Qur'an/Iran, and Michael Jackson

In solidarity and heart-witness with the people of Iran, two verses from the Qur'an:

"O you who have attained to faith!
Stand firmly in your devotion to God,
bearing witness to the truth in complete fairness;
and never let hatred of anyone
lead you to make the mistake of deviating from justice.
Be just: this is closest to being God-conscious,
And remain conscious of God:
truly, God is well-aware of all that you do."
(5:7)

"O our Sustainer!
Do not let our hearts swerve from the truth
after You have guided us;
and bestow on us the gift of Your grace:
truly, You are the Giver of Gifts"
(3:8)

(trans: Camille Helminski)

and though they really have little relation, the other ocean liner filling my field of attention is the passing of MJ.

I don't have anything original to say about Michael, but Sara & I stayed up late last night watching old videos on youtube, and I just have a soft spot in my heart for him. That little boy singing so sweetly, and that strange strange man he became. Really, each of us, just doing whatever we can think of to try to be free & happy. I see a warped mirror of America in his videos and life, and feel some cringe about what we became as a culture during my lifetime. My friend Keith says this:

"We’re the same age, and been traveling together all this time... Not joking, it will be weird to continue without him, even tho’ he kinda left a while ago."

May he be well. May we all be well.

Namaste,
sean

new yoga class in oakland & kirtan next friday

Here's a funny sweet photo of us in India, chanting away one morning in our room in Rishikesh. Silly Bhakti wallahs!

I'm excited to start a new yoga class in a few weeks. It's an all-levels vinyasa class at Great Western Power Company, the fabulous climbing gym in downtown Oakland. They're great, my friend Raven already teaches there, and I've been subbing her class some. It'll be Saturday mornings at 10, and is free for members ($12 for non-). We'll sweat and work hard, but still chant & meditate a little.

Also, kirtan at Yoga Mandala on the 8th, and a workshop on May 10: Concentration and Mindfulness in Asana. We'll work on ways to bring more meditative awareness and clarity of mind into our yoga practice, including touching on mantra, pranayama and practices from both the yoga and Buddhist traditions for deepening concentration & samadhi. Call Yoga Mandala (510.486.1989) to sign up.

Happy spring, May Day, Intl. Worker's Day & Beltane! Whatever you call it, take care of the garden, make love, honor the Goddess, fight for labor rights & welcome back the sunshine. & Take care. Hope to see you soon.

Spring 2009 classes, kirtan, workshops

Warm blessings to each of you.

This is my monthly or so announcement of classes and events coming up. I hope that it finds you well, nourished like the grassy hills from all the rain, and blossoming into the New Year. Who knows what will happen! I feel optimistic, though Rome is burning all around, both with the infectious Hope of our new administration and beautiful first family, and with the deep stillness of silent retreat, which Sara and I were on for all of February. How delicious to sit and walk and practice Yoga in silence with the storms shaking the eaves, howling through the trees, making the creek roar. Truly this is a heaven realm, all too easy to forget in the stress and spin of daily urban life. Taking time to slow down and feel the river of Life flowing by, moment by intimate moment, roaring by like the swollen creek, is the deepest pleasure and refuge I know in this world.

I’m offering a lot this season, and I look forward to practicing with many of you. Details at the bottom of this (long—sorry! I don’t expect you to read every word of it…) note.

Yoga classes continue, both at Yoga Mandala and at a new studio: Square One Yoga Collective. Along with a lovely crew of teachers, I’m part of opening an exciting new space on San Pablo Ave. (at 45th street, near Arizmendi’s fabulous bakery cooperative). All my Yoga classes are now all-levels Vinyasa/Hatha Flow classes, with an emphasis on pranayama, concentration and mindfulness in asana. We move fully and awaken prana throughout the body with a mix of strength and stretch, focusing throughout on continuity of attention, breath, and awareness of mind/heart. I’ll be doing a workshop on cultivating mindfulness and concentration in our Yoga practice at Yoga Mandala on May 10.

The new studio, Square One, brings affordable Yoga classes to a new corner of town—the North Oakland/Emeryville border, and has a full schedule of Vinyasa classes, with a few “gentle”, restorative, and Iyengar-style classes tossed in. And all classes are $10!!! I’m there 3x a week, and for now, classes are tiny, so lots of personal attention. Come help us grow a new space!

Bhakti practice continues with monthly Kirtan at Loka Yoga in Oakland, Alice Joanou’s wonderful studio, and at Yoga Mandala, in the beautiful temple space there. We’ll be chanting every month on the second (YM) and last (Loka) Fridays . Whether you’re a long-time bhakta or only pray in airplanes during turbulence, come and celebrate the rich, profound mystery of the Divine in community. We sing mantras and bhajans (repetitive praise songs) in Sanskrit and Pali (the ancient Buddhist language), hear stories from yogic mythology, wisdom poems and teachings, and meditate together. Kirtan is offered by donation, in the ancient practice of Dana—freely offering the priceless Dharma and inviting any offering in return, renewing the circle of generosity, deepening our relationships and bonds.

In the Buddhist realm, I’ll be offering a 5-week “intermediate level” meditation and mindfulness class through San Francisco Insight in June. It’s the natural follow-up to our beginner’s series, offered in May (see www.sfinsight.org for details on that class), but there’s no strict prerequisite. Anyone who has begun meditation practice in any Buddhist or Yoga tradition and wants to investigate more deeply is warmly welcome. We’ll broaden our understanding of mindfulness and concentration through a systematic exploration of the “Four Foundations of Mindfulness” (Pali: Satipatthana Sutta), the Buddhist text that most clearly lays out the practice that we now call Vipassana, or Insight Meditation.

Lastly, I am available for private sessions relating to inner process, both “spiritual” and “psychological”, though there is really no difference. I meet with sincere practitioners on a Dana basis (by donation), and can work with you on Yoga, meditation, chanting/bhakti (including musical aspects like singing and harmonium playing), and resolution of psychological/energetic distress. I have been studying a beautiful therapeutic form called Somatic Experiencing, which works like an individual meditation/exploration of immediate experience, guided by a compassionate and gently directive witness. It can be a profound tool for untangling painful habits of mind/heart that were established in moments of distress (trauma) and that lead us again and again into suffering. It can address serious physical/emotional trauma as well as being a powerful tool for spiritual and energetic unfolding. I am still very much a beginner in this work, but I’m quite in love with it, and need willing nervous systems to practice with. Your willingness to work with me in this form is a great gift to my own education, and both safe and beneficial for you as well, God/dess willing. I have a couple spaces open each week for personal sessions, and you can contact me at svaha (at) riseup.net if interested.

May we each be safe, living in peace and ease. May all beings be free.

Namaste,
sean

***

Details:

Yoga classes:

Mon 9-10:30am Yoga Mandala

Tue 6-7:15pm Square One Yoga Collective

Thu 6-7:15pm Square One Yoga Collective

Fri 9-10:30am Yoga Mandala

Sat 11:30-1pm Square One Yoga Collective

Yoga Mandala
2807 Telegraph/Stuart, Berk.
www.yogamandalastudio.com

Square One Yoga Collective
4336-A San Pablo/45th, Emery.
www.squareoneyoga.com

*

Kirtan (chanting & Bhakti Yoga):

Last Fridays, 7:30-9pm (3/27, 4/24, 5/29, 6/26, 7/31)
Loka Yoga: 2701 MacArthur/Coolidge, Oakland
www.loka-oakland.blogspot.com

Second Fridays, 7:30-9pm (4/10, 5/8, 6/12, 7/11)
Yoga Mandala
2807 Telegraph/Stuart, Berk.
www.yogamandalastudio.com

[Kirtan offered on Dana - by donation.]

*

Workshops:

Yoga as Meditation: Mindfulness & Concentration in Asana
Sunday May 10, 1-4pm. Yoga Mandala, $35
www.yogamandalastudio.com

5-week Mindfulness & Meditation class (through SF Insight)
5 Mondays 7-9pm, June 1-29 with a daylong (9:30-5) on 6/20
$50 for church expenses, teachings are offered on Dana
Unitarian Univ. Church, San Francisco: 1187 Franklin/Geary, SF
www.sfinsight.org

thoughts on byron katie

My friend and teacher David Moreno (Abhimanyu Saraswati) mentioned Byron Katie the other day in class. He's been inspired by her Work, and we've been trading notes on the relationship between her work and Buddhist practices. For those of you unfamiliar with her, she's a wonderful awake being who teaches a clear, very useful method for disentangling ourselves from habits of thought and internal story. She teaches four questions to ask about repetitive thoughts which helps to see them in a clearer light. The first question is: "Is this true?" Here's a few words I wrote to David:

Hi Abhimanyu,

Here's a short response to your inquiry the other day in class about the relationship between her practice and Buddhist practice. Short answer: completely in harmony.

Longer answer: I think of it this way: she's emphasizing an aspect of the 3rd Foundation of Mindfulness, "mindfulness of mind" (Pali: citta-nupassana), combined with a skillful use of inquiry/investigation (Pali: dhamma-vicaya). This kind of inquiry into mind-state via the unraveling of difficult habits of thought (Pali: sankhara, San: samskara) is one of the most useful doorways for Western yogis when the traditional method of observe-without-judgement-and-let-go doesn't seem to work. And the inquiry/investigation is, in fact, central to the detailed map of practice that the Buddha taught, called the 7 Factors of Awakening/Enlightenment. Inquiry directly follows Mindfulness, and proceeds in this way:

Mindfulness (intimate, present-time embodied awareness), which leads to:
3 arousing Factors:
Investigation/inquiry (into the arising objects), which leads to: (etc.)
Energy (determination, perseverance, bright focus for practice)
Joy (rapture, pleasure, uplifting energy, radiance)
3 calming Factors:
Tranquillity (the mind settling, energy stabilizing, deep peace)
Concentration (or Dharana, Jhana/Dhyana, Samadhi - unification of mind)
Equanimity (deep balance of mind/heart, as the Gita & Y Sutras say "unattached to the pairs of opposites/gunas")

So she's focusing on the second factor, Inquiry, but implying the first: you have to realize that you're thinking before you can even ask "Is this thought true?", etc. And I bet that it is the direct experience of many people who do her work that really going through the questions/steps in relation to a difficult mind-state does naturally lead to the arising of energy and determination [to be free], and that bright energy leads naturally to expanded energy in the body/mind, and then naturally to calm and deepening of concentration/meditation. And since she's bringing people into acceptance/letting go of difficult patterns of thought, Equanimity will naturally arise.

This is just my first thought on the relationship, but I quite respect her approach, and it is a wonderful way to work with this Most Potent Demon in our practice.

Here's Katie's website: www.thework.org

Back from retreat, new yoga studio!

Dear friends
I'm back from a month of silent retreat, and want to reawaken this little forum, but have few words right now. Soon will come a big post with lots of classes and stuff I'm doing. Doing, doing, doing! But being is going well also. No complaints. Here's one bit of news - more coming soon...

A new Yoga studio is opening up in an underserved part of town! Amazing - I didn't think that there were any neighborhoods left between MacArthur BART and North Berkeley that didn't have a Yoga studio, but I was wrong, till now... Square One Yoga Collective is open on San Pablo at 45th street, right near Arizmendi's bakery co-op, on the Emeryville/Oakland border. It's a small, funky space with a roster of lovely teachers, and a $10 (can you believe it?) class price. I'm teaching there Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6, and Saturday morning at 11:30. Come! For now, classes are tiny, but will build - come help me build some momentum, share cheap classes, and tell your friends who live in that 'hood. All the classes are all-levels Vinyasa with pranayama, chanting, and focus on mindfulness and concentration in asana.

Deep, well-rained spring blessings.
See you soon.

Namaste,
sean

a tantric breath practice

In Tantric yoga, the in-breath is associated with the moon (feel the cool air as it travels downward into your body), and the out-breath with the sun (feel the warm breath rising as you breathe out). This leads to the conception of the breath cycle as being parallel to the daily cycle, where dawn occurs at the end of moonrise (top of the in-breath, with attention centered in the heart), and dusk occurs at sunset (bottom of the out-breath, with attention at the “end-of-twelve” finger-widths above the nose—a few inches above your head). You can practice this breath cycle as an alternate to the more common “full yogic breath”, where the in-breath rises from the base of the belly to the top of the ribs and the out-breath descends back down. Here’s a basic map of this practice:

Settle into a comfortable, stable meditation posture. Closing your eyes, feel your whole body and the space around your body.

Feel your natural breath, relaxing your whole body as the breath comes into focus.

Inhaling, feel the cool air drawing down into your heart center. If it’s comfortable to do so, pause at the top of the inhale, feeling your heart full and bright.

Exhaling steadily and gently, send the breath up through your throat, head and crown to a point about 12 finger-widths above the tip of your nose (a few inches above your head). Again, if it’s comfortable, you can pause, empty, feeling a radiant stillness in and around your body.

Continue in this cycle, using as slow, comfortable and calm a breath as feels good to you, with the in- and out-breaths about the same length. When you feel done with the practice, rest your attention in the heart center and return to the natural breath, again sensing your whole body and the space around your body. If you feel dizzy or spacey at all, drop your attention into your low belly or feet, bow forward or rest in child’s pose, all the time feeling the solidness of earth supporting you.

*

[I learned this breath from the lovely Tantric scholar-practitioner Christopher Tompkins, who teaches at UC Berkeley and over here at Rudramandir. He’s a great resource—check him out.]

The pause between breaths is called the “divya sthiti”, or Divine Pause. Winter solstice is such a pause. On Sunday the 21st it can be powerful simply to notice the moment of sunset, feeling the longest night of the year begin, and dawn the next day. You can make any ritual you want to honor this turning of the year. Some folks I know stay up all night dancing, and the monks and nuns in many Asian monasteries will sit up in meditation all night, as they also do for the new and full moons.

Deep exhale. So much Change! See you in the new year.

Mantra and Meditation this weekend

The practices that we call Yoga are part of a vast collection of methods, traditionally designed toward one end: to bring our Heart-Mind into an experience of Union, and through that Union to be released from illusion and ignorance. Supported by physical practices that open the body & breath, and ethical disciplines that orient us toward skillful action, the heart of the Yoga Path is meditation: unifying body, heart and mind, energy and attention in an experience of calm, radiant clarity.

This Sunday I'm offering a workshop at the Mindful Body in San Francisco investigating the meditative path of Yoga. Your regular Yoga practice leads perfectly into meditation. The steadiness, compassion, and presence that we cultivate on the mat become the internal skills of mindfulness and relaxed, focused attention. In this workshop we’ll explore meditation through the traditional practices of Mantra (inner repetition), chanting, and Pranayama (breathwork).

Mantra & chanting are profound, simple tools that focus the mind, deepen the breath, and open our hearts. Mantra is central to Tantric and Buddhist Yogas, and a doorway to deep transformation. We'll work with Japa (spoken/chanted) & Ajapa (silent/thought) Mantra, Nada Yoga (the practice of meditation on the inner sound), Pranayama to raise & balance energy, and touch into Bhakti (devotional) aspects of Mantra. This will be a great workshop to help begin or deepen your home meditation practice.

Sunday, Nov 9, 1-4pm, $45
($35 if you register by Friday)
The Mindful Body, SF

to register, call 415.931.2639
www.themindfulbody.com

Blessings,
sean