Dear Yogis,

The OpShops in our town went back to work this week.. it reminded me of a story.  

A little girl came in to the store looking for a doll.  Her mother directed her to shelves with lovely dolls, tall dolls, baby dolls, fabric dolls, sparkly dolls, but this kittle girl was drawn to a doll in the throw-out bag.  You can imagine that a doll in an OpShop throw-out bag was less than beautiful.

It was faded, had only one shoe, the head was hanging on by only a thin thread of plastic, the clothes were torn, and one of the glass eyes was missing.  You get the message.  This baby had been discarded, disrespected, forgotten. As we say it was “on its last legs”.  This was the doll that the little girl wanted, and she was prepared to be stubborn, to take a risk to get it.

If her mother was like my mother she would have been strongly discouraged in her choice because the mother probably felt that if the daughter chose THAT doll it would be a reflection on the family, or on her suitability as a mother.  She probably was not thinking of the daughter, and certainly not at all about the doll.  She could have been thinking “What would people think if my daughter carries that doll around?” She hadn’t yet worked out how few people do think, and if they do it isn’t for long.   This lady wanted her daughter to have a beautiful doll not to please the daughter or to save the doll.  She wanted her friends to  know she was a good mother, and on some level even if not conscious, believed the doll was a negative reflection on her.

Too put a positive spin on it, she could have wanted her daughter to have THE BEST.

But the girl persisted in her need for the tattered doll.  The salesperson who was pretty pleased to sell any doll asked “Why do you want that particular doll?” and the little girl said “BECAUSE IF I DON’T TAKE HER, IF I DON’T LOVE HER, NO-ONE ELSE WILL”.

What do you love?  Will people think more of you, or less of you because of your choices? Does it matter?

Love is the ultimate reality.  Something has clicked in your being..  It is not about the little girl (or you) being convinced about your ideas.  It is not a conviction, it is not a conversion, it is a transformation.  A change from the inside out.  Looking into the others eyes, something happens without saying a word, something that you never dreamt of suddenly becomes a reality.

It isn’t about faith, because faith contains fictions – we have to search for arguments or evidence.

It is about trust.  Trust is the highest flowering of love.  There is no guide, and you probably will not meet anyone on the path no matter how many times you ask “are we there yet?”.  The little girl in the story above trusted her heart, because in the moment she experienced the flowering of love, and acted on it.

Once you have found that truth on your own, you will realise that nothing else is needed..  This little girl searched on her own, alone – risking, moving away from the crowd on a lonely path, trusting her heart. She chose freedom.  The question of belief does not arise.  She responded in sincerity, integrity and consciousness.  She responded to the highest quality of love and positioned herself for the greatest gifts that God has in store..

There are many powerful forces in this world, but nothing is more powerful than love.

 

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUNDAY. Be a NOW-PERSON, take a risk,  your destiny is calling you..

NAMSTE, JAHNE.

 

Dear Yogis,

NOTES FOR TODAY:I am never sure whether to put these in the front or at the end.

YOGA CLASSES: please read “classes” above, and bring all your props, and pre-pay. ZOOM – Four classes PER WEEK.  Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday and Saturdays.

TAROT: The last training class today (Saturday) at 2pm.  Bookings taken for the next class. I will be trying zoom consults and trainings starting the 1th July.

TEA AND TAROT  “Afternoon Tea – Meet-up”, At the studio, 2pm to 4pm Sunday 28th June.  Please email an RSVP yogafirst2@bigpond.com. Everyone welcome.  Readings, decks, paintings, posters, pendulums….

We have been walking around and around the hard things, the yoga basics, but starting today we are going to jump in.

WE ARE NOT THESE BODIES.

“O descendent of Bharata, he who dwells on the the body can never be slain.  Therefore we need not grieve for any living thing”. (Bhagavad-Gita 2.30)

The first step is to understand that you are not your body.  In the verse above the “he who dwells in the body” is not talking about you.  It is not a matter of just repeating “I am not this body” but actually realising it.  Although we are not these bodies, these vehicles,  but are pure consciousness, somehow over time we have become identified within this physical identity.

Some scholars say that this identification with the body can be cured by abstaining from all action.  Buddha also maintained that if we somehow separate ourselves from the material,  the cause of suffering will be removed. In today’s terms – If you were being pursued by the ATO, would it remove your tax debt if you destroyed all your material possessions.  I don’t think so.  It would however make it more difficult for you to meet the remaining obligations, but now you would have destroyed the vehicle through which this could be achieved.

The Bhagavad-Gita indicates that the body is not everything.  There is more.  Beyond the complex material elements there is the spirit, and the symptom of that spirit is consciousness.  We know that a body without consciousness is a dead body.  What is this energy we call consciousness? Consciousness is the energy of the soul and proves that the soul is present.  When the body breaks down and this energy called consciousness leaves the body, there is no possibility of our replacing a broken part and thereby reviving the body, and achieving our destiny…  The soul energy has gone.  There is no possibility of re-animating the body after the soul has left.

In the Bhagavad-Gita, Sri Krishna points out that all our miseries are caused by false identification with the body.   It is the spirit spark of the soul which motivates us into great feats of creation. We try to attain eternity, knowledge and bliss by subjugating our imperfect physical vehicle, however to progress to our goals we must realise  that we are being blocked by the physical.  Perhaps we are floundering in a place of desire and attachment, allowing the  senses to drag us this way and that.  For success, for peace and contentment, we must learn to master the body, not deny it.  We must be masters and not servants.

Tantra USES the energy of desire.  Instead of seeing pleasure and desire as things to be avoided at all costs, TANTRA recognises the powerful energy aroused by our desires,  to be an indispensable resource for our spiritual path.  Tantra seeks to transform every experience no matter how un-religious it may appear – into the path of fulfilment.  Because our present life is so inseparably linked with desire, instead of denying this fact, instead of living in denial,  we must USE desire’s tremendous energy if we wish to transform our life into something transcendental.

HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

Dear Yogis,

We live in “interesting times”, and this is just the beginning.     Our routines, the routines, income, habits have a way of drying up…and it can happen that this is when the ravens or angels stand back.  A lesson is on the way.

In the bible the widow of Zarepath (1Kings, Chapter 17) found herself in this dried up position.  It probably was not uncommon then, and it is not uncommon today.  She was down to the last crumbs of everything and was gathering up the last sticks to prepare the little they had before they died.   We don’t get to this position, but we do sometimes struggle.  It was at that moment that a prophet arrived on the doorstep asking for water.  Because of their understanding about hospitality she went off to the well for water, but when Elijah asked for bread she was brought face to face with the reality and emptiness of her position.

It is one thing to have nothing, it is totally different when you are asked to feed another out of your emptiness.  The widow says to Elijah “I have only a handful of flour and a little oil”.  How could you feed yourself or another with so little?

This emptiness is not just about physical emptiness, it is also about spiritual and emotional emptiness which we so often experience.  When you have the courage and love to give the up the last handful to another human being, trusting that the emptiness will be miraculously refilled,  you will discover as the widow did that the supply of food NEVER dries up.  Miracles happen and there is always provision.  Your jar of flour will never dry up and your little oil will last for ever.

My meditation and my mat have gotten me through many days of famine.  It is the place where I feel safe to come with my grief, my anger, my joy and delight, my frustrations, my questions, my confusions and my amazement.

Each mantra I pray, is only a handful of flour and a little oil, however it has always been sufficient to change my famine into a feast.  My life has been blessed because I have believed in these crumbs.

When I want to see clearly I close my eyes.  This says something about my inner eyes.  Because I forget use them, they can suffer from neglect and underuse.  Perhaps yours too need recharging.  A friend told me that in her meditations she was aware she sat in front of “a tree full of Angels”. What a wonderful feeling.

Try it.  When you sit on your mat, before you go deeply into you meditation, imagine angel wings like stars glistening in every branch.  Gold and silver everywhere you look.  What an Angelic start to your yoga day.

HAVE A SPARKLING, ANGEL FILLED DAY.  When your basket seems empty, reach in and give away what you have with trust, not challenge.

NAMASTE – JAHNE