After taking over a year's break, I am once again inspired to offer the weekly Radiance Rising Circles, beginning this Saturday, April 21^st, 2012. This time around, the circles will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Center, corner of 4th & C Streets in Ashland, on Saturdays 10:30am - 12noon. As before, the circles will be free of charge and open to everyone each week. The last time around, I offered the weekly circles for 15 months, and because there wasn't any money involved, the circles had a unique purity and sweetness about them. 

I am offering these circles because I really see the benefits of all the spiritual practices I do daily in my own life, and so I feel inspired to share the practices with others. It is very powerful to come together in prayer and meditation. I initially became inspired to offer circles after reading Book of Prayers by Mahatma Gandhi, who led interfaith prayer gatherings morning and evening each day, all throughout his political, revolutionary activities. In the book's introduction, Michael N. Nagler writes, "Squarely in the time-honored tradition of Hindu devotion, Gandhi accepted the validity of all forms of genuine worship. Love of God is love of God. At the same time, he explained, we need forms suited to our culture and even to our personality; since most of the ashramites were Hindu, so are most of the songs."

The simple chants that I lead, in a call-and-response singing format, are mostly Sanskrit chants that call upon Hindu gods and goddesses (primarily Shiva, Durga, Kali, Hanuman, Sita, Rama, Ganesha, and now I am learning a chant to Krishna), since I am a dedicated yogini on the Raja Yoga Path (with Ammachi and Neem Karoli Baba-ji as my Gurus), but I also sometimes lead chants to Green Tara, or chant Hallelujah, or chant for Peace... I am just a beginner at playing the harmonium: I had never played a musical instrument in my life, so I have stickers on the keys with the appropriate letters, and I've just started taking lessons with Krishna Deva (Prema Mayi's son).... so the chanting that happens at these circles is not performance kirtan, but rather it's a co-creation with whoever shows up and sings... and it's great when someone shows up to drum along with me! I always bring a drum and bells, and I welcome people to bring drums as well.... also, if you think you can't sing, don't let that stop you from attending ~ singing from the heart is so beautiful, whether it's perfectly sung on key or not!

Each week, I bring a reading to share after the chanting and silent meditation. In selecting the readings, I tune in to what is most inspiring to me at the time, and also to what I sense might be needed by others. At the circles, we chant mantras with the chakras, going from the root up to the crown at the beginning of the circle, and then chanting back down to the root to close the circles feeling grounded. We also send the healing energies (created by the practices) out for healing and peace wherever they are needed... 

Each person attending these Radiance Rising Circles will be given a free copy of my pocketbook, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.

Radiant Cheers to the Spiritual Health of the human species on this Sacred Planet Earth!

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Flyer for Radiance Rising Circles designed by Gaelyn Larrick, a bright artistic star shining in our midst! ~ Photo of Teja (on flyer) taken by Britt Magadini, another radiant being shimmering on the river of life!

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I snapped this photo of myself on New Year’s Eve, after returning from my true home, the Amma Satsang. It was the perfect way for this yogini to end the year: chanting the Names of God and meditating with a loving sangha (spiritual community). Just the day before I had finished reading Ram Dass’ book, Be Love Now, so I was already feeling quite full of loving spiritual energies.

Be Love Now is truly more than just some papers bound together. Whilst reading about Ram Dass’ experiences with Neem Karoli Baba-ji, I felt as though I received spiritual transmissions, and my daily sitting meditation practice has deepened as a result.

What I loved most about this book is the way the sacred and the mundane are woven together, which is reminiscent of what Maharaj-ji (Neem Karoli Baba) taught. Primarily a “householder guru,” who himself was married with children, he spent much time counseling people on the ordinary aspects of householder life. Ram Dass describes the way loving service can transform even the ordinary act of grocery shopping:

“That’s the Hanuman mode, serving through love, opening and opening until you become the Beloved or the Beloved becomes you. You’re absorbed into that consciousness, and the Beloved’s being permeates yours. Then the ego perception shifts to the soul perception, the whole world is radiant, and the grocery store is your temple, full of souls.”

Ram Dass explains that in India “holiness is not confined to celibate sadhus or renunciates.” In fact, Maharaj-ji himself said that one can reach God while fulfilling his or her duties as a householder.

Of course we householders need to be disciplined and committed to our daily spiritual practices, and Ram Dass also offers much in the way of spiritual teaching and inspiration for keeping ourselves dedicated to the path. In one section that really struck a chord in me, Ram Dass points out that attachment is attachment on any plane. In reference to the loving and helpful guides we can access on the astral planes, he writes:

“By acknowledging such immaterial beings and planes as equally real – but not more real – than this immediate reality, you start to free yourself of attachment to any one plane or level of reality. Thinking of them as more real than this physical reality, however, can create more attachment. The attraction to the energies and mysteries of other planes can be a tremendous distraction or side trip from one’s path. Attachment is attachment on any plane.” 

In addition to sharing much about his guru Neem Karoli Baba, Ram Dass (and his co-author, Rameshwar Das) also highlight the incredibly inspiring accounts of many other Indian saints, including Anandamayi Ma, Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Nityananda, and more. I received darshan (a view or encounter with a holy being) from the photographs of several of these high beings.

And then what it comes down to, when I finished reading the book, is: can I apply these teachings to my daily life? Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no… So, in the moments when I cannot rise above my own limitations, I am heartened by Ram Dass’ words in Be Love Now: 

“You can only go at the rate you can go…The only thing you can ask is that you keep awakening at the fastest rate at which you’re capable. You can’t go any faster than that…” 

That advice echoes my favorite part of his spiritual classic of several decades ago, Be Here Now, in which he wrote, “You can’t rip the skin off the snake. The snake must moult the skin. That’s the rate it happens.” (See my review of that book: Teja’s Review of Be Here Now by Ram Dass)

Obviously I highly recommend Ram Dass’ new book, Be Love Now. I have so much Gratitude for all the beautiful seva (service) that Ram Dass gives to help raise the consciousness of the human species. May all beings everywhere benefit from his work.

May all beings be happy and free.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Happy Teja on New Year’s Eve with Ram Dass’ book Be Love Now taken by Teja Shankara.

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Each year on January 1^st, I spend some time writing in my new desk calendar and picking an angel card for the year. Spiritual practices like these help keep me grounded and focused here on the earthly plane… As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, for 2011 I picked Release, and the year was indeed filled with much painful release work. So on the evening of December 31^st, 2011, when I had the thought, ‘What if I pick Release again for 2012?” I was filled with a sense of dread, but then I quickly thought, ‘Well, if I pick it again, I’ll just have to approach it with a different attitude!’

I had no idea that those thoughts were a psychic “warning” of what was to come the next day… until the moment when I picked Release again for 2012! When I picked the card, I just sat there staring at it for a long time. It felt like time stood still, like all the gods and goddesses were just waiting to see what this yogini would do with that one! Honestly, at first I just could not grok the information… I sat there bewildered and wondering if I might indulge in a little screaming, crying tantrum yoga fit… but then I remembered that before picking the card I had lit candles and waved incense all around my temple cottage while chanting the Hanuman Chalisa (along with Krishna Das’ CD “Flow of Grace”), and I had asked my Beloved Gurus, Amma and Neem Karoli Baba, to please pick the angel card through me. Remembering that I had asked them to pick the card, I began to see the humor in it all, and I was reminded of something I recently read in Ram Dass’ book Be Love Now (which I will be posting a review of soon):

“If a situation seems full of cosmic irony, that’s probably your guru. If your life seems to be running on crazy coincidences and synchronicity, that’s the guru too. The guru’s a rascal, always playing with you, always showing you where you’re not.”

It sure does seem like a crazy bit of cosmic irony, that I would pick Release again this year, especially since I worked so hard in the month of December to release as much as possible so that I could be “done” with that work. Ha! Good one, Gurus! Guess I’m not done with that work after all… However, I do see the opportunity that this hilarity presents: in 2011, I released a lot through grief and sorrow, and now in 2012 I get to learn how to release in new ways. I intend to learn how to let go with happiness and joy and song and dance and gratitude!

By evening, I was in a very funny mood, so funny that during my sitting meditation time, I kept laughing out loud… I was laughing because I was witnessing the absurdity – after all I’ve been through in the past 8+ years – of the mental fascination that still remains with earthguy lilas and attractions. In my laughter, I saw the first glimmer of what is hopefully to come: boredom and non-interest in earthguy attractions, the same kind of total boredom I feel when people around me have conversations about alcohol. (I haven’t had a drink, not even a glass of wine, in over four years, and now I have no interest whatsoever in alcohol or stories about it.)

In that vision of my future brahmacharini self, I saw that the boredom with alcohol came naturally, and so will the boredom with unreal romantic lilas. I just need to trust and be patient and cultivate the witness in each moment… and I pray that I won’t need to endure any more painful dramas before the boredom comes!

This Year 2012, I intend to lovingly and laughingly release anything and everything that blocks me from being fully Tejaswini, the name that Amma gave me, which means full of Light, Radiant, and Bright.

I pray that my healing release work will ripple out and benefit the Whole. May all beings have food, clothing, shelter, and peaceful sleep this year. May all beings be happy and free. 

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja’s 2012 Release angel card by Teja Shankara.

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“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white or women for men.” ~ Alice Walker

The suffering of the creatures was the primary reason I shifted to a vegan diet. I simply cannot bear the thought of causing harm to the animals, birds, fish, and bees. As Alice Walker so succinctly pointed out, they exist for their own reasons. This month I have tuned in to the suffering of the turkeys, because millions of them will die for the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday. After seeing turkeys in the wild, and experiencing their Beauty and Majesty, I couldn’t imagine ever again eating one of our gorgeous winged relations. 

With the sorrow of the turkeys’ deaths hanging heavy in my heart, I ask everyone in the United States to please consider going vegetarian or vegan this Thanksgiving. On behalf of all those turkeys, and with concern for all the fearful energies that millions of people will ingest through the cooked dead turkey meat, I am asking everyone in the United States to please take a few moments of silence and meditate upon the lifeblood of the turkeys.

Contemplate the fear and agony the turkeys will feel as they are being killed, and ask yourselves if you really want to take in those fearful energies. Everything, everything, everything is energy. Even Oprah says so! We are all connected in one continuous web of energy. If you eat dead turkey meat, then you take in the anxious energies that the turkey experienced while dying. Please consider going vegetarian or vegan for Thanksgiving.

In my next blog article I will share some vegetarian/vegan Thanksgiving menu ideas and recipes. And, inspired by the turkeys’ plight this month, I’ve done some research and learned that the meat industry contributes to about 18% of global green house emissions. So, even if people don’t feel compassion for the creatures, they might be inspired to reduce their meat consumption in order to help the environment. Therefore, I will soon be announcing the Voices for Vegetarianism Campaign. Stay tuned…

May all beings everywhere live in Freedom and Harmony, including the turkeys in the good ‘ole U.S. of A.

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of turkey from the blog article “Thanksgiving Turkey Bird Facts” by Sienna Hudson.

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A couple of nights ago I watched Oprah’s Lifeclass Webcast, “You Become What You Believe” (you can view the video on the Webcasts section of Oprah’s Lifeclass website), and I was greatly inspired by all that Oprah and Cheryl Richardson said during that webcast. Cheryl Richardson, Co-Author with Louise Hay of You Can Create An Exceptional Life, coached several people, including Oprah, on how to change their thoughts, using affirmations, mirrors, and more. I highly recommend watching this light and humorous show.

Here are a few of Cheryl’s affirmations that struck deep chords in me ~

~ “Abundance flows into my life in surprising and magical ways every day.”

~ “I love receiving.”

~ “People love to pay me for my art.” (I would say “People love to pay me for my healing, creative services.”)

And my favorite: “Every time I turn around, I get a check in the mail.”

Cheryl also talked about the important spiritual principle of “acting as if” while you are taking actions. She said that affirmations plus actions equals miracles. I very much appreciated the practical advice she gave to several people: “Get a job, so you aren’t desperate for people to financially support your creative expression, then continue following your passion while working to pay the bills.” To that Oprah nodded in agreement and pointed out that there is a timing to everything. 

One other thing that really “got” me was when Cheryl said that as she gets older, she thinks that we are all healers and artists. That was an especially relaxing thing for me to hear, because it helped me realize that if we are all healers and artists, then my growing understanding that I am a healer and an artist doesn’t mean that I need to do anything in particular in any rushing order!

So the next morning, when I was sitting in silent meditation, I ‘heard’ the following affirmation that I am now saying and emanating to the world: “I am always at the right place at the right time.” And, as Cheryl said, “Every time I turn around, I get a check in the mail.” I can hardly keep up with all these trips to the bank!

Cheers to all of us re-training our minds to think positive, inspiring thoughts! And kudos to Oprah for all the amazing work she is doing on this planet. I have deep Gratitude for all the ways she manifests her intention to help wake people up.

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

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja’s son's rose petal & mud Om mandala taken by Teja Shankara.

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Today my boys and I are going traveling by airplane, to visit family across the country. I’m not taking my computer on the trip, so I will be away from the Teja Blog until after August 20^th… And, when I return from this little journey to meet my new niece Zoe (born on April 10^th, 2011), I am excited to announce that I will be expanding my offerings in Ashland, Oregon, and beyond. I am super grateful for this expansion that the Universe has placed in front of me: under my new business name, Radiance Rising Reiki, I will be offering Reiki healing sessions, Vegan Cooking, and Meditation Circles in people’s homes.

I’ve already invested in a portable massage table… “have table, will travel!” Stay tuned for more information on this when I return to the Teja Blog…

May all beings everywhere know the Happiness that arises from a Grateful Heart. 

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Teja’s business card designed by Gaelyn Larrick.

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In early May I began going barefoot, and in my first blog article (“Barefoot Yogini Bliss”) about going barefoot, I shared that I was wearing a pair of slipper-like socks into stores. Well, shortly after writing that article, I went to a shoe store with a specialist who helped me find a pair of non-leather thongs that have the appropriate support for bunions. So then when I traveled to see Amma in June, I wore those shoes when going in public restrooms and stores.

The shoe specialist told me that I wouldn’t be able to wear any of my regular shoes again, that I would need to get special shoes from now on… so in the back of my mind I’d been thinking about getting rid of all of my old shoes… and I was cultivating the witness and watching how attached I was to all of that accumulated footwear! And, I was also well aware that I wanted to get rid of all the leather still in my possession from my non-vegan past…

So last week, in one fell swoop, I took all the shoes out of my shoes basket – all except for the one pair of thongs – and out the door they all went! It was a scary, exhilarating, and free-ing moment in my life. I had to surrender and trust that the footwear I need will come to me when I need it! And, the great thing about releasing all those shoes and clogs and boots and sandals, was that it inspired me to continue clearing out clutter… so the next day I cleaned out my closet and a few dresser drawers!

Maybe this article will inspire you to clear out some clutter, too… with less clutter in our living spaces, we create environments that are more conducive for daily spiritual practices. To begin a simple meditation practice (or to get inspiration for the meditation practice you already do), please order my pocket book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, available in print or e-book versions on this website Store.

May all beings be free. 

Om Shanti (Peace), 

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja’s shoes heading out the door taken by Teja Shankara. Cover of Radiance Rising designed by Gaelyn Larrick.

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Dance, Lalla, with nothing on
but air. Sing, Lalla,
wearing the sky.

Look at this glowing day! What clothes
could be so beautiful, or
more sacred?

~ Lalla, 14^th century mystic of Northern India. Translation by Coleman Barks.

According to legend, Lalla left her husband and family at age 24 to wander India, naked, singing love songs to God. Lalleshwari (Lalla, the Great Yogini) first came into my “field” the month before I met my Guru, Ammachi. It was May, 2006, and I was at a meditation group in which a couple visited to give us diksha, a transmission of the state of Oneness. I wrote the following about that experience in my memoir, The Rita Lila: A Western Yogini’s Journey to Bliss:

“My projection of what I think it will look like to merge with the One Radiance is holding me back. I am afraid that if I really let go, I will be too wild and I won’t wear clothes! Fear of being too wild and naked. Fear of not being a polite, good girl. Fear of being socially inappropriate. Fear of singing in public.”

Of course everyone laughed along with me, when I shared that, and then someone said that I really needed to read the poetry of Lalla… so the next day I ordered Coleman Barks' book Naked Song. On the back of the book, he describes Lalla as a “lioness.” He writes, “She rides the breath, and she knows the way of courage.”

I love Lalla’s poems so much – I read them over and over, and I’ve memorized many of them to recite around the fire with friends. Last December, at the Winter Solstice Gala fundraiser for the Goddess Temple of Ashland, Lalla made her first public appearance through me. You can watch that performance at this link: Yogini-Bliss on YouTube.

And as for me going naked, well, that hasn’t happened…yet. Who knows what the future holds?! Of course I still have fear about that… but then, I remember that everything happens at the right time in the right way… like how I was also afraid of singing in public, but then I learned to sing and lead chants, by Amma’s Grace, and now singing in public is a joy rather than a fear. 

What fears are holding you back from merging with the One Radiance?

May all beings experience the healing warmth of Radiance rising within them.

May all beings know Peace and Love. 

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of blue bird in pear blossoms by Teja Shankara.

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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.

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

~ Lately I am delighting in synchronicities. It is a funny thing that once we notice one synchronicity, many more begin to sprout! The first synchronicity, in my recent series, occurred at the Grand Opening of the Goddess Temple of Ashland. There was a set of Goddess cards on the welcome table, and I casually picked one, and it was of Minerva, the Roman Goddess of creativity, wisdom, commerce, war, magic, and music. She is the one who helps artisans who create from the mind! And, amazingly, she wears an owl headdress and a chest plate with snakes… I say amazingly because my self-chosen totems for 2011 are owl, snake, and horse!

~ The next synchronicity was even stronger. One evening, I was sitting on my red couch, asking the Universe if I should continue writing blogs and Facebook posts, and right at the exact time I was asking that, a woman sent me a message saying that she has been following my blogs and life for months, and she asked to begin The Teja Challenge the very next morning! To learn more about this challenge, please read this blog article: “The Teja Challenge: For Healing, Light, Peace, & Love”.  I was so amazed at that validation for the work I am doing, and I thanked Amma again and again for giving me such a huge and clear “Yes!” answer.

~ I am really loving my job as manager of my brother’s outdoor gear shoppe. I love meeting all the people, and I’m even selling some copies of Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. I put a note next to the books saying, “This pocket book is the perfect size to take on a bike ride or hike”! ~ One very positive aspect of working there is that I am finding a better balance in my life… balance between: work and rest; home and world; computer and sadhana (spiritual practices); and also between alone time and people time.

~ On April 10^th, my youngest brother and his wife had their first baby, who is my first niece. Little Zoe was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I am super excited to be Auntie Teja! (And my boys are thrilled to finally have a cousin!) 

~ A few weeks ago I got my harmonium out again, after not playing it for over a month. It was such a sweet reunion, and I really enjoyed warming up my voice again, in preparation for Hanuman Jayanti, the auspicious holy day of celebrating the birth of the Hindu monkey god.

~ Yesterday was Hanuman Jayanti, and last night I led a special Radiance Rising Circle. It was so wonderful to be in circle again, sharing spiritual practices with some beloved souls who had become like family to me. We chanted to Hanuman, Rama and Sita; sat in silent meditation; read from the Ramayana; and enjoyed an inspiring discussion while eating fig cookies.

~ As Spring is finally blossoming in Ashland, I am feeling super grateful for all the magical synchronicites… And I am filled with Gratitude that the Universe has instructed me to keep writing, because I really enjoy writing the articles for this Teja Blog. (Recent article titles include: “An Energy Exercise for Protection”, and “Cultivating the Witness 101: Managing Anger”. I also really love posting on my two Facebook pages. Please join me there on the page called Teja Shankara Books. Here is the link for a note I recently wrote for that page: "A Note Inspired by a Note" ~ On Facebook lately I’ve been posting many quotes from Sri Neem Karoli Baba-ji. Here is a quote from him (from The Divine Reality by Ravi Prakash Pande “Rajida”):

“We meet only those people with whom our meeting is predestined. Duration of association with each person is also preordained. One should not grieve if one is separated or if the association does not last long.”

(Easier said than done, I say!)

~ May all of our playgrounds be filled with joyous synchronicities that inspire us to believe in Magic.

May all beings everywhere experience the warmth of the inner Radiance.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of Teja in bike shoppe by her brother Greg. Photo of Teja Happy on Hanuman Jayanti by Teja Shankara.

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This is the second article in a series inspired by my friend Miles in Mallorca, Spain. Today I’m focusing on how the spiritual practice of Cultivating the Witness can help with managing anger.

In the Fall of 2003, when I met my beloved spiritual teacher, David La Chapelle (who is “Basil” in my books, and who left this manifest realm in July, 2009), I felt as though most of my anger dissolved upon meeting him. There are many possible reasons for that, and I think that one of the primary is that he transmitted the Witness Consciousness to me. He also taught me tools for skillfully Cultivating the Witness in my daily life.

For me, the most vivid evidence that Cultivating the Witness was “working” in my life, was in how quickly I stopped yelling at my sons. Before meeting David – and learning to Cultivate the Witness – whenever I got frustrated with my then 3 and 6 year old sons, I lost my cool and raised my voice. Each time I yelled at them, they became frightened and then I felt incredibly guilty… But even though I felt guilty afterwards, I continued doing it…

… once I learned to watch myself more closely, I began to notice when I was starting to get overwhelmed, and so then I would verbally share what I was witnessing with my sons. I would say, in a calm, neutral voice, “I am witnessing that I am starting to feel angry, and I feel like screaming, but I am not going to.” I did this each time I felt frustrated with them, and in a short amount of time, they developed trust that Mama wasn’t going to yell anymore, and their little systems relaxed, and their behavior actually improved. 

If you are witnessing yourself getting angry at your boss or a co-worker, it probably won’t work to verbally share that you feel like yelling at them, but even if you just simply notice it inside yourself, that witnessing may help to cool you down, which will then ripple out and help the whole situation calm down. As David often told me, “We create our realities from the inside-out.”

The main point is to train your mind to objectively witness the anger. When you can calmly witness your reactions to life’s craziness, then some part of you begins to settle down. After anger arises in your system, try sitting in silent meditation and witnessing what part (or parts) wish to be filled with peace.

If you have questions about this practice, please post them in the comments section below this article.

May all beings know the Peace that comes from skillfully witnessing anger.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Spring photo of Teja by Teja Shankara.

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