Updated Class Schedule
Yogi vs Yoga
Two of these people are my teachers.
It’s probably a good thing I’ve never met the other two – though, believe it or not, I can do what they can do [I just don’t look as good doing it!!]
But what I REALLY want to do is what my teachers do:
bring peace to millions
Yes; I have an enormous ego – but I have an even bigger heart.
Let me help the people you love feel better about themselves.
Meditation isn’t easy, but neither is suffering.
Thank you, Allan Dowds
The Marblehead School of Raja Yoga class schedule
Pray Like a Yogi (learn to meditate!)
Skype?
Would you like to learn to meditate (or understand the science behind it?) from the comfort of your own home?
Skype’s an amazing thing!
Obviously, it isn’t quite the same as an in-person lesson (the energy is somewhat diminished) but my guru has students all over the world, so she HAS to Skype – and she swears her lessons are virtually as effective online as in-person.
Click ‘n email for more info! 😉
Preparation!
That said, remember all the things we can do to live less stressfully off the matt – to get the most out of our meditation, whenever or however we do it:
Be kind to others; follow the Golden Rule (you know you sleep better at night when you’re kind and helpful – rather than the opposite!).
Be kind to yourself; act with compassion; practice purity, serenity, courage, wisdom and faith to reduce stress and anxiety; take care of yourself physically, mentally and spiritually; get enough sleep, exercise, and nourishment to fulfill your responsibilities to the best of your ability; read – specifically, inspiring stories (like Amma’s bibliography!!); pray, contemplate, be mindful, meditate – whatever you call it, give your sub-conscious mind a chance to purge its most pressing fears and desires in a time and place of your choosing; somewhere that feels safe and comfortable and somehow inviting.
Exercise – in short, make your exercise routine fun – otherwise, in won’t become a habit; swim, walk (outside!), dance or cycle – all awesome whole-body workouts that won’t leave you feeling like you’re about to expire – unless of course, you’re into that!
Breathe – [caveat: breathing exercises initially require a teacher’s supervision; remember, our diaphragm massages and stimulates the organs and systems that keep us alive – including our heart and brain! Unlike the muscles that move us; maintaining our inner parts requires a softer, more loving touch.]
Try sitting still for two minutes – with your eyes not-quite closed – and simply observe your breathing. Don’t change a thing. Pay attention to each inhalation and exhalation from beginning to end – and notice the momentary pause in between. Notice what happens to the pause over time. I ALWAYS find it calming to simply observe my body breathing on its own.
Focus – our conscious mind is the aspect we’re aware of: it’s our control mechanism/monkey mind. Unless we’re purposefully being mindful, we’re either using this aspect of our mind to make a decision or we’re listening to it.
This part of our mind is easiest to control in part because it can only do one thing at a time! Our non-physical conscious mind “acts” like our heart and lungs: single, consecutive, and hopefully constant – beats, breaths and thoughts. If you’re unsure, try simultaneously counting and reciting the alphabet – right; not happening.
The first step to learning to control our conscious mind is to distinguish between it and our sub-conscious mind – in our self; to experience them differently, to truly perceive them separately.
The next step is learning to focus or hold our conscious mind (our attention) on one thing for a prolonged period of time. Simple – not easy – but well worth the time and effort!
In summary, to prepare to meditate:
Even before coming to class or Skyping you can prepare to have a deeper, more meaningful experience by:
Generally acting in a manner that fosters a calmer, more peaceful demeanor, as opposed to an agitated one; specifically,
- treat others with compassion;
- treat yourself the same way;
- foster a faith-based attitude of serenity, courage, and wisdom;
- exercise;
- breathe;
- learn to distinguish between your own conscious mind (evidenced by your thoughts – the words in your head), and sub-conscious mind (evidenced by your actions: walking, talking, breathing, chewing – all the stuff we don’t have to “think” to do!)
Now we’re ready to meditate; to draw our attention inward, closer to the energetically subtlest aspect of our selves: our immutable awareness.
Namaste
Inspiration
What could be more inspiring than reading about the suffering of a CHILD – born into hell on earth, who lovingly accepted whatever new anguish befell her as a lesson from her beloved God, whom she calls Krishna.
Amma is a living embodiment of the spirit of RajaYoga: selfless acceptance and relentless pursuit of a deeper connection and union with God.
As her biography quotes from the Bhagavad Gita [another prehistoric poem, and the only other universally-recognized authoritative source on Raja Yoga – the science of meditation, the original form of prayer]:
“The Blessed Lord said: those who fixing their mind on Me, worship Me, ever steadfast and endowed with supreme faith, they … are the best versed in Yoga.”
Namaste.
Yoga Instructors Association
The Yoga Instructors Association sent out its first official old-school mailing today! Invitations were sent to instructors in the following towns:
- 01945 – 17
- 01970 – 10
- 01915 – 3
- 01904 – 1
- 01907 – 1
Clearly, there are more of us teaching in Marblehead & Salem; however, all certified yoga instructors living or teaching in Lynn, Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem and Beverly are hereby invited to join us for fun, learning and community service.
Check your snail-mail box for an invitation. For the twenty other local instructors for whom we don’t have a physical mailing address – look for something electronically!
Inspiration
From a book: Amma’s biography
This morning we read from Amma’s biography. As I told my wife later, if the story of Amma’s childhood is even “directionally correct” (as we used to say in auditing), the woman is a saint.
If you’re looking for inspiration, purpose, or a living example of faith and devotion, read her biography, or better yet, go meet her! You’ll be glad you did.
From TV: National Geographic’s “The Story of Us”
While this blog is primarily about me and Amma (no ego here), I have to give equal mention to the individuals highlighted in National Geographic’s “The Story of Us”, narrated by Morgan Freedman.
Mr. Freedman seems divinely inspired as he narrates the stories of 4-5 people who, against all odds, survived unimaginable anguish through sheer force of will (strength of mind).
The show is breathtaking: shockingly-awful (inasmuch as we see the worst of humanity alongside the best) and yet somehow simultaneously equally inspiring.
Humans are capable of miraculous physical and mental toughness and endurance (individually – let alone as a species!!). It’s not a coincidence that we’re the most consciously-evolved beings on the planet – so far!
The Sinner
When I was in the third grade we moved from a close suburb of NYC to rural Vermont. My father literally took us as far away from his in-laws as possible.
That was one of two points of transition in my young life when I turned to God (albeit briefly).
I attended fourth grade in a two-story brick schoolhouse with a basement, or more precisely, a post WWII air raid shelter converted to a cafeteria/music room.
One of my favorite songs as a traumatized and uprooted 8 year old was “Onward Christen Soldiers”. I loved that song! One day during “music” class – held in the concrete basement of the old school house – tight quarters and cement walls did wonders for the acoustics – we started to sign my favorite song!!
“Started” because, virtually as soon as I opened my mouth and belted out the first few words, the teacher stopped the entire production, singled me out, and told me to stop singing. Apparently, I was off pitch.
OK, I was beyond humiliated in front of a bunch of country kids I barely knew and had nothing in common with – BUT at least they were going to keep singing my favorite song!
“Were”, because again, almost as soon as the signing started the teacher halted everything, singled me out, and again told me to shut my mouth. Apparently, lip-synching – especially enthusiastically – wasn’t acceptable in 1965.
The Saint
Amma embodies the concept of worship through service.
Like the oppositional states of matter that sustain us, I can only marvel at, and laud her ceaseless, tireless drive to honor and serve God by relieving OTHER people’s suffering – at her own expense!!
Be inspired
Be inspired to act self-less-ly rather than self-ish-ly.
Read Amma’s story: the poor thing was an “untouchable”, shunned, beaten and abused by her own mother; horrifically treated – in part simply because of her dark complexion! Yet she accepted it all as lessons from her beloved God provided to deepen her understanding of the Truth.
Or watch the stories of individual heroism narrated by Mr. Freedman and be moved to tears of joy and sorrow – and experience profound respect and admiration for people with a purpose who are willing to die for someone or something other than themselves.
That level of faith, conviction and love is not just inspiring, it’s divine.
Namaste
Thank you!!
Last month, over 1,000 people visited The Marblehead School of Raja Yoga’s website!
Thank you!!
most popular blog so far
a personal favorite (because my daughter, 1 read it – and 2 said she liked it!)
Yoga Instructors Association, NS
Amma
The excerpt is inspirational whatever your faith or beliefs; it’s from “A Biography of Mata Amritanandamayi [Amma, the hugging nun]”, written by Swami Amritaswarupananda, a devotee.
Hold onto what helps; let go of what doesn’t. A bit of skepticism is healthy, though don’t be closed-minded.
In Raja Yoga there are three ways to verify something:
1. Witness or experience it.
2. Rationally infer it.
For example, if there was no snow on the ground when you went to bed, but there was snow on the ground when you woke up, it’s rational to infer that it snowed while you were asleep.
3. Have it verified by an authority.
Herein an authority is universally recognized as an authoritative source or expert in their field. For example, my teacher, Edwin F. Bryant, Professor of Religions of India, at Rutgers University is a highly-regarded expert on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – which in turn is universally-recognized as the primary authoritative source of Raja Yoga. 😉
In this case, the author of Amma’s bio is clearly an expert in his field.
Evolution
I am a devout Raja Yogi (think, monk or “open-minded spiritualist”).
A dozen years ago I dis-believed virtually everything; it made me a good auditor but won me few friends.
But after 14 years of studying Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, I favor the Hindu concept that God (by whatever name you personally refer to God) is perfectly capable of walking among us in whatever guise God so chooses because – here’s the crazy part – God can simultaneously be everywhere; God isn’t “of this earth”; God isn’t subject to Karma (time & space); because God is of an ENTIRELY different dimension – as is consciousness!!
Here’s the bottom line: realizing that there’s an aspect of you that never changes – that’s not subject to time and space – THAT awareness will drive you to the nearest place of worship asking about the source of THAT part of you!! Hence, people refer to Raja Yoga as a spiritual practice.
Analogy: Bible & Mind
There’s an analogy to be drawn between the evolution of our awareness of consciousness and the Bible. Just as the Bible has two chronological parts, the Old and New Testaments, our non-physical mind also has two chronologically-developed parts, our sub-conscious and conscious mind.
Sub-conscious mind is the oldest in the sense that it’s the more well-established or developed aspect of our mind. This is our “alligator” mind: essentially, anything an alligator’s mind can do, this part of our mind can do.
For purposes of the Bible/Mind analogy, evolution is assumed to be a “Truth”: that time and space – and everything subject to them – evolve (i.e., that dinosaurs existed, rather than the earth as we know it came to exist in just a few days).
To my knowledge, humans have the most highly developed conscious mind on earth: the greatest ability of any known species to cognate uber-sophisticated concepts in our mind (at least we used to, before becoming reliant on machines).
And what, pray tell, does that mean? We alone on earth have the mental capacity to distinguish between consciousness (the eternal awareness OF our conscious thoughts) and our perpetually-changing thoughts themselves: to literally distinguish between who we are and what we are.
Beyond Mind?
Amma (the hugging nun – check her out!!) says that consciousness “infills everything, pervades everywhere, and impels all.” In other words, consciousness underlies life as we understand it.
If that resonates with you it’s not a long jump to believe, given the nature of evolution and consciousness, that through time and the confluence of an infinite events, humans have become the most evolved expression of consciousness on earth – SO FAR.
Between Mind and Consciousness?
I spoke with a Rabbi the other day, and after politely listening to me for an hour, he told me there’s an entire sect of the Jewish faith devoted to understanding and practicing what he referred to as “mysticism”. Who knew?! Raja Yoga was literally intended for all; specifically, to reduce suffering.
Witness the effects of the deepest, still aspect of yourself that Amma says is “essentially divine” through meditation: the original form of prayer.
