Enlightenment

"It began to dawn on me that enlightenment can happen only in the now, for enlightenment is the moment when we completely recognize who we are."

- The Shambhala Principle by Sakyong Mipham

Saraswati

 I did not know of Saraswati by name until couple of months ago when I was sent a card from an art teacher  I studied with in Kerala depicting  Saraswati.  I felt the card was simply chosen for me because she is the goddess art and I am an artist.   Through this week’s lecture with Laura Amazzone, I realize my connection to Saraswatu is greater than I thought.  I have the desire to meditate and chant as symbolized by her mala, as well as, the desire to heal my body and my mind. I also embody some other characteristics of Saraswati, I am very verbal person who has great facility with language and the spoken word, including unfortunately, a sharp tongue, like Saraswati’s sword the can cut people.  I am also person who does not want conflict but prefers to be in a creative space. 

I did not know  Saraswati was the river.  I am fascinated by water goddesses partially because I am named for one, but my connection feels much deeper than a name. The last few months I have been out creative flow, splitting my time between the yoga and the healing sciences teacher training I am taking at LMU and my work as a decorator in TV.  I haven’t had time for my personal art.  But with only one month left in my teacher training, I am longing to flow with Saraswati again in my drawings.  I will begin with the mantra AIM and open up to her and ask for guidance. I do now consider myself a daughter of Saraswati and I am going spend more time getting to know my mother.

Luke Ketterhagen at LMU

Luke Ketterhagen came to talk last Saturday at my Yoga Teacher training program at LMU.  I have been taking this program since August.  I have gotten so busy with work and yoga training that I haven't done much art or wrote on my blog.  But I am going to start again.  I think I have come out of a deep depression and I light has turned back on in me and I am ready to blog again.

Here is Luke Ketterhagen's bio from his website

Luke Ketterhagen graduated magna cum laude from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI with a degree in Biomedical Sciences. He then moved to the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy to study under the guidance of Pandit Rajmani Tigunait where he would spend over 7 years in residence. After receiving his yoga teacher certification from the Himalayan Institute, Ketterhagen joined their permanent staff. He authored the Asana Basics column for Yoga International magazine from December 2003 to December 2004. Luke appeared as a model in numerous editions of the 16-year-old publication as well as in the best-selling book, Yoga: Mastering the Basics. Former owner and director of Uptown Yoga in Dallas, TX, Ketterhagen was also Director of Programming and the principal teacher at East West Yoga in Manhattan during its relaunch. Currently Luke teaches classes, workshops and teacher training programs in Southern California and around the US.

Luke came in full of joy and enthusiasm not like some of the other jaded angry teachers we have had .visit us on the Yoga and the Healing Sciences program I have been in since August.  He looked to me a lot like Novak Djokovic.  Just as in shape too.  He was even able to do those super tricks with his belly I though only people in India could do.

He spent years the Himalayan Institute.  I never heard of it but when he talked about it it sounded like a wonderful place and since I grew up it Pennsylvania I felt weird that I didn't know it.

Swami Rama was the founder of the Himalayan Institute.  I looked up Swami Rama and here is the Wikipedia version of his life.

Śrī Swāmī Rāma (1925 –– 1996) was an Indian yógī. He is known for being one of the first yogis to allow himself to be studied by Western scientists. In the 1960s he allowed himself to be examined by scientists at the Menninger Clinic who studied his ability to voluntarily control bodily processes (such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and body temperature) that are normally considered to be non-voluntary (autonomic).

Luke or Swama Rama or both was all fired up about Agni.  He talked of the first lines in Rig Veda that are about offerings to Fire – Agni

Luke talks  about that what illuminates everything about us. You are Ignited with your own Agni allows you to access your own greatness potential

This is the first hymn in the Rig Veda Samhita and thus sets the keynote to the entire Veda Samhitas. It is addressed to Agni who in the Veda, is not a mere fire or even fire-god, but is a cosmic power, the Lord of the Divine Will who activates the human beings towards an all sided perfection. Here Agni himself is the priest in the symbolic ritual, he himself is the deity and he himself calls the other luminous powers or devas to manifest in the human aspirant. The human seeker prays to Agni to cling to him like a father a son.
The rishi says that he meditates on Agni, night and day. Thus we see here the seeds of the Bhakti, Jnana and Karma yogas.

The successor of Swami Rama at the Himalayan Institute was Pandit Rajmani Tigurait also known as “Panditji”

Luke talked on the teachings of enjoying objects of the world without getting lost in the world

He wrote Rasayana on the board but I don’t remember him saying anything about it.  So I looked it up.

Rasāyana, रसायन is a Sanskrit word, with literal meaning: Path (āyana) of essence (rasa). It is a term that in early ayurvedic medicine means the science of macrobiotics or lengthening lifespan, and in later (post 8th-century) works sometimes refers to Indian alchemy.

Swamji’s Mission was to bridge the technologies of West with the spiritual teachings of the East ..for people to get a glimpse of why we are here.

Luke said we want our yoga practice to permeate all aspects of our live.

Yoga Sciences teach us who we are.  Nothing teaches us that but yoga.  Yoga changes people’s lives.  Going through the yoga practices there are consequences and the consequences are profound.

Yoga is fitness but that is just the beginning

What pulls us out of health is not just physical.  What pulls us out of our health is our mind.

After yoga we find ourselves in a place of tranquility.  But that tranquility isn’t the goal.  We shouldn’t stop there. In the space of tranquility is our opportunity to go deeper.

The tranquility feeling is just the foundation for the real journey.

I think this ties into my idea to use yoga to tap into creativity and art making.

Luke says use our practice to help overcome obstacles and not to be a slave to what happens in life.

Only we can really control is ourselves.

 Luke sates that when we work on ourselves we become better conduits to help other people.

 The Yoga experience helps people heal on deep levels.

Everything is enhanced with yoga

You can find a deep sense of well being

Strength and stability inside.

Yoga creates a union of who you are in body, mind and spirit.

 I love that statement because my yoga studio in my head has been called Mind, Body, Spirit for quite some time.  It is written on a piece of paper on my refrigerator.

He referenced Yoga Sutra 1-12

Practice and not attachment

Swaha – give it to God

the full circle is yoga

He thinks Satsanga is important – the company of like minded people.  He must have had that for years at the Himalayan Institute.  He says Listen to intuition to follow free will.

Luke talked of the 3^rd Chakra – Power of Self – City of Pearl

I looked it up

The position of the Manipūra Chakra is in the middle of the abdomen behind the navel; this is why it is also known as the Navel Centre. More precisely speaking, its area of influence radiates out about 7cm above and below the navel. Its counterpart in the body is the Solar Plexus.

The Manipūra Chakra is the “City of Jewels” in which we find the pearls of clarity, wisdom, self-confidence and wellbeing. Their lustre radiates down to the lower Chakras as well as up to the Heart Centre (Anāhata Chakra). The feelings of love and happiness that we feel in our heart actually originate in the Manipūra Chakra and rise from there to the Anāhata Chakra. The positive radiance emanating from the Manipūra Chakra also purifies the Svādhishthāna and Mūlādhāra Chakras and their qualities

 He states that If we haven’t been listening to ourselves we’ve poured a wet log on our fire

You get locked into what you need because it awakens your second brain

I never heard of the 2^nd brain before so I looked it up. That is what I found

 

Ever get a gut feeling about someone, or I anxious butterflies in your stomach? That's because you have a second brain in your bowel, according to Michael Gershon, M.D., author of The Second Brain (HarperCollins, 1999), and a neurobiologist at New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Gershon recently explained to PT how an independent network of over 100 billion neurons in the gut not only signals our bodies to stress but causes illness.

Q Why do we need a second brain?

A Most importantly, to control digestion. It also works with the immune system to protect us from hostile bacteria.

Q Does it use neurotransmitters?

A Actually, 95% of all serotonin in the body is in the gut, where it triggers digestion. Nerve cells in the gut also use serotonin to signal back to the brain. This information can train us not to eat certain foods by communicating pain, gas and other terrible feelings.

Luke states: Intuition never  leads us wrong. Practicing non-attachment creates way more balance

He asks What can trump happinesss?

Panditji’s autobiography is called “Touched by Fire”

He says in life Our real goal is to heal

I liked him.  I liked his enthusiasm.  He still had the eyes of an awed child.

Meltdown - Not so great

These are the best of a bad lot aI did at Meltdown last week.  It wasn't so great a session for me oh well.

I am listening to John Fowles "The Magus" on audiobooks and I saw the Hokusai exhibit at Lacma yesterday it was very inspirational.

working on some panels - page 2

Working on page 2 again.  Wouldn't it be great if I could have pages 1through 5 down by the end of July.

rough draft page 2

Screwing Around with Water Color - Last Day of Summer

For me it's the last day of summer.  I have been off for 2 months.  I think I did a lot.  But never enough.

Watercolor from my Imagination David Deyell's Class at Reyes Adobe.

I listened to Midnight's Children on CD as well as 2 books on emotions with the Dalai Lama.  I read Heart of Yoga, Seven Lessons of Chaos Theory, A book on Aging by Deepak Chopra,  An Introduction to Taoism by E. Wong, the Tao of Paoh, Stephen Mitchell's Tao te Ching and the Secret Teachings of Plants. 


Imagination Painting

  I saw two musicals: Scottsboro Boys and Fela with the cousin Lucretia.  I saw a few blockbuster movies including: Ironman 3, Man of Steel and Star Trek 2 with Lucretia and Tim.  I watched a bunch  of documentaries on Tibetan Buddhism and a series on the history of 20th century china.

Imagination painting David Deyell's class

I saw a psychiatrist to work on my depression.  Went to physical therapy for my shoulder.  I did ten sessions of water yoga. Went to a ten hour yoga workshop with Shiva Rea at Exhale. I did 42 hours of yin yoga teacher training with Paulie Zink.  As well as continuing my Moksha practice.  I had my first yoga private session with Matt.  I also had two shiatsu massages at Olympic Women's Spa.  I had my hair cut, colored and relaxed and even used my last groupon session for fake eyelashes. I considered getting a nose ring, I am still thinking about it.


Rose Garden at USC

 I started the Yoga Philosophy program at LMU and finished Yoga and the Mandala - Transforming Negative Emotions class as well as Sanskrit 1.  I continued taking classes with Andy Fish at Emerson College Extension in the Graphic Novel Program.

I hugged and I was hugged by Amma!

El Matador Beach

  I went back to Philly and saw my family and held and hosted a memorial service for my godmother Jean Ann Scott, may she rest in peace.  I love her very much.  In Phlly, I had lunch at Olive Garden with my Aunt Frances, Lois and Dee.  I went to bible study with Dee and Frances. I spent the day in New York with Bryce and even saw a friend from my youth, Susie Spodek.

I watched the NBA playoffs

Rose Garden USC

  I went up to Lone Pine and attended my 3rd Henry Fukuhara paint out with good friends Bernie and Mary Beth.

I listened to lots of records on my record player


Sketch at El Matador

  I had my 43rd Birthday.  I had a colonoscopy in which a pollup was removed.  I was diagnosed with rotator cuff problems, plantar fascitis and a very low heart beat of 45 beats a minute.  I also celebrated the 44th birthdays of my cousin Lucretia and my beloved husband Tim.


Sketch at El Matador

 And other things happen, some things I have forgotten and some things just too private to write on this blog.  But tomorrow back to the grind.

Page 4 - Some more work

I think this page is finally looking like how I want it to.