Lorre White, The Guru of Luxury

Shadows on The Path by Abdi Assadi from Lorre White, The Luxury Guru

As I always say, luxuries are a great way to experience life more fully but if you are not balanced and happy on the inside, no amount of purchasing will chase your inner demons away.  I have never been a self help junkie but there are a few books on the topic that I do read and keep by my bed as a reminder that what I am really looking for is within me not in the pages of a book or in an expensive new bobble or toy.

 

Shadows On The Path by Abdi Assadi is a good common sense guide on how we should check in with ourselves spiritually and psychologically each day.  It is a reminder to also maintain and nurture the relationships in our life.   The book gives examples of things that we should look for, sign that may help to keep us on the path. It reminds us that we must face and embrace that which we repress, because the only way to get past it is to go through it; fear/pain can never be circumvented.  Situations and types of people will be a repeat pattern until it is addressed.  It is less painful in the long term to run directly toward it instead of always being chased by it.   I have had the privilege of working with Abdi in the past and I know that he has helped me a great deal with very difficult situations in my life.  It is often just as simple as looking at the same thing with a different perspective. He is a very gifted teacher and healer. The paper back book is $25 and includes shipping and can be purchased from http://www.shadowsonthepath.com .

 

There is also a 3 part audio podcast that is on http://www.dharma-blog.com/2008/07/abdi-assadi-and-shadows-on-path.html website.  The technical quality is poor, there are unnatural breaks between the shows, it is often hard to understand what is being said as several people are talking at the same time and often they reference something which is not explained to the audience.  But if you go into it for the deeper significance, it is also beneficial.  The podcast series runs approximately 3 hours and is free to download.

 

Here is a wonderful little book.

 

Lorre White

Don't accept anyone else's authority over you and do not accept authority over anyone else.  They may think they are right but they are not the judge; their ego makes them think their openion matters.

engage life in this three-staged process

one strategy of yoga 

gleaned from the perennial Bhagavad Gita

is to engage life in this three-staged process...

why?

empowerment.

remember, as Krisna said in chapter 2:

NO EFFORT IN THIS WORLD IS LOST OR WASTED.

A FRAGMENT OF SACRED DUTY SAVES YOU FROM GREAT FEAR.

for empowerment and for spiritual awakening,

try this:

RECEIVE the reality you are in...what is actually happening...awareness...Truth...Reality...raw honesty.

CELEBRATE it. it's a gift. all of it is a blessing.

OPTIMIZE it. radically enact making something more or better of the gift.

for instance.

you're breathing. know that.

NIXA

honor that great gift of pulsing life.

breathe well.

with this strategy, we can find the Divine IN experience...all along the way,

not waiting for the goal-oriented Divine experience at the end of the rainbow AKA heaven, enlightenment, financial security.

Conditional love is an endless prison.  "I would like them better IF......I could love him IF...."  There are no IFs in UNconditional love.

Celebrate, except....don't try to change

HOW YOU RECEIVE, CELEBRATE AND RADICALLY OPTIMIZE your experience is what you become.

all along the way.

and, your experience IS the Divine experience. now. then. in all times.

restated:

you recognize (mind) what is actually happening and what your prodigious gifts actually are...

you celebrate (heart) with great authenticity and presence that whatever you find is truly a blessing...

you perfect your own gifts (body/action) and everyone gets Grace.

your next question might be...how do you celebrate misery? pain? grief? yukkiness?...

3 ways (think about it):

maduriya - make it sweet like honey by sharing with your community. like bees, together they make the honey in the comb. make gifts. listen to others. share.

saumya - deeply imbibe experiences to a point of saturation. penetrate the unpleasurable and it moves, it shifts, it bubbles instead of thuds. go in deeper to alchemically make it golden.

saundarya - to recognize that the good and the bad, the hot and the cold, the sun and the clouds and the joy and the misery are part of a perfect, paradoxical, complex WHOLE. and it is beautiful.

try it. this is the engagement of yoga.

on the mat and off.

great love, nixa

From Nixa - yoga

website launch:

i'm so pleased to finally announce the firing up of a brand new look!

go to yogaritual.com and see my newly designed website...

including some of my fun artwork i made in '07!

Questions of the Month

We wish we could print all your e-mail letters to us since every single one is fascinating, informative, unique, and universal all at once. However, we can only pick four or so for each newsletter. Your letters are especially pertinent at this time as we delve deeper into the writing of our book. We are sure you will find many more of your questions answered there. In the meantime we hope you enjoy, learn, and expand your horizons from each others inquiries.

Breath of Fire Confusion

I just started Kundalini Yoga and I'm a little confused about breath of fire.  In Bikram Yoga, breath of fire is also called Kapalabhati breathing where you don't consciously inhale but forcefully exhale.  In your DVDs what is the Breath of Fire?  Do you inhale and exhale? It would be helpful if you explained it, since it is not explained in the DVD.  Thanks,

Thanks for writing. Breath of Fire, also known as Bhastrika, places an equal emphasis on the exhale and inhale (unlike Kapalabhati which emphasizes only the exhale). Kapalabati is meant to be done for very only periods while Breath of Fire can be done almost indefinitely.  The key to doing the Breath of Fire is to keep the diaphragm relaxed.

Please note that on all of our DVD's we explain Breath of Fire the first time it is introduced: "Breath of Fire is a somewhat rapid rhythmic breath through the nose, that is even on the in and out, really no deeper than sniffing."  We also have a Breath Primer on most of our DVDs (soon to be all of them) which helps you to learn Breath of Fire step by step.

If you don't have one of our DVD's that have the Breath Primer, we recommend Fat Free Yoga or Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond. The Breath Primer can be found by going to the chapter menu. Happy Breath of Firing!

Overwhelmed at Work

It is such a pleasure to have the opportunity to write you!  I am a big fan and have had a wonderful experience with your DVDs for over a year now.  I have a few questions I was hoping you could help answer...

1. I struggle to maintain a positive and peaceful outlook throughout my work day.  I have a lot of responsibilities and am often quite overwhelmed.  Do you have any suggestions for managing stress while at work?  Any mental mantras I could do at my desk?  I was also thinking a relaxation CD or CD with calming music might help.  I really enjoy the music you've chosen in your DVDs and the musical mantras on the warrior workout DVD and the dance the chakras DVD are also very uplifting.  I recall you were planning to publish a CD with your DVDs "greatest hits" - I am looking forward to that!
2. I also love the explanations that you provide of the benefits of each of the positions.  I am an engineer and understanding the reason behind things seems to come with my nature : )  Can you recommend any books with further explanations A format that's relatively easy to understand (such as your explanations in the DVDs) would be great.
Thanks so much!  Hopefully I will make it to one of your workshops this year - it would be such a pleasure to meet you! Take care,

Thanks for writing. We are still working on a compilation CD. A book very much like the one you described is also forthcoming.  We will keep you posted on the release date via our newsletter.

What you do before and after work will make a big difference. We recommend that you focus on your Navel Center in the morning. You could use the Navel Power DVD (as much as time allows) as well as the meditation on the Navel Power for 11 minutes (or more). After work, we recommend the PM section of AM/PM Yoga and the meditation in that set.

Activating your Navel Center in the AM will empower you to do less and get more done, delegate more effectively, and help you turn adversity into adventure. The PM breath meditation will help diminish stress and help you flow more effectively with the rhythms of the day.

A mantra you can do during the day (mentally) is called the triple mantra. Spelled phonetically it is:

Odd Guray Namay, Joo God Guray Namay, Sut Guray Namay, Sear-ee Guru Dev Ay - Namay,
Odd Such, Joo God Such, Ha-bee Such, Nanaka Ho-see Bee Such.
Odd Such, Joo God Such, Ha-bay Such, Nanaka Ho-see Bay Such.

This means I bow to the Primal Wisdom. I bow to the Wisdom through the ages. I bow to the True Wisdom. I bow to the Wisdom that will always be True. True in the beginning. True through all time. True now. True forever.

The first part of this mantra will protect you. The second part will help you work through blocks in your inner life. The next variation will help you work through blocks in your outer life.  On the sound "Such" pull your navel a bit and feel that sound going up your spine burning up impurities.

We wish you joy, health, and blessings and look forward to meeting you down the road!

All Best to You,
Ana Brett & Ravi Singh
www.raviana.com / 212.982.5518 / ravianayoga@aol.com

ONE MUST INVESTIGATE ALL LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

By Shri Brahmanada Saraswati

Regardless of persistent attempts of attention, going beyond the conscious plane seems to be impossible, yet it is equally related to unconscious and superconscious levels.  These are not three distinct levels.  They are submerging, missing, and overlapping one another.  Without going into unconscious and supersonscious levels, one cannot hope to solve the problems of life.  All questions such as whether life is eternal, whether there is an immortal soul, whether there is or is not Brahman, whether there is God, whether there is a Supreme Intelligence guiding the universe – all these questions are beyond the realm of the conscious level.  Logic can give only inferential truth, not the direct vision of truth.  For that purpose we have to investigate the unconscious level to overcome death.  We have to enter samādhi, the superconscious state, in order to attain eternity.

All that is great and good in human nature, including physical and metaphysical theories, word and ethical principles, has come to us from that realm which is beyond the region of the conscious level.  He who wants to know the direct source of reality must go beyond human consciousness.  Unanimously, world teachers admit that the Truth comes from the beyond but many of them do not know the meaning of beyond.  The science of Yoga teaches that the mind of the self has various levels of existence.  When psychological consciousness reaches beyond human consciousness into superconsciousness, it brings direct perception of reality which is beyond inferential and logical means of knowing.  One does not question the heat of fire when one puts one’s hand into it by error – one knows!  God is not distinct and apart from the mind, which operates on the unconscious level and at the same time is immanent and transcendent.  To know the whole of mind or to know God, or to know thyself or to know God, are not two different states of reality although they are seemingly two different statements.

Metaphysical and transcendental knowledge is manifested to psychological consciousness in the state of samādhi.  Transcendental knowledge is the same in the past, present, and future, in all persons and in all countries, but in one region it seems to come through an angel, in another through a trinity, in a third through God.  What does it all mean?  The science of Yoga says that chittam, mindstuff, brings this knowledge by its own nature and that the origin of knowledge is interpreted differently according to the faith, belief, and education of the person through whom it comes.

From The Textbook of Yoga Psychology

By Shri Brahmanada Saraswati

-p. 75

Upcoming March 2008 Workshops

Path of Luminous Shabda

THE BODY OF THE GODDESS

Location: Jivamukti Yoga School, NYC

Date: March 16th (Sun)

Register: www.jivamuktiyoga.com, 212.353.0214

Path of Luminous Shabda

MEDITATION, CHANTING & YOGIC DISCUSSION (FRI)

SANSKRIT ALPHABET LEVEL I (SAT/SUN)

Location: My Yoga Spirit, Norfolk, VA

Date: March 21st-23rd (Fri-Sun)

Register: www.myyogaspirit.com, 757.624.1348

Path of Luminous Shabda

THE ETERNAL THRU SANSKRIT

Location: Virayoga, NYC

Date: March 26th (Wed)

Register: www.virayoga.com, 212.334.9960

Panic attacts and yoga

I suffer from stress induced insomnia (panic attacks when I get into bed frequently keep me up, racing thoughts, etc), and when I do sleep, I toss and turn a lot. What would you recommend? I have gone the traditional doctor route and do have medication, but it's nice to also have alternatives.Thank you! I am a longtime practitioner of vinyasa flow yoga, a recent convert to kundalini.

What you describe is actually a very common problem that plagues a good portion of society. The antidote to that condition is to meditate before bed. Before you get into bed though, it would be good to take a calcium, and/ or valerian root supplement, and also brush your hair forward and back a few times. In addition, the first exercise of the 5 Tibetan sequence on Kundalini Yoga for Beginners & Beyond would be great to do. At the end of that exercise, hold in the up position (30 seconds to a minute) with long deep breathing through the nose, squeezing root lock (contracting rectum, sex organ, and navel).

The best before bed meditations are the PM meditation on AM/PM Yoga (do until you feel sleepy), the So Darshan Chakra Kriya meditation (at the end of Yoga Bliss Hips as well as Yoga Quick Fixes and Yoga House Call), and the meditation at the end of Yoga Beauty Body (you can do it lying on your stomach in bed).  Their is also a segment on Yoga Quick Fixes called "Sleep Easy" that would be beneficial for you.

If you have panic attacks and racing thoughts while lying in bed use the mantra (mentally or out loud) Wah Hay Guru. Each time you have an anxious thought, say that mantra immediately. Do it at the at the frequency of the feeling you're feeling. This may seem simple, but it will work. We understand that when one's mind is racing,  it feels like a computer searching for an answer. Another approach would be to pray for and visualize an optimum outcome. Remember that worrying is actually praying for what you don't want to happen. Pray for the positive and have faith that it will work. We wish you joy, health, and sweet dreams!

Ana Brett & Ravi Singh