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Dear Yogis,

It may be in this time of covid you have asked again (and had more time to think) what is the point and purpose of my life?

There is an answer and I have suggested it to you many times.  The point and purpose of your life is to decide AND TO BE Who you Really Are.  It is not just a thought.  Even if you don’t realise you are asking the question,  you are making the decision about your life by moving forward with every action, every thought and every word.

Paramahansa Yogananda could be called an example of a person who had a very clear idea of who he was, and wanted to know himself in his own reality.  Not many people live at this level,  and the level of his consciousness was reflected in his thoughts his words and his deeds.  He of course has moved on to his next incarnation and gets to decide what he would next like to re-create in ever more beautiful versions of himself.  As I understand it, he probably will not choose to be a rock or a stick-insect,  as creation goes upwards and forwards, not backwards.

The soul crossing over may choose not to be a human being as we know this state.  But that is up to them.  They might like to play a while, then go back to “school” because they understand that.  In this school they may learn THAT THERE IS NOTHING THAT THEY HAVE TO LEARN.  All they have to do (all that WE have to do) is remember WHO AND WHAT WE REALLY ARE, by being it.  Some souls have this realisation before they move to the next place.

The knowing that the soul never dies in fact it never sleeps, never forgets.    That no experience is visited upon any soul against their will.  Yes, the soul leaves the body, and if you have sat with the dying you may have seen or felt this. The soul will change its bodily form when it sees no purpose in remaining in that form.

Don’t get caught up in the process – it is just a process.  Even if you asked God to help you understand the process would it make a difference?  Like Krishna and Arjuna in the ‘Gita.  Krishna (God) revealed himself.  It changed Arjuna in so far as he was scared, but then had trouble believing it was not his imagination.  However he was more open to instruction.  Are you open to instruction, are you ready to learn, move forward?

Would this information matter in the long term.  Will it change how you act? (this of course is the big test of understanding). Will it help you to help your neighbour, celebrate the wonderfulness around you and see the “Glory” in everything.

Will remembering who you are and what you really are allow you to change the mind of others?Or will you slide back to the soft and  comfortable place? Live in the smallness of who you imagined yourself to be before this lesson?

It is your choice.

You can choose for death to be a glorious moment. A chance for the soul to return to its natural state. Limitless.  If you have a clear set of beliefs that support a beautiful after death experience and a reconnection with God, then you never need be afraid of the wonderful gift we call death.

NOTHING IS PAINFUL WHICH YOU UNDERSTAND IS NOT REAL. The Buddha and the Dharma, the Dharma and the Buddha – The Lesson and the Master, The teacher and the student, the object and the observer – all part of the one.  Even permanence is impermanent.

Have a wonderful Sunday (the “day of rest”).

NAMASTE .JAHNE

Dear Yogis,

This morning my mind is on the TAROT.  The card I drew that has the message for everyone today is THE SUN – card number 19.  When we pull this card, we are filled with the life giving force of the sun.

No matter how things look, there is joy everywhere in your life.  Everything will be right no matter what is being played out around you.  This does not mean life is without care or responsibility, but it does mean that if we live our lives in a yogic way and look for the good,  for life in all things, we will find it.  The light of the sun will bring clarity to any situation.  Drawing this card means a renewal of energy. Click on “SUN”  to see the card from our REVELATION TAROT DECK (available on www.myyogabooks.etsy.com).

sun

For the artists, this card asks you to explore new avenues of creativity… maybe a project you have had on the back burner.  Always facing a new canvas or a new work takes confidence and a certain amount of recklessness and risk.  Do it!  You have the power.  Reach in and claim it.

This card asks us to reveal the inner child.  To have fun.  The sun asks you to accept you are a unique and beautiful being.

Show your gratitude through good works and prayer; remember your obligations to others.   Follow this and things will begin to go your way even though it may not look that way this minute.  Do not expect great wealth, this card is not about that.

Questions you may like to ask:

Who/what is blocking my power?

What/who is helping and healing me?

How do I express my uniqueness?

How can I develop my creativity?

Who am I in the world? (this is a good general meditation – drill down into the question until there is only one thing left… this may take some days of meditation practice but is a useful even though it is hard).

REFLECTIONS:  Sometimes the most wondrous things happen without an apparent reason.  They are a sign of Grace. Gifts from heaven, a blessing.  Don’t try and work out why or how these things have come into being… just be thankful.  It is hard for us to believe but you do not have to EARN everything.  Some things arrive unbidden, gifts, the bounty of heaven.

Have a lovely day.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

 

Dear Yogis,

This Sunday (5th July) is the date set for in-house Teacher Training class.  As usual 2pm to 4pm.  I will not at this stage be zooming, but it may come in time.  I am offering a regular Sunday morning Dharma Class starting from July 12th.  This will include Yoga Nidra, Dharma Talk and Shared Lunch from 10 to 2.  That will mean that on future Teacher Training days you can spend the whole day here from 10 to 4 or any time within that. I am so looking forward to REAL PEOPLE IN REAL CLASSES. You will need to indicate interest.  Once I get three plus people we will go ahead.

NOT ZOOM,  but my tech expert is setting up VIMEO, so when we get this set up,  you will be able to do teacher training (and tarot training) from videos on your computer, where you want, when you want. Just by logging in to our web site.

To facilitate this, I bought a beautiful new camcorder  at Michaels in Melbourne yesterday (the last one of this brand and type available in Victoria), I tried everywhere.  To warn you – printers, cameras etc etc hard to buy at the moment because no shipments are arriving from OS.   The bottom of the market or the super expensive can be available but in the middle, nothing.  Don’t buy tech for another month – supply should start getting better by then.  Right now you will be encouraged to buy even when the item is not useful to you, or short term.. use the time to research what you really need.

With regards to COVID and Teacher Training. So many suburbs are in lock-down that looking at the list I can see that a few of you will not be able to come to Teacher Training. The usual covid requirements apply.  I need you to book your place –  email asap and let me know IF YOU CAN COME.  The cost is $20, and you can pay DD or bring cash (not coin please).

If you watch the VIMEO when they become available,  take notes from studying my DAILY newsletter, and are also able to come to the Sunday trainings  from July 12th, you will get more than ever before.  Certainly more than monthly teacher trainings, or 45 minutes of Zoom once a week.

Talking about booking for a service.  I went to Myer this morning.  They had a “covid monitor” on every floor taking temps and offering sanitiser at the beginning of every escalator, lift and door..  I bought a coffee and they wrote down my name and telephone number on a register.  There was a 30 minute visit limit per client.  No lingering over a coffee, although this was not strictly enforced (thank goodness – but there were not many clients).  I loved it.  If only it could stay like this.  No crowds, no rubbish, not much traffic, and all services working beautifully.

I travelled from Woodend to Melbourne by bus.  I do however think just 6 people on a big, modern, air-conditioned bus is a total waste.  In China they have a fabulous frequent service of mini buses that you call via your phone.  Mobilising a mini bus service, or even a limousine service as they do in the USA, then six clients from Woodend to Melbourne, and four customers on the way back could have made sense.  I appreciated the service on the big luxurious bus (especially with covid distancing in mind), but I was aware of the eventual cost to tax payers.  Nothing for nothing. Our taxes at work!

Everything is part of our yoga training.  I was especially reminded of this as different students responded to me about covid and my travel down to Melbourne Central today.

Some people emailed and helped me find the right train, the best coffee, things to see in this unusual time,   and were joyful..  I was just taking a train, not signing up to go to War!  This is what used to be a regular journey.

Others worried that I would get sick, and told me terrible tales…In the time of the Black Death they were the folk hanging Garlic around their neck, totally useless, but when there is nothing to really worry about they will find something. To them Murphy’s Law is actually Murphy’s Judgement on them.

Then there were the students who were worried about EVERYTHING. Pickpockets (yes, really!!), illness, people coughing, late trains, and dangers from every side..

Totally a waste of email time and effort.  Not helpful.

Living my yoga is like living every moment as both the first and the last moment of existence.  In the first moment we are fresh, alive and clear, we are in a state of awe. In the last moment we know that only that moment matters.  Each step is all that is.  We are going nowhere. Each step is all there is.  

In doing/living my yoga I am not on a track, but enjoying every moment, moment to moment.

As the Zen Master Dogen wrote “Mountains, rivers, earth, the sun, the moon and the stars are mind. At just this moment, what is it that appears directly in front of you? (Tanahashi 1985, p.88).

 

Have a beautiful day. Catch a train and experience travel it can be.  No crowds, clean, courteous and joyful. Enjoy the moment.

NAMASTE.  JAHNE