Suzin Green

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Monday, July 9, 2012

This week’s class focused on one sutra. I thought the dawning of wisdom deserved an evening unto itself.

III, 5
Once the perfect discipline of consciousness is mastered,
wisdom dawns.
Just to reiterate, Patanjali’s Book III concerns itself with the final three limbs of classical yoga:  concentration (dharana), meditation/absorption (dhyana) and integration (samadhi). These three limbs form the perfect discipline of consciousness, aka samyama, referred to in the above sutra.
If you imagine the mind/body system as myriad layers of consciousness, some clear, some dense, some hard, some soft, some open, some closed, some sticky, some slippery — you get where I’m going with this — you can see why it’s so hard to get the whole mess integrated. All this to say the practice of samyama  does not come easily. We have to work at it. The mind is a slippery instrument, more often attuned to the kleshas, than its innate wisdom. [Should you want to review the kleshas, go to the May 2011 archive]. Yet wisdom, like the sun, is always blazing. We may be oblivious to its light. That doesn’t mean it’s not here. Which is why taking a moment to turn within can evoke a profound sense of clarity, calm, insight, or wisdom. Of course, Patanjali’s technology for yoking the mind/body system is designed so those moments of clarity, calm, insight, and wisdom stretch into the norm.
This week’s dharma talk attempts to unpack some of the above:
For reasons that will become clear over the next few weeks, I’m feeling a connection between the teachings and practices I’ve come to call the Laksmi Work and our current immersion in Patanjali Book III. More on that as it unfolds. For now, suffice to say we opened class chanting the Laksmi-Murti-Mantra combined with the Dhumavati Bija. I’ll write these mantras out for those unfamiliar with them and also include a clip of the actual chanting:
Here are the mantras:
Here’s an audio clip of the chanting:
Contemplating wisdom inspired me to go down the rabbit hole of parallel teachings:
From the Laksmi Tantra:
I am recognized by the wise as the bliss and tranquility inherent in each state of being. Though that is my true nature, [the individual] does not experience me spontaneously. However, after receiving a mere particle of my anugrahashakti [grace], she discovers me instantaneously…Then after propitiating me by various means [i.e. samyama], the jiva [individual soul] washes away all the kleshas and blows away the dust of impressions; whereby the jiva that has already severed its fetters through meditation, fuses with true knowledge [aka wisdom] and attains me, who am Laksmi and whose nature is supreme bliss.
From the Jneshwari:

 What is action? What is inaction? Thus, even the wise are confused in this matter. This action, I shall explain to you, having known which, you shall be released from evil [i.e. the lack of wisdom].

 One must know the nature of action, the nature of wrong action, and also the nature of inaction. The way of action is profound.

 He who perceives inaction in action, and action is inaction is wise among men; he is is a yogi and performs all actions.

 Such a person seems like other people, but he is not affected by human nature like the sun which cannot be drowned in water.

 He sees the world without seeing it, does everything without doing it, and enjoys all pleasures without being involved in them.

 Though he is seated in one place, he travels everywhere, for even while in the body he has become the universe.

From the Ashtavakra Gita:

1.
The wise man knows the Self,
And he plays the game of life.
 
But the fool lives in the world
Like a beast of burden.
 

2.
The true seeker feels no elation,
Even in that exalted state
Which Indra and all the gods
Unhappily long for.
 

3.
He understands the nature of things.
 
His heart is not smudged
By right or wrong,
As the sky is not smudged by smoke.
 

4.
He is pure of heart,
He knows the whole world is only the Self…
 

5.
Of the four kinds of being…
Only the wise man is strong enough
To give up desire and aversion.

From Lalleshwari , tr. by Coleman Barks

The soul, like the moon,
is new, and always new again.

And I have seen the ocean
continuously creating.

Since I scoured my mind
and my body, I too, Lalla,
am new, each moment, new.

My teacher told me one thing,
Live in the soul.

When that was so,
I began to go naked,
and dance.

Trying to be Thoughtful in the First Brights of Dawn
-Mary Oliver

I am thinking, or trying to think, about all the
imponderables for which we have
no answers, yet endless interest all the
range of our lives, and it’s

 
good for the head no doubt to undertake such
meditation; Mystery, after all,
is God’s other name, and deserves our

 
considerations surely. But, but —
excuse me now, please; it’s morning, heavenly bright,
and my irrepressible heart begs me to hurry on
into the next exquisite moment.

[w/ humble apologies to MO for this blog template’s refusal to format her poem as written…] 

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Sunday, July 8, 2012

I’m a couple of weeks behind here, posting notes from June 25th. That class continued our focus on Patanjali III, 1-3. I think one could stay with these sutras for a long time and only begin to penetrate the depth of the teaching. They do, after all, articulate the final limbs of classical Yoga: concentration, meditation, and samadhi. It’s really all here in these three.

For many years, I was caught up in a notion of samadhi as the final limb of Yoga, and as that “final limb,” a mostly unattainable state. We might have moments, even hours, in samadhi, but sooner or later, consciousness would shift back into something more normal and the elusive samadhi would once again be just outside our grasp.

It’s only now, studying Chip Hartranft’s brilliant version of the Yoga-Sutra, that I begin to understand samadhi, not as a state, but as a practice, not as a noun, but as a verb. He chooses to translate the word samadhi as “integration.” And integration is something we can practice every moment. Integration is waking up to the truth of who and what we are. When we wake up in the moment, when we re-member ourself to the Self, we  integrate into integration.

3.
Tadeva artha maatra nirbhaasam svaruupa shunyam iva samaadi
When only the essential nature of the object shines forth, as if formless, integration has arisen.

Yes, when only the essential nature of the object (the Self) shines forth, integration has arisen. Conversely, practicing integration, re-membering ourSelf, creates the fertile ground wherein the essential nature of the object, aka our essential nature, can shine forth. When the mind breaks open, when we shift into the shining forth, nirbhaasam,  integration, aka samadhi is happening. And that possibility is available to us in any moment. It’s not something to strive for or hope to attain. It’s another form of breathing.

Here’s my dharma talk on this topic:

Here’s the dharana I gave:

And this is a very short clip on the practice of swadhaya (concentration) before chanting:

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October 31, 2011

 

Since this week’s class fell on Halloween, I was moved to acknowledge Samhain, the ancient Celtic holiday from which our modern celebration springs.

Here are Samhain blessings I read at class:

May wonder ever illumine your souls as the candle does a room on a long, winter night, may joy blow through your heart with the intensity of the north wind in a blizzard, may peace cover your lives like a blanket of fresh fallen snow.

May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you are going, and the insight to know when you have gone too far…

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, may you be held in the hands of Grace.

Harry Potter notwithstanding, Samhain’s special connection to the Dark Goddess has been distorted in our Halloween iconography of witches on broomsticks. It is however, a night to honor the Dark Mother, so I opened class with a medley of Kali chants. Here’s the dharma talk that followed that soaring flight of luminosity…

 

 

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October 16, 2012

The impulse to chant the Gayatri mantra 2 weeks ago was just that — a strong sense that this was the correct practice for that evening. It was all about infusing ourselves with light as we move into the new fall season. As Gayatri is to Light, Navarna is to Truth. So it seemed only right to add Navarna to the mix. And now, as Navarna is to Truth, Laksmi/Dhumavati-Bija is to infinite possibility. So layering these three mantras over these three weeks strikes me as a triadic blessing invoked during this sacred (which really means powerful) time of year.

This week’s Chant: The Sublime Laksmi Murti & Dhumavati Bija mantras.

Here’s this week’s dharma talk, inspired by the Tarika-Dhumavati bija mantras. It also touches on the Mangalam and quotes these lines from the Katha Upanishad…

Beyond the senses are the objects,
Beyond the objects is the mind,
Beyond the mind, the intellect,
Beyond the intellect, the ātman,
Beyond the ātman, the non-manifest,
Beyond the non-manifest, the spirit,
Beyond the spirit, there is nothing.
This is the end, pure awareness.

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The Mangalam Chant

For those who’ve been asking for a recording of the Mangalam, here it is, along with words to the chant and translation/commentary. So many people ask about developing a daily inner work practice. This is a beautiful chant to include. What better way to start (or end) your day than naming and blessing each and every aspect of creation!

Bhumi-Mangalam,  Udaka-Mangalam,  Agni-Mangalam, Vayu-Mangalam,  Gagana-Mangalam,  Surya-Mangalam,
Chandra-Mangalam,  Jagat-Mangalam,  Jiva-Mangalam, Deha-Mangalam,  Mano-Mangalam, Atma-Mangalam,
Sarva-Mangalam-Bhavatu-Bhavatu-Bhavtu…

May there be peace in earth, water, fire, and air, the sun, moon, and planet, in all living beings, in body, mind and heart. May that peace be everywhere and in everyone.

Mangala is an adjective meaning auspicious, lucky, fortunate, etc. With the suffix “m,” it becomes a noun: auspiciousness, luck, etc. It is also related to the goddess Durga suggesting, “one whose touch brings ecstasy.”

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September 26, 2011

We will return to Patanjali, I promise. For the time being though, we’re luxuriating in mantra practice inspired by the fall season. This cycle of practice/teachings constellates around a family of mantras beloved to long-time Monday Nighters: Gayatri, Navarna, and Tarika Bija. I’ll likely add a handful of others to the mix, but want to underline the potency and power of these three as catalysts for illuminating and strengthening the inner being (Gayatri and Navarna) and infusing that interior essence with majesty, generosity, and grace (Tarika Bija).

Here’s a sound clip from the Navarna class on 9/26. I tried using a microphone I thought would give a better recording. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. You’ll have to listen carefully to hear DanJ’s tabla. And while I was able to salvage the dharana I gave at the end of class, the volumeof my commentary is too low. So, that bit of dharma talk  remains only in the memories of those who were there. If you want to chant or listen to the Navarna mantra however, this clip will be just fine…

In closing, here are the excerpts from the Ramprasad poem I read at the end of class. This is from Lex Hixon’s book, Mother of the Universe, his ecstatic collection of Ramprasad’s poetry. This one’s on page 180:

Kali is naked reality.
She is the feminine principle, unifying wisdom.
This simpleminded lover of truth
calls her my mother, my mother,
because she is the inexhaustible affection
who never neglects her children….

This poet urges every human heart:
“If you wish to be liberated from oppression,
abandon whatever limits you cling to
and meditate on the limitless one
who wears limitation as a garland of heads
severed by her sword of nondual wisdom.”

For readers who’ve found this blog online and may not be familiar with the Navarna mantra or Goddess Kali, let me simply suggest you can think of Kali an an archetype of Truth–and think of the Navarna mantra as the lifeblood of that truth. So chanting this mantra nourishes, strengthens, and vitalizes your connection to, you guessed it, your innate sense of truth.

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September 19, 2011, Part II

For those who want a Gayatri track to chant along with, here’s class recitation from 9/19. This is ***not*** the 108 reps we did later that evening. This is the Walk-In Open Chant from 7:30-8 pm. Sound quality is not great which is why I didn’t include it in the earlier post. It just occurred to me however that not-so-great audio not withstanding, some people might like the “good company” — and there’s definitely  shakti in the track!

Monday Night Class Chanting the Gayatri Mantra

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August 7, 2011

Many thanks for your patience with my infrequent blogging and non-linear posting of dharma talks. I continue recording each week and hope to be caught up by the end of this year. For now though, when I actually have time to edit a talk, it makes more sense to post the most recent. So, here is Monday August 1’s talk on Patanajali II 40 & 41.  Here are the sutras:

[Mukunda Stiles’ version]

II, 40
From purity arises a desire to protect one’s body and a cessation of adverse contact with others.
II, 41
From the purification of one’s essence cheerfulness arises, and with it, one-pointed concentration,
mastery of the senses, and the capacity for sustaining the vision of the True Self.

[Chip Hartranft’s version]
II, 40
With body purification, one’s body ceases to be compelling, likewise contact with others.
II, 41
Purification also brings about clarity, happiness, concentration, mastery of the senses, and capacity for self-awareness.

Here’s the actual talk:

I’m also including this Kabir poem which manages to make the same point in a handful of lines!

The Hearse
Kabir, version by Robert Bly

The spiritual athlete often changes the color of his clothes,
and his mind remains gray and loveless.

He sits inside a shrine room all day,
so that the Guest has to go outdoors and praise the rocks.

Or he drills holes in his ears, his beard grows enormous and matted,
people mistake him for a goat…
He goes out into wilderness areas, strangles his impulses,
and makes himself neither male nor female…

He shaves his skull, puts his robe in an orange vat,
reads the Bhagavad-Gita and becomes a terrific talker.

Kabir says: Actually you are going in a hearse to the country of death,
bound hand and foot!

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June 21, 2011

I recently found this draft of a post for class on May 9th.  Although adding it now takes us out of chronological order, I think it’s worth including. We had just entered into Book II of the Yoga-Sutra and were beginning to look at Patanjali’s concept of the kleshas, the “primal causes of suffering.” That week’s sutra focused on the first klesha, avidya. If you want a reminder of the five kleshas, scroll down to May 15th.

II, 4
Ignorance (i.e. avidya) is the fertile soil, and as a consequence, all other obstacles persist.
They may exist in any state—dormant, feeble, intermittent, or fully operative.

Click here to listen to my May 9 Dharma Talk.  I’m talking about the kleshas as a way to understand addictive behavior patterns.  That was the night I told the story about the Canadian geese on the towpath and driving to class with my dirty windshield.

Here’s a lovely Zen story that illustrates how life looks when we’re stuck behind the second klesha, asmita (attachment to story) planted in the fertile soil of avidya (ignorance).

A potential student went to see a Zen master and asked: “If I work really hard, how long will it take to become enlightened.”  The Zen master looked at the man and said “Ten years.”

“No, no,” the man said, “I mean to really work at it –“

The Zen master cut him off. “I’m sorry, I misjudged you–twenty years.”

“Wait,” the man blurted out, “I’m very serious, you don’t understand–“

“Thirty years,” said the Zen master.

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April 2, 2011

Okay, here we go. I’m posting the dharma talk and chant from March 28 Class. Voice quality on the dharma talk is fine. Chant recording is heavy on harmonium. I only realized I should record after chanting began so was unable to position the mike to catch optimum voice. Nevertheless, I’m including the MP3 here. Seems better than nothing. Since everyone has been loving the new Patanjali chant, this will give you something to work with on your own.

Here’s the Dharma Talk:

Here’s the Chant: Patanjali-Yoga-Sutra Book One, Sutras 1-3

This beautiful poem came to me this week. It so evokes the process of Yoga, I’m including it here for you.

A Cloth of Fine Gold
-Dorothy Walters

You may think
that first lit flame
was the ultimate blaze,
the holy fire
entered at last.
What do you know of furnaces?
This is a sun that returns
again and again, refining, igniting,
pouring your spirit
through a cloth of delicate gold
until all dross is taken
and you are sweet as
clarified butter
in god’s mouth.