Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Mystic Perfume of the Goddess Savitri


the Mountain Temple of the Goddess Savitri

When I buy 'things', I like them to be really great, quality 'things'. I like to know that some care went into its creation, and that the people involved in the production of the 'thing' are quality people. I like when the 'thing' has a story behind, perhaps even a legend. I am a sucker for a legend.
I got an email today from the folks over at Floracopia. It was an email with a story. They liked their story so much that they told it twice. Once in audio form, and once written in David's blog. (David is the Floracopia guy).
The story is about their perfume, Savitri. To make a long story short -

According to the perfumers of Kannauj, India's ancient perfumery center, the combination of rose and vetiver is one of the finest of all fragrance blends. "Savitri" rose perfume is blended using two unique oils: the rosa bourbonica, also known as the "Edward rose," and ruh khus, a thick hydro-distilled extract of dried wild vetiver roots.

I really enjoyed the audio version, and the process of creating this perfume sounded so cool and magical. Also, I need a present for Valentine's Day, and this just happens to be on sale until February 2nd. I am a sucker for a good story.

I am buying it here

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Picture of Indian Pigments


This is pretty

The Passing of Dr. Girish

December 3, 1954 – January 19, 2009


I don't know if any of you ever met Dr. Girish from Gongol Tree, India. I did once, over at the Groff's house. He talked about palmistry, and the stars, and God, and led a few very spirited chants. I showed him the wart that had been on my left hand for six years. He explained it in two sentences, and it was gone by the end of the month. A very dear man. I am saddened that I will never have his darshan again.

I'll close with a quote...

If you understand, things are just as they are.

If you don’t understand, things are just as they are.

Dr. Girish C. Jagirdar


Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Ganja of Love


Ganja has been considered a sacred herb by mystics cross-culturally since time immemorial.
Even mystics who don't smoke (myself included) recognize its many virtues. And mystics with an eye towards our national politics, law enforcement, and economy are often greatly saddened by its status of illegal narcotic. There were 872,000 arrests made for marijuana in 2007, 90% of them for simple possesion. Most of the people arrested are under 30. It is estimated that our government spends between 7.7 and 10.5 billion per year.
Through the legalization of the holy ganja of love, we could not only save that money, we could also save a good portion of our young people the pain and stigma of having to go through our legal and prison system. Revenues from taxing the production and sale of jah herb could range anywhere from 6.1 to 31 billion dollars.
On top of all this, there is the wonderful fact that weed can be grown in an enviornmentally sustainable fashion.
President Obama made a promise to "eliminate spending for programs that don’t work." We think that this is a big one.

I got most of this information from "culture11.com" via "The Atlantic"

Friday, January 16, 2009

Dates in Ghee



Not everyone likes dates soaked in ghee, but the people who do, REALLY LIKE dates soaked in ghee. I happen to think they are fantastic. It is so simple and wonderful, it could only come from the wisdom of ayurveda. Joseph at Joyful Belly Ayurveda sent them to us last week. You can order them from him, (he also make some fantastic agni-stoking, pippali cookies) and they are also simple to make at home. Simply pour warm ghee over dates, and voila!
There are many benefits to eating these delicious treats. They have a sweet flavor, which is great for cravings, and excellent for vata. They are also full of ojas, making them a fantastic aphrodisiac, and tonic rejuvenative (rasayana). Big Yum!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A big Pile of Books from the Ramakrishna Mission


I suppose I've been a little extra book crazy lately, perhaps its a winter thing. However, I can't help but be reminded of my old friend, Nat. He's probably in Belize right now, or perhaps he's finally made it to Antarctica. Nat was a small fellow, much smaller than average. I think it made clothes shopping difficult. When Nat would have a particularly good day at the thrift shops, he would say, "Somebody died in my size!", and smile real big. It was a bit morbid, and was probably true on at least one occasion. He thought it was hilarious. And it must have stuck with me, because when I walked into the "Last Word Bookstore" (40th and Walnut) today and looked at the 'Hinduism' section, my first thought was, "My God, a Ramakrishna devotee died." There were so many books from the Ramakrishna Mission, that they wouldn't even all fit on the shelves. They overflowed onto the floor. Not the best book Karma, I know, but I wasn't going to get in a fight with the bookstore guy about it. Enough Ramakrishna and Vivekenanda to keep you busy for a long, long time. Of course, there was some other good stuff, some Ramana Maharshi thrown in for good measure, and a few hardbacks from india written by obscure swamis. You could tell it all came from the same guy. I wonder what happened to him. Did he die? Did he become a Christian? Did he move to India? I hope he moved to India.
I was proud of myself, I didn't buy even one. I spent this week's book allowance on those that bag of tantra from craig's list, and it is keeping me plenty busy.
I just thought I should put it out there, in case anyone else in in the market for "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekenanda"($35), or in case anyone feels like making me a present. Hah!
Keep your lamps trimmed and burning...

Monday, January 12, 2009

New Aquisition at the BDLATS



I really enjoy books. I've always accumulated them quite easily, read them voraciously, and collected them doggedly. My library reached a new level several years ago when Bhagavan Das asked me to look after a few boxes of his books. There was some good stuff in there, stuff I may not have come across otherwise, and other things that I was familiar with, but just hadn't got around to accumulating just yet. It was a quantum leap, quite satisfying. I decided to name my library, "The Bhagavan Das Library for Advanced Tantric Studies". I thought it was official and important enough, and got back to the business of reading and collecting.
The BDLATS had another good day, about a year ago, when our dear friend Paul JJ Alix asked us to care for a portion of his collection for a spell. The excitement was lessened only slightly by the arrival of 11 boxes send C.O.D. I realized that this was the way to go. I stopped borrowing books, insisting that now, I only housed collections.
Well, we had a good day today, at the library. Nothing as fantastic as the collections we obtained from Baba or Paul, but still a solid haul. A Craigs List find. Fifteen books for $40. Mostly Chogyam Trungpa. One book by Musician John Cage. I didn't bother haggling, and I almost always haggle. For the sport of it.
It was an easy transaction, the gentleman dropped them off at the yoga school, and said he was happy they were going to a good home. I gave him his money, and thanked him.
I have a few of them already, if can guess which ones, I'll give you one of them as a present. I'll give you a hint, there are three. (No shipping, you have to come and get it)
Here is the inventory:
Dharma Art (Dharma Ocean Series)
The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra (Dharma Ocean Series)
The Heart of the Buddha (Dharma Ocean Series, 1)
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo (Shambhala Library)
Orderly Chaos: The Mandala Principle (Dharma Ocean Series)
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet
Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism
Kundalini: Yoga For The West
Healing with Form, Energy, and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen
The Masks of God, Vol. 2: Oriental Mythology
The Masks of God, Vol. 3: Occidental Mythology
Silence: Lectures and Writings
Trancending Madness
The Bliss of Inner Fire: Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa

The rules:
1) The list of books is on my blog, mainlinesutras.com
2) You may enter once, by email, and guess the three duplicate books.
3) Place your first choice book first
4) The person who guesses the three (or the most) correctly, first gets their first choice book.
5) It will trickle down from there.
6) You must come get your book in person.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Sock Monkey Goddess



Sarasvati is the Goddess of the arts, literature, and music. It is by Her grace that we have speech, language, alphabets, musical scales, and recipies for delicious foods. Through her amourous shapeshifting adventures with her husband Brahma, the earth was populated with all of the earth's creatures. No doubt, it was through her inspiration that this project, Sara-Sock-Svati, was concieved and excecuted. Apparently, every year, this couple, jek and jeff, give each other themed sock-monkeys.
from Craftzine
see also Sock Monkey Buddha

Sunday, January 4, 2009

January Theme Of The Month




Bringing the shadow to light

Machig Labdron was a Tibetan Yogini very well versed in the Prajñā Pāramitā Sutra. So well versed, in fact, she was often hired by wealthy families to read it in their homes, in an attempt to gain spiritual merit.
In her late teens/early twenties, Machig was undergoing an initiation in the company of her sangha. She went in to deep meditation, and quickly reached a high state of samadhi. Then, much to the surprise of everyone present, she began to levitate. Not only did she lift right off of the floor, but she floated right through the solid clay walls of the building, ending up in full lotus in the branches of a tree growing in the middle of a lake.
This lake was inhabited by a fierce Naga. Nagas are Snake-like water spirits with a reputation for being capricious and terrifying. Its not that they are evil, per-se, its just that their morals and sensibilities are very different than ours. Humans are often so fearful of nagas that they refer to them as 'demons'. This particular naga was so temperamental that people were afraid to even look in the direction of his lake.
Obviously, He was outraged by Machig's presence, and her indifferent attitude. So outraged was he, that he contacted all of his naga friends, the meanest ones that would pick up the the phone, and invited them over over to accost this young, bliss permeated practitioner.
The pack of appeared, fearsome and ferocious in front of the tree. They were shocked to find that she did not flee. Instead of seeing demons approaching her, she recognized them all as fragmented parts of her own clear mind. She saw own her fears, obsessions, and confusions marching in, begging for love and healing. Out of boundless compassion, she transformed herself into golden nectar, and offered herself as food to the nagas. This action astounded and pacified the nagas, who transformed into her allies and protectors.
Just like Machig Labdron, we too can reorient our perspective to realize that the true threat to our happiness is not 'other', but a part of our selves. Sometimes called a shadow, because these unloved pieces of ourselves seem to trail behind us, draggin us down, sapping our energy, and occasionally obscuring our vision in a way that causes us to act foolishly.
And just lke Machig, we can find allies in our shadow if only we have the courage and compassion to nourish them light of our spirit, and allow then to take their rightful place in our heart.

An excellent practice to get you started is located here, on Tsultrim Allione's website.

I've also been reading Robert Bly's A Little Book on the Human Shadow, which has some excellent insight from a Jungian/Western Poetic perspective.

Happy New Year!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Recording with Yo-Yo Ma

Most likely, you all know who Yo-Yo Ma is. Randy Sutin, however, is probably more of a mystery. Randy is a really sweet guy that I practice yoga with occasionally; we had a fun weekend together down in Yogaville last spring. He is also a jazz musician and elementary school music teacher. Well, He has entered a contest, in which the winner gets to record with Yo-Yo Ma. I like Yo-Yo Ma, and I think it would be cool if Randy got to work with him. You can vote for him here.

Also, here is a video of Randy's School Kids performing David's "Love, Peace, and Freedom".