The Story Of Starbucks And Samadhi

What connection could there possibly be between Starbucks and Samadhi?

At the chanting workshop I wrote about earlier, Sri Narasimhan told us that he was very fond of coffee. Actually, he admitted that he was addicted. Which was quite nice, since the goal of yoga is to become detached from everything that binds us!

Because of his love for coffee, he had a story about how to explain the different stages between dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (enlightenment), using the analogy of finding a good cup of coffee.

Imagine that you are driving around looking for a coffee shop. Well, not just any coffee shop, but Starbucks, because they serve Indian coffee! The only thing you are concentrated on seeing is a Starbucks shop. This is like dharana. The you enter the coffee shop, and you look at the menue. They serve many things there, but you see only the coffee menue. Everything else on the menue is shut out. This is like dhyana. Finally, you get your coffe, you drink it with full attention, and you are fully in the experience of drinking the coffee. This is Samadhi! Yeah, I like that one!

A more common explanation I´ve heard is that of likening it with water. Water dripping is like dharana. Each drop is a point of concentration. You continuously put your attention back on the object of meditation. Then the dropping becomes a flow of water, this is like dhyana. Constant concentration on the object. Samadhi is like the ocean. There is water everywhere, and you are one with the water. You ARE the water, the water is you.

Both are nice analogies, but the Starbuck one is my favorite!

Yogi Materialist

Who said a yogi can´t be a materialist?

It´s funny, there are some things I really think twice about spending money on, and then with other things, my pockets have holes! My God, yoga can really be expensive (mark that I wrote can be, suggesting that it might not be, or wasn´t once upon a time).

So, what have I spent my money on now? According to the hottest ashtanga rumour;-) the cotton mats are on their way out. On it´s way in is the Skidless Mat from Yogitoes. Light, easy to wash and slippery free. Above all, light. I bought the brown one, loam(lera). All my other cotton mats are light in color, like the sky. Like my Vata element. I thought it was time for some more earthy tone, like my Kapha element. Hmm, maybe I can vary my mats according to which dosha needs to be balanced?? When my vata is hight- use the earthy one, when my kapha is high- use the airy one!

It was a bargain, only 705 SEK! I didn´t think twice. I am a true yogi.

Gururji- Thankyou

गुरु

A guru is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses these abilities to guide others. A guru is one characterized as someone who dispels spiritual ignorance with spiritual illumination, who brings light into darkness.

I have often wondered if I can consider Sri K. Pattbhi Jois as my guru. Doesn´t one need to have a personal relashionship with a teacher to call him or her your guru? After some consideration, I decide to call him guruji, not my guru, but guruji. Meaning he is the guru of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, the teacher of my teachers. And I am eternally greatful to him for dedicating his life to the practice of yoga, and teaching it to many people from all over the world. He has brought light into the life of thousands of people! That is just incredible.

I am greatful that I had the opportunity to be in his presence, even though I never spoke to him, or had any adjustment from him, he still radiated a certain kind of energy around him that touched me. He was 93 years old, and still had a back straight as a plank. Although he seemed to be slightly senile, he had a presence and a clarity in his eyes. He still seemed curious.

So, thankyou Guruji. You are like a bright, shining star in the dark sky, leading the way for anyone who is willing to see and follow the guidance. Even though your bodily presence is no longer in this world, your spirit will live on in the hearts of thousands of people. Vande gurunam will now take on another meaning for me. I bow to the lotus feet of the guru.

Workshop On The Yoga Sutras

Mudakarattamodakam sada vidmutisadhakam

Kaladharavatamsakam vilasilokaraksakam

Anayakaikanayakam vinasitebhadaityakam

Natasubhasunasakam namami tam vinayakam

This is the first verse of the "Sri Mahaganesapancaratnastotram" that we chanted during the workshop "Chanting And Philosophy" with Dr. M.A. Jayashree and her brother Sri Narasimhan from Mysore, India. The workshop was hosted by Yoga Shala Göteborg. Thankyou Olle & Lisa for hosting the worksop, and thankyou Helen for hosting me!

At first it was really difficult to follow! The words are sooo long! But the Sri Narasimhan said that we Europeans are so used to reading the whole words before we pronounce it. That is an impossible task with sanskrit! So instead, I started reading syllable by syllable, and then it became so much easier to follow. Also, chanting is an oral tradition, srauta parampara, so the best hing would be to not try to read, but listen and follow.

We were taught that the sutras that come from the Vedas are to be chanted in a precise manner. There are three tones; one low, one middle and one high. The high and the low tones are marked by a horisontal line above or below the syllable. That made it easier. These mantras can alternatively be chanted with only one tone. Other mantras or sutras that do not come from the Vedas can be chanted in any way! That was an explnation to something I have been wondering about. The "Vande Gurunam" is chanted in so many different ways in different places, I´ve been wondering which is correct. So now I know; all are correct ways!

Dr Jayashree was teaching us the chanting (listen to her here) and Sri Narasimhan was teaching us the philosophy. Two very skilled scholars. Unfortunately I only remember a fraction of everything he said, but I do remember a few things: There is only one sutra in the Yoga Sutras that speaks about asanas (out of 196 sutras...): stira sukham asanam. Asanas should be comfortable and steady, alert and light. You should be able to stay in an asana for a long time with stability of posture, breath and mind. If mind breaks, breathing breaks, if breathing breaks, posture breaks. If posture breaks, breathing breaks, if breathing breaks, mind breaks! Interesting! He called it having a happy posture!

He talked about pranayama. 20 min of pranayama a day will shrpen the mind! Yeah! Worth trying! Pranayama actually means restraining the breath. Yama= restraint. In kumbaka you hold the breath, i.e.. you stop breathing. When you stop breathing, everything else stops, even the mind. He likend it to dying. A kind of practice to reduce the fear of death.

I am now somewhat brainwashed; I dream in sanskrit (if I´ve listed to the cd before bedtime) and I read all the Swedish signs in sanskit!

Hugaha from metihi to youtaha!

On Discipline

It´s easier to fall out than in....
My goal is to do my practice 5-6 times a week. But how many weeks per year do I really practice that many times? This winter I have had three colds, then I don´t practice. I don´t practice the first three days of ladies holidays. Some days I over sleep. This morning I was thinking of practicing, but then I convinced myself that on the 1st of May it´m my right to sleep in. Yesterday I wanted to be early to work, so I skipped practice. Sunday I will be out of town. So, I practiced Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I think I will go tonight also. So that makes four times this week. I guess it´s not an unusual week. Maybe I don´t practice 5-6 times a week? Maybe it´s just my idea of my practice? Anyways, better to have that guideline and at least practice four times a week than to have a lesser goal and practice even less.

I think the problem is really in my head. I get a bad conciouss when I don´t do my practice, and what good does that do me? I´m thinking that I want to do this practice my whole life, and then I will need to have a softer and kinder approach to myself and the practice. Practice ahimsa:-) To keep up the passion and love of the practice, and not kill it with too many demands and discipline. But on the other hand, you need disciple to keep going. I remember Kimberly Flynn Williams saying that once you start skipping practice, the easier it gets to start skipping it. That´s why you need disciplne. But she also said that the more regular your practice gets, the easier it will be to sustain. Some hope!

Hmm, I think I´ve been writing about this before, which just shows that it is something that is occuping my mind a lot. It´s hard to have a full time job and getting up early in the morning every day to do your practice, and then rushing to get to work on time! Then you come home and after a few hours it´s time to go to bed. I should be asleep by 10pm, but usually I don´t get to sleep until 11pm, which makes it more of a struggle to get up in the morning. It was a lot easier to get up at 3:30 am in Mysore that it is to get up a 6 am here in Stockholm in my everyday life!

It´s a balance between having discipline and being kind to yourself. Have I written this before or what:-)