June 2011
Ahhhhh!!!
comps broken. Sorry for the lack of posting! I have so much new stuff to talk about. Maybe I’ll post from my ipad later. Namaste
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“A wise man knows when to close his eyes, and when to open them.”
– the Guru
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“If you’re a human and not a wizard then what the fuck are you doing with...”
– Hathanath
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Reasons why Buddha is a suitable object of refuge
dancingdakini:
Four reasons why Buddha is a perfectly reliable source of guidance and can offer complete protection from suffering:
1) Buddha is free from all fear
2) Buddha is very skillful in liberating living beings
3) Buddha has compassion for all living beings without discrimination
4) Buddha benefits all living beings whether or not they have helped him
Good deal. I agree to this...
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Initiation Sickness
Now would be a good time to touch upon an interesting topic while also explaining my subsequent absence after returning from the meditation retreat. On tuesday, the summer solstice, I got the flu. Right? 103 fever and bed ridden on stormy midsummer days.
In tribal societies with shamanic culture, initiation was often a traumatic thing. It was a time when Things from the Great Beyond came and...
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“Usually we are in a stalemate with our world: “Is he going to say he is...”
– Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
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Everything You Need to Know About Gurus (not)
It seems tonight’s theme is gurus. So I’ll take this time to explain what a guru really is.
If you want to be a painter, you can read books and try painting for yourself. You can study the works of great painters and figure things out. Or you can find a great painter and learn everything from him. That is the benefit for a spiritual seeker to find a guru.
A guru must be someone...
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hinduwitch-deactivated20110724- asked: How may one who is ready find the guru that is right for her? I apologize if you have gotten this question before.
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ladytam asked: Hi there! I just had an odd experience with meditation, and was wondering if you could provide some input.
Just now I did a little less than 9 minutes of real meditation. (I say "real" because I feel that all leading up to this has been "practice" or "testing".) I sat cross-legged, focusing on my breath with calming music in the background. I...
Just now I did a little less than 9 minutes of real meditation. (I say "real" because I feel that all leading up to this has been "practice" or "testing".) I sat cross-legged, focusing on my breath with calming music in the background. I...
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qweenamor asked: You mentioned you went on a retreat...where was the retreat and how much did it cost? Also you mentioned having a Guru...how did you find a Guru? I would very much like to have a Guru but haven't had such luck. What are you recommendations? Is there anything I should know before I seek out a Guru?
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temptingtimeonimpulse-deactivat asked: Out of curiosity, how did you know when you found your guru?
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usgroovykids22-deactivated20130 asked: I've been reading so much of your Guru's work and listening to his audios and videos and what I find interesting, is that he doesn't teach Hinduism or an particular religion, all he teaches is meditation. He mainly tells people, to meditate and see where that takes you.
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I'm back!
The retreat was amazing and intense. I met some cool people and really felt a real relationship with my guru. He remembered me very well from when I visited his ashram in India. I guess it was the first time I really felt the guru knew me. Such a thing really doesn’t matter but it did work to strengthen my devotion. Devotion is a helpful quality for meditation and this week did wonders.
...
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“A yogi expects no reward in heaven and no punishment in hell.”
– Avadhuta Gita, uploaded from the Ashram! home soon.
Meditation Retreat
Hello good friends! I am taking the weekend off and going on a meditation retreat at the lovely ananda ashram in upstate new york with my Guru. I will be back on sunday to answer the questions already in my ask and resume blogging.
Namaste. :)
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“The saint is awake when the world sleeps, and he ignores that for which the...”
– The Bhagavad Gita (via bodhigita)
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“Although meditation is not thinking, it can be clear awareness of thinking....”
– Sharon Salzberg
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My Guru, Sri ShivaRudraBalaYogi, will be in NYC...
To all my New York City and Metropolitan area followers:
My guru will be giving a meditation seminar near Union square! I’m going and if any of you are around and free, I highly recommend attending. It is a rare thing to see and meet a self-realized yogi. He is a modern day buddha, truly. Feel free to introduce yourselves to me! I’ll be the kid in the gray jeans and a collared shirt.
...
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“We’re all faced with the same fundamental choice of calming the mind or...”
– Stephen Schettini
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usgroovykids22-deactivated20130 asked: I promise you this is my final question for a while: Do you officially claim Hinduism as your religion?
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ladytam asked: Hi there! I saw your [url=http://lazyyogi.tumblr.com/post/6478951352/terrifying-tantra][/url]. I am a Christian who has gotten into yoga for the mental and physical benefits, and have always had a ridiculously strong belief in the spiritual. Your post...scared me a bit. I was just wondering if you think what you saw was real, or if you felt it was a hallucination. (I apologize; I only ask...
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Terrifying Tantra
When you become a tantrik yogi, you open yourself to a mystical world. While it may be no more real than our world, it facilitates truth in an uncanny manner.
Lately I’ve been getting my ass schooled in tantra. Recently I acquired a Shiva statue that perfectly captured his essence as Lord of Yoga. Hathanath and I performed a ritual beneath the Bodhi Tree and placed Lord Shiva Gurudev...
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usgroovykids22-deactivated20130 asked: How do you comfort yourself with the idea of reincarnation, meaning what gives you faith that you will be reincarnated?
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usgroovykids22-deactivated20130 asked: What is your ultimate goal for this life of yours?, and also, How do you handle fear?
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Jangama Dhyana
Jangama Dhyana is the name that my guru and my guru’s guru used to describe a timeless technique implemented by yogis over the millennia. It’s the most simple and direct form of meditation, common to zen and buddhists as well.
Sit, closing the eyes. Concentrate the mind and sight in between eyebrows. Keep watching there by focusing the attention. Do not repeat any mantra or name....
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“Vairagya (detachment) is not depression. It is an alertness that nothing belongs...”
– Sri ShivaRudraBalaYogi
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Meditation Requires Vigilance
Most people believe that meditation is supposed to put you in a state of ignorant bliss. They think it’s a state of expansion where one’s awareness transcends everything present and goes far, far away in a trance-like state. That is not meditation.
“Be like a medieval knight walking weaponless in a forest of swords. Be like a lion, going forward with slow, gentle, and firm...
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“The intention of the real Guru is to make you stand on your own feet and not...”
– Sri ShivaRudraBalaYogi
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You are Exactly where you should be...always
There is always a place to “be” in our day and age. Whether that’s being on the computer, at the office, or getting drunk at a bar. Whatever. Everyone’s desiring to be somewhere they aren’t. If you don’t believe me then take a ride on a subway, a train, an airplane. Places of travel highlight this best because people are continually focused on the destination...
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“When people genuinely meet the dharma, they realize it directly within...”
– Ajahn Chah
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Today I shall contemplate Surrender
When I was staying in India, one monk said something striking to me: there is no “I” in surrender. Only god.
My most profound meditation experience was also my most terrifying. I felt my body surrendering to a limitless space and it struck an endless fear throughout my being. It felt like I was skydiving into outer space. When I asked the guru what this was, he said it was my ego...
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“That which makes you think that you are a human is not human. It is but a...”
– Nisargadatta Maharaj
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Nisargadatta Maharaj on Balancing Energy
Questioner: As I can make out, I live on many levels and life on each level requires energy. The Self by its very nature delights in everything and its energies flow outwards. Is it not the purpose of meditation to dam up the energies on the higher levels, or to push them back and up, so as to enable the higher levels to prosper also?
Nisargadatta: It is not so much as the matter of levels as of gunas (qualities). Meditation is a sattvic activity and aims at complete elimination of tamas (inertia) and rajas (motivity). Pure sattva (harmony), is perfect freedom from sloth and restlessness.
Q: How to strengthen and purify the sattva?
N: The sattva is pure and strong always. it is like the sun. It amy seem obscured by clouds and dust, but only from the point of view of the perceiver. Deal with the causes of obscuration, not with the sun.
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Anonymous asked: How do I find myself a guru?
Govinda Jaya!
Govinda Jaya!
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Anonymous asked: how would you define your sexuality?
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“We modern practitioners stop what we’re doing when we sit and restart our...”
– Barry Evans
Anonymous asked: Do you have a particular mantra that you use?
I seem to resonate with the Ganesh mantra, but have a strong love for Krishna and the Gita.
I seem to resonate with the Ganesh mantra, but have a strong love for Krishna and the Gita.
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“Repetition of the Divine names, concentration on a particular form and similar...”
– Sri ShivaRudraBalaYogi
meallicanoffer asked: I've been trying to start a daily yoga routine for over a year now and NEVER succeed! any suggestions tips... help? Thank you
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Kaal Bhairav's Protection
Depicted above is an ebony wood mala on a peach tree outside my house. The tree is a power spot for me. Apparently ebony makes for protective qualities and black is the color of Bhairav, so I used the prayer beads as a conduit for his energy. I did a ritual using beer, Bhairav’s favorite sacrament, and Intent.
Now the tree happily wears the mala outside my window. :)
Anonymous asked: do you know the difference between the guru gita and the b. gita? why do some praise shiva as the almighty and some praise krishna or kali?
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streetlight-people asked: Hi! I really enjoy your blog and would like some advice... I used to be able to clear my mind really easily but for some reason everything has turned around. My thoughts just won't stop. I have taken up meditation to try and assist me however in the quiet, my thoughts just seem to amplify... What can I do to switch them off again? I worry that my ego has wisened to my past success and...
tarunbetala asked: Lazy Yogi! I really enjoy your posts. I gather from your blog that you are a traveling yogi and currently somewhere in India/Tibet. Would you recount your experience? I would love to do such a thing and would like to know what your inspiration was.
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Swillin' Beer and takin' questions
Well, I’m posted up for an hour or two right now. Drinking beer and willing to take whatever questions ya’ll have to toss at me. Afterward, I am planning to do a ritual to Kaal Bhairav, protector of yogis and the terrifying form of Shiva.
