What a great weekend, the Global Mala events at CNY Yoga Center were amazing! Hot House Friday night with DJ Depth spinning and Chelle leading class was a hot, sweaty, purifying vinyasa flow class, that definitely gave anyone that took part the “yoga buzz”. 90 Degree heat, live house music and an intense two hour asana class will do that to you.
Saturday night again saw DJ Depth spinning; this time for Trance Dance, led by Co-Director of the center Lorie Bebber. Though the room wasn’t heated, participants once again left the room sweaty, purified, and feeling free. Trance Dance if you haven’t experienced it is a beautiful free-form blend of dancing and exploration of movement; just think the “cave rave” scene from the Matrix movies, and you’ll get the idea. It’s an incredibly freeing practice and invites one to explore the primal roots of movement from within their very heart and being.
Yesterday, as part of Global Mala, I offered to lead 108 Minutes of Meditation for Peace. I however had no idea what I was going to do as far as guiding this meditation. I had over the winter been offering morning pranayama and meditation sittings, they only lasted an hour or so, and I wouldn’t so much guide the meditation. I’d lead the others through pranayama practices and it just so happened as a result of pranayama that the mind was quiter and more easily focused facilitating a gentle transition into concentration and meditation.
In preparing for guiding this meditation, I sought out what it means to be at peace. Repeatedly I came across the same resonate truth: Our external experience is just reflecting our internal “reality”. This reference to reality is in quotations because it is just that, a false sense of reality. What we deem as real is in fact the unreal, the illusory. We falsely identify with our mind and body, by which we miss out on our peaceful, bliss-filled truth, the Atman, or Supreme-Self. This ignorance of our true selves is the cause of all pain and suffering in the world, and until we come to know and identify ourselves with that true Self we will never know lasting peace. When we ourselves know the peace that comes from within and take refuge in the Self, then will we know peace on earth. For only then: Our external experience, will be a reflection of our internal Reality. Essentially, to know peace, you must know thy Self. I sought to guide those to dive deep, into the chamber of their heart investigate their true nature, and to catch but a glimpse of the peace and bliss that is the inner-most Self. By which in bringing peace to themselves they may bring peace to the world.
Anyways, after the meditation for peace, came Maha Sadhana; Sri Dharma Mittra’s Great Eternal Practice, an hour of psychic development and purification followed by two hours of asana. Tara led the program, bringing with her some of the teachings and wisdom imparted to her by one of Sri Dharma’s senior teachers Chandra Om during her workshops last weekend in North Carolina. Maha Sadhana is such a beautiful practice.
After Maha Sadhana many of us stuck around for a vegan potluck. There was lots of good food to be had. We brought raw curry and diced up pineapple and veggies, there was watermelon, guacamole, fruit and raw chocolate sauce. It was a beautiful way to keep the Sangha, and to wrap up a beautiful weekend. I’m certain there was lots of money raised for the Humane Association of CNY. Thank you to all those of you who participated, those who volunteered their time in making everything run smoothly. Hari Om Om Om!
May all be free to live, to love, to be. Be Receptive to the Grace of God.
Namaste!
~ The Raw Yogi’s
Raw Yogic Food 