August: Month of grandeur; Exalted and Glorious (August 2021 Newsletter)
A near and dear one suggested that I constantly talk about religion and Hinduism. Another suggests that the conclusion to whatever I talk about is always, “The One”. The latter is true, the former not so much. While to the casual reader these articles would appear to be religious topics, Hindu-ism is not an ‘ism’ at all. And thereby I mean that it is not a religion. The word ‘Hindu’ refers to those who lived on the banks of the Indus River. ‘Hindusthan’ is another name for India, and is the land (sthaan – land where these natives live). Essentially made up of heterogeneous peoples with varied cultures, Hinduism has been presented as monotheistic or believing in one God, polytheistic - in many Gods. (Indeed, worship can be mystical, moral, or religious, and ultimately a deep sense of spirituality is what is transforming and creating joy (ananda). It doesn’t really matter what religion one follows.) Hinduism is monism, where the idea of one, two or endless gods is seen as reducing this pulsating Source and Intelligence to a finite number. Numbers are limiting and the Divine is limitless. The One referred to above is the source from which all comes, and to which all returns and is not a number like 1 or 1,000.
How do we know what this intelligence is? Traditionally, there are three primary means to ‘discover’ the Supreme Intelligence.
Experimental (vai-sheshika) using logic or Nyaya. This has to do with seeing the impermanent or destructible form of things.
Cosmological or in modern scientific terms, as in Quantum Mechanics, (Samkhya). This uses direct supra-mental experience as in Yoga mind training.
Metaphysical (Vedanta) with language as its means, uses dialectics and semantics of all the many seers (rishi, pronounced rhi-shee) who have received direct wisdom through their chanting, meditations, writings, insights and so on, through Mahavak (Ma-haa as in Supreme or the highest, vak - uttered words.) These are the chants, mantras, practices that repeated frequently, incessantly, become second nature to one, and create magical effects such as calmness, acceptance and awareness and love and in more developed states access past and future time and events and even change their course.
Following are the four practical Mahavak that we use in class from time to time and all refer to Brahma/Brahman representing Pure Consciousness pervading everything but which Itself is without shape or form.
Prajñānam Brahma (प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म) “Awareness/Consciousness is Brahman," (Pra meaning Supreme, jnana - knowledge)
Ayam Ātmā Brahma (अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म) - "This Self is Brahman" (Atman or Self/soul)
Tat Tvam Asi (तत् त्वम् असि) - "That You are, or You are that” (tat - That which is Real, or True)
Aham Brahmāsmi (अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि) - "I am Brahman" (Aham means I am)
Each is drawn from the original insights in the different Vedas and formed into practical meaningful statements in the later Upanishads. They have been passed down the centuries by word of mouth.
Namaste,
sipra
Present and in Presence (July 2021 Newsletter)
Be Present
In body,
be mindful of how you move, where you go, what is around you; in front; and behind.
In mind,
focus your attention on the simple task of breathing - spiritus in Latin, is the breath. Breathing in is the inspiration, breathing out is the expiration. So every time you breathe in, renew life, and with every exhale, or expiration, allow the moment to die.
Inhabit your body! Allow the mind to rest.
In breath,
respiration, the next breath, should be smooth, regular, slow, long, and deep. Think about each of these as you breathe and breathe again.
Be in Presence
You are perfect, having derived from Perfection. It is present within you all the time, making you the compassionate, naturally empathetic being that you are. There is no place for negativity here.
You are capable of Joy, (Ananda), because you instinctively know Truth (Sat), through Pure Consciousness (Chit), which is unconditional and beyond the thinking mind, to ultimately realize the combination known as Sacchitananda, (Sat, Chit, Ananda) - transcendence back to perfection!
Mindfully live each moment with gratitude and humility.
Namaste,
sipra
A Return to Normalcy (June 2021 Newsletter)
Thank you for continuing to support YWB. We deeply appreciate our monthly sustaining members, our Patreon subscribers, and all of our students who have supported us during this time in whatever way.
What is the ‘normal’ that’s almost here again? Statistically represented in a bell-shaped curve, it is the center of the hump where most of us would be at any given time. What is that? Where is that?
Normalcy for most of us is socializing and getting back to the things we enjoy and look forward to most in life.
Let’s not forget the lessons we’ve learned through this forced isolation. We are totally capable of living a semi-solitary life. We should recognize that there is no normal. We’ve learned that there are alternatives for doing anything such as buying and selling, communicating, working and entertaining. We’ve learned that both too much togetherness and too long a separation can be torturous, and that sickness and sometimes death comes swiftly and may sweep one off the face of the earth going from health to death in a breathtakingly short interval.
As our lives return to pre-pandemic normal, all the stress of too much to do and not enough time will certainly haunt us again. Our expectations are so high for the return of those grand old times. But were those days so perfect? Here are some simple things you need to do all the time: Stay calm and in the moment. Stay mindful of each moment instead letting your enthusiasm for the newfound freedom become an uncontrolled spinning of the wheel caught in a rut; enjoy at a steady pace; try something new and different this time around. You are not the same individual returning to the same normalcy. You are a new individual returning to a new phase in life.
“In the infinite consciousness universes come and go like particles of dust in a beam of sunlight that shines through a hole in the roof,” the sage Vashishtha in one of the great texts of the Vedanta reminds us. It is never the same. You are not the same. You are better than you were. Don’t lose the clean, polished soul that is you! Your light shines. Spread it wherever you go.
Namaste,
sipra
Story Time (May 2021 Newsletter)
Thank you for continuing to support YWB. We deeply appreciate our monthly sustaining members, our Patreon subscribers, and all of our students who have supported us during this time in whatever way.
Everything appears to be more appealing and comprehensible when presented as a story or has a reference to an experience in our own lives. Being human and sharing the same world our experiences are similar to someone else’s, somewhere and at some time. These stories resonate with us. The ways in which we use stories to satisfy us are varied. We are glad to get the thrill of an adventure without really being exposed to the dangers. We are electrified by mysteries and horror stories while sitting comfortably and safely somewhere. We even populate our stories with strange and exotic creatures and scenes that have nothing to do with reality. It’s great for fun and relaxation. But life is more.
Look around you. Springtime is bursting at the seams with unusual colors and clarity. Sounds and sights and smells pervade the senses. When you are tempted to settle down to another episode of make-belief, spring out of that chair/couch and get outside. Start from the ground up. Look closely at the ground seething with life. Look at the insects, soil and plants. Raise your gaze to take in the stems and stalks, and leaf and blossom buds. Experiment with what you see. If you cut off the main head of a plant, it will die or not bloom again. Or will it? Do you know why? Research.
Look higher at the trunk of trees. Fungi and moss! Beautiful and other worldly! The birds are nesting or have already started producing chicks. Do you know how the chick hatches when it’s ready to emerge? A perfect triangular notch at the apex of the egg by the baby chick and then the egg cracks and with varying degrees of pushing, pulling and knocking, the egg cracks open – new life emerges. This is the miracle of nature and life. A true story that will move you deeply and stay with you for the rest of your life. Build on these happy inspirations. No more stress, no more depression. You weren’t thinking about yourself but were lost in the wonder of it all. Spend more time doing this, not that.
Namaste,
sipra
Stephanie DeValencia
Stephanie, March 15
Having lived a full, loving and giving life, Stephanie DeValencia passed away in the early hours of Monday morning. I was so proud to call her my friend. Stephanie was given one month to live in mid-November, but she made it through five, most of it fully functional with minimal meds almost to the end.
Stephanie did more in her short life than we often do in a lifetime. She loved nature and everything natural and organic. She was not so much about doing things that seemed to be trending. She had much to do with her life. She was constant in her efforts to help others, animals/birds and to protect the environment. She loved her family dearly and leaves behind her husband, Don, children and mother who put their lives on hold to be with her.
Stephanie, March 30
If there is one thing you can do to honor her life, commit to one simple act each day to protect the environment. What can you do? Remove invasive weeds wherever you see them, buy products that aren’t smothered in packaging, recycle, don’t waste, feed the birds… It’s simple, and it will make Stephanie so happy.
Namaste,
sipra
In her honor, Stephanie has requested that friends and family use the following small businesses companies or individuals that she trusted and believed in over the many years of her life. You may choose to make a monetary donation for general operation and scholarship or buy services/products from them. Either way she would rather see money passed on to them than flowers, claiming “the yard is my garden of love. It will continue to be the sight of hope and joy in and around my home. I need no more than that."
"All of the below businesses have owners I have known well, enjoyed their companies and personal trust the integrity they started and continue to have for any individual they meet. They believe in producing fantastic products and environmental protection in many ways.
Owner sipra knows so much about yoga and more! She is the most giving person in the industry I know and such a great coach. Great yoga, reiki and many other classes
Fantastic organic products to use or combine to produce your own
This is a small great eating spot in Columbus- also plant-based and gives back to community
One of Don's favorite micro breweries- but my many sources of recycled grains (now my secret is out! Coffee grounds and spent grains, manure)
Mattie at Penzones
This individual took my hand, looked at my long locks of Gray hair and gently removed 20” off my head, and left me with a haircut that has made me feel comfortable to pass these final days. Her kindness and love of her profession gives her +10 in my eyes.
Last but not least please remember we share this earth and the universe with other beings. The need to mental and physically be aware of all energy in this universe depends on all of us. If none of the above are something you desire to use, then let it be yourself that proclaims love and goodness in and around you!"
Silence is More (April 2021 Newsletter)
Thank you for continuing to support YWB. We deeply appreciate our monthly sustaining members, our Patreon subscribers, and all of our students who have supported us during this time in whatever way.
Spending time in silence is not something most of us think of during our day. But silence speaks. It has a lot to say.
Personally, I am finding more and more that its practice, much like meditation, has created a completely different dimension to my being. Listening to my silence I hear my breath and not much else.
Without sounding contrary, sometimes I am addressing the silence and sometimes there are revelations which are obvious, but profound. Recently, my thought in silence was that the Ultimate Energy has created and continues to create amazing life and forms far beyond our imagination. Where life form has been destroyed by changing climatic conditions, natural disasters and the like, new shapes and forms resembling the old are being formed out of the ashes, so to speak. Rapidly moving to a point of no return, I have the thought that life is full of wonder even in our limited view of the world. We can’t even imagine what lies beyond. Most scientific conclusions suggest an ultimate collapse of the world as we know it with limited possibility of life continuing as we know it. I speak to my silence and ask if this wonderful Universe can prosper and continue to grow happily for just a century? The response is immediate. Yes, certainly, but there can be peace and contentment only when there is no (NONE) violence, greed, avarice, lust, sloth or acquisitiveness for the 100 years from anybody. This has to include all beings. Do you abide by these restrictions each day? Can you do so everyday from now till your time has come? There may be no second chances for any life form simply because life is too busy for me right now! Stop, breathe, meditate and do what's best for all, all the time!
I’ll get to ‘silence’ as a topic next time but that’s what got me here! Be silent and listen. The answers, directions, guidance will come in clear-cut words, thoughts, directions and guidance even through the silence.
Namaste,
sipra
The Quest (March 2021 Newsletter)
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash
In our lives we are always searching for something else, something more and something meaningful.
This is the foundation of the philosophy of yoga. Philosophy is the attempt to clarify the connection between the inner and outer worlds. All sentient beings, those that are alive in any shape or form, have a soul according to yoga philosophy. The soul, whose nature is true existence, consciousness, and bliss (Sat, Chitta, Ananda) has largely been the focus of the many schools of Indian thought.
Regardless of which philosophical tradition appeals most, the search is always for immortality, whether it’s called Moksha, Nirvana or Kaivalya (aloneness).
Knowledge is not just an intellectual exercise, but it is what is actually experienced. Constantly experiencing! To understand the difference between the particular and general aspects of knowledge (jnana or khyati) one has to recognize the difference between cognition and consciousness. But to start this clarification process one has to have discrimination (viveka khyati), and for this we need yoga. Cognition has three attributes to its awareness; it is discriminating in that there is always a knower (the self), a means of knowing and an object that is being experienced or observed. Consciousness is not specific. It is just simply awareness, it is non-specific and underlies all cognition and thought.
Discriminating knowledge where the soul is considered distinct from the mind is the starting point. From there it grows into experiencing it, sifting the Real from the transitional. This requires persistent and enduring practice of yoga. Through the ways the body and brain and nerves and body systems all work together, yoga has the subtle power to move one into this region of quiet awareness. SIMPLY AWARENESS. SIMPLE AWARENESS.
Namaste,
sipra
Love, Love, LOVE (February 2021 Newsletter)
Did you know Rosa Parks practiced yoga? This Black History Month check out this Yoga Journal article, The Story Behind Rosa Parks and Yoga.
Photo: Library of Congress
This month we celebrate love. When the article is titled ‘love’, and it’s February, we think of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is an important day, and it comes once a year just like birthdays. Celebrate it! And celebrate it with a wide group of people of family, friends and acquaintances.
This article is not about Valentine’s Day, however.
Consider today these three loves: Love for oneself, love towards whom that emotion doesn’t come so easily and Love Divine. Each of these is our way of staying healthy and happy.
Love yourself. If you are filled with guilt, a sense of failure, or negativity, you are not alone. Often these feelings have been with us since childhood and hard to shake off. Look at yourself and reassign the ‘F for Fail’ to ‘A for Acknowledge’. We cannot deal with emotions buried in the subconscious. A regular practice of Yoga will raise these to the surface of your consciousness allowing for them to emerge in dreams and nightmares and so to heal you. Self-worth is worth it!
Love others. Those who are not so lovable in your mind. Forgiveness is the only way to get out of constantly ruminating on the wrong or wrongs done to you. Do something about it. Send a card, perform an act of kindness. It may not resolve the issue, and they may not respond but you will find you no longer care. Holding onto negativity eats you up inside. Literally. Immunity declines and the toxins in your mind metastasize into sickness and disease. Healing becomes slow and uncertain.
Love Divine. This has nothing to do with one’s faith or religion or culture. It is a deep feeling of connectedness that a regular practice of yoga and meditation with a focus on awareness, acceptance, love and compassion will ultimately and without exception bring you. It’s as simple as that. In the words of Godfrey Devereux, “(Practice) is a way of experiencing life that brings great joy, peace and complete fulfillment. It is an experience beyond the power of external forces. It draws up sources of vitality and strength that ordinarily lie hidden from our perception but that underlie all religious and spiritual endeavor. Some call it knowledge of God; others call it enlightenment.”
It is not enough to practice now and again. Especially now when life is so topsy turvy and things are not as they seem, yoga/meditation should be one certain activity you take time to do as often as possible. You don’t even have to go anywhere. Where you are is where you need to be.
Namaste,
sipra
Death and Life (January 2021 Newsletter)
From sipra's collection of local leaves gathered during walks.
Entering into a new year, our newsletter should be full of promise, hope and reassurance. And it is! It deals with death.
Recently my friend of many years, Stephanie, suddenly and unexpectedly received a diagnosis of stage 4 terminal cancer. The developing signs were there, but in our busy lives we tend to ignore what we can and focus on things that must be done immediately, and that list never shrinks.
We never know when we will die or how. That is a good thing. But it keeps us from preparing for it. Since the diagnosis, Stephanie has spent her time systematically settling every last detail of her affairs with careful consideration. She has done this with a sense of detachment. (We all need to cultivate this attitude: Asanga as it is called in Sanskrit, means non-attachment. Asango aham meaning “Nonattached am I”) “But I am young, and I am getting ready for the new year with grand resolutions”, you say. As this year has shown us, life can quickly change, and death hovers close by.
Let your new year resolution be to prepare materially and mentally for death - Yours and of and for those you love. Primary to this preparation is the awareness of being aware. Life comes and goes, as the autumn leaves drift gently to the ground in all their fullness of rich fall colors or are driven off by strong winds. The way death happens matters not at all. The tree remains. New leaves will return and they are part of that same tree.
Life remains so long as the breath remains. The slower the breath and the deeper it is, with a constant returning to an awareness that I am breathing keeps me alive and extends my life. BREATHE! And WATCH YOUR BREATH. SLOW IT DOWN AND LENGTHEN EACH BREATH. Try a simple and profound mantra, OM, as you breathe whenever you think of it. It has power profound.
Asango aham, asango aham, asango aham, punah, punah. Unattached, unattached, unattached am I, again and again; of the nature eternal. Satchitananda-rupoham avamevam abhyaya. Truth-Existence-Knowledge-Bliss am I; I am That. That am I, which is the irreducible, immortal, infinite.
Namaste,
sipra
Renew Anew (December 2020 Newsletter)
Winter Solstice Lantern Festival in Vancouver, BC
Photo Credit: Visible Hand via Flickr (CC-BY-2.0)
The world this season is suddenly different from the usual bustle we see around the holidays. There appears to be a blanket of silence, and the world is required to passively watch and wait instead of participating in this prayerful, joyous and hopeful season.
We all feel fear and anxiety. Understandably so. The virus flares, creating uncertainty.
Fear, anxiety and uncertainty about what? While we are obviously concerned about work, finances, caregivers and caretakers, there is a deeper concern. If we do a little soul-searching we find it is our fear of death.
In Sanskrit this is known as Abhinivesha, or the fear of death. Refer to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 2.9 (Chapter 2, Sutra 9). According to Indian/Hindu/Buddhist philosophy, the fear of death lies deep in all living creatures. Be it a worm or a child, no one wants to die. Perhaps you will say that it’s instinctive. But where does instinct get its information? it is always based on past experiences. If we haven’t experienced death before, how can this unreasonable fear be instinctive? It would indicate that we have been through this process before. Known as reincarnation, the philosophy rationalizes how we have experienced it before, perhaps many times, in many forms.
What can we do about it? Death is inevitable, so preparation would be appropriate. Whether it is your own death or that of loved ones, focus on what you can do internally to fortify yourself.
FOCUS on silence and meditation each day. How do we do this? Firstly, set aside a time for it. It doesn’t need to be long. 10 minutes is a good start.
Here are some simple steps:
Find a quiet place, inside or outside. Use it consistently.
Sit comfortably with upright back, hands resting in your lap. Palms up, one hand on top of the other, dominant hand under. Close your eyes partly and keep them focused.
Breathe! The goal is to make it slower, deeper, longer and more rhythmic. Pay attention to the breath. Breathe only through the nose. Keep your mouth closed the entire time.
Thoughts will arise. But they are drifting and imaginary. Let them go, saying, ‘Not now’. This is the whole point of yoga - to control the wandering mind.
Sound internally, and breathe ‘Aham Sa’ = ‘I am That’. (‘That’ refers to Universal Reality.)
After a good 5 minutes, switch it to ‘Sa Aham’ = 'That I am.' Pay attention to how you just reversed the flow of energy. Stay with the sound, focusing on what is stable and infinite within you.
When done, rest for a few minutes folded forward in Child Pose, or lie flat on your back in Shavasana.
Enjoy a rest filled, happy and calm holiday season. All is well.
Namaste,
sipra