Dear Yogis,

NOTES FOR TODAY:I am never sure whether to put these in the front or at the end.

YOGA CLASSES: please read “classes” above, and bring all your props, and pre-pay. ZOOM – Four classes PER WEEK.  Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday and Saturdays.

TAROT: The last training class today (Saturday) at 2pm.  Bookings taken for the next class. I will be trying zoom consults and trainings starting the 1th July.

TEA AND TAROT  “Afternoon Tea – Meet-up”, At the studio, 2pm to 4pm Sunday 28th June.  Please email an RSVP yogafirst2@bigpond.com. Everyone welcome.  Readings, decks, paintings, posters, pendulums….

We have been walking around and around the hard things, the yoga basics, but starting today we are going to jump in.

WE ARE NOT THESE BODIES.

“O descendent of Bharata, he who dwells on the the body can never be slain.  Therefore we need not grieve for any living thing”. (Bhagavad-Gita 2.30)

The first step is to understand that you are not your body.  In the verse above the “he who dwells in the body” is not talking about you.  It is not a matter of just repeating “I am not this body” but actually realising it.  Although we are not these bodies, these vehicles,  but are pure consciousness, somehow over time we have become identified within this physical identity.

Some scholars say that this identification with the body can be cured by abstaining from all action.  Buddha also maintained that if we somehow separate ourselves from the material,  the cause of suffering will be removed. In today’s terms – If you were being pursued by the ATO, would it remove your tax debt if you destroyed all your material possessions.  I don’t think so.  It would however make it more difficult for you to meet the remaining obligations, but now you would have destroyed the vehicle through which this could be achieved.

The Bhagavad-Gita indicates that the body is not everything.  There is more.  Beyond the complex material elements there is the spirit, and the symptom of that spirit is consciousness.  We know that a body without consciousness is a dead body.  What is this energy we call consciousness? Consciousness is the energy of the soul and proves that the soul is present.  When the body breaks down and this energy called consciousness leaves the body, there is no possibility of our replacing a broken part and thereby reviving the body, and achieving our destiny…  The soul energy has gone.  There is no possibility of re-animating the body after the soul has left.

In the Bhagavad-Gita, Sri Krishna points out that all our miseries are caused by false identification with the body.   It is the spirit spark of the soul which motivates us into great feats of creation. We try to attain eternity, knowledge and bliss by subjugating our imperfect physical vehicle, however to progress to our goals we must realise  that we are being blocked by the physical.  Perhaps we are floundering in a place of desire and attachment, allowing the  senses to drag us this way and that.  For success, for peace and contentment, we must learn to master the body, not deny it.  We must be masters and not servants.

Tantra USES the energy of desire.  Instead of seeing pleasure and desire as things to be avoided at all costs, TANTRA recognises the powerful energy aroused by our desires,  to be an indispensable resource for our spiritual path.  Tantra seeks to transform every experience no matter how un-religious it may appear – into the path of fulfilment.  Because our present life is so inseparably linked with desire, instead of denying this fact, instead of living in denial,  we must USE desire’s tremendous energy if we wish to transform our life into something transcendental.

HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

Dear Yogis,

Sunday again.  We had a fantastic Tarot Training Yesterday.  It is not just about the cards.  It is about where we find ourselves, how the cards help us to understand ourselves as well as others.  How the cards can help us find the heaven that is with us in the now.  When used properly, they can be a high TANTRIC TOOL. They are deeply spiritual and can bring the student back to the spiritual path…

According to Buddhist teachings, no matter how confused and tormented you and I may be at the moment, our underlying nature of  being is clear and pure.  In the same way that clouds come between us and the sunlight, so too our anxieties, depression and the suffering that they cause can temporarily obscure but cannot destroy or even touch the fundamentally clear nature of our consciousness..

Dwelling deep within us our heart and the hearts of every living person without exception is an inexhaustible source of love and wisdom.  According to buddhist writings, the ultimate goal of every person is enlightenment which occurs when all the delusions, greed, hatred, ignorance, presently obscuring our mind have been completely removed, and when all of our positive qualities have been fully developed.   This fully awakened state is characterised by unlimited compassion, and unlimited skill (or power).

We are taught that the  path to fulfilment is a gradual process of cleansing our mind of all its faults and limitations, and replacing these thoughts, with thoughts (and actions) of complete love and wisdom.  Because of this gradual approach of sutra, this is called the causal vehicle to enlightenment because of the emphasis on creating causes for a future result.

Compared to this sutra approach, tantrayana is a much speedier path to the goal of enlightenment.  The tantric yogi or yogini, learns to think, speak and act NOW as if he or she were already a fully enlightened buddha.  Because the powerful approach often bring the the future full awakening into the present experience, it is sometimes called the resultant vehicle to enlightenment.

According to Tantra, perfection is not something that is waiting for us in the future, HEAVEN IS NOW.  Everything that we need is with us in this moment, it is simply a matter of being able to recognise it.

This is the Tantric approach that we will be exploring… in the cards if you com to training, or here in the daily newsletters.

The present Tarot Training is closed, but I am enrolling for the next class which will start in July.  We will also be holding a on Sunday the 28th June at 2pm at the Studio.  At this time we will be coming together to learn more about the tarot, to swap skills, and generally link in with others who are looking for a deeper way.  TANTRIC TAROT.  Please let me know if you are interested… it is not an open house.  This will be a learning experience.

Have a wonderful Weekend.

NAMASTE JAHNE