Sign by Danasoft - Get Your Free Sign
6.11.10
The Water-Challenge is over, for now...
Well, as many sources report, now the south has got it's fair share of flooding, loads of damage, a massive landslide hit Thung Sai in the province of Nakhon si Thammarat, at Sichon District, Songkla, Hat yai were the worst hit.
Here on Samui Island, floods receded now and life returns to normal, it was bad, very bad the flooding seems to get more intense, year by year!
All the sealed surfaced, filled natural watershed areas, wetlands... well, everything has it's price and things attached, nobody thinks at the very moment about it much, but then if the unavoidable results hit, everybody get's a wake up call!
As the looks of it, not many seem to care, maybe for a short while, but then life goes on, the money trail...never forget "if it's rainin', it's rainin'...."
Here on Samui Island, floods receded now and life returns to normal, it was bad, very bad the flooding seems to get more intense, year by year!
All the sealed surfaced, filled natural watershed areas, wetlands... well, everything has it's price and things attached, nobody thinks at the very moment about it much, but then if the unavoidable results hit, everybody get's a wake up call!
As the looks of it, not many seem to care, maybe for a short while, but then life goes on, the money trail...never forget "if it's rainin', it's rainin'...."
30.10.10
rainy season has arrived in force
It's been raining a fair bit, much of the central and northern parts of the country are inundated, some people lost their livelihood, some even committed suicide, as everything they had and hoped for, has gone with the floods.
"our goal is to transform suffering into present awareness, while the lower self uses it for self-pity.”
I think it's very easy thing to say, if not affected, very, very difficult if entangled in the midst of it all!
One may even perceive the demand "to smile as a buddha" in the midst of all this suffering as cruelty or some sort of perverted ignorance, but then what can be done?
Things are just happening all the way and it's said that it is all results of previous deeds, karma is the magic word, but how about mercy then?
Is there mercy for the unprotected, feeble, sick, homeless and old?
No, there isn't I am afraid!
Why not and why has there to be so much suffering?
How to teach someone who is suffering:
"As long as we think we are the self, we feel attached and fall into sorrow."
How, I wonder?
"our goal is to transform suffering into present awareness, while the lower self uses it for self-pity.”
I think it's very easy thing to say, if not affected, very, very difficult if entangled in the midst of it all!
One may even perceive the demand "to smile as a buddha" in the midst of all this suffering as cruelty or some sort of perverted ignorance, but then what can be done?
Things are just happening all the way and it's said that it is all results of previous deeds, karma is the magic word, but how about mercy then?
Is there mercy for the unprotected, feeble, sick, homeless and old?
No, there isn't I am afraid!
Why not and why has there to be so much suffering?
How to teach someone who is suffering:
"As long as we think we are the self, we feel attached and fall into sorrow."
How, I wonder?
3.10.10
whew... one more month in the furnace...
...time just flies by, but then considering the events and all that what rally matters, being evening after evening back on the mat, yes, of course including the occasional break, as is needed, that will be then replaced by a nice extended 90 minutes walk along the beach, enjoying the clean seabreeze, caressing the skin like lukewarm silk.....walking meditation into the sunset, birds are chirping away in the trees, gathering for a good nights rest, tuning in to their evening songs, some are telling their stories and about the birdseye views they experienced during the day, moving like almost weightless cottonballs, a few, rollercoaster like long rolls, loops, sliding down, forth and back as if on invisible giant swings,defying gravitaton, whilst ploughing through the mild evening air, the dramatic colors of the setting sun as a backdrop for their performances, clouds, scattered over the turquoise blue skies, are set on fire, feathers of white with orange, purple, pink and vermillion, many shades, the whole scale of red's and blues are turning the sky into a masterpiece without an artists hand and his brush, slowly the shadows of the night are taking over on silent wings....Venus shows it's nearby presence first, sparkling earliest on the dark blue velvety skies with the last silver lining of the setting sun, sunken long below the horizon... the grains of sand on the beach seem to reflect the twinkling starlights just eager to compete with their heavenly counterparts... as if glitter, tossed by an unseen hand all over.... jus for you and me..actually with no purpose at all, it's just as it is.
30.8.10
...signed in for another 3 months or 92 days on the mat....
...back to the routine in Absolute Yoga Studio, yesterday first Session... of "gentle flow", nice flow, stretching, bending, holding... 90 minutes where gone like a whiff of time, but still, why is it so different from home practice I wonder?
Guess one isn't confined to the goldfish bowl called "home"..."swimmin in a fishbowl, year after year.." feels like it is already part of liberation, just to be somewhere else, doing something even slightly different.
Guess one isn't confined to the goldfish bowl called "home"..."swimmin in a fishbowl, year after year.." feels like it is already part of liberation, just to be somewhere else, doing something even slightly different.
Sign by Danasoft - Get Your Free Sign
26.8.10
watching the mind fly by...
"Sympathy is what we need, my friend - cause there's not enough love to go around.... and half the world hates the other half.... and half the world has all the food..... and half the world lies down and quietly starves.... cause there's not enough love to go around...and sympathy is what do we need my friend.. an sympathy is what we need my friend... cause there is not enough love to go around...."
- words by Rare Bird 1969 -
23.8.10
22.8.10
Since certain "New Age" Clubs promoting "new" concepts of "Yoga" (Hot Yoga, Agama, Yin, Pilates name it..) have surfaced those "new age" movements have got their fair share of fans and followers, some simply for the thrill of exotic touch, some for the thrill of mystical experiences or the wish to experience goose pimples of excitement, getting in touch with the occult, the supposed "unknown". Not realizing that they are entering potential minefields, others just for fitness purpose pick up physical exercise patterns the Asanas, the poses of Yoga, without this assumed "spiritual ballast" and some because they looking for 'something", some help, an aide to get out of a conceived misery, out of suffering, some because of injuries, disabilities, maybe through reading books, getting some sort of information, a glimpse that there is... something, well and they go to look, onto the "hunt" with the vague notion of liberating themselves from any existing or conceived disability and maybe besides opening a Yoga school, even an Ashram maybe, yes maybe becoming a teacher themselves and yes maybe become famous one day, who knows.
So far all is well with this, same claim there is no need to follow the "eastern tradition", some even shun the rather strict system of traditional Indian schools and teaching traditions which dominate the "spiritual movement" at its origin, India. Some claim that this rigidity blocks new movement, the exploration of "new shores", in a way this seems true, logical, in a way that orthodox way's, strict laws, unrevised and maybe over the time 'frozen' traditions, but still there is no shortcut from Yoga Studio and several "Total Immersion" sessions to Samadhi whatsoever, there is no way to tell hundreds, well thousands of years of observance, of discoveries, of thousands and thousands of students, teachers,and masters that they have simply been wrong and that all these laws are big, big BS, if so, it's one's very own, blown up Ego wich doesn't want to except, which is looking for a way to escape, for excuses, to dogde the damasking truth, just to keep it's dominance, so one must be very careful and observe first, before making judgments, specially one just started to do his/her first steps and yes, they will remain first steps for many years, remember NO shortcut!
Repulsion - is the 3rd of the five Kleshas - afflictions of mind!
"Aversion or repulsion to people, things, or ideas. Its counterpoise is obviously a state of Equipoise Neutrality. The true nature of the Spirit (Atman) is non-discriminating. Aghora (the Lord Shiva) means nothing is horrible in itself." (-wiki-)
Which, as a result of cause and effect, is closely followed by:
Attachment
"Possessiveness, ownership, liking, attraction. Attachment to people, things, and ideas. To join, connect, or associate ourselves with something. "This is ours," "This is mine." Attachment in its negative sense to things we cannot own or keep. Often the cause of quarrels, violent conflicts, and even war. Expressed also as race, nationality, my country, my money. Attachment can only have free play on lower mind levels.
Repulsion and attraction are two sides of a single coin. Their obstacle value can be impediments and overcome by: Contentment, Neutrality, Tranquility, and Knowledge." (-wiki-)
It's entirely up to the student to row the boat safely to distant shores, the Captain or Master/Teacher can only give advice, correct, the due course and it's the students duty to read the charts, the books, to study, to watch the course, to listen and observe himself, make decisions and take right action to get results, nobody in th entire universe can be made responsible, neither no one will or can take responsibility for some one else, compassion and willingness to support, to guide to help is a different matter, but no one can shoulder the other ones burden or solve the riddle for him/her!
Yes and it will be "trial and error", as we started to learn how to walk, hold the Balance in our first upright movements, will learn how to stir through.....
Some may think because of their mind machines projections, supported by imagined smartness "this all isn't needed, so "I" will discard it!" Only sooner or later, even after many years of practice, to find out "hey I am getting nowhere"! Well as bitter as it may seem, "I" has no way to go anywhere, cause "I" is a projection resulting out of "Avidja", Non-Knowledge or Ignorance, which springs up of not knowing and therefore being unable to accept certain facts, which primarily obstruct any advance, no matter how hard one may try to be perfect, maybe even artistic in practicing Asana, it's only a fraction of the whole "business" of Ashtanga Yoga or "the eight limbs" which are the very foundations of the whole yoga business of which Asana and Pranayama are only two out of eight.
To discard parts of the cake or not paying attention to the whole - no UNION - Yoga, can ever be achieved!
If Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, Dharan, Dhyana are abandoned, not observed, discarded and only Asana, Pranayama is praticed the student is certain to go the way of an athletic artist, of highly skilled Aerobics Practitioner attending the "World Yoga Championships" and get an Olympic Goldmedal and with it comes, as a freebie, an even more blown up ego, but will certainly go nowhere else!
it's just as it is... no Shortcut, no way around and certainly not with the most skilled rethorics of a highly skilled mind!
Do it!
and have some apple pie!
Namastasje!
So far all is well with this, same claim there is no need to follow the "eastern tradition", some even shun the rather strict system of traditional Indian schools and teaching traditions which dominate the "spiritual movement" at its origin, India. Some claim that this rigidity blocks new movement, the exploration of "new shores", in a way this seems true, logical, in a way that orthodox way's, strict laws, unrevised and maybe over the time 'frozen' traditions, but still there is no shortcut from Yoga Studio and several "Total Immersion" sessions to Samadhi whatsoever, there is no way to tell hundreds, well thousands of years of observance, of discoveries, of thousands and thousands of students, teachers,and masters that they have simply been wrong and that all these laws are big, big BS, if so, it's one's very own, blown up Ego wich doesn't want to except, which is looking for a way to escape, for excuses, to dogde the damasking truth, just to keep it's dominance, so one must be very careful and observe first, before making judgments, specially one just started to do his/her first steps and yes, they will remain first steps for many years, remember NO shortcut!
Repulsion - is the 3rd of the five Kleshas - afflictions of mind!
"Aversion or repulsion to people, things, or ideas. Its counterpoise is obviously a state of Equipoise Neutrality. The true nature of the Spirit (Atman) is non-discriminating. Aghora (the Lord Shiva) means nothing is horrible in itself." (-wiki-)
Which, as a result of cause and effect, is closely followed by:
Attachment
"Possessiveness, ownership, liking, attraction. Attachment to people, things, and ideas. To join, connect, or associate ourselves with something. "This is ours," "This is mine." Attachment in its negative sense to things we cannot own or keep. Often the cause of quarrels, violent conflicts, and even war. Expressed also as race, nationality, my country, my money. Attachment can only have free play on lower mind levels.
Repulsion and attraction are two sides of a single coin. Their obstacle value can be impediments and overcome by: Contentment, Neutrality, Tranquility, and Knowledge." (-wiki-)
It's entirely up to the student to row the boat safely to distant shores, the Captain or Master/Teacher can only give advice, correct, the due course and it's the students duty to read the charts, the books, to study, to watch the course, to listen and observe himself, make decisions and take right action to get results, nobody in th entire universe can be made responsible, neither no one will or can take responsibility for some one else, compassion and willingness to support, to guide to help is a different matter, but no one can shoulder the other ones burden or solve the riddle for him/her!
Yes and it will be "trial and error", as we started to learn how to walk, hold the Balance in our first upright movements, will learn how to stir through.....
Some may think because of their mind machines projections, supported by imagined smartness "this all isn't needed, so "I" will discard it!" Only sooner or later, even after many years of practice, to find out "hey I am getting nowhere"! Well as bitter as it may seem, "I" has no way to go anywhere, cause "I" is a projection resulting out of "Avidja", Non-Knowledge or Ignorance, which springs up of not knowing and therefore being unable to accept certain facts, which primarily obstruct any advance, no matter how hard one may try to be perfect, maybe even artistic in practicing Asana, it's only a fraction of the whole "business" of Ashtanga Yoga or "the eight limbs" which are the very foundations of the whole yoga business of which Asana and Pranayama are only two out of eight.
To discard parts of the cake or not paying attention to the whole - no UNION - Yoga, can ever be achieved!
If Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, Dharan, Dhyana are abandoned, not observed, discarded and only Asana, Pranayama is praticed the student is certain to go the way of an athletic artist, of highly skilled Aerobics Practitioner attending the "World Yoga Championships" and get an Olympic Goldmedal and with it comes, as a freebie, an even more blown up ego, but will certainly go nowhere else!
it's just as it is... no Shortcut, no way around and certainly not with the most skilled rethorics of a highly skilled mind!
Do it!
and have some apple pie!
Namastasje!
20.8.10
inspired by another blog..."The Downside to Down Dog" by Kelly Grey
I posted this as a comment, in this blog I added some more thoughts on life "as is":
Yes, after all it's still money, but money itself is not the problem, peoples attitude towards money, wealth, the imagined "security" supposed to come with it, fame, control all this is certainly big BS, it's the people, their intentions, control freaks, greed, hate and envy... the three powers which keep the engine of a certain "World", which many perceive as the "World", but this "World" exists only in News, in Magazines, in Movies and the vivid Imaginations of those who are wrapped up in this incredible, but very simply material Dream of their very own desires, wants and wishes, bare of clouds, trees, wind, water and the heavenly bodies, the Gunas, the modes of Nature or the primary qualities of Nature, keep this all going, it's the core software of everything in the universe and of the people roaming the planet.
Ego, Ego, Ego - Prakriti, the three gunas at work!
Those who haven't conquered this, who only talk about it and try to teach others about, will occur to the watchful and critical as hollow as a dry giant bamboo and maybe as the unavoidable result the whole illusion will come crashing down, sometimes in full force on ones very self.
After all it comes down to a very few very simple chores: be friendly, be good, hold hand, share your cookies, if necessary your pillow, your best dress with the one next to you, do your practice, Sadhana if you wish, (it does help, without the attachment) and keep smiling, detach!
Guess we all are far away form being "perfect" sure, what ever we will try, every bird can fly through the air, we have to use airplanes, every fish can remain in the water, we build subs, every frog can walk on the water - we need ships... and today we even have gone full length to replace the eye with a camera, the feet with wheels, mankind's wonderful abilities with zillions of tools and machines and mankind is just on the way to replace the brain and it's amazing capabilities with computerized gadget's of all kinds, why do so many people walk around "plugged in", I call them "plug-ins"... they are off and gone an iTunes.... Memorizing and Memory has been reduced to 2 GB of RAM in the Notebook.
The question arose one day: "Why not just take it all "as is" and why not just be thank full that it all is as is?
It's already perfect, who want's nay, who can perfect the perfect?
And who NEEDS it?
It is our inability to see, to perceive, without being attached, with out the many drawers of "this fit's here', that fit's there" it's our mind that jumps around like a bunch of monkeys around Monkey temple in Hampi...
It's us, our very own struggle, the hunt for the guru, the craving, the longing, what precious motives there ever are - it's still longing, desire driven, if this hasn't been realized, there is still a long, long path to be wandered in wonder and despair, adorned with the crown of thorns of ever reoccurring sorrow and misery, laced with the adornment of tears and grim thoughts.
Let go, there is nothing to be achieved, cause there is nothing really to be gained, nothing wrong with yoga, old scripts and temples, statues and stuff, they just are, it's us, our very own mind, wrapping us in new illusions faster then the blink of an eye and holding us, our soul at random for ransom!
There is nothing wrong with Ashtanga Vinyasa, the eight limbs... it's certainly NOT about perfection of xyxyxyasana, as I call it 9999 ways of self torture, how to break your own bones, the ZEN of making ones limbs into a perfect knot.
Just for the sake of this "I", this "me", this "I am" "one day I will become" a great yoga master, I attained: ^^$^$%&%#@ .... this is exactly what will hinder the journey into the "temple"!
And it's the way, not the destination!
Like this exercise of "knocking out the mind" talking absolute gibberish and then relax, just to find an "empty" mind... I remember being a kid, doing these really outrageous things, like screaming the H_ll out of it and then when everyone was upset seeing all these stunned faces - I laughed my but off! On our conditioning of becoming an "adult" we stop doing these crazy things, society calls this "mature" - I call it a brain dead and affirmative robot in a human package - look around, all these unhappy people tied up in what they call "their" lives - they created their very own perfect material grave, including the coffin, all, the walking dead, bound and restricted under the heap of their very own wishes and grand illusions!
The other day it occurred that some people asked about my life savings and about security in my "old age"... hmmmm at 57 now feeling wonderful (thanks to practice!) and then it flashed across the screen - "Ahhh' these people worked all their life's from their childhood on, going to school, college, getting a job, a career, getting married, accumulated some wealth, those beloved "securities" which sometimes burn down in a bushfire, or swept away by floods, or blown off by a little nasty hurricane or tropical cyclone, a little "worldwide financial crisis", depreciation of a currency, anythng can happen, anytime, just like this, "gone in 60 Seconds", but gone forever - all this in exchange for a "Lifetime"?
All these many, many - maybe more then 50 years spend in despair to accumulate, to be "secure" when "old", being afraid that something, usually the fifth Klesha hits, "Abhinivesha", the fear of loss, their own fears may hit them, they have given their life for the deal, a deal which may bring security, support for another 15 to 20 years... I prefer to stay fit NOW, instead of an expensive "insurance policy" which will not protect you before any sudden change, any impact on your health, most have the tendency, then because of these "insurances" to live an unhealthy, uncontrolled lifestyle... well I on my behalf prefer to chop wood and carry water until I drop.... nothing wrong with it, then to wait in white linen on life support and taken "care of" by nurses in their starched caps and their often inhuman attitude, they do just the same for their life's , till my will to live fades away, because my life has become so "comfortable" and the "comfort" so priceless and expensive, but my bones so brittle and my energy so little that I don't want to go on and live this life anymore as it has become useless, senseless!
When death comes on swift and silent wings, where will this "me" this "I" all these accumulated possessions, titles, all the fame, the lovely garden, the house, the pool, the limousine, the collection of gems and rare coins, antiques and art go?
If one manages to go there now, he/she will have arrived, NOW!
...have some cherry cheesecake, a masala chai, cheer up and get a life!
Namastasje!
Yes, after all it's still money, but money itself is not the problem, peoples attitude towards money, wealth, the imagined "security" supposed to come with it, fame, control all this is certainly big BS, it's the people, their intentions, control freaks, greed, hate and envy... the three powers which keep the engine of a certain "World", which many perceive as the "World", but this "World" exists only in News, in Magazines, in Movies and the vivid Imaginations of those who are wrapped up in this incredible, but very simply material Dream of their very own desires, wants and wishes, bare of clouds, trees, wind, water and the heavenly bodies, the Gunas, the modes of Nature or the primary qualities of Nature, keep this all going, it's the core software of everything in the universe and of the people roaming the planet.
Ego, Ego, Ego - Prakriti, the three gunas at work!
Those who haven't conquered this, who only talk about it and try to teach others about, will occur to the watchful and critical as hollow as a dry giant bamboo and maybe as the unavoidable result the whole illusion will come crashing down, sometimes in full force on ones very self.
After all it comes down to a very few very simple chores: be friendly, be good, hold hand, share your cookies, if necessary your pillow, your best dress with the one next to you, do your practice, Sadhana if you wish, (it does help, without the attachment) and keep smiling, detach!
Guess we all are far away form being "perfect" sure, what ever we will try, every bird can fly through the air, we have to use airplanes, every fish can remain in the water, we build subs, every frog can walk on the water - we need ships... and today we even have gone full length to replace the eye with a camera, the feet with wheels, mankind's wonderful abilities with zillions of tools and machines and mankind is just on the way to replace the brain and it's amazing capabilities with computerized gadget's of all kinds, why do so many people walk around "plugged in", I call them "plug-ins"... they are off and gone an iTunes.... Memorizing and Memory has been reduced to 2 GB of RAM in the Notebook.
The question arose one day: "Why not just take it all "as is" and why not just be thank full that it all is as is?
It's already perfect, who want's nay, who can perfect the perfect?
And who NEEDS it?
It is our inability to see, to perceive, without being attached, with out the many drawers of "this fit's here', that fit's there" it's our mind that jumps around like a bunch of monkeys around Monkey temple in Hampi...
It's us, our very own struggle, the hunt for the guru, the craving, the longing, what precious motives there ever are - it's still longing, desire driven, if this hasn't been realized, there is still a long, long path to be wandered in wonder and despair, adorned with the crown of thorns of ever reoccurring sorrow and misery, laced with the adornment of tears and grim thoughts.
Let go, there is nothing to be achieved, cause there is nothing really to be gained, nothing wrong with yoga, old scripts and temples, statues and stuff, they just are, it's us, our very own mind, wrapping us in new illusions faster then the blink of an eye and holding us, our soul at random for ransom!
There is nothing wrong with Ashtanga Vinyasa, the eight limbs... it's certainly NOT about perfection of xyxyxyasana, as I call it 9999 ways of self torture, how to break your own bones, the ZEN of making ones limbs into a perfect knot.
Just for the sake of this "I", this "me", this "I am" "one day I will become" a great yoga master, I attained: ^^$^$%&%#@ .... this is exactly what will hinder the journey into the "temple"!
And it's the way, not the destination!
Like this exercise of "knocking out the mind" talking absolute gibberish and then relax, just to find an "empty" mind... I remember being a kid, doing these really outrageous things, like screaming the H_ll out of it and then when everyone was upset seeing all these stunned faces - I laughed my but off! On our conditioning of becoming an "adult" we stop doing these crazy things, society calls this "mature" - I call it a brain dead and affirmative robot in a human package - look around, all these unhappy people tied up in what they call "their" lives - they created their very own perfect material grave, including the coffin, all, the walking dead, bound and restricted under the heap of their very own wishes and grand illusions!
The other day it occurred that some people asked about my life savings and about security in my "old age"... hmmmm at 57 now feeling wonderful (thanks to practice!) and then it flashed across the screen - "Ahhh' these people worked all their life's from their childhood on, going to school, college, getting a job, a career, getting married, accumulated some wealth, those beloved "securities" which sometimes burn down in a bushfire, or swept away by floods, or blown off by a little nasty hurricane or tropical cyclone, a little "worldwide financial crisis", depreciation of a currency, anythng can happen, anytime, just like this, "gone in 60 Seconds", but gone forever - all this in exchange for a "Lifetime"?
All these many, many - maybe more then 50 years spend in despair to accumulate, to be "secure" when "old", being afraid that something, usually the fifth Klesha hits, "Abhinivesha", the fear of loss, their own fears may hit them, they have given their life for the deal, a deal which may bring security, support for another 15 to 20 years... I prefer to stay fit NOW, instead of an expensive "insurance policy" which will not protect you before any sudden change, any impact on your health, most have the tendency, then because of these "insurances" to live an unhealthy, uncontrolled lifestyle... well I on my behalf prefer to chop wood and carry water until I drop.... nothing wrong with it, then to wait in white linen on life support and taken "care of" by nurses in their starched caps and their often inhuman attitude, they do just the same for their life's , till my will to live fades away, because my life has become so "comfortable" and the "comfort" so priceless and expensive, but my bones so brittle and my energy so little that I don't want to go on and live this life anymore as it has become useless, senseless!
When death comes on swift and silent wings, where will this "me" this "I" all these accumulated possessions, titles, all the fame, the lovely garden, the house, the pool, the limousine, the collection of gems and rare coins, antiques and art go?
If one manages to go there now, he/she will have arrived, NOW!
...have some cherry cheesecake, a masala chai, cheer up and get a life!
Namastasje!
19.8.10
on Sadhana - Practice...
" ... religious sādhanā, which both prevents an excess of worldliness and molds the mind and disposition (bhāva) into a form which develops the knowledge of dispassion and non-attachment. Sādhanā is a means whereby bondage becomes liberation."
- N. Batthacharya-
"Sādhana is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhana, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal."
- Iyengar -
Namastasje...
- N. Batthacharya-
"Sādhana is a discipline undertaken in the pursuit of a goal. Abhyāsa is repeated practice performed with observation and reflection. Kriyā, or action, also implies perfect execution with study and investigation. Therefore, sādhana, abhyāsa, and kriyā all mean one and the same thing. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies...mind and intelligence in practice towards a spiritual goal."
- Iyengar -
Namastasje...
18.8.10
inspiring food for thought
The being who has conquered the mind, transcending the dualities of cold, heat, happiness, distress, honor and dishonor is firmly established with the ultimate Consciousness within.
- Gita Chapter: 6/7 -
- Gita Chapter: 6/7 -
13.8.10
bit's 'n pieces of the whole..
Time is what we read on a watch and measure with calendars, but if I look at the date of the last entry I feel guilty, but then hey it's all about fun and some information.
It has been raining a lot so the extended beach walks have become rare, but instead I have been on the mat for extended time and yeah very much entangled in the here and now.
woooooooooosh.... time flies by on silent, invisible wings...
It has been raining a lot so the extended beach walks have become rare, but instead I have been on the mat for extended time and yeah very much entangled in the here and now.
woooooooooosh.... time flies by on silent, invisible wings...
25.7.10
Baba Lokenath -The Saint of Bengal - Animation
for you Yoginis, Yogis and and your Kiddies something special for the beginning of Buddhist Lent in the 8th lunar month Kao Pansa Day on 27th:
click here
Lokenath Divine Life Mission is dedicated to Mahayogi Baba Lokenath manifested in all beings on Earth. Founded by Sri Sri Shuddhaanandaa in 1985 in the tranquil Himalayan Heights, the Mission strives to awaken the God in man.
click here
Lokenath Divine Life Mission is dedicated to Mahayogi Baba Lokenath manifested in all beings on Earth. Founded by Sri Sri Shuddhaanandaa in 1985 in the tranquil Himalayan Heights, the Mission strives to awaken the God in man.
1.7.10
crystal clear
...whilst continuing practice, as the climate here on Samui is almost all year, around the clock at 32°C and very high humidity at around 85%, sweating, while practicing, comes natural, so every session gets a touch of Birkram Yoga.
try to stay focused during the long beach walks, focus on the emptiness in the distance, breathe deeply and let go.. the sea, the waves, the sky above, the sand below my feet... a wonderful feeling of awareness in emptiness takes place, absolutely wonderful!
16.6.10
Thoughts are floating by like clouds in the sky...
"You do not need to be going to the Himalayas, you can create the
Himalayas in your own place."
Himalayas in your own place."
- Prashant Iyengar -
Amazing truth, I came across just while surfing the www. years ago when asked by friends why I am not going anymore to India, where I have been almost ever year in the past, I answered almost in the exact context:
"If one has realized what this "India" is, it is everywhere!"
In fact everyone should realize this, unless it is a very noisy and uncomfortable place like the horrific "Kashmiri Gate" Bus Terminal in New Delhi, but even there are people "at home" and indisputable it IS India... it is only a result of the conditioning of the mind, our thoughts and the perception of our environment and how we judge it's estimated and vividly imagined values!
Much more though if one manages to immerse into the Brahman, the ONE and only truth, reality... that one which we really are and everything around us visible or invisible, material or immaterial..... with out valuing, judging it all the time and split it in ever smaller categories to "lock it away" into the myriads of drawers in the store room memory.
It sounds maybe a bit strange, but this is exactly why one may have to go to the Himalayas... to experience this, but then in today's world it is only given to a few who can afford this, some who are native of these Regions would love to go away from there because for them it is everything else then enlightening!
Strange isn't it, the mechanics of the mind, those who are there, aren't necessarily enlightened, because they are simply born and live there, those who go there for the purpose, may be disappointed and not finding any ray of light...even in the brightest sunshine.
The problem is embedded in the situation itself, when we start to look for something, search for something, we assume that we haven't got it... that it's not there, not in our possession, tricky, but it's exactly so!
But "it's" always there, right here... if we can let go, let lose, we can realize that ALL is right here for ever, but for eternity on the move, changing like the seasons, like wind and weather slowly change the earth's face ever more....and we will have to accept this, there is nothing that can change the ever changing empirical world.
It's you who has to change!
It's you who has to change!
13.6.10
A day at the Beach
"If you love something so much let it go. If it comes back it was meant to be; if it doesn't it never was"
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Albert Schweitzer
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Albert Schweitzer
It's Sunday my day off, started the day early with some rounds of Surya Namashkar, Trikonsana flowing into Parsvakonasana, Padottanasana, Parsvashita...Ardha Baddha Padmottansana, Pada Halasana...and flow, flow, flowing back into the Surya Namashkar - welcome sun...!
and then went to the beach....
It was this stunning blue sky with puffy white cottonballs strewn around.. what a day!
Check these guys out.... beach sellers...trying to makea living..
Rarely we are aware how blessed we are... all these clouds of sorrows, worries, wishes, wants... entangled in our thoughts, mind constructions, we let the hours and days of our lives pass by as if there is an endless supply of it - REALIZE!
You are here, always and ever , always only here and you aren't your thoughts, other peoples imagination or the one in the mirror - is only a reflection of you...neither you are any of the myriad of feelings which carry us away from time to time, a mix of some bio-substances, hormones our body produces all the time, especially if agitated through some mind stuff, thoughts, feelings, good as well as bad ones..loss, loneliness - hey how can one be lonely - 6.000.000.000 people around... and animals, birds, fish... name it just LOOK and REALIZE!
10.6.10
three simple but effective asanas:
Yogamudra
Sit cross-legged (sit in Padmasana, Ardha padmasana orVajrasana ). Hold your left wrist with your right hand behind your back. Slowly lowering your chin, then your neck, bend down as far as you can go, breathing out as you go down. Stay there for 8 seconds with your breath held out then rise up, breathing in. Practice eight times.
Lie down on your stomach. Put your hands facing down on the floor beside your ears. Supporting your weight on your palms, push up and raise the chest, looking up towards the ceiling. Breathe in while rising, and hold your breath in that position for 8 seconds. Come down to original position while breathing out. Practice eight times.
Kneel down with your buttocks resting on your heels and your toes pointing forward. With your palms together, extend your arms up next to your ears. Slowly bring your arms and head down as one, first bending your neck then the whole upper body, until your fingers hit the floor, keeping your buttocks on your heels all the time. Now stretch out along with your forehead and nose resting on the floor. Breathe out as you go down and stay there with your breath held out for 8 seconds. Then rise up, breathing in. Practice eight times.
and remember: keep breathing, breathe, relax, relax and relax to the max!
Lie on back with arms by the side, inside of hands facing up, make sure that the breathing is calm and relaxed, watch the air flow through the nostrils, throat, into the lungs, the belly, the diaphragm expands, slowly, ever further, the belly, the chest slowly filling the lungs and reverse - exhale, slowly, let the air flow gently back out.
relax...
Now go through the whole body, starting at the tips of the toes feet, consciously making sure that each part is completely relaxed – with no muscular tension at all.
From the feet up, chins, calves, the legs, thighs, consciously checking each part, into the groin area, into the abdomen (also feeling the internal organs are relaxing), into the chest and shoulders, from the fingers and hands up the arms, then into the neck and up into the face, relaxing the facial muscles, nose, lips, mouth, tongue, ears, including the eyes, forehead, and finally to the top of the head, the brain is relaxed.
Check once more that the breath is calmly, just floating and relaxed, imagine floating on top of the sea, suspended in space, on top of a mountain, imagine a sunflower or poppy field – whatever seems attractive or comes by itself - float. Now stay like that, fully relaxed, for a few more minutes....forget time, forget it all immerse into the ONE and ALL - float, let go...
Sit cross-legged (sit in Padmasana, Ardha padmasana orVajrasana ). Hold your left wrist with your right hand behind your back. Slowly lowering your chin, then your neck, bend down as far as you can go, breathing out as you go down. Stay there for 8 seconds with your breath held out then rise up, breathing in. Practice eight times.
Cobra (Bhujangasana)
Lie down on your stomach. Put your hands facing down on the floor beside your ears. Supporting your weight on your palms, push up and raise the chest, looking up towards the ceiling. Breathe in while rising, and hold your breath in that position for 8 seconds. Come down to original position while breathing out. Practice eight times.
Long Salutation
Kneel down with your buttocks resting on your heels and your toes pointing forward. With your palms together, extend your arms up next to your ears. Slowly bring your arms and head down as one, first bending your neck then the whole upper body, until your fingers hit the floor, keeping your buttocks on your heels all the time. Now stretch out along with your forehead and nose resting on the floor. Breathe out as you go down and stay there with your breath held out for 8 seconds. Then rise up, breathing in. Practice eight times.
and remember: keep breathing, breathe, relax, relax and relax to the max!
Savasana
Lie on back with arms by the side, inside of hands facing up, make sure that the breathing is calm and relaxed, watch the air flow through the nostrils, throat, into the lungs, the belly, the diaphragm expands, slowly, ever further, the belly, the chest slowly filling the lungs and reverse - exhale, slowly, let the air flow gently back out.
relax...
Now go through the whole body, starting at the tips of the toes feet, consciously making sure that each part is completely relaxed – with no muscular tension at all.
From the feet up, chins, calves, the legs, thighs, consciously checking each part, into the groin area, into the abdomen (also feeling the internal organs are relaxing), into the chest and shoulders, from the fingers and hands up the arms, then into the neck and up into the face, relaxing the facial muscles, nose, lips, mouth, tongue, ears, including the eyes, forehead, and finally to the top of the head, the brain is relaxed.
Check once more that the breath is calmly, just floating and relaxed, imagine floating on top of the sea, suspended in space, on top of a mountain, imagine a sunflower or poppy field – whatever seems attractive or comes by itself - float. Now stay like that, fully relaxed, for a few more minutes....forget time, forget it all immerse into the ONE and ALL - float, let go...
3.6.10
I love the whoooooooshing sound of a deadline passed by!" - Douglas Adams -
So how the absolute Brahman, Sat-Chit-Ananda, became what we see here around?
Sri Aurobindo, a great indian philosopher and thinker, wrote:
"The Absolute is not bound - not bound to its infinite existence, not bound to its infinite consciousness and the force inherent in that consciousness, not bound to its infinite bliss."
Clever... very, very deep insights this man had!
In other words it is indeed ALL - as in really ALL - without ANY limitations!
Difficult to grasp, how can (perceived) evil and godliness be one and the same?
Well the easy way out would be: :if this wouldn't be the fact, there wouldn't be an Absolute - the Brahman!
Easy?
Almost as a Koan - but hey... they aren't 'easy" are they?
It's way easier to slurp down a pot of tea and gaze in to the fire, illuminating the mountain mist, which hides the colors of the autumn clad trees, beneath the shades of smoky white and ash grey, to steel blue and fading purple clouds ...
..or something like it.
Well why we are so hungry, to know, to know everything because we are obsessed with knowledge, but in general (we reluctant to admit but...) to patronize, to conquer, to dominate (our mind works hard on it!) but then we always tend to be so critical about knowledge and it's applications, we can't just let it in, like the crisp morning air rolling down the mountain slopes from their icy peaks., nope, it has to be analyzed, checked, categorized, filtered, compared, weighed - the whole procedure, until it is decided "right!" An gets stored in some drawer which "sits up there", ready to gulp the information down and then being hesitant to let go of it, once it has disappeared in the vast crevasses of it's giant array of the library of folders in the mind...
And second, he (Aurobindo of course) explains that by definition Brahman is capable of manifesting within its absolute existence innumerable, limited, even distorted and contrary forms of its being. We may further deduce that an infinitely extended, infinitely diverse manifestation, replete with objects and beings ranging from the most unconscious, the most vile, to the most conscious, the most beautiful, the most divine, would be perfectly consistent with an existence that was Absolute.
Amazing, isn't it - reading it, is soooooooo simple, but grasping it, get the whole idea of it, is another story, may be hours of meditation, maybe light years away.
But then, the Author the honorable and very smart Sri Aurobindo packed this in a couple of sentences, like a pizza is packed for home delivery.
Wow!
Well I am going to have this "pizza" now - and try to reflect upon how this unimaginable Brahman exists.... everywhere, in everything - breathtaking concept - isn't it?
But how does the Brahman do this?
The answer for exploring it, is:
The principle of exclusive concentration - Dharana.
This principle is best explained through the example of our own ability to narrow our conscious awareness on a particular idea or perception, putting behind in the background of our focused awareness the rest of our conscious existence.
Good insight can be attained while practicing these "simple" steps... say as in a life time obsession:
Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses through asana - posturs and pranayama - breathing techniques),
Dharana (concentration, focus on ONE point, between the eyebrows, top of the head, Chakras, candle flame, sound..)
Dyana (finallyMeditation, the trance like state of absolut awareness)
Samadhi.... (I spare any attempt to explain...many tried, I think: everyone should try themselves!! Honestly)
one leading seemless into the other, but no "next step" without the other, carefully following the first steps of Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama !
Or the ability to focus awareness and put into the background all else', is inherent in consciousness. It is through a similar process that the One and Infinite Being becomes the many, apparently separate, individual beings and things we see manifested in the universe. The separation is in appearance only, for in truth all individuals are constituted by the One, are That in their Reality, for there is nothing outside the Absolute. They are forms and appearances of its Being, expressions of its Consciousness, movements of its Delight.
Anyone tried yet, or is still busy listening to the clap of a single hand?
18.5.10
Full circle and back!
... finally to and back from India...
..after completing the YAI 200 Teachers Course with Shivam at Baghsunath/McCloedganj/Dharamshala!
Was a very good and fulfilling experience, being immersed into Meditation, Pranayama, Asana, learning, re-membering all about the Chakras their Location, Colors, Bija-Sounds, about Ida, Pingala and Shushumna, the Nadis, proper breathing, proper postures, proper livelihood.
Learning about Patanjali's eightfold path Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.
Learning about the various Techniques and their Sanskrit Names and "diving" deeper and deeper into this wonderful, exciting "materia prima" or better understood as the Brahman.
The Jiva, the immortal essence of a living being, Atman, (the German word for "Breath", "Atmen" is probably derived from a shard Sanskrit root) - Atman the individual soul or the observer, the higher individual self or the eternal soul which is identical to Brahman in essence.
In the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad , Atman is explicitly called a Person that created the universe by first splitting himself into male and female halves. In the Chandogya Upanishad, this single god is called Brahman, and is "the One without a second"; this Brahman is not only the principle and creator of all there is, but is also fully present within each individual.
But as Paramhansa Hariananda puts it, we are engrossed through our senses in the games of the empirical world of appearances, we get so much entangled that we lost our original awareness of our true nature, of the true nature of all things!
It is like we embark on a journey to unknown lands, I started 37 years ago, or even a wee bit earlier, but it really doesn't matter, without a map, blue print or any knowledge, training about what we are going to experience - so we are highly prone to get lost in the magnitude of impressions, experiences, tastes, contradictions, the various moods of the countless gates of perception and it's magnitudes of deceptions!
So the path of Yoga - the eightfold Path is the lighthouse on the disntat shores we once sailed off from, buried in unconsciousness, in want, wishes, dreams, love, desire and the drive we call "life. Leading us back to our true origins, back to the roots, to our very selves, not the one we are impersonating day, after day, year after year, but the very true self, the witness within, that tiny little flame, which is nourished through the bellow of the breath, which contains it's very essence the core energy of the universe, life giving to each and everything, living or simple materia - the life force PRANA !
Remember?
Immersion into ones very own self, into the "one" which doesn't need ears to hear, no eyes to see, no tongue to taste, no hands to touch, no senses to understand, no mind to perceive - the silent witness, where observer and the observed become one!
here some impressions from a journey that will never end.....
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