~Up, Up and Away~

This will be my final blog (unless its not), as I am shifting my blogging over to my professional page.  I am keeping this page up for a few reasons:

 1) I love it.  It is a wonderful place for me to see and integrate older versions of me

2) I don't know who might benefit by coming across the path of the DharmaFarmer and want to keep that possibility open

3) I may pick this back up after some time

Currently, there are several core projects on the table that I am developing as best I can.  They include:

~Building my coaching niche and practice

~Forming a successful teacher training program for my lineage of yoga

~Writing a book on personal empowerment

~Cultivating a healthy and fulfilling romantic relationship

~Working with yoga and dance studios to host my offerings

~Developing and executing various workshops

~Creating a community of sincere practitioners for this tradition

Whew.  So far, this has been a very humbling and self-awakening process.

I am being humbled by my own habits and conditioned ways of thinking.  I thought staying in a silent meditative retreat was a powerful way to reveal my inner machinations, but I see now that bringing this meditative reflection into an 'all-in' life move is even more powerful.  And, given how much I am taking on, it is requiring more and more of my total energy- what Don Juan called 'impeccability'.  Any energy I squander on negative thoughts, beliefs and behaviors is that much energy I don't have to fulfill my purposes.  So the edge of development is very sharp and immediate.  Cool stuff here.

And this leads to more rapid self-awakening.  As the conditioning is seen (with acceptance for what it is free from judgment), a power and clarity wakes up withing this.  It's been a wild ride so far, and I am super fulfilled in this process.

So, for those of you that want to continue with me along the next stage of this adventure, come and join me at my professional site: Empowered Journey Coaching and Training.  This site includes articles, blogs, and video blogs, all to support your on-going awaking into power, wisdom and love.

Thank you to each of you for the support you have given over the years- whether you shared somehow with me, or even if you just tuned in from time to time and got something valuable from this.  I know we are all taking part is something miraculous, and we are all together in this.  I am so happy to think of each of you as my companion on this mysterious journey.

In gratitude and community,

Eka

~A Cushion for Your Head~ 

Just Sit Right Now

Don't Do A Thing

Just Rest.

For Your Separation From God,

From Love

Is The Hardest Work

In This World.

Let Me Bring You

Trays of Food

And Something That

You Like To Drink.

You Can Use My Soft Words

As A Cushion For Your Head. 

~Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinski

~The Activity of Emptiness~

I have encountered many people working with awakening practices that hold a certain view of the realization of emptiness.  I have even watched my own mind hold on quite strongly to this same view.  It is the view that realizing emptiness (sunyata) or 'essential insubstantiality' would result in an ineffective and unmotivated bag of bones, unable to act in the world for the betterment of the world.

If we took the image of a bamboo flute, this view holds that once we clear blockages in the flute itself, fully surrendering attachments (even the attachment to play this instrument), the flute would become totally mute, dead, and ineffective- because there's no one there to blow through it, right?

But, what we find (and what the sages teach), is that once blockages are cleared from the flute (attachments and identifications are released), the flute plays of its own nature.  And it plays itself very, very well.  How could this be so?

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, awakened Tibetan master, says it this way: 

When you recognize the empty nature of phenomena, the energy to bring about the good of others dawns uncontrived and effortless.  Compassion is the activity of emptiness. 

The point is that emptiness has an active nature in relative reality (everyday life).  When we realize ourselves as inherently empty of anything definable, perceived separation drops away, and there is nothing to impede or obstruct the flow of emptiness, the flow of life living itself.  And when life is allowed to live itself free of egoic narrowness, what results could be called 'unsurpassed compassion and harmony'.  Pure examples of this are readily displayed in nature, in the stars, in the atom, and even in humanity- though we work very hard no to see this.

'Be aware, don't cling', says Joseph Goldstein.  The unattached, non-clinging heart-mind is where all traditions (that I have studied) converge.  Even in the writings of Rumi or Hafiz, beings aflame with love for the mysterious-intimate beloved, the practice woven throughout is uncompromising surrender into life itself.

 Love is the true activity of emptiness.  And emptiness is the true wisdom of love.

offered in humility,

eka

~Voices of Gaia~

A note written to myself, channeling the wisdom of Gaia-Earth-Mother, India 2006

~

Justin~

I am you- this is the first thing of importance.  I am not this and you are not that- we are It together.  To miss this point is separation anxiety in the most real sense.  You are me; we are of the same stuff.  To think that you are apart from me is to disconnect yourself from your source.

Try as hard as you can to get back to this source, to get back to me.  But realize, getting back to me does not involve 'getting' anything, for you already have it; you are already there.  All you can do is abide in this realization and act truly from it until you are firmly re-established in me...in yourself.

Thank you Justin for all you have done thus far to awaken to these truths.  Surely I know it is not easy in your culture, which prides itself in its disconnection from me.  Each effort- large or small- is felt by me and cherished as a son's gift to his mother.  Keep pressing, keep striving- find your way home.

I love you.

Gaia

~La Ilaha Illa Allah~ 

~God Alone Is~ 

~Aho~

~New Year's Revelations~ 

We are in a time of deep reflection and envisioning...the Winter Solstice, the celebration of the Tree of Life, and the coming of the New Year.  It is also, to me, the yearly rebirth of Christ Consciousness along our collective journey of spiritual evolution.

It is in this time of revelation and new beginnings that I share with you a great and beautiful shift in my life.  The shift is threefold: life, love, and location.

~

A short backstory:

Almost a year ago around mid-November, during a 3-month meditation retreat, something deep and powerful awoke in me.  Though I did not know the moment in which it occurred, I began soon after to see its effects.  In fact, the effects were everywhere, because this awakening had fundamentally shifted my cognitive experience.  One way I could put words to it (though inadequately) is to say that from that point on, my moment to moment experience of the world has been deeply intimate, inclusive, without separation.  To say it short: it's all one.

Though I know this process is not 'over' and continues to deepen and enrich over time, it awoke something in me that has fundamentally changed the way I move through the world.  Putting it in a question, 'If it and I and all are fundamentally always One, then does any essential change or growth occur?'  And, 'If no essential change occurs in the One, what is the motivating factor for being and acting in the world?'  To this, the clear and strong answer continues to ring out, 'To shine with true love for the upliftment and awakening of all beings!' 

Though this realization has been ripening and integrating more and more as time goes, this last year has been guided by an ease and a spaciousness and a freedom of heart and mind that I have never before known.  And because of this new realization, I have been moving through my own life in a totally unique way.  And life, reflecting this truth, has responded in its own unique and beautiful way.

~

And so to the New Year's Revelations.  In the course of this past year I have: 

(1) connected with a spiritual lineage and teacher that my heart can call guru without hesitation,

(2) seen with clarity my place and calling as a spiritual guide and mentor, and

(3) been blessed to find intimate kalyana mitta: a spiritual love and life partner. 

And what does this look like on the immediate level?  Well, by the end of January, I will be living with my partner in San Francisco, engaged in my vocation of personal mentoring and facilitating group practices and workshops.  I intend to offer myself to this service of mentoring as fully as possible, to all that seek it.  And I intend to sustain myself financially through this work.  Speaking of which, my new professional website is here, where I offer and explain my personal mentoring services.  Take a look!

All of this marks a new phase for me and my journey, and in every way it feels timely and aligned.  Life is asking me to jump, all in, and trust, and at this point in my process, I know I can and am doing so fully and joyfully.  There are absolutely no guarantees with any of this, yet how can I say no to the sincere guidance of my own heart?

~ 

And though there is no sadness or longing, there is also a part of me that recognizes and honors the paths not taken, especially in regard to my earlier plan of moving back to the Pioneer Valley and beginning my work there.  I have really been blessed with so many good friends over the years, truly lovely souls that have honored and supported my path, unconventional as it may be.  And I know a part of me stays in Northampton, as parts of me have stayed in India, Peru, Argentina, etc.  But it is also true that parts of these places and people live within me, and they inform and inspire me daily.

So thank you all for your friendship and support.  You are each an intimate part of my journey.

I will continue to keep this blog, bringing to you news of the west coast adventures.  Please stay in touch!  Also, the mentoring services I offer are direct and effective.  I mentor on a wide range of human experiences and processes, and I can definitely work over the phone, no matter where you are.  If you are interested to know more about these services, please check out my website, or simply email me at integralmentor (at) gmail (dot) com.  Entering into mentorship, clients not only receive essential understandings, techniques, and personal insights to evolve their own life situations, they also support me to continue this work of serving others. 

Light and Love to you my friends,

Eka Joti

~Footprints of Healing~ 

My long-time friend Shira Granote is preparing to do something quite extraordinary, beautiful, and courageous.  Early in 2010, she will begin a selfless-service pilgrimage across the country in order to spread the message and work of healing to all beings that she crosses.

Personally, I have no doubt in the success of her pilgrimage, as she is one of the most intelligent, hardworking, caring, focused, and joyful people I know.  Below is her short statement describing the why and how of the healing pilgrimage.  Please read and feel if this touches something in you, offering a spark into your own creative life process.  Blessings!

~ 

Dear Friends,

I am very excited to tell you about A Walk for Healing that will begin on March 18th 2010. The message behind the cross country walk is one of healing, transforming, and waking up to life around us.

The driving force behind the walk is to utilize the arts as a mode of healing. There are many forms of arts, such as: music, dance, yoga, handmade crafts, artwork, and in the broadest sense self-expression. These various modalities join the right and left sides of our brain and the result is union with the mind, body, and spirit, to cultivate amazing healing. I have come to recognize the true power of the arts and all of the ways they inspire growth, creativity, self-confidence, and community which is precisely what my mission will be on this walk.

It is on this walk that I am following my own heart path that was spoken to me on my very own Yoga Mat. It is on this walk that I walk for all of those individuals still suffering with their own inner dialogues. It is on this walk that I say let us heal ourselves, let us heal each other, and let us heal this world. This walk will include the following programming in various communities: yoga, meditation, healing circles, music, chanting, dancing, community service, presentations, discussions, laughter, fun, learning, brainstorming sessions to obtain global healing, and walking. It's sure to be unforgettable.

Please find it within your hearts to support my walk in any form that speaks to you. If you are called to walk, please do so any distance. If you are called to donate money to the healing fund (which will be offered to individuals we meet along the way) or donate to support food and shelter for participants along the walk, please do so any amount. If you are called to spread this walk of healing to those you know, please do so with openness and love. If you are called to send positive intentions, please do so with the beauty of your own heart.

In gratitude, 
Shira

~

Here are the two sites Shira is using to spread the word and gather donations.

~Wake Up Now Homepage~ 

~Donate to Wake Up Now~ 

~

And to close, an inspiring excerpt from Nelson Mandela's 1994 inauguration speech~

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

LightLifeLove,

Eka

~A Healing at Ground Zero~

During my time in NYC, the impulse came to visit the World Trade Site.  This surprised me somewhat, as I had no personal interest in seeing the site.  It was just a non-issue for me.

So I looked into this impulse, and found the guidance to do a shamanic healing there.  This made sense, given the nature of the destruction, and the purpose of my visit to the city.

So that morning, I headed over early to the site.  Arriving, I began to notice chaotic energies (and this compared to the normal chaos of other parts of Manhattan).  I found I could hardly stay centered in concentration.  I walked slowly around the periphery, deliberately taking in the atmosphere, sensing into the wound itself.  You could say I was probing energetically.

Eventually, I made my way to the observation deck of a nearby hotel.  Feeling I had found the spot, I rolled a ceremonial cigarette, and began the inward journey to find a song and a feeling appropriate for this healing.  Now mind you, I had no thoughts that I was healing this large wound.  What I felt was that I was doing my small bit, offering what I could.

And as I said before, it was unusually difficult to drop into concentration and hear the appropriate song.  Eventually though I was able to do it.  I had to restrict myself to a single image, a single feeling, and focus on that with all my ability, and then the song began to emerge.  Allowing it to grow inside me, the feeling also grew, and I was able to see really what I was bringing down in that moment.  Putting bounded words to an unbounded feeling, it would be something like: 'May we know and see the true causes of this wounding.  Seeing the true causes, may we accept and forgive.  Forgiving, may we become something greater and wiser.' 

While I was singing this song and charging the cigarette, a tour group came and stood right next to me.  Leading it were two women, both of whom had lost relatives in the attacks, I learned later.  Finishing my song, I joined the group, which was just ending.  Feeling draw, I engaged with the two women, asking them about the tour group and the work that they were doing.  Pat, the one that seemed to connect most with me, had lost her son, a firefighter, that day.  We talked a bit, and I could feel her still-healing wound.  Reaching out with love and light, we walked and talked as we headed towards the firefighters memorial.  At one point, I took my leave to find the firestation alone.

Heading outside, I found the station and memorial.  I felt the steel  embedded in the firestation exterior...steel that had once resided in the trade tower itself.  I looked around, and felt that this was the space to offer the healing tobacco.  I sang the song once again, and began to blow the smoke to the sky, the ground, and in all directions.  I offered the feelings and words of the italicized statement written above.  I held the space like one holds a frightened child.  It was a very powerful experience.

As I closed, it was clear in a very strong way that I needed to fully clean myself, with smoke and breath and visualization.  I felt my resources somewhat depleted, and found myself walking towards St. Paul Chapel.  Upon entering, I collapsed on a chair there, and felt my energies cleansing and recharging.  After a half hour or so of this, I stood and anointed my chakras and palms with holy water.  Feeling like closure had occurred, I left with a prayer.

Truly, it was a very powerful lesson for me in channeling and healing.  I am glad to have had the chance to offer my small but meaningful healing.  Here also are a few pictures I took during the walkabout.

Love to you my friend,
Eka

~A Stroll Through Prospect Park~

Visiting my lovely friends in Brooklyn, I was escorted for several hours through the ebbs and flows of Prospect Park.  The day was just beautiful, and the light seemed infused with a golden hue.  As we walked, we passed by no less than 4 wedding groups taking their photos in full regalia.

After an hour and some of meandering, we stopped to lay face-down on the grass, easefully passing into a restorative sleep.  We woke warmed by the sun on our backs, and began to flow naturally into breath and movement, yoga reaching, inversions and tumbles.  All in all, the day was quite magical.

I hope you enjoy these few photos.

In communion,

Ekayana

~Mystery and Miracle~

Reflecting on this day of thanks-giving, my heart finds gratitude for many things, so many things.  In fact, finding one object of gratitude, my heart sees the conditions connected to it, and gratitude increases.  Just to have eyes to see this world, how many mysteries and miracles had to come together?  To say that the whole universe is the direct cause of a single moment of joy in your life would not be an exaggeration.  It is said, 'One cannot pick a flower without affecting the farthest star.'  There is a reality to this statement.

Of all the miracles and mysteries I behold, that I behold is the greatest of them.  Our authorities- scientific and religious- offer answers of every color to so many of our questions, yet this one question they cannot touch.  What Am I?  It is also asked in the questions, What is God? and What is Life?  The three are actually one.

Knowing this, the mystic St. Francis of Assisi said, 'What you are looking for is what is looking.'  Our true nature, the Godhead, is a mystery and a miracle, and is ours to realize. 

Below is a short video from Mooji.  I have posted this before, and I want to offer it up again, as an incredibly direct and potent expression of the mystery and miracle.  Listen to his words from a state of detachment, like how you would listen to rain falling outside while sitting in your favorite chair...

My heart is struck and overwhelmed by gladness for all the light beings who guide us tirelessly, asking nothing in return.  May we use our human opportunity wisely.  May we be happy and free.

A Great Thanks-Giving to you all,

Eka

~The Power of a Story~ 

My friends,

I have been keeping this online account of my travels, internal and external, for almost 4 years now.  At first, this was really a simple, effective, and cheap way of keeping in contact with close friends and family while traveling.  Yet bit by bit, it has become something more.

I began to understand the power of the story.  Not just any story, but a personal account of this human journey.  As I reached deeper into my own story, I found myself more and more interested in the stories of others, other seekers making their way, through many different paths and expressions.

And now, after 4 years, I can see with some clarity the real purpose of this blog...why I continue to feel drawn to share with you.  It is really almost nothing, in the scheme of the web (let alone the scheme of the cosmos).  Yet it is what it is, my story.

And every once in a while, I find that it has, in some way, helped someone: to understand a certain point of practice/philosophy, to connect with a resource or technique, to share spaces and places, or simply to know that they are not alone in this journey up and through and home again.

In both the deepest spiritual understandings and contemporary scientific systems, we are seeing that this collective human experience arises from collective human agreements.  We steer this cosmic ship called Humanity through our collective beliefs and understandings, and the resulting actions.  Gautama Buddha called them ditthis (views), and said that the world is literally arising from this mosaic of ditthis.

Really seeing this, we see the power of a story.  It is the power of what we tell ourselves daily; how we choose to see ourselves and others; how we bring meaning and purpose to our shared world.

And so I put the question to each of us...what are our beliefs, our agreements?  What stories, conscious and unconscious, are guiding our life experience, while contributing to the whole?  At this time in our collective unfolding, we simply cannot afford to be directed by unconscious agreements.  We must see what is driving our journey, and decide whether such agreements and resulting direction is something we want.

One of the greatest dangers I see today in our global society is the forfeiting of our agency over our personal and collective stories to interest groups that have no interest in our individual and communal spiritual development.  Government, corporations, mass-media...these are social systems aimed at manipulating and maintaining the social world.  We can see daily the decisions they make and the images/stories that they pump out into the airwaves and water-ways simply do not value our spiritual development.  And it is our collective belief-power on which these social systems rely; without it they would have no power.

In making such a sweeping statement, I know I am liable to lose something.  So please, feel into this for yourself, and if indeed your intuition and insight see the same pattern, then be with this.  Ask yourself how you give up your inherent power to these social, impersonal systems, and how you can re-empower yourself.

We are so blessed, as there are still many powerful systems of learning how to see clearly our internal and external environments, and how to move in these internal and external domains with wise intent and action.  Discover all your beliefs and self-agreements.  It is ours to choose what we see and live out.  Beliefs becoming stories becoming perspectives becoming motivations becoming thoughts, words, and actions, we manifest our reality.  Come to see this and free yourself.  Your freedom is integral to global freedom.

Namaste,

eka

~What a God We Have~

What kind of God would He be

if He did not hear the bangles ring on an ant's wrist

as they move the earth in their sweet dance?

And what kind of God would He be

if a leaf's prayer was not as precious to creation

as the prayer His own son sang

from the glorious depth of his soul- for us.

And what kind of God would He be

if the vote of millions in this world

could sway Him to change the divine law of love

that speaks so clearly with compassion's elegant tongue,

saying, eternally saying:
'all are forgiven- moreover, dears no one has ever been guilty.'

What kind of God would He be

if He did not count the blinks of your eyes

and is in absolute awe of their movements?

What a God- what a God we have.

~Kabir