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 Kirtan
with Rick Roberts and friends
Green River Yoga
Saturday, September 19
7:30pm - 9:00pm
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 Greetings!
After a
beautiful weekend full of sun and community, I sense the season slowly
but perceptibly changing from summer into fall. Saturday was my
community day with over 100 people gathering in Conway for an annual
meal prepared by all with love over open fire pits. My small part was
to stir the vegetables while they were cooking in huge steel woks using
a long handled wooden spatula. There's a certain contentment that comes
from clearing the mind and focusing one's attention in this way. It's
not always that I'm able to do this, but for a few hours on Saturday I
was able to just stir the pot.
This week I seem to be struggling
more than usual with "the stubborn attitude of having to have things be
a particular way" and so it's comforting to be reminded to come back to
the present moment...the theme of Pema Chodron's "See What Is" and my
inspiration this morning.
I also find comfort in contemplating
the meaning of certain Sanskrit words that I run across, which takes a
lot more work but the insights are worth it. This week I've been
working with the 18th Siva Sutra with notes and translation by Jaideva
Sing:
Lokanandah samadhisukham
The second word is of
interest to me this week. It can be misleading to take words out of
context, but I find it beautiful to consider the way two words that are
somewhat familiar, samadhi (absorption or trance) and sukha (happy,
delighted, joyful) when joined together can be used to convey: The
delight resulting from the continuous mindfulness of the Self as being
the subject of every knowledge.
There are two parts to this that
I like. First that samadhi can mean continuous mindfulness, rather than
a mindless trance state. And second that the Self (or witness) can
somehow also be the subject of every knowledge (or witnessed). The
delight for me comes from trying to maintain a continuous awareness of this
possibility.
So if you've read this far I should also mention
that we will as usual be chanting at Green River Yoga Saturday evening
7:30-9pm and I just found out that Melanie Hedlund will be joining us
this week! I hope you can join us too! Without you it's just not the
same.
In addition, we (and several others) will be helping out
at the Global Mala this Saturday afternoon in Northampton, offering
chanting to accompany the 108 Sun Salutations from 1-5pm. It's a
benefit for the Food Bank of Western Mass and even if you can't do 108
Sun Salutations you can make a donation and join us at the Northampton
Center for the Arts.
Then on Sunday September 27, to celebrate
National Yoga Month, Lindel Hart is offering an afternoon of Yoga and
chanting at Hart Yoga in Shelburne Falls from 3-6pm. I'm excited about
this afternoon because it will feel like a mini-retreat and an
opportunity to share more than just Yoga or just chanting alone. I hope
to see some of you in Shelburne Falls on the 27th!
Let it be love,
Rick
How precious our time together here truly is! | |
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many thanks to the friends who play when they can...
Gurucharan........................tabla
Kevin Germain....................yayli tanbur
Mike Jarjoura......................sitar
Dona O'Dou........................tamboura
Divya Shinn........................vocals/cymbals
Melanie Hedlund.................vocals/harmonium
Rick Roberts......................harmonium
Lawrence Preston...............sound engineer
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Inspirational Corner from Comfortable with Uncertainty
by Pema Chodron
See What Is
Holding on to beliefs limits our experience of life. That doesn't mean that beliefs or opinions or ideas area a problem. It's the stubborn attitude of having to have things be a particular way, grasping on to our beliefs and opinions, that causes the problems. Using your belief system this way creates a situation in which you choose to be blind instead of being able to see, to be deaf instead of being able to hear, to be dead rather than alive, asleep rather than awake.
As people who want to live a good, full, unrestricted, adventurous, real kind of life, there is concrete instruction we can follow: see what is. When you catch yourself grasping at beliefs or thoughts, just see what is. Without calling your belief right or wrong, acknowledge it. See it clearly without judgment and let it go. Come back to the present moment. From now until the moment of your death, you could do this.
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Kirtan
with Rick Roberts and friends
Every 1st and 3rd Saturday
...is a time
for people to come together, open their hearts and sing. For years
chanting has helped people to effortlessly reach a state of quiet and
stillness that easliy leads to meditation. While it's true that we can
chant in our car or in the solitude of our home, there's nothing like
chanting with others and with live musicians. Every kirtan is different
depending on the energy of the group, but as the evening progresses one
becomes saturated with the Name, the mind becomes one-pointed and
dropping into a deep state of meditation becomes effortless.
Suggested donation is $10 but please remember that a donation is not necessary. Anything is
appreciated, and all are welcome regardless of their ability to pay.
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