inherently ordinary and common and we can see clues pop into our awareness like "messages in a bottle."
Swiss psychologist, Dr. Carl Jung called this experience "synchronicity". Synchronicity is the phenonmenon of "meaningful coincidence" and it helps reveal the meaning behind the events of one's life.
Scientist David Bohm said," Everything is connected to everything else. We are not sure how this connectedness works, but there is a certainty, there is a separateness without separateness."
Being interested and aware in the unfolding of our days events, we can take the next step or say the next line without confusion or stress. Acting in the moment is acting without having to think and acting on how things feel.
The method of learning to be happy in the present is an extension of what's called "guru yoga"---of deriving teachings and guidence from everyone we meet and in everything that happens to us. The word "Guru" is sanskrit for one who removes your darkness.
In addition to learning how to stay grounded happily in the present, we also need to sort of float above it. We must learn how to keep up with change. Time never stands still. Being overly attached to what's happening now is guaranteed to bring unhappiness when what's happening now ceases and something new occurs.
We need to be at ease with what might seem to us to be paradoxical or contradictory instructions. In terms of living happily in the present, we have to be grounded and detached at the same time----riveted to the present because of the miracles and teachings that are potentially all around us all the time: but also with a relaxed attitude about the passage of time and the fact that everything is in constant flux.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Post Breakup Blog
There was a very famous, wise, and fullyy enlightened yogini in India named Anandamayi Ma. She used to cry at weddings, but not for joy. She could see the newlyweds projecting all of their hopes, desires and grandiose expectations on to each other, each one blind to the fallacy of the lofty fantasy.
I have been doing a lot of listening lately. Listening to people talk about the things in their lives that are not making them happy.
A common theme is that they are looking for love that is eluding them. many of them believe that someone else is going to make them happy and fulfill all of their wildest dreams. But here's the pure yogic truth: the love or happiness you experience at any time with any person is not coming from them; it's coming from you.
Actually, as my teacher Geshe Michael Roche says," everything you are experiencing in your outer world is just an out -picturing of your own mind." If you want your world to change; you have to change yourself at the level of mind.
Changing the way your mind thinks takes much effort on your part. Since your world is produced by your habits of thought, you have to break the habit of thinking in a way that is causing you pain. You have to sit down each day and work out the antidote to your particular suffering. You must create in your mind how you want your world to be and then you have to practice being it yourself. This will definatly involve you giving what you want to other people first. As Gandhi said,"Be the change that you want to see in the world."
I have just gone through a breakup recently and it was very different than any other breakup i ever had, at least from the stand point of mind. i have been practicing yoga as a science and not just a hobby for about thirteen years. The scince of yoga is about learning to perfect your relationships; with yourself, with others, with community, with the earth, with the cosmos etc. Learning about a knee joint is learning about a relationship; when it's working in harmony or when it's not working in harmony for example.
My ex was a musician living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. His life was an out-picturing of want he wanted: gigs, fame, money, rootlessness, short term pleasures and perhaps a show like VH1 ROCK OF LOVE.
My world was changing too but in the other direction. My business was thriving with students that were dedicated, longterm practioners. I basically created a family that valued quality, stability, good humor, intelligence, creativity and presence of mind. I was able to see the out-picturing of my own mind. I was getting back what I was giving out. Even in this terrible economy, I have a 30% increase in attendence from last year and my prices are on the high end of the spectrum for yoga classes.
Without a doubt, you get the picture that you hold in your mind. Many people have said this phrase in one way or another: Patanjali, Iyengar, Dharma Mitra, Bob Proctor. They are all masters , they know what they are talking about. You should listen to them and quit complaining about everything.
I have been doing a lot of listening lately. Listening to people talk about the things in their lives that are not making them happy.
A common theme is that they are looking for love that is eluding them. many of them believe that someone else is going to make them happy and fulfill all of their wildest dreams. But here's the pure yogic truth: the love or happiness you experience at any time with any person is not coming from them; it's coming from you.
Actually, as my teacher Geshe Michael Roche says," everything you are experiencing in your outer world is just an out -picturing of your own mind." If you want your world to change; you have to change yourself at the level of mind.
Changing the way your mind thinks takes much effort on your part. Since your world is produced by your habits of thought, you have to break the habit of thinking in a way that is causing you pain. You have to sit down each day and work out the antidote to your particular suffering. You must create in your mind how you want your world to be and then you have to practice being it yourself. This will definatly involve you giving what you want to other people first. As Gandhi said,"Be the change that you want to see in the world."
I have just gone through a breakup recently and it was very different than any other breakup i ever had, at least from the stand point of mind. i have been practicing yoga as a science and not just a hobby for about thirteen years. The scince of yoga is about learning to perfect your relationships; with yourself, with others, with community, with the earth, with the cosmos etc. Learning about a knee joint is learning about a relationship; when it's working in harmony or when it's not working in harmony for example.
My ex was a musician living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. His life was an out-picturing of want he wanted: gigs, fame, money, rootlessness, short term pleasures and perhaps a show like VH1 ROCK OF LOVE.
My world was changing too but in the other direction. My business was thriving with students that were dedicated, longterm practioners. I basically created a family that valued quality, stability, good humor, intelligence, creativity and presence of mind. I was able to see the out-picturing of my own mind. I was getting back what I was giving out. Even in this terrible economy, I have a 30% increase in attendence from last year and my prices are on the high end of the spectrum for yoga classes.
Without a doubt, you get the picture that you hold in your mind. Many people have said this phrase in one way or another: Patanjali, Iyengar, Dharma Mitra, Bob Proctor. They are all masters , they know what they are talking about. You should listen to them and quit complaining about everything.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Consciously Designing Our Destiny
The Buddha said, "Even if one conquers thousands of men in thousands of battles, he who conquers himself is the greatest conqueror." He also said, "Heedfulness is the way to life, heedlessness is the way to death. The heedful never die, but the heedless are dead alreay, though living."
The Buddha is talking about methods to end our own suffering through evolving our mental processes and habits. When we stay stuck in the past and in our past reactions, we stay stagnant.
Neuroscience calls the process of evolving our brain and our reactions to our environment neuroplasticity. At one time it was thought that by the time we were adults our brains were hardwired and the way we viewed the world was firmly established. Neuroplasticity says that we can change our brains dramatically and that the brain is designed specifically for you to do exactly that. When our thinking changes, the outcomes of our lives change. We can be available for an endless amount of experiences. We just have to have the willingness to have them.
In order to change the mind and the way it works, it takes patience and practice. We have to take time each day doing something called "mental rehearsal." Mental rehearsal is used by NASA and is also used by many sports organizations. Participants mentally practice something that they have never experienced before. The premise is that mentally rehearsing something becomes as real to the person as the actual experience itself. In fact, the brain can't tell the difference between what it's remembering and what it has actually experienced. New neuro-nets are formed because of this and the brain evolves.
For example, in Superbowl XLIII, James Harrison set an all time record for his 100 yard return on an interception right before halftime changing the course of the game. This is a once in a lifetime experience and was never experienced before by James Harrison. What he had to do to arrive at this moment was accomplished during practice sessions, both mentally and physically. He had to understand how the Cardinals' offense worked and learn the tendencies of quarterback Kurt Warner. James Harrison had to put time in each week growing and changing his brain because each opponent's offense is different. His mind had to become greater and more available each week under the pressure of playing teams he has never played on the Steelers' weekly schedule. Practice comes first....but grace comes in, too. When something amazing happens, like the 100 yard return, it illustrates the magic of grace meeting effort in the natural world.
We can do the same thing by developing our ability to pay attention. By sitting each day for a few moments of mental rehearsal of our choosing, we develop a neuro-structure capable of contemplating new possibilities and experiences until they are made manifest. What we think about, we bring about. We get better experiences when we reach for better thoughts.
Practicing over and over commits our new neuronets to continue firing together. They get stronger until they become our new way of being. We become what we contemplate.
After Superbowl XL, Ben Roethlisberger contemplated having an even greater outcome the next time he played in such a game. Superbowl XLIII was a dramatic contrast to his Superbowl XL performance. This time Ben Roethlisberger was key to the Steelers' win because he was mentally wired for the experience. His last drive to Santonio Holmes was cool-headed and adaptive in the last two pressure-filled minutes of the game. The fruits of his mental practices can be seen now in Steelers' history, giving them the sixth of their Superbowl trophies. Superbowl XL was a template for Ben Roethlisberger to work from, but his conscious attention to improve his future outcome took effort and courage.
Courage and effort equals change, as opposed to stagnation and laziness, which keep us where we already are.
Ben's decision to have a greater outcome came also with the reward of being asked to appear on David Letterman, which is another new adventure that has come from the fruits of actions which started way back at each of his practice sessions. Everything starts by simply showing up to practice.
In the movie What the Bleep Do We Know, Dr. Joe Dispenza peaked the interest of every viewer who saw it with his "I Create My Day" interview. He said:
"I wake up in the morning, and I consciously create my day the way I want it to happen. Now, sometimes, because my mind is examining all the things that I need to get done, it takes me a little bit to settle down, and get to the point of where I'm actually intentionally creating my day. But here's the thing.
"When I create my day, and out of nowhere, little things happen that are so unexplainable, I know that they are the process or the result of my creation. And the more I do that, the more I build a neuro net in my brain, the more I accept that that's possible. It gives me the power and the incentive to do it the next day."
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Perfect Place to Be
There is a popular Indian tale about the baby monkey and the baby cat. When the baby monkey is separated from his mother, he swings from tree to tree frantically searching for her. When the baby monkey finds her, he clings tightly to his mother's neck. The baby cat is different. When she is lost, she sits still and cries out, "Meow!" The mother cat hears her cries and comes to her. The mother cat picks her baby up by the scruff of her neck and away they go together. The baby monkey is on the path of effort and the baby cat is on the path of grace.
Grace comes to us, too, when we are still and rooted in truth. When grace comes, it picks us up.....in its embrace. To fully do yoga the effort has to eventually stop. All of the learning, all of the trying, all of the striving, all of the forcing while practicing has to stop. Then, in the being, grace enters.
In the seated pose, Dandasana(staff pose) all you have to do is be there sitting looking inward. Dandasana is like a seated Tadasana (mountain pose). It is a tiny mountain and can be looked at as the "homeplace" of the seated practice. In Dandasana, we find our placement on our sitting bones with the legs like strong roots extended in front of us or for those with tight hamstrings bent slightly. Our spines reach up with ease out of the quietness of our firm base. The arms are fed by the heart center and through their placement in the shoulder sockets. If they are placed well,both the bicep and tricep can extend fully without hyperextending the elbow joint. The palm of the hand comes to the ground near the pelvis with all fingers extended foward. The head makes the dignified gesture of rotating forward on its axis joint and the eyes look inward. With this gesture, our physical body reflects our inward-looking mind. In Dandasana, we can look to the internal invisible practice of Bandhas or locks.
Moola bandha or "root lock" is applied by drawing the sides of the pelvis energetically together and lifting the very base of the spine upward. Uddiyana bandha or "flying up lock" occurs when, after exhaling, a vacuum effect is created with the diaphragm muscle drawing up in the ribs, making the belly hollow out. Then jalandhara bandha or "cloud- catching" lock is applied by rotating the skull on its axis to bring the chin downward.
In dandasana, when the bandhas are applied skillfully, we feel like we are being embraced much like the baby cat being picked up by grace (the mother cat).
In dandasana, we can sit and be. We are sitting but we have a sense of direction and a sense of purpose. B.K.S Iyengar says that all we need to do to have a yoga pose is to have a base/center of gravity and a sense of direction.
In dandasana, we can sit and be. We are sitting but we have a sense of direction and a sense of purpose. B.K.S Iyengar says that all we need to do to have a yoga pose is to have a base/center of gravity and a sense of direction.
Do you have a sense of direction????
When we have a sense of direction, we feel purposeful, interested and content. We feel full of life when we do dandasana purposefully. Our body becomes the “homeplace” for our mind and soul.
Feel your sense of direction as you sit there reading this now.
Friday, January 16, 2009
I Used To Be Like Phillip Rivers, But Then I Changed.
On the CBS sports show, Bill Cowher was asked,"Coach, who do you think out of the 2004 draft is the best quarterback? Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, or Ben Roethlisberger?" Bill Cowher said,"That's easy...Ben Roethlisberger."
As a teacher and owner of my own business, I am the quarterback of my team. I run the offense when I teach and as many of you know, I aspire to be just like Ben Roethlisberger......so do many little 10 year old jersey school boys who used to wear Eli Manning's jersey--hahaha. But in my 2008 season, I was like Phillip Rivers. Phillip Rivers is a great quarterback for sure, but he commits a lot of personal mistakes with his actions and words. He plays the game well but he tends to be overzealous and passionate-even taunting fans of the opposing team. It seems he means well but when he opens his mouth he gets himself into trouble. He's able to inspire his teammates and was able to turn a losing season around and make it to the playoffs. Those close to him really know that he means well. He has spontaneity to keep plays alive and responds to things in the moment, often throwing off his back foot which for most quarterbacks is an ungrounded thing to do. He's trained well but he still lost to Ben Roethlisberger in the playoffs.
Ben Roethlisberger is impeccably groomed as a quarterback and as a leader. Last year, in my Phillip Rivers year, I started out with a lot of personal skill, I received certifications in yoga anatomy and prenatal yoga to add to my long list of prior yoga trainings. I had a studio in the works, worked for a thriving studio, and at a busy exclusive gym. But then things began to fall apart. The studio had to close because the neighbors in the vicinity protested the opening of a studio with its own parking lot in their neighbohood, I left the thriving studio because of issues with the owner, and I was in trouble at the exclusive gym that I worked at because I told a very disruptive student to "shut up". No matter what I did to save myself, it wasn't working. I had to scramble but i still got sacked. When things hit bottom, I decided to start again at the beginning. Mybiggest strength, like Pillip Rvers' biggest strength, is the ability to interest and inspire people while having fun playing the game that we play. Lttle by little, my class attendances began to improve as I had a renewed interest in making my subject matter fun but relevent to the students. I would say I ended the season making it to the playoffs thanks to mid-season coaching by the Iyengar Institute.
If I'm to make it to the "yogic Superbowl" i'm going to have to respond to situations like Ben Roethlisberger responds. If he's losing, he gives it his all and learns immediately from his mistakes. If he's winning, he's humble. He's knowledgable as a leader, not a braggard, and kind to his teammates, fans , and the opposing team's fans. He understands that winning comes from his actions toward others. He thinks before before he acts and when he acts it is with "Steeler Diplomacy". He has outstanding karma to be in the situation that he's in. This is a practice. Developing karma like his takes complete participation and mindfulness in farming correct seeds in thought, word, and deed. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swami Svatmarama said, "Constant practice alone is the secret of success." Changing karma, as well as changing anything about ourselves requires us to let go of the way we used to be and the reactions we used to have. Being different and having different outcomes are very possible. Last night in class, I had students practice viparita salabhasana (see picture). This is not something I would normally do because for so long I had a certain style of sequencing asanas that worked well for me. But this pose is a jolt out of my comfort zone, as well as the students' comfort zone. It is a totally invigorating and provocative pose and it has after-effects that just make you want to get up off your ass and play in your own version of the Super Bowl. It makes you want to write an entry about Ben Roethlisberger, Phillip Rivers, Swami Svatmarama, karma, and viparita salabhasana all at the same time. Now, you try it. 
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sit Well...........(especially in New Jersey)
When practicing yoga a student should sit on a blanket. Sitting well is the key to developing a practice that is both introspective and physically connected.
When you use a blanket, or blankets, to sit upon, you are able to open your chest and receive breath in your lungs more easily and fully. Receiving the breath is the most important component of yoga. Doing a pose without regard to the breath is not yoga, but just exercise. The breath has the power to open the body from the inside. It also has the power to still the mind which is the definition of yoga.
When we sit on a blanket we are able to set up the beginning of our practice session well to have good beginnings and understand the value of starting something in a regal way. We place ourselves and our open chest elegantly, not haphazardly or with a shut down sense of physicallity. When our chest is easily lifted, our mood is easily lifted and it's easy to then have elevated thoughts. Sitting beautifully = thinking beautifully.
When we sit on a blanket, we have an enhanced relationship to the earth, we have room to reach down to the earth from our pelvis and release our hips more completely. When our sacrum is lifted pressure and constriction around the abdomen is eased and the heat from the region is lessened. Our chests can lift off of the abdomen too creating more ventillation of the hot abdominal region.
Students that can sit easily without a blanket should still use one for all of the aforementioned reasons and also because we want to be able to develop deeper and different relationships to things that we are familiar with. And we all are very familiar with the position of sitting.
The value of sitting well has not been hard to teach to students in the places I have taught. However, it has been difficult to teach in the state of New Jersey where the relationships as well as the air are mostly bad, and the egos big. haha. Please, New Jerseyans, sit up on a blanket at the beginning of class.
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