Here I sit

I made a vow to focus today only on practice, no computer, no discman, no distractions. I failed joyfully.

Here I sit

On a Kerela beach, al that remains Is the red sun that just vanished under Indian sky

Just the sounds of waves from the Arabian Sea, crashing against the rocks that guard

Against tsuanami disaster

My yogi friend from Paris plays his saxophone joyfully

The black sand beach scattered with sticks, rocks, garbage, and fecal land mines

Is the ground that my tevas step over

The local Kerela Indians gather here

I just saw two dolphins playing together

And all that blue, all that blue from the Arabian Sea as far as my gaze allows me to look

I just met a yogi from Switerzland passing through

My yogi friend from Paris continues to joyfully play his saxophone w/ cane, long hair tyed back, w/ strong physical frame, and glasses

I just talked with two friends who just graduated from the Univerisity of Missouri, they are headed to do social work and live w/ Indian families in Tamil Nadu

Here I sit as the moon comes out and the sun already taking a rest traveling to the United States slow and steady

Like the in breath of my morning asana,

Like the in breath of my mantra mediation

Like the in breath of my shamata mediation

Here I sit listening to Sarswati- Goddess of music come through my yogi friend from Paris as he plays his saxophone

Underneath coccunut trees

The Kali temple is in my view, in the near distantance

The oranges piled up the size of a hut

The falcons and eagles can’t steal my food because I’m not eating, I’m listening

My yogi friend from Paris’s beautiful musical notes fill the sea salty air w/ bliss

I’m not even writing anymore

The muse is inside my soul and the pen is just bleeding words and inspiration onto

The page

Here I sit as the Indian children play on fishing nets piled up the size of a hut

Fishing nets with colours of reds and whites

The children come up to me asking for 10 rupees

I thank my yogi friend from Paris in French for playing bringing my hands to namaste

Prayer

My kriya yoga book in my purple handmade yoga bag

Little shops are still open, 1 ruppee for a packet of coccunut oil

I miss my girlfriend, Boulder, my yoga sangha, my ashram sangha, yet I am content here

And inspired here for NOW! And will return to them soon.

Jan. 13, 2006 Kerela, India

Ritual and Patience

Ritual and Patience

Thank you-Thank you everyone, all my friends, family, and sangha for your support, emails and love. I have time just for one email.

Patience-India is about extremes and patience. Wait hour to use the internet and do one email, wait an hour on line for breakfast, lunch, and dinner w/ couple hundred, or couple thousand hungry yogis and yoginis, wait several hours on line for Amma to give Dharshan- blessing, wait another couple hours for Amma to appear or not appear for talk or led meditation.

Ritual- I begin each morning at around 6 or 7 am. I sleep on a cot on the floor and take cold showers, again this is a place for practice and not “vacation w/ wine and women.”

My roommate is a serious yogi and a guru buster from Los Angeles. I lived in L.A. for a year and met my teacher in Boulder there. L.A. is the city of glitz, but under the glitz is a undercurrent of hellish realm. My roommate is a serious yogi, he did over 8 hours of meditation yesterday and is preparing to do a Shiva, Vishnu, and Divine Mother tour over the next year or so, he will do this sadhu style w/ little possessions. I have had roommates in the past and he is respectful of the space as am I. He is usually doing advanced breath work, chanting mantras, mediating and so forth around 6 or 7 in the morning. I with .50 cent yoga pants, or .75 cent eccentric blue and pink flower baggy yogi pants start off with breath work, then chanting outloud from my root chakra the invocation to Patajali, I do sun signs, standing series, mediation learned here, corpse pose, and more chants. If you took a middle American walmart mcdonald’s suburban man threw out his television and placed him in our rooom he would have quite a culture shock. It is nice to be with a yogi who understands my path, I know Astanga yoga teacher friends from Texas who were arrested in Houston for doing yoga. The people who come here for wine and women, and the creature comforts of the United States are gone within the day like logs moving down the river.

Culture- With all the thousands of Indians from all over India who come here to see a master of Bhakti yoga, there are plenty of opportunities to talk with others from around the globe. Lately it has been people from France, now it has been Germans, Switerzland, Israel, and Holland. The “Divided States” of America is not the center of the world, some have an attititude and see U.S. and George W. as a bully, but most all are friendly and know that it is the person and the heart of the person and not the country, Bhakti is a path of love to realization despite creed, race, culture, country, and how much a person looks or doesn’t look like Brad Pitt or a model.

Om Namah Shivaya
Gopala Shane

hellish and blissful in Kerela

Hellish and Blissful in Kerela

There may be spelling errors because Momma India is another universe w/ actual god realms and hell realms, more than a movie, photo, etc. for those who never tasted into Momma India’s sweet nectar, so forgive the spelling errors.

E.G. Hellish India: I spent my second session of waiting an hour to use slow computer as frustation while writing a genuine email from my heart, the following happened.
1. My email to my girlfriend was accidently translated into Purtougese, German, or Swedish, I couldn’t tell and the second email to my friends, family, and sangha was erased as I was trying to copy and paste it to my blog. I was left angry and with a heart that ached. I met an intellectual and his wife a prof. of Religious studies and Philosphy at Georgetown, they live a comfortable urban lifestyle in D.C.
He said marriage is like buying a ticket to an amusement park you are locked in and loss some freedoms, but you get to experience the rides the roller coaster of life and love w/ someone.
He just visited Auroville and Arobindo’s ashram. Arobindo was an anarchist yogi. Auroville is the largest intentional community in the world. People of all race and creed live there in harmony. It has given many jobs to the poor and their focus is on living in harmony w/ nature. The problem is there is no living guru.

India as Heaven: Last night I watched the sun set on the Arabian sea situated on warm rocks, rocks used to keep future tsunami killer waves at bay. I was amongst sadhus, and Indians. I did repetations of japa on my shiva mala and helped get me into a meditative state. The Blood red kali sun, the salty air, cool from hot Kerela Jan. evening.
I was listening to bhajan’s devotional songs in the distant, Amma is back, the bhajans are too intense for me, high energy devotional songs among thousands of people all race and creed and ages. I spoke w/ older woman from England and her daughter, coming to India several dedacades and several years respectively, they will head up north soon. I ordered cocunut and drank it’s water. I spoke with a Tai Chi teacher from England and demonstrated kata and bo kata for him, using Kerela martial artists staff.
I say I am from the United States, because the world is so big and America could be Cananda and Mexico if you think of S. America.
I am blessed to have a living guru who lives the life like Jesus and Buddha, who sleeps on a simple bed, and brings in millions and gives away millions to the natural disasters created by global warming created by the human’s karma on Earth.
Last night a man from Encitas, CA arrived, the yoga capital of the United States, as he said, where Tim Miller of Astanga Yoga is based, and Prana yoga clothing is based, where Autobiographyu of A Yogi Self Realization Fellowship is Based, and so forth. He did the weeek long tour with Amma, 80,000 people were in Calcut, and it was intense. Amma can be a fierce leader, as well as nutring incarnation of the Divine, or just someone who walks the talk on the yoga path of bhakti, or the yoga path of unconditional love, or the path of love. All is one.
Xo
Shane

the ashram life

I went via boat on the backwaters w/ a strong Australian and Naropaian organic farmer from Michagan to do Seva of filling up huge bags w/ coccunut shells from a huge compost heap the size of a giant hill. The Aussie and Michagan yogi were both very strong and the seva/selfless service of filling the bags was hard physical work like I did in NYC working construction in Times Square installing a/c units. The boat ride was an Indian version and most similar to that of being on a gondala in Venice, Italy where my brother Sal took me when I was 16. Today's seva was chopping veggies and dates w/ a German couple, doing asana, writing, reading, and thinking of all my friends, family, girlfriend, and loved ones. I am loving the ashram life and hope I will be a better human being when I return to the world in 2 months and several days. Hope everyone is happy and healthy w/ body, mind, and Atman/soul/buddha nature/spirit.
xo
Gopala

the ashram life

I went via boat on the backwaters w/ a strong Australian and Naropaian organic farmer from Michagan to do Seva of filling up huge bags w/ coccunut shells from a huge compost heap the size of a giant hill. The Aussie and Michagan yogi were both very strong and the seva/selfless service of filling the bags was hard physical work like I did in NYC working construction in Times Square installing a/c units. The boat ride was an Indian version and most similar to that of being on a gondala in Venice, Italy where my brother Sal took me when I was 16. Today's seva was chopping veggies and dates w/ a German couple, doing asana, writing, reading, and thinking of all my friends, family, girlfriend, and loved ones. I am loving the ashram life and hope I will be a better human being when I return to the world in 2 months and several days. Hope everyone is happy and healthy w/ body, mind, and Atman/soul/buddha nature/spirit.
xo
Gopala

yogi in the world, yogi on yatra

To friends, family, sangha, fans, supporters, those wanting to be inspired and entertained, those genuine seekers and yogis, those raising families, holding down a 9 to 5 helping those in the world, and those on yatra- spiritual pilgramage

I'm not on a vaction here... those who come to the ashram for a free meal like the Holland toursit or anyone else quickly leave for wine, women, and wealthly life in Goa. Here is a typical schedule each day, I am doing my "job" as a genuine yogi daily.

4:50 am to 6am chanting the 1,000 names of the Divine Mother
7 to 9am ashtanga vinyasa, meditation, prayama breath work
9 to 9:30am breakfast
10 to 1pm seva, selfless service
1-2pm lunch
2-6pm Seva, selfless service
6:30am to 8pm traditional devotional songs
8-9pm dinner

I sleep on the floor on hard to soft cot, take cold water bucket showers, live in the most beautiful location I've ever been in w/ bald eagles, ducks, the Arabian sea on my right, the backwater canals on my left.
The food is all veg, wholesome, but this is a place to do spiritual work. I plan to return to the world with the blessings of Momma India to each one of you who respect and support my path and want me as your friend, lover, brother, and so forth. I have things to fulfill in the world, a beautiful girlfriend in CO, jobs and dreams/goals/dharma-life calling to fullfil, but now is the time for sadhana- intense spiritual practice and going on pilgramage. A Shiva sadhu gave me dharsan today and it is time to put this blog on hold to once a week or once a month or for awhile. Shiva is raining shakti down and I can't be in the world and doing dharma, so long for the time being. I am with you in spirit.
Love and Dharma
Om namah shivaya
Gopala Shane

Ashram Life and Dying to live here

I am in Kerela at Amma's ashram. It was a hard journey here. 12 hour overnight bus was like being born thrown on and bumps hitting head on ceiling, fear of falling to death from road hazzards, and taking an hour to move bus through two other construntion vehicles, honking and moving forward fear of crashing to death etc. I would nod off around 3am and then wake up w/ no one next to me, then fall to sleep then wake up w/ someone else next to me, when I hit a bump and went flying to the celing I would grab hold of the person next to me. I was the only english speaking person, only white skin, on a bus filled w/ all Indians. I was chanting mantra to Shiva knowing I would either die or make it alive for tethe 15 hour plus journey. I could go on 100 more pages, but to simplify I made it to the ashram alive. Amma is a true saint holding every person despite race, creed, deformations, etc. like her own child. She is focusing on helping victims of the tsunami. I like the bhakti path seeing each person, each being as Divine. It isn't always easy to do it. Ashram life is quite different. I won't be online much these days. I met a serious yogi from Los Angeles who is a musicain, om namah shivaya. We might leave to do a pilgramage together. Elephants, bald eagles, huge red ants, people from all over the world, so much, too much to put down and limited time on the internet. I am having internally mystical experiences here, that I have only externally read about.
Om namah shivaya
to see where I'm living and more on Amma check out:
amritapuri.org
Love
Gopala Shane