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Hello and Happy Holidays,

It is getting cooler, the day shorter and the holiday season is upon us. Being part Jewish and part Catholic by upbringing, the holidays were always a bit complicated. Peter though plays a good Interfaith husband. Early in our friendship he crafted a menorah for me which we light every year much to my beloved Jewish’s grandmothers delight and his Catholic mother’s chagrin. He also enjoys Chanukah Radio (Ch 111 on SiriusXM begining on the 27th) and gives interesting Christmas gifts.

I mainly love the feeling of the season, particularly the waning of the Sun’s light and the beauty of ceremonial light. Privately we will soon light our menorah, decorate our Christmas bush, string LED lights on the house, and await Santa Pietro. Publicly I invite you to join me for the Circle of Light event December 2 and a Sunset Solstice event December 22. Meanwhile, if you want a good dose of planetary light, Jupiter is currently very bright in the early evening as the Sun sets. Jupiter in Sanskrit is called Guru the dispeller of darkness.

In my yoga practice, Fall has brought some deeper reflection.  My back has been a bit off and I have had to listen more.  Where is this coming from?  What is my body telling me?  What is the message here?  My teacher Rama has always emphasized that the back represents our unconscious, our past; and Yoga is about linking the unconscious and the conscious, the past and present have to be integrated in order to transform our future.  So in this light, I have been taking some time to feel back and process more.   I am slowly coming into a new rhythm.

Next week many of us long time Rama students will gather in Albuquerque to be with Rama and her teaching colleagues Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten.  They are pioneers in the modern development of yoga in the West and are now in their 70’s.  While they are vital, there is also a sense of their handing over the torch. In fact, the image of a torch, or flame, is one of the great images of Yoga; symbolized in the heart chakra it is the seat of our intelligence, our soul, and our connection to the eternal truths that can never be corrupted or commodified.

In the middle of the heart is a great fire (Mahan Agni) that carries all light and looks to every side. It is the first eater and dwells apportioning our food, the undecaying seer.          Narayana Sukta

 

 

 

I am not going to be overly technical or philosophical here.  It is a big subject, karma.  It is at the heart of yoga and meditation practice, whether we know it or not.  It is very central to the practice of Vedic Astrology, this is more clear.  For some reason, it’s on my mind lately, so I’ll attempt it.

There are of course various teachings on karma that are similar and different. What I will say here will be my own interpretation and contemplation of what I have learned over time.

My yoga teacher Rama often uses an image of a tree.  I thought it was a common image, but after looking for it elsewhere have come to discover that it is not. She draws (a pun!) this interpretation partly out of her study of the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali- a seminal text of the Yoga Philosophy.

At the base of the tree, the ground and roots, are 2 types of karma referred to as Sanchita and Prarabdha.  Sanchita is the sum total of karma- what we have accumulated.  Prarabdha literally means undertaken, and is the portion of karma we are living out.  These karmas are understood to be “fixed” in that they are happening, in process, for reasons we will never be able to totally rationalize or alter.

This brings up the issue of “fate” which can upset people- but suffice it to say that we all have to admit that there are many things that do fall into this category.  I’ll use myself as an example.  I am white, a woman, born in the USA.  This is unalterable and I did not make a rational decision about it.

The body of the tree depicts the 2 other types of karma, Kriyamana and Agama.  Kriya means action and refers to our capacity to act and create.  Agama refers to the new actions you contemplate, your ideas or vision for the future.  These are the karmas that are more malleable, that we can affect through our free will.

The tree is what we see, what is most obvious.  The roots and the soil are invisible unless we dig.  Yet they are one and the same.  The tree comes from the roots, the roots require the soil.  To get more specific:

Sanchitta Karma is the soil and represents the deep past, the mysterious depth.
Pradabdha Karma is the roots and affects the form and function of the tree, our spiritual DNA
Kriyamana Karma is how we relate to our internal and external circumstances, how we are able to use our free will.
Agama Karma is the vision and intention we hold for future action, the unconscious and conscious seeds that we plant.

I told you I wouldn’t be too technical or philosophical so I want to wrap up on a practical note:    We don’t really know what we are doing here, we don’t know why we have the circumstances that we have- it’s interesting and uniquely human to consider it all and I truly appreciate karmic theory.  This theory says that there are reasons for our present circumstances and we do have the ability to work with the present and affect the future.  What you sow NOW through your thoughts, words, and actions is what truly matters.  As my mom’s guru Goswami Kriyananda says with a little laugh and smile “Attitude is Everything.”

The word synergy is a fabulous word isn’t it?   Synergy is the combination of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.  Synergy implies dynamism and flow.

The word balance is similar in meaning but we could say it has a different tone or quality- it is two or more things or components that come together and create a state of equilibrium or equipoise.  Balance is used to imply physical, mental and/or emotional stability and sound judgment.  In design, balance refers to placement of elements that produce an aesthetically pleasing, integrated sense of whole.  Balance infers steadiness and calm.

I played with these two terms and gave ideas about how to experience and accentuate them in a talk I gave in New York City several years ago when I was there representing Miraval.  Looking back over my notes of the talk today, I’m noticing how the terms bring to mind one of my teacher’s favorite statements from Patanjali, the ancient codifier or yoga philosophy.  I hear her voice now in melodic Sanskrit- “Sthira Sukham Asanam.”

“Sthira” means steady, firm, immovable.  “Sukham” means comfortable, pleasant, willing, sweet.  “Asana” means posture or attitude.  (There’s more to this word for another time)

My teacher Rama used to translate this as “Find comfort in any pose”- which was not a typical translation.  More often it is something dry and literal like, “Posture should be firm and comfortable.”

What does this have to do with Synergy and Balance?  Synergy to me feels like sukham- sweetness and flow.  Balance feels like sthira- that quality of steadiness and calm.  What does it mean in terms of practice and life?  I remember when Rama used to talk about it, it gave me a deep sense of what I was “doing” when I was doing yoga asana.  These 2 qualities equally engaged created a sort of holy state for me that has informed the way I practice and guide ever since.

She meant a lot with that statement though, more than yoga or meditation postures- she was also suggesting that we were learning how to flow with life.  To not effort, control, inflict our will upon certain situations we would find ourselves in.  That there was a way to find comfort anywhere, with anyone, under any circumstances. This was the realization of the sutra, the deepest meaning.

Consider for a moment right now, where or with whom in your life are you being too rigid or static or serious?   How might you find comfort in this pose, circumstance, relationship, situation?

One last thought here:  In Vedic Astrology the term “sthira” shows up again, it is used in reference to the signs of the zodiac that have a fixed quality:  Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.  On the positive side “sthira”  gives stability, endurance, consistency to the matters these signs govern in your chart and on the difficult side it can cause inertia, resistance, stagnation.  In Astrology when a lot of your birth planets end up in fixed signs you learn a lot about both sides of the “sthira” equation.  I will tell you I have 5 planets in fixed signs, so I know of what I speak!

One way I address the Yoga paradigm in comparison to the Western paradigm is to simply say that Yoga never separated mind/body/spirit.  There are many, many, many schools of Yoga, so it is often inaccurate to talk about Yoga as any one thing- but I think it would be safe to say that all schools of Yoga would agree that mind/body/spirit are inseparable and while different focuses can be useful- they are completely interwoven dimensions of our being.

In the West, we separated and compartmentalized these elements more and more.    It began most obviously in the 1600’s, the periods described as the Age of Enlightenment or Reason.  In these times a pronounced separation occurred- particularly regarding the subjects of religion and theology from other fields of inquiry such as philosophy and material science.  There is so much interesting history here, history that very much has modern relevance- but to keep it simple, our Western paradigm does not create a platform that necessarily integrates mind/body/spirit or is comfortable with their associations.

I believe this is why average, stressed out people are often so delighted by yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practices.  When they “click”, when they seem to “work”, for people- what they are experiencing is an integrated state that is not fostered in our daily life and not easy to come by accidentally.  Without questioning it too much, thinking about it too much, something happens when we practice that gives us relief and a deeper sense of grounding.

In my teaching I think of this as the spiritual dimension of practice- the transition from a thinking state to a feeling state to an aware state.  I’m not trying to facilitate a spiritual experience, I am simply encouraging you to fully experience this moment as it is unfolding.  Bare awareness.  This is both purely rational and scientific- pay attention to the present moment without reacting to whatever appears in the field of awareness- and a total surrender to the holy mystery.  If I let go of the controls that normally mediate my direct experience, what will happen to me?

While the life of the mind and intellect and the exploration of the natural world can be deeply fascinating and fulfilling, it can likewise be perplexing and exhausting and unreal too.  What Yoga reminds us of through practice and through its holistic perspective is that the mind needs to be connected to the body and the heart and the reality of the present moment. And this moment, when we bring bare awareness to it, is precious and holy and significant for reasons we will never be able to fully explain or rationalize.

The openness to Life Itself that we cultivate frees us from a great deal of conditioning and many inherent, and inherited assumptions…Life is not about answers.  It is about learning to live in the middle of complete uncertainty, and doing so gracefully.

~Swami Chetanananda

 

We are in a town called Mayiladuthurai tonight. There are so many towns with a similar, unpronounceable names here in Tamil Nadu, India. On the average map of India this town would not show up. We are in the best hotel in the town and everyone is miserable in our group as it smells of something toxic, bug spray/ moth balls/ mold? Our tour leaders begged our understanding 4 times before- hand as they knew the hotel was sub par for Westerners, but we had to stay here to be close to the Mars temple and the Nadi Astrologers….

Anyway, it is quite comical. We just left KumbaKorum which is a small town in the center of many temples. We stayed at a place called the “Paradise Resort” and it was a bit of Paradise. Perhpas how it feels to be in Indonesia. The grounds were lush, the rooms big with heavy wood doors and furniture. Big bathrooms with Western toilets and bathtubs and a swimming pool we all felt safe enough to swim in….the staff was wonderful there and our movement from there to what we jokingly called the “heartbreak hotel” was jarring.

Anyway, you can’t really expect to be comfortable in India can you????? We in truth have been, but then you are only a few steps always from the other side of this coin. Tonight my room-mate and I laugh hysterically as I have stepped in some kind of waste while walking the streets, this is highly probably/practically unavoidable in almost any walk, and now must figure out what to do about the matter. The waste could be cow dung, dog poop, goat poop, or human origins- we just don’t know. And we are adverse to start cleaning it off. We don’t have a brush or a proper drain and don’t want to spread it in our bathroom. I will leave you in suspense as to what we do, but tell the story to let you know what it is like to walk the streets. It is as you may have been told- but until you experience it, unbelievable- cows walking around, people walking some with shoes and some barefooted, people riding bikes and scooters and motorcycles, goats, dogs roaming, cars, auto-rickshaws, buses. Homing, honking, and honking. There are traffic police at certain intersections but I have noticed no street lights or signs that anyone seems to adhere to. The traffic police sit in the center and sip chai, directing nothing that I can see? Lots of little shops and fruit/flowers/vegetable venders along the way….

In this town we are all stared at with amazement as there are not many tourists that come here. We stare at them and they stare at us. We smile and wave to break the surreal nature of the two way gaze. Last night, after we arrive, my roommate and I ask the hotel for an electronic shop as I need new camera batteries. Two young men from the hotel become our guides through the town in search of not so common lithium batteries. “Johnson” and “Jaffe”- they are dressed western style. Many young men are but not young women of course- they all wear saris or “salwarz/Kameez” (long shirts with matching pants and scarves). Our guides take us to no less than 20 electronic shops- they make calls, the shop keepers keep referring us to another place, in the end nothing but lots of people who get the amusement of seeing us come around. As a result of our fruitless foray, our guides have shown us the whole town, we have met their brothers and friends, seen the bus station and the local markets where people really shop, and been given a farewell gift which is a plaque with a line of Christian scripture- they do not think we are Christian, in fact they are.

I have met 3 Christians in India so far, a very different thing than ours it seems, interesting for sure.

All this talk and nothing about the temples, the pujas, the Nadi (palm leaf) astrologers….that will have to wait I guess as I am off to sleep. Let me simply say that they call this town “Mars town” in the western astrology world because of the large,Mars temple here. We went and visited Ganesha first there, a live elephant who bleesed our heads, then various other dieties, including Shiva in the form of “doctor”, Dhanvantari the sage who gave us Ayurveda, Parvati whose staure was over 1000 years old, and various aspects of Mars called “Mangala” and other names as well. These temples are 1000′s of years old and still very active. We had a small, speedy priest rush us around. In the end we go through the official routes of the office to give money for daily feeding the poor and personal pujas people may want for the year to propitiate or strengthen Mars energy in their charts. This is all very established, this way of giving. The highlight of our office visit today was the Barak Obama collection we did which gave us enough money to procure 4 years worth of pujas for him and to offer “Annadhana” feeding to the poor in the temple area on his inauguration day. I don’t know where we had them send the ash from those pujas (they will ordinarily send them to your home) we assume it would never make it past his security detail.

As they say in Tamil, the language here in south India, Vanakum (Hello/Goodbye)

I barely know what day it is….Jupiters day, Thursday. We have progressed from Chennai to Pondicherry to Kumbakoram- Kumba means “pot” in sanskrit and is the term for the 11th sign of the zodiac, what we know as Aquarius. The people here beleive this is a place where a piece of the pot that held “amrita” the nectar of immortality fell and hit the earth. It is considered one of the 4th holiest places in India and is surrounded by 1000’s of temples.

Our hotel is called “The Paradise Resort” and is paradise. I am sitting outside, behind the front desk, which is outside, typing on the hotel computer. There are two reliefs behind me on the wall depicting Saraswati the goddess of music, art, literature, arts and an equal image of lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Money “rupees” are considered the physical manifestation of Lakshmi and thus handled with reference. Ganesh is back here too. Ganesh is everywhere and then there he is again!

Many of us are a bit ill at this point, not so much with the food or stomach stuff but the air, the pollution, perhaps the incense and puja fires. The air is so nice now, I am sure my own congestion is almost over and I will be officially acclimated.

How many temples so far????Shiva in Chennai, Ganesha in Pndicherry, several rounds of Ganesha there as our leader Komilla seems to have a total soft spot for him so she had special events done for herself and family 4 times, and each time we got to be there and participate. The last one culminated in a live elephant named “lakshmi” being included in the puja (fire) ceremony. Then we went to a famous Shiva temple near Ramana Maharshi’s ashram, in the city with Ramanas’s beloved mountain, Arannachula. This was an ancient Shiva temple, huge, and as we progressed to the center for our puja, is was hotter and hotter, like being in the bowels of the earth. That expereince is still resonating within me, I can’t articulate it now.

I won’t try to write more now as it is late and the front desk man probably wants to get on himself. Tomorrow is my roomates 50th birthday- she is wonderful and we feel very lucky and blessed to be in this altered state- no pun intended- with each other. She is an ER nurse, energy worker, and vedic astrology person- many have borrowed her drugs so far and I have benefited immensely from her body work. We go to Tanjavor tomorrow if you want to track us. South India, Tamil Nadu state, is its own world with its own language, nothing like Hindi, it feels like you could indeed spend your life right here and be forever trying to understand what is going on.

Goodnight for now, Namaste or as they say around here “ta ta”.

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