Category Archives: Vedic

The Mahamarmas

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lamps in boxwood

I’ve spoken many times about the body’s energy system. I’m not an expert but there are worthwhile observations to make. A set of 7 universal chakras or energy wheels is inserted into the bliss body and serves as a scaffolding for building life-forms. The chakras are progressively more expressed up into the energy body of specific forms. Sub-chakras are also found at various key points. Interconnecting the various chakras are energy tubes known as nadis. The larger chakras also have a spiky array of terminated nadis called chakra databanks that express the emphasis of laws of nature (devata) in that … Continue Reading… →

The Bull of Dharma

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road in light

I’ve spoken before about dharma in the 4 areas of life. Also that dharma means that which sustains. In other words, dharma is actions (karma) in life that sustain it and the world in which we’re unfolding. I’ve also seen dharma described as 3 levels: Universal (Rishi), Vocational (Devata), and Personal (Chhandas) where rishi, devata, and chhandas are the 3 aspects of consciousness: knower, knowing, and known. This is like the 4 areas of life but leaves out time-of-life and shifts caste more into vocation. Dharma can also be framed as that which supports the degree of consciousness being expressed. … Continue Reading… →

The Brahmasthan

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Neutron Star 2004

The brahmasthan is a term from the Vastu Shastra or Sthapatya Veda, the guidelines for Vedic architecture. Vastu recognizes that a properly designed building will amplify the presence of the building and support its occupants. “The brahmasthan is a special central zone in a building. It is free from any obstructions in the form of a wall, pillar or beam, furniture or fixtures and is often well lit from above, by skylights for instance.” It is the silent center of a space. Every space has a center as I’ve illustrated here before. We can think of the brahmasthan as the … Continue Reading… →

Offer it Back

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prayer of the frog

If we’re struggling in some area of life, it may be due to the cycles of time, the collective, or unfolding karma. But it’s also useful to look at how we are with circumstances. If we’re resisting or responding with depression or other heavier emotions, we may be offering a sinkhole to the energy of growth. This is not a suggestion of blame. It’s natural to feel bad when things go poorly. But soon, it’s time to move on. What are we bringing to life? What are we feeding? What is supported now? An early example for me was Maharishi … Continue Reading… →

We Are A Community

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feather

In the west, our culture has been very focused on individuality. This is a step up from tribal mode but, like being a teenager, should be seen as a transitional step. We live in a very interdependent community we often take for granted. But our homes, food, roads, cars, water, power, everything has to be planned, made or grown, distributed and made available to us. It all has to be maintained too. Any yet many people live separate lives, disconnected from those around them. Connecting to a community can be very enriching although it can take time to find the … Continue Reading… →

What are the Perfections?

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feather

If you read the Yoga Sutra or about the siddhis, you often see them translated as powers or abilities. I’ve used variations on that myself. But siddhi actually means perfection. Often this is taken to imply a personal perfection in the ability to know past lives or fly. But these are not personal. As Lorne Hoff has pointed out, the siddhis are perfections of experience, of the ability of consciousness to know itself in specific ways that this form is capable of. Each channel of knowing is a function we can call a law of nature, a way nature can … Continue Reading… →

The Origin of Fundamental Qualities (Gunas)

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feather

One of the fundamental principles of the Vedic perspective is the three gunas or qualities. I described them in some detail in About the Gunas but here is a basic outline: Sattva: purity or clarity of the flow (golden) Rajas: movement itself, energy or fire and transformation (red) Tamas: resistance or inertia, impediment to movement (blue) I’ve also explored them relative to awakening, karma, and emotions. A similar perspective is the cycle of creation, maintenance, and destruction. (Brahma, Vishnu, & Shiva) In fact, we may think of the gunas as coming from these principles. But they have a deeper, parallel … Continue Reading… →

The Right Time for Right Action

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feather

Things happen when it’s time. Not time for you but time for the whole. Time for challenges to unfold, time for benefits, time for birth, time for awakening, time for peace. When it’s time, the circumstances and people show up to help catalyze events. We can do our best to feel into this process and cooperate. Or we can resist and fall into a drama and suffer. For example, people can search for years for the right teacher to awaken. Then they show up when it’s time. The form they arise in may vary from our expectations though. On the … Continue Reading… →

Nature’s Support

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I’ve worked with the concept of “nature’s support” since the 70’s and have come to perceive the mechanics. I’ve written on the topic before, but sometimes more obscurely. The subject came up on Choice and Surrender and it became clear I needed to say more. When you put your attention on something or act towards it, is this movement supported or not? Do you get smooth and easy results or obstacles? Where are results happening? In the direction intended or over to one side? Nature in this case refers to the world – the environment and others. How is what … Continue Reading… →

An Ayurvedic Cleanse

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Many people treat their cars better than their bodies. They’d never consider putting a coke in their gas tank and yet all sorts of dubious things end up in their mouths. Even if we have good intentions, sludge builds up in the physiology over time. This gradually leads to chronic health issues. But that sludge can be flushed periodically. This flushing is known as a cleanse. Consider it routine maintenance. Want to know if you have crud buildup? Just look at your tongue. Is it perfectly pink? Or does it have a white overlay? Just in the middle back or … Continue Reading… →

True Samyama

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The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is a short but potent text that describes Yoga or union. It also contains dozens of formulas to get specific results, like knowing past lives, getting great strength, or flying through the air. You can go into any spiritual bookstore and find many translations of this text. There are also many yoga studios. And yet most have little clue of what the simple contents are describing. This is because it’s experiential. It has to be taught properly so the experience can unfold. Right off the top, the text defines Yoga. 1v2-3: Yoga is the complete … Continue Reading… →

What is Destruction?

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We tend to see change as a loss, partly because the ego likes to feel in control. It’s also disturbing tamas, our inertia. And yet, the cycle of growth requires change: balance, disintegration, growth, integration, and repeat. Without disintegration, there is no growth, no transformation. Life is inherently change. Our very life depends on the transformation of food, water, and breath. And if we look around us we see that change is the order of the day. In fact, the world around us is being recreated in every moment. The only reason it doesn’t completely change every time is because … Continue Reading… →