What is practice and popping the mysore pimple

Sometimes the whole world stops for seven seconds and hovering in the moment, you know that you are a part of something special. This morning Guruji led the 6:15 class. I was right in front doing my thing. He would mess up the counting and the names of the poses and then would carry on as without skipping a beat. Just when you (pictured) and begin to think, "he is 92," he "falls asleep" during poses like navasanasirsasana. After class, as Guruji stood up and began to descend the stage, a hush went over the entire room. Everything stopped and at the same time everything was screaming. He carefully shuffled one foot in front of the other and everyone watched in silence as he made his way through the students to the back office. It was a moment like being a part of something so magical but at the same time kind of sad to watch a lion grow old. There are so many things in life that we always assume will be constant. Like we have our entire lives to figure them out or see them, or not appreciate them. But really, all that we have is right now. For a moment today, right now was everything in the whole world.

After practice at Shakti house was very very crowded. The food was very slow to come. Very very slow. Back home, I would get very pumped to go to practice. Every morning was like, "yeah! off I go!" But here, it seems like the practice was like a carrot that lured me to this place. This place where the practice would melt away as I knew it and the things that I failed to emphasize (no one really does), are coming steadily to a head. Who am I? What am I? How do I behave in this situation? What does this person do? How do things affect me? What is real and unreal? etc etc? Sitting in wait for food at Shakti house is practice. Trusting that how things are working out can't be changed so just laugh is practice.

Yoga is the restraint of fluctuations of the mind.yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah
Then the seer is abiding in the seer's true nature. tada drastuh sva rupe'vasthanam

I've been thinking about the pain we create for ourselves in our minds. Like I said, there is a lot of time for relection here.

The past and future don't exist. If what exists is only right now, than by existing in this one moment, we ought to learn how to create a moment of peace, whether the moment is of pleasure or pain. Yesterday I sat in meditation with the Shabad Kriya (scroll to the bottom of the page if you follow the link) for about 30 minutes. During the meditation was really very intense. (A lot of times, things really effect us when we go looking for them.) My body began to follow the movement of the breathing and I felt a lot of energy around my spine and up the top of my head like things were really moving. Afterward, I laid down on my bed and noticed the blood begin to flood my legs. I screamed at first, because the sensation was so strong, but then I softened my face and focused on my breathing. I felt the flood move under my skin and around my toes, but I didn't move. It was just a sensation, it would pass, there was no point fighting it, so I decided to welcome it and ride it out.

But why do are minds run in circles? Why do we create misery for ourselves?

Valid cognitions are perception, inference, and valid testimony.
pratyaksa-anumana-agamah pramnani

Error is false knowledge, without foundation.
viparyayo mithya-jnanam atad rupa-pratistham

So, reality is what we can see, what has been proven, in essence things that exist. But we can create our own reality by tainting our thoughts. So then the real answer is what should we attach our minds to? Truth. And what is truth? Things that can be proven. So if something has not yet manifested, why allow it to taint the mind?

I spent the entire day at the hotel formerly known as the southern star working on my tan and lying in the water. Meditation is a lot like staring at the sun. Everything is trying to wake us up.

Inner tourism

Shelli, Shoba, and I were walking past the main coconut stand after breakfast at Shakti House when Shelli noticed the massive pile of opened coconuts and used straws in a pile next to us. This pile was HUGE and it was definitely from about a day. People have a lot of coconuts here. She said something about how you would think they would separate the straws because they use the coconut shells for burning. Shoba, always the sage, said, "don't waste your energies thinking of this because it will never change." I found it to be such an intense statement for such a small thing to be commenting on, but she's right. Its all those little things that get us worked up and unhappy.

It took me a while to get settled in New York. I feel like I have been trying to find myself here. Today I got a bit closer. Its like I'm here, but the other part of me is still jet lagged. But this morning, in practice, I could hear myself breathing, and I could feel a bit closer. Today at chanting at Dr. M.A. Jayashree's, I felt like BAM! Centered. I think usually practice does this. Yoga practice, I mean. You feel kind of scattered, and then you go to an asana class and then BAM there you are, and you leave feeling as one. But I've been practicing for a week, and I think it has been hard because I haven't been getting that. I know people say they are less distracted here than at home, but I had been feeling very distracted. Or maybe just different. Its such a different environment and it must have taken me a bit longer to get used to it. But today in practice I felt a bit closer and like I said, today and chanting, the hovering me slammed into the physical me, and BAM I was centered. Nice. I stopped being bothered by the little things.

Usually for me, yoga practice does that, which is why it is nice to practice in the morning. I get centered right away, and I'm able to put the whole day into perspective. Looking back over the last week, its funny to read these blogs.

I made lunch today for some of the students. At least I tried. I know it wasn't that impressive, but everyone was very nice and pretended they liked it. I made chili, but the pressure cooker didn't really cook the beans, so some of the beans were cooked, some not. I also made guacamole, but the avocados were a bit different than the ones in the states. They taste like the large green ones. Very buttery. In fact here, they call them "butter fruit". I tried to find nachos but had to settle on "spanish style" lays potato chips. The rice came out fine.

Can you believe I got a copy of the new Harry Potter book? A fellow student, I-Ling, pre-ordered it at Ashok Book Shop and read it in a day. She let me borrow it and I just started. I fell asleep reading it last night and forgot to turn on my alarm. I awoke this morning to a crash. I saw the clock and it was 10 till! I figured that crashing sound must have been Elissa leaving for practice without me and that she must have thought that I was still sleeping. But when I looked outside, the gate was still closed, so I got dressed very quickly and knocked on her door. Return of the Dehli Belly. Poor Elissa got hit bad. Good thing she has a western shower because I don't think her bathing bucket will be of much use anymore.

Today after Dr. M.A. Jayashree's for chanting, we walked toward Devaraj (sp?) road so Shelli and Alex could pick up some stuff. (Shelli had a duvee [sp?] cover and shams made from Saris and Alex is getting her nore pierced tomorrow, so she needed a ring.) On the way, we walked by BNS Iyengar's studio who teaches at the Patanjala Yoga Shala. Which, I think, is where Krishnamacharya used to teach. We snuck into the temple and spied on an Indian asana class. It was very cool.

More back bending today with Sharath. He laughed at my feet again. Note to all: feet out in back bends is a VERY hard habit to break!

As Guruji's birthday draws near, many students are flooding Mysore. Lino Miele was hanging out at the coconut stand. Shelli was hanging with David Swenson. Rolf was at the Green Market. Etc., etc. The led classes on Friday will probably be very crowded, but fun to watch. I hope they do a led second. that would be nice to watch. We have no classes Saturday-Tuesday. Saturday is a day off (unless you are with Saraswati). Another day is a moonday, the other celebration, and the last just because.

PS-Any requests for bed coverings? I give you good price!

Chamundi Hill

I think Chamundi Hill is like the Empire State Building of Mysore. Everyone asks, "have you been up the hill?" Or you catch conversations, "I just got back from Chamundi". So, today after a leisurely breakfast, Elisa and I went to the hill.

Fridays are Led Primary. I'm in the second group that meets at 6:15am (the earlier group meets at 5, and the third group meets after my class). The door was closed today, so we weren't sure if we could go into the vestibule to watch the early class. It was definitely too cold to stay outside on the steps. Peeking through the window, we could see one person sitting on the bench and a guy practicing. Since the guy was on the bench,we figured we could do the same. So we pushed the girl ahead of us forward, Elisa sat on the bench, and I hung back in the corner next to the door. I didn't want to get called out if we weren't supposed to come in. Probably the door was closed so that the guy in the entrance wouldn't get cold. People kept coming in after us, and the poor guy got a hit of the draft every time. People say its getting pretty crowded right now because of Guruji's birthday. So there are a lot of first-timers and such and the classes are packed.

After the first class, everyone kind of rushes to claim a spot because no one wants to practice in the entrance or the dressing rooms. I was somewhere in the middle again. I wasn't shaky today like I was yesterday morning, but I was tired. I didn't really sleep very soundly last night because of all the lovely mosquitoes in my room. I woke up in the middle of the night scratching and slapping my face. I had bites on my arms, legs, even on a nipple! I tried to hold out for as long as possible but then caved and went up stairs to Elisa's room for incense and bug spray. It worked while it was burning. I didn't have an incense burner, so it burned the plastic vase I had put it in.

Headstand was better today. I was proud of myself for staying up to about 13 breaths. 13 is counted much slower than you might think. Every time my breath got to 10 I started over at one hoping that I could trick my body into staying in the pose a little longer. After class was the usual coconut and jelly where I ran into Guy, who has just arrived.

We had breakfast at the Shakti house, which was really good. I had a banana and soy milk smoothie. I always have to convince people that I really don't want milk and that seriously, I don't want sugar or jaggery. It was really tasty. This was followed by an open faced hummus sandwich on r...? bread. I think it was made of buckwheat, but I don't recall. The hummus was really good, not very garlicky. Its hard to find food with garlic around here. I just don't taste it. Slices of cucumber and tomato were placed on top with some spices. This place is also known to serve good pancakes, omelets and other wholesome, hardy fare at a decent price.

Elisa and I took a rickshaw to the steps of Chamundi Hill. It was quite crowded and at one point we were at the outskirts of the city entering what looked like a parking lot. The driver turned off his engine and the rickshaw was quickly surrounded by dozens of Indian men holding plates of rice offering us "good food". I think they were just trying to be nice, giving us something hardy for the journey we were about to make, but after we said "no, thanks", they just wouldn't let it go and our driver got out, and we got nervous. Elisa grabbed the driver by the shirt and we were yelling at him to get back into the rickshaw and that we wanted to leave.

pic of auto rickshaw from the net...

The rickshaw driver left us at the bottom of the hill so we could walk up the steps. (For more on Chamundi Hill, click here.) Elisa had gone there a couple of days ago, but decided against it because she felt really uncomfortable being all by herself amongst a bunch of loitering men, beggars, and monkeys at the base of the steps. When she got home, our "house mama" told her that you should never go alone because a cheetah lives up there and attacks people. Hmmm.

This time, however, there were loads of people. Chamundi Hill is well, a hill. There are steps leading up this hill carved from stone. I thought there were a hundred, and after a while of climbing was confused about the number of steps. Elisa clarified that actually there were 1,000. At the very base of the steps, men and women were praying and putting together burnt offerings. There were piles of red and yellow powder smudges around the offerings and we noticed that actually the markings were on the corners of every step leading to the top. Women with bags or bowls filled with the powder would kneel and mark each of the 1000 steps all the way to the top. In the places where there were no steps because there was a bit of a plateau, they would mark every few feet. The result was a beautiful stone staircase, colored with red, yellow, and orange, like fall leaves.

The long walk up would have probably been quite peaceful and spiritual had we not been pestered by teenagers the whole way up. "Hello, how are you?" "What is your name?" "Where are you from?" All seemingly harmless questions, but to these boys, these questions were all about the art of seduction. They were laughing shouting, getting bolder all the time.

About half way up the hill there is a little cave/temple. Around it vendors sell pineapple and cucumbers and wreaths of flowers. We took off our shoes, but to the dismay of all, carried them with us toward the temple. I sat outside with our shoes and Elisa went in first. She came out a second later and kind of just shrugged. I went in next. I had to crouch down very low to get in the small opening of the cave, which has a tiled floor. To the left was the cave swami. People were holding out there hands and he was giving them something and then they would turn to the right and dab their fingers in a bowl in front of a shrine. I sat there and looked at the Swami and asked him "what do I do?" He said put out your hands and so I did and he said "no the other one" (my left hand was on top, a big no no) and he dropped a pile of sugar in my hands. I asked him what the other stuff was about and he said just pointed to the red spot between his eyebrows. People were making some kind of offering and then dipping their fingers into red powder and putting a smudge between their eyebrows. He patted the floor next to him, motioning to sit down, so I did. He was so calm. I felt like I didn't want to leave but I also had absolutely nothing to say to him. So I asked him his name--Swami Jamanagiri. He asked me mine and where I was from. Once he found out I was from NY, he asked me if I knew Eddie Stern, Regina ("She is coming?"). I told him Mary said to see him. He nodded like he knew who that was. I sat there for a little while longer. The tiny cave was getting quite crowded with school children who were climbing and touching everything. He got quite angry and got up to yell at them. Again, I didn't want to leave, but I didn't know how to stay, so I left. The sugar was melting in my hand. We became celebrities on that hill. Families wanted to get pictures with us, children wanted our autographs. It was surreal. We continued up the mountain.

At the top was the crazy building you can see at the top of the page and a lot of people, vendors, and cows. Always the cows. Swami Jamanagiri said that there were many people today because the month was very auspicious. This is the month of Chamundi and so every Friday, "thousands, not hundreds" of people come. At the top we met up with some people we recognized from the shala and Rishi's. Nuno and his friend Nuno from Portugal. We sat on a wall and looked at the incredible view over the city. The way down was less than thrilling for my knees and by the time we got to the bottom , we had an entourage of schoolchildren and very wobbly legs. Tonight is Dosa night at Anu's. Very exciting.

PS-Elissa thinks that the people here think I'm a Bollywood star and that's why we go so much attention. Who can say?