Days keep on getting better here in Loveland, Ohio. Took a morning practice with Jeffrey Cohen and then a class with Doug Swenson. In the evening was the incredible Trevor Hall signing in the video. Tomorrow early morning shakti-pat with Shanti and Gabriel Cousens before a plenary with Chloe Jo Davis and Alexandra Jamieson two of the hottest vegans I know. Please check out their blog girliegirlarmy.com
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Jivamukti Global Satsang Day 1
Flew in this evening just in time to see David Newman. And another great thing is that Jeffrey Cohen sings at night.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Giving Thanks
On my way back from Japan a few weeks ago i had a very rough trip. I was awake for the better part of the 60 hours it took to get home after having missed two trains and two flights. I found myself getting more and more frustrated, tired and sick of travelling. The plane i was on could not land at Newark and so we circled for so long we ran out of fuel. The pilot announced we would have to stop in Toronto to re-fuel. As we were on the tarmac I felt the frustration slowly subside. What did I really have to be upset about. I spend the majority of my time flying around the world meeting the most incredible people. Being part of the Jivamukti Global Satsang, helping communities to grow and growing myself. Although it took me a long time to get home it was much faster than it would have been just 50 years ago or 100 years ago. At least I did not have to take a boat...I was upset as I flew hundreds of miles per hour through the sky as I sat on my butt. We all have so much to be thankful for but we forget as so many extraordinary things have become common place. It is a strong and powerful not to mention humbling practice to give thanks every day...what are you thankful for today?
Peace, Love and Vegetables
Peace, Love and Vegetables
Saturday, October 8, 2011
With That Moon Language
Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me."
Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops.
Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?
-Hafiz
Translated by Daniel Landinsky from the book Love Poems From God.
Peace, Love and Vegetables
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Yoga Means You Do It
I have been in the beautiful Philippines for the past few days. Comprised of over 7,000 islands and home to many different ethnic groups and non-human animal species, the Philippines is a beautiful place. I am currently on an small island called Boracay south of Manila. I flew in via a small plane into another island called Caticlan. From there you take what is called a pump boat another 10 minutes to Boracay. The sight of approaching an island is incredible but this one especially. Sheer cliffs on one side and a huge palm tree lined beach on the other. On the ride over i noticed many signs that said please keep Boracay clean.
I did not grow up with much access to the beach so i was excited to spend some time there. The water so blue and warm it was as if from a movie. As i walked down the beach i began to notice small pieces of trash, just a few at first but the more i started to look the more i saw it. Everywhere there was steyrafoam, plactic cups, candy wrappers and empty tissue packages. As I was noticing this i was chanting something you may have heard in a Jivamukti class before, Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu and planning out my class for later in the day. I started to think that I would speak to my host about how he should organize a day trip of students to the beach to do some karma yoga and clean for an hour or so. I was thinking about how it would be beautiful to host a retreat here focused on environmental accountability and each day some time would go to, hiking, plant identification and cleaning up the beach.
All these things were going through my mind, how some other people at some other time should go come to where I already was to make a difference; all the while i was chanting. It took a little a while but i finally understood that there were no others and no other time just me and now. How rediculous was it that i would project this onto someone else. I started immediately to pick uo the garbage that i walked by. I was carrying my back-pack which had two pockets on either side for water bottles. I started filling them up. It did not take long, a few steps and they were already full. I would also need to empty my bag so that i cpuld it fill again. Emptying the contents of my pack was the strangest part. People saw me throwing away the strangest and most decrepit things.
I first i felt very self conscious. What were the people thinking when they saw me, did they think i was collecting garbage? Did they think i was crazy or poor or both? It did not take long for that to turn into judgement. Philippinos walked by me asking to take me on a sail boat or a jet ski or zip line as they watched me picking up the garbage that littered the beach on the island they called home. Then of course were the tourist, most of them westerners sprinkled with people from other asian countries many koreans and japanese. Lying on their backs drinking cocktails and smoking cigarettes. I saw them watch me or try not to watch me as perhaps i was picking up something they had walked by or just thrown down themselves.
I was not picking it up for them but for mother nature, for the fish in the sea and the small amount of life left on the beach in the form of crabs or birds. All i could think about was how many fish die from eating plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of plastic and toxic sludge in the Pacific Gyre that is about twice the size of Texas (that is huge) and ranging from a few inches to a few feet deep. The Pacific Gyres (please look it up) western most side is very close to the Philippines. I would look from the signs not to litter and then back to the shore with all the garbage and was perplexed. We do need to stop littering but what we also need is to find ways to deal with the devastation we have already caused.
After a while of feeling frustrated and ashamed to be a human being I realzied i was still chanting. I realized that of course if people really knew how much harm they were doing they would at least think twice before polluting the earth. I thought about what the chant really meant, that all beings regardless of what they do are trying to find happiness, but that their view is focused on the happiness of an individual seperate from the rest of the world. The more i contemplated this the more i saw that i needed to be patient with myself and those around me. We are all doing the best that we can. May my thoughts words and actions contribute in some small and humble way to happiness and wellbeing for all.
I was not able to collect all the garbage (although i am going back today) nor did anyone really seem inspired by what i did; but i was. The beach and the world as a whole is in a state of decline but not because of me, i choose to let my actions come from a place of wanting happiness but not just for me but for as many as possible, even if that means i have spend my two days off picking up trash. Who knows maybe those that saw me or will see me will think about all the garbage they are walking by and choose not to ignore it but instead to take an active part in the world for the happiness of all.
Peace, Love and Vegetables
I did not grow up with much access to the beach so i was excited to spend some time there. The water so blue and warm it was as if from a movie. As i walked down the beach i began to notice small pieces of trash, just a few at first but the more i started to look the more i saw it. Everywhere there was steyrafoam, plactic cups, candy wrappers and empty tissue packages. As I was noticing this i was chanting something you may have heard in a Jivamukti class before, Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu and planning out my class for later in the day. I started to think that I would speak to my host about how he should organize a day trip of students to the beach to do some karma yoga and clean for an hour or so. I was thinking about how it would be beautiful to host a retreat here focused on environmental accountability and each day some time would go to, hiking, plant identification and cleaning up the beach.
All these things were going through my mind, how some other people at some other time should go come to where I already was to make a difference; all the while i was chanting. It took a little a while but i finally understood that there were no others and no other time just me and now. How rediculous was it that i would project this onto someone else. I started immediately to pick uo the garbage that i walked by. I was carrying my back-pack which had two pockets on either side for water bottles. I started filling them up. It did not take long, a few steps and they were already full. I would also need to empty my bag so that i cpuld it fill again. Emptying the contents of my pack was the strangest part. People saw me throwing away the strangest and most decrepit things.
I first i felt very self conscious. What were the people thinking when they saw me, did they think i was collecting garbage? Did they think i was crazy or poor or both? It did not take long for that to turn into judgement. Philippinos walked by me asking to take me on a sail boat or a jet ski or zip line as they watched me picking up the garbage that littered the beach on the island they called home. Then of course were the tourist, most of them westerners sprinkled with people from other asian countries many koreans and japanese. Lying on their backs drinking cocktails and smoking cigarettes. I saw them watch me or try not to watch me as perhaps i was picking up something they had walked by or just thrown down themselves.
I was not picking it up for them but for mother nature, for the fish in the sea and the small amount of life left on the beach in the form of crabs or birds. All i could think about was how many fish die from eating plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of plastic and toxic sludge in the Pacific Gyre that is about twice the size of Texas (that is huge) and ranging from a few inches to a few feet deep. The Pacific Gyres (please look it up) western most side is very close to the Philippines. I would look from the signs not to litter and then back to the shore with all the garbage and was perplexed. We do need to stop littering but what we also need is to find ways to deal with the devastation we have already caused.
After a while of feeling frustrated and ashamed to be a human being I realzied i was still chanting. I realized that of course if people really knew how much harm they were doing they would at least think twice before polluting the earth. I thought about what the chant really meant, that all beings regardless of what they do are trying to find happiness, but that their view is focused on the happiness of an individual seperate from the rest of the world. The more i contemplated this the more i saw that i needed to be patient with myself and those around me. We are all doing the best that we can. May my thoughts words and actions contribute in some small and humble way to happiness and wellbeing for all.
I was not able to collect all the garbage (although i am going back today) nor did anyone really seem inspired by what i did; but i was. The beach and the world as a whole is in a state of decline but not because of me, i choose to let my actions come from a place of wanting happiness but not just for me but for as many as possible, even if that means i have spend my two days off picking up trash. Who knows maybe those that saw me or will see me will think about all the garbage they are walking by and choose not to ignore it but instead to take an active part in the world for the happiness of all.
Peace, Love and Vegetables
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Yoga in Tompkins Square
This tuesday marked another day of Jivamukti in the Park. This months focus at Jivamukti is Living Wild...hard to find many wild places as we think of them...trees, 
animals (not just squirrels and pigeons) and some varied plant life. Sharon Gannon's essay starts of with the following passage.." Tompkins Square Park is near where I live on 7th Street in the Lower East Side of NYC. In the middle of the park there is the famous tree where, in the 1960's after arriving in the United States, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada first chanted the Hare Krishna mantra. Lots of pigeons and other smaller birds often can be seen gathering together around the base of that tree, sometimes several hundred. One day as I was walking toward the tree, I saw many birds walking and quietly pecking at the ground. A group of three or four children came rushing by me towards the birds, screaming and laughing. They ran at full tilt, right into the peaceful demonstration. Of course, the birds, alarmed and frightened, flew off immediately, circled around overhead and landed again this time in another place not far off. The kids took off towards them with the same intent to disrupt and cause havoc. I turned to see who I assumed were the parents, who giggled and said, "They've been cooped up all day at school how can you blame them for wanting to go wild?"
Is wildness synonymous with the freedom to do what ever you want, to whomever you want, whenever you want? Contrary to popular belief, to be wild is not to be selfish, chaotic and unorganized. If one observes wild beings in a wild environment you will see that orderly co-existence among all is the norm."
So of we planted our mats across from the famous tree Swamiji concecrated and began our practice. You can see the tree in the center background of the bottom picture. One thing was apparent; Wildlife
was not just in the tress and winged creatures around us. In some of the pictures you can see we were surrounded by other people that were not practicing yoga. Some were getting drunk while others were blasting rock music. It was a beautiful chance to put the teaching into practice and try to see all thing as equally deserving of love (in whatever limited expression we could muster). Some people from the park came and joined while others watched.
Yoga in the park been such a hit we are stepping it up next week. Not only will we have yoga in the park but I am trying to get the Herban Caveman Ken King to take us through a plant walk. To share with us some of his vast knowledge on what are the plants we alk by every day. You may be surprised at how much eatable food there is in the parks of NYC. I course I suggest you wash it first...
animals (not just squirrels and pigeons) and some varied plant life. Sharon Gannon's essay starts of with the following passage.." Tompkins Square Park is near where I live on 7th Street in the Lower East Side of NYC. In the middle of the park there is the famous tree where, in the 1960's after arriving in the United States, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada first chanted the Hare Krishna mantra. Lots of pigeons and other smaller birds often can be seen gathering together around the base of that tree, sometimes several hundred. One day as I was walking toward the tree, I saw many birds walking and quietly pecking at the ground. A group of three or four children came rushing by me towards the birds, screaming and laughing. They ran at full tilt, right into the peaceful demonstration. Of course, the birds, alarmed and frightened, flew off immediately, circled around overhead and landed again this time in another place not far off. The kids took off towards them with the same intent to disrupt and cause havoc. I turned to see who I assumed were the parents, who giggled and said, "They've been cooped up all day at school how can you blame them for wanting to go wild?"Is wildness synonymous with the freedom to do what ever you want, to whomever you want, whenever you want? Contrary to popular belief, to be wild is not to be selfish, chaotic and unorganized. If one observes wild beings in a wild environment you will see that orderly co-existence among all is the norm."
So of we planted our mats across from the famous tree Swamiji concecrated and began our practice. You can see the tree in the center background of the bottom picture. One thing was apparent; Wildlife
was not just in the tress and winged creatures around us. In some of the pictures you can see we were surrounded by other people that were not practicing yoga. Some were getting drunk while others were blasting rock music. It was a beautiful chance to put the teaching into practice and try to see all thing as equally deserving of love (in whatever limited expression we could muster). Some people from the park came and joined while others watched.Yoga in the park been such a hit we are stepping it up next week. Not only will we have yoga in the park but I am trying to get the Herban Caveman Ken King to take us through a plant walk. To share with us some of his vast knowledge on what are the plants we alk by every day. You may be surprised at how much eatable food there is in the parks of NYC. I course I suggest you wash it first...
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Its Hot so why not practice at sunset
NYC is hot getting up to 39 degrees Celsius and humid as a mofo. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of teaching a class outside for some amazing people. I am exited to announce that I will be teaching a free yoga class every week in a different park. Every Tuesday we will be meeting at a different park. I have no permits, speakers or mics so its guerrilla style yoga take over. We have to keep the classes small so people can hear what is be being said. If you are interested find me on facebook and I will message you the info.
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