starting November with a little poem

How about starting November with a little poem by Emily Dickinson...

I died for beauty but was scarce

Adjusted in the tomb,

When one who died for truth was lain

In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?

"For beauty," I replied.

"And I for truth, the two are one;

We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a night,

We talked between the rooms,

Until the moss had reached our lips,

And covered up our names.

Πέθανα για την Ομορφιά - και πάνω

Που βολεύτηκα στον τάφο,

Κάποιος που πέθανε για την Αλήθεια,

Ξαπλωτός στο διπλανό δωμάτιο -

Με ρώτησε ψιθυριστά, γιατί έπεσα...

«Για την Ομορφιά», απάντησα.

«Κι εγώ για την Αλήθεια--ένα τούτα τα δυό.

Είμαστε, Αδέρφια», είπε.

Κι έτσι, σαν συγγενείς, μιας νύχτας,

Τα λέγαμε απ' τα δώματά μας,

Ώσπου τα βρύα φτάσανε τα χείλη μας,

Και σκέπασαν τα ονόματά μας.

We have witnesses some of the most disheartening events last night,

as Nikis street was literally ablaze by fires and chemicals.

Our staff managed to escape safely, but it was a very sad situation to witness.

Things look more peaceful today, but the overall spirit of sadness

and anxiety prevail.

We reclaim our peace, and joy through our strong, positive community at NYSY.

 

 

Καλοί μας φίλοι!

Σας ευχόμαστε καλή εβδομάδα και καλό Φθινόπωρο!

Τι σκέφτεστε αυτόν τον καιρό;

Εμείς ενάντια σε όλη αυτή την απαισιοδοξία και την κατήφεια αισθανόμαστε μια απίστευτη αγάπη για τη ζωή και αισιοδοξία. Πως μπορεί κανείς να ανοίξει και να νοιώσει δύναμη ενάντια στον φόβο και στην ανησυχία; Τα πουλιά δεν ανοίγουν τα φτερά τους ακόμα και στην κακοκαιρία πετώντας ενάντια σε βροχές και αέρηδες; Φτάνουν πιο θριαμβευτικά έτσι τα ουράνια!

Η απάντηση στα δύσκολα νέα είναι: Θα επιζήσουμε λιτά και απλά, και θα στηρίζουμε ο ένας τον άλλο. Επίσης θα συνεχίζουμε να εκφράζουμε την αλήθεια μας, να ελπίζουμε και να αγωνιζόμαστε, και να ζούμε με τους ύψιστους κανόνες (precepts) ηθικής και ανθρωπιάς που αρμόζουν με την ιστορική μας παράδοση και τις πνευματικές μας πεποιθήσεις.

Stand in the very center of your heart!

The Greek crisis is all over the news, so where do we Greeks need to stand? In the very center of our heart. I go there from time to time, in moments of meditation, and this is the story I hear: be of support. Be present, vigilant. Take care of yourself so you can give freely. Give energy, support, smiles, ideas, your truth. 3 things to remember: practice, community, and giving.

Dear yoga tribe!


Emil's workshop this weekend was profound. Deep-slow work in asana and pranayama, stimulating lectures, with a very excellent conclusion of yantra, mantra, and mudra practice created a magical space for us.

The most important thing that resonated with us was his main lecture point:

Three Phases in Human Development:
1st. 200,000 years ago: Humans become ego-centric.
Humans start to protect themselves, finding shelter & food, and thus survive.
2nd. Last few thousand years-today: Humans become ethno-centric.
To survive we start to protect and advance the welfare of our clan: our family, our people, our nation, our religious group, etc.
3rd. Next phase in the evolution: Universal care.

Caring for everyone and everything as an extension of ourselves, will be the only way for us and our planet to evolve and survive.
The transition to this next phase is supposed to take a few billion years, but can we speed it up? And how? Through practice and spiritual evolution.
And how do we practice this ideal? By living in a community where we work as a group and care for each other.
Thank you Emil, for putting it in words. This has been the focus of our work and practice at NYSY. It becomes clearer every year, and this year we are clearly here to support each other and all of you.
"Healthy Mind in Healthy Body" is a dictum that works. Really!

Make it a point to be stronger and healthier this fall. You will then have the energy to withstand the outside pressures and to remain strong and creative in your life. Plus, you will be able to support everyone around you in a positive and uplifting way.

Αγαπημένη γιογκική φυλή μας!

Το σεμινάριο του Εμίλ ήταν βαθύ, ενημερωτικό και μυστηριώδες. Ολοκληρώσαμε με μια ωραία γιάντρα όπως βλέπετε στη φωτογραφία, όπως και με μάντρα και διαλογισμό, κι έτσι το σαββατοκύριακο έκλεισε πραγματικά μαγικά.
Μας έμεινε το συμπέρασμα της διδασκαλίας του..
Η ανθρώπινη εξέλιξη παρουσιάζεται σε 3 φάσεις:
1η. 200,000 χρόνια πριν: Οι άνθρωποι γίνονται εγω-κεντρικοί.
Αρχίζουν να προστατεύουν τον εαυτό τους, να βρίσκουν καταφύγιο, τροφή, και έτσι επιβιώνουν.
2η. Τελευταίες χιλιετηρίδες μέχρι σήμερα: Οι άνθρωποι γίνονται εθνο-κεντρικοί.
Για να επιβιώσουν αρχίζουν να προστατεύουν το καλό της ομάδας, των ομογενών τους: της οικογένειας, της φυλής τους, της θρησκείας τους.
3η. Φάση εξέλιξης: Οικουμενική φροντίδα.


Το να νοιαζόμαστε για όλους και για όλα ως προέκταση του εαυτού μας είναι ο μόνος τρόπος για να εξελιχθούμε και να επιβιώσουμε κι εμείς και ο πλανήτης μας.
Η μετάβαση προς την τρίτη φάση κανονικά θα πάρει μερικά εκατομμύρια χρόνια αλλά μήπως μπορούμε να την επισπεύσουμε και πως; Με πρακτική και πνευματική εξέλιξη μας λένε οι δάσκαλοι. Και πως τη βάζουμε αυτή τη φιλοσοφία σε εφαρμογή; Με το να ζούμε σε μια κοινωνική ομάδα όπου δουλεύουμε ως αρμονικό σύνολο και φροντίζουμε ο ένας τον άλλο.
Ευχαριστούμε Εμίλ, που μας έδωσες την κατάλληλη εξήγηση για αυτό που ήταν ήδη η κινητήρια σκέψη μας στο NYSY. Αυτή η φιλοσοφία μας, μας φέρνει ακόμη πιο κοντά κάθε χρόνο. Και φέτος πια είναι ξεκάθαρο για μας: είμαστε εδώ για να στηρίζουμε ο ένας τον άλλο και να στηρίζουμε τον καθένα και την καθεμία από σας. Όπως μας στηρίζεται κι εσείς.
Το αρχαίο ρητό "Νους Υγιής εν Σώματι Υγιεί" δουλεύει και τίθεται σε εφαρμογή. Θέστε το ως σκοπό σας αυτό το Φθινόπωρο και γίνετε πιο δυνατοί και υγιείς. ΄Οχι μόνο θα μπορέσετε να αντέξετε στις εξωτερικές πιέσεις και να παραμείνετε δυνατοί αλλά θα γίνετε και πιο δημιουργικοί, και θα μπορέσετε να στηρίξετε τον κόσμο γύρω σας θετικά και εξυψωτικά!

Peace, community, love!

Swami Rama's stories

Dear summer 2011 Yogis and Yoginis!

Another way we can enrich our summer now that we are drifting away from work and practice is to pack a nice inspirational book in our bag. It is one way to bring great teachers and their powerful teaching to our hearts.

Swami Rama’s “Living with the Himalayan Masters” has been a great discovery for me this July. Swami Rama was one of the greatest yoga teachers in modern times. In this book he cites short stories from the years he spent next to his guru, Bengali Baba, who had raised Rama in the Himalayas from an early age. Through these short, engaging stories, one reads about the most profound matters in such a simple and straight forward way that the yogic path appears as the most natural way to life. Swami Rama speaks of growing up as a rambunctious child, loving his master but also teasing him and constantly nagging him for food.

In one of the stories Rama titled “Half Here, Half There” Swami Rama says that his master who always lived in a state of inner joy, got up one rainy night and said to Rama, “Let’s go now.” Rama thought, “If I say no, he will start walking anyway…. So I put my blanket over him, and started to walk with him.” Rama kind of tricked his teacher, bringing him around in a circle back to their original place. Next morning the teacher opened his eyes and started giggling. Rama says about his teacher, “He used to enjoy such experiences. In that high state of ecstasy he was often oblivious to the mundane things of the world—but when he became aware of them he would enjoy them like a joyous child.”

But the teacher also teased the student. One day Rama brought two photographers to take photos of his beloved master, even though Babaji had told him he did not want to be photographed… he told Rama: “You are a bad boy. Why must you be so obstinate? They will have nothing!” When the rolls of film were developed from both of the cameras, the surroundings were all there, but the master’s image was gone.

Swami Rama talks about his teacher with the deepest sense of respect. His guru had sent him to many monasteries and to other renunciates not just Yogis but also Buddhists, Sufists, Tantrics, and even Yogic monks who were Christians. Thus Swami Rama spent a lifetime meditating and studying close to the greatest sources of wisdom. He was always an impatient young man. In his twenties he told his master, “Either you give me Samadhi or I will commit suicide!” His teacher calmly said, “My dear boy, go right ahead.” Thus Rama tied stones around his neck and got ready to jump in the river. At which point his teacher touched him on the forehead and Rama sank in a timeless ecstasy for 9 hours.

He cites in page 383 of his book…

“The first thing that I lost was touch with fear, and I also found that I was no longer selfish. My life was transformed. After that, I started understanding life properly. Later I questioned my master. I asked, “Was it my effort, or your effort?” He replied, “Grace.” What does grace mean? People think that by the grace of God alone they will be enlightened. That is not the case. My master said, “A human being should make all possible sincere efforts. When he has become exhausted, and then cries out in despair in the highest state of devotional emotion, he will attain ecstasy. That is the grace of God. Grace is the fruit that you receive from your faithful and sincere efforts.”

And since we happen to be thinking and talking about “healing” with some of you these days, allow me to include a powerful quote from his chapter on “The power of Healing” which Rama considers to be natural in man. In page 339 he says, “ Such a one-pointed mind also creates a dynamic will which can be used for healing others. All such healing powers flow through the human being from the one source of consciousness.” The book accounts for some incredible stories of healing that happened to Rama and to other people who had come to his path. Later on the book Swami Rama explains that one key ingredient for healing is willpower, remarking that modern doctors and physicians lack this… In page 353, he points out: “There is another, higher, way of helping people through the use of willpower. Willpower here means that dynamic will which is created by a one-pointed mind, meditation, and spiritual discipline. In today’s medicine this cultivation of willpower is totally missing.”

Page after page this book fills you with renewed inspiration, and I could spend the rest of the summer recounting you Swami Rama’s most inspiring stories, but let me leave you with his comments on music. He had gone to a concert and was enraptured by a particular musician who’s music helped him to believe that music could also be a means of peace and joy. “Music is not composed of songs, melodies, or words only, but of the most subtle sound—nada—the vibration that spontaneously inspires all the cells and makes them dance. There could be no dance without the vibrations of nada. Because of this nada the stream of life sings with a particular rhythm and flows through various curves of life, giving its environment a new experience every time. The most ancient traveler of this universe is this stream of life that sings and dances in its joy from eternity to eternity.” Page 355.

Thank you for allowing me to share Swami Rama’s life and stories with you. Life brings us reminders when we are ready to receive them. I hope that something you have read here may have been relevant to your life at this moment. In this fathomless dance, nothing stands independent or irrelevant. It is all part of a divinely choreographed dance. Let us be open and let us enjoy with great gratitude.

I bow to you with love and respect,

Vivi
July 27, 2011

ps. By the way, can you let me know if you have borrowed my book, "The Light of Consciousness" by Swami Muktananda...

Summer Blessings from NYSY

On a hot July day I found myself in paradise, lying on a perfect beach in Elounda, Crete, gazing at the incredibly beautiful blue sea. I was in a state of sweet surrender after our intense yoga practice with Rusty. It was just hot enough, and in one perfect moment a cool breeze wafted from the sea and delivered me to heaven!

You know the moment, I am sure you experienced it too-an unexpected moment of bliss when time simply stands still; everything is perfect and there is not one thing in the world that you want or miss. I call it a moment of happiness...

Happiness hits us at unexpected times and most of us don't know what to do with it. Sadness and despair we are mostly familiar with, but contentment and joy can feel strange to our ordinary overloaded minds.

 And because I foresee great moments of happiness for all of you this summer, please, allow me, dear friends, to share some advice with you...

What to do when a moment of happiness unexpectedly hits you:

• Count your blessings...
• Consider the people, instances, and circumstances that have made it possible for you to be here. Remember them, recognize them, really, count them as your blessings...
• Be grateful... Express your gratitude to everyone you can think of as a teacher, friend, family member, who has ever helped you.
• Trace the path... Start connecting the dots... infinite points and moments of happenstance brought you here.
• Do you see the interconnectedness of everything? Do you see that there are no true coincidences, and that there is a divine order amidst life's infinite possibilities?
• Offer all this happiness to the welfare of others...
• And, finally, if you have a hard time deciding who those others may be, remember the sweet words of our friend and teacher, Rusty Wells...
• "Whom would you do it all for?" Dedicate your moment of happiness to that particular being and wish for their happiness and well-being.

 At NYSY Studios we had many difficulties with the demonstrations in Syntagma, the tear gas we breathed for days, and the economic crisis in Greece, but we also received equally huge blessings this summer. Allow us to share some of them with you...

June Zen Retreat with Reb Anderson

At Felsentor, Switzerland

In a place of fathomless beauty... in the deep quietude of Zen practice... Under the guidance of our compassionate teacher Reb Anderson I received the 16 Buddhist precepts ... for living a compassionate, ethical life! My dharma name is Ki Gyo Shin Sei meaning Joyful Practice -Deep Silence.

A big thanks to all of you and to my teacher for all your great support.

Rusty Wells in Greece

Once again, Rusty Wells, our beloved teacher and friend came to lead us through an indescribable journey of Bhakti Flow. Through his masterful choreography of asanas, chanting, uplifting music, and compassionate, empowering words he became the pipe-piper we followed to the outskirts of our anxious minds to a heavenly place of love, openness, friendliness, joy and sweet connection.

Rusty taught two great Bhakti Flow workshops in Athens! He completed our 200 Hour NYSY Teacher Training on the highest note! And offered us a most paradisiacal experience in his Porto Elounda retreat in Crete!

Thank you, Rusty, for guiding us to the most delightful journeys!

3rd Athens Pilates Symposium

It was June 29, 2011 and our Pilates guest teachers were calling from abroad to see if they could still land in Greece. We urged them to come. They showed up at Syntagma square and had to walk to their hotel amidst police, demonstrators, and tear gas. We were asked by many... "why did not cancel the Symposium?"

"The Symposium program was one of the most fantastic and complete Pilates educational experiences Greece has every seen" said one of the students who attended. "It gave us loads of positive energy in a time when we all needed it!" You see, this was good enough reason for not canceling it.

John Friend

Anusara workshop in Athens

In his first visit ever to Greece, John taught in a full auditorium, and urged Greek yoga practitioners to retrace the beauty and the brave spirit that once thrived in Athens, and still abides in the rocks of Acropolis. John felt the magic walking through Acropolis and he urged us to connect with this greatness in our practice. By opening to each other's beauty, and to the great spirit of goodness, we really open to our own magnificence and to the Universal spirit of life, he said. He infused us with enthusiasm and ignited a spark of transformation in our hearts. We all feel ready for sweeping positive changes after John's workshops.

Many blessings of love, peace, and joy to you!

Every class, every moment of meaningful contact with you has been a true blessing and a special joy. Thank you, dear students, and wonderful NYSY teachers and office team
---- Please don't forget: Pick up your mats before July 30 as we clean the Mat closet in August, and you may not find your mat if you leave it behind.

Thank you, may you be blessed and happy this summer!

Vivi and your NYSY team.