Dear Yogis,
Things are changing, and most of the yoga studios in our area are reopening from the 2nd November, so we will too. In tandem with this, I am gradually diminishing the number of newsletters per week. I started doing them every day to keep us all together during covid. This is no longer a requirement, and I will reduce them to about three per week with changes, updates and some philosophy. SO WHEN THEY POP INTO YOUR IN BOX, PLEASE READ THEM. There will be fewer, but they will still be important with changes and dates as we move through this experience of covid.
STUDIO: We are all limited as to how many we can invite into our studio. You still have to bring your own props, and sanitise at every point, wearing masks BEFORE you enter. No kissing, no hugging, no shaking hands as usual. All the previous health rules apply. Please don’t come if you have ANY symptoms.
TO COME TO THE STUDIO, YOU WILL NEED TO BOOK. OR if you want to keep going with your zoom yoga classes then let me know. Once I have those preferences in, I will then determine what I can do to try to please you all – though I know some will be less than pleased, but I will do what I can. SUTRA LECTURES, THE TAROT AND THE GITA will continue to be on-line for the foreseeable future.
ZOOM+STUDIO POSSIBLE PLAN – These are suggestions. If you want to do something different than is written here below then register what you would prefer: Email: yogafirst2@bigpond.com.
Monday: 1pm STUDIO Class (fully booked)
Tuesday: 7.30 Sutra Class ZOOM
Wednesday: 12.30 ZOOM Restorative, 5.30 STUDIO Restorative, 6.45 Mindfulness Meditation ZOOM
Friday: 5.30 Restorative STUDIO(?), 6.45 Tarot ZOOM
Saturday: 10 am ZOOM Restorative, 2pm TAROT ZOOM
Sunday: 10am ‘GITA ZOOM
Keep in mind that if you make a choice and then don’t show up, your choice will quickly disappear.This is (usually) about numbers.
Once again there were the same lovely faces at the zoom SUTRA LECTURE yesterday evening – TOPIC “Internal and External Suffering”. Of course if you don’t think you are suffering, then there was no need to come. In my humble opinion, everyone on the planet needs to consider this one. I am shortly going to start a class on THE DIAMOND SUTRA… let me know if you are interested, and what time slot – it will be ZOOM.
HAPPINESS
Everyone in the world, covid or no, seeks happiness. They may call it other things, they may even call it “money” but for everyone there is something which gives happiness. The trick is finding that “something” which ensures lasting happiness. We touched on this in our consideration of SUFFERING.
Western psychology does not accept the fact of imprints carried over from another lifetime (seeds?), and to this adds the belief that everything must be accounted for, finished, and completed in this lifetime. That this is all the time you have. When behaviour which is exhibited can’t be explained, it is attributed to the unconscious mind. This is a “modern” construct. (The Magdalen Gospel talks about ideas of re-incarnation that run parallel to the Buddhist ideas which is why it probably is not in the current Bible).
The feeling then is perhaps similar to when you have lost your keys. They are gone but you have a strong belief you have lost them in a particular room, maybe this particular room. Of course, once you have decided this (like the thief looking for the lost jewel in the light rather than where it was lost) you have cancelled out the possibility of looking for it elsewhere. You keep on searching, and even though you clearly are disappointed, you continue to assume they keys are IN THIS ROOM.
Trying to find happiness perhaps is the same. You think that bigger this, or more of that will bring happiness. You keep looking for happiness and not finding it, or only fleetingly. Clearly these ideas are not working. If we are not happy, and can see our belief system is not working, the sutras say we will become depressed and bitter, but we keep on going in the same direction because we know it, and it is easier and more comfortable. We are looking for the jewel in the pretty places, rather than where we lost it.
What is needed is to CHANGE OUR MIND. To know where we are and how to move forward with knowledge of the path. The sutras help us to see that we have fallen into a hole of our own making. That we need to stop digging, and we need to climb the ladder that these beautiful sutra teachings give us which will ease us out. Not without work, not without the effort of climbing, but we can know where we are and what is needed..
When I first encountered Yoga and Meditation for instance, little was known about it, although there were many paths. My criteria was a path that others had taken and was understandable, achievable and successful..without having to ditch life and live on a mountaintop.
I discovered there was “a map”, that showed me not only how to meditate, but how to change my mind, and thereby change my life. It was a good choice, and has provided a continuous thread of comfort and joy for the whole of my life, although even with a map I have made some wrong turns.. but that is OK, I have plenty of time to realign and change – as do you.
What are you going to do with your life/ Will you find REAL INNER HAPPINESS, or on your deathbed will you look back with sadness, wondering what it was all about? I doubt in your last moments you will need or want a bigger TV or stock portfolio, although if this is the case, you will have the opportunity for realisation and change.
I believe that we need to appreciate our potential as human beings, and to recognise the importance of inner transformation. To quote the Bible: “All things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose” Romans8.28. It will require effort and discipline no matter which path you choose to follow.. IT IS ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE.
SEE YOU ON THE MAT.
NAMASTE – JAHNE