Prem Mandir, Vrindavan, India

convey these feelings. In only a few days, we are, once again, on our way to the mystical spiritual lands of India. It just hit me last night, after our satsang (group mediation)that we are visiting the inauguration of Prem Mandir(The Temple of Love) in Vrindavan, India.

I remember at the age of 6 or so, I ran downstairs, with the curiosity and determination a child can have, I walked into my loving father’s study, where he was buried in books and the reading of philosophy and positive thinking. With the deepest of desperations, I asked, “Dad, what is Love?”. I do not remember his answer; I do remember and do know, however, my search since. There has been plenty of moments of pain and deceit, many moments of crying myself to sleep. There have been deep moments of suffering. I have looked in many places for love and happiness, even in the most unlikely places. I did find moments, sparks, glimpses of what that means; none lasting or really satisfactory – I always knew there had to be more. The disappointments led to deeper discouragement and frustration, maybe anger. I gave up many times.

I was hearing of a student’s reflection on how difficult the practice of hatha yoga has become. At the beginning yoga was (arguably) an easy, fun, enjoyable “light” work out. But to many of us the more we become present and stay in asana, the deeper we connect. Is that something I am prepared to do? Yoga is indeed simple, though not an easy task. The more we pay attention, we find loads of thoughts and emotions. For many of us it is easier to stop, avoid, and/or look away. It is a very common reaction. I do it all the time, I do know! Through my many years of practice, I realize now it has nothing to do with that movement, that physical pain and discomfort, or frustration. It has little to do with my hips or my shoulder, or my knee. The physical body, as we have heard many times, is more than a structure of movement. The hands are to hold things, but also to let them go. The chest is to protect, but also to open up the heart and emotions. The legs and hips are the means of motion, movement in our lives, or to simply stand in place, grounded.

So, our physical yoga practice is exactly that, a practice of rediscovery, re-membering of who we are. The process of discovery is never easy. The path is full of ups and downs. We have given up uncountable times, as the yoga philosophy teaches, for uncountable (truly uncountable!) lifetimes. How are we to change in one class, or one posture, or in one month, or one year, or a lifetime? We do change, but maybe in ways we do not realize or expect now. Every breath done in consciousness changes something inside of us, every time. The questions is, are we able to sustain it? Are we able to persevere and find encouragement? Are we able to maintain focus? The is not a right or wrong answer, simple our sadhana (practice) is what matters. Some days are better than others. Some (many) days not so good. That is the nature of our imperfection, though we may choose to place blame outwardly.

So, what is the loving thing to do? What is Love? Where am I today in my trying to understand the incomprehensible? I do not understand intellectually anything more than when I was 6 in my dad’s study. Although, I know my heart has experience the incomprehensible through practice and perseverance. My heart has been graced with experiences of Love, as I know we all have. To keep those loving feelings present it takes perseverance, patience, discipline, remembrance, and know there is not an only way or only one time. It took me 40 years of experiences to view Love as a daily action, rather than the misconceived romantic ideal.

Yoga means connection, is the path of search for the purpose of our physical experience, our body as a temple of our spirit, the temple or instrument to find Love, Divine Love.

I was in a bit of a hurry this morning and nearly tripped over my backpack as I rushed out of the door. My apartment has been a bit of a mess for a while now along with everything else—I’ve been a moving whirlwind. Sometimes, in order for things to come together, the tangled energies that produce chaos must unravel causing more chaos. It takes time to reorganize, restructure and create new order. In many ways, it is a remarkable display of how life seems to be orchestrated by infinite invisible hands gently moving in concert with impeccable rhythm and precision. I’ve learned to trust and appreciate such wisdom comes forth from an unknown place deep within us all. To understand paradox and contradiction is to understand life itself—straight from the pages of my book of internal dialogue.

After making it out on the patio I rushed around fiddling with the keys to lock the door. I skipped down the stairs, missing steps all the while thinking of the endless errands to finish before the morning ended. It is a wonder I didn’t fall flat on my face as my mind raced against my footsteps. Pacing down the sidewalk, I felt something float past my face and gently graze my nose. I froze mid-step, looked around me and found myself being showered by hundreds of blossoms drifting from the trees. The neighbor with the infant across the way looked puzzled as I stood in awe. It was as if I’d instantly become a child ushered into a world that seemed so tranquil and magical. Maybe in some strange way, we are all just children making our way through a strange land. Moments like this remind me that we don’t make our way along this road alone.

I turned my head toward the sky while rotating slow enough to absorb the wonder. The red and pink blossoms danced and swirled around me. They seemed to mingle with one another with such boldness and grace. For a brief moment, I let my imagination run wild as I wondered what the rooted buds thought of the descending blossoms. I imagined them full of compassion and appreciation for the tree’s ever-fleeting oneness of the great trees. Each bundle of petals clinging to the branches, hugging the neighboring leaves while the others are flung from paradise. They make surrendering look so beautiful. They were so graceful and charming as they bowed in the air. I felt like them, in a way. I felt like I was awakening, in every sense of the word–

I felt like I was awakening, in every sense of the word--

“He leaped gracefully, arms holding the thin air while the crown of his head bowed towards the ground. Smiling gently, he danced–awakened from a deep slumber.”

After I composed myself, I walked toward my car conscious of each step. The shameful face of the moon flashed its betrayal off in the distance just before it vanished deep within the blue. I noticed the grass soaked in dew even though the sunlight had spilled had spilled everywhere. The shimmering, shining drops made me smile as they mixed with the elegant rays. With the wind moving calm and easy, the blossoms roamed far and wide with an energy that seemed to be full of intent. They rolled across the jagged pavement with minds of their own as if they knew where they were going. I took one last sip of the scene and I headed off before the morning slipped away.

In that moment and time everything seemed sacred to me. What a luxury it would be if every moment could be just like that. It is an amazing thing to be able to witness such simple elements of divinity that great us every day while here on earth. Even while we remain cloaked in layers of flesh, clothes, statuses, labels…etc, we can taste a bit of the sweet nectar we hope to one day attain. I’m not quite sure when the notion of ‘Heaven’ became an unruly hostage of the popular imagination, to be completely honest. It seems nearly all of the major practices have some conception of an ethereal space beyond here that will one day allow us to bathe in eternal bliss. But for now, how blessed and very fortunate we are to see a hint of that spectacular vision of divine beauty unveiled–even here on earth and within us all.

Brian Bowers

Brian is musician, writer, intellectual, amateur photographer, and Fullbrigght candidate for 2012. Most importantly, you will find Brian practicing yoga and rediscovering his beautiful soul through Bhakti yoga in our center.

As I understand these ideas and listen to them in my head, I can see how it all connects. We try so hard all the time to do our best. We have so many hopes and expectations and desires about the outcomes of our actions. Yes, I do this all the time. I am always hopeful that this idea or thought or action might provoke change in this or the other person or situation. I guess there is nothing wrong is wishing the best to the people we love. However, these expectations do not have to turn into attachment. Let them be. The consequences of a deep breath we hope are to trigger that deep energy inside of us, and to open the alveoli, to remove impurities from the metabolites of our cellular respiration, etc. The subtle difference is if we sit and expect, desire, attach our thoughts to that result, and we wait. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it does not. Either way, it is ok. The result is not ours to control. There are many forces that will act and affect on the result of our actions. In the Bhagavat Gita Krishna tells Arjuna (and to us all through him) that we should always do our duty, and offer our results to the Divine.

Trust and Surrender

As I reflect on this, I can think of so many times that I am not even focused on the now, but on the reactions, the effect of my actions. It is so much simpler (not always easier) to be present, to do and live this moment the best I can. The fruit of my actions will happen. I will learn as I evaluate the reactions, and do this better next time. There are plenty examples where my actions have brought undesired reactions to others. Many times it is very hurtful and difficult to see this. All I can do is try to stay humble, and try my best again. I guess, it is another lesson learned from surrendering in yoga.

It is simpler to concentrate in the now, to do our best in the moment. Just listen, be attentive, do your best in this asana. The fruit of our actions is not up to us. The intent of our action is.

 Although eating conventionally grown fruits and vegetables is better than skipping fruits and vegetables altogether, it is important to minimize your exposure to the pesticides contained in conventionally grown foods as much as possible for good health. Pesticides pose various health dangers and have been linked to nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system effects, and skin, eye and lung irritation. Conventional farming methods are also damaging to our environment and local economies. By consuming organic fruits and vegetables, you improve your health and support more sustainable farming practices.

 How to Obtain Organic Produce

 There are several ways to obtain organic produce. You can of course continue shopping at your  grocery store or go

“When we support organic farming, our dollar supports a cause that is sustainable, healthy, and loving.”

 to Whole Foods and purchase organic foods there, but perhaps the price tags scare you away. The Environmental Working Group has created a guide that currently lists 49 items ranked from least contaminated to most contaminated. Simply by eating the least contaminated conventional produce and avoiding the twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables or replacing them with the organic option, you can lower your pesticide consumption by nearly 80% and hopefully keep your grocery bill in check.  The twelve most contaminated conventionally grown items to be avoided from most to least contaminated are: 

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Blueberries (Domestic)
• Nectarines
• Sweet bell peppers
• Spinach
• Cherries
• Kale/collard greens
• Potatoes
• Grapes (Imported)

 You can access the full list here: http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php.

 Another option is to grow some of your own produce. If you’ve got the space and enjoy gardening, this could be a good way to go. However, it will require some research and materials and an upfront cost to get started. Of course, you’d be saving quite a bit over the long run as a packet of seeds costs about two dollars and will yield more than the one pound you’ll get at the store for the same price.

 A co-operative, on the other hand, leaves the farming to others while you sit back and enjoy abundant amounts of organic produce. A co-operative is a community effort that supplies local and organic produce at wholesale prices. Rawfully Organic Co-op, a non-profit, is one such example. Rawfully Organic Co-op “[supports] a raw food lifestyle, our local farmers, and our local economy!” By purchasing either a half-share ($47) or a full-share ($87) on their website, you receive a huge enough amount to last you and your household at least a week, depending on your consumption and size of household.

 Another co-op in Houston is Central City Co-op. This co-op offers a variety in sizes of produce shares  that are less expensive than Rawfully Organic; however, membership is required (there are different levels of membership, some costing more than others, and you can also volunteer in exchange for membership). I recommend asking around and doing some research on the co-ops in your area.

Conclusion

 Yes, please skip the chocolate sprinkle donut and extra-butter microwave popcorn (I don’t care if it’s whole grain) for the conventional apple if you need to, but hopefully you can start introducing more and more organic foods into your diet using the methods discussed above.

As stated by Rawfully Organic Co-op, “When we support organic farming, our dollar supports a cause that is sustainable, healthy, and loving.” Go organic and achieve good health while being kind to the environment.

- Roma Singh

Sources:

http://www.foodnews.org/

http://rawfullyorganic.com/index.php

http://www.centralcityco-op.com/

From murky waters, not of murky waters

The Lotus flower is the national flower of India, as mystical as it is beautiful. Many consider this flower to be sacred, however, beyond sacred it is a powerful metaphor. The lotus can be a symbol of beauty and purity, and Divine Energy, with mesmerizing presence, anyone gets absorbed by it.

It is impossible not to evoke emotions of softness and peacefulness when looking at a lotus flower. The flower grows usually in murky ponds. One of the unique characteristics of this flower making it different from the water lilies, is that the lotus leaves grows above the water surface. The leaves of the lotus are called emergent leaves. Truly a lesson in itself.

We constantly talk in yoga about the invasion of the world around us into the world inside of us. Many times, I know I struggle with the pull and the “distractions” of the senses. It is not easy for me to maintain that constant focus in my internal remembrance of the Divine Love. Yoga also teaches us that we have seven centers of energy called chakras. These start from the tailbone area, go through the heart, the middle chakra, and finish with the crown chakra at the top of our head. The crown chakra is symbolized a lotus flower of one thousand petals.

It is comforting to think of the lotus flower to help find and maintain that balance in our lives. The flower grows, emerges, feeds, and lives of the murky water. Eventually, a beautiful delicate water emerges, with such splendor, and from an unsuspected origin. In the same way, our energy rises up, through our spine, from the lower chakras to the higher chakras, ending in the crown chakra, with the desire of the ultimate realization, God Realization.

The lesson seems simple, though no easy. We have a body, the senses, the external world, to help us. it is our job to emerge, and rise above. Our intent might be to live like the lotus flower, coming from the world, but not of the world. Our meditations may be guided by the image of a lotus flower. The soft colors, the beautiful petals, the impressive flower that opens searching, looking upwards, for that Divine Love. Its beauty does not come from the flower itself, but from its intent – reach above, humbly.

Street action in Sangli

my friends getting along and having incredible much fun together… I really do not mind getting old, really! Through the years that expectation of a perfect birthday has not been fulfilled, maybe close in many years, but never to my expectation. And so it happens with so many things in my life, daily and long term… I experience, discover, and provoke disappointment in others from unmet expectations.

If we apply the Vedic concept of the innumerable lives we have lived, then the chances of us experiencing this frustration is uncountable. Of those uncountable times, how many I have been the cause? In my case, probably, more than your average soul. Therefore, it is easy to lose faith and find blame on self or others, because the pain caused and the pain felt is real. However, how many times we can go through the same process of expectations and disappointments? Well, as many times as we need to – truly. There is a lesson to be learned. I know for me, the lesson relies on love, what is it to really love?

Every time I rely on the transitory world, the result will be transitory. If I am expecting this job will make me happy, or the new relationship, or my newest car, then, most likely it will eventually result in disappointment. My job will end, and so will my car, so how can I be truly happy? Happiness and love are absolutes.

As I focus my eyes on a particular experience or circumstance, or even an individual, most likely it will result in transitory happiness and eventual disappointment. Love and eternal happiness are only found in permanent things. Happiness and love are absolutes. The only permanent aspect of our lives is the spirit. Thus relying on spiritual experiences and cultivating them, will be the best source (and only true source), in my experience of love and happiness.

As I step on my mat, all I ask is that I be present to the experience of opening my heart to the Divine Love around me. I ask that I can quiet down my expectations of the world, and learn to accept love without judgment. I hope I awaken bhakti or Awareness of Divine Love.

India is not only on the other side of the world, 11.5 hours ahead of Houston, but a world apart in history, culture, language(s), politics, spirits. It is one of those trips where every moment is an experience. It is finding life lived so intensely that is almost incomprehensible to my eyes. I do not pretend to understand the culture in a few days, or even grasp the pulse of the country. I can simple understand what all these experiences do to my mind and heart.

India can be at first glance a city of opposite extremes. The cities overflow with incredible amounts of people negotiating small spaces, traffic, roads, time, resources, communication, relationships with each other. It is at the same time a place of over acts of peacefulness, of pockets of spirituality. Riding on rickshaw, among the constant concert of honking (Honk OK Please!), the motorcycles, cars, pedestrians, and water buffalo (if not elephants) all struggle for the same piece of road. The rickshaw driver, a college educated man, who drives this tricycle for someone else for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, raises his hand out the side and lets the bus pass him in a complete act of peaceful reconciliation, a spontaneous act of ahimsa. And so it is on the streets, where every few blocks, many times on the same block, the scent of incense attracts your attention to a devotional corner, small mandir, where you will find a deity being looked after and revered by anyone who walks by.

And so it is, that in every step, we find life, spiritual life, as the background of all activities, names, businesses, marriages, and the desire to live intensely, in community, with all religions, with all peoples, with the understanding that live is there and will be there…we just need to open our eyes to live it, and live it intensely.

This time we are celebrating our dear yogini friend, Evalyn. She and her company have been featured in the front page of the Houston Business Journal (read entire article). Our dear Evalyn’s sacrifice and effort in her company and capacity to motivate her staff has paid off. She has been nominated for the third year in one of the fastest growing businesses in Houston. This year she and her company are within the 81 fastest growing companies in Houston for 2010.

We do have the responsibility to live in compassion of each other. We seldom stop and think how the pain, the suffering of one is the suffering of all.  Even more rare is the ocassion when we think about the happiness of one is the happiness of all. This is truly how we feel about Evalyn. She is such a special individual who shows that capacity and focus in the depth but softness of her yoga practice. Evalyn brings so much love and sincerity to her yoga practice that is inspiring to all of us!

We do celebrate Evalyn successes as they are also ours!

Congratulations Evalyn!

At first it looks simple enough. You bend over as if in uttanasana. You extend one leg behind and hold it there while balancing on the other. Then comes the tricky part: As you balance on one leg, you extend you arms to the left and right while bending in the extended leg closer to your hip AND bending down on the other leg as well. Done right it looks like an albatross. As for my asana, thankfully, I have no where to check– The yogi next to me blocks the mirror-I have only my inner feeling and thigh pain to use for assessment. How good am I at the Albatross pose? Ask my friend in front. She well tell you.

I plan to learn more about yoga poses and their names. That way I can write more accurately about our practice. I enjoy talking about the periphery of yoga–the essence minus the posture-such as feelings, peaceful moments, meditation, the challenge of living harmoniously: Over and over I have made connections with yoga as it manifests outside the class. At this point I want to refocus on asana. The reason being, the very basic physical movement sometimes releases a tide of hubris. One day, a couple of weeks ago, I experienced the mind body connection yoga makes. We were in the middle of the class and I was having trouble concentrating- no surprise. Suddenly during a hip rotation a knot came untied. I could feel the potent release of whatever it was I was holding– inside the tissue, inside my heart inside my brain. Instantly a change of state came over me and stuck with me throughout the rest of the class all the way to the drive home.

That’s why I want to study what we do. I want to learn why and how the body yields its own healing to the heart and mind. If my elbow, my knee, my shoulder, my thigh, my skin looks no different, why do I feel so much better? Where does this” bettering” start? I would like to know, and I plan to find out.

A strong armor in a dark field.