Acceptance
Getting up at 6:00 a.m. is earlier than I like to get up on most days, however on vacation, dreamland is the only place I like to visit at that hour. But this was a journey, not a vacation, so I suited up for yoga (which meant wearing the cargo pants and t-shirt I wear everyday) and proceeded down to the outdoor amphitheatre where Fathima was beckoning everyone to hurry as the clock neared 6:30.
Lined up in five rows, we began stretching exercises and moved into sun salutations when three women showed up twenty minutes late. Without delay, the girls were ordered to run twenty laps around the amphitheatre while yoga instruction continued on the circular marble stage. But Fathima had a soft side and after two lazy laps, the women were invited to join the class.
Watching the sunrise over the trees while moving through the sun salutations gave me a new perspective on the pose I had attempted many times in yoga studios back home. After all, thanking the sun for its energy (intention behind the pose) seems to miss the point when being performed indoors. A feeling of gratitude warmed over me as I found myself truly in the present listening to the birds chirping at the sunrise, doing yoga at an ashram in India as a new day dawned. There is something about sunrises, all of the possibilities of the new day, the cool fresh air, the life giving energy upon which all life depends shining upon your face, that is pleasing to the soul.
Yoga poses and lecture complete, class was dismissed at 7:30 and set to reconvene at 9:00 in the interior classroom. To my surprise, rice pancakes would be on tap for breakfast. No Aunt Jamaima, but the mind can be a powerful syrup maker when called upon and my mind was calling. A nice respite from the usual food served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I had two short stacks with imaginary all natural Vermont maple syrup. Hey, if you have a choice, why not imagine the best?
Class promptly resumed at 9:00 where a discussion of “acceptance” was started. Using her customary Socratic method, Fathima began questioning the class on seemingly unrelated issues and then drove the point home. Already my memory escapes me as to the examples used by Fathima, but the point is one familiar to many, “Accept others and situations as they are.” In a nut shell, going with the flow is easier than resisting. Fathima had us repeat after her, “whatever you resist will persist.” Made sense, but it is also easier said than done.
The remainder of the morning consisted of getting into small groups and checking our form and breath for correct Kriya and ultimately performing our second full Kriya session just before lunch. We repeated the same breath work and postures as the previous day. Unfortunately, once in the kick back phase of the exercise, Mr. Adenoid began slamming his larynx walls together once again entering my untrained meditating mind as an unwelcome guest.
“Quiet!! Would someone wake him? Why are you letting this continue?,” my mind furiously complained as moments before I was once again enjoying the peace and serenity from the Kriya process. I knew this was a test. A true yogi would be undisturbed by such a petty noise, but I was more of a yogi bear, with an expertise in peanut butter.
After lunch, we watched a CD on the Art of Living Foundation, learning about Guruji and the Art of Living. Sri Sri began reciting the Bhagavad Gita at the age of four (something I would have trouble doing at thirty four) and basically devoted his whole life to spreading the wisdom from the ancient texts and making the world a better place. Before he was twenty, he was more accomplished with his studies and world knowledge than most eighty year olds I know. There is a lot more to him than my summary in this paragraph so if you are interested, just Google “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar” or the “Art of Living”. Of course, he may gain a lot more notoriety if he actually wins the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for which he is nominated.
The Art of Living Foundation, started in 1982, performs good deeds all around the world with rural school projects, prison programs and providing food to those in need. Sri Sri has met with heads of state from around the world, including Bush, Putin, Chirac and Blair to name a few. His message is compelling and cross-denominational so it has a wide non-threatening appeal. In class for example, Fathima, a Muslim, was teaching Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Christians. That is one of the many beautiful aspects behind the Art of Living.
The afternoon session continued with some challenging exercises, which I will not go into out of respect for the course. Again, taking the course cannot be supplemented or adequately described in words, it must be felt as a shared experience which will no doubt differ for everyone. There are no short cuts.
With each hour, the class grew closer together, eating together, helping each other and sharing life stories. Being from a far away land to which few had traveled, there was particular interest in Marc and I. The international experience was definitely a plus in this respect as Indians from about five different states and ages from 22 to 62 attended the session so the breadth of life experience was fascinating.
(Saturday night at the ashram. Satsang gets under way with some serious dancing.)
Day 3
The final day began with another 6:30 a.m. yoga session, although this time the yoga took the form of the daily routines for a village Indian woman. We did the laundry, prepared the food and cleaned the imaginary house through pseudo yoga poses. It was fun and a lot of work, providing insight into a world without vacuums and washing machines.
The morning session involved a cool “immortality” meditation designed to let you reflect on what changes as you age. This was one of my favorite exercises as it gave a glimpse into life at 6 mos old through the years to eighty years old, the concept being that while the body aged, the soul was the same throughout. If you can get into this meditation it is quite rewarding.
More exercises followed delving into issues of identity, ego and other people’s opinions. It was appropriate for the third and final day of the course as the Kriya process was designed to cleanse the surface layers of self. As the course came to a close, people were open to sharing, exchanging gifts, e-mail addresses and in our case, invitations to stay at their homes.
Marc and I were unsure of our next stop, but we figured we would stay at the ashram for one more night since it was included. Adapted to the ashram pace and basic lifestyle, time was moving at a pleasurable speed with lots of peace and goodwill in the air. We were in no hurry to leave. Mulling around the classroom, we watched as Guruji walked from his quarters to the outdoor marble circle set before the amphitheatre where we had done yoga for the past two mornings. It was Sunday, and people from all over had come to the ashram to see, hear and partake in satsang which started two hours earlier than it’s usual 7:30 start time. An elephant carrying a palm branch with its trunk stood outside the building from which Guruji emerged. A sign of prosperity and auspiciousness, he walked to the elephants trunk, fed it some flowers and nuts, and proceeded to the stage.
(Above: Guruji feeds the elephant as a crowd gathers.)
We made our way from the stuppa to the amphitheatre and began listening to Guruji’s response to audience questions. Questions ranged from love to “truth” to politics. He had an answer for all often receiving applause for his wise speech. And it was wise, his clarity of mind was evidenced by the sharpness of his answers, on point, direct and resonating with the heart as well as the mind.
(Above: Outdoor satsang with Guruji - view from the classroom. Also where morning yoga took place.)
As we sat in the amphitheatre on a two foot brick wall watching the sun set behind the stuppa and listening to the satsang, two of the girls from our class approached and extended an invitation to their home for the evening. Earlier they and their parents had invited us to dinner the following day. Now the anty was upped as an overnight invitation was offered. Marc and I looked at each other checking to see if the other had a preference. We had traveled well together for ten days and were at the stage of almost completing each other’s sentences. No negative head twitches or eye squints showing between us and an RSVP demanded on the spot, we accepted. We had to pack to leave immediately.
To be continued . . .
Lined up in five rows, we began stretching exercises and moved into sun salutations when three women showed up twenty minutes late. Without delay, the girls were ordered to run twenty laps around the amphitheatre while yoga instruction continued on the circular marble stage. But Fathima had a soft side and after two lazy laps, the women were invited to join the class.
Watching the sunrise over the trees while moving through the sun salutations gave me a new perspective on the pose I had attempted many times in yoga studios back home. After all, thanking the sun for its energy (intention behind the pose) seems to miss the point when being performed indoors. A feeling of gratitude warmed over me as I found myself truly in the present listening to the birds chirping at the sunrise, doing yoga at an ashram in India as a new day dawned. There is something about sunrises, all of the possibilities of the new day, the cool fresh air, the life giving energy upon which all life depends shining upon your face, that is pleasing to the soul.
Yoga poses and lecture complete, class was dismissed at 7:30 and set to reconvene at 9:00 in the interior classroom. To my surprise, rice pancakes would be on tap for breakfast. No Aunt Jamaima, but the mind can be a powerful syrup maker when called upon and my mind was calling. A nice respite from the usual food served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I had two short stacks with imaginary all natural Vermont maple syrup. Hey, if you have a choice, why not imagine the best?
Class promptly resumed at 9:00 where a discussion of “acceptance” was started. Using her customary Socratic method, Fathima began questioning the class on seemingly unrelated issues and then drove the point home. Already my memory escapes me as to the examples used by Fathima, but the point is one familiar to many, “Accept others and situations as they are.” In a nut shell, going with the flow is easier than resisting. Fathima had us repeat after her, “whatever you resist will persist.” Made sense, but it is also easier said than done.
The remainder of the morning consisted of getting into small groups and checking our form and breath for correct Kriya and ultimately performing our second full Kriya session just before lunch. We repeated the same breath work and postures as the previous day. Unfortunately, once in the kick back phase of the exercise, Mr. Adenoid began slamming his larynx walls together once again entering my untrained meditating mind as an unwelcome guest.
“Quiet!! Would someone wake him? Why are you letting this continue?,” my mind furiously complained as moments before I was once again enjoying the peace and serenity from the Kriya process. I knew this was a test. A true yogi would be undisturbed by such a petty noise, but I was more of a yogi bear, with an expertise in peanut butter.
After lunch, we watched a CD on the Art of Living Foundation, learning about Guruji and the Art of Living. Sri Sri began reciting the Bhagavad Gita at the age of four (something I would have trouble doing at thirty four) and basically devoted his whole life to spreading the wisdom from the ancient texts and making the world a better place. Before he was twenty, he was more accomplished with his studies and world knowledge than most eighty year olds I know. There is a lot more to him than my summary in this paragraph so if you are interested, just Google “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar” or the “Art of Living”. Of course, he may gain a lot more notoriety if he actually wins the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for which he is nominated.
The Art of Living Foundation, started in 1982, performs good deeds all around the world with rural school projects, prison programs and providing food to those in need. Sri Sri has met with heads of state from around the world, including Bush, Putin, Chirac and Blair to name a few. His message is compelling and cross-denominational so it has a wide non-threatening appeal. In class for example, Fathima, a Muslim, was teaching Hindus, Muslims, Jains and Christians. That is one of the many beautiful aspects behind the Art of Living.
The afternoon session continued with some challenging exercises, which I will not go into out of respect for the course. Again, taking the course cannot be supplemented or adequately described in words, it must be felt as a shared experience which will no doubt differ for everyone. There are no short cuts.
With each hour, the class grew closer together, eating together, helping each other and sharing life stories. Being from a far away land to which few had traveled, there was particular interest in Marc and I. The international experience was definitely a plus in this respect as Indians from about five different states and ages from 22 to 62 attended the session so the breadth of life experience was fascinating.
(Saturday night at the ashram. Satsang gets under way with some serious dancing.)
Day 3
The final day began with another 6:30 a.m. yoga session, although this time the yoga took the form of the daily routines for a village Indian woman. We did the laundry, prepared the food and cleaned the imaginary house through pseudo yoga poses. It was fun and a lot of work, providing insight into a world without vacuums and washing machines.
The morning session involved a cool “immortality” meditation designed to let you reflect on what changes as you age. This was one of my favorite exercises as it gave a glimpse into life at 6 mos old through the years to eighty years old, the concept being that while the body aged, the soul was the same throughout. If you can get into this meditation it is quite rewarding.
More exercises followed delving into issues of identity, ego and other people’s opinions. It was appropriate for the third and final day of the course as the Kriya process was designed to cleanse the surface layers of self. As the course came to a close, people were open to sharing, exchanging gifts, e-mail addresses and in our case, invitations to stay at their homes.
Marc and I were unsure of our next stop, but we figured we would stay at the ashram for one more night since it was included. Adapted to the ashram pace and basic lifestyle, time was moving at a pleasurable speed with lots of peace and goodwill in the air. We were in no hurry to leave. Mulling around the classroom, we watched as Guruji walked from his quarters to the outdoor marble circle set before the amphitheatre where we had done yoga for the past two mornings. It was Sunday, and people from all over had come to the ashram to see, hear and partake in satsang which started two hours earlier than it’s usual 7:30 start time. An elephant carrying a palm branch with its trunk stood outside the building from which Guruji emerged. A sign of prosperity and auspiciousness, he walked to the elephants trunk, fed it some flowers and nuts, and proceeded to the stage.
(Above: Guruji feeds the elephant as a crowd gathers.)
We made our way from the stuppa to the amphitheatre and began listening to Guruji’s response to audience questions. Questions ranged from love to “truth” to politics. He had an answer for all often receiving applause for his wise speech. And it was wise, his clarity of mind was evidenced by the sharpness of his answers, on point, direct and resonating with the heart as well as the mind.
(Above: Outdoor satsang with Guruji - view from the classroom. Also where morning yoga took place.)
As we sat in the amphitheatre on a two foot brick wall watching the sun set behind the stuppa and listening to the satsang, two of the girls from our class approached and extended an invitation to their home for the evening. Earlier they and their parents had invited us to dinner the following day. Now the anty was upped as an overnight invitation was offered. Marc and I looked at each other checking to see if the other had a preference. We had traveled well together for ten days and were at the stage of almost completing each other’s sentences. No negative head twitches or eye squints showing between us and an RSVP demanded on the spot, we accepted. We had to pack to leave immediately.
To be continued . . .
posted by Global415 at 7:44 PM
<< Home