In the tales of the goddess Kali, and her slightly less fierce warrior incarnation Durga, the ‘demons’ she kills are the attachments that come from Ignorance and create Fear.
On the Yogi’s Path, each Deity teaches us about a different aspect of Consciousness. Durgamaa is my alter ego on Twitter because she has special significance in my life, so I especially loved receiving this video as a gift from a new friend. A great performance of traditional Indian dance…
I challenged a yogi a few months ago on the Yoga Journal Online Community, and he came through with flying colours…
Beauty in words.
MY question…
This is a quote from Yogi Bhajan and can be used interchangeably with the following one:
A relaxed mind is a receptive mind.
Do you know why?
Here was the yogi’s answer…
‘When the mind is tense or filled with something, it is focused on that thing and cannot be open to outside experiences or teachings. When the mind is relaxed it is open to experience all that is going on. It reaches into the experience and gleans the wisdom that the experience has for it. At least that’s my thoughts on it.’
‘The creative part is an extension of gleaning the wisdom from experiences and people. The Infinite flows through the relaxed mind in such a way that time, expereince, and mindfulness, come together in one point. Creation is the result of the mind being in oneness with the Infinite so that our natural being is expressed out into the universe. The tense mind is unable to do any of that, or to much degree, because it is so focued on itself that it cannot see.
Ah, the ramblings of a fool!’
Yogirev
Contemplating and meditating on the ‘real-self’ accelerates this process of self-development and makes Liberation possible.
~ Arthava Veda
Saraswati... goddess of secular and Divine Knowledge, the knowledge that leads to Liberation (moksha).
As yogis, we are training ourselves to be observers, observing the Self.
But what is the Self? It is NOT our thoughts, our bodies, our feelings, although they are all part of us.
It is the Awareness that is ABLE to Observe… the Peace that is our true Nature.
You can’t find it by talking, by writing, by constantly externalizing because it busies the Mind, disconnecting us further, from our Hearts and Truth. This is the doing that we do too much of.
You find it by going inward, by letting go, over and over and again, until there is nothing left to let go of.
Then you are Free…
(first published on Yoga Journal Online Community)
(an interview with UnitedYogis.com)
Yoga is a way of approaching life, of Being, of which asana is only a small (but important) part. Yoga allows us to shed the things that prevent us from knowing our True Essence, and our connection with the Divine. It’s a tool that removes stress from the body and mind, cultivates Peace and nurtures Consciousness – both in ourselves and the World.
When your consciousness starts to merge with cosmic Consciousness, you start to acquire the 5 energies of Shiva: cit-sakti (all-Consciousness), ananda-sakti (all-Bliss), jnana-sakti (all-Knowledge), kriya-sakti (all-Action), iccha-sakti (all-Will). This requires letting go of many things while building Peace in the body and mind. When it happens, there is no difference between manifestation and being in the Flow, between you as a creator and as an instrument of the Divine. I was going to jokingly say: ‘Do I really have to say just one thing?’, but the truth is, we create nothing alone… The Secret and the Law of Attraction don’t work because they don’t recognize this fundamental Truth, one that was known thousands of years ago by the yogic rishis. It is through our choices that we align ourselves with the Divine… and then everything becomes possible.
That yoga is about Being and the choices we make… more than any physical act. When that is understood, Peace arises, and what is possible becomes limitless.
I make the distinction between consciousness (little c, or citta) and Consciousness (big C, or Cit). Consciousness (little c) is the sum of our awareness and the product of our choices in life – what to think, what to do, how to be. Consciousness (big C) is beyond any definition or description our consciousness (little c) is capable of. It leaves you speechless, breathless. Pure awareness of Love, the Divine. Without Consciousness, nothing could exist. Our consciousness merges with Consciousness as we progress on our path. This is what we are designed on every level of our being to do.
It’s in everything I see, feel, hear, touch, taste and everything in between. It’s in the many miracles that happen everyday to nurture us, regardless of whether we live in harmony with the Divine or not. It is present in every moment of Bliss we experience.
My friend Steve, a yogi who lives yoga and has integrated its wisdom on every level of his being. It was his energy, his Being, not any one thing he said or did, but the sum of it all (especially the stuff between the lines). I don’t think he was aware of it when it first began, but I think he’s aware of it now.
Savasana – it’s the only posture in which it is safe for everyone to practice pranayam, anytime.
Yoga can be used in two ways – to destroy consciousness, or to nurture it.
I prefer the second option.
We’ve been working hard for more than 5000 years… too hard.
The goal of Yoga is to expand our Consciousness and allow the Divine (Love) to flow freely through us, so that we ultimately heal ourselves, realize our full potential and become One with everything around us. Yogis have been battling their bodies, and their minds, for millenia, and with very few exceptions, sabotaging their very ability to achieve this Goal. This is because, many thousands of years ago, the paths of Yoga and Ayurveda diverged.
The Chakras and the five Elements (earth, water, fire, air, space) - the fusion of Ayurvedic and Tantric wisdom.
Ayurveda is a framework created by the Consciousness of yogic masters (rishis), but few yogis know that today. Let’s just say, it’s the missing link for not only raising Consciousness on the Planet, but saving it too. The integration of Ayurveda’s deep understanding of everything around us with the Yogi’s path holds the key to enabling the organic, compassionate and permanent evolution of human consciousness that will heal both ourselves and our Earth.
It’s a lot simpler than it may seem, but still too complicated to put in one blog 
Let’s talk…
This question I do not ponder anymore. I have lived at both ends of the financial spectrum… and the answer is Happiness. But I use a capital H for a reason…
Lakshmi, Goddess of Abundance, embodies the eternal union of spiritual and material wealth.
Everything is relative. In North America, poverty has a different context - different criteria and a different environment - from the context it has in India. For example, in North America the poor have to face the burden of a culture and society much more disconnected from Nature and sources of bodily and spiritual nourishment, as well as the energy of extreme fear of poverty that this creates in the people who observe their condition. In India, the nature of poverty differs at the material level greatly and there is much more connectivity, sense of community and connection with Nature and spiritual nourishment.
We could go further into the details… they would be endless, going in circles and never answering the question. Just as it is pointless (and negative energy) to compare one life to another, it also serves no purpose to compare poverty in one context to poverty in another. But it IS important to observe the differences… using Discernment, rather than judgement. Judgement comes from illusion and covers the True nature of the object of judgement with false qualities that come from our fears and ignorance. Discernment comes from the Heart, and allows us to discriminate one thing as being different from another, unveiling Truth. Discernment comes when we shed our samskaras (the ‘mud’ or ‘dirt’ on our lotus that comes from cultural programming) - through yoga, Ayurvedic ritucharya and meditation. Most importantly, Discernment frees up our energy to see WHY there is poverty in the world, why there is suffering… and DO something about it.
(written in response to a blog posting on UnitedYogis.com - read the full blog here)
