"Thoughts are like your friends. If they knock on your door and you invite them in and give them food, they stay and invite their friends.

"If they come and you ignore them, they stay a little while and then they go."

-Sri Dharma Mittra 8/17/12




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Friday Photo

"When you read scripture, try to understand it without comments. Use your intelligence. When you have some discrimination, you will be able to understand. Until then, the comments are to help you."

-Sri Dharma Mittra, 8/16/12

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday Quote

"Prana is not matter, but it is in matter; Prana is not mind, but it makes the mind to think; Prana is not air, but it makes the air to blow; Prana is not breath, but it makes the breath go in and out."

~ Swami Kailashananda








BONUS QUOTE

"Prana is the inseparable power of God."

~ Chandra Om

Mid-Week Video

Janmadina Mubāraka, Hindustan!

Happy 65th Birthday, India!

Where would we be without you?

"Anything that involves 'I' or 'mine' indicates bondage."

-Sri Dharma Mittra


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"Divine imagination helps the process."

(as do faith, sharpness of mind and enthusiasm)

-Sri Dharma Mittra. 8/13/12


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday Music

Sri Ram Jai Ram!

Jai Sri Dharma!

"Do you know what the mind is?

"It is everything that is not the Self."

-Sri Dharma Mittra, 8/12/12

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

BOLLYWOOD PRESS

The great Bollywood actor/director/producer Aamir Khan is in town, filming Dhoom 3.

Actually, he is one of the greatest actors of our time, period.

And he has a huge heart to boot.

Read about the filmy shooting here.

Friday Photo

Thursday Quote

To be childlike is good; but to be childish is not good.

To do simple tapas is good; but to spoil the health by mortification is not good.

To be devotional is good; but to be emotional is not good.

To have vairagya is good; but to expose the body to cold wind is not good.

-Swami Sivananda

MId-Week Video

(best when stopped just after music ends).

Monday Music

Friday Photo

Seven-year-olds in Pascimottanasana at a gymnastics event. *So* cute - and incredibly focused. Yet even at that young age, the bodies are already becoming stiff...

Thursday Quote

Click on image to enlarge text.

Swamiji = Swami Vivekananda

MID-WEEK VIDEO II

Sri Dharma Mittra practicing yoga asana at age 73. He is/was the teacher of David Life, Sharon Gannon, Chandra Om, Andrei Ram, and Kali Om, among others.

Om Namah Shivay!

Mid-Week Video

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya at age 50, in 1938. He was the teacher of Indra Devi, Sri K. Pattaabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, TKV Desikachar and Srivatsa Ramaswami, among others.

Monday Music

Swami Vivekananda's Speeches at the 1893 World Parliament of Religion in Chicago

Read the full text here.









Click here to learn more about Swami Vivekananda.

जन्मदिन Janmadina Yatra

Friday Photo

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday Quote(s)

[Dharma Mittra] told us about a man who came to him for advice. He had meditated for 30 years but could find no spiritual peace. “It turned out he was eating too much meat,” said Dharma. “He was a butcher. I told him to change his profession immediately.”

“Without the first step--ahimsa (nonviolence)--you gain nothing with meditation,” he reiterated. You get stuck in your chakras “when deep in your heart you know that as a real yogi you should be able to put yourself into someone else’s place. You should be able to put yourself in the place of a cow. Would you like for people to bring you to the slaughterhouse and take meat from you?”

He said that eating meat turns the stomach into a graveyard. “If there’s a nice house with a carcass in it, it turns into a morgue. If Rama and Jesus came and saw this house, they would not go in. They would wait outside.”

“So if you’re not a vegetarian yet, reduce the amount of meat intake,” Dharma encouraged.

As for dealing with unsavory people, he said, “You should love even the bad man. But keep your distance. If you start despising them it bounces back. If you send the negative thoughts out, it flows back to you.”

....Dharma said he suspected many of us half-believed in some things such as reincarnation and karma. “How many of you believe you came here with just a one-way ticket?” he asked. “What if you don’t accomplish what you want in this life, and you’re just a one-way incarnation?”

He said that bad karma does indeed follow one into the next life, and that the aforementioned butcher would face violence in his next incarnation. His guru said that when people help you, they are from your past. “If you died with money in the bank, it’ll be there in your next life--with interest. Everything has reasons from the past.”

After one morning session, some students were talking about Dharma’s hard-line take on vegetarianism. “I understand what he's saying, but I can't give up fish,“ said one. “I mean, I've been a vegetarian for ten years because of yoga, but I just love fish.” That afternoon, after chanting the Govinda mantra, Dharma began his talk by explaining that animals are like children, without hate. Then he discussed how many fish suffer so those humans can eat them. “It takes how many minutes for them to die without water? Animals are made to be loved, not to be eaten.

“If you have to eat meat, wait for one of the great saints to die and feast on his flesh. Then the vibrations will be positive.”



Click here or here to read the rest of this article about Sri Dharma's 2005 weekend workshop in Chicago.

Mid-Week Video

Astanga with a Broken Femur

"Anyone can practice, young man can practice, old man can practice, very old man can practice, man who is sick, he can practice, man who doesn't have strength, he can practice....
...except lazy people, lazy people can't practice."

-R. Sharath

Monday Music

Tom Waits - "Johnsburg, IL"
(c) 1982
music starts at 2:41

Friday Photo

Sri Dharma in San Diego

Thursday Quote

"Three are the gateways of this hell leading to the ruin of the self -- lust, anger and greed. Therefore let man renounce these three."

-Bhagavad Gita XVI.21

Monday Music

Furry Friday

Thursday Quote

"The purification of the heart is the duty of all aspirants, especially of world-renouncing sannyasins, for this is the means of cultivating knowledge which leads to the freedom of the soul. As a mirror stained with impurities cannot reflect an image, so the impure heart cannot reflect Self-Knowledge. The yogi realizes Immortality after having purified the heart by the following means: worship of the spiritual preceptor, inquiry into the Vedas and other scriptures based upon them, performance of righteous actions, the keeping of holy company, the hearing of holy talk, avoidance of the touch and sight of a woman, the seeing of the Self in all beings, non-acceptance of others' property, the wearing of the coarse ochre cloth, withdrawal of the senses from the enjoyment of objects, relinquishment of sleepiness and idleness, investigation into the nature of the physical body, the regarding of selfish action as sinful, control of rajas and tamas and cultivation of sattva, desirelessness, and control of the sense-organs. Study of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, and other religious treatises, performance of sacrifices, practice of brahmacharya and austerities, control of the senses, faith in the worlds of the teacher and the scriptures, fasting, and non-dependence upon others are also among the means for the attainment of Self-Knowledge."

-Rishi Yajnavalkya

Monday Music

Chidananda Rupa Sivoham Sivoham!

FRIDAY PHOTO

Thursday Quote

[Sri Ramakrishna] used to tell us that the difference between man and God was this: If for 99 days you have served a man well, but on the hundredth you do some wrong to him, he will remember the one bad turn and forget the 99 good turns. But if you abuse God for 99 days and for one day you say something in praise of Him, He will forget the 99 bad days and He will say: 'Ah! today this man has spoke something good of me.' Man forgets the 99 good works and remembers the one bad one. God forgets the 99 bad works and remembers the one good one."

-Swami Ramakrishnananda

Mid-Week Video

A classic.....
Louis CK's new season started last Thursday.

Happy Guru Purnima

Have you made your vow for Chaturmas?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Monday Music

"Adi Divya" by Sankalpa Band; a contemporary take on an old classic.

Funny Friday

By Harry Bliss


Thanks to Dreyfus for the tip.

Thursday Quote

"The thirst for objects can never be quenched by their enjoyment."

-Swami Nikhilananda

Mid-Week Video

Monday Music

Brahma Murari composed by Adi Shankaracharya

Friday Photo

This little gem is located at the Sears store on Lawrence Avenue. You can really drive up and have a key made. Not only that, but the gentleman inside knows keys inside and out (and easily copied the bent and torn mail key that the lady at the hardware store refused to touch).

Thursday Quote

If you want to enter Samadhi quickly, cut off all connections with friends, relatives, etc. Do not write letters to anybody. Observe Akhanda Mouna or the vow of continued silence for one month. Live alone. Walk alone. Take very little but nutritious food; live on milk alone if you can afford. Plunge in deep meditation. Dive deep. Have constant practice. You will be immersed in Samadhi. Be cautious. Use your common sense. Do not make violent struggle with the mind. Relax. Allow the divine thoughts to flow gently in the mind.



-Swami Sivananda

Mid-Week Video

We all know Marichyasana A,B,C & D from the Ashtanga Primary Series. But have you met the reclusive side of the family - Mari E, F, G and H?

(BTW we did Marichyasana E and F in my Sunday 10am class; although these poses reside in the Advanced B series, they're much easier [and less precious] than they appear in this video. On a roll, we also did Akarna Dhanurasana A).

Monday Music

Manish Vyas - "Tumi Bhaja Re Mana"

Fifteen Years Later....

,
After 15 years of five-to-six days-a-week practice, the ashtanga system continues to yield great awards - and to amaze.
,
NYC-based teacher Greg Tebb was in town last week assisting Manju Jois at his workshop and teacher training. Greg also did the morning Mysores this week.
,
I did not get to practice with Manju due to time conflicts and an elbow flareup.
,
But I did get to do two asthanga self-practices with Greg. He has compassionate, nurturing-but-not-weak teaching style that is grounded in steady practice, teaching and study over a long period of time.
,
He kindly pointed out some bad habits that have evolved over many months of self-practice, and I immediately began to work on them. He also had some helpful suggestions regarding the tennis elbow and neck issue.
,
It was fun (if that is the correct word) to have the help to drop into Karandavasana (above) and do dropbacks for the first time in...in... who knows how long it's been.
,
During Prasarita Padottanasana C (photo at top) he had me tuck my head in (as Lino does) and it seemed to take very little for him to get my fingers to the floor. (I'd been under the impression that the hands were a foot from the floor due to tight shoulders / thoracic spine, and that the pose would never happen without help).
,
So I tried it today on my own; it is, after all 90 degrees and humid.
,
So I went into Prasarita C. and put the arms forward as far as they would go. Then I tucked in the head and extended the little fingers downward.
,
Voila! Fingers touched something hard: the floor.
,
Without help.
,
For the first. time. ever.
,
In fifteen years.
,
The seemingly impossible, suddenly within reach.*
,
Who knew?
,
It's just like the Yoga Sutras say:
,
1.14. sah tu dirgha kala nairantaira satkara asevitah dridha bhumih
This practice becomes well-grounded when continued with reverent devotion and without interruption over a long period of time.
,
The good news is that the sutras are actually referring to control of the mind.
,
The postures are just a tool....
,
And a good one at that, to show us what is possible.
,
But the mind control is where it's really at - where the real challenge lies.
,

,

,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
,
*My experience with ashtanga vinyasa yoga is that a breakthrough is usually followed by a backslide. The breakthrough eventually comes back - just not on our timetable. This helps destroy the ego - for a little while anyway.

Friday Photo

Thursday Quote

Monday Music

Sri Dharma Mittra at 73

photo of Sri Dharma signing his Asanas book taken this week during his Asian tour

Friday Photo

snapped last night

Thursday Quote

"Do your sacrifice now. Later, you can enjoy [the outside]. Like when becoming a doctor, you have to study and sacrifice like hell. Then you don't have to go to school anymore, once you have your diploma. If you sacrifice a little bit more from outside, you get more from [the spiritual heart]."

-Sri Dharma Mittra

Monday Music

Thursday Quote

"The inadequacy of sacrificial worship to obtain Liberation has already been pointed out. Philanthropic works are in the same category. They are generally undertaken to acquire fame or power, soothe a guilty conscience, or kill the boredom of life. The performer of such actions believes in the diversity of the relative world. Any work based upon diversity cannot lead to the Highest Good. True and unselfish service to others can be rendered only by those who have realized the unity of existence."

-Swami Nikhilananda

Monday Music

Funny Friday

Chelsea, NYC

Thursday Quote

"Due your duty, never grow anxious and do not think of the future. Whenever anxiety rises in you, you become an atheist; you don't believe in God and that He cares for you. If you have real faith, you can never grow anxious."

-Swami Ramakrishnananda

Monday Music

Vastu Puja and Vastu Shanti Mantra

Thursday Quote

"In Yoga, we're not looking to repress aspects of ourselves or deny that they exist. It becomes a falling away. A process. And you slowly begin to come into an awareness that you authentically want to clean up your act. You no longer run away from your work— you sit in the purifying fire of it."

~ Chandra Om

MONDAY MUSIC

JAGJIT SINGH: "Om Shivay Hari Om Shivay" (Dhun)






Happy Birthday, Sri Dharma!

THURSDAY QUOTE

“Until now, I have been dreaming. In my dream, I wandered through the forest of illusion, from birth to birth, beset by all kinds of troubles and miseries, subject to reincarnation, decay and death. The tiger of ego attacked me cruelly, without ceasing. Now, by your infinite compassion, O Master, you have wakened me from my dream. You have set me free forever. "Salutations to you, O great master. You are one with Brahman. You are one with the shining Light that casts this shadow of a world.” -Adi Shankaracharya

Monday Music

Monday Music

Another classic track from the 80s: "¡Nicaragua Sandinista!" by the Argies



¡Asi se toca!

OLDIES BUT GOODIES

A look back at Pattabhi Jois's 2000 "Final World Tour"

when one practiced with Pattrabhi Jois, R. Sharath *and* Manju Jois





Exhibit A: Rebecca Mead's New Yorker article - in which Gwynneth Paltrow is described as "a tall tall man"



Exhibit B: Cara J's Yoga Chicago article - in which I receive my first adjustment from Pattabhi Jois - in Janusirsasana C!

Reverence

Bhagavan Das and his Kali gave an awesome kirtan at YogaNow last night.

It was like he was channeling his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba.

Before the kirtan, the shala owner read from a sheet about basic kirtan etiquette. Among the guidelines (these are not word-for-word and my memory is not perfect):

-Stand up with folded hands when Baba enters and leaves the room. We are not standing up to show respect for him per se, but to acknowledge the spark of the divine within our own selves (and him).

-Do not point the feet at the deities / Bhagavan Das (this is considered highly offensive in India [to point feet at deities / an elder])

-Do not lie down during the kirtan

-Kirtan is participatory - not a concert. Sing!

-It is not a social event. Please keep conversation to a minimum.

-Keep the doors closed. If you must leave, close the door quietly behind you.

I cannot relate how refreshing it was to hear someone finally lay down the law; I think it made the space more sacred and created a much more powerful experience (for the first time in eons, no one sprawled out for a nap next to me during kirtan! Now, if they'd just ask people to stay til the end).

American culture can be so casual, self-centered, and insensitive - we often don't know how not to act otherwise. Like children, we sometimes need to have it spelled out for us.

Anyway, I haven't heard such truth since Chandra Om revealed how we should comport ourselves at Sri Dharma's 200-hour training in 2007. Her compassionate but not watered-down words still ring in my ears.

* * *

Reverence II

Interestingly, this quote from Sri Dharma Mittra was included in yesterday's missive from the New York center:

"To be a good student, one must be reverent, have patience and make great efforts.

"I think maybe there is a little less reverence today and perhaps more interest in the physical aspects of the practice, but the questions are still the same as people yearning to discover who and what they really are remains eternal. I try to be receptive to what the students ask and to what I think will help them to make progress based on my intuition and experience. I think it's good sometimes to just do your meditation and keep asking the question. Then, all the answers come." -Sri Dharma Mittra







Reverence III

The student should also be obedient and not fickle....

...and stick it out til the end

-K.O.

THURSDAY QUOTE

Relaxation of the muscles is as important as focusing on their development, and it is a balance of the two which brings one to a state of radiant health.

Even just ten minutes of Deep Relaxation, with the thoughts and breathing slowed almost to the point of stopping, can be as restorative as a good night's full rest. Deep Relaxation is the best antidote for impurity. It dispels tension and fatigue in the physical body and relieves depression, anxiety, headaches, cravings and desires. Deep Relaxation rejuvenates and energizes the entire system, bolstering the body's natural healing capacities and helping to normalize the circulatory system's function. When done regularly and with pure intention, one departs the body and crosses over into Psychic Sleep, briefly experiencing the Astral Plane. It is through this deep practice that one can gradually come to recognize that they are so much more than the body or the mind.

-Sri Dharma Mittra