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TWO REALITIES

These posts are always intended to spark change, primarily in our actions, since 70% of what stresses us out is our own behavior. Admittedly, sometimes these posts are intentionally provocative, like this one. 😉

Forget about politics for a minute – please. The screaming and ranting back and forth is deafening; no wonder people have stopped watching the news!

One of these pictures represents our outer reality (yes; there’s inner reality; that’s the entire point of meditation!!) Globally, we are split between two sides of virtually every issue. This picture just happens to beautifully capture the depth of emotion on BOTH sides!

WHO, WHAT & WHERE ARE WE?!

I encourage you to reflect for a moment on your earliest childhood memories. I sincerely hope that makes you smile. If those weren’t pleasant memories, know this: you are miraculous.

You are perfect. EACH of us.

Our outer reality is a consequence of everything that has happened since the beginning of time. That’s karma: the perpetual chain of cause and effect; the breath-by-breath explanation of evolution. If the big dinosaurs didn’t eat the little ones, or our Civil War never happened, or a single act in the fabric of our planet’s history happened differently or not at all – you wouldn’t be reading this.

It’s kind of difficult to argue that Karma isn’t real. It would be like arguing that gravity isn’t real – since we all constantly experience both.

WTF IS HAPPENING TO US?!

So how did we as a species get to this point where globally we’re quite literally about to lose our place as the most highly evolved life form on earth?

Don’t kid yourself. If either of those two little fingered, mental midgets hits the button, life as we know it changes forever. Sorry. I’m only human. <3

According to Siri, mankind has been around for a few million years (dinosaurs ruled for 50x that long), but as recently as a few thousand years ago, we hadn’t even come up with an alphabet! If you had an idea, you literally had to tell someone in order to share it!!

A few hundred generations later (not that long by dinosaur standards!) we’ve put cameras at the edge of our solar system – that send back pictures!! Within the last few generations (my lifetime, if you include the knowledge I got directly from my grandparents), we’ve gone from horse and buggies to Dick Tracy wristwatches.

Our bodies and minds are not evolving at the same rate as our environment and it’s putting a LOT of stress on ALL of our relatively outdated outer hardware and particularly, our internal software.

Humans weren’t designed to withstand this tumultuous, chaotic, leap-frog rate of environmental change. Take any other example from nature (we are nature at its finest and worst) like a tree or a flower, and you’ll see that natural change is relatively “evolutionary” or slow, steady and cyclical.

I’m not saying the sky is falling, but EVERYTHING (except consciousness) has a finite lifespan, including our species and planet. Let’s not accelerate the end of our collective lifespan!

HERE’S THE SCIENCE

Everything falls within a range of two extremes; take black and white as an example. At one end of the range is pure white, at the other pure black – and every imaginable shade exists in between.

In that same sense, everything can be categorized as either PRIMARILY black or PRIMARILY white (including each extreme). In other words, everything can be grouped on one side or the other of a median. In the context of Patanjali’s yoga, the median point or zero, represents a perfect balance of both extremes (which only exists in consciousness). It’s the mathematics behind the universal bipolar, energetic concept of Yin and Yang (or as some prefer, the Light and Dark forces of Star Wars).

POLITICALLY

Politically speaking, whatever position exists on an issue, its polar opposite also exists. Today’s arguing and tension is being exacerbated because there are more of us (more cars on the road!), living in closer quarters, fighting – too often literally – for increasingly limited resources, and for some unfathomable reason, fighting over different opinions of God – which humans aren’t physically or mentally equipped to comprehend!!

SPEED MATTERS

Unfortunately, our bodies aren’t evolving at the same rate as our environment. While what we were born with is AWESOME, and it gets us where we need to go, it hasn’t had time to adapt – to catch up. Until and unless that happens (not in our lifetime, sorry!) our bodies (particularly our brains) are going to be under increasing stress.

There’s always been natural stress: fear of death is instinctive. However, the rate at which our environment is changing is unique in the history of our planet – some changes we clearly and literally brought upon ourselves. But stepping back and trying to see the Big Picture – its arguable that we’re in the Autumn of our collective lives!

SHOULD WE FLIP OFF TRUMP?

I don’t have the balls to flip off the President’s motorcade (those guys have guns!!) but I’m proud to live in a country with people who do, and where we’re all free to.

As my grandfather used to say, “Life as we know it in the States is a privilege – not a birthright.” People have and will continue to die to preserve our freedoms. And just like in the black and white analogy, others will continue to die trying to take those privileges away.

The trick to sustaining life as we know it here on Earth is to ALL move closer to the middle. Sorry; it’s just a mathematical fact.

IT’S UP TO ALL OF US

Enjoy your ride whether you’re peddling a bicycle for all you’re worth, or sitting on a traveling throne surrounded by servants.

Respect other people’s opinions. Chances that their opinion is the EXACT opposite of yours are pretty slim.

Beneath the surface, at our very essence (our consciousness) we are all identical – not even like snowflakes or fingerprints. Like it or not, your consciousness is EXACTLY like mine.

TE FITI

The picture of Te Fiti from Moana resting peacefully over her island is a personal favorite image of the island’s collective consciousness.

God bless.

Class schedule.

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INSIGHTS WANTED – TEN $100 PRIZES

A $100 prize will be awarded to the first ten people who respond to this blog, proving they’ve read it by posting an insightful and helpful comment or question! (You must be 18 or over!)

This entire blog is copied verbatim from a poster hanging on the wall in our school, received several years ago for renewing a subscription to a yoga something-or-other. It’s the most concise description of yoga we’ve found yet. Enjoy. 😉

“Truth is like a great mirror shattered by time into ‘hundred thousand pieces’, which enables all who possess a small fragment to declare, ‘My Religion-Truth is the true one.’” – Sufi Gibrail Kham

[The author of the following is unknown; bonus points if you know who wrote it!]:

[YOGA’s ORIGINS]

From the Indus Valley where one of the greatest civilizations of pre-history was already developing in the 4th millennium B.C., there comes to us across the barriers of time the philosophical and religious teaching of Yoga, which condenses and exalts the highest spiritual aspirations of Humanity of all times and every land.

Yoga as we know it today is probably very different from the original Yoga of the Indus Valley, having been codified and subsequently modified over the millennia. The first known codification is to be BHAGAVAD GITA (c. 400 B.C.). Then, in 150 A.D., the “FIVE WAYS OF YOGA” were codified.

Yoga survives from the Sanskrit YUK =

meaning “unite” or “bind”, linguistically related to the Latin “Iungere” or “Iugum” (yoke). Yoga “binds” and “unites” the psychic powers and faculties, balancing and reinforcing them and increasing their power. [Can you spell “M I N D   C O N T R O L”?]

THE FIVE PATHS

The Five Paths, or Ways, relate to the principal aspects whereby man externalizes his inner nature (the Self). The conquest and aim of Yoga is the obtaining of a total vision of the Self and, this being similar to the All (Microcosm = Macrocosm), to arrive at the total vision of the Infinite.

1 Hata Yoga: HA = Sun, THA = Moon; [Hata is the] union of the two breaths, the right, Solar, positive and the left, Lunar, negative. Hata also means health. To attain SAMADHI (the state of ecstasy) through the Asanas (positions) and the Pranayama (rhythmic control of the breathing) and with the MUDRA (methods of enclosing the breathing into the body).

2 Raja Yoga: [see separate section below]

3 Karma Yoga: Karma = every action has its KARMAN, which will be a prize or a punishment in the chain of existence (SAMSARA). Yoga of action, deeds and work. Carrying out one’s duty with no expectation of reward. Part of Raja Yoga.

4 Jnana Yoga: [not defined herein]

5 Bhakti Yoga: [not defined herein]

All five Paths tend towards knowledge of the Divine Essence in Man, which can enable him to overcome all sub-divisions. The Five Paths themselves and all “divided” (or apparently divided) things in the Universe are one thing.

When the One Energy which forms and acts in the All is understood, the Universe and all Universes converge in one “Point” (BINDHU), where the very Essence of the All is concentrated. The “Point” becomes zero and is center – is the Infinite (that which lies outside the center is finite). [That last bit is deep!]

In Man, the Soul is the Infinite, while the body and all that surrounds it are finite.

RAJA YOGA

In Raja Yoga, the Asanas (positions) serve to eliminate psychic disturbances of the Physical Body, creating a psycho-physical balance which combats the mind’s inconstancy.

Asana: There are 84 hundred thousand Asanas “described” by Shiva. There are as many Asanas as there are living beings in the Universe. Their importance depends on their influence on the endocrine glands and the “Prana” and “Apana” currents.

While the Apana restrains the Prana in its upward impulse, the Prana restrains the Apana in its downward fall. The Apana is the assimilating energy which passes along the PINGALA (Sun) channel (Nadi) and emerges at the right nostril. The Prana is the energy which flows along the IDA (Lunar) channel (Nadi) and emerges at the left nostril.

The oscillations of the two energy forces create instability and restlessness. Some Yoga exercises serve to make the contents of the two lateral channels converge in the central one (SUSUMNA), thereby uniting the two energies, Apana and Prana.

[The author outlines the eight limbs, or practice portion of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as follows:]

I. SADHANA = Preparatory basics. Discipline. Ascesis [the practice of intense self-discipline, typically for religious reasons].

A. BAHIRANGA SADHANA = Beginning of spiritual research and ascesis. Bahiranga = Exterior. That which belongs to the circle of exteriority:

1. YAMA (moral observation)

2. NIYAMA (rules of conduct)

3. ASANA (the positions)

B. ANTARANGA SADHANA = Interior research of the spirit. Antaranga = Interior. That which belongs to the circle of interiority:

4. PRANAYAMA (breathing exercises)

5. PRATYAHARA (restraining external temptations)

II. SAMYAMA = Yoga proper:

6. DHARANA (concentration)

7. DHYANA (meditation)

8. SAMADHI (union with God)

AHIMSA

 “A” = no. “Himsa” = violence. “Ahimsa” = Do not Harm.

 Violence arises from Fear, Ignorance and Selfishness.

 Only by freeing oneself from these ills, restraining them voluntarily by practicing Ahimsa, can one attain…

 ABHAYA (freedom from fear) and AKRODHA (freedom from Wrath).

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WEEKLY COMMERCIAL 11/2

Meditation isn’t easy, but neither is suffering.

Generally, our blogs are meant to be fun, informative and helpful – otherwise, what’s the point?!

But once a week we make a direct appeal to help the people you love and care about live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.

That’s the whole point of Raja Yoga: to reduce human suffering.

How? Students learn a series of self-awareness, control and relaxation exercises.

Who benefits most? People struggling from stress, anxiety and/or depression often manifest in some form of additive behavior, and people suffering from a lack of self-confidence or worth, or purpose.

Meditation isn’t a cure, but it helps.

God bless, Allan

Class schedule; don’t live nearby? Inquire about lessons via Skype!

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Psychic Powers, Accomplishments, Attainments

Excerpt from “The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali”, by Sri Swami Satchidananda:

Siddhis are born of practices performed in previous births, or by herbs, mantra repetition, asceticism or by samadhi.

Patanjali begins this [fourth and final] book by reviewing the methods by which the siddhis can be obtained by the Yoga practitioner. Some people attain the siddhis without even doing any practices in this life. They don’t know what they did to have these kinds of powers. That is the proof that they have done something in their past lives to merit such powers in this one. He also gives us some clues about the people who get some experiences through their LSD and marijuana. The so-called “grass” is an herb, is it not? Mushrooms could be considered herbs also.

Or siddhis come by the practice of mantra japa or by asceticism. Asceticism, or tapas, means accepting suffering willingly, thus exercising your will power and gaining control over the mind.

So, there are various ways of accomplishing the psychic powers. But normally it is recognized that all the others except Samadhi are not natural. For example, using herbs means including siddhis by the use of certain external stimuli. It’s not an “organic” siddhi. It may come and then fade away. So, siddhis should come in the regular process of Yoga, not through external stimuli.

Sanskrit:

Janmausadhi mantra tapah samadhijah siddhayah.

Janna = birth; ausadhi = herbs;

mantra = sacred speech, Vedic hymn, incantation;

tapah = consume or destroy by heat, purification by austerity, undergo penance, acceptance of sufferings;

samadhi = concentration of thoughts, intense contemplation on a particular object, absorption; jah = born, produced or caused by;

siddhayah = psychic powers, accomplishments, attainments.

 

Class schedule. Live outside the area? Inquire about private Skype lessons!

Namaste!

Posted on

INSIGHTS WANTED – TEN $100 PRIZES [OLD]

A $100 prize will be awarded to the first ten people who respond to this blog, proving they’ve read it by posting an insightful and helpful comment or question! (You must be 18 or over!)

This entire blog is copied verbatim from a poster hanging on the wall in our school, received several years ago for renewing a subscription to a yoga something-or-other. It’s the most concise description of yoga we’ve found yet. Enjoy. 😉

“Truth is like a great mirror shattered by time into ‘hundred thousand pieces’, which enables all who possess a small fragment to declare, ‘My Religion-Truth is the true one.’” – Sufi Gibrail Kham

[The author of the following is unknown; bonus points if you know who wrote it!]:

[YOGA’s ORIGINS]

From the Indus Valley where one of the greatest civilizations of pre-history was already developing in the 4th millennium B.C., there comes to us across the barriers of time the philosophical and religious teaching of Yoga, which condenses and exalts the highest spiritual aspirations of Humanity of all times and every land.

Yoga as we know it today is probably very different from the original Yoga of the Indus Valley, having been codified and subsequently modified over the millennia. The first known codification is to be BHAGAVAD GITA (c. 400 B.C.). Then, in 150 A.D., the “FIVE WAYS OF YOGA” were codified.

Yoga survives from the Sanskrit YUK =

meaning “unite” or “bind”, linguistically related to the Latin “Iungere” or “Iugum” (yoke). Yoga “binds” and “unites” the psychic powers and faculties, balancing and reinforcing them and increasing their power. [Can you spell “M I N D   C O N T R O L”?]

THE FIVE PATHS

The Five Paths, or Ways, relate to the principal aspects whereby man externalizes his inner nature (the Self). The conquest and aim of Yoga is the obtaining of a total vision of the Self and, this being similar to the All (Microcosm = Macrocosm), to arrive at the total vision of the Infinite.

1 Hata Yoga: HA = Sun, THA = Moon; [Hata is the] union of the two breaths, the right, Solar, positive and the left, Lunar, negative. Hata also means health. To attain SAMADHI (the state of ecstasy) through the Asanas (positions) and the Pranayama (rhythmic control of the breathing) and with the MUDRA (methods of enclosing the breathing into the body).

2 Raja Yoga: [see separate section below]

3 Karma Yoga: Karma = every action has its KARMAN, which will be a prize or a punishment in the chain of existence (SAMSARA). Yoga of action, deeds and work. Carrying out one’s duty with no expectation of reward. Part of Raja Yoga.

4 Jnana Yoga: [not defined herein]

5 Bhakti Yoga: [not defined herein]

All five Paths tend towards knowledge of the Divine Essence in Man, which can enable him to overcome all sub-divisions. The Five Paths themselves and all “divided” (or apparently divided) things in the Universe are one thing.

When the One Energy which forms and acts in the All is understood, the Universe and all Universes converge in one “Point” (BINDHU), where the very Essence of the All is concentrated. The “Point” becomes zero and is center – is the Infinite (that which lies outside the center is finite). [That last bit is deep!]

In Man, the Soul is the Infinite, while the body and all that surrounds it are finite.

RAJA YOGA

In Raja Yoga, the Asanas (positions) serve to eliminate psychic disturbances of the Physical Body, creating a psycho-physical balance which combats the mind’s inconstancy.

Asana: There are 84 hundred thousand Asanas “described” by Shiva. There are as many Asanas as there are living beings in the Universe. Their importance depends on their influence on the endocrine glands and the “Prana” and “Apana” currents.

While the Apana restrains the Prana in its upward impulse, the Prana restrains the Apana in its downward fall. The Apana is the assimilating energy which passes along the PINGALA (Sun) channel (Nadi) and emerges at the right nostril. The Prana is the energy which flows along the IDA (Lunar) channel (Nadi) and emerges at the left nostril.

The oscillations of the two energy forces create instability and restlessness. Some Yoga exercises serve to make the contents of the two lateral channels converge in the central one (SUSUMNA), thereby uniting the two energies, Apana and Prana.

[The author outlines the eight limbs, or practice portion of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as follows:]

I. SADHANA = Preparatory basics. Discipline. Ascesis [the practice of intense self-discipline, typically for religious reasons].

A. BAHIRANGA SADHANA = Beginning of spiritual research and ascesis. Bahiranga = Exterior. That which belongs to the circle of exteriority:

1. YAMA (moral observation)

2. NIYAMA (rules of conduct)

3. ASANA (the positions)

B. ANTARANGA SADHANA = Interior research of the spirit. Antaranga = Interior. That which belongs to the circle of interiority:

4. PRANAYAMA (breathing exercises)

5. PRATYAHARA (restraining external temptations)

II. SAMYAMA = Yoga proper:

6. DHARANA (concentration)

7. DHYANA (meditation)

8. SAMADHI (union with God)

AHIMSA

 “A” = no. “Himsa” = violence. “Ahimsa” = Do not Harm.

 Violence arises from Fear, Ignorance and Selfishness.

 Only by freeing oneself from these ills, restraining them voluntarily by practicing Ahimsa, can one attain…

 ABHAYA (freedom from fear) and AKRODHA (freedom from Wrath).

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MEDITATE ON THE SOURCE

INTENTION IS IMPORTANT

Meditation doesn’t work as well if it’s not done with its original intent – let alone if we don’t understand how our mind works!

WHAT IS MEDITATION?

Meditation is the original form of prayer. It grew out of a time in human history (before modern religion) when we were literally killing things (sometimes each other) in hopes of appeasing God. Eventually, we figured out THAT only worked 50% of the time – like flipping a penny!

Meditation is a very personal, internal form of sacrifice. We give up what’s MOST precious to us: our time and energy. But to be truly effective, it must be done selflessly – as a form of sacrifice (think prayer).

More literally, meditation is the science and practice of mind control. It’s a four-part holistic practice to prove to oneself that God* does exist.

THE ORIGINAL FORM OF PRAYER

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras outline a science, not a religion. If you’re religious, practicing meditation will turbocharge that spirit and practice. If you’re not religious, keep meditating! 😉

Patanjali doesn’t care how, or what or whom we “pray” to, as long as our thoughts and actions are sincere and selfless. Ironically (yet scientifically) its only when we TRULY give of ourselves energetically that we are rewarded in a fulfilling and lasting manner.

PRACTICAL AFFECT

Once THAT realization sinks in, it’s not long before we realize that living a life of service is a practical way of expressing appreciation and gratitude for the miracle of our own life, while honoring its Source. That realization is not only literally life changing and affirming, it’s *&^%$#! AWESOME!

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?

How did I go from being a closed-minded, skeptical atheist to an open-minded, devotee and promoter of the teachings of Patanjali, Satchidananda and Amma in 14 years? By meditating.

Once you realize that your own consciousness [the aspect of you without which you wouldn’t know you’re reading this(!), but which you won’t find described in any Western science textbook] is NOT subject to time and space, after the bewilderment wears off you’ll smile a lot more than you’ll frown.

There’s a part of each of us that’s NOT AFFECTED BY ANYTHING (unlike our bodies and thoughts which change constantly; consciousness – the awareness OF our thoughts – never does)!

THEN WHAT HAPPENS?

Once THAT realization sinks in, your paradigm of life is turned upside down and you see yourself and others – not as they appear and sound – rather, as so many overstressed, and lost souls inasmuch as they aren’t aware of the miracle they are. <3

[If you don’t want to think about God, consider this: you reading this is literally a consequence of EVERYTHING that has ever happened – AND – your reading this will contribute to literally EVERYTHING that happens henceforth. If you try calculating the odds of you being here – factoring in every time a dinosaur pooped – you can quickly see how we are each a *&^%$#! miracle!]

CONCLUSION

As Amma says, divinity is the essence of our consciousness. See it in yourself and you’ll see it in others.

<3 God bless

FOOTNOTE

* Consciousness is not “of this earth”; our consciousness doesn’t react to time and space the way our bodies and thoughts do. For purposes of this discussion, think of “God” (whatever that term means to you) as the source of your consciousness AND everything else!

Class schedule; please inquire about Skype lessons if you don’t live nearby!

 

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NO APOLOGIES (edited for FB!)

[Note – to see the unedited version, go the school’s website: rajamarblehead.com]

I cause trouble wherever I go. I had 7 jobs over my career: 2 retail & 5 accounting.

RETAIL

1. My first job was 45 years ago – I used to drive the other employees nuts because I never sat still. There was no union – they just thought I was kissing *&%. They literally could not comprehend why someone would work harder than they had to.

Working for my grandfather’s old lumberyard was my all time favorite job. Shout out to anyone left of the Oyster Bay Lumberyard crew.

2. My second job – went pretty much the same except I was met with outright hostility from other employees, who literally began stealing things since I had an interest in the business. I quit for the benefit of the real owner.

Newly married and contemplating rug rats, what were we to do? My grandfather used to say, “You make more money with your head than your back!” so I went back to school and got an advanced accounting degree.

ACCOUNTING

3. My first accounting job was 25 years ago – my second day on the job my supervisor asked me to fabricate financial statements for a client. Literally, just came right out and told me to add non-existent assets to a client’s balance sheet so the bank would give him a loan!! When she wouldn’t listen to reason, I went to the owner – who took me out to dinner and invited me to join the firm.

4. My next job was for one of the mega accounting firms of the day. We were all just so many cattle (and not like in India either – rather, as in Texas!) How did I manage to *&^% off my peers this time? By volunteering to work when there wasn’t any given to me.

5. I bailed as soon as I had a chance and become the director of accounting for one of my clients: Snapple – back when Wendy was the company’s spokesperson. At that point, my previous employer, mega-accountron, essentially became an adversary since my old boss was now auditing my work – and I knew how they played the game! 😉

The three partners who owned Snapple before it got caught up in a game of virtual monopoly were three of the best bosses I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for: savvy and kindhearted, which is an awesome, winning combination. 😉 [Historical footnote: not-so-much for the folks at megacorp Quaker, who tried to dictate unfair terms to their new customers; ask anyone who’s gotten an MBA in the past fifteen years.]

6. I went to work for the guy who orchestrated the sale of Snapple to Quaker – one of the most lucrative investments in the history of megatron-sized investments.

My new boss became an instant mega-supper-dupper lottery winner and started his own investment firm – with airplanes and and all the rest of the trappings. It was a real life version of some Wall Street movie where secretaries (sorry ladies) won luxury automobiles at holiday parties!!

I was a workaholic for most of my 13-year tenure there – always on pins and needles worrying that the guy was going to can me. It’s not clear whether I left that job or he fired me: my termination was a consequence of my refusal to fire an innocent friend whom I depended upon to do MY job! Talk about a rock and a hard place!

7. My next and last accounting job, which I just shook off 19 months ago to “retire” was a more painful version of the previous one for a LOT less money, and for people as passionate about the old Republican establishment as I am about yoga!! I was referred to internally as the firm’s token Democrat.

YOGA (early days)

Nineteen months ago, just as I had fifteen years ago when I turned my family’s life upside down thinking it would be a good idea to hitch a ride over to the Harley dealership in Revere and ride home on a motorcycle – I decided to start my own yoga business.

Yoga is virtually all I’ve thought about – besides family, friends and myself (unfortunately not in that order) – for 14 years.

Here’s the funny part: just like when I left my mega-dollar accounting job, and my ego said, “No problem! The job offers will come pouring in…….” – I coasted for the better part of a year before it dawned on me that wasn’t going to happen, and I better get up off my &^%.

YOGA (these days)

Nineteen months ago I thought, “I know something about yoga that no one else does!! 😉 Of course students will come pouring in….” Again, not so much (though to my true students – you know who you are – you have my eternal gratitude!)

So I’m turning up the heat in my pursuit of spreading what I know about yoga.

Part of that effort has been put into a charitable association for certified yoga instructors (<3 <3 <3 <3) who’s mandate is:

FELLOWSHIP – EDUCATION – SERVICE

My sincere, heartfelt thanks to those who have responded “YES”!!! It’s going to be awesome! Modeled after the old, stodgy corporate affairs I attended – a few hours of study in the morning followed by an awesome meal and an afternoon of service – rather than golf!  😉

Another part of the effort to spread the word about mind-control and consciousness has been put into Marblehead’s chapter of BNI: the Nor’easters. That chapter of the story next!

Namaste 😉

Class schedule

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Try to touch God

We meditate to come as close as humanly possible to experiencing consciousness, which exists in a much more subtle dimension than our body and mind.

Why bother? Our body and mind (evidenced by our thoughts) are subject to the vagaries of time and space, or karma. Consciousness on the other hand, isn’t affected by anything; it’s eternal and immutable – at least for as long as it inhabits our body/mind!

Recognizing the distinction between consciousness and mind will change your life. Consciousness is the awareness OF your thoughts; without it, you wouldn’t know you’re alive, let alone reading this!

Through meditation (developing mind control) we can essentially “touch” consciousness and experience a reflection of its infinitely curious and compassionate nature.

Amma says,

Divinity is the essence of our consciousness,

Infilling everything,

Pervading everywhere,

Impelling all.

Revealing itself as Truth, Awareness and Bliss.

Class schedule

Posted on

NO APOLOGIES

I cause trouble wherever I go.

I had 7 jobs over my career: 2 retail & 5 accounting.

RETAIL

1. My first job was 45 years ago – I used to drive the other employees nuts because I never sat still. There was no union – they just thought I was kissing ass. They literally could not comprehend why someone would work harder than they had to.

Working for my grandfather’s old lumberyard was my all time favorite job. Shout out to anyone left of the Oyster Bay Lumberyard crew.

2. My second job – went pretty much the same except I was met with outright hostility from other employees, who literally began stealing things since I had an interest in the business. I quit for the benefit of the real owner.

Newly married and contemplating rug rats, what were we to do? My grandfather used to say, “You make more money with your head than your back!” so I went back to school and got an advanced accounting degree.

ACCOUNTING

3. My first accounting job was 25 years ago – my second day on the job my supervisor asked me to fabricate financial statements for a client. Literally, just came right out and told me to add non-existent assets to a client’s balance sheet so the bank would give him a loan!! When she wouldn’t listen to reason, I went to the owner – who took me out to dinner and invited me to join the firm.

4. My next job was for one of the mega accounting firms of the day. We were all just so many cattle (and not like in India either – rather, as in Texas!) How did I manage to piss off my peers this time? By volunteering to work when there wasn’t any given to me.

5. I bailed as soon as I had a chance and become the director of accounting for one of my clients: Snapple – back when Wendy was the company’s spokesperson. At that point, my previous employer, mega-accountron, essentially became an adversary since my old boss was now auditing my work – and I knew how they played the game! 😉

The three partners who owned Snapple before it got caught up in a game of virtual monopoly were three of the best bosses I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for: savvy and kindhearted, which is an awesome, winning combination. 😉 [Historical footnote: not-so-much for the folks at megacorp Quaker, who tried to dictate unfair terms to their new customers; ask anyone who’s gotten an MBA in the past fifteen years.]

6. I went to work for the guy who orchestrated the sale of Snapple to Quaker – one of the most lucrative investments in the history of megatron-sized investments. [Historical footnote #2: I’m the only person I know who worked for Snapple at the time of the sale who didn’t make a dime on it].

My new boss became an instant mega-supper-dupper lottery winner and started his own investment firm – with airplanes and and all the rest of the trappings. It was a real life version of some Wall Street movie where secretaries (sorry ladies) won luxury automobiles at holiday parties!!

I was a workaholic for most of my 13-year tenure there – always on pins and needles worrying that the guy was going to can me. It’s not clear whether I left that job or he fired me: my termination was a consequence of my refusal to fire an innocent friend whom I depended upon to do MY job! Talk about a rock and a hard place!

7. My next and last accounting job, which I just shook off 19 months ago to “retire” was a more painful version of the previous one for a LOT less money, and for people as passionate about the old Republican establishment as I am about yoga!! I was referred to internally as the firm’s token Democrat.

YOGA (early days)

Nineteen months ago, just as I had fifteen years ago when I turned my family’s life upside down thinking it would be a good idea to hitch a ride over to the Harley dealership in Revere and ride home on a motorcycle – I decided to start my own yoga business.

Yoga is virtually all I’ve thought about – besides family, friends and myself (unfortunately not in that order) – for 14 years.

Here’s the funny part: just like when I left my mega-dollar accounting job, and my ego said, “No problem! The job offers will come pouring in…….” – I coasted for the better part of a year before it dawned on me that wasn’t going to happen, and I better get up off my ass.

YOGA (these days)

Nineteen months ago I thought, “I know something about yoga that no one else does!! 😉 Of course students will come pouring in….” Again, not so much (though to my true students – you know who you are – you have my eternal gratitude!)

So I’m turning up the heat in my pursuit of spreading what I know about yoga.

Part of that effort has been put into a charitable association for certified yoga instructors (I WISH I knew how to add heart emojis in WordPress!!!!), who’s mandate is:

fellowship, education and service

My sincere, heartfelt thanks to those who have responded “YES”!!! It’s going to be awesome! Modeled after the old, stodgy corporate affairs – a few hours of study in the morning followed by an awesome meal and an afternoon of service – rather than golf!  😉

Another part of the effort to spread the word about mind-control and consciousness has been put into Marblehead’s chapter of BNI: the Nor’easters. That chapter of the story next!

Namaste 😉

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Asana to Amma

My dearest friends (and any yoga instructor teaching on the north shore of MA who asks!) will receive a copy of Amma’s biography as a holiday gift from our Raja Yoga studio this year. Yeah, we went there in mid-October!

I’ve been reading excerpts in the morning as part of a personal “puja”, or study/worship practice.

Here’s the thing: just as a zebra will never become an elephant, I will always stand up for underdogs and remain skeptical in the face of authority (characteristics that made me a good auditor); however, if even 5% of what is written in Amma’s biography is True…

(and here’s the thing – she’s VERY much alive – there are A LOT of people who could stand up and refute any of what’s written!! – but NO ONE is!)

….she’s a living saint.

Amma is worthy of ALL of our respect and admiration! Even if you’re an atheist, you HAVE to give this woman props for her Phelps-esque Olympic devotion to God! No wonder she’s been received at the UN. I really hope you read her story!

From today’s reading (page 64) [Sudhamani eventually became known as Amma]:

[When Sudhamani was about 16]…..If there were any time remaining after completing her embroidery work, Sudhamani would return to the chapel, which had an inner apartment like a cave. In the dim light, she would gaze upon the crucified form of Jesus Christ. Seeing Jesus on the cross, she felt Him to be her beloved Krishna. Immediately, she would become enraptured. Returning to the plane of normal consciousness, she would weep, thinking of the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ and Krishna. She would think, ‘O, how They have sacrificed everything for the world! People turned against Them, but still They loved them. If They have done it, then why can’t I? There is nothing new in it.’

Sudhamani was acutely aware of the extreme poverty of the villagers. Seeing their sorrows and sufferings, the little one would weep in the silent hours she spent in the shrine room. She would pray, ‘O God, is this life? People are toiling day in and day out just for a bit of food to satisfy their hunger. O Krishna, why do you allow them to starve? Why do they become afflicted with diseases? Everywhere I turn I come face to face with selfishness and people’s sufferings caused by it. Youngsters pray for a long life and children pray for an early death for their aged father and mother. Nobody is at all interested to care for the elderly. O Lord, what kind of world is this? What is the purpose of creating such a world? O Krishna, what is the solution for all this?’ Such were the prayers of the innocent girl.

Whatever you believe about life or Amma, it’s a universal Truth that we get out of something what we put into it (it’s science!)

That being the case, consider what Amma must have experienced and witnessed as a consequence of her interminable, lifelong devotion!!

Imagine coming as close as humanly possible to witnessing what’s been described over millennia as beyond human comprehension. Remember, consciousness (evidence of the existence of God) doesn’t exist in time and space the way our body and mind do, although it reveals itself as:

  • patience – some say “curiosity and compassion”;
  • intuition – our “inner voice”; knowing without cognition that something is True;
  • awareness – recognizing that our body/mind is only two thirds – at best – of what we are; and
  • bliss – perhaps best described by people who’ve experienced sensory depravation: a calm stillness beyond thought.

Somewhere along the path that typically begins with Asana (ironically, poses are the third in a series of five exercises intended to facilitate lengthy prayer, or meditation), faith kicks in and when THAT happens you change.  😉

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