Yoga Centre

May all be well with mankind.

May the leaders of the earth protect in every way by keeping to the right path.

May there be goodness for those who know the earth to be sacred.

May all the worlds be happy and free from suffering

May the rains fall on time, and may the earth yield its produce in abundance.

May this country be free from disturbances.

May the righteous be free from fear.

Navaratri, The Nine Days of Mother Divine

From September 23 to October 1 is the celebration of the festival of Navaratri. "Nava-ratri" literally means "nine nights." This festival is observed twice a year, once in the beginning of summer and again at the onset of winter. Every year the beginning of summer and the beginning of winter are two very important junctures of climatic change and solar influence. At these times we give thanks to the Divine Power for maintaining the correct balance in the Universe and within our mental and physical bodies.

During Navaratri, we invoke the energy aspect of Shiva in the form of the universal mother, commonly referred to as Durga, which literally means the remover of miseries of life. She is also referred to as "Devi" (goddess) or "Shakti" (energy or power). It is this energy, which helps Shiva to proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction. In other words, you can say that Shiva is motionless, absolutely changeless, and the Divine Mother does everything.

Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to invoke different aspects of the Divine Mother. On the first three days, the Mother is invoked as the archetypal energy of Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects. The next three days, the Mother is invoked as the giver of spiritual wealth in the form of Lakshmi. The final three days are spent in worshipping the Mother as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order have all-round success in life, we need the blessings of all three aspects of the Divine Mother.

Navaratri is also a celebration of good over evil, wisdom over ignorance, which is described in the story of the creation of the Goddess Durga. The gods in heaven decided to create an all-powerful being to kill the demon king Mahishasur who was ready to attack them. At that very moment a stream of lightning dazzled forth from the mouths of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and it turned into a beautiful, magnificent woman with ten hands. Then all the gods furnished her with their special weapons. The battle that followed between Goddess the demon lasted 9 days and 9 nights. Finally, on the tenth day the Goddess killed the demon. This day is known as Vijayadasami, the 10th day of victory. Vijayadasami is considered to be one of the most auspicious days in the Hindu year. It is a time-honored belief that if any new venture is started on this day, it is bound to be successful. Hence, all new undertakings such as the laying of the foundation of a building, the opening of a new business or even a child’ first day of school are started on this day.

Each day during morning meditation, beginning September 23 through October 1, the mantras are chanted of the Divine Mothers Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, repeating for 3 days the mantra of each Divine Mother in that order. For those of you who would like to join each day in your own home, the Devi mantras are:

Durga OM DUM MAHADURGAYEI NAMAHA
Lakshmi OM SHRIM MAHALAKSHMIYE NAMAHA
Saraswati OM AIM SARASWATIYA NAMAHA

measure 1/4 c of each root and set them to soak, together in 10 cups of cold filtered water, using a non-metal container and putting a lid on. After 4 hours add 8 oz. black cherry concentrate, heat to boiling and simmer 20 mins. Drink 1/4 cup as soon as it is cool enough. Pour the rest through a bamboo strainer into a sterile pint jar (glass) and refrigerate freeze the remaining. boil parsley in 1 quart of water for 3 mins. drink 1/4 cup when cool enough. refrigerate a pint and freeze 1 pint. compost parsley.

dose: each morning pour together 3/4 c of the root mix and 1/2 c parsley in a mug. add 20 drops of goldenrod tincture and 1 Tbs. of glycerin. Drink this in divided does throughout the day. keep cold. do not drink all at once! take 1 ginger capsule 3x a day with meals. take 1 uva ursi capsule with breakfast and 2 with supper. take vit. b6 1 x a day. take mag. oxide 1x a day. drink lots of water throughout the day.

save the roots from the 1st boiling, store in freezer. after 13 days when your supply runs low, boil the same roots a 2nd time, but add only 6 cups of water and simmer 10 min. This will last another 8 days, for a total of 3 weeks.

Temenos- classical Greek dictionary shows the root to be tem meaning "to cut";

In English we are very familiar with the following 2 words that come from “tem” root: Temple and Time.

A Temple is a space “cut” out and given a sacred meaning. The can be a physical building but it can also refer to the temple of the body.

Time is a piece “cut” out of eternity, an interval in the motion of the world. For as long as it lasts, this moment, cut out of time, is sacred.

The symbol of the mandala has exactly this meaning of a holy place, a temenos, to protect the centre. And it is a symbol which is one of the most important motifs in the objectivation of unconscious images. It is a means of protecting the centre of the personality from being drawn out and from being influenced from outside.

I was told of a tradition by Vinn Marti where the men upon arriving home from battle way back when, entered the temenos to cleanse and empty themselves, leaving behind the “bad vibes” and reentering the village purified.

The idea of conscious emptying captivates me. When I repeat the mantra in my head, "empty, empty, empty again, and again", I feel a shift. I feel a release of my emotions and I feel the temple of my physical body respond by letting go.

So I invite you to mantra the word “empty” or “temenos” this week.

Know that the earth loves to compost all that you have to empty. The more trash, gunk you empty to her, the richer her soils. So empty through your feet, through your pelvis while sitting on her, through your hands in down dog. Empty into the earth.

Know too that energy can be transmuted instantly into the universe. Let whatever it is you empty from your consciousness, through your intention, that energy will transmute back into the cosmic soup, a neutral energy, a vibration without a name.

Leave thinking to the one who gave intelligence. In silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving, and watch how the pattern improves.

Why do you choose asana? There are many things you could be doing or being with your time like rollerskating, reading a book, bicycling, or hiking, but you have chosen asana. Why?

After reading the following ideas, sit, be still, and ask within, Why Asana? We are and become what we focus on. Becoming conscious of why you do asana will shine light on what you really want in life and why you travel this path.

"one may equally attain an exalted state of consciousness by becoming totally engrossed, with dedication and devotion, in an object of interest." -asana becomes both the subject and object of interest-(Yoga Sutras of Patangali)

The body is the vehicle on the path to ultimate liberation, unless we gain mastery over the body, we cannot hope to glimpse our soul. The end of finite touch is the beginning of the infinite knowlege. If there are divisions within the body/mind one gets caught up in the finite. Yoga's objective is to remove the divisions within yourself so that you can immerse in the infinity that is you.(Yoga Journal Sept 06)

"Yoga is a spiritual system that deals practically with the process of enlightenment. The final goal is to differentiate the soul from everything that is not the soul. The method of yoga teaches the individual to discriminate, or to see the differences between these two things....Hatha yoga is the equipment;....skillful activity is unobstructed, non-harmful behaviour, which brings about the merging of the two opposing energies of the sun and the moon...Hatha yoga is the beginning of the path, while raja yoga or siddha yoga is the goal." (Shadow Yoga 2006).

History of the Yoga Muse page: On Tuesday of this week, Sept. 5th 2006, Diana Stanton, a friend and fellow student, asked me to create a page on our site that contains the quotes that I read to my students in class. She thought a focus for her thoughts every week sounded perfect, and she would have the quotes in digital form so she could cut and paste and who knows what else. I said, well sure. So here it is...

I am still new to this idea of the "blog" world, so I decided to not go to full "blog" world, instead I will post weekly the thought I am holding and sharing each week in my class about yoga. So, I have named the page Yoga Muse, for us to share musings. Stay tuned to the full blog where you get to post and share as well.