Zeitgeist: Message of Hope?

Last Wednesday, our Meditation/Study group had an extremely lively discussion regarding the movie Zeitgeist. If you haven't seen the movie, it can be viewed online at www.zeitgeistmovie.com.


There had been some comment beforehand that the movie exposed very disturbing views of the world (religion, politics, money, power) and that sensitive people might be actually set back along their healing path. Pretty valid as we yogis are selective as to what we feed our Mano Maya Kosha.


In the end, we focused on this quotation from the movie:
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." Sri Chinmoy Ghose


The movie also stipulated that an organism at war with itself was an organism doomed. We loved exploring this sentiment as it fits perfectly with the yogic concept of unification. All religions, all nationalities, all species in harmony, yes!


We finished our meeting with a loving kindness meditation. Here are the words if anyone wishes to repeat it at home.

"May all beings be happy,
May all beings be peaceful,
May all beings enjoy well being;
May all beings be free"
This is repeated silently for at least 3x, then the words altered slightly to
"May all in this room be happy...... free"
And then the words changed again to
"May I be happy..... free".


Our next meeting will be on Wednesday March 16 at 6:30 pm. Watch the website and facebook for topics.

Good Vibrations

The lovely Luisa Caruso led our study group this past month with her specially chosen chants and haunting drum rhythms.

It was discussed during our last meeting (see Nov post) why chanting is often done in Sanskrit. We deepened our exploration this month.

Trayati (that which saves) is the root of -tra in the word man-tra. Mantra can effect vibratory transformation at the core level of matter. All matter is created by, and ruled by, the "gunas". These three forces are universal and recognizable for all. "Rajas" is restlessness, the intiation of creation. "Tamas" is inertia, stability. These two siblings continually create motion in our universe, until at some point "sattva", or balance, is achieved. Sattva cannot last, as rajas always injects that movement to continue in the dance of creation.

Through mantra (chanting), we can detoxify at the causal level, transforming excess rajas or tamas into a more sattvic vibe. In time, our minds (known as "chitta" in yogic philosophy) become more receptive to higher influences.

In sanskrit, the consonants represent matter; the vowels, spirit or consciousness. How they are combined can govern the energetic flow through the chakras. The consonants, in particular, have powers of manifestation.

One of the best measures of your yogic practice is not whether you can stand on your head or do 100 Sun Salutations, it's how you react to everyday stresses. When you start to notice that you are calmer in traffic, can find better words in a meeting, or are less likely to scream at your teenagers, that's when you know you are making progress. Chanting is a key part of the path because it does help refine your mind.

The most challenging mantra that Luisa prepared for us was the following:

"Teyata Om Bekanze;

Bekanze Maha Bekanze;

Radza Samudgate Soha."

This mantra is from the Buddhist tradition and prays for delivery from ignorance. To learn more about the mantra and to hear it chanted, check out this link: http://www.jivanjili.org/medicine_buddha_mantra.html

Our next meeting will be Wed Feb 16 at 6:30. All are welcome. We plan to discuss the internet movie, Zeitgeist, and apply yogic philosophy to this sometimes shocking view of our world. To watch the movie for free, check out this link: http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com