Dear Yogis..

We in the West want to be Enlightened, but we want it NOW.  Tantra, being the quickest of the paths should appeal.  The path of Tantra is the path of TRANSFORMATION.  Whilst the explosion of desire, of the more, more, more point of view is considered to be a serious obstacle to most spiritual paths, in Tantra, we can use this as fuel to drive us to our highest destination.

Tantra is a path of acceptance, not blind acceptance or self-mortification, and it is in this way that it can bring us out of our self destructive patterns and at the same time give us the opportunity for complete fulfilment.  However, if we are going to derive satisfaction from this path there are certain points we cannot overlook..

Firstly: Our Motivation must be pure.  We will not be able to achieve the wonderful benefits that Tantra can provide if we are mired in our own self centred nature, and are doing it for our own benefit.

Secondly: We must engage in the practices in an ordered manner.  We cannot start at the top and believe it is OK “for us”.  This attitude is foolish, arrogant, and dangerous.

Thirdly: and this is a point I think we must bring into all our disciplines – there is no benefit in pretending to look or act like a Tibetan, or any other Oriental for that matter.  Neither is learning the discipline, or practising prayers in another language.  There is nothing transcendental to be gained from substituting one set of cultural conventions for another.  Pretending we are something other than who we are, or where we are on the path.

People whose practice relies on this superficial level of learning,  end up not knowing who they are or what they should do. There is always a value to be had in learning another language, Sanskrit for instance, but we must always keep in mind that the yoga we are considering is a discipline far deeper than language or custom.   With Tantra, we are trying to BREAK AWAY FROM CONDITIONING which limits our understanding of what we are and what we can become.

Tantra transforms the grasping at pleasures which results in suffering,  into transcendental awareness free from the delusions that normally contaminate our pursuit of pleasure.  This discipline channels these energies into a powerful path which leads us to acceptance, and the ability to skilfully use our precious human potential.

With proper understanding of Tantric Transformation, whatever we do, where ever we do it, in whatever time frame,  can bring us closer to our goal of self-fulfilment.  All of  our actions (even sleep) can be turned into clear, penetrating wisdom in the same way that poisonous plants can be distilled into life giving medicine.

The image of Vajradhara, the male and female dieties in sexual embrace is a symbol of the inner unification of our own male and female energies, and the very highest of Tantric practices, representing great bliss, and a totally integrated state of blissful wisdom that completely transcends ordinary sense desire.

 

 

HAVE A LOVELY DAY.

NAMATE – JAHNE

 

 

Dear Yogis,

What do you WANT?  We are living in a world governed by DESIRE.  From the moment we wake up we are thinking of the next thing – food, clothing, house, sounds.  Our ears want to hear lovely sounds, our eyes want to see beautiful colours, even our nose want to smell expensive beautiful perfumes and aromas.  This sense desire is so strong that if we are deprived for any length of time we begin to imagine them.

Our desire is not limited to the physical.  We can desire knowledge, security, contentment and we do.  We run after them as if we can catch them.  It is desire that drives us to achieve success.  Most people would consider life without desire to be a living death.

Behind each of our desires is our wish to be happy and if only in this regard we are all equal.  We all want to be happy, but in spite of this our life is full of unhappiness, pain and dissatisfaction.  Buddha called this cycle SAMSARA.

We have been taught that liberation or NIRVANA is achieved by completely uprooting cravings from the heart. However, if the only way we know how to deal with the objects of desire is to avoid them, there will be a severe limit as to how far our spiritual practice will take us.

TANTRA moves in a different way.  In Tantra, instead of viewing desires as things to be avoided at all costs, Tantra recognises that the energy stirred by desire can be transformed into a resource for the spiritual path, and seeks to change every experience in this way , even if the doing seems to others to be “unreligious”.

It is because our present life is so rooted in desire that we must learn to use desire’s amazing energy in order to transform our life into the transcendental.  Tantra recognises that we can’t reach our heart’s desire by becoming more and more miserable as we squash one desire after the other.

TANTRA teaches that is only by cultivating SMALL experiences of calm and satisfaction where we are now, that we will have any hope at all of achieving pace and contentment in the future.

SPEAKING OF DESIRE… Ever since I started teaching I have lived for my students remembering some famous words “…I am a river to my people”.  When the candle is burning at both ends, I remember those words and keep going.  During covid my students have been a river to me.  Vegetables, and small gifts left on the porch, cards, letters  and yesterday KNITTED HOUSE SOCKS (in the photo).  Thank you all.  Mostly I don’t know where the gifts originate, who has left them, but I do know who posted the sox, and I have to say they are beautiful – thank you.

Have a beautiful, colourful, SOX’Y DAY

NAMASTE –  JAHNE

 

 

Dear Yogis.

Here we are at the beginning of another unusual week.  I have been super busy finishing the TeaLeaf Reading cards and bringing them to you, and organising the next tarot training class and our Tea&Tarot afternoon on the 28th of this month.

This Saturday we had a wonderful Tarot Training and I have opened the door to those of you who want readings, but only for students and people I know at the present.  I will be going onto zoom for Tarot and for the Tarot Training.  I will let you know when I have this organised.  At present, if you are interested in knowing more (The Get-Together, Readings, Trainings….)  – please email me and I will keep you in the loop> Email:yogafirst2@bigpond.com

The Revelation Tarot available on Etsy, or as part of your Tarot Training.

Years ago I did meditation training in London with Osho.  Because we think our teachers will be around for ever, I didn’t take as many classes with him as I was able to. I believed I was too busy – it was my loss and now it will have to wait until next time.

Osho of course was a Zen master (although he may not have considered himself that), and his books which can be read at the Theosophical Library or purchased at the bookshop are still sharp and relevant.   Unlike  other religions which rely on dogma and superstition, a pillar of Zen is the belief that we each have a unique ability to reach enlightenment without intervention.  Osho, like Jesus came to tell us we didn’t need to have an intermediary to find God or Enlightenment.  This capacity can be realised ONLY THROUGH MEDITATION . One of the Biblical sayings  “As a man thinks so is he”, and the idea of going inside to find God, not going to the Temple and paying for guidance… were both radical ideas in their day, and led to death….

Although I did have a valued student who moved away from our school because she said “her colleagues” didn’t like the idea that she was being taught by someone who practiced reading the tarot.  I hope she notices that I haven’t stopped, in fact I am doing more.

The history of the tarot is most interesting.  We believe it was being used prior to the Egyptians, and later during the Middle Ages was used as a code to transmit the teachings of the medieval mystery codes. Some people say that the number of cards is based on the steps taken by Siddhartha – the infant who was later to become Gautama the Buddha.  He walked seven steps forward and seven steps backwards in each of the four cardinal directions, and as legend has it this became the model for the number of cards in the minor deck.

The major arcana which is  the suite that I tend to focus on in my readings,  tells the story of the human spiritual journey, from the Fool to Completion.  It is a journey of self-discovery, and like the sound of the gong is a spiral with each Completion leading to a new level on our path.  This journey for most of us does not lead to 12 years in a cave, or sitting on a mountain top, but through a rich blend of daily doings which can become our meditations.  I have been as deeply moved watching a monk sweep a floor, as I have in any high meditation, and find the power struggles in the yoga room or a kitchen as significant as understanding any sutra.  Even our relationship struggles can teach us where we are on the path.

It is in a commitment to making the whole of life a meditation that this deck was channelled to me.  I daily dedicate it to the Buddha in us all.

The Buddha is no-body’s monopoly, it is nobody’s copyright.  It is everybody’s innermost being.  You don’t have to be a Buddha to be a buddha.  To be a buddha transcends all concepts of religions; it is everybody’s birthright.  Persuade it to come along with you, to your daily activities, so everything in your life becomes a meditation, a grace, a beauty, a benediction.

OSHO: No Mind:The Flowers of Eternity