"With the truth in their thoughts they brought to birth a new dawn."--Rig Veda
One day we wake up and realize that every problem that we ever had has a very simple solution.....we stop waiting for someone else to do something for us and we start to act on our own behalf. We save ourselves, heal ourselves, we become the one that we were waiting for, and we become examples of success on all levels for others. Your example is the greatest inspiration for all those connected to your life.
The teachings of yoga are teachings about independence or "dependence inward". We decide to unplug from a system that causes disconnection from our body, from our thoughts, from the real heart of the matter. We act for wellness and wholeness. We treat cause instead of effect. We protect the health of others instead of profiting from their ills.
One of the most basic, intimate levels of health is the foods that you ingest. What you eat directly becomes your body and your health. When you are healthy you are free to enjoy life and your mind is relaxed and happy. Regardless of what's going on in politics, this should be your inspiration.
Here are some ideas that can contribute to the positive direction of your physical health from Michael Pollen author of the "Omnivore's Dilemma":
1. Eat food--not highly processes concoctions designed by food scientists.
2. Don"t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food...i.e. gogurt portable yogurt tubes
3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry-chemical additives pose a proven hazard to your health
4. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup
5. Avoid foods that have some form of sugar(or sweetner) listed among the top three ingrdients
6. Avoid food products that contain more than 5 ingredients
7. avoid food products containing ingredients that a 3rd grader cannot pronounce
8.Avoid food products that make health claims--for a product to carry health claims it must have a package which means it's processed. The healthiest food-fresh produce- doesn't come with packages.
9.Avoid food products with the wordoid "lite" or terms "low-fat" or "non-fat" in their names-since the low fat campaign began in the late 1970's. americans actually have been eating 500 additional calories per day, mostly from the addes sugar in these products.
10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not--i.e. imitation butter-margarine
11. Avoid foods you see advertised on T.V.
12. shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle
13. Eat only foods that will eventually rot--whole foods are alive and therefore should eventually die
14. Eat food made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
15. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can-- there's no high fructose corn-syrup at the farmer's market.
16. Buy your snacks at farmer's markets--dried fruits and nuts rather than chips and sweets
17. Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans rather than corporations--corporations cook with to much salt, fat, and sugar as well as preservatives.
18. Don't ingest foods maade in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
19. If it came from a plant, eat it, if it was made in a plant, don't
20. It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
21. It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language (Big Mac, cheetos, pringles)
22. Eat mostly plants especially leaves--scores of studies demonstrated that diets rich in vegetables and fruits reduce the risk of dying from all western diseases--you'll also be consuming fewer calories
23. Treat treats as special occasion food
24. Eating what stands on one leg(plants) is better than eating what stands on 2 legs(fowl) which is better than eating what stands on 4 legs (cows, pigs, and mammals)
25. Eat your colors--a healthy plate of food will feature several different colors.
26. Drink the spinach water --save it for soups ans sauces, it's rich in vitamins
27. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.
28 If you have space, buy a freezer
29. Eat like an omnivore
30 Eat well grown food from healthy soil
31 Eat wild foods when you can--i.e wild blueberries
32. Don't overlook the oily little fishes--"A land with lots of herring can get along with few doctors"--Dutch proverb
33 Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi--yogurt,sauerkraut, kimchi, sourdough bread--they are rich in B12 which aids in digestive and immune systems
34. Sweeten and salt your food yourself
35 Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature
36Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk
37 "The whiter the bread the sooner you'll be dead."
38 Favor the kinds of oils and grains that have traditionally been stone-ground.
39. Cook junk food yourself----wash, peel, cut and fry potatoes for french fries...same for chips, cakes,pies...when you prepare them yourself , you won't be eating them everyday
40 Be the kind of person who exercises
41 Eat more like the French, or the Japanese, or The Itailians, or the Greeks---pay attention to the combinations of food in traditional culture.
42. Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism--approach new creations with caution
43 Have a glass of wine with dinner
44 Eat less
45 Stop eating befire you're full
46 Eat when hungry not when you are bored
47 Don't let your eyes be bigger than your stomach--most of us allow external and visual to cue how much we eat.
48 Eat slowly
49 spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it
50 Buy smaller plates and glasses
51 Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds
52. "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner lke a pauper."
53 Eat meals
54 Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
55 limit snacks to unprocesses plant foods
56 eat at your table
57. Try not to eat alone---eating alone tends to lead to over eating or eating convenience foods
58 Treat treats as treats
59 Leave something on your plate
60 Plant a vegetable garden if you have space.
61 Cook
62 break the rules once in a while "All things in Moderation".
That's the list. It is often difficult to change our behaviors though. Act as if your life depends upon it. Ill health destroys the enjoyment of living and can destroy your livelihood and your relationships. The lives of your loved ones will be effected...if you can't choose health for yourself, then do it for those who you love.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Why Things Fall Apart......
Why do things fall apart???? I'm sure you wondered why. Why did Wall Street collapse?? Why did you lose your job??? Why did your boyfriend leave you? What's really going on....
And the good stuff.....where does that come from??
Everything comes from your karma!!!! How you treated people/things in the past. And, very importantly, how you see yourself....remember this "How you see yourself" thing.
Let's say the quickest way to enlightenment is seeing how everything is enlightening us. Everything that happens is a teaching just for you. ... the people are there for you, not to cause you frustration but to help you sort things out. You would treat them differently then.....that would change your outcome.
What I learned from interacting with the Yoga culture of India is that they view everything: person, plant, or thing....as God. When they go anywhere, they never go empty handed. They always go bearing gifts as a offering to the person they are meeting because it is so precious to be blessed with the presence of God. Feel blessed with the presence of those who are in your life, who write you emails, buy the milk, make your bed, call for theatre tickets, and make sure you get places on time. It's the little places where things really exist....not the showy places. What you don't appreciate dries up pretty fast because they are such small delicate things. Never think "This person is not the one! They are not good enough, I have to go out and find someone better!" Always think "What a huge blessing it is to have this individual as part of my life....Everyday is such a treasure!"
It may sound schmalzty......but Greed and dissatisfacation are the things that do us in. Never being satisfied and always wanting more are the answers to the above questions I asked. That's what's up on Wall Street.
Why do good people suffer then???? It is because of how they see themselves.....remember karma records how the mind thinks. Their karma has lead them to think as victims or not worthy and that's another form of stinginess. The best antidote is meditation because meditation burns the seeds of negative karma. All that really means is that you let go of common conscouiousness of the masses. Common thought patterns are that of complaining, lying, cheating, vulgarity, mean spiritedness, aggression , etc.......just visit a bar on any given sunday(hahaha)..
I hope you understand that you are doing everything.....you are the seer of everything. You are the subject and the object simultaneously. What you do to others, you do to yourself. When you criticize, you do it to yourself. When you praise, you praise yourself. When you see the blessed nature of another, you see it yourself.......with the karmic recorder. It's the cosmic mind that sees itself think.
Tell someone how much they mean to you......don't hold back, really sock it to 'em! Things will really come together for you my friend.....
And the good stuff.....where does that come from??
Everything comes from your karma!!!! How you treated people/things in the past. And, very importantly, how you see yourself....remember this "How you see yourself" thing.
Let's say the quickest way to enlightenment is seeing how everything is enlightening us. Everything that happens is a teaching just for you. ... the people are there for you, not to cause you frustration but to help you sort things out. You would treat them differently then.....that would change your outcome.
What I learned from interacting with the Yoga culture of India is that they view everything: person, plant, or thing....as God. When they go anywhere, they never go empty handed. They always go bearing gifts as a offering to the person they are meeting because it is so precious to be blessed with the presence of God. Feel blessed with the presence of those who are in your life, who write you emails, buy the milk, make your bed, call for theatre tickets, and make sure you get places on time. It's the little places where things really exist....not the showy places. What you don't appreciate dries up pretty fast because they are such small delicate things. Never think "This person is not the one! They are not good enough, I have to go out and find someone better!" Always think "What a huge blessing it is to have this individual as part of my life....Everyday is such a treasure!"
It may sound schmalzty......but Greed and dissatisfacation are the things that do us in. Never being satisfied and always wanting more are the answers to the above questions I asked. That's what's up on Wall Street.
Why do good people suffer then???? It is because of how they see themselves.....remember karma records how the mind thinks. Their karma has lead them to think as victims or not worthy and that's another form of stinginess. The best antidote is meditation because meditation burns the seeds of negative karma. All that really means is that you let go of common conscouiousness of the masses. Common thought patterns are that of complaining, lying, cheating, vulgarity, mean spiritedness, aggression , etc.......just visit a bar on any given sunday(hahaha)..
I hope you understand that you are doing everything.....you are the seer of everything. You are the subject and the object simultaneously. What you do to others, you do to yourself. When you criticize, you do it to yourself. When you praise, you praise yourself. When you see the blessed nature of another, you see it yourself.......with the karmic recorder. It's the cosmic mind that sees itself think.
Tell someone how much they mean to you......don't hold back, really sock it to 'em! Things will really come together for you my friend.....
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Sequence of Fortunate Events
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.
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 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.
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