Book Review: Paths To God- Living the Bhagavad Gita by Ram Dass October 7, 2009

When I signed on for the Maui Intensive on the Gita with John Friend and Ram Dass this book was listed on the recommended reading. I had never heard of it before but, being the keener I am, I picked it up on one of my many trips to Banyan Books. I didn’t realize at the time what an influential little book it would become.

Ram Dass

First of all I thought it was a study guide to the Gita- how wrong I was! It is a study guide to life- your inner spiritual life- your sadhana. Which when you come full circle, is really what the Gita is : a study guide for life. In Ram Dass’ words, “This really isn’t a book “about” the Bhagavad Gita. It isn’t an analysis of the Gita, or a commentary on the Gita, or anything like that. Rather, it’s a series of reflections about the major themes of the Gita- themes that touch on the various yogas, or paths for coming into union with God, that the Gita investigates. It’s an attempt to look at how those yogas might be relevant to our own lives, in this day and age.” p.1

 For those of you who have never had the blessing to meet Ram Dass there is one thing I want to stress about him- his sense of humour. Yes-he is brilliant, articulate, wise and filled with a deep inner light , but he is also so of this world as well. When I first met Ram Dass a few years ago on Maui, I was struck by his ability to teach the deepest wisdom on such a human level. He is like a beautiful,  intricate bridge that allows us to walk from this world to the Divine.

Paths to God  is based on a course that Ram Dass taught at Naropa Institute ( now Naropa University) in Colorado in 1974. The course was called “The Yogas of the Bhagavad Gita”.Ram Dass’ guru- Neem Karoli Baba (affectionately known as Maharaji) – would only hand out two books to his students: The Ramayana and The Bhagavad Gita. Keeping this in mind, Ram Dass decided to further his own understanding of the Gita by teaching this course. As a teacher myself, I know how teaching can bring greater understanding to even the teacher- sometimes even a different understanding!

Ram Dass sets a context for the teachings by giving an outline of the Gita in his first chapter that he calls: Context and Conflict. He continues with the following chapters:

2.  Karma and Incarnation

A discussion on what Karma actually is and our belief ( or non-belief) of incarnation. Ram Dass,  being born Jewish and having studied various religions, brings an interesting inter-faith perspective to the idea of incarnation. He quotes parts of the bible that actually show a belief in incarnation in the Judeo-Christian faith. Reincarnation seemed to be common belief at the time of Christ but the Church hotly debated it and as Ram Dass puts it, “they realized that reincarnation wasn’t such a functional philosophy for maintaining the church’s control.”p.38   He goes on to explain differing views of reincarnation and karma from both the  Buddhist and Hindu perspectives. This theme plays heavy in the Gita as Krishna urges Arjuna to fight because the body will perish but that which is not the body, I will use the word essence, continues.

 2.18  ” The body is mortal, but that which dwells in the body is immortal and immeasurable. Therefore Arjuna, fight in this battle.”- Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Gita

 

3.  Karma Yoga

Ram Dass gets into a great discussion of dharma and what it means to act. All of our actions- including thought- have an outcome. Even non-action has a result. He brings up a memorable example ” It’s like when you have met someone who has “”Given up smoking!”- and that’s totally who they are. ” who are you?” I am someone who hasn’t smoked for 2 weeks , four hours, and thirty two minutes. ” In their thought forms they are smoking at least a pack an hour!” p.56   He calls it phony holy. Really, can’t you relate to that? For all of us that have gone on a diet,  suddenly food becomes an obession! Is that really serving you? When we operate in the place of spirit rather than striving- we are operating in the place of true dharma and no longer creating karma. “When we first set out to do our work as spiritual practice, we’re still acting from inside the world attachments and desires, because the desire to get free is still a desire.But as the upaya, the method, begins to work, it leads us to a deeper understanding of the reason and wisdom that underlie the whole system.” p.72

 3.6 ” Those who abstain from action while allowing the mind to swell on sensual pleasure cannot be called sincere spiritual aspirants.”- -E.E.’s translation of the Gita

 

4. Jnana Yoga

Jnana is the yoga of wisdom or knowledge but Ram Dass explains “whenever we think about our practices or talk about our practices, the thinking and talking are forms of jnana yoga.When I describe to you the practice of karma yoga or the practice of bhakti yoga, the description is a jnana yoga technique. To understand devotional yoga, to understand why we meditate, to understand why we do mantra, we have to develop the kind of discriminating wisdom that can differentiate the real from the unreal, and the path of developing that discrimination is jnana yoga.”p.73 This chapter focuses on techniques to turn the mind in on itself so to speak. Ram Dass explains the levels of mind(ahamkara,  manas, buddhi, atman) and how each relates to the sense of who we are and our actions- how they function on a daily basis. He then introduces methods in which the mind becomes the tool which extricates us from the mind and then we see it all as one. “It is all just God dancing with God.”p.93 I love that quote….

4.33 “The offering of wisdom is better than any material offering, Arjuna; for the goal of all work is spiritual wisdom.”       -E.E’s translation of the Gita

 

5.  Brahman

“But where is the “there” we are trying to get to?”p.94 This chapter focuses on what is known as the formless, the One, Spirit…the list  of  names is endless in all forms of metaphysics. Ram Dass uses many other texts , including the Tao Te Ching, to show how they explain the immeasurable and indefinable. This is a really deep chapter for we spend pages trying to explain and understand that which in a large part is unexplainable. i think Ram Dass introduces enough anecdotes and thoughts from other spiritualists to create a picture at least from where we can start.  Ultimately though, Brahman must be experienced to be understood and so Ram Dass says-” But “painted cakes do not satisfy hunger,”and finally we have to do the work that allows us to enter the state for ourselves.”p.103

13.17 ” Dwelling in every heart, it is beyond darkness. It is called the light of light, the object and the goal of knowledge,and knowledge itself.”- Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Gita

 

6.  Sacrifice and Mantra

I call this the weight loss chapter. Ram Dass spends a good part of the chapter showing us how to work with desire and how mindfullness of our desire can become a sacrifice. He uses the one desire most of us have in common: food.  Most of us are completely unconscious about the process of eating…or maybe overly obsessive- neither is good. He describes a funny incident at a retreat where Ram Dass had a huge meal prepared for the last day and he would talk about it a lot and everyone would get excited and their desire would build and then when they finally sat down for this beautiful meal together he would give a long, long  blessing while the food got cold and then he would read a Buddhist passage on the repulsiveness of food and how it moves through our body- very descriptive, non-enticing stuff. If that wasn’t enough he would then explain how slowly and mindfully they were all going to eat and ” by then the banquet would be ruined.”p.116 He would then explain to the group that we can surrender some of the pleasure of eating and make it more mindful. What Ram Dass is getting at is that anything to which we have a desire attached to can be used to get us to progress further down the path- ” part of our sadhana involves experimenting with each aspect of our lives for its potential as part of our awakening.“p116

His section on mantra I found especially good. I do not know of any other book that has explained mantra practice in such a step by step form and made it seem very approachable for the beginning student. This part of the chapter is something I will use as a teaching and study resource for many years to come. ” That is , what mantra does is to concentrate already-existing stuff in you. It just brings it into focus. It’s like a magnifying glass with the sun: The magnifying glass doesn’t have any heat in and of itself, but it takes the sunlight and focuses it;makes it one pointed. The mantra becomes like that magnifying glass for your consciousness.”.p.121

4.24 “The process of offering is Brahman; that which is offered is Brahman. Brahman offers the sacrifice into the fire of Brahman. Brahman is attained by those who see Brahman in every action”-Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Gita

 

7. Renunciation and Purification

I looked at this chapter with fear in my heart as purification and renunciation just don’t seem to go down very well with my dharma. I have tried before people- it wasn’t good.  I like to think all I have to remember is that I am Divine- I am part of that greater pulsation already but as Ram Dass kindly reminds us, these acts are ” to get rid of whatever in us prevents us from knowing who we are at this moment…..(they) are designed to get around the roadblock between our knowing and our believing.”p.128. Hmm. I guess he has a point. Ram Dass also says there is a time that is appropriate for these things and I am feeling that more now. I am starting care less and less about what brand name I wear or how much stuff I have. In fact ” stuff” starts to make me feel a little claustrophobic these days. Maybe I am just kidding myself and I am trading Coach bags for yoga books, bamboo cutlery and Lululemon? Phony Holy…

As Ram Dass points out, advertising today is meant to make “us feel more and more dissatisfied, making us think we want more and more things.”p.134 It is so sad and so true. The process cannot be forced, however, and renunciation and purification cannot be done fully because the mind is wanting us to be “good”- that doesn’t really work.  Carlos Pomeda once said in a lecture, “renunciates are usually people who are very unhappy with the world”. Can you be a happy renunciate?? I think Ram Dass gives us a chance to explore that idea. 

9.27.9.28 “Whatever you do make it an offering to me- the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering. In this way you will be freed from the bondage of karma and from its results both pleasant and painful.Then, firm in renunciation and yoga, with your heart free, you will come to me.” – Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Gita

 

8.  Devotion and the Guru

This chapter could easily be retitled the path of love for love is the main theme. Ram Dass, being the devotee of a Guru, gives great insight into what is actually happening in the relationship; how the Guru is just as Ram Dass explains, ” a doorpost”  to the real thing.  He explained this in Maui during our Gita intensive by saying  that devotion cannot be done by intellect. It is done by the heart. A devotee is one whose heart has been opened. He explained that he loved Maharaji and was his devotee but what he really loved was the God within Maharaji. You cannot fall in love with the God in you, your atman, but you can fall in love with the God in someone else. That love  over time allows the door to open and then that is when we realize that the object of our love was the “doorpost”- the gateway- but not the subject. “The guru is a being who awakens incredible love in us, and who then uses our love to awaken us out of the illusion of duality”. p.170

He also brings up the discussion around those who think their hearts are closed. I mean, have you been to those yoga gatherings that are the big love fest ( Ok, Maybe it’s an Anusara thing…) and everybody is a bhakti and life is good but then there are those that are NOT that? ( I happen to live with one…)  Ram Dass sees those that are feeling nothing- in despair- as having the most potential for heart opening.”It’s only when our despair reaches rock bottom that the opportunity occurs for the heart to open. So if someone says to me, ” I feel nothing; I feel dead inside,”- that, to me, is a critical moment. It’s the moment when there is the possibility of the heart opening. “p.166 This is really what happens to Arjuna in the Gita, he is despondent, he has given up, and now Krishna has an opportunity, through Arjuna’s love of him, to reveal that which is beyond the doorpost so to speak.

1.47 ” Overwhelmed by sorrow, Arjuna spoke these words. And casting away his bow and arrows, he sat down in his chariot in the middle of the battlefield.” Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Gita

  

9.  Social Aspects of Sadhana

This chapters deal more on the psychology of  how we see ourselves; how we differentiate ourselves from others- all of our baggage that comes along when we use our perspective. We need discrimination- that is a given- but can we go the other way around and rather than looking for the differences see the “sameness”. Ram Dass calls this a soul looking at a soul and besides some great stories about his drug trips- he really makes us examine our individuality- or rather our illusion of individuality. He gets into a great discussion of judging and wanting to change people- I mean come on we are all a little bit like that..” I wish he would be more …yadayadayada…” you get the picture. ”If we go out into the woods and we look at all the trees, we don’t say, “I wish that oak tree were an elm.” Somehow, we can allow trees to be what they are; we can grant that each tree is perfect just the way it is. But when it comes to people, if everybody isn’t the way we think they ought to be, all hell breaks loose! We sit around judging and judging, having opinions about everybody.”p.200

18.20 “Sattvic knowledge sees the one indestructible Being in all beings, the unity underlying the multiplicity of creation”.  -Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the Gita

 

 

 

10.  Dying

This chapter is a collection of stories that show Ram Dass’ own evolution on thoughts related to death and dying. Ram Dass’ mother’s death played into his meeting Maharaji, John Friends mother’s death played into his spiritual journey and my own father’s death brought me to yoga. Death can have such a profound sense of rocking us to the core of who we are- or more accurately who we thought we were- and it plays the shell game with what we thought was important. (Under that one? No. Ok- That one! No that either…. ) What happens after death? Where do we go? Why can I still feel so connected?  That for me was the key- I knew he was still with me- I could FEEL it- so was that my imagination or was that a realization that we are all part of something that is unchanging? 

Reading this chapter, I often thought of my friend and fellow Anusara yogi, Carol Wray. Carol sits with people as they die. During the middle of the night , when family members cannot be present or individuals do not have family, people like Carol make dying a sacred act. She is the first to acknowledge that those who are leaving their body are not always attractive- even ugly- but that after a few moments she sees beyond all that and she is a soul sitting with another soul to help them make a transition.  I was hospitalized many years ago and in the middle of the night  I could hear the last breaths of an elderly woman a few beds down from me. I had seen her family visit her earlier in the day and I knew that she was loved, but now at 3am in a strange room,  she was dying alone. I am not sure what possessed me, as I was supposed to be bed ridden, but I managed to shuffle over to the chair beside her bed and I then plopped myself down beside this seemingly unconscious woman. “Hi- my name is Leanne”, I said, “and you don’t know me, but I figured you wouldn’t want to be alone. I wouldn’t want to be alone.” And there I sat- occasionally wiping her dry mouth with moist q-tips as I had seen her family do and just lightly keeping my hand on hers. I saw in her all those I loved…and I saw me. I wondered if I was doing this for her or if I was doing it for me? I guess it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things…… “ For someone on a spiritual path, death is a doorway, an opportunity, and all our practices are done to prepare us for that moment.”p.225

 

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One of the greatest gems is at the end of the book : the course syllabus from Naropa. In detail, it teaches you how to create a sadhana for yourself; how to journal, how to set up a puja, how to start a meditation practice,  how to use a japamala and many other things. From the perspective of a teacher of asana, I feel that these practices should not be left outside our realm for “other yogis”. These are practices, that along with the physical asana practice , bring us into alignment with our hearts’ intention- it helps us get free.  I know that a real hard core physical yogi can get broken open during kirtan, I know that writing can in a journal ( or a blog!) can give you clarity in your sadhana,  and I know that having a place set aside for prayer and contemplation can be a haven and reminder for that which is truly important. These practices are all important if we see our yoga as a path of spirit.

I know that in any future teacher trainings or immersion I do, this book will be mandatory reading.  I have wrapped up my own copy,  beautifully signed by Ram Dass, in a piece of silk to honor Ram Dass and his teachers.  If I can understand and just do even a little of what Ram Dass has put into this book,  it will be invaluable on my own path. I hope this book will become part of your path too.

 

“On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.”

-(2.40 of The Bhagavad Gita)

Maui Weekend Workshop- The Three Goddesses September 28, 2009

Well I am writing two blog posts in one night which is unheard of but I am up so here we go. I am going to summarize the weekend in one go.

Jayantri and the coconuts

Sjanie, Janna and Geordie- cheers!

How to eat a coconut with natural spoon

Me and my coconut- yum!

Mama Maui at her best

Paia swing

If you can tell me what it is I would appreciate it….

Day One Morning

John opened with a talk on Navaratri. It is the 9 sacred nights of the Goddesses- three Goddesses in three incarnations.  He talked about the deep orderliness of the universe. The krama or order of life. You plant a seed in the dark and the roots go down and the stalk goes up and the stalk bears branches and the branches leaves, then fruit and the fruit ripens and falls and goes back into the earth and the cycle starts again. The dark is not necessarily bad or empty- in actually it is one big blank slate full of potential. It is full of anything you want to dream.

We started out our practice with Kali. Kali is raw- she comes from dark where you plant a seed of intention. She is the muscle energy of the pose. We hugged in tight and did really strong poses that need stability. It was a morning of long standing poses and things like press handstand and half lotus handstand- which I had never even thought of let alone tried! It rocked pretty good though and we came out to see the Laulima Farms gang and a truck full of coconuts! For the screaming deal of $3 we had Jayantri open a coconut for us and after drinking the milk he would make us a bowl of the nut and even a little spoon to scoop it with. Oh so good……

We took off during the long break  ( 10am to 4pm) and hit the south side of the island going to Makena and big beach. We had our first swim at the beach in front of the Maui Prince but the lifeguards came by and showed us a portuguese man of war which were in the water. The sting is apparently excruciating so it kind of put a damper on the swim time. We had lunch from the Jaws Taco truck in the Big Beach parking lot and then sat and watched the waves at Big Beach. There is finally a lifeguard tower there which is a longtime coming. The have 90 spinal injuries every year at that beach due to the high shore break which dashes people head first into the sand. I had a bad toss there once and it scared me very badly and I am not a weak swimmer.

We finished the south side with a drive further down the road but the clouds were rolling in from the north- which we had come South to avoid!- so we headed back to prep for afternoon practice.

Day One Afternoon

We started the afternoon with questions and one of them group asked why we ( the Anusara community?) chant so softly. I know why we do, but it was interesting to hear John phrase it. He said it related to integrity in relationship of all of the parts. Can you hear yourself but also hear across the room? Can you blend rather than stand out? I have to say the group took it to heart because day two’s afternoon chant was one of the sweetest I have ever heard- it just rode the flow of the island itself. So good…..

John also talked more about the Turiya state ( see my blog on the Dancing Shiva) as being the “ground of being”, the undifferentiated universal place from which the Goddesses arise. I don’t think I have ever thought about it in that way- like this primordial soup of all potential but it makes sense in the thinking of Spanda or Divine pulsation and where that comes from.

One of the other questions was on why a teacher made the Australians role to the left after savasana. Apparently it really threw the practitioners. John gave an explanation of why we roll to the right. It is not about anything anatomical- as some teachers may say- but it is following what is called “pradakshina”. Pradakshina literally means right in Sanskrit and it is in line with moving clockwise which is considered the movement of nature. In temples in India one always keeps the diety on the right side of the body as the circle the diety in prayer. Pradakshina therefore can also mean circumambulation. If you therefore chose to roll left you should know why. That’s what I love about this method- know what the origins are and why we do something and then choose. Being the southern hemisphere, I guess that teacher thought it more in line with nature to go left.

We had a totally fun practice of being spacious and listening and Ty Burhoe  ,who is one of the foremost tabla players in the world, came in and joined the group. I met Ty in Japan a few years ago and I was pretty stoked when he set up his tabla right in front of Sjanie and I . We had randomly picked a new area in the room and plop- there Ty sat playing right in front of us during our practice. We really had a practice of Sarasvati, for she is the first sound and she is really the goddess of all sound “nada”. John and Ty both explained that we recognize sound from not the sound itself but from the space in between the sounds. I know- ponder that one for a while…..

The physical practice was  full of very deep hip openers, half standing lotus, deep pigeon, yogidandasana, and for the garnish we did firefly which- thank god- Sjanie had introduced to me about a year ago. I got in from the standing entry but John also taught getting in from yogidandasana. I opted out and went for the known but Sjanie decided to rock it out with the new entry and had success. Cool.

Day Two Morning

Day two ended on the last day of Navaratri and we had a very “juicy” practice.  We talked about the higher octaves of the middle three elements: air, fire and water. The higher octave of air is prana- it is charged by sunlight and has the ability to move. Fire’s higher vibration is Tejas- a luminosity. It is the flash of light at the beginning of conception. The higher vibration of water is Ojas- the juicy power of life itself, the nectar of our life force.

John took the juiciness into a curvy spiraling practice of backbended forms of trikonasana and pincha mayurasana and of course the matrix backbend. It was all about keeping all the goddesses in our form: Kali in our strength, Sarasvati in our awareness and then letting Lakshmi pour her delight into the vessel of the body. This is really important to note because you can have all these curved fluid forms without muscle energy and then the juiciness just drains because you have not first created a strong vessel to hold it. Sjanie and I both have found we need a little more play in our practice- we are both strong enough that the rigid forms take away our juice. It can dry you out if you move too quickly and too rigidly. You have to build strength first- that is essential – but then you have to have some flow and play in there once that is established.

We did handstand with our legs revolving around in both directions- thank you Chris Chavez for introducing that to me- and dropbacks with one hand on the collarbone assists. We then finished the practice with a pose I have never ever attempted- mandalasana. It was so juicy by that time it actually seemed easy. I realized that pose would be impossible if you tried to stay rigid or muscle your way through it. It had to be this playful delight that just kept running your feet around your head. We finished the morning in seated meditation and was surprised to have a little voice whisper in my ear,” Breathe deeply” and was delighted by a sudden hit of fresh gardenia under my nose. It seemed super powerful after the morning practice. Tiff, Kelly and a few others softly made their way around the room with scents of the island for all of us to delight in with our eyes closed and hearts open. Sjaine and I were grinning like idiots at the end of practice and we kept it juicy with breakfast at Colleen’s in Haiku. Hawaiian spiced bread french toast seemed oh so appropriate.

We hit the beach for the afternoon in the most amazing weather and managed to finally “be one with nature” during the trip. The wind and water were perfect and the sun felt exquiste…everywhere!

Day Two Afternoon

The afternoon purnahuti ( final celebration) was a deep talk by John on how to really live your life . It was about the four cornerstones of how to live: arta/kama/moksha/dharma. How to keep the juicy delight but have resources to support yourself and be in line with nature and have a sense of pleasure about what you are doing. Many of us get stuck in careers or relationships that literally drain us. You can’t necessarily just run away for that may be adharmic ( against dharma)  if you have a family to care for or responsibilities to others. The key is to find ways to increase  the others to find balance.

We had a practice of discharging excess vata in the body. Vata is usually the first dosha to go out of wack and it’s home in our body is the lower region which regulates elimination in the body. If energy is not moving down naturally ( apanavayu) then it can create discomfort and illness in the body. By releasing vata and getting this to move more naturally the ojas goes up and we get that juicyness back again. 

Getting you thigh bones back helps calm vata and we did lots of poses with that intention. We also did headstand and shoulderstand. Now that might not sound like much to you but John hardly ever teaches those two poses. It was actually really great to get the King and Queen poses ( Headstand/shoulderstand) taught by him because, done well , they can be super healing poses. The whole system responds so well to shoulder stand and it can energize you if you are down or slow you down when you are feeling anxious. It has amazing recuperative effects on the body. I love it for flying because it just feels so good to get upside down when you are in another time zone. Those two poses, handstand and a good walk, makes life pretty good on the other side of the planet.

It was a full and fulfilling workshop. John was really in sync with the island and all of us were really there with him. It seems so funny to look back three years ago to Maui where I first met John and see how far I have come, not just as a student or a teacher, but as a human being. John commented on my luster and I said “I feel so good, I feel so right. I just keep my vessel strong and let the shakti fill me up.” Life is good~

mana mahalo~ thank you spirit of the islands

Day 3 – Ram Dass and John Friend Intensive Maui September 28, 2009

The Bhakti yogi Hanuman

The theme of day three, the last day of the intensive, was ” Faith, Devotion and Grace”. We covered the last 6  chapters of the Gita- except for chapter 15. (Don’t ask) It was really the emphasis of the Bhakti path or devotional path of yoga which was contained in the last chapters of the Gita.

The Bhakti path is not really unfamiliar to us in the West as the worship of Christ is a bhakti path. Many people worship God but the figure of Christ as the embodiment of God and his attributes makes it easier for us to understand than the disembodied divine spirit. As we are manifested in physical form it is hard for us to understand and conceive that which is beyond form and so we take manifested objects and our love for them is what triggers our love and understanding of the universal. We need form or a name in order to have that opening.

I often think of my Dad that is no longer alive and my love for him takes me straight into that place where abstract thought cannot take me. My love for him teaches me about devotion. It takes the absolute realm of the universal and manifests it into something that I can understand. Love is in relationship. You need to love something to understand love- you can’t understand love from a book or from a lecture- it is experienced in relationship.

John asked us all to write down what was the secret of the Gita that Krishna gave to Arjuna- the highest teaching. This is what I wrote, ” That God is in everything and everything is in us. Knowing this, live skillfully with love in your heart”. It is amazing that it takes 18 chapters to get that but you know how we are…..Arjuna keeps asking and doubting and Krishna has to keep explaining and going into more detail….I am wondering if Krishna was a wife….hmm.

We had a rockin’ practice of love in the morning which culminated in hand stand drop over to urdva dhanurasana. I know we did some other cool stuff like a dwi pada with an assist that had our foot in our partner’s back-( I actually adjusted Sjanie’s spine….*pop* ) but we were so blissed out that I forgot. I practiced right beside the Hanuman banner and Maharaji’s picture and it was like Maharaji and the monkey were really digging our practice.

Ram Dass came back for the afternoon and I got brazen enough to ask him to sign my book. As I walked into the room he was in I signaled a bewildered Sjanie and had her grab her book. This is not something Sjanie would normally do, so I kind of cajoled her into it, but I don’t hesitate to say she has no regrets. Ram Dass was very sweet to us and I told him how my daughter loves the monkey ever since we had Satsang with him. He was very pleased about that. Sjanie and I returned to the yoga room with our books clutched to our chests and a little misty trying to soak up Maharaji’s shakti and lookin’ like we just had our favorite movie star autograph our book. Yup- yoga geeks…..

Ram Dass gave the most uplifting and warm talk and he spoke for two hours. He talked about his stroke which was very moving. He said it was like his chapter 11 in the Gita when Krishna reveals himself in the universal form. Before that Arjuna didn’t have faith- he had belief ( which comes from the mind) but he didn’t have faith ( which comes from the heart. When he has his stroke he said he lost faith- he said to Maharaji, ” Hey- did you go out for lunch??? What is THIS?” He was completely depressed in the hospital  and he stared at the picture of Maharaji on the wall. People would come in and say ” How could Maharaji let this happen to you”. It was ” all very sad” he said.

Over time though he started to realize that the stroke wasn’t from Maharaji- it was from nature. It was his karma.  His abilities that he was left with were Maharaji’s Grace. It was fierce Grace, but still Grace. Because Ram Dass had slowed down his audience had to slow down too. His wheel chair and paralysis softened people to him and he was better able to open their hearts. These positive things Maharaji supplied. Maharaji used to say to him, ” I love suffering- it brings me so close to God”.  That’s not saying that suffering is optimal, but isn’t it usually in our darkest times we seek out answers?

Ram Dass explained that devotion cannot be done by intellect. It is done by the heart. A devotee is one whose heart has been opened. He explained that he loved Maharaji and was his devotee but what he really loved was the God within Maharaji. You cannot fall in love with the God in you, your atman, but you can fall in love with the God in someone else.

John had a great quote that went, “ When I don’t know who I am I serve you- when I know who I am I am you.”  It really summerizes the path of the bhakti yogi.

Maharaji used to tell Ram Dass to meditate like Christ. ” Lose yourself in love” he would say. This puzzled Ram Dass so Maharaji showed him and, as Maharaji meditated, tears rolled down his face. Meditation can become like a ritual that is empty of love- this is what Maharaji was trying to explain. Ram Dass said, “You can sing hymns like you are reading the shopping list- but these are the beautiful words of Christ- you need to sing with love”. Ram Dass’ name means servant of God. It also is another name for Hanuman.

This segued into Ram Dass giving us a mini synopsis of the Ramayana. He kept saying he was talking too much and apologizing and we were all ” NO- please, please continue.” His assistant said he hasn’t talked that long to a group since his stroke. His assistant figured our attentiveness was feeding his desire to share. It was so very special.

Ram Dass finished his time with us by telling us his mantra- “ I am loving awareness“.  John sweetly gifted a shawl made from cashmere to Ram Dass and wrapped it around his shoulders. It was so obvious to us that it was like Maharaji’s famous blankets. It all just seemed so right. The perfect way to thank him and honour our time together.

After Ram Dass left,  John took the mantra Ram Dass told us and we used that as our japamala mantra for the afternoon. We also turned our mats and faced one person who we did  a meditation and a partner exercise with. We had to look at them and tell them what we liked about them~ what we saw. It was fun and brought back memories of doing that with Christina Sell many years ago.

We ended the whole day by making a huge circle and taking the whole three days and summarizing it into a few words or a phrase. We went around the circle saying our personal summary. There were some classics. Some of my favorites were, ” Be the loving dude I actually am” ” Love everybody” ” love makes us one” ” Hare Krishna” “Hare Ram” ( back to back no less… ) and “Yum, yum, yum” which is what Ram Dass would say every time he talked about getting to that deepest part of your soul.

I asked Ram Dass only one question during the intensive. I said, “Ram Dass, can faith and love in us awaken it in others?” He emphatically hit his good hand on the arm rest of his wheel chair and said, “YES! Absolutely!” 

My dharma thickens…….

Day 2 -John Friend and Ram Dass on the Bhagavad Gita September 25, 2009

How does a child know a flower is beautiful?

It’s intuitive. You don’t have to tell the child what is beautiful the child knows. Part of our mind is like this  and part of our mind is much more logical and looks for order and difference. We have an intelligence that sees diversity and another that sees unity. We need both. 

That seemed to be the opening flavour this morning. How to use your mind- all parts of it. John themed around fire and put the heat and the light right in our mind to help “light it up” so to speak. He said you have to have a fire in you to “live full on and have no regrets. Full on sweetness, full on sensitivity. We don’t really know why we are here but in time it will be revealed and we don’t know how we will affect the world.” So basically- go out there and live! Be passionate and dharmic about how you lead your life. It was great- he was pretty passionate about it.

We spent the rest of the morning going through chapters 6- 10 and talking about the teachings that stood out to us. Though I have studied the Gita a few times before I learned a new little gem. When Krishna says ” I am” in Sanskrit it is “Aham” – which sounds pretty close to “a” and “ham” which is the sound of the breath. The “a” is Shiva and the “ham” is shakti. There is something that my teacher friends can ponder for a while.

We talked about balancing the Gunas and then took that starting point into balancing the gunas in asana. Our practice was trying to figure out which part of the poses was more Tamasic ( heay, dark, moving slowly) and which part was more Rajasic ( fast moving, upward inertia) and then make the pose more Sattvic ( the place of the middle). Now the interesting thing is that we are always looking for the place of the middle and we think of that as “good” and so sattva is “good” and the other two are “bad”. The reality is that you need the other two to even find the middle. So nothing is bad per se- it can be good if used in a way that is life enhancing.

We spent the afternoon talking a lot about time. Some good questions arose about the new age of thinking of just being in the present and forget your past. John was pretty clear that we need our past- we need to remember- our teachers, how we got here, what informs us nad live in the present. What in your past has helped you reveal the light of your heart now? How did you get here sitting with Ram Dass and John Friend? ( or why are you reading my blog….)

We also need to pay attention to the future. He talked very openly about the melting glaciers he saw this year and how much they have retreated in just the last few years. If we only live in the present then we are not going to be able to be custodians of the future. We have to be aware of all three but not get caught in the sorrow of the past or the fear of the future. Be present- remember the past and look to see what your responsibilities are for the future. This is how we live full on~

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna,  Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-

This was the Mahamantra that we did around our Japamalas today…..I first learned it in 1976 at the Honolulu Airport from a man that gave me a book with a lot of blue people in it. I was 6.

Day One- Ram Dass and John Friend on The Bhagavad Gita September 24, 2009

The puja

What are you a disciple to?

This was really the first question of the day. I am still puzzling as I write this what I am a disciple to. The problem is really that the logical mind wants to make the decision for you but I think the whole purpose of this intensive is that the heart is really what needs to decide.

John started the day by contextualizing the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is part of a larger text called the Mahabharata which consists of 18 volumes…and the Gita is 18 chapters. The Gita is then divided into three 6 chapter sections. Each becoming more detailed in their teachings. One of the most important things that both Ram Dass and John reiterated is that the Gita is a living text- it not “just a book”. It is Krishna. That will make me think twice about resting my coffee mug on it so I don’t make a ring on the table.

The Gita describes three paths or margas to God- aka Krishna- which are Body , Mind and Heart. In Sanskrit we know them as Karma, Jnana and Bhakti. John has the room set up as a mandir or temple so we enter the room with certain gestures and rituals and we observe silence in the room. His idea is that rather than teaching the margas separately that we blend them all together in the teachings so that no marga is more superior to the other.

This was emphasised when we hit the morning practice and we would do a full backbend and then pick up our books and read a quote. Then backbend again and read a quote. I mentioned to Sjanie how much we like to stay in the body when we are in the body ( asana) and how we want to stay in the mind when we are in the mind(studying) and how John’s approach really rocked the boat in a way. Really at its essence that is Anusara and our method because as teachers we are trying to teach all 3 margas at the same time…we chose to call them the 3 A’s ( Attitude ( bhakti) Alignment ( Jnana) and Action( Karma) ).

We did a writing exercise today as well that I liked. Rather than hastily scribbling in your note book your intention( sankalpa) you made it matrika ( words holding power or shakti) by incasing your writing with symbols and words. I used little om signs and the word “shanti” above mine but it could be anything. I am wondering if that is why “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass is so powerful- it is matrika- all the pictures are not just a trippy hippy experience but really something much more. They are the imbedded shakti of Maharaji ( Neem Karoli Baba) delivered through Ram Dass.

The next thing that John talked about was the use of tapasya or austerities to clean the mirror so to speak. During the three day period we will be performing purification and restrictions. I have given up coffee and sugar for the intensive, committed to a 9 pm bedtime and a 5 am wake up ( which is killer without coffee) and to eat only non-processed food. Thank God Sjanie is here because she is doing the cooking so that is easy! The last one is “to tell the truth”. This is an internal restraint and I liberally stole it from Ram Dass’ experience with Maharaji but it works for me. That means I have to tell myself the truth too….not always easy.

John Friend and Ram Dass

We spent a lot of time talking about dharma. How do you find your dharma? Ram Dass had  a great point where he said you know you are in your dharma when it feels intuitively right. John said that whatever expands the light is dharmic and when the dharma goes up so does the karma- the responsibility goes up. Karma are actions that keep us in the web. For example if you give someone a gift and you are waiting for thanks for something in return that is karma- it makes impressions in the web. If you are dharmic you just give for the delight of it; no expectations of thanks or something in return- just give.

Karma is the very basic of all action, it creates ripples and patterns on the web. The Gita is telling us that the Divine- Krishna in this living text- is acting but making no ripples. That action is called kriya. So the idea is to keep acting but to become more dharmic and move from karma to kriya. We never stop acting, doing our work so to speak, but we offer it all as a gift to the Divine. It is much harder to be in and of the world and hold this mindset which is part of Arjuna’s problem and therefore our problem. How do we live life fully and effect change if we stop acting? If we stop fighting? We cannot just leave the battlefield, though some have I suppose by leaving society, but we cannot fight blindly either. We fight from a place of deep wisdom, from the depth of our heart where the seeker is the witness. Arjuna fights from the place where he is Krishna- we act from the place where we are Krishna. This is how the karma becomes kriya I think.

I believe that is what Ram Dass was getting at when he said the jivatman- the soul inside of us- needs to be where we act from. He said, ” When you identify with your soul you see other people as souls. Be one to see one.” He said we get very tied up in our roles: ie. mother, father, flight attendant, teacher, friend, etc. but they are not who we are. That dosen’t mean we can stop being them. I mean I can’t stop being a mother; that is my dharma. But there is something deeper there that I can act from, something that could make my “role” more dharmic. This is a thought that needs further contemplation but hopefully you get the drift.

It was so special to once again sit with Ram Dass and hear his teachings. The same beautiful Hanuman banner was up that I remembered from satsang and the only thing missing was my husband who so loved being there with Ram Dass. I hope that he gets the chance to do satsang again next time we are on the island. I silently thanked him and my children for making it possible for me to be present for these teachings and I felt the responsibility of being there.

 ”You are the next generation, you are the custodians of the lineage.” John said this to us with such sincerity and intensity. Maharaji and Mukatananda are gone and Gurumai is in retreat and Ram Dass’ health is precarious. I might be one the teachers that says “Yes- I was with Ram Dass and John Friend on Maui in 2009″ and that will be something significant. I am not sure. It doesn’t really matter. It is significant to me.

Hare Krishna~

Mercury’s Messed Up Weekend September 15, 2009

It’s official. I have been accepted into the Anusara Certification process. I now have one year to complete a 30 hour written exam and submit a video that passes the certification requirements.  With 550 hours of training behind me in Anusara and almost 3 years as an Anusara Inspired teacher you think I should be ready for this, and I am in many ways, but in others it feels like the whole playing field kinda shifted. I am excited and scared all at the same time.

I had an interesting weekend where I combined my flying with my yoga. unfortunately it didn’t quite go as planned. I had a 24 hour Toronto layover and thought I could maybe get in a yoga class with some of the TO kula while there. My friend Josie Houpt mentioned that Martin Kirk was in town for a Master Class and Anatomy training so I decided that maybe I could catch a small part of that. I phoned to register and pay my money and looked forward to a fun layover. The fact that Mercury was in retrograde didn’t really phase me…then.

I woke at 5am to get ready for work and was heading out the door in full uniform when scheduling called to tell me there was an 1:40 delay. Great. That would make me possibly late for the workshop and I started to stress a little but thought “yeah- I will be fine.” I phone Toronto and made arrangements in case I was late and headed off to work. I was chatting to the agents at the airport when their radio went off. I could clearly hear the words, ” Flight cancelled”. The agents looked at me and I pulled out my phone to call scheduling. They weren’t sure what they were doing with me yet and asked me to call back. The rest of my crew walked by a few minutes later and informed me we were dead heading ( aka going as a passenger) to Toronto now.  That was strange but hey- I was just going with the flow. It ended up only 3 of us made the flight and I sat for 5 hours as a passenger but got to read more Ram Dass and watched Star Trek- which was actually really good! We got in to TO during rush hour and after a long drive to the hotel I quickly changed and had to pay a crazy amount of money to catch a taxi to the venue.

I arrived one hour late and walked into the Master class as they were doing bound parsvakonasana, to bound trikonasana to bird of paradise. Bound poses? You have got to be kidding me! 5 hours in a seat plus 1.5 hours in a cab= no hamstring mobility and stiff shoulders. So without even one down dog or sun salutation, I rolled my mat down and joined the class. I was feeling strange and out of place until the two yogis next to me smiled and said, ” Hi Leanne!” Jenn from London ON now in Toronto and her best friend Elyse. They looked so happy to see me that I just immediately felt better and all my crazy day softened away. We had a rockin’ practice and then a few of us went for dinner and had some great laughs.

We rejoined early the next morning and Martin led us through a really great anatomy workshop. I was only able to do 4 hours of training but what we did cover in that amount of time was in-depth. Martin’s passion for the mechanics of the body is clear, but what I found interesting was that his new roll of parent( Jonathon is 9 months) has made him even more fascinated with how the human form actually manifests and grows. He gave a great talk on embryonics which I loved and it all just seemed to so seamlessly fit into the metaphysics and philosophy of Anusara.

I had a quick bite with Josie and then headed back to my hotel, got changed and rode back to the airport. My colleague and I sat chatting at our gate waiting for our aircraft when they announced a gate change. Ok- no problem. Then I looked at the screen- delayed two hours and a downgrade of the aircraft. So once again the cell phones come out and once again crew scheduling is not sure if we are even leaving. Two thoughts arise ” Crap- I have a yoga workshop I am teaching tomorrow” and ” Well, if I had known I could have stayed for the second part of the workshop with Martin!“. Damn Mercury. At this point I realize I am starting to believe all this Mercury in retrograde nonsense and shoot my mind forward a week to my Japan flight: which is immediately followed by my 6 year olds hula birthday party which is immediately followed by a 3am drive to Seattle to catch a plane to Maui. Double crap.

Well the good news is we did leave finally and I got home too late to review my workshop and too tired to practice early in the morning. I did a few handstands, lunges, down dogs and then headed out the door to Newport Yoga where I arrived on time ( unbelievable after the rest of the weekend) to a lovely bunch of yogis who all learned to balance on their hands or balance better in some cases. After all the craziness it felt so wonderful to just be doing what I truly love- share yoga.

I hope that Mercury has finished messing with me…….

A Summer of Transformation August 31, 2009

I laughed when I read Sjanie McInnis’ blog because I know exactly how she feels. What a crazy, outrageous, glorious summer!  Like the wild fires that burned through the mountains of B.C. all summer, a fire blew through the Anusara Yoga community of B.C. as well.  The fire that raged through the kula was like Shiva’s hand of flame- everything became clear in that light and the fire transformed and tempered what was there before.  We now have 4 teachers in the certification process and over 100 students that have completed an Anusara Immersion. Elissa Gumushel kept the embers burning, Sjanie McInnis and Christine Price Clark  stoked the fire to a warm brilliance,  Todd Inouye  brought our teacher to see our light and I just made sure everyone helds hands and sang Kumbaya…or something like that.  Our Inspired teacher community  now includes Lauren Hanna , Shelley Tomczyk, Brent Kuecker, Trisha Wilson , Bree Greig, Carol Wray, Lara Luer, and  Josie Houpt who is joining us from Toronto. If I neglected to mention someone I apologize~ we are getting so numerous now and new Inspired teachers will be stepping into the light with rapid speed over the next few months.

Sjanie is prepared

 

The event that topped the whole summer off was John Friend’s visit to Vancouver during his Ultimate Freedom Tour. Vancouver hosted a two day weekend workshop and a 3 day therapy training.  To be quite honest I remember very little of the training because I was too busy running around helping. ( warning to those of you that host….) I am not saying that was a bad thing- it was actually the BEST thing. There is a time and place for everything and this training was not about the studying of the technical aspects of the method but of studying the dynamics of the greater community, the kula, and seva. I was especially happy to see so many of my students and friends having such amazing awakenings in the method. My favorite was running in at the last minute to see John drop back my husband into full wheel! Seeing those you love enjoy themselves is better than doing it yourself I swear! We had quite a few emails after the event saying how well it was run and how warm and supportive the Vancouver Kula was. It was good to hear.

Cp and Sjanie

We had a few surprises, twists and turns during the week- the biggest one being Todd’s ruptured appendix! Poor guy!  Christine stepped up to MC  and her sincerity and warmth could be felt by all.  We were all a little worried about the location of the event as John likes lots of natural light . The venue was the performance hall of the Roundhouse Community Center and basically it is a big black void ( I kept calling it the heart of Kali…). If that wasn’t worrisome enough, poor John came in to preview the venue and found a technician with a head wound lying on the floor and an ambulance on the way! Let’s just say… not a good start. 

The Vancouver Puja

Ganesha rockin it out

Thanks to Carol Wray, her husband Lori, and many other hands and feet , the room was transformed a few hours later into a radiant  Indian tent of gold, orange and red with dozens of murtis watching over our practice. It was quite funny to hear Christy Nones- certified teacher from Miami and one of the Anusara tour staff-  come in on Monday and say it was one of the loveliest venues she had seen. Amazing what a little shakti can do!

Carol's magic

 

The training was also my first opportunity to meet Chris Chavez and his wife Ozlem who have been in Vancouver teaching workshops and Immersions at YYoga. Originally from LA, they are now traveling and teaching all over the world. I was immediately struck by Chris’ openness and warmth- he has a soul of extreme generosity and Ozlem is no less beautiful inside and out.  We celebrated Chris’ 39th birthday during the workshop and John did a big spiel about the significance of 39 and I listened with great attention as it is my 39th year as well. Seems like a good year to start certification…..

And on that note Robin Golt will be my mentor teacher for my video during the certification process. Yes folks- I sent in my paperwork. I am hopeful that I will be accepted into the process but I will not assume. There may be areas that John wants me to work on before I go forward and I totally respect that.  Many people have emailed me and asked me, “How do you know when you are ready?” I can now see me asking that question to Christina Sell a few years ago. Her response was,  “Have you ever thought that the process will make you ready?”  I have the hours, I have all the requirements, I have read all the books, but I had that months ago~ what changed? Somehow a sense of natural progression brought me to apply- it was just the next step in the journey. I look at the process as a way to become an even more dedicated student and to learn even more- to go DEEPER. I think that is what Christina was trying to explain to me. It also helps that Sjanie and CP are swimming in the current and yelling “JUMP IN! THE WATER IS GREAT!”

…so here I go ….”SPLOOSH!”

Montreal Intensive Day 3: The Picnic June 26, 2009

Day three happened to fall on St.Jean Baptiste day which is a provincial holiday in Quebec. Illias(sp) from New York via Mexico, suggest that we all bring our lunches and have a picnic on the lawn of Dawson college as most stores would be closed.

Well, what I thought would be just a little sharing turned into the most gorgeous array of food and abundance I have ever seen come together in a short time. We found a group of picnic tables to set up food on and then laid our blankets, mats and shawls around the lawn. We laughed, talked, shared and even played Frisbee. We really were a merry band.

Day three also fell on Gurumayi Chidvilasanada’s birthday. John spent the morning in a really playful and celebratory mood and the Guru principle led our practice through the morning. He said that the Guru is really a tattva- a principle of existence even though it is not on the chart. It is the revelatory power of spirit that is found in every one of us. The teacher’s dharma is to show the student the teacher within them; the students grace (chali-kripa) allows the teacher to take the seat of the teacher. In the practice of sadhana ( spiritual practice), we awaken in relationship. We learn to see the Absolute in others and others show us the Absolute in ourselves. This revelatory power is found in every one of us, even if we don’t believe it.

John told a great story about being very down and after just a short visit from Gurumayi he was completely changed. Those with a high vibration of light can lift the dark from us. We can also learn to do this ourselves. Tantra is a science- it is alchemy- it is the process of turning the impure into gold. We learn to turn negative situations and emotions into positive ones- it is not just a simplistic changing of your mind but it is through skillful means and practice.  When you are going up into backbend number 12 with John, I know he is not joking, and no matter how my body responds, my heart sings with the possibility that this next one might be the big one that changes and illumines everything. Every moment- especially the intense ones- is a gateway. It is a chance to do alchemy.

Alchemy happened. For the first time in my life I rocked up from urdva dhanursana to drop to my knees and then rocked back to urdva. I spent a minute going tick-tock smoothly back and forth laughing- it was so powerful. I realized all my skillful means of doing ustrasanadrop backs ( thanks again SJ) had now prepared me for this pose I had never even tried…or thought I could do. It literally “rocked” my world! (get it? tick tock… rocking…I know – it’s a groaner….)

In the afternoon we went back to basics: what is our vision? How is Anusara yoga different than other hatha yoga systems?

1) We see everything as a manifestation of Spanda. Tantra can literally mean the “loom” on which we weave- it is a philosophy that sees the world as an interconnected tapestry. Nothing is separate- nothing is discarded- it is merely woven back into the new fabric of understanding. We assimilate what has gone before- we do not forget the past- it is useful as a reference for that we chose to emphasise or not emphasise. We serve the present in life enhancing ways and we plan for the future so whatever we do now counts.

2) We use technology, a methodology that aligns with nature that we call the Universal Principles of Alignment.

3) We work in community. We bring everybody up- we are all members of the same orchastra. We celebrate each others success and we have great picnics together.

We ended the afternoon lecture with a very deep question: If the world is supposedly intrinsically good, why do evil things happen? I think that may be a blog unto itself after I do I little more reading that John has suggested.

The afternoon practice finished with giddy laughter trying to think of how many ways we could theme iccha, jnana, kriya and we ended up tying the whole Wizard of Oz to every possible notion. I had the tin man iccha- heart, the scarecrow as Jnana- mind and therefore the Lion as kriya – courage, but John started going on about Oz being the manifested word in all it’s colours and the downward shape of the tornado being in the shape of shakti’s downward pointing triangle and it just got really funny and silly. Ami beside said “Ok- let’s do Starwars now…..” . At least I have lots of themeing ideas for the next little while!

Well, the next time I will see John will be Vancouver in August 2009 and though I will be busy during the event as a volunteer, I hope to blog that training as well.

A bientot! Merci Montreal!

Arm Balancing Workshop May 27th: Change of Date April 21, 2009

Learning to Fly

Anusara-Inspired Yoga^TM   Workshop

With Leanne Kitteridge

  

                                                                      Come unlock your unlimited potential to soar with this fun and challenging arm balance workshop! Even if you have never arm balanced before, this workshop will teach you techniques to help you start to get off the ground. Best suited to those with a regular yoga practice but beginners are welcome as well.

We have changed the date and time!!!! 

May 27th 7:45 pm to 10pm

Hari Om Yoga, Langley B.C.

HariOmYoga.com

 

 

 

 

 

Carlos Pomeda: An Invitation to Practice March 10, 2009

Dan Clement of Indigo Yoga invited Carlos Pomeda to Vancouver this last weekend to present a talk on the history of Yoga and more specifically the Spanda Karikas. I have seen Carlos on his wonderful DVD series , The Wisdom of Yoga, and I had the pleasure of meeting him once in person in Japan last year.  I was struck by his approach to the material, which though still academic, was so accessible and dynamic.  Carlos has not only practical knowledge,  gained during almost 18 years as a monk of the Sarasvati order, 9 of which he spent in India in the Siddha Yoga Ashram, but he is an academic scholar too. He holds two Masters’ degrees: one in Sanskrit from UC Berkeley and another one, in Religious Studies, from UC Santa Barbara. He is currently working on his Ph.D.  These are not just old texts that he has learned to recite and decipher, but he is actually living, and loving, their teachings. Carlos’ enthusiasm is only matched by his complete sincerity.

The first night Carlos gave us a lecture on the history of Yoga and cleared away some common misunderstandings. Basically if it could not be proven through archaeological means, or was not in the old texts, then it cannot be proven and therefore we must not assume or infer things that were simply not there. Coming from a background as a social historian, I totally appreciated this approach. Carlos and I had a chat during one of the breaks about how the winner is the one who gets to write history. I told him how Japan’s name is like that- the one with written language got to write history in that case. The name for Japan is “Nihon” or “Nippon” two Chinese characters put together that mean origin of the sun…land of the rising sun. Chinese characters were brought by traders and buddhist monks from China around the 5th Century and they gave the name “nihon“- because from a Chinese perspective the sun rises in the direction of Japan. The character for China however is two characters that mean middle country ” Chu-koku“- as China was the center of the world from their perspective. The Japanese word for their country was actually “Yamato“.  Similarily, colonialism has effected India’s own history having been first interpreted by Westerners and then re-interpreted by post colonial India trying to reclaim their history.

Carlos explained that most of us would think Yoga was Vedic, as coming from the Vedas, but in actuality many of the practices we think of as yogic, such as meditation and tapas, were not in the Vedas. These practices came from other groups known as Shramanas which contained Buddhism and Jainism among the surviving forms. Meditation as a practice doesn’t really show up until the Upanashads. This change seems to come from an eastern movement of the Vedas into areas where more Shramanas lived and you start to hear in the texts terms like “moksha” and “karma”- terms never seen in the early Vedas. 

We then did a common meditation style which was to focus on one point. Carlos noted how many texts said to meditate “on the tip of ones nose” but how Abhinavagupta- considered one of the most reknown scholars of Kashmir Shaivism- said,  ” Tip yes- but the other end of the tip” which then places the meditation point right between your eyes- the so-called “third” eye. Interesting isn’t it? So at that point of the lecture we then practiced a meditation of  focus on that point. I loved this. All through the weekend every time a way to practice was brought up in the Spanda Karikas we would try it. This wasn’t just about reading the texts and understanding them at an intellectual level; it was an understanding on a personal level.  All weekend rather than trying to just understand the words, I began to want to understand what that meant to me as a practioner. You can be a student , but to be a student and a practioner is a whole other level. I mean, imagine in university if every time I read a chapter of a Japanese Bunraku play I pulled out the puppets and performed it? That is just a whole other depthof knowledge; it becomes cellular. I know that is how we learn in asana but I didn’t think to apply it to philosophy and history. I don’t know if Carlos just teaches this way as natural manifestation of his personality, or if it is something he has cultivated over time as a teacher, but it truly brings a richness to the teachings. He also laughs a lot- I think we all liked that.

By the end of Friday night, we were firmly seated in where Tantra fit into this timeline and what new innovations it brought to yoga. The three major ones are : hatha yoga, kundalini and mantra. The physical asana part of yoga  is therefore actually Tantric in historical development.  We started the next morning by placing the Spanda Karikas in their historical context and then began to learn them one at a time.  We covered 19 ( not in order) of the Karikas in four three-hour sessions. 

 The Spanda Karikas were written around the 9th century by Vasugupta from the Spanda school of Tantra. Spanda means ” vibration” or “pulsation”. The Spanda school’s approach to reality then is that everything is vibration: prana, mind, body. That means then that we can potentially connect to the source of that pulsation- the Absolute- by using anything… because everything is Spanda. Sounds simple dosen’t it? But it’s not.

First of all the Karikas are stanzas written in poetic metre called slokas. Thirty-two syllables per sloka written in two lines of 16 and sung in 4 groups of eight syllables.  Each Karika is a complete idea. Carlos brought to our attention the genius of Vasugupta. The author had to: convey the teaching, convey the practice, argue against rival viewpoints to win practioners, kept the teachings secretive to the uninitiated, and do it all in metered form in 32 syllables. As Carlos said, “WOW! Amaz-ing!”

At first it was so hard to even grasp what the key idea was in each Karika, but Carlos showed us how to simplify it and get the essence and then work from there. The first one we all really struggled with, but as Carlos helped us decipher the text ( for example  what was meant when the author said “That” and “This”- “that” refering to the transcendental and “this” referring to the material world) things became clearer.  Revealing  how the entire teaching was summarized in the first Karika- the invocation- Carlos made some really great comments on why we do an invocation. His comments the first night were, “Remembrance of the teachers and the teachings” and ” To open our heart and mind to be in a receptive state of mind” but the one he added during the discussion of the first Karika was “An invitation to practice“. I think Christina Sell might have said that once but  it resonated with me again and my students will now hear it on a regular basis.

Carlos provided us his own translations of the Karikas but if you are studying them on your own I would recommend two books: Mark Dyczkowski’s Stanzas on Vibration and Jaideva Singh’s Spanda-Karikas: The Divine Creative Pulsation. There are other books out there but these two are the best, most accurate and complementary.

To go through all of Carlos’ humorous and insightful teachings on here would take more time than I have at the moment ( because now I really want to meditate and study more) and I want all of you to have some curiousity about what he has to offer, but there are some key points of the weekend that I would like to leave you with.

1) Learning hard things can be fun if you have a good teacher. Study with Carlos and you will see what I mean.

2) Know the source of the material you are reading. What is their background, what is their bias, what type of scholar are they?

3) Tantra opens up the possibility for everyone to meditate- you just have to find the right meditation

4)There is no such thing as a bad meditation (ok- this was HUGE for me)

5) You cannot uplift others if you are not uplifted yourself

6)You do not have to give up your life and who you are to be a sincere practitioner- we just need to polish the ruff bits ( I don’t have to be the quiet girl…just listen better!)

I hope that all of you will get a chance to study with Carlos Pomeda in the future. After one short weekend I can feel the shift in my practice. The shift is Spanda, I am Spanda and all these vibrations “are waves to ride back to the source”. I am going to meditate now.