Clubs or Fiddles?

 

 

The Ambiance of Love
~ Hafiz

 

We all
Sit in His/Her Orchestra,

Some play their
Fiddles,

Some wield their
Clubs.

Tonight is worthy of music.

Let's get loose
With
Compassion.

Let's drown in the delicious
Ambiance of
Love.

Beyond "Purity" & "Impurity"

"All this talk of purity & impurity ~
These are just opinions. Beyond them
Are the astonishing energies of creation.

Rays of light from a trillion suns
Illumine the altar of your sky.
Rolling blue-green oceans
Sanctify the air you breathe.
In this moment, you are inhaling their blessing.

Who are you to call any of this pure or impure?

Find the center around which everything revolves ~
Stand here and be flooded with joy.



~ from the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra: 
The Radiance Sutras

Translated by Lorin Roche

ALCHEMY: Partner Yoga & More

ALCHEMY: 

Partner Yoga, Kundalini Kriya, & Tantric Shastra 

is featured in the latest issue of 

LOVE + LIFE iPad magazine! 

Tis so sweet to feel receptivity to this beautiful work... 

Our next teaching is February 24th! Register early @ dakinitemple.org
 

Article:

The Dakini Temple in San Francisco specializes in sharing the most sacred of the yogic arts with the general public, Tantra.  And, their Alchemy Tantra Partner Yoga teaching presents a unique perspective on an ancient practice, offering an authentic way for couples to connect.

The bliss-filled Dakini Temple is tucked away in the hills of San Francisco with a private address only given out once you’ve scheduled your class, workshop or retreat.  This discretion provides a true sanctuary for participants, students and staff.

Bast and Tyler Neilson have been offering the teaching of partner yoga for about 3 years to the public.  In Tantra, the path to deepening your practice and getting to know yourself is through a shared practice.  Learning to breath together, move together and synchronize your focus together, creates a synergistic and simultaneous process of enlightenment.

In speaking with Bast, I understand just how much she’s dedicated to the authentic practice of Tantra.  Some people practice Tantra to have a better relationship, and some practice to have better sex; however Bast, is one that stays true to the integral nature of the practice.  “In traditional Tantra, having "better relationships" is never the main goal. Liberation and devotion to the Divine are the primary aims and these are to be the pure motives that make all the bliss and relational harmony possible,” say Bast.  She continues, “Still, better relationships are certainly a lovely side-effect or secondary aim.”

In the teaching, participants are guided through yoga practices as partners.  Asanas (moving Hatha Yoga postures), tantric meditation, pranayama (breath practice), kundalini yoga (internal tantric yoga for channeling passionate/ creative/ sexual energy), Thai massage inspired touch, and assisted yoga are just some of the components you’ll experience as a couple. You, as partners, will enhance all your senses, cultivate passionate energy, and refine your relationship within this integrated yogic path.

The next Alchemy Tantra Partner Yoga teaching will be held on Sunday, February 24th, 2013.  This class if for those who’ve already have some experience with yoga and want to deepen their practice with a partner.

Straight from Gautama Buddha's mouth...

The Kamala Sutra

Do not believe anything on mere hearsay. 
 
Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places. 
 
Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it. 
 
Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage. 
 
Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being. 
 
Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true. 
 
Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests. 

But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it. 
 
Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire.

Many thanks to our friend Rob Parenteau, who hails from a Tibetan Buddhist lineage, for sharing this beautiful and timely contribution.

 

The Tantric Alchemy of Transforming "Negative" States

After some months of initial highs and lofty realizations, a new yoga student reported some lows. "I've been feeling so good for a while, so clear, peaceful. This week I'm feeling some angst. I feel a little chaotic, cloudy."

Of course. Pendulums swing. Seasons change.

Here was the doorway for one the most exciting teachings…

"Newbie spiritual practitioners are often gifted with fresh experiences of peace and bliss. What a gift! However, you may be surprised when so-called 'negative' states return, even mistakenly judge them as a sign of regression. There are always fluctuations in nature... 

Dark is not just the other side of light, it is an intrinsic part of light. Suffering arises when we grasp onto the 'spiritual highs,’ and mistakenly believe that we now ‘own’ this new state of bliss. This is painful as we cannot grasp onto anything, for it is always futile. Without this realization, any change tends to feel like shattering glass instead of a graceful breeze.

We must apply the teachings, even toward our shifting states of being. Let go. Offer.

I know, I know... This is all easier said than done, but who said 'easy' was a part of this deal?

Remember, we do not practice ‘to feel good.’ We practice for the sake of devotion and liberation for all beings. ‘Feeling good’ is simply an unpredictable side-effect.

Here is the tantric approach:

Thank you Goddess even for this angst, chaos, confusion.

These ‘negative’ states are all perfect elements, doorways, opportunities, and reflections within your personal drama of awakening.

Make love to the angst. Taste its fiery nature and raw power.

Explore the chaos. Taste its wild, erratic essence.

Savor the cloudy cobwebs of confusion. Taste its density and weight. 

Paint your anger. Dance your chaos. Let your confusion speak through your poems.

You will turn your pain into pearls.

Delve into your darkest caverns through meditation and caress them with your breath.

You will fully exhaust a state of being only when you allow your awareness to fully devour it.

Spring will come again only after you completely fall in love with winter, but you cannot rush this organic process.

Yet, fully experiencing a state is NOT the same as simply being reactive or habitual. Fully experiencing can be accomplished in total stillness if needed. You don’t need to throw a chair or pull out your hair, so to speak. In fact, then next step in this organic process is responding rather than reacting, with discernment and compassion, from our true heart.

All emotions and mind-states are a gift. There are no ‘negative’ states. ‘Negative’ is a concept, not a reality. Don’t be brainwashed by the Hallmark card version of life.

As the sutras sing, the Goddess wants to know and relish every state of consciousness through us. Offer your experience into the fire ceremony within your own consciousness."

This ambitious student digested the teachings with zeal. During our next lesson, he shared that he had revolutionized his relationship to his inner storms, and was savoring the ever-shifting dance of all states of being with more grace and fluidity.


~ Bast

"Learning" Tantra & Yoga

My great teacher Bhramanand said, "Don't think you can 'learn yoga' in some complete and final way. As you are in the process of learning, it is important to remember that for one - you can never 'learn it all' for there is more data out there than you could learn in 100,000 lifetimes. You will learn what you are meant to learn within your lineage. Also, the teachings are evolving inside you. You are a vital link in a lineage vintage, which is likened to a fine wine of tradition, sadhana, and knowledge. This vintage deepens with each new generation of practitioner. You will discover things that your teachers have not. Stay awake! Be the respectful explorer rather than the perfectionist. The tradition is alive!"


Love,
Bast