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Circles 'Round the Sun and Seeing Clearly Now...

23/8/2013

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Tomorrow, I'll turn 48 - boy, that seems lame and old and not me and when did that happen, but at the same time very exciting and like a reward and an honor. Last month, my dad turned 80, which makes him, by three years, the longest-lived male in his lineage - so, I've still got a lot to strive for!

I feel really blessed, and not because it's always been and is 'all good', but rather, because it's quite real. The last year has brought a lot of change - I found more clarity in my purpose, I gained and I lost, I turned to look at the Shadow, and I fought to use tapas - internal fire, zeal, intention - to create positive change, in myself and in others.

I was fortunate to grow my community, to create new bonds and to deepen already existing ones. I had to walk away from some relationships that weren't going to proceed and prosper and I've worked to revitalize some relationships that I allowed to dwindle.

On a more physical world level - after five years on the market, and three tenants who disappeared into bankruptcy, we sold our house in Michigan. I loved that house, we built every part of it to work specifically for us (as in, totally idiosyncratic and no resale value versus investment) and we had a blast there. But, to be truthful, it represented a different portion of my life.

I was lucky to be successful in my career and my investments... so, when it came time to remodel the house, and 'live the life', I fell for excess. Joyful excess, and not necessarily detrimental - our house would've been able to be LEEDS certified, but it was a party house. And, we were the "Americans". We had three cars and three couches for two people; 2,900 square feet of luxury living for two people and two dogs. I'm sure we were comfortable, and I'd love to believe it wasn't braggadocios, but who knows.

Five years later, I've paid off six-figures of debt, sold that house, sold a car, sold a couch. We live in under 1,000 square feet, share one car most of the time, and are still as much or more comfortable and in love. And happy, and healthy, and blessed.

I'm on this, because a good friend from Michigan messaged me today about my birthday and in our dialog, this is what he said....


"Never felt better and had less!"
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Well, I can't say I've never had less in my entire life, but certainly in the last decade and a half, that's true... never felt better and it has so much more to do with who I am then it matters where I am, what it looks and feels like and how I perceive that it is perceived...

And, in full disclosure, having all of that money with those expenses and investments was a joy for a while, then a huge burden when the market crashed. An anchor to my ship of dreams, a bitter seed of regret in my garden, a reminder of my folly... something to let pass and be done with.

So, I close that chapter, I honor this year, and I move boldly into a world where I am not shackled by debt, nor lured by needless acquiring... my needs are met, my world is sustainable and I'll continue to move in those directions. Creating real liberation from the cycle of struggle, attain, disenchantment and repeat.

I'll close by offering this video - breaks my heart (yes, at 47.99 with no shame, I cry at the internet and at the TV often). I'm a sucker for sweetness and happy endings. But, view this linked video as a metaphor (sorry for the advertisement, the video is worth waiting for); the story beneath the story as I see it.


Remove the blinders - those you've been given and those you've taken up - and you will begin to see clearly, to become more inquisitive and joyful and more willing to confidently explore your world!

Then, do it - as you give thanks and praise!!


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Full Moon, Blue Moon, Sacred Thread Moon - Rock Your Rakhi!

20/8/2013

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Happy Full Moon -
let's call this one Raksha Bandhan, as well as Jandhyam Purnima!

Everyone loves a good full moon; and every culture has found a way to mark the passage and create ritual and observance around the fullness of the moons, throughout the year.


Once in a blue moon, the harvest moon, the hunter's moon, the blood moon... other cultures go with 'hay-cutting moon,' dew-on-grass moon' and the like; agrarian observances that still have a resonance today.

However, to the point - blue moon they say, about today? Well, yes and no. Blue moon is primarily when we have a 2nd full moon in one month - has to happen with thirteen fulls in twelve months. But, there's also a more recently termed 'seasonal blue moon'; where we have a fourth full moon in a three-month season. That's where we are at, today; this evening.

But let's shift perspectives and cultures and interests. I'd like to introduce you to two expressions of today's moon, from the Vedic and Hindu traditions.

The first, Jandhyam Purnima. Jandhyam is Sanskrit for sacred thread, and Purnima denotes the full moon in Sanskrit. Pretty straight-forward, here's the story:



In a war between the Gods (Devs) and the Demons (Rakshas), Indra (one of the Supreme gods) was defeated by the Demons. Indra consulted his Guru, Brahaspati.

As he was taking this counsel and finding his discernment, Shachi, Indra’s wife, said “Dear husband! Tomorrow I shall tie a holy thread around your wrist.”

The Veda-mantras were chanted by the Brahmans, the chanting of Omkar was done and Shachi, in her resolve, tied the thread around the right wrist of Indra. It enhanced the power of his mind, decision–making, Bhava  with other boons and merits.


That power of resolve made Indra successful in defeating the demons and bringing victory for the Gods. This is what is celebrated today, in the action of tying the sacred threads - the resolve to endure, to conquer and to vanquish.
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Nowadays, the festival is marked by the tying of a rakhi, or holy thread, which comes in many colors and designs, by the sister on the wrist of her brother. The brother in return offers a gift to his sister.

The brother and sister also feed one another sweets, traditionally. Since Indian kinship practices give cousins a status similar to siblings, girls and women often tie the rakhi to their male cousins as well (referred to as "cousin-brothers" in regional parlance) in several communities.


Unrelated boys and men who are considered to be brothers (munh-bola bhai or "adopted brothers") can be tied with rakhis, provided they commit to a lifelong obligation to provide protection to the woman or girl. I recall at the completion of one of my teacher trainings, a lovely woman, Nehal, tied a red thread around my right wrist and called me 'cousin-brother' - it felt like the honor it was!

The other perspective is Raksha Bandhan, or the bond of protection... from this comes not only the thread, 'rakhi', but also Rakhi, an important Hindu festival that celebrates the relationship between brothers (shaurya), cousins and sisters. It is also known as Rakhi Purnima - the Purnima just indicates that the festival falls on the full moon day (Shravan Purnima) of the Shravan month of the Hindu lunisolar calendar.

At any rate, the modern practice of Raksha Bandhan has its historical associations also. The Rajput queens practiced the custom of sending rakhi threads to neighboring rulers as token of brotherhood. The central ceremony also features the tying of a rakhi by a sister on her brother's wrist, symbolizing the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her. Same ideas inherent hererin.

So, what does it all mean?? For us, here and now, today and at this point... it's a simple reminder, a rejoinder to resolve:


Create relationship, honor connection, ritualize the moments and be there for folks; somewhere, make a time, today or tomorrow. Create a moment and connect with a friend. Take a simple piece of thread or cord, make it meaningful and full of purpose by meaning what you do, and doing it on purpose. Then, tie it around the wrist of a friend. Tell them you value them, that you are linked, bonded, connected and honored. Be truthful; feel it and speak it.

Feels good - is good - does good - spreads good. Give thanks and praise!


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August: Worship, Devotion, Veneration, Love, Service...

12/8/2013

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Just moved to share that I feel exceptionally blessed this week...

It has taken me these two weeks to process the events of July, and to get some perspective on what lies in front of me, and where my focus should be.

I got to see my first-born niece get married, and to see all of my family in one place. I also got to see my Pops turn 80 - which makes him the oldest-lived male in his family history, by 3 years; and in his words, a new goal, to make it to 83 and be the oldest-lived Phillips. I see him doing it, easily. That was a gift.


I was fortunate to attend two of the Wanderlust Festivals, at Copper Mountain and at Squaw - at Copper, I was a Wayfarer, working with the Festival folks and hanging with my Off the Mat family; at Squaw I was there for and with my OTM crew. This year, I got to deepen some of the great connections and relationships that were already developed, and to find and grow close to many more quality folks who are asking some of the same questions that interest me - doing the work, maybe in a different row of the plot, but still a gardener in the same fields.

I also got to attend the Off the Mat Global Summit - a lot went on there. I know a lot when on there for many folks, but I'll stick with me. I was triggered, pushed, uncomfortable, nearly enraged, impotent, exhilarated, challenged, confronted and comforted, supported, illuminated, honored and on purpose.


The dialogs that were going on were incredible, whether they be direct part of the programming or as an offshoot at lunch as a conversation. I got to process a lot. I got to look for my contribution and to search for additional purpose - I got to 'hate Morpheus' and wish I'd never taken the pill; I got to find out that there was no spoon... I got it all.

As I've shared with a bunch of folks, I love the deeper or broader work of the yoga community - the consciousness, the education, the service, the purpose. So, I get into and attend these kind of events. But, much like the studios, I find that my gender is grossly under-present. Not about representation, it's about presentation and engagement. At the Summit, we had a pretty good group of guys, but we were still a handful in a hall-full.

So, I'm not sure what it means, or how it goes - except I don't see drumming or crying about "Daddy" - but I'd like to start to gather more men,  figure out what the barriers and entries to the asana practice are. To discover what is working for those who are in the practice - what drew them, what kept them? To make entry point, to create radical welcoming, so men start to do yoga.


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I don't mean to create this at the exclusion of anyone, women especially. I want to create space for everyone to get involved.

I know that the asana practice provided me with exactly the introspection and interpersonal skills I needed at a very crucial - and typical for men - point in my life. I want to make sure yoga is a 'first-resort' for men, and for men to join communities of intention with other men and with women, as well.

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Those are my thoughts now - I suppose this is more like an accountability post, if I keep mentioning it, I'll be held accountable.

Anyway, wanted to give thanks and praise for the teachings - I had a great workshop on "Discernment and Purpose" this past Saturday, and my Sunday Devotional Flow class is becoming a real Kula with its own Bhavana; or, that is to say, a crew with a combined love of what they are doing! Thanks and praise for being a continued lesson to this teacher and a delight to be included with.

I also want to give thanks and praise for feeling on purpose - my primary purpose, connect folks with the divinity within and in the moment. I'm broadening that to more actively include men... additional purposes: have fun, share, learn, educate, illuminate, evolve, include, advocate, inspire and serve!

This is the month - August, potential, magnificent, majestic, noble, venerable... veneration, devotion, worship, to revere - as in the same worship and adoration afforded the Venus. Thus, what can you love, what can you devote yourself to, what can you discern to be both duty and honor, both service and privilege?

And, can you give thanks and praise?!


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Lughnasadh, Lammas and half-way points...

2/8/2013

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Yesterday, the first of August - or as I like to call it in Texas, Simmer - was one of the cross-quarter days; that's cause for celebration and reflection.

If you follow a solar tradition, there are the Equinoxes and the Solstices, and then there are the cross-quarter days, the ones that fall equidistant between the major days. Lughnasadh or Lammas marks one of these eight-spoke-wheel days of solar celebration.


Lugh or Lu, was one of the Northern pagan gods, and celebrated as a 'hero-king' or 'the long-armed one' and is attributed with many skills; well equipped for the Hero's Journey. And, to this day in the Gaelic languages, August is named after him. The skilled hero is the artful servant of the divine.

Lammas is 'half-loaf', coming from the times when this was the season of the first harvest - halfway between planting and the last of the Autumnal harvests. This is the first corn, the first of the grains, the ripeness of fresh-fruit. Half-loaves of bread were baked to symbolize the swell to potential, both that which may be enjoyed today, and that which is still coming.


It draws an end to the period of fruitfulness that swells to July - July,  the moon cycle named for the Caesar of the Julii line... a lineage that claims to be descendent from Venus herself.

a month of passion, heat, profit, abundance, fertility, love, regard, investment, fruitfulness. the fullness of what can be, the promise of abundant harvest in the view of the grain in the field and the fruit on the vine...
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Where are you at in that cycle?
What have you been tending, bringing to fruition?

Are you tasting the first fruits and the sweetness of those efforts? Did you forget to tend that vine and the fruit is a little bitter? Are you prepared to keep watering and tending here in the furnace of the fullness of summer?

This is the cyclical work, celebrated for as long as we as a species have been able to mark or arrange rocks. The wheel keeps turning, the sky keeps revolving, the eight-spoke-wheel of the year shows us again and again about our fluid, cyclical nature. The rise and fall, the ebb and flow, the expansion and the contraction, the fruition and the decomposition.


I've been blessed, have had an incredible July - did two Wanderlust Festivals, made many new vital and excellent connections and deepened some already solid ones. I also had the opportunity to see my first-born niece married and my father turn 80. I took some time away from teaching to travel, assist, connect, practice, renew and 'go home'. I'm thankful I did. I returned to teaching yesterday and it was great. I'm renewed and ready to share new perspectives and old favorites on the mat.

Getting into the cycles around us, taking moments to make purpose and create intention - imbuing the ritual into our all too habitual lives - that's the great work we should resolve to. To take the time, to notice ourselves, to examine our own growth, what remains, what moves, what is solid, what we haven't honored and what we haven't released.

Take the opportunity of the slow, sluggish nature of these Simmering days to just sit and dwell. Take the opportunity to slow down, listen deeply, examine and discern - then, give yourself a break, surround yourself with friends and allies, celebrate your skills and magic, and shine on.


Above all, give thanks and praise!


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    Chrispy - Bhagat Singh

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