Author: Skip

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60 Year-Old White Guy

Why is a 60 year-old white guy from Boston jumping up & down and screaming about consciousness?

Because I just discovered mine two years ago.

Why did it take me so long (13 years of devout searching)?

Unlike Eastern cultures which revere and honor this aspect of each of us, here in the States I was raised to believe that if I couldn’t see, smell, hear, taste or touch something, it probably wasn’t “true” – and according to my grandfather (whom I love beyond measure) not worth wasting time on.

Sigh. I lived 58 years of my life with the light out. Please don’t do the same.

Ironically, it’s only through the Eastern practices of self-reflection and control that it’s possible to sense some things: to know them as “true” on an intuitional level MUCH deeper than thought. [I teach Raja Yoga and Medical Qigong].

Meditate. You can’t do it wrong, but it helps to have a teacher. That’s why I’m here.

God bless, Skip

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BREADCRUMBS

Someone suggested that I leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find my way back out of the Cummings Center the other day.

This is me leaving breadcrumbs for the next person trying to understand Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras:

Life is mathematical.

Here’s how it works:

The centerline represents zero; everything to the left of the centerline is negative; everything to the right of the centerline is positive.

Our universe is similarly bipolar. Everything we can sense, including our own body/mind, is a unique manifestation of positively and negatively charged sub-atomic particles. The East refers to these two elemental “states of matter” as Yin and Yang. Patanjali refers to them as Rajas and Tamas. Lucas called them the Light and Dark forces.

The image of a circling tiger and dragon is commonly used to represent those two constantly moving energetic states of matter. Love it!! The oppositional polarity keeps them on the move, giving rise to the “hunger” (the fears and desires) within each of us.

Back to the graph above, half of the world’s population is generally positive. A very small subset of positive people are extremely so, though most fall within a “normal” range.

Same on the other side of the elusive perfectly balanced middle line: half of the world’s population is generally negative. A very small subset [thankfully] of negative people are extremely so.

In class this morning, Master Leone asked students why they practice and train. Here are their responses:

To:

  • avoid suffering
  • have fun
  • find tranquility
  • find love
  • find community
  • find peace of mind
  • reduce pain

The keys to smiling more for ALL of us are self-awareness and self-control; specifically, never forgetting that consciousness is NOT a mental function!

Patanjali said:

1.12. Practice and non-attachment

1.13. Practice means NEVER giving up

1.14. By practicing continuously and earnestly over a long time, your efforts become habitual

1.15. Non-attachment means ALWAYS letting go (mastering desire)

1.16. With ultimate self-awareness, all attachments fall away

Master Leone said:

“It’s a constant struggle. It’s NEVER ‘Hey look Ma! No hands!’… EVERY MINUTE EVERY DAY.”

Blessings and gratitude, Skip

❤😊🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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OLD DOG LEARNS NEW TRICK [aka Cynthia’s Masterpiece]

I experienced Cynthia’s monster breakfast sandwich with the assistance of my sub-conscious mind: I saw, smelled, held, heard (yup – it spoke to me!) and ate the damned thing. And it was good.

The following I experienced with additional assistance from my conscious or thinking mind. I figured as long as I’m sharing one……..

Part of the requirements for the initial 100-hour Medical Qigong teacher certification are listening to Master Michael Leone’s lectures.

I posted something about Master Leone after meeting him last year. He’s a truly awesome human being. He’s tapped into something “other worldly” that I can only dream about experiencing.

Master Leone has been studying and practicing with a devotion that dwarfs mine – for some forty years – and it shows!

Reality check: part of today’s lecture made it all-too clear that I’m in the Fall of my life! Gulp.

 

This happened during this morning’s lecture:

A student asked Master Leone about the Medical QiGong protocol for a 22 year-old female exhibiting:

Anxiety

Depression

Autoimmune diseases including:

  • Celiac disease
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome
  • Allergies
  • Psoriasis
  • Fatty liver disease

I didn’t get to hear the detailed diagnosis/prescription part of the lecture because I’m a newbie, but I did learn that ALL those symptoms have a common cause:

Chronic Stress

 

Master Leone expressed what we all know intuitively: somewhere around our 18th birthday we wake up to the stark reality or weight of life: it’s responsibilities and impermanence.

And we each deal with that realization in a uniquely personal way based on the circumstances of our lives up to that point.

Those symptoms can literally become overwhelming as the mental and physical effects compound – and in today’s turbulent geopolitical, semi-virtual world, it’s getting worse – quickly.

Reach out and help someone. We’re all in this soup together.

We have the same incessant thinking pattern; we all have fears and desires, they just differ from person to person based on the unique circumstances of our lives.

Life is mathematical: half of us learn to cope with it better than the other half, and there are extremes at both ends – clearly.

Need help meditating? That’s why I’m here.

God bless, Skip

❤😊🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

I found another place where love reigns: Learn to Cope, a support group for parents of opioid addicts.

Unfortunately, it’s another story of the worst in us bringing out the best. Here’s the bottom line:

HEROIN = DEATH.

 

Heroin isn’t where the trail begins for the kids, but it’s all-too-often where it ends.

It’s the end of life as it was and NOT just for the kids.

As an addict (thankfully, I don’t wrestle with this monster) and a parent I can attest it’s MUCH worse for the families who can’t control the addict, than for the addict who can’t control the disease.

Opioid addiction is ravaging our country, one family at a time.

It’s every bit as insidious and deadly as these God-awful mass killings. [I met a recent college graduate the other day who was all excited about his new job with Big Pharma. He literally told me, “Hey, we just make the stuff.”]

Of the 50+ parents in the room:

Some have buried children.

Some never hear from their children – which is the good news.

All have had their lives changed forever, ravaged emotionally; most financially.

 

People shared their fears and experiences (like an AA meeting, though here meeting facilitators provide support and guidance) and heard from a speaker, Maureen Cavanaugh (founder of Magnolia New Beginnings) a terribly brave, strong woman whom it’s been my privilege to meet recently.

Maureen spoke candidly about her experiences and counseled and tried to console the “newbies”. Unfortunately, this is the kind of member-for-life club that no one should have to belong to.

The understanding, empathy and compassion in the room was palpable. If there was a common sentiment, Maureen may have summed it up when she said

“Are you kidding me?! I’d do ANYTHING to keep her alive!”

 

WTF has happened to us?!

You know where to find me.

❤️🕉

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IT’S ALL ABOUT ME

Two years ago I had an epiphany regarding the nature of consciousness.

It changed my life and the lives of the people around me.

But this “news” wasn’t meant for me. After all, Patanjali didn’t write the Yoga Sutras for himself! He was CLEARLY already enlightened!

I’ve spent 24/7 for two years trying to enlighten others. I came enticingly close a few times – which just fed my enormous ego.

Today my teacher told me I can’t.

Apparently something priceless can’t be given away.

BUT if you’ve read my post about being a 60 year old addict (and Irish) you know this new news isn’t going to stop me from trying!!

She told me lovingly; frankly, it was quite touching. She acknowledged that my heart’s in the right place, but pointed out what’s so clear to her and others: my head and heart aren’t working together. Too much of one or the other is actually self destructive.

[And here I thought I was in perfect balance!]

If you haven’t seen this cartoon clip about “keeping your nose and belly button facing in the same direction” it’s well worth a few minutes:

https://www.facebook.com/graphikoo/videos/1091139277693004/

My newest marketing effort is called “Back to Basics” (we’ll see how long I can go without talking about consciousness! Ooops!)

Ultimately, Raja Yoga is about becoming one with the universe, but the first step is “ahimsa”: the opposite of violence: love – and it begins with you.

Blessings, Skip

😊❤️🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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KOSHAS: OUR ILLUSORY LAYERS [for yoga geeks]

Here’s a link to my favorite online resource on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – specifically to a section on the koshas – described therein as five lampshades covering our light: Swamij.com/Koshas.

I suggest that there’s a very direct correlation between the five koshas and the last six of Patanjali’s eight limbs: as we gain proficiency with a limb, we begin to experience a deeper, subtler aspect of our being:

Limb

Kosha
Postures Outer physical
Breathing Inner physical/energetic
Concentration Conscious mind
Meditation (3 levels) Sub-conscious mind (3 functions)

When we meditate, we sequentially transcend [from densest to subtlest energetically] three states of generally sub-conscious mind, evidenced by our (i) sensory processing, (ii) memory storage and (iii) sense of individuality.

Beyond that point we meditate without specific focus or obstruction, having come as close as physically/mentally possible to consciousness itself.

I skinny the eight limbs down to six: the four above plus the yamas & niyamas [the two most important based on prioritization and because they make up ~70% of the eight limbs!!].

I group the last three limbs together – not just because they’re very notably placed in a separate chapter in the Sutras – but because the physical/mental action associated with them (seated meditation) is identical.

While we sit and meditate, we descend three progressively subtle energetic densities of sub-conscious mind (each evidenced by a distinct mental function – and very different perspective!) – which takes a LONG time.

At the end of the day there’s no incorrect way to meditate – it just takes practice, and as Patanjali said, we’ll know it when we get there!

😊❤️🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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Susan is a Saint

As I type this my wife Susan is driving her eighth Girls Inc. college mentee to look at a university over an hour’s drive from here.

I’ve said it for over 30 years, if it weren’t for her I’d go through life thinking I was right ALL the time.

Just now:

SUE: Did you hear how you spoke to them?

ME: Argh! [sounding like a cross between a mad pirate and a lion in pain]! I’m frustrated – though admittedly, it has nothing to do with the towel rack!!! Sorry if I embarrassed you.

SUE: I’m not embarrassed. That’s on you! But you might want to think about how you speak to others.

ME: 💔

I’ve devoted the rest of my time here in what’s left of the Garden of Eden to my two loves: Susan and Patanjali [don’t worry S&J, you come under the heading of “Susan”❤️].

Btw – if it wasn’t bloody obvious, there’s a reason I practice yoga 12 hours a day – but as one of my teacher’s teachers said: ”A zebra is always going to be a zebra” or as Popeye used to say “I yam what I yam”.

Blessing to all who read this; may you know half the bliss I’ve know in my lifetime.

Allan

😊❤️🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

 

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THE SCIENCE OF MIND CONTROL

I teach the science of mind control: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

MEDITATION:

as it was originally practiced!

developed by devout EMPIRICAL scientists – without Google!!!!!!

using just their bodies and minds!

MEDITATE – you can’t do it wrong!! But if you want to find TRUE inner peace please read a translation (or two or three!) of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras!

If you want a place to start here are links to personal translations of the first half of Patanjali’s epic poem:

Chapter One – the science

Chapter Two – preparing to meditate

😊❤️🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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WHAT DOES CONSCIOUSNESS HAVE TO DO WITH RELAXING? [Alternative title: Why is the Raja Yogi teaching Medical QiGong?]

Just because we’re not equipped to literally experience or fully comprehend consciousness – think about this:

Here’s how consciousness has been described since the dawn of our species:

  • Infinite – unaffected by space
  • Eternal – unaffected by time
  • Omnipresent – everywhere
  • Omnipotent – all-knowing
  • Omniscient – all-powerful
  • A balance between wisdom and curiosity
  • A balance between awareness and clarity
  • A balance between bliss and compassion

A source of courage, wisdom, serenity and faith – Patanjali

Infilling everything, pervading everywhere, impelling all – Amma

Tap into THAT PART OF YOU and experience what happens!

 

Relaxing? Yup.

Here’s how I experience it:  [remember, meditating is uniquely personal. It’s something you do for yourself – lovingly(!) – because like physical exercise, ONLY YOU CAN. Ironically, it works better when our intention is to better serve others!]

I find meditation relieving, reassuring and reaffirming in a loving, non-judgmental accepting sense. Sometimes it almost feels as if I’m being holistically embraced. I often reemerge from my sub-conscious journeys feeling subtly holistically energized!

Little picture: How we get our physical body and non-physical mind to relax sufficiently to enable that sense of holistic union or yoga doesn’t matter. That’s where QiGong’s breathing, movement and visualization comes in!

😊❤️🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

Posted on

THE END IS COMING (MAYBE)

“Divine” in this context refers to something that a) NEVER changes; b) is unaffected by time & space; and c) without which we don’t know we’re alive: our consciousness – WHICH IS NOT A MENTAL FUNCTION!!!

 

When we meditate, we transcend conscious and ultimately sub-conscious mind, becoming more self-aware en route. Over time, we draw a deepened sense of serenity, courage, wisdom and ultimately faith from having witnessed evidence of our own divine essence: our consciousness, the awareness OF our thoughts.

Raja Yoga is a lifelong, exhaustive study and practice in self-awareness and self-control – ALL of which is intended to prove to yourself beyond all doubt that there’s an aspect of you that’s divine.

Big picture:

When it sinks in that part of you may indeed be immortal [here’s the math: what are the odds that THIS aspect of each of us – our consciousness – which NEVER changes while we’re walking around in this body/mind – that IT “dies” along with the physical/mental parts of us? By definition, it CAN’T! It’s literally “NOT OF THIS EARTH!!”]

RIGHT!!!!! WAKE UP EVERYBODY!!!!

 

The end of your body/mind is undoubtedly coming. Wake up to the most miraculous aspect of YOU before you’re forced to as you pass on from THIS body/mind.

😊❤️🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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