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

A very small sub-nuclear Christmas 2010

So it's Christmas day 2010. I'm surprised that our family is not together today. The Indian culture prides itself so much on connectedness and family, that it surprises me that on this day when we all have off as vacation, we are all alone. My father's knee is in recovery after surgery, so I decided to stay with my folks on Christmas. Surprisingly, we have cousins, my grandmother, and my uncle and aunt here in Clear Lake, yet only my father and mother are with me today. Odd that our family is not more connected. I guess we are foreigners in a Christian country. Would be wonderful if our family did get together today and truly celebrate Christmas together. Instead, we buy a ton of presents for each other, but don't even spend this day together. So here we are on this wonderful day. I

On gratitude...

So I've decided to start blogging on gratitude.  I recently heard from my Guru that the ultimate form of prayer is to be happy and grateful, so I'm excited to begin more entries on gratitude. 

Shooting from the hip, I feel like I'm grateful for the clean air I breathe, the ability to breathe, healthy lungs, eyes to see, ears to hear, water to drink and clean myself with.  I am grateful for a private bathroom, plumbing, running water, and electricity. 

I feel blessed to have found my spiritual master and guide in this lifetime. 

I feel lucky to be able to walk without any major pain and live each day with good health and energy.  I love that I'm intellectually and spiritually curious and have been able to shift most of my procreative energy up to my heart center.  I sincerely believe I'm making significant progress from head to heart center and feel the energy transformation.

I love that I have a wonderful home and a dedicated yoga, breathing, and meditation practice.  I love that I have a weekly meetup with my spiritual family and have a group of people helping me to succeed and progress on the path each week.

I feel gratitude to have the realization that my purpose here is to be of love in the service of others.  However I can help from feeding the homeless to being a good friend, mentor, son, brother, and uncle.

I am grateful for a wonderful set of friends and the opportunity to contribute in this world.  I think I'm lucky to be able to manage a career and business and help whenever I can.  This energy that flows through me is amazing.  Such a blessing.

I am grateful to have some knowledge of the practice and life philosophy of yoga.

I feel so lucky to be dropping the desire for another person to complete me / bring me happiness.  Finding happiness within and through divine love is such a gift.

Love,

RMS

Race as Irrelevant

I just made a major decision today and my neurosis / botheration came to mind and I'm not sure why, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that race is completely irrelevant in modern day society. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we in modern day society on a world-wide basis, pretty much exist in terms of education and socio-economic status, not in racial states. Even as religion edges out of mainstream society and spirituality and god replace religion as the ultimate in a global unifying force, we realize that god and the breath bring light into our bodies, minds, and souls. As we come to self-realization, we realize that this moment, and each moment that we exist within, is as life should be...as life is. We are being regardless of religion, race, education, or any other factor that serves to differentiate us. Even beyond race, many other factors become irrelevant, as we get further and further away from that which creates unhappiness, exclusivity. As we move towards the ultimate unifying light, we realize that this light is within each and everyone of us, and can shine brighter than anything that may appear on our surface, or anything that may even come out of our mouths. So regardless of race, religion, sex / gender, socio-economic status, physical appearance, or even education, what will unify our species is the light w/in us, our soul / athma. When we realize that our existence is from the inside, not out, we can shine our light among all of our brothers and sisters, our fellow human beings.

As we come into Martin Luther King Jr's Anniversary Day, I want to share his "I have a Dream" thought in speech.

Notes from his speech:
unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

"insufficient funds."
riches of freedom and the security of justice
promises of democracy
solid rock of brotherhood
justice a reality for all of God's children
overlook the urgency of the moment.
invigorating autumn of freedom and equality
citizenship rights
high plane of dignity and discipline
soul force.
destiny is tied up with our destiny
justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations

creative suffering

Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal

the table of brotherhood

an oasis of freedom and justice

join hands as sisters and brothers.

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

stone of hope.

a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom together

all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Let freedom ring

thank God Almighty, we are free

An interpretation of his speech to now:
Is enjoying this time to reflect on what Martin Luther King, Jr. provided for humanity. Even beyond race, especially as race becomes more irrelevant in our global lives, his words of wisdom will have benefits for generations to come. Let this wonderful day be a reminder of not only what Martin Luther King, Jr succeeded in, but also what Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and countless unnamed humans provided humanity with. MLK’s speech reminds me of the wonderful things that we have today:
• The unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
• Society’s funding to overcome insufficient funds in our hearts through meditation, yoga, spirituality and the breath
• The riches of freedom and the security of justice
• Promises of democracy
• A solid rock of brotherhood among mankind
• Justice as a reality for all of God's children
• This present moment
• The invigorating autumn of freedom and equality
• Citizenship rights to multiple countries
• The high plane of dignity and discipline among our species
• Our soul’s force in our many cyclical lives of birth and death
• To allow the American destiny to be tied up with the world’s destiny
• Justice as it rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream
In life, each and every day, I think that Martin Luther King Jr’s life is a reminder that some of us have come here on earth out of great trials and tribulations from past lives of creative suffering and that we will continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. As Eckhart Tolle suggests, may we be able to surrender our ego, eliminate suffering, and live with acceptance, energy, &/ enthusiasm in each and every moment.
We hold truths to be self-evident… that all men are created equal:
• as we eat and live from the table of brotherhood in an oasis of freedom and justice
• as we join hands as sisters and brothers
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together as we sit together under the Bodhi tree on a stone of hope…as did Buddha 2,500 years ago.
Our lives w/in the human community are a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to stand up for freedom together.
All of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My one earth, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Earth where my fathers died, land of pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
Let freedom ring
I thank God and the Force beyond and within us almighty, we can be free, peaceful, and joyous.
I give thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr for his continued ability to lead us along the divine path with a strong mind and a tender heart among humanity.
Peace, Namaste, and Amen!

A really just slow / boring date...

So I had a date tonight with AEM, a beautiful woman that I've taken out several times, but it hit me tonight, that I'm just bored as fu*$ when we go out. I couldn't even get her to laugh. I felt like someone was sucking the energy right out of me. I enjoy having someone with me, but I just felt like I was not alive. I don't think she is. I felt like her and I are similarly aligned with business and personal development, but we don't discuss the deeper aspects of life and enjoy life. I feel like we're both yin and not one of us in the yang...it is dry nonetheless. It made me realize that I value being alive and joyous and carefree more than anything else and I want someone who will make me feel joyous and alive! So now what...I figure we'll remain good friends, but that's about it. I can't keep dating someone that ends the night at 9pm every time we go out. I have got to STOP taking her out and get a real date with a real woman I find interesting and alive.

I feel like the racism and prejudices are lowering and the space for a wonderful woman is opening. I am looking forward to meeting someone wonderful in 2011.

In loving kindness,

RMS

Thanksgiving in Loving Kindness

I'm sure it's been a long while since I've written on my blog. I finally broke a year long streak. I seem to have taken a side path from picking up. I was in and out of a relationship with Ami last Fall and then we reunited again recently after I finished the Landmark Forum. She's someone that I've been strongly emotionally connected to, but I'm not sure she's the one and I'm not inclined to get married to her. For whatever reason, I'm not sure and I want to be sure. She's pushing the marriage card so hard, that I couldn't commit. So it's time to move on. I've since hooked up with one of my tenants who's fresh out of a marriage. She's now divorced and seems nice, but also seems quite serious. Pursuing a life that's joyful and lighthearted seems more and more difficult as we make our lives more and more complex. I'm not necessarily arguing for making life any simpler, just simply arguing that if we alleviate many of the loose ends in our life, we'll be happier and more joyful. How do we strive to lower our negative energies and increase our positive joyful energies? I think that we need to clear space in our mind and strive for connectedness within our communities and frienships. How many deep long lasting relationships do we truly have? How do we strive for continuing to develop deep and meaningful relationships. What is our life's purpose? How do we strive to live a life that's truly meaningful with acceptance, energy, or enthusiasm in everyhing we do?

What is this life about? I would argue that the Budhist's five hindrances have something to do with living an authentic and meaningful life. Doubt, clinging and wanting / neediness definitely have something to do with prevening us from living an authentic and lighthearted life. More than preventing / not doing what we want, we should stive for a life with open-mindedness, joy, and peace.

What should we strive for to find ultimate happiness? Ultimate happiness is found from being completely present without dwelling on the past / worrying about the future. When you can surrender your ego, you can allow yourself to drop your pain-body. When you can eliminate your wanting and simply be you can find ultimate joy in being. Some would argue that you might stive for wanting what you have vs. wanting what you don't have, but why not simply drop your wanting all together as what we have is all temporary / impermanent?

How can you find comfort and happiness in life? I think by simply being present to each moment and keeping your journey purposeful so you can find that life's growth is organic and purpose will come. It's like the butterfly that evolves or the butterflies that know which flowers to approach to protect their offspring. They find the flower that allows their offspring to survive and protect.

As we enjoy the day, what are we thankful for? I am thankful for this moment, access to warmth, family, and a call today from a great friend of mine. I am thankful for the great education that I have and the opportunity to apply that education to achieve financial independence. I am thankful for the freedom and freewill that I have to explore the mind and body. I am thankful for introspection and the opportunity to care for others. I am thankful that I have the means to provide for others and explore religions. I am thankful for the challenges and breakdowns that occur in life and the lessons that we learn from them. I am thankful for the amazing people that have touched my life. I would have never imagined the possibilities of learning from multiple relationships and careers. I am thankful for the opportunity to have loved and lost. I am thankful for the opportunity to self-actualize having met most of the basic needs in life. I am thankful for the realization that life is about experiences and not any material wealth. The wealthiest are those that know that each moment is their present happiness and that the lighter we live life, the happier we are. I am thankful for the cultures that exist within my life. There's a lot to be thankful for. I appreciate the world we live in. I feel lucky to have been born in a safe and loving world and family.

So what is left? The opportunity to be intimately connected to one's own family goes beyond our nuclear walls. The undevotional love that we can have for humanity can have a lifetime's impact on those that we come in contact with. How do we increase the joy in others that we interact with? How do we find random acts of kindness? Within the walls of Asset-based thinking, ego elimination, and presence, we can find the diamonds in the rough, the greatness in each momemt and present opportunities for love and kindness within our communities and the world. Why limit this loving kindess to our specieis? How can we increase our karmic joy and kindess to spread to all others? I would argue that surrounding yourself with life and compassion can increase your joy and the joy of others.

On to self-compassion. A funny movie I watched recently was The Love Guru. One of the funny lessons was on Intimacy or In To Me I See - very true, right? The first step towards intimacy is within ourselves. Are we comfortable within our own skin? If you cannot find comfort and love within yourself, you cannot find it with someone else / within your family / community. What are the dimensions of self-compassion? These include mindfulness, kindness, and common humanity. Mindfulness in terms of being present, kindness in terms of being kind to others and to yourself, and common humanity in terms of realizing that what happens to you is not unique, but a part of the human condition.

In Loving Kindness,

RMS for GSW