Dear Yogis,
I am starting yoga teacher training classes on ZOOM from next week. If your course has come to a halt for whatever reason, get back into it. You will never have a better time. Zoom is not as “intimate” as turning up for class, but it will be helpful to get you back on track.
After putting in the blog yesterday that I was starting teacher training classes on Zoom I got some takers and I am quite excited. Those people who have stalled in their teacher training, should take this opportunity to get back on track. I am quite excited… so I guess I am ready to start, which I will do from next week. I have sorted through some options, and once you let me know you are ready to re-start, we will organise a plan. It’s a new world… and we are embracing it.
Tantra has been enormously helpful in my transition to this new world. In order to board what is known as “the lightening vehicle of tantra”, we have to put aside the ordinary limited view of ourselves which keeps us trapped. By looking deeply into the clear nature of our mind, we can create space in which true self-transformation can take place.
It is not enough to know why this transformation is necessary and possible, we must also generate the strength and confidence that will enable us to follow this radical approach to a fulfilling future. Put another way. We need to be inspired!
Ancient tantric texts mention that all realisations come from the guru. Our guru can be a teacher, but it can also mean our own inner wisdom, our own fundamental clarity of mind. This inner-guru can accomplish everything. The practice of guru yoga can be a method for learning how to listen to this inner guru.
Although we all possess this inner guru we do not listen to it, and we rarely hear it. As long as we are out of contact with this inner teacher, and are disregarding our practice on the mat, we will never be able to integrate them. Our inner guru will always remain weak and undeveloped.
For the very best teachings, for the teachings of enlightened beings to reach us, there should be an unbroken lineage of successive gurus and disciples carrying these living insights down to the present day. We need an experienced guide to show us exactly how to put the teachings we receive into practice. We will not get to the highest teaching reading from a book, hoping to figure things out for ourselves. That is why I am always talking to to you about lineage, and giving thanks. Gratitude. Lineage is not a marketing mantra, it is not a star on your report card. You cannot shop for lineage.
We need someone to show us, to give us a practical demonstration. This is our guru.
COVID: For many, each day brings more challenge, more hardship, more suffering. Their hearts are breaking, their patience is waning, and there is no end in sight. Events appear cosmic, beyond their control. Yet, we are far from powerless. When we come together as One, we have the power to transform our world.
As many teachers before me have said…. A single act of kindness, like a single drop of rain, might have little noticeable effect. But millions of raindrops falling together can form a channel capable of breaking through the strongest dam. In the same way, the accumulated grace of a million acts of kindness, channeled by shared intention, can break through the barrier of ruthless selfishness, flooding the earth with new life. That is the power of One.
Have a wonderful day. Start planting your spring natives seeds. Many need the winter cold to germinate.
Namaste. Jahne