Photo by Ashley Marie - CC license

We create our realities with our thoughts. Cultivating the witness, that part of our minds that objectively watches everything we are, allows us to clearly see all of our thoughts. Through the power of watching our thoughts, we gradually change the way we perceive the world. We shift from viewing the world as a serious court of justice to seeing this universe as a joyous playground. Like gleeful children, we get to play and celebrate during this lifetime we've been given. On the playground we enjoy ourselves fully, even if sometimes we scrape our knees or get our hearts broken! No matter what pains we go through, we can't let the heartbreaks keep us from opening up and having a good time on the playground.

Here is a bit of news from the fun I'm having lately on the Tejaswini Playground ~

~ The first 11 days of July were filled with summer fun, as my entire family gathered for a visit in Ashland. We shared many joyful moments eating meals, sipping tea in the yard, and
traveling to the Oregon coast for my older son’s 13^th birthday. I am now the mama of a teenager… and his younger brother, who is 10 going on 18. They are so much fun now ~ I am really enjoying these ages. We all love hip hop music, so we had a great time seeing my brother perform live hip hop in Ashland. (My bro’s website: www.mctill.com) With all the excitement of the visit, it was challenging for me to maintain my daily spiritual practices, but I did manage to do shorter versions of them each day. (To begin spiritual practices yourself or to refresh the practices you already do, check out my pocket book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.)

~ One of the highlights of this family visit was spending time with my sister-in-law, who I dedicated Radiance Rising to… She is currently enrolled in a Yoga teacher training, and we enjoyed talking about spiritual practices, yoga, Reiki, and so on. I am totally in love with her because she is so open, so inquisitive, and so enthusiastic. She is a bright light and I really enjoyed soaking in her radiance.

~ The weekly Radiance Rising circles continue to be sweet as ever. I was looking forward to offering them at Mystic Garden Party, but then I learned that entheogenics is going to be a focus at that festival, so I cancelled my workshops there. (For the story on that, go to: http://yogini-bliss.com/106-teja-news-in-brief-july-2010.html)

~ I’m still reading The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic, by Ramesh Menon. I’m on page 557 of 686 pages, so I’m getting there! There are so many potent lessons in it. For example, when Lord Brahma offered Vibheeshana a boon, that gentle rakshasa asked for the following: “Grant me that my mind remains steadfast and virtuous in the midst of life’s greatest trials…. May every thought that enters my mind, during every stage of my life, be of dharma. Let me fulfill my dharma, however hard it is. For if a man has dharma, he has everything.”

~ Saturday night, during the two-day Conscious Convergence (go to www.commonpassion.org for more info. on that), I attended a planetary fire puja, a ritual led by Debi Sheetz, in which we chanted many vedic mantras to the planets, to help increase the positive aspects of what is happening right now astrologically. After the puja, we shared in a delightful potluck, with sweet salads of strawberries, blueberries, mangos, and avocados. I brought a really yummy coconut rice pudding. Watch for that vegan recipe on this Teja Blog soon. 

~ This past week I’ve been making an effort to go out in the yard and sit under the stars at night. My teacher, who left his body last July 21^st, often said that we should all do more stargazing, as it helps us to have a bigger perspective on time and space, and it helps us to understand our place in the scheme of things. Although my grief has shifted recently, and I’m not crying anymore, I do still miss my teacher a lot, and I honor him greatly this week, as Wednesday marks the year since his passing. Thank you Yogi Shambho, for all that you gifted me with.

~ I close this newsletter with a wonderful poem by Lalla, a naked mystic from medieval Kashmir:

The soul, like the moon,
is new, and always new again.

And I have seen the ocean
continuously creating.

Since I scoured my mind
and my body, I too, Lalla,
am new, each moment new.

My teacher told me one thing,
Live in the soul.

When that was so,
I began to go naked,
and dance.

(From Lalla: Naked Song, translations by Coleman Barks, Maypop Publishing.)

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

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Photo of sunflower in brother’s garden by Teja Shankara.