PEACE LOVE YOGA: September 2014

Burnt To Ash

"All Inquiry is meant for one purpose; to take you experientially into the unknown as efficiently as possible. Once you get there, simply be still because inquiry has delivered you to its destination. The rest is up to Grace. Do not hold onto any knowledge that comes your way. Even the greatest revelations much not be clung to, or you will end up with a head full of memories and a heart empty of substance. The truth is ever new, existing only in the now. The highest truth is beyond knowledge and experience. It is beyond time and space, and beyond beingness, consciousness, and oneness. Just remember that all direct path techniques are meant simply to undermine, to cut away, the one who is performing them. No matter what spiritual path you've walked or what teachings you've followed, they must lead you back to no path and no teaching. A true teaching is like a blazing fire that consumes the itself. The teaching must not only consume you, but consume itself as well. All must be burned to ash, and then the ash must be burned. The, and only then, is the Ultimate realized. True Enlightenment destroys enlightenment. As long as you can refer back to yourself and say, 'I'm enlightened', you not. Enlightenment is authentic only when there is no one left to be enlightened. Even to say 'I am nobody', is one too many. There's a point when you intuitively realize that to be Free you have to give up your attachment to Freedom. You have to quit asking yourself: Is it still there? Am I okay? You have to decide to never look over your shoulder again to see if you're free or if others know you're free. You just have to let yourself burn there - no matter what. This isn't something I can help you with. I can tell you what you need to do, but you have to do it. In the beginning, teachers can help a lot. But the deeper you go, all they can do is point, and clarify, and tell you what you need to do. Only you can take this step. Nobody can push you in to this place."

- Adyashanti

No Expectations

A spirit that lives in this world

and does not wear the shirt of love,

such an existence is a deep disgrace.

Be foolishly in love,

because love is all there is.

There is no way into presence

except through a love exchange.

If someone asks, But what is love?

answer, Dissolving the will.

True freedom comes to those

who have escaped the questions

of freewill and fate.

Love is an emperor.

The two worlds play across him.

He barely notices their tumbling game.

Love and lover live in eternity.

Other desires are substitutes

for that way of being.

How long do you lay embracing a corpse?

Love rather the soul, which cannot be held.

Anything born in spring dies in the fall,

but love is not seasonal.

With wine pressed from grapes,

expect a hangover.

But this love path has no expectations.

You are uneasy riding the body?

Dismount. Travel lighter.

Wings will be given.

Be clear like a mirror

reflecting nothing.

Be clean of pictures and the worry

that comes with images.

Gaze into what is not ashamed

or afraid of any truth.

Contain all human faces in your own

without any judgement of them.

Be pure emptiness.

What is inside that? you ask.

Silence is all I can say.

Lovers have some secrets

that they keep.

(Rumi)

Wow, Moscow!

29.9.14

Entering the Red Square

Last weekend I was in Moscow. My second time there and all I can say is, WOW, Moscow! This city is massive. They say it is around 15 million but locals claim it to be closer to 20 million. The landscape of the city is more spread out unlike metropolises of New York, or let's say Hong Kong. In the center the historical sites are in tact and in amazing condition. There is something about the architecture in Moscow that really gets me. A mix of beauty and power united together. Everything is on a big scale if you know what I mean. It has spurred my interest to visit more of the cultural sites my next trip. There will be loads of ground to cover and much needed planning. It is also a dream of mine to see one of the Bolshoi Ballets. Tickets sell rather quickly so I'll have to be proactive in terms acquiring them.

When it comes to the people and the workshop I led, I am further impressed by what is instilled in the people here. There is a formality and a respect, but at the same time a warmth and resiliency that has no doubt been a big part of their history. A history that is complex, rich, provocative and tumultuous. It has always been a great experience to visit. Another dream on of mine is to see St. Petersburg. That's next on my list!

St. Basil's

On Moscow's Riverfront

Chia seed pana cotta at Fresh

At Fresh - One of Moscow's vegetarian restaurants

With Leonid - The best Ashtanga teacher in Moscow!

Back in Colgone

25.9.14

The weekend before last I was in Cologne, Germany teaching a workshop or better known as Köln. I so enjoy this city. Like Stockholm there are many green areas and the city is made for walking as well as biking. There are quaint cafés that line the streets, perfect for people watching. When in Germany I can still feel the stark contrast from Sweden even though the two countries aren't that far away from each other. One country has felt the travesties of multiple wars in the last century while the other came off affected by pretty much unscathed. It makes a difference in the energetic make up in a country and it isn't necessarily bad. Next visit, I'd like to see some of the well known museums and get more of a feel of the history. Somehow I'll get it inked in the schedule.

We Are Dead Stars

Imagine. We are dead stars. Wow.

This Summer

24.9.14

Just under a month I've been back home after an intense and transformational summer in Mysore, India. As always it took me a while to land and digest all that transpired, and in many ways I feel as if I am still digesting. I know transformational is a word that is thrown around a lot these days, and the only way to describe it is something shifted, for better or worse, who knows. I felt challenged on every level, mentally, emotionally, physically and most definitely spiritually. I cried this summer more than I had in a long time. I was broken down to be built back up. A toning from the inside out. A reckoning. The buzz of practicing there has just about worn off. It seems like the more you hold on to it the faster it goes. At the same time there is an inkling of a light that has been lit and the knowing it won't ever burn out.

Having the opportunity to immerse oneself in the way that we did this past summer was an opportunity of a life time, and really every trip I feel it, but this was on another level. I am always so grateful to have the time and space to focus on practice, ultimately focusing on the truer parts of life. I need these reminders. If I didn't I would be lost. It all goes back to the quality we lead in our hearts and minds in day to day living. Thankfully the practice of yoga helps to lead us there.

Moving forward there is so much that comes to mind. It is so easy to be swept away by the rhythm of our rushed society. I'm learning not to be so dictated by it. I too see how distracted I can be and how challenging it is to maintain this internal connection, but no one said it would be easy. It comes down to one's thirst for ultimate freedom as I contemplate what is that really? What does that look like? I'm getting the tiniest sense of it and yet it feels exciting and scary at the same time. Funny how that works. It's like balancing on the edge of a razor.

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PEACE LOVE YOGA

R. Sharath Jois

Burnt To Ash

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Hamsa

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