In my last blog article, I delightfully announced that I was ready to offer Radiance Rising Circles again… But, as it turns out, it is not the right time for it. I was really inspired and excited about offering the circles again, but then I realized that I need to focus my time and energy on my boys, my work, and my health.

With this decision, I feel as though I am purifying in the Fire of Change… And I am super grateful to note that all of my daily spiritual practices are now really working in my life, as evidenced by my new ability to remain happy amidst all the challenges, and my ever-increasing acceptance of change. With a happy and curious heart, I welcome whatever is arising next!

May all beings everywhere know the True Happy State that is ever-present beneath and behind all the little details of life.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja’s cheery coffee table arrangement taken by Teja Shankara.

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Last Friday, in anticipation of beginning to read Tulasidasa’s Shri Ramacharitamanasa (The Holy Lake of the Acts of Rama), I cleaned my living room and bought myself flowers! The next morning I began reading the introduction, written by Ram Chandra Prasad, Professor of English, Patna University, Patna, India. Each morning this week, I spent my “time-out-of-time” spiritual practice in studying the introduction, and here I will share a few highlights from those studies…

Tulasidasa (1532-1623), poet-saint of Northern India, began writing the Ramacharitamanasa (his version of the Ramayana) when he was forty-two years old (my age now!), on March 30^th (today’s date!), of 1574. With his incredible capacity for work, and his determination to revitalize Hindu society, he set about the task of writing that great epic story anew, to remind his readers that there is no reason to despair. Through his depiction of Rama’s victory over the demons, the reader remembers the ultimate victory of truth over evil.

Ram Chandra Prasad, who edited and translated Tulasi’s great work into Hindi and English, writes, “Endowed with the prophetic vision of a true seer, Tulasi is alert to the present need and understands the requirements of modern times, of what he calls the Kaliyuga, and devotes all his creative energies towards providing a sure antidote to the poison that has corrupted human society today.”

Already greatly inspired by the introduction, I am very much looking forward to reading the first pages of the epic tomorrow morning, which happens to be Ram Navmi, the birthday celebration day for Rama! And, three weeks from tomorrow, in my own small way of providing “a sure antidote to the poison that has corrupted human society today”, I will once again be offering weekly Radiance Rising Circles! (Beginning April 21^st, Saturday mornings, 10:30am – 12 noon at the Unitarian Universalist Center, corner of 4^th & C Streets in Ashland.)

May all beings be Happy and Free. Jai Sri Rama! Victory to Rama!

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Shri Ramacharitamanasa with flowers by Teja Shankara.

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My breakfast this morning was so seriously yummy that I just had to grab the camera and photograph it for this blog. It may not look that fabulous, but the taste sensation sure was amazing! I simply heated leftover wild rice and leftover sweet potatoes in a pan with coconut oil and some delightfully nourishing pieces of Medjool dates. With each bite, I was filled with Happiness and Gratitude. Cheers to conscious eating!!!

Simple instructions for cooking wild rice: soak the wild rice overnight. Add a sprinkle of Himalayan krystal salt, bring to a boil (in the water it was soaked in), then simmer medium-high, covered, for about an hour – until just the moment when the water is all cooked up.

Easy method for baking sweet potatoes: scrub, leave skins on, and place in a pan with olive oil. Coat the sweet potatoes with the oil, and put them, uncovered, in a preheated oven at 385 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. You don’t even need to turn them or poke them, it’s really that easy! Just make sure that they are actually sweet potatoes, and not yams… for several years I didn’t realize (or remember) the difference, but this week I have re-discovered the amazing joy of sweet potatoes, which are actually quite different from yams. A few nights ago I baked American sweet potatoes along with Japanese sweet potatoes, and I can’t decide which I like better. What about you?

Hope you enjoy this seriously yummy vegan breakfast sometime. If you do, let me know how you like it. 

May all beings everywhere have food, clothing, shelter, and peaceful sleep.

May all beings be happy and free.

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja’s seriously yummy breakfast taken by Teja Shankara.

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In a recent blog article (“Amazing Gratitude for Amazing Manifestation!”), I shared that I was re-reading Gandhi-ji’s Book of Prayers while waiting to order the Tulsidas Ramayana. Well, after finishing Gandhi-ji’s Book of Prayers, each morning I just kept reading it, even though the Tulsidas Ramayana had already arrived in the mail. For some reason, it wasn’t quite time to begin the new book, and even though I was beginning to feel a bit restless with reading the same prayers over and over, I knew that I needed to do so.

On my spiritual journey, any time I encounter some form of resistance, I find that to be very rich material to work with, so instead of putting the book away when I felt some boredom arising, I took the opportunity to delve deeper into the book… And I am so glad I did that, because I learned a bit about the power of repeating those prayers over and over.

Repetition of those prayers was one of Gandhi-ji’s primary daily practices. During one of his prison terms, he translated the Ashram Bhajanavali into English. These were the prayers that they recited daily in his ashram, and many of them are by recognizable Indian saints such as Mirabai, Kabir, and Tulsidas.

In the book’s introduction, Michael N. Nagler describes how deeply those prayers were woven into the content of Gandhi-ji’s consciousness. He writes that Gandhi would “allude to or “think in” lines from these hymns in the course of some discussion or other.” I can relate to that now, as it has been my experience, over the past few weeks, that the daily reading of these prayers is having a profound effect on my consciousness.

Here are a few phrases (taken from various prayers throughout the collection) that I particularly enjoy reading out loud, again and again:

“In the Kaliyuga, Ramanama* is the all-yielding tree… Repeating the name purifies the mind and banishes misfortune… Kabir says, this is the excellent life and I have sung of it. There is a state beyond misery and happiness, my mind is fixed on it…. He who is restraint incarnate is Rama…. The humble cottage is good enough; covering made of tattered rags is also good enough. I should eat with relish whatever it pleases God to give me from day to day…. O dear Lord…as soon as I saw thy face, the world became useless to me and my mind became detached from it. The happiness that the world gives is like a mirage; one should move about deeming it of no account…. We must sing of Hari with zest… Resolve upon enthroning Ramanama in thy heart…. have abundant love for all…take Ramanama…consider all to be good…regard God as the giver and the enjoyer…. You are intoxicated with your own infatuation; wake up and look around. What is the use of weeping when time knocks at the door? It costs nothing to sing Hari’s praises…. only the simple natural state…no desire for even an atom… Brahma and his creation cannot be separated even for a moment, but we of the earth earthy have no inkling of that vital principle; an owl may live for a hundred years and still will not know what the day is like. The Lord is like the ocean – too big for the eyes to scan….O my eyes, look deep and there is Hari…”

* Ramanama literally means “Rama’s Name” and it refers to the spiritual power of repeating God’s Name.

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of Gandhi-ji’s Book of Prayers. I plan to enjoy them for a few more days, and then dive deeply into the Tulsidas Ramayana!

May all beings be Happy and Free.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Gandhi-ji’s Book of Prayers taken by Teja Shankara.

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“Keep it Moving” is the theme of Lena Stevens’ February 2012 Forecast. I especially liked the part about keeping our thoughts and emotions moving so they don’t get stuck. She writes, “Allow yourself to feel, and then to feel differently, and yet again to feel something else.” (To read the rest of Lena’s forecast, please click on the title above.)

A few days after reading that monthly forecast, I was out on a brisk walk about town, and as I ascended a hill that I’ve walked up many times, I felt exasperated and my first thought was, ‘I can’t believe I’m still here in this town, after almost 19 years!’ As soon as I thought that, I remembered Lena’s words about keeping our feelings and thoughts moving, so I decided to try it out, and I quickly thought, ‘I am a multi-dimensional star being, and it doesn’t matter where I am on the earth!’

Well, as soon as I thought that, I felt so incredibly free, and so it really did work: I changed my thoughts, and then my feelings immediately changed. As I kept moving up the hill surrounded by the all-too-familiar Ashland scenery, I felt liberated from the limiting prison of my mind! 

Deep thanks to Lena Stevens for inspiring me to keep things moving…

May all beings be happy and free.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

P.S. Happy ShivaRatri (tonight in U.S./tomorrow in India) to one and all!

Photo of Stargazer Lilies by Teja Shankara.

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New Year’s is an auspicious time to call upon Sri Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god who is the Remover of all obstacles. Last January, at the Radiance Rising Circles, we chanted to Ganesha the first five weeks of the year! This year, in absence of the weekly circles, I have been chanting to Ganesha whilst doing household chores. Yesterday I found this cosmic Ganesha image on a sweet blog called balanced spirituality by a yogini named Ekta. After reading about her path with another saint called Amma (Sri Karunamayi Amma), I then went to the website of my Guru Ammachi’s ashram, and printed out excerpts from her New Year’s Message 2012.

At Amritapuri, on the 1^st of January, Amma said the following: “Nature – which was once like a kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow – has dried up. The oil supply is rapidly decreasing. The food supply is dwindling. Potable water and pure air are becoming scarce. Where did we go wrong? The real mistake we committed lies in our inability to differentiate between requirements and luxuries. If our current generation could reinstate such an awareness of Dharma, then poverty and starvation would vanish like a bad dream.”

Indeed, there are many obstacles facing humanity as we begin this New Year, and thus it is a very good time to call upon Lord Ganesha, who blesses new beginnings. In the talk, Amma goes on to say that many people tell her that the world will end in 2012, but she doesn’t feel that will happen. She says that Nature is agitated and tragedies are always taking place everywhere in the world, and that will continue to be so, but we should not live in fear. Instead, Amma says we should cultivate an attitude of acceptance in which we say “Whatever happens I will remain strong, courageous, and happy.”

To read the full message, please click here: Amma’s New Year’s Message 2012.

Om Gam Ganapataye Namah! May Sri Ganapati (Ganesha) bless all beings and remove all obstacles on the path to goodness and happiness. 

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Image of Cosmic Ganesha from balanced spirituality blog. When I learn the name of the artist I will share it here…

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One of my favorite winter holiday memories is of crunching on handfuls of my Mom’s homemade party mix, so each December I make a batch of it to enjoy with my boys … here’s my vegan version of the recipe:

Teja’s Vegan Party Mix

4 cups nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, cashews)
8 cups cereals (O’s and chex-like bites)
4 cups thin pretzels

Combine the above in a large mixing bowl. Then, in a pan on the stove, mix and melt the following ingredients: 

1 cup Earth Balance vegan spread (butter substitute)
¼ cup vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1 Tablespoon coconut palm sugar 

Mix the sauce into the bowl with the nuts, cereals, and pretzels. Spread onto cookie sheets. Do not oil the pans. Bake on low heat, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until browned and crunchy. My Mom’s recipe called for baking this mix at 250 degrees, but I’ve found that temperature was not hot enough for my old oven, and now it’s too hot for my new oven. Depending on your particular oven, you might need to bake this at 225 or at 275 degrees. In any case, stir every 10-15 minutes, and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn!

Bright Happy Holidays to all!

May all beings be free of suffering and the root causes of suffering. May all beings be happy, healthy, and harmonious with the Beauty of Life.

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja’s Vegan Party Mix by Teja Shankara. Photo of Teja with sons on Christmas morning by Teja Shankara.

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As we walk along the spiritual path, it is important to continually assess our daily spiritual practices. In my life, there are certain practices that I am committed to doing daily on a long-term basis, such as the ones outlined in my pocket book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. (Available on this website store in print or e-book version. The e-book is only $4.99 and is e-mailed to you within 24 hours of purchase.) In addition to my regular, daily practices, I make other commitments and vows, as guided by my intuition and by my ever-changing life circumstances.

For example, I walked mostly barefoot for six months, when I was working in my brother’s outdoor gear shoppe (and then when I was out of work for a month), and the weather was warm. Now the days are chilly and I am training to be a medical assistant at Morningstar Healing Arts, so I’ve put shoes and socks back on, knowing that I will walk barefoot again when possible. Now I’ve made a new commitment: to go to bed every night by 9:00pm, and to get up every morning (including weekends) at 5:00am sharp! I don’t know how long this new commitment will last, but for now it is very important for my current steps on the spiritual path. 

What commitments are you making to yourself at this time? Please feel free to share them in the comments section below this article. 

May all beings everywhere know Radiance rising within themselves.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of path at Southgate Meadows on Mt. Shasta taken by Teja Shankara.

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Happy Birthday to Gandhi-ji, who was born 142 years ago today! I’m celebrating his life as I head off to a soccer game with my parents who are visiting this week… Life is crazy-busy-full right now, which is why I’ve been away from the Teja Blog.

If you have any questions (see “New Teja Blog Feature: Ask Teja!”), please email them to me: teja@yogini-bliss.com

Let’s all follow Gandhi-ji’s advice and strive to be the change we wish to see in the world!

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Mahatma Gandhi sourced from TopNews.in

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Photo by Ashley Marie - CC License

On this playground of life, we get to choose how we spend our time: we can choose to run around doing things that lower our vibrations, OR we can choose to commit to regular, daily spiritual practices that raise our vibrations. Each small change that we make within ourselves then ripples out and benefits all of Creation. This year I intend to help raise the vibration of the human species, through my work as a cheerleader for spiritual practices. (This paragraph is repeated each month for emphasis, since this is the theme for the 2011 newsletters.)

Here is some recent news from the playground of my life ~

~ Well, life continues to be crazy and full, as ever. Recently a dear friend wrote to me in an email, “When will this life settle down?” I have to laugh as I ask myself that same question when I am running around to soccer games and school meetings and pilgrimages to Mt. Shasta! (I’ve written a few blog articles about my recent time on Mt. Shasta, and I plan to write more about that memorable adventure. For now, see “A Vegan Yogini’s Radiant Shiva Bliss on Mt. Shasta!” and “Barefoot Vegan Yogini Praying for Divine Grace on Mt. Shasta”) ~ If you can relate to asking the question “When will life settle down?” please take a moment to email me (teja@yogini-bliss.com) and tell me about your experience with that question. The first three people to reply will receive a free e-copy of my pocket book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. Your reply can be brief or long – just write whatever comes to you in the moment!

~ Amidst the colorful chaos, daily spiritual practices help keep me grounded in my Happy Teja Self. Recently I have been both receiving and giving Reiki healing sessions, as well as deepening into the process of sending distance Reiki during my morning meditations. And, I’ve been reading my Reiki teacher, William Bagley’s book — again! This is at least the third or fourth (or maybe the fifth?) time I’ve read his Reiki Study Guide… and this time I’m absorbing the information on a much deeper level. Here is a section that is quite potent for me:

“Part of advanced teaching is to see that we create our own reality. The ego world is real in the sense that we have created it. But it is unreal in how it sees itself. If we create our own reality, we cannot really be a victim of anything. We choose what experiences we go through. The paradox of the ego world is that people use their power to feel powerless. We can create any reality we want, including a reality where we are victims of an outside world where we cannot create our reality. Because the bottom line is that we create our reality, then any reality we create where we do not see ourselves as the creative agent must be an illusion…. We will sometimes find illusions which feel temporarily safe, but these illusions are fragile. They will be shattered by life simply changing. The natural flow of cause and effect undoes illusions. People are meant to outgrow all illusions and return to reality. Reiki heals by radiating love from a source beyond all illusions.”

~ The Reiki healing energies help me to stay on track in aligning with my purpose. Sometimes I question the process of manifesting intentions (see my blog article, “Manifesting Intentions”: a workable process in this decade?”), but recently my faith in this Magical Universe has been restored! (See “Barefoot Vegan Yogini’s Intentions are Manifesting!”)

~ Lately I have really been enjoying making guacamole in my vegan yogini kitchen. One day I wrote down the recipe, and I’ll share it with you here:

Teja’s Colorful Vegan Guacamole

4 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
1 medium red bell (sweet) pepper, chopped finely
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped finely, without seeds (or with seeds if you like it hot!)
juice (and some of the pulp) of 1 lemon
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (use half of stems)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon Himalayan krystal salt (or sea salt)

Combine all in a bowl as shown in first photo here, then mash all ingredients with a fork… then stir well, and serve. Serving suggestion shown in second photo is of guacamole served on top of cooked quinoa (for instructions on cooking quinoa, please see “Vegan Pinto-Quinoa Loaf”), with little tomatoes and pea sprouts on the side.

This is a fancy version of guacamole. Often I make a simpler version that is equally tasty, which is just avocado, lemon juice and pulp, salt, and pepper. So if you don’t have much time, you can still enjoy a tasty guacamole!

Please let me know how you like this recipe…

~ Whatever reality you are creating for yourself in this present moment, and regardless of how crazy it may be, I wish you inner peace amidst the chaos. May you take some time to ground yourself and cultivate happiness during this brief time on the playground of life.

May all beings have food, clothing, shelter, and peaceful sleep. May we all live together in Peace. Happy International Day of Peace tomorrow. (“International Peace Day this Wednesday”) Please join in the one-minute of silent prayer for peace at 12:00 noon in your local time zone, anywhere you are on this sacred planet earth.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photos of Teja’s Guacamole by Teja Shankara.

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