Dear Yogis,
I am writing this on Sunday afternoon. Another weekend is past and only a few days to go until we hear what restrictions have been lifted for our brothers and sister yogis in Melbourne. Out here in the Macedon Ranges we have weathered the furious storm, and now we are in a place of peace and calm. I even plan to have afternoon tea on the back verandah… I think I have reawakened to the joy of flicking a switch for power, and the bliss of a hot shower.
ZOOM:
SUNDAY. This morning we decided to study Mary Magdalen (Instead of the Bardo)
MONDAY 6.30 Mary Magdalen FREE TEACHER TRAINING
TUESDAY 7.30: The Tibetan Book of the Dead (If you are thinking of joining us for The Compassionate Companions Project, you would do well to come to this class.
STUDIO
MONDAY Hatha Yoga (full), WEDNESDAY Restorative Yoga (full), FRIDAY Hatha Yoga – vacancies available
SMOKIN – THE YOGA OF SMOKE – The herbs, the book and the pipes, are now on my etsy site. www.myyogabooks.etsy.com
MARY MAGDALEN – The teacher.
We have spent quite a lot of time discussing The Gospel of MARY> It is always surprising to people to realise that Mary was not the “penitent Sinner”. She was a woman of means and one of the women who funded the travels and teachings of Jesus. Without her and the others the travels and the teachings Jesus gave would have not been possible in the way that they were. Even Buddha was funded by Princes and wealthy individuals. They all needed a Michael Gudinski, to organise things…..and usually one was there.
To dismiss Mary Magdalen as the Church did, relegate Mary the Mother of Jesus to a sexless holy being devoid of other children, feelings, love and a husband (not a convenience), and have Jesus appear a sinless icon, well let’s take another look.
In our Studies on The Magdalen we are doing just that. Examining the writings, what motivated her, and interestingly the difficulties she had with the males, especially the disciples who wanted her to remain in the background after Jesus death… Jesus gave his most metaphysical teachings to her – she was the “one He loved”. I think she was the smartest.
Having these historically portrayed, real people, grow up human and still achieve the wonderful things they did, is much more inspiring to me than to imagine that in some impossible way they arrived on the earth without blemish and stayed that way. They had mothers, fathers, relatives, children, neighbours, needs and desires as we all have.
We all have the opportunity to choose goodness in every moment, that is the joy of the spiritual path, and the great gift given to us by God. It is not to arrive on the earth sinless, but to understand the choices that we make in every minute. That is the hard part.
Jesus said “I am the door”. The door to the Kingdom. Buddha is also described as a door, a teacher who shows us the way. It is said there are 84,000 Dharma doors. If you found a door, it would not be very Buddhist of you to say yours was the only door. We should not be afraid of more Dharma doors, only afraid that no more will be opened.
Remember the Buddha relies on us for the Dharma to continue to develop as a living organism – not a stale Dharma but a real “DHARMAKAYA”, a real body of teaching.
I WILL SEE YOU ON THE MAT (or in a one-to-one perhaps),
NAMASTE – JAHNE