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Shiva's Cosmic Dance

1/23/2018

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India is such a place that at any moment in time and space if you look around you, you are bound to find at least one depiction of the Divine in one of the countless forms. I find the image of Shiva as Nataraja - the Lord of Dance - to be one of the most compelling ways in which the Divine is worshiped in India. So, I'd like to share with you the story of Nataraja and explore some of its symbolic meaning in this blog post.
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THE GROUND
If you've heard anything about the Hindu gods, you've heard that there are three "main" ones: Brahma - the Creator of the world, Vishnu - the Preserver of the world, and Shiva - the Destroyer of the world. And you might have wandered why on earth would you worship a destroyer. To understand this, the first question to be asked is: what does Shiva destroy?
He destroys 'maya' - illusion. Hinduism and Buddhism describe the entire material reality as 'maya' - illusion. The most important thing to understand, which is at the same time the things that gets misunderstood most often, is that 'maya' doesn't mean that the physical world does not exist, but that it does not exist IN THE WAY WE PERCEIVE IT TO BE. It does not exist as an independent entity, objective and self-contained, but as a construct dependant on personal prejudices and cultural norms, in which everything is interdependent.  So, as Devdutt Pattanaik (I wholeheartedly recommend all of his books) suggests, a better way to understand 'maya' is construction, not illusion. So, Shiva doesn't destroy, he deconstructs. And he does it by dancing!
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​THE FIRE
Once, Shiva was strolling through a forest naked, when he came across a couple of renunciates about to preform the sacred fire ritual. They got disturbed by his presence, and as they didn't realize who this shabby-looking man was, they wanted to take their revenge. Through their supernatural powers, they created a tiger out of fire. Shiva showed no fear, he slayed it with his bare hands, skinned it and wore its hide around his waist.
​

The tiger is the symbol of untamed wild Nature, which Shiva neither fears, nor tries to change, but simply acts in accordance with the present moment. Tiger is sometimes seen as the representation of lust and desire, or generally of the "lower" animal instincts and nature. On the other hand, tiger is also an illusion - remember, he was summoned from fire by the enunciates. So, through the act of subduing it, Shiva embodies fearlessness, control over desires, and freedom from illusion.

Then, the renunciates created a cobra. But Shiva simply picked it up and wrapped it around his neck. It stood still - alert and observant.

The snake is often seen as representing the ego – both can be deadly if not handled well. Shiva, however, knows how to handle it - with ease. The cobra rests alert around his neck, but doesn’t move. The alert, but still cobra is a reminder of the state of awareness in deep meditation, where one is aware of everything in their surroundings, but still chooses not to act.

Finally, the renunciates invoked a demon, but with a ferocious jump, Shiva trampled him breaking his back.
The demon is Apasmara, the one who causes forgetfulness and ignorance. He caused us humans to forget our true naure – that we are all One, interconnected with one another and the world. That the world is ‘maya’ a provisional construct without any objective qualities. That we exist beyond the materiality of our bodies.

At this point, the renunciates realized that this man wasn't just an ordinary fellow. They froze in fear and anticipation. 
Shiva wasn't interested in revenge, but in teaching them. 
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THE FLUIDITY

​
To transmit the knowledge, he began to dance. Not to talk. Not to sing. But dance! Because the nature of Dance is the nature of the Universe. 
In order to call something a dance, it must be constatly changing, flowing. There is nothing static, nothing permanant about it, just like there is nothing permanent in the whole Universe, including the Universe itself!

The dance occupies and changes through both time and space, at the same time taking always and only the present moment. Once a dance starts, there’s no pausing, no rewinding, no asking for clarifications, it continues relentlessly and if we wish to understand what it is about, our best bet it to anchor the attention in the present moment. Sounds a little bit like life? 

Taken literally, dance makes no sense, it's just a bunch of arms and legs moving around (and Shiva has more than two pairs), but if you know how to observe carefully and wih an open heart – you come to realize that there is order and meaning behind the randomness. Sometimes illusive, sometimes obvious – but everpresent. 
Shiva danced, accompanied only by the sound of his rattle drum. Clad in tiger’s hide, with a cobra coiled around his neck and with each step trampling and stomping on the back of Apasmara, the demon of forgetfulness. He moved with grace and strength, fluidity and sharpness of moves, comforting and frightening at the same time. The audience was in awe.
And then, as the culmination of the performance, he stopped. Most of the Nataraja depictions cathch this moment of stillness. 
THE AIR

​He’s standing firmly on his right leg. The right leg represents spiritual reality, which is the only way through which we can confidently feel the ground beneath us. It is through anchoring in our spiritual world that we defeat the demon of forgetfulness, and Shiva’s right foot on the back of Apasmara is a reminder of that. 

His left food is suspended in midair - circling but always striving towards the right side of his body. The left stands for the physical reality, which is ever-changing and always in motion, but also always striving towards the more subtle realms. Because the spiritual base is strong and stable, the physical side can explore its end reach. 

The lower right hand is raised in Abhaya mudra, which literally means: fear not. The lower left arm is in Thegaja Hasta (elephant trunk), which is to remind us of Ganseha, the elphant-head God, who is worshiped as the remover of obstacles, among other things. So, what Shiva is communicating through his hand gestures is: don’t worry, I’ll lead the way.
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In one of his upper arms he’s holding a drum. The beating of this drum is the rhythm that he’s dancing to, but also it’s the rhythm of the never ending cycle of creation and the destruction of the universe. His upper left arm is holding a flame, symbolizing purification. The whole scene is happening within the circle of fire, which is again symbolizing the cyclical nature of the universe. The fire is emanating from and returning into Shiva’s foot, re-establishing his role as the prime mover of all existence.

While all the symbolism behind this common depiction of Shiva helps us understand this story on a deeper level, the most important thing to realize is that Shiva’s dance of creation and de(con)struction takes place nowhere else but in our own hearts, in our own Self. In our daily lives we are constantly engaging in a dance with our egos, our desires, our story of who we are, and who the other is. And moment to moment, breath to breath, we are deciding who leads the dance. When we understand that Shiva dances within ourselves, it becomes the dance of transformation.
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How to Start and Keep Your Home Yoga Practice

4/16/2017

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​No matter if you’ve been practicing yoga for a while, or you’ve recently joined your first yoga class, it’s essential that you start developing your home yoga practice. Those moments when you are alone with your body and your breath are at least as important as attending a regular yoga class. So, I’d like to share a few tips with you how to start and keep your home yoga practice.
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​1. SET THE TIME
​If you decide that today you will do some yoga at some point of your day, chances are you’ll keep delaying that time until you realize that the day has passed and then you firmly decide that you will do some yoga tomorrow at some point. Will you? We already know the answer. Instead, better set the specific time and treat it as a date. Well, essentially, it is a date – with yourself.
2. BE REALISTIC
​How busy are you in your day? How realistic is it to say that you will be disciplined enough to practice 40 minutes every day? How about 30? 15? 5? Like in so many other aspects of a yoga class, more is not necessarily better. It’s the commitment and the consistency that will prove to be the biggest change makers, not the number of minutes you spend on your mat. To begin with, better go with less.
3. BE CREATIVE
I’m of the opinion that the biggest benefit from practicing asanas (yoga postures) doesn’t come because those shapes have some mystical powers, but because in yoga class, we are always invited to slow down and deepen our breath, to observe our body, and to move mindfully. So, if your reason for not practicing at home is that you can’t remember how to properly execute any of the traditional asanas, then simply don’t do them. It’ll be enough to do the simplest of moves keeping your attention on the breath, and synchronizing it with your movements. Try to listen to your body. In which way is it inviting you to move?
4. TAKE IT OFF THE MAT
For me, yoga is about finding freedom. But if we confine yoga to the one square meter of the mat, how can that be freedom? You can do yoga anywhere, and by saying this I’m not inviting you to try and put your leg behind your head while waiting at the traffic light. (Actually, I’m explicitly inviting you to never do this, but that is another subject.)Wherever you are, you can always turn your attention to your breath. You can always reach your arms up and stretch with an inhale, and soften your body with an exhale. You can always notice how you are standing or sitting. Is your posture symmetrical? Is it comfortable? You can always feel your feet on the ground and be aware of the way they touch the ground when you walk.
​Sounds simple and doable, right?

The day is full of these “yoga and mindfulness windows” inviting us to look inside. We just need to notice them.

Good luck with developing your personal practice!
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Things as Beautiful

5/16/2016

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Since our earliest age we are being taught that there is right and wrong, and we should know them apart.
There is good and bad, and we deserve only the former.
There is ugly and beautiful, and we should always strive for the latter.

Every moment of every day, we are making a judgment whether we like something or not, be it a meal, a TV program, the weather outside, the information we have just received, the noises we hear around us. Somehow we think that the more like boxes we tick next to the countless events of every day, the happier we will be. We believe that all we need to do is work hard to one day finally achieve the situation in which every single thing that has happened to us has the quality of ‘‘I-like-it’’. Should any ‘’I-don’t-like-it’’ events or situations arise, we need to immediately start finding ways how to remove them.

Simple and logical, someone might say.
(Hm!), someone else might raise an eyebrow and think ‘’or is it really?’’
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In light of these thoughts on man-made dualistic concepts, I am sharing with you a few verses by Lao Tzu, a 6th century BC poet and philosopher from China. The verses are taken from his famous work Tao Te Ching, a body of mystical writing which forms an important basis of Daoism.

I hope you'll understand the poem. Whether you'll like it is far less important. ;)

Things as Beautiful


When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
Therefore the Master
acts without doing anything
and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn’t possess,
acts but doesn’t expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.

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Please Call Me by My True Names

5/9/2016

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Sometimes the moment I open my eyes I feel that I am being bombed by so many examples of craziness, suffering, ruthlessness, negativity... And all of that seems to be floating around continuously in my country, as well as globally. It makes me feel angry. Sad. Frustrated. Helpless. ... And judgmental. Very judgmental.

What kind of people (I say people here, but let's be honest in my mental chatter I will probably use the word idiots, at the very least) can vote for this party? What kind of people can harm other human beings for no apparent reasons? What kind of people can fear everything and everyone which doesn't come from their nation and religion? The list of questions goes on and on. But merely asking these questions and resenting all of those people changes nothing.

I read something by Eckhart Tolle recently, which really spoke to me deeply:


If her past were your past, her pain your pain, her level of consciousness your level of consciousness, you would think and act exactly as she does. With this realization comes forgiveness, compassion and peace.
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A wall somewhere in Kathmandu
Violence and judgments can result only in more violence and judgments. You can't plant an apple tree and hope for peaches, right? I mean, this approach hasn't really worked for humanity thus far, and I'd say several thousands of years is a fair trial period.

I remembered a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh I once saw, posted on a notice board in a meditation center and I wanted to share it here. It explains everything I want to say far more elegantly and beautifully.
Please Call Me by My True Names

I have a poem for you. This poem is about three of us.
The first is a twelve-year-old girl, one of the boat
people crossing the Gulf of Siam. She was raped by a
sea pirate, and after that she threw herself into the
sea. The second person is the sea pirate, who was born
in a remote village in Thailand. And the third person
is me. I was very angry, of course. But I could not take
sides against the sea pirate. If I could have, it would
have been easier, but I couldn't. I realized that if I
had been born in his village and had lived a similar life
- economic, educational, and so on - it is likely that I
would now be that sea pirate. So it is not easy to take
sides. Out of suffering, I wrote this poem. It is called
"Please Call Me by My True Names," because I have many names,
and when you call me by any of them, I have to say, "Yes."


Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.


Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.


I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.


The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.


I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.


I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.


I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.


I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.


I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.


My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.


Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.


Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

Remember to be kind today. Especially to those who know how to push your  buttons.  :)
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Impermanence

4/25/2016

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Exactly one year ago, I was in Nepal, teaching yoga at a few places around Kathmandu.

It was Saturday, we went to the Farmer’s market. We bought avocados and goat cheese. And some really good home-made bread. Maybe some cookies as well. We were on our way to a picnic to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

But then with no warning, no countdown, no one to be held responsible – the earthquake happened.

I had classes to teach, friends to meet, places to see, a plane to India to board. To say the least, Mother Earth cared little for my plans, or anyone else’s.

It shook us all down to our very cores. Friends were out of reach. Friends lost houses. Friends lost their family members. Friends lost their lives. Friends showed up for each other. Friends helped to whomever they could and as much as they could.


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We all know that nothing lasts forever, including ourselves. We know it, but we don’t live that knowledge - the fact slips our mind often. The earthquake showed us exactly how fragile we are, reminding us that the most precious thing we have – our lives – are so easily lost. It showed us what Impermanence really means.

It showed us that every breath we take matters so much as if it was the last. Because it could easily be.
As the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake, during a mental earthquake inside of me, I promised myself that I would celebrate each day, no matter what it brings. That I will appreciate every feeling, as feeling means I am alive. That I will take care of the people around me, no matter who they are. That I will make every moment worth being your last.

Honestly, sometimes I forget to live the knowledge of impermanence and take myself and my plans too seriously. It’s ok, I am just a human. I am still learning.  :)

Sending love to Nepal and concluding with a few lines by Buddha and a photo from Bhaktapur taken before the earthquake:


Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world:


a star at dawn,

a bubble in a stream;

a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,

a flickering lamp,

a phantom

and a  dream.



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The Peace of Wild Things

4/18/2016

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Whenever I feel frustrated, agitated, purposeless, sad, angry, scared, worried, jealous, alone, abandoned, uncertain, hopeless... I go and find a big tree. The bigger the better. The older the better. The rougher the bark the better.
I let my bare feet feel the ground, I sit under the tree and lean against its roughness. I sit with the tree and try to just be.

More often than not, things fall back into place.

It the photo is one of those trees. I ''found'' this one in Sri Lanka and it taught me that when you choose to grow in unconventional ways, the results can be magical!

This Monday I wanted to share with you a poem by Wendell Berry, an inspiring contemporary American poet and environmentalist.
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.


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What reason could we even wish for?

4/11/2016

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We mostly don't associate Mondays with joy.
Usually, it's the opposite - Monday is like the ultimate nagging reminder or impermanence: no matter how amazing your weekend was, here I am and there's nothing you can do to stop me.
That's why we decided to offer you some inspiration every Monday in this new section in our blog, called quite appropriately - Monday Inspiration
Every Monday we'll share with you some of our favorite poems, inspirational quotes, or some other piece of inspirational writing.

And for the grand opening of this blog section, who could be a better guest that one of the greatest Persian mystic poets - Hafez? Hafez lived in 14th century Persia, but is still widely read in present day Iran.


This poem of his is one of my personal favorites. It is so easy forget that we don't need reasons to feel joy. Actually, there can be no reason behind joy - joy is the cause and the effect. 

Enjoy the poem and feel free to share your reflections in the comments below.

And For No Reason

And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.

And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun's mouth
And dissolve.

And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.

And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.

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