2013 in Review

What an amazing year.  I am so grateful and feel like the year 2013 will be one of my most significant years of reference.  I completed two TTCs (Art of Living and Sri Sri Yoga) this year, Sri Sri Yoga I & Sri Sri Yoga II, Guru Puja I, attended Guru Poornima for my first time, became a Marma practitioner, taught my first Art of Living course, went through my Upananayanam, learned the Sandhyavandanam Puja, and attended Navratri celebrations in Bangalore.  I also committed to the spiritual path as a Brahmachari for life.

On the professional front, this was the first year ever of being self-employed.  I brokered over US $2M in real estate investments, sold my property management company, paid off all of my debts including student loans and my house, and remodeled my cottage house.

My most memorable experience this year was directly speaking to Gurudev twice in one year.  During our Vedic Wisdom course I told him we would raise 15 lakhs or $25,000 US dollars for a village's water system near Yellamanchili in Andhra Pradesh.  During Gurudev's first Christmas in the US, I had a chance to have Gurudev open my Christmas gift to him on Christmas day...felt like a dream come true!  He opened up the Ganesha glass globe ornament and held it up for everyone to see.  I also had a chance to give him our Keep Austin Meditating business card.  He seemed to love it :-)  For one reason or another, I felt like I was pulled in to meet Gurudev in his Boone home multiple evenings during the Christmas TRM & the Silence Course.   I feel so blessed to be in his consciousness.  I feel that he's in each and every cell of my existence.  This was also the first year I completely surrendered to the divine.  I am now completely open to whatever Gurudev wants.

Here's my list of New Year's resolutions I keep on my phone to review every now and then...here's the year 2013:
1.  Guru Puja, TTC, Upanishads, Guru Poornima - DONE
2.  Grow business &/ get work - DONE
3.  Get in a loving relationship / don't waste your time - DONE
4.  Finish all of Notes to the Sincere Seeker - DONE
5.  Bring 50 people to AOL
6.  Heal shoulder - DONE
7.  Be a great uncle & mentor to kiddos - DONE
8.  Sincerely help / uplift at least one person / day
9.  Be loving & unassuming - innocent
10.  Study all of Ashtavakra, Yoga Pitanjali, & Narada Bhakti Sutras books & videos - DONE

Extra Credit:

Sri Sri Yoga 2 - DONE

Back to daily Sadhana - DONE

Close 2 properties and sign up two new clients - DONE

Get to true passive income goal - DONE

Maintain a clean and well organized home - IN PROGRESS

Sell all 3 cars and get Highlander - DONE

All in all, I feel like I had a very successful year.  On the happiness side, I feel much happier than I was at the end of 2012 and can feel the change within a year.  I can feel the depth of being on this path with discipline.  I can sense the changes will continue as I lose the sense of "I" "me" or "my" and gain the sense of the field of consciousness.  What is truly hollow and empty?  Who am I?  What does "you are that" really mean?  What is happiness?  Equanimity?  What are the layers of the universe?  What is surrender?  What is consciousness?  What is liberation?  Enlightenment?  What is present moment awareness?  Brahma Consciousness?  So many questions to ponder on...I have some ideas, but sense the answers we have to these questions are either beyond words / change over time.

In loving kindness.  May 2014 be filled with love, harmony, belongingness with everyone, sincerity, and authenticity.

Love & Jai Guru Dev,

An Aspiring Yogi

Two Months in India

Wanted to share experiences from an unbelievable two months at the Bangalore Ashram.  I feel very lucky to have spent 6 of the 8 weeks at the Ashram with Gurudev.  

The first course we did was the Navratri celebrations and silence course.  I had great company with Vyom Ji (a local Austinite).  The Homas and Pujas were so powerful with so many people in our very own Yagnashala (the Ampitheater:  http://www.artofliving.org/bangalore-ashram/yagnashala).  Felt like we had upwards of 10,000 people there at one time during these events.  Thanks to Vyom's guidance, I took a couple of Sankalpas (sponsoring the Puja with Intention).  The depth of experience cannot be put into words.

The second course I took was the Vedic Wisdom course.  This month-long course included the sacred threading ceremony:  Upanayana.  Here's a video on the course:  Vedic Wisdom Program - The Art of Living.  We took a deep dive into sacred Mantra chanting and performing Pujas / Homas.  I also had a chance to complete an initial reading of the Bhagavad Gita text.  I look forward to continually studying this text and Gurudev's commentary.  We touched on Sanskrit and the basics of the language.  One of the most significant experiences of my life was our Padyatra journey to Andhra Pradesh (AP).  A group of 4 of us (all Americans) spent one week in AP and completed 4,000 blessings.  We met several villagers and used Yellamanchili as our home base.  An eye and heart opening experience.  We are hoping to raise $25k in the US to provide our host's village with a clean water system.  We are now actively working with the Art of Living's Deepening Roots / Adopt a Village program.  I'll share more soon.

The third course I did was Sri Sri Yoga TTC.  The Sri Sri Yoga TTC in India was intense...a true stretch, no pun intended :-)  I averaged about 3 to 4 hours of sleep per night for over two weeks.  We had exams at the end and I'm glad to share that I'm now a Sri Sri yoga teacher :-)  All I can say is, just do it!  TTC was awesome.

I am excited about seeing Gurudev again in Boone.  I hope many of us will be there to be with Gurudev.

Hope many from the US will join for Shivatri in 2014:  2/26 - 3/2:  http://www.artoflivinguniverse.org/2013/11/Maha-Shivratri-Celebration-2014-Bangalore-Ashram.html.

A Desire Fulfilled...

I just finished hanging out with SF.  She's every man's dream...attractive Russian blonde with an amazing body.  5'6 and an avid yoga class enthusiast. She's actually my perfect astrological match & I'm a Gemini so there's not many out there.  I've casually pursued her for about three years.  We dated briefly a few years ago until i found out she was married going through a divorce...I thought it wasn't right.  I enjoy being around her, but am not in love with her.  I tend to have this exact same reaction with almost all women.  I feel like it's a waste of my time.  In fact, post-coital, the tejas / simply prana in the system feels very low.  As I go deeper and deeper in my spiritual path, I feel that casual romantic encounters get in the way of awareness, consciousness, depth & simple happiness on the path.  The low prana felt after and the next day feel like it's not worth the temporary and momentary pleasure of sex.  Why does the male human have such a strong sense of lust / desire for sex?  I need to let SF know that I can't see her romantically anymore.  I am glad to be dear friends with her, but not at a physical level.  I believe that sex should be from a space of deep love vs. lust.  I read a beautiful quote earlier today:  "When we don’t need anything from anyone, we will not have cravings towards anybody. When there is no craving, there will be no aversion.+Sri Sri Ravi Shankar."  Such a profound statement.  Letting go of lust / sex / desire could be one of the greatest & most liberating acts for a human male. I aspire to reach the point where I feel like a child...a yogi, if you will.  I'm falling asleep now...with deep gratitude for this realization...may I grow in maturity to not repeat this again.

Love & Jai Guru Dev,

An Aspiring Yogi