Dear Yogis,

Just because you don’t hear a booming voice or someone calling you from a cloud in your bedroom “Eli, Eli….”,  doesn’t mean that you are not chatting with God.  It certainly doesn’t mean you are nuts.  “Conversations with God” would never have come into being if Neale Donald Walsh had dismissed the voice.   That “someone” talking to you, that whisper in your mind all day… that, that still small voice could be God.  Trust it, and answer…  Here is my message today.

When you look at a rose, what do you see?  When you look at a rose your mind clicks in and you see roses you have seen in the past. You remember your first corsage, your first rose in your own garden, your wedding bouquet.  You see the colour, shapes, the perfume, but you may never see “the rose”

Imagine if The Buddha looked at the rose, what would The Buddha see? I think He would see eternity. The minds of every being in existence, and he would love them.  Who is seeing the rose? What is it? Is it a rose? Is it death? Is it all of humanity? Is it perfect love?

We only see what our mind is conditioned, imprinted to see (we spoke about that yesterday).  You would be looking at the same thing as The Buddha, only the imprints have changed. 

Meditate and think “rose”.  Be aware – as the noises, the background chatter fades away.  Lose the feeling of  the chair, the sounds and smells of your room, eventually the feeling of thinking and eventually the awareness of self.  You will be perfectly, perfectly still. Empty.

Maybe when you return you will know..

You will know that one day you will become an Enlightened One,  and you will know that future lifetimes really do exist.

You will know that the Path you have chosen is true, you are not crazy, and you will know that you love everyone and everything.

You will know that you have seen a different reality, and you will  know that one day you will die.  All is well –  your time in this place is not real.

You will know you are different because you have experienced emptiness and need no longer suffer as before.

You will carry this knowing with you forever.

Meditation is they key.  No amount of asanas will give you the key.  They will lead to it, they will prepare you for meditation which is the role of asana, you can even meditate whilst you are doing asana, but it is not the same quality of meditation you will reach on your cushion. Try it – as I always say, start with 3 minutes.

Today the weather is soft and dreamy, swirling mist, very medieval.   All we need is the sound of the bagpipes far off to make it a “Harry Potter ” day.

Last night I was making RED STRINGS for my students around the world who purchase them and the book from my etsy site.  I had the idea that you would like one.  The first 10 people to contact me will receive one from me.  If you would like a Red String, please email to yogafirst2@bigpond.com and send your address and you will get one in the mail.  Red String/Wool, red wine, red blood on door posts. Why wool? According to the Zohar the world  “spins with judgement and spins with mercy”.   Pain occurs when there is too much judgement and not enough mercy. What is the significance of these objects, and how should they be used?

The RED STRING is called a “protection and blessing cord.” Traditionally, a lama ties a knot in the cord, then prays over it and blows the power of his mantra into it. Then he places it around one’s neck as a blessing. When I first asked my own Dharma teacher about this in the 1970’s,  he told me the cord is symbolic of remaining within the protection of his compassionate embrace even after departing from his physical presence. Other teachers have told me they take the protection cords off only to have dental work or surgery, and then put them on again afterward, as the strong protection field might impede the medical procedure.

HAVE A LOVELY DAY my yogis.  We are coming into a difficult time… when people think everything is “as it was” it has never been less so. For us – that is a good thing.

NAMASTE, Jahne

 

 

 

 

Dear Yogis,

In our teacher training sessions, and these blogs we have spoken of giving.  To give, you need to be a WARRIOR, because you need to overcome imprints in order to give, and the object of your giving must do the same. You give, they receive… sometimes receiving is harder.

Imagine you are walking across a lawn and you are about to step forward and you notice a bug in the grass.  You almost step on it when it opens its wings and flies off.  Or, you notice nothing, and you step on it.  What has happened here.  A number of things you might find difficult to think about.

Firstly we have karmic imprints but the bug does also! You could not have hurt her unless the had an imprint in her own mind that would force her to see herself being hurt.  As we have learned this imprint was caused when in her past she  had hurt someone else (yes, even bugs or smaller).  You could not have hurt her if she did not have this imprint in her mind.  You would have raised your foot to stand on her and she would have flown away unharmed.

So in sparing the bug you gave her nothing.  You did not protect her.  Nothing depended on your action. EVERYTHING DEPENDED ON THE IMPRINTS SHE HAD IN HER MIND ALREADY.

In the same way if we understand things in this way, any person’s poverty or life of pain cannot be changed unless they learn to give, because the poverty or any other negative experience is a direct result of their own lack of charity.  Their negative karmic imprints…..

When you have reached a state of perfection you will travel through the world constantly looking out for people who need your help, anyone you can serve in any way, from the price of a cup of coffee to the highest gifts of the spirit.

The way of the Warrior or the way of the Fool.  Your choice.  Life is not an obstacle course littered with unpleasant people and things and situations that you must try to struggle against.  Being angry about where you find yourself is the source of your pain.   You cannot get rid of all the unpleasant things in your life any more than you can cover the earth in leather to make walking across it easier.  There is the benefit of honest, of being sincere when someone has hurt you.  Be patient, be kind keep a level head – anger is a useless emotion.  My mum told me “If you are wrong you cannot afford to be angry, when you are right, there is no need”. 

The wise suffer during their spiritual studies.  If you seek only comfort, you will never be wise.  Use your pain as a skill that will serve you.  Find joy in everything you do, even when things are difficult, painful. This does not mean “pink clouding”.

We will speak tomorrow.

Go to CLASSES above to discover when our classes are happening, and the covid restrictions and requirements that apply.

KEEP WELL, KEEP WARM.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

 

Dear Yogis,

We have been holed up with Covid, and may have to go through it again before this cycle is over, until we have learned what we need to know.  If you had to choose one action which would produce an entirely perfect future, if you had to choose one thing which would leave an imprint on your mind that would make you see every single detail and person of the world as completely perfect, as pure light, as pure bliss then what would it be.  Answer –  Tong-Len Meditation. The meditation of pure compassion.

Let us consider Covid.  What would be the good of that perfect world, the perfect garden you have created,  if the loved ones who have passed on cannot see it.  What good is a garden if you are the only one who will ever see it.  If you have made it just for you?

When the suffering (of friends, relatives or the world) started,   when the virus started to effect the brain, invade the gut and shut down the lungs, was/is there anyone who can wave their arms and say a magic word and remove this sickness? I don’t think so.  Not for these people, or for any of the suffering in the world,  anyone,  as long as humanity has lived, and that is what this wonderful little being, the virus has woken up to teach us.

What has caused these people to be ill and die? A virus?  It is a living being and has as much right to life as you do.   According to our yogic training we have learned it is because  at some point those who are suffering now, however they are suffering, any suffering not just covid,  failed to respect life.

We suffer because we have caused suffering to others.  Most of us are completely ignorant that this is what brings us suffering, and because finally, in seeking to protect what we believe are our own interests we respond to evil (the negative) with new evil, and thus assure evil upon ourselves in future as well.

How do we know this?  It is the kindness of our teachers, of all teachers (including you who are reading this) who have come to us to show us that the real source of all pain is the pain we do to others.

Why do we come to you, why do you come to others? We come to make our students think.  I suppose we could have lulled you into the thought that all will be well without you changing anything, without you doing contemplation, study, practice and discussion.  It is not possible.  You cannot understand just because I understand.

Even if we could send everyone who suffered those THINGS they think they need, the new house, clothes, cards and mountains of food they consume in a lifetime, even new body parts, would it help?  No.  There is only one thing that would help, and that is an enlightened teacher. Someone who could show them the path.  They may not take the path in this lifetime, and they might hate you for showing them the path, but one day in the future, maybe in a future lifetime,  they will become an Enlightened One because of your action and they will lead another onto the path.

How do we grow an Enlightened One? By planting totally PURE seeds in the heart, the mind and the body that will make us see ourselves become an Enlightened One.  The Meditation of Compassion is the Path to compassion itself. Sending the water of compassion to all those who are suffering – sending it all out with white light on the breath.  Devote yourself to the practice of taking and giving throughout the day, saying to yourself constantly throughout the day “giving and taking”.  Sending the breath out changes the giver as well as the receiver even if we cannot see the changes.

First you must tidy your own garden, make your own garden beautiful, before you can change the garden belonging to others.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY.

NAMASTE.  Jahne