Is Yoga Cultural Appropriation?
Swami Ji, the OG
What is cultural appropriation? Cultural appropriation is defined as the process by which Intellectual property, artifacts, dance, clothing/fashion, language, music, food, religious symbols, medicine, wellness practices and more are used for purposes that were unintended by the original culture and may even be offensive to that culture. With yoga, this can often be seen through the adaptation of practices in ways that sterilize them for the West by stripping the spiritual aspects of the philosophy, by refusal to use Sanskrit words, or by removing the symbols or stories that exemplify the...
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Journey Into Your Being Plus a Meditation Practice
Swami Ji, the OG
Today we are going to discuss the components of who you are, and then you will be guided through a short meditation. Feel free to listen to the discussion portion, but then stop the recording before doing the meditation if you are not in a location where you can sit quietly and still with the eyes closed. You may have heard the common definition of yoga is “union” and it comes from the Sanskrit word ‘yug’ meaning to yoke. If we think about how buffalo are yoked together or horses or sled dogs are joined together, the purpose of yoking is to unite multiple forces to create...
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Making Life Simple and Easy
Swami Ji, the OG
Is your life simple and easy? I believe it can be and for the last couple of years, I’ve challenged myself to create a life that is becoming simpler and easier. Prior to this time my life was so full it was overflowing, and it often left me drained to the point where I felt so weighted down that I could barely keep moving forward. In 2019, I was in the twenty second year of running a yoga center that employed about 16 staff members and served several hundred students per week. I was also the education director and president of the board of a nonprofit yoga academy, housed in the center’s...
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3 Steps to Healthy Boundaries
Swami Ji, the OG
A boundary is a limit or space between you and another person. It is a clear place where you begin and the other person ends, physically, mentally, energetically and spiritually. The purpose of setting a healthy boundary is, of course, to protect and take good care of yourself at all levels of being. Do you have unhealthy boundaries? Unhealthy boundaries involve a disregard for your own and/or others' values, wants, needs, and limits. Unhealthy boundaries can also lead to dysfunctional and potentially abusive relationships. I’m going to ask a few questions that will help you...
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Letting Go To Find Balance
Swami Ji, the OG
When we feel we are losing our balance we grab hold of something to feel secure and to prevent falling. This is a normal reaction to be able to maintain our physical balance and hopefully prevent pain. At that moment of uncertainty, that moment of being out of balance, we would think it strange if someone told us to “just let go.” But what about our mental balance? What are we grabbing hold of to feel secure? And are we holding on to hopefully prevent the mental and emotional pains? In the ancient text, the Yoga Sutras, within the very first few sutras we are told that it is possible...
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Still Body - Still Mind
Swami Ji, the OG
Sometimes we keep busy moving from one thing to another and believe this will keep us from thinking too much. However, we are only creating a distracted mind, the part that is overdeveloped to start with, and all this busy-ness keeps feeding this part of the mind that is processing sensory information and tries to make sense of the world. We need to develop the part of the mind that connects us with our higher self. When we go to bed at night, we become still and gradually the mind slows down and we fall asleep. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to slow down the mind at any point during...
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5 Keys To Improve Discipline
Swami Ji, the OG
When you think or hear about the word discipline what comes up for you? “Oh, I wish I had more of it,” or “I don’t have time for discipline,” or even “did I do something wrong?” The last implying that the word discipline is a form of punishment. Today we are going to discuss our misperceptions about discipline, its importance, and how we can improve our discipline to be more successful in our lives. Let’s start with the dictionary definitions. 1) the practice of training people to obey rules using punishment to correct disobedience or 2) a branch of knowledge,...
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From Change Comes Growth
Swami Ji, the OG
Today I will discuss the inevitability of change, why we find it difficult, how change and growth go hand in hand, the importance of having goals, and to welcome change! WHEW! That’s a lot to think about! And all of those thoughts are also part of the mechanism that keeps us “stuck” where we are and resisting changes. It has often been said that the only constant is life is change! Yet most of us find it difficult to change, especially when it takes us away from our routine, our conditioned ways of thinking. In actuality we’ve been changing our whole lives! Some of the changes...
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Just Relax!
Swami Ji, the OG
Just relax! I’m sure someone has said this to you at some point in your life! As if the ability to relax is like flipping a switch and something so easy you can just do it spontaneously at any time. When we were growing up, did anyone ever teach us how to relax? Do you know how even now? From my experience teaching yoga since 1995 and practicing yoga since the early 1980’s, I know that relaxation can be difficult to achieve, and few people have a method that supports them to become deeply relaxed. Today this podcast will have a brief introduction to the practice that I’ve done and taught...
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What Is Resilience and Why Do You Need It?
Swami Ji, the OG
Some think of it as endurance, but when I think of endurance, I think it means the power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process without giving up. Or fortitude? Fortitude is courage in the face of pain or adversity. Indeed, both of these words can be a part of resilience, but don’t thoroughly encompass the whole concept. Resilience is the ability to bounce back quickly from difficult situations and actually thrive when faced with challenging circumstances! Some ways of thinking about resilience includes being tough, quick to recover, buoyant, irrepressible, adaptable, flexible and...
info_outlineI have a confession. I love chanting. The chanting of mantras resonates in my soul. I often feel when I am chanting that I have been chanting for endless lifetimes. There is such a feeling of connectedness to some primal power that allows me to get out of my head. To let go of my intellect and bathe in the vibration of sound. Today I will tell you what mantras are and tell you about one of my favorites.
The word mantra comes from the root words “man” meaning mind and “tra” meaning liberation. Mantra then means “to liberate the mind from bondage.” And what is that bondage? That bondage is the incessant rumination of thoughts, our negative patterns of behavior, our egos and more.
With mantras, it’s about the sound, the vibration. Simple mantras may be purely sound with no meaning other than the vibration. More complex mantras may have so much meaning that the vibration is an encapsulation of that meaning in a way that vibrates our psychic centers “feel” the meaning on a deeper level of awareness without having to “think” about the meaning. So, mantras can be a single word, such as the universal mantra “Om.” Or mantras can be pages long. But, when chanting a mantra the awareness is meant to embrace the vibration and not worry about the meaning.
Sound is vibration. And sound is powerful. Think fingernails on a blackboard. Yikes! Even thinking about that sound makes my skin crawl! Sound is powerful. Ultrasound can penetrate your body and yield pictures of what's going on inside. Highly focused sound waves can shatter a kidney stone! The sound of certain music can bring tears to your eyes. Sounds genuinely penetrate all layers of our being.
One of my favorite mantras is called the Shanti Path which means the “course of peace”. It contains eight phrases and when it is chanted in my tradition another mantra with four more phrases that “liberates from death” is added at the end. This combination gives us guidance on how to lead a meaningful life and how to let it go when the time comes.
I will include a phonetic transliteration of each Sanskrit phrase that you can access in this episode’s notes if you are interested.
The first line is Asato maa sadgamaya – means lead me from ignorance to truth. The word “sat” means truth. Not your idea of the truth or my idea of the truth, but what is the greater truth of existence, of living? The truth that applies to all beings. That truth. The big truth. The truth of existence. Of humanity.
Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya – means lead me from darkness to light. If you’ve listened to recent podcasts you might remember the word tamas? Tamas refers to one of the three qualities of life the are a part of, and make up, everything in existence. These qualities fluctuate continuously. Tamas is the quality of darkness, ignorance, depression, but also stability and steadiness. We need a little tamas, but when it predominates, then we slide into that darkness. A Jyoti is a divine light, a powerful form of illumination. We are chanting to remove our darkness, our shadow self, and to bring out our light, our luminosity.
Mrityor maa amritam gamaya – means lead me from death to immortality. This is not so much about the death of this physical body, but to become more fully connect with our eternal soul. To nurture that spiritual aspect of our being.
These first three lines are ways that we as individuals can become a more positive force in the world. The next five are about our connection with the lives of all beings and acknowledging what are meant to be our common goals.
Sarveshaam svastir bhavatu – means may all beings be successful. We are wishing for all levels of success. To have do good works, to prosper, to have the love and support of family and friends.
Sarveshaam shantir bhavatu – means may all beings have peace. We use the word peace to translate shanti, but what we often think of as peace is the absence of conflict in the world around us. Broadening our understanding of the word peace, we need to think about being peace, becoming the vehicle of peace.To live in a way, that we emanate peace into the world.
Sarveshaam poornam bhavatu – means may all beings be full. Poornam is an interesting Sanskrit word. There’s actually a mantra just about the meaning of poornam and it is a peace mantra. When something is full, there is no room for anything else, right? So being full is being complete. Some might say, fully baked! Nothing is missing. You are complete. That’s a big ask!
Sarvesham mangalam bhavatu – means may all beings have auspiciousness. When we can connect with auspiciousness (mangalam), we are favored by good fortune. From a yogic perspective, we might say that we are fulfilling our karma in a way that will free us to prosper and have a favorable future.
Lokaa samastaa sukhino bhavantu – means may all beings be happy and free. I don’t think we would recognize the world if all beings were happy and free, but it is certainly worth putting that thought out there. To me, this phrase summarizes the mantra to this point. If we can accomplish moving from ignorance to truth, from darkness to light, from fear of death to connection with spirit – if we can wish for all beings to live in prosperity, peace, completeness and good fortune – then we can fill the world with happiness and freedom.
Wow! Those eight lines say a lot! And that’s just my little summary. I’m sure someone could write a whole book on those eight lines, examining so many philosophical principles that outline the internal obstacles that prevent us from manifesting those phrases and what they mean. Actually, maybe several shelves of books. But we aren’t done yet. Remember I said that there’s four more phrases?
In our traditional system of yoga, the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra is also chanted at the end of this Peace Mantra. This mantra is from the Rig Veda, an ancient text from about 3500 years ago. It is called the mantra of great liberation. It is said the chanting of this mantra will ward off death, yield great healing powers, and bestow immortality. However, remember this concept of death and immortality should not be taken to mean one can live forever within this lifetime. Through the chanting of this mantra, one is meant to connect with one’s own eternal nature, one’s soul, and overcome the fear of the body’s death this time around. To understand that we are more than this body and that death is not the end to our eternal nature, our spirit.
According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, one of the five great kleshas, or sufferings of mankind is the fear of death, called abhinivesha. This fear grows from the root of avidya, the ignorance or lack of knowledge resulting from identifying with, and becoming attached, to the temporal, material world instead of seeing ourselves as an extension of cosmic consciousness.
Om Trayambakam Yajaamahe - means we sing praise to the three eyed one: trayambaka being another name for Lord Shiva who is the power of destruction which allows us to experience transformation. After all, we can’t change or transform without destroying the way we are now. You can’t change and still be the same.
Sugandhim purhtivardhanam - refers to Shiva as being fragrant and nourishing of all beings. This fragrance is a sense of knowledge, presence and support so strong that it permeates our being, and we are then uplifted by it. Think about when you smell something wonderful. What happens? You move toward it, right? This fragrance of transformation empowers us and draws us away from the material realm with all of its likes and dislikes toward a higher level of consciousness and connectedness.
Urvaarukamiva Bandhanan - means releasing a cucumber from the bondage of its vine. Have you ever picked a ripened cucumber? It releases from its vine with ease. It just falls into your hand. But if it is not ready to be picked, all the twisting and pulling may not release it. In this same way, if we are not ready to accept death as the conclusion to a good life lived, we twist and pull away, avoiding it at all costs, taking all possible measures to cling to life because we are totally bound by the fear of death and identification with this body and this lifetime.
Mrtyor Muksheeya Mamritaat - means to deliver us from our fear of death to realize our eternal consciousness. May we be free of one of the great sufferings of embodiment.
Therefore, the mantra is asking God, eternal consciousness, a higher force, or whatever words you may use, that we may feel the support of our eternal nature, and in so doing, we will ripen ourselves to the nature of our being. In doing so we will recognize the transient nature of this body and be released from our fear of death. When the time of death arrives, we will transition with the same ease a ripe cucumber is plucked from the vine.
Now I have discussed just a summary of the meaning of one of my favorite mantras so you have a better understanding of its meaning but when I chant, I don’t really think about its meaning even though I know it. I let go of that. You basically know the meaning of it now, too. But do you feel it? Can you let it penetrate into your essence from just knowing the meaning? Not really. So I will finish today’s podcast by chanting the mantra. Try to listen with your heart and let go of your intellect.
SHANTI PATH
Om
A-sa-to maa sad-ga-ma-ya
Ta-ma-so maa jyo-tir ga-ma-ya
Mrit-yor maa am-ri-tam ga-ma-ya
Sar-ve-shaam sva-stir bha-va-tu
Sar-ve-shaam shaan-tir bha-va-tu
Sav-ve-shaam poor-nam bha-va-tu
Sar-ve-shaam man-ga-lam bha-va-tu
Lo-kaah sa-ma-staah su-khi-no bha-van-tu
Om tri-yam-ba-kam ya-jaa-ma-he
Su-gan-dhim push-ti-var-dha-nam
Ur-vaa-ru-ka-mi-va ban-dha-naat
Mrit-yor-muk-shee-ya maam-ri-taat
Om shanti, shanti, shantih
Hari Om