BHAKTI BLAST OFF!

2 August 2009

Join deAnna with guests Jay Lobo and Brooke from Sunstone Yoga for Karmany’s first Kirtan!

We will be accompanied by harmonium and guitar. This Sunday evening from 6pm-8pmish. Suggested donation $5.

Find relief from the heat of August with the soothing nectar of Bhakti Yoga…

Bhakti yoga is the yoga of pure devotion. The yoga of love! It is one of the pillars of Jivamukti Yoga and is a fundamental aspect that links together all spiritual traditions. One of the most powerful expressions of Bhakti is chanting mantras and prayers with the elevated intention of transcending into a state of cosmic consciousness…entering an ocean of bliss and tranquility!

At first that may sound like some far out activity that is limited to those in cults or maybe it sounds dry and boring…or maybe you are not comfortable with the sound of your own voice.  In my experience, you have to try a few different styles and find one that really resonates deeply within you.  There are many expressions of Kirtan (ecstatic chanting) and these days there are a lot of really great modern variations such as MC Yogi, Wah!, Manorama, Sean Johnson and Wade Morrissette.  These artists have gained inspiration from traditional guys like Ravi Shankar, who played with The Beatles back in the 60’s.  Krishna Das, Jai Uttal and Bhagavan Das really brought chanting into its current popularity with their folk and rock influences.  Mike D. from the Beastie Boys even played with Bhagavan Das on the album Now! and accompanied my guru, Sharon Gannon, on a few tracks such as SATTVAM for her album neti-neti and Reverend Run from Run DMC rapped with her on the same album on the track “Sound is God”.

Why would these popular mainstream artists do side projects with Ravi Shankar, Bhagavan Das and Sharon Gannon? Perhaps they experienced something profoundly uplifting when they explored Sanskrit chanting during their yoga practice or spiritual journey…and since they are the sort who are ahead of the curve, they realized the potential of blending the ancient with the modern and wanted to share the gifts they received and pulsations they experienced from these mantras with the rest of the world in a way that felt hip and familiar.

When we chant sacred sounds, a vibration awakens within us and we heal our hearts and sooth our minds and emotions. Sanskrit is a language where sound and meaning unite.  It is a universal language like music or mathematics.  Actually, I feel this beautiful language is like a marriage of music and mathematics.  The ancient rishis or seers, put the same attention to detail in formulating the Sanskrit language that they put into creating mathematics.  You might notice if you ever see Devanagari script written that the alphabet has some very familiar shapes.  While this is fascinating on the intellectual level, the experience is even more amazing. When we chant in Sanskrit, we promote healing of the mind and emotions.  Ultimately, one of the aims of yoga practice is to lift ourselves up out of our thoughts…going beyond the mind and the definitions of how we see things so that we can see the world trough a fresh set of eyes.  We see the world differently and the world sees us differently. We raise our vibrations and thus become a shining light to those around us and the world looks shiny and new to us!

This month’s “Focus of the Month“ from Jivamukti is “Panoramic World“. ( If you get a chance, I highly recommend reading Sharon Gannon’s essay which is linked into the previous sentence.)  Mantra repetition and chanting plant seeds deep in our hearts for strength and faith to grow. Faith is an essential element for yoga practice and it is something that no one else can give you. It is what each of us is made of.  As we cultivate bhav (the mood of one who is intoxicated by love for the Divine), we uproot doubt and confusion and gradually profound shifts begin to occur.

As we chant these mantras and verses silently or aloud, we attract the virtuous qualities of the divine manifestation which we are calling out to and we find a healing outlet for our multi-faceted, tumultuous emotions.

On a scientific level, we are quite literally rewiring our neural nets, uprooting stagnant, negative patterns of thought and expanding positive thoughts.  Now that is something worth investigating.

Note: If you wish to use any part of this essay please ask permission first or reveal and credit the source. Thanks!

Latest News

SRI KRISHNA PATTBHI JOIS MAHA- SAMADHI

On 18 May 2009 at 2:30pm Indian Time, the great yogi Sri K. Pattabhi Jois took   Maha- Samadhi at age 94.  With his guru Sri Krishnamachrya, he developed the Ashtanga Yoga system.  Guruji was one the most influential yogis in the last century and was one of the main reasons any of us are enjoying the practice of yoga and in particular vinyasa style yoga in the West. The Ashtanga system is comprised of about 6 main series that are practiced  all over the world. So he is also hugely responsible for sharing vinyasa krama or ideas on the systematic sequencing of postures.

According to the inspiration section of the Jivamukti website:

Shri K. Pattabhi Jois studied yoga under his guru Shri Krishnamacharya and also attended the Sanskrit College of Mysore, where he became a professor of Sanskrit and Advaita Vedanta. He and Shri Krishnamacharya developed the Astanga Yoga series based on the purifying practices described in the ancient texts. In 1948, he founded the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore. In 1958, he wrote his classic book Yoga Mala, which explores Astanga and Yoga philosophy. In 1998, David Life was made a certified Astanga teacher by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. Both Sharon and David make regular trips Mysore to study under him.

End quote.

Pattabhi was one of the main influences on the Jivamukti Yoga method and gave David and Sharon his blessings when they co-founded the system back in 1986. David was certified by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois to teach all the through the Advanced B Series .  Sharon and David are very grateful for all the teachings and insights they received from studying with him. He is one of our “grand gurus”!

He was famous for saying “Do your practice and all is coming.”

A favorite quote that is featured on the Jivamukti NYC website is:

“Ahhhh Samadhi. Yoga is Samadhi. God is One. Yoga is One. Philosophy is One. That’s All.”

This week in honor of the transition of this profoundly influential master, we will be integrating some particular rituals into our classes to express our tremendous gratitude for the practices, wisdom and example that we received from Guruji and to support his transformation…

The Tuesday evening 6pm class at Karmany will include a moment of silence accompanied by the chanting of a few particular mantras that were specified as appropriate for this time by Manorama. We will be somehwat coordinating with the ceremony celebrating the life of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois at the main Jivamukti Center in NYC which will be lead by Manorama-ji and Ruth-ji. Ruth Lauer Manenti had a very close relationship with Guruji and will speak about his life and influence on us and Manorama Thea D’Alvia will lead the fire ceremony and chanting of the mantras.

For the next 12 days, we will be continuing to honor the gift of his existence and teachings and include something special at Karmany on Friday 29 May during our Gratitude Party which “coincidentally” will coordinate with the closing ceremony that will be held at the Jivamukti Center in NYC by Sri Sharon-ji and Sri David-ji.

We are still awaiting further instructions regarding this next few weeks but for now a few instructions are:

Let us reflect on the GURU mantra, the GAYAATRI mantra and the MAHA MRTYUNJAYA mantra

Let us set aside as much time for meditation as possible.

Let us reflect on all that SRI KRISHNA PATTABHI JOIS has done to uplift our existence.

We can place his photo on our alters or somewhere special, decorate with white flowers and light white candles.

To learn more about Guruji, you can visit www.kpjayi.org.

To hear a touching account of Guruji from my guru David Life visit Yoga Journal.