Ravi Shankar, Chants of India

This beautiful recording is one of my all time favorites! 

And now here it is for free on Youtube?!?  Jai!

Ravi Shankar Chants of India (Full Album)

Prayers for Georg Feuerstein

From Brenda Feuerstein:

"It is with great sadness that I announce that my husband and spiritual partner, Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., left his body on August 25, 2012 at 9:10 PM.

At this time, I would like to request prayers from the worldwide community for Georg’s transition through the afterlife states and for a swift rebirth."

Dr. Feuerstein's dedication and contribution to the study and preservation of yoga and the expression of those teachings cannot be measured. 

His website, books, manuals and movie appearances are priceless reference materials which will continue to inspire and illuminate our practice for many years to come.

I personally consider Dr. Feuerstein's Yoga Philosophy Teacher Training Manual to be of the highest calibre, and have been proud to use it as a primary reference in my Origin, History and Basic Philosophy of Yoga classes since it first became available in 2007.

Thank you, Dr. Feuerstein.  Thanks and loving sympathies to you, Brenda. 

Honoring Brenda's request, I offer these prayers.

Georg, Yogi of Noble Birth, may you journey fearlessly though the transitory states of existence and be released from the cycle of birth and death, or find your way to a peaceful rebirth where you can continue to benefit all beings.  Om Trayambakam x 108. 

Prayers for Diamond Mountain

It is with deep dismay that I share this open letter from Geshe Michael Roach.

Please click here to go to the Diamond Mountain University website.

I offer these prayers for Ian and his family, Lama Christie, Geshe Michael, Diamond Mountain's Three Year Retreatants, Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, students, sponsors, and the worldwide Sangha.

May all beings be happy.  May all beings be peaceful.  May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Trayambakam x 108

Shine, Yogis and Yoginis Shine!

Shiva, The Great Yogi

Warm greetings and salutations to the Hatha Yoga Teacher Trainees at Yoga for Today!  

Thank you all for your time and enthusiastic participation in this weekend's Yoga Philosophy classes.

Here is the link to my previous blog post on the Mahamrityunjaya mantra - The Mantra for "Great Liberation" otherwise known as the Om Trayambakam.

And the quote I mentioned from Marianne Williamson:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

----from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson.

Thank you to those of you who submitted your Yamas and Niyamas assignment yesterday.  I look forward to reading them.  They will be available for you to pick up from the front desk by Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

And Congratulations!  In addition to fulfilling the philosophy requirement for your Hatha Yoga Teacher Training Program, you've completed 15 hours of study toward my FREE Apprenticeship Program certificate!  I look forward to your application!  Jai!

Namaste!

Om Trayambakam

All the rain this year may have limited our chances to tan but it has certainly been a blessing for gardeners!  Bountiful crops are coming to harvest and we are enjoying the sweet and juicy fruits of our efforts and of the cycle of nature in abundance! 

A delicious gift of garden tomatos and a fresh cucumber from a generous student got me thinking about one of my favorite fresh summer salads (Israeli Salad Recipe on the Prasad Page) and a summer several years ago, when I worked at a U-pick cucumber farm to deepen my understanding of one of the most famous mantras in Yoga, the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra.  This is the mantra of great liberation, also known as the Om Trayambakam.

Lord Shiva, Lord of the Yogis, destroying the demon of ignorance.

Dedicated to Lord Shiva, whose eye of intuition (or third eye) opens to bring about the dance of destruction, this mantra is often chanted at the beginning of important endeavors and voyages and at occassions which mark time like birthdays, and passings.  Traditionally it is chanted as an amulet to protect the chanter or others from calamities like scorpion stings, rampaging elephants and other equally nasty disasters! 

Nowadays, at the ashram and at home, we chant it whenever we get into a vehicle, praying for the safety of the driver, the passengers and everyone on the road or in the air or on the ocean as the case may be.  We love to "Om Trayambakam" our friends when they depart, wishing them a safe journey and a speedy return.

This mantra evokes the image of a cucumber being severed from the vine, and reminds us that we too are released from the bondage of our own mortal limitations, not one itsy-bitsy moment too early or too late.

Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat

We Meditate on the Three-eyed reality
Which permeates and nourishes all like a fragrance.
May we be liberated from death for the sake of immortality,
Even as the cucumber is severed from bondage to the creeper.

This mantra, handwritten in Devanagari or the written form of Sanskrit, as well as the transliteration and translation above can be found at:  swamij.com

You can chant this mantra 3 times, 9 times, or 108 times to bless and remind your Self that all things happen according to cycle of nature and divine timing! 

As I plucked the ripe cucumbers that summer, I chanted this mantra over and over and over again and re-learned a basic truth in gardening and in life.  Everything has a season.  There is a time to sow the seeds, and a time to reap the harvest of what we've planted. 

If the cucumbers are tugged before they are ready to release from the plant, the vine itself is damaged.  If they are left too long, they sag into the soil and rot.  The art in cucumber picking, and maybe life, is not to struggle against either. 

Be diligent in maintaining your garden and your practice and you won't lose or limit your harvest.  Be gentle and patient and at just the right moment, the sweet reward will drop willingly into your hands!

Om Trayambakam!