In a church in Spain

While visiting Seville in Spain we went to see a beautiful cathedral. I was walking around in silence, my eyes making the effort to capture all the beauty around and above me. Beautiful Gregorian chant filled up the space with a serene energy. Pepe was standing still, in the center of the cathedral. When I walked by him he said to me “I used to feel very different in places such as these, but I don’t any more. Not because I do not find them special, but because it doesn’t make a difference where I am anymore… it is all special.”

Pepe’s words at once transported me to those moments of my life where I keenly searched for the right spiritual formula. In those moments, I felt that so many forms and shapes were between me and the state of enlightenment I wanted to reach. I was convinced that eliminating these barriers was the only way to reach realization- my highest state as a spiritual person. I went through different phases of obstacle eliminations, trying to find the ultimate recipe for spirituality.

Over time, I developed conceptions regarding how a spiritual person should dress up. In my mind, clothes and fabrics where THE obstacle between me and realization. So I made sure I dressed up in a very specific way, wearing what I considered to be spiritual clothes and fabrics. Now when I look back at those days, and to the spiritual insecurity I suffered from, I smile. In retrospect, the main role for my spiritual uniform was to announce to the world, and to myself,that I am a spiritual seeker.

In the market in Spain

Later on I felt that all the colors in the color spectrum were standing between me and realization. So I eliminated all of them, and for years I wore only white. White was pure, white was spiritual and I felt that by wearing white I was one inch closer to realization ;-) When I realized that the colourful rainbow cannot be declared as non-spiritual phenomena, and that white is as wonderful to wear as the rest, all colors gradually found their way back into my wardrobe.

A time arrived when I felt that my beautiful long hair (I was twenty years old ;-) was standing between me and my higher self. In my mind, the long thick dark hair of my twenties represented beauty, seduction and temptation, so I shaved my hair- with a bold head I felt closer to my essence.

Then I discovered that greatest obstacle of all, standing between me and being an enlightened yogini: the obstacle of “making love.” So I chose celibacy to speed up my arrival into Nirvana.

Needless to say, none of the above restrictions I applied to myself brought me nearer to the ultimate state I was striving for.

However, the self-image I created for myself had its own benefits:

1. It helped me to focus my mind around my practice and center myself.
2. Making these choices made me feel that I belonged to a different “tribe,” which eventually helped me attract like-minded people into my life.
3. Following my spiritual convictions gave me the assurance that I am doing something for my spiritual evolution.
4. I was able to forge a new ‘me’, a self-concept beyond what I had inherited from my family and tribe.

In the quiet mountains in Spain

This self-image was definitely helpful and comforting most of the time, but it was never the “solution” for my inner state.

For some years I managed to combine all the above, creating the ultimate spiritual persona: a celibate bold yogini in a white sari chanting Om Namha Shivaya!… However, I was still struggling with a huge question: had I arrived at my destination?

As long as there is a question… any question… as long as we dwell in doubt… any doubt… the answer is: not yet!

It is known through science as well as direct experience that different places, colors, shapes, sounds, and even fabrics or clothes ;-) have different frequencies. Everything is energy and energy is frequency. Some places, shapes, sounds or colors may have higher frequencies… others have lower frequencies… and it is all vibrating us in different ways. We can choose the right places for us, the right people to be with, the clothes that we feel most comfortable wearing and the colors we like around us. Even so, these are external circumstances.

The greatest practice, which the mind would evaluate as the hardest one, is to find peace and stillness no matter where we are, what we wear, and how we look.

True spirituality has nothing to do with time, space, form or shapes…. This does not mean we cannot enjoy and play with the endless forms and energies that create our physical world. All spiritual practices and disciplines use shapes, forms, colours and sounds for enhancing the state of awareness.

Finally, you arrive at the ultimate state of emptiness that encompasses all.

So be it.

And have fun.

But avoid any identification with the package you are wrapped in…

Namaste,

Shakti

As we know from recent scientific developments, the “material” aspect of matter is an illusion. Everything is vibrating, everything is alive. If we were to accelerate any given vibration until it was audible, we could hear the signature note that each object is broadcasting. In other words, if essentially all is vibration, then essentially all is sound.

Most scriptures tell us that the first seed of Creation was Sound. In esoteric texts there are innumerable references to the use of sound for healing and/or potentially destructive uses. Some sources explain how the Pyramids were built by moving enormous stones through the power of sound, and we all know the famous image of the opera singer breaking a glass at a distance with the power of her voice.

These are all bits of information and knowledge that can help us start to understand the potential behind the practice of Mantra and Chanting.

We can think of a Mantra as a unit of energy that connects us with, and awakens in us, a certain primal force that could be said to reside dormant in our very DNA. They can be keys that unlock certain forces within us, and once awakened, or remembered, they can bring us closer to our center and our full power as human beings.

In the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, for the most part, Mantras are connected with what is imperfectly termed “gods”. In western terms I think we can understand these forces better with Jung’s term Archetype. Each of these “gods” or deities has a certain “power” that can be actualized in us through their invocation.

In other words, these are not actual beings residing in the “clouds”, but Archetypes that reside in us as potential, and through tools such as Mantra, Chanting and Visualization, we can access and cultivate these potential powers consciously.

For example, Shiva is a most beloved deity in India. He represents the destructive power of “God”. In order to build something new sometimes we have to destroy or let go of that which doesn’t serve us anymore. The pain we may have to go through is directly proportional to the attachment we have to that which needs to be destroyed in order to make space for the new. The dance of Shiva is a reminder and in fact a celebration of the reality that the only constant in Life is Change, and that it is actually a fabulous Dance, a dance performed to the sacred rhythm of Time, and that ultimately it is all Maya , or illusion. This is not an excuse to bury or deny our need to mourn and/or feel our emotions fully, but it is a very important perspective that can help us move through life with more ease, wisdom, and a lighter step.

So… when we find ourselves stuck with outmoded behaviors, or we need to change our physical reality, we can call on the power of Shiva by using Mantra. This is a powerful psychological tool that can empower us, almost instantly, depending on the strength of our connection with the Archetype.

There are a myriad forms that can connect us with the energies of forgiveness, compassion, abundance, joy, creativity, assertiveness, love, etc. Whatever capacity we want to cultivate or enhance, it won’t be hard to find an Archetype to aid us and accelerate our process.

Now, having talked about the psychological aspect, the student of spirituality may well be puzzled by the devotional aspect of the practice from the Hindu standpoint. Do these people really believe there is some fat guy with an elephant head in heaven that can grant us wishes? To that I would reply that the western mind doesn’t seem to question fat naked little children playing trumpets in the clouds in our own culture, or babies being born without sexual contact, or saints in “heaven” listening to our needs.

All of these religious aspects need not be ridiculous if we again approach it from a Jungian perspective. Maybe we can allow for the possibility that these Archetypes, through the working of the Collective Unconscious over literally thousands of years, do take a life of their own in some metaphysical realm. In other words, they become a specific reservoir of energy that we can tap into in order to further our spiritual path.

When we express our devotion to Rama, we are expressing devotion to the qualities of faithfulness, unconditional love, protectiveness of the family, and high values that the figure of Rama represents. Ganesha opens our capacity to move through life with joy, ease, devotion and wisdom.

In Buddhism we have figures such as Avalokistewara (related to Kwan Yin in China). He/she represents the quality of total compassion, and the total commitment to help our fellow passengers on this existence to attain their highest potential.

Each of these entities has their mantras, usually several, through which practice we can call upon their particular energy for our own healing and empowerment.

All of these philosophies, or religions, as the case may be, believe in the ultimate Oneness of the Creator, or Original Creative Source, but they allow for the fact that within Creation the One divides into the Many, and different aspects then take certain “personalities” in order to accomplish the Work.

In Africa, for instance, these gods or archetypes usually line up with the elements, and so we have the personification of Fire: Shango, or Water: Iemanja. In the Hindu system Indra is the personification of the energy of Fire, and we could say that Saraswati, the patroness of the arts and learning, is the equivalent of Africa’s Mother Iemanja.

When we practice devotion to these figures we are bringing their energy into our lives. To the outward eye it may seem that we are paying homage to “idols”, and in some cases this may be accurate, but the proper practice is a sound spiritual and psychological technique that mirrors techniques such as NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), where these figures would be called “anchors”.

That in the East many believe in the “objective” existence of these “deities” and the power of their mantras, there’s no question, and, at the end of the day, Life is a vast and fascinating mystery where, literally… anything is possible.

Pepe Danza

Pepe will teach a yoga class based on the above principles beginning in September – Mondays at 5:30pm in Prana Yoga College center. Please see schedule.

Once in a while when I get up in the morning with a foggy mind, throwing into the open air the ultimate question “what is it all about,” I receive from my beloved Pepe all kinds of funny answers that first make me laugh and then put me right back on track.

So when I received the below communication /question, I asked Pepe to reply to it and he did … joyfully … with a large smile on his face.

shakti

Dearest Shakti and Fellow Teachers,

Since my experience at Prana I have reached new heights of awareness, oh how wonderful…but I suppose when I started to do this work, I assumed it would be rainbows and butterflies, and at this stage, I am feeling less and less like I am dancing in an enchanted forest. I have a slight feeling this is not what you meant when you talk about bliss :P

I am grateful for my awareness, as many cannot see what I see, but at the same moment, I find myself frustrated and occasionally, scared. The frustration occurs every moment I realize another destructive behaviour, every moment another reflects back at me a quality I don’t want to acknowledge, and I wonder, what more can I do about this? Is this frustration caused by a lack of compassion for the self, for others?

The fear is more daunting. What is this fear? I suddenly KNOW in the depths of me that not only is everything meaningless, but there is no truth, and while I remind myself that this is what it is, and it is not to say that you cannot create meaning, it is still frightening to see the universe on such a scale. As the world changes I wonder more and more, what am I doing here, and what do I want to do here. I occasionally get the sensation like I have just gotten on a roller coaster, and its started to move, and now I want off, but why focus on the regret of getting on and not enjoy the ride? It is so obvious to me that fear is caused by a lack of grounding, and at the same time, I wonder why my years of effort to ground this spirit seem to be unsuccessful. I wonder is awareness, my desire to change, and my actions of pushing through the fear enough.

As time goes on I become more and more aware of the simplicity in living, and yet there is this deep rooted fear that seems to step in. I sometimes wonder if I allowed myself to become too open, too aware, too soon without properly developing the root chakra. I feel as though I am becoming more present in my body, in my legs, but then, especially recently, this fear comes up. Is this just dark tunnel one must walk through on the path to liberation? To walk into the fear, and come out on the other side?
I realize that not any person”s path or experience is the same, but I wonder, does it occur sometimes on this path where you will see reality as it is, and before you embrace and are empowered by it, it scares the living S*** out of you.

Pepe’s reply

Fantastic ! All you describe is actually a sign that your Practice has come to a very high level. Too soon? Not unless yo u are using drugs.

Reality is truly a terrifying experience for the little ego. When you have an experience of the true Vastness of the Universe and the unimaginable depths of what in Buddhism is called The Void, it’s actually hard to survive it!  We must then seek to strike a very difficult balance, walking the edge between “reality” and “Reality”. Most of us have a hard time doing this, and this includes even Teachers and Gurus, many of whom failed to bridge this gap and got embroiled in scandals and messy situations.

It sounds like you are getting close enough, often enough, to “Reality”, and your ego is naturally getting very scared and creating fear, but it also looks to me like you have developed a lot of awareness around this.

Your “years of effort” are indeed successful! Now you have to learn to handle that new level of energy and awareness.

“Everything is meaningless”… indeed!… “there is no truth”… indeed!, at least in “reality”. What does this mean? Freedom! When we realize this, we may not have mama’s skirt to hang on to any more, but, we can go wherever we want! Life has handed us a magical blank book, and whatever we write there, that’s our meaning, that’s our story, that’s our truth. It either “gets written”, or we write in full awareness and celebration of the amazing opportunity it is!

When we plant a tree, we don’t fuss about when it will flower. We just keep creating the right conditions for its growth. Do the same with your Practice. And don’t “push through” anything! Wherever you are, including fear and “destructive behaviours”, just Be there in Awareness. Applying awareness has the magical quality of feeding that which is conducive to your growth and slowly destroying that which is inimical to your growth.

As far as “what am I doing here, and what do I want to do here”, just stay with your Practice. When we have cultivated our Essence enough and removed our Fear, or at least stopped giving energy and credibility to the ego’s panic, our path simply becomes clear in front of us, and we start naturally attracting who and what we need at the right time (what a great teacher called a “magnetic center”). As long as we have to “find” or “decide” what we “are here for”, we simply haven’t found it yet… and that’s ok! Let it come to you organically and in its own time. In the meantime, cultivate awareness and impeccability in whatever you do. “Showing up” fully in the here and now has the power of grounding us… less philosophy and more washing dishes!

I’m glad you got rid of the “rainbows and butterflies” fantasy. The Path requires a lot of courage and discipline, and as one of my most beloved Teachers used to say: “The brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow.”

As long as we are in this “reality” we have to accept the Dance of Yin and Yang. It’s up to you to dance as a  puppet or Dance as Shiva.

Many Blessings your way…

Pepe Danza

To discuss this posting or to comment, please visit the forum topic dedicated to this article.

A discourse and discussion about

Spiritual intimacy between lovers

shakti mhi will talk about the conflict many seekers deal with when walking the spiritual path while being involved in a physical relationship.

The discourse will be open for questions relating to the topic.

Please let your friends know about this unique event.

Location: Prana Centre for Blissful Living (293 East 2nd Ave)

That’s all good, as long as you do not have any expectations to receive an Oscar from your friends or relatives for being freer and for removing suffering from your life. Your friends and family won’t be happy to see you taking off to a blissful life while leaving them behind with their pain and suffering.

So be prepared! The moment you stop taking responsibility for other peoples’ pain by not allowing them to use you as the one to blame for their suffering, they declare war against you and the main weapon is accusation.

If you refuse to be pulled into their drama, they accuse you of being cold.

If you engage with them without a need while they need you, they say you are manipulative.

If you refuse to be swayed by their emotions, they complain you are hurting them.

And the best is when they claim your spiritual practice is selfish because you are not willing to take part in the collective mind’s drama anymore.

You are probably asking: so what to do when your friends and relatives are blaming you for not taking part in the human drama and for being detached? (On your side, make sure that you do not detach yourself from the world, cutting yourself off life. Non-attachment, the spiritual path, means not identifying with anything around you as well as yourself, and still always remain one with everything around you.)

The first thing is what not to do. Do not try to explain where you are at in seeing reality as it is. This will make them even more furious because they do not always have the capacity to experience where you are at. As a result they will start telling you what they really think about you (even though you never asked for their opinion ;-)). Trust me; their description of you is not going to be flattering, as this is their last chance to convince you to go back to reality where no one takes responsibility for their own emotions or actions.

Secondly, do not expect them to even want to understand your new “you”, as all they really care about is what they are going to lose by letting you be free.

But never stop loving them, and don’t become superior to them. Simply breathe and continue doing what needs to be done in each moment.

It is all about love love love
shakti

Rarely do people choose their own labels and folder selections.

At the time of our birth, each of us gets X number of files made by our parents, teachers and other people in our tribe. This is the filing cabinet that we start our lives with. As time goes by we keep adding new folders but often as sub folders to the files we already received in heritage. Seldom do we create new categories or new definitions or new perceptions. This is why it is so common to find family members carrying similar filing cabinets with the same folder classification systems for generations. In other words, the same way of perceiving reality is passed down through the family tribe.

Inheriting filing cabinet from your tribe with esoteric folders will enable you to have esoteric experiences as part of your reality. If you only have files for physical world experiences labeled “what you see is what it is”, in times when you cross an esoteric experience you either will miss it or dismiss it as you have no folder in which to file it, and you are unable to process it.

If, as a child, you received a huge filing cabinet with a large number of files that may consist of art, magic, spirituality, generosity, oneness, etc, you will probably have a large capacity for filing a large variety of life experiences. If you received a small filing cabinet with fewer files that may only have to do with evolutionary routines like marriage, kids, mortgage and retirement, obviously, you will be limited by the amount of experiences you can file. Thus, your reality is much more limited.

Most people are not aware that it is up to them to change and rearrange their filing cabinets, and by doing so change their reality. Actually, the head office of each tribe (in the form of churchs and religious leaders) will try to make sure that all of their members are classifying and filing their concepts and perceptions in the same order and manner so everyone thinks, feels, and believes the same.

Once a while, a unique child, a rebellious teenager or a brave adult will have the desire, the need, the yearning, or the strong drive to rearrange their own filing cabinet by getting rid of old files such as marriage, money, war, degrees etc. and adding new files such as freedom, arts, traveling, realization etc. The tribe, which always tries to keep its members’ filing cabinets in one custom, will find the individuals who have their own unique filing cabinets threatening. Those who take the freedom to be creative with their filing cabinet arrangements will be filed as rebellions, odd, unusual, unconventional, original, eccentric, etc.

We do not only file people and events in our personal filing cabinet, we also get filed in other people’s files and we are very much aware of it. In fact, being filed by others is one of our main concerns. Often when people who are important to us do not have a file that we can be filed into, this forces us to change who we are so we can fit under one of their existing folders.

Family members’ folders are usually all classified and titled in the same way as they pass the filing system from one to other. If you need to be filed in your family’s folders as who you see yourself to be, for example as a gay, as an artist, as a spiritual, as a traveler, as rebel, as a nonconformist, etc. and they have no files for these categories they will either dismiss your existence or will force you to change your definition to be classified into what they already have in their filing cabinet: straight versus gay, intellectual versus artist, conformist versus nonconformist, religious versus non-religious.

On the path of spirituality we may go through process that will consist of:

• Questioning all the files we received in heritage as well the ones we created
• Observing the limitations of a filing cabinet (i.e., the mind) in its ability to hold onto reality as it is.
• Starting to experience our moments outside of our filing system (i.e., oneness)

Namaste
shakti mhi

Large Filing Cabinets

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