Mandalas, Monkeys, and Lessons in Impermanance

this picture from moolf

If you are familiar with sand mandalas, you know one of their most important attributes is their impermanence. The monks carefully, painstakingly create the mandala, and then, swoosh, they brush the mandala away. Many people who watch the process feel a great sense of poignancy or loss. Hopefully, at least some gain some insight into anicca, the truth that all things that begin, must end. We are encouraged to realize that our fortunes, our relationships, and our very lives, are no more solid than the colorful pile of dust that remains at the end of the ritual.

I found an unlikely mandala on the internet today, a mandala just as temporary, and no less beautiful as the Tibetan Sand Mandalas. There is a festival at the Buddhist Temples in Lop Buri, Thailand, last Sunday in November. The townspeople offer huge buffets to the plethora of monkeys that roam the temple ground. It is said that offering the food to the monkeys offers great good fortune, perhaps because the monkeys are in some way holy. their behavior during the festival is so similar to that of the Artist Monks. There is another theory that perhaps it is good fortune to feed the monkeys because they are the center of the tourist trade and economy of the area. So, they say thank you to the monkeys, and create another tourist attraction, and perhaps some good karma as well. Everybody's happy.


this picture from moolf

Many of these buffets are huge, round, patterened pallets of food. Clearly, they share many qualities and principles with mandalas. They are sacred circles and temporary dwellings of the most sacred residents of Lop Buri. And they are impermanant. The monkeys literaly live and eat atop these magnificent structures, as they take them apart, bite by bite. Judging by the pictures and videos, it is a fantastic celebration, and a ritual with a clear, inherent ending. When the food is gone, the party is over.

Meet Lokah, Samastah, Sukhino, & Bhavantu!

These pictures just might inspire you to carry Durga on your back, too!
Here are a bunch of pictures of some really cool big cats, with some really cool Sanskrit names. Sukhino looks like a Sukhino, and Ganga looks like a Ganga!

You can see more pictures at The Guardian, and the Tigers are from T.I.G.E.R.S.

A Poem For The Athiests

I found this on "The Sun Magazine"

It is called "Ode to The God of the Atheists" by Ellen Bass.
It is lovely, and reads like a Hafiz poem. It is devotional and heartfelt, and beautifully whispers a kind of faith that I, personally find hard to argue with. I particularly like the continued naming of The God of Atheists as "This God", as if to say, there may be others, other Gods for the religeous or the spiritual, but we are not talking about those here. We are talking about 'This God', and this is how 'This God' behaves. I can get behind it, when it's put like that.

The god of atheists won’t burn you at the stake
or pry off your fingernails. Nor will it make you
bow or beg, rake your skin with thorns,
or buy gold leaf and stained-glass windows.
It won’t insist you fast or twist
the shape of your sexual hunger.
There are no wars fought for it, no women stoned for it.
You don’t have to veil your face for it
or bloody your knees.
You don’t have to sing.

The plums that bloom extravagantly,
the dolphins that stitch sky to sea,
each pebble and fern, pond and fish
are yours whether or not you believe.

When fog is ripped away
just as a rust red thumb slides across the moon,
the god of atheists isn’t rewarding you
for waking up in the middle of the night
and shivering barefoot in the field.

This god is not moved by the musk
of incense or bowls of oranges,
the mask brushed with cochineal,
polished rib of the lion.
Eat the macerated leaves
of the sacred plant. Dance
till the stars blur to a spangly river.
Rain, if it comes, will come.
This god loves the virus as much as the child.

Ketjak - Ramayana Monkey chanting

Balinese Monkey Chanting is something that someone told me about once. I think they even offered me a small demonstration (to the best of their ability). I loved the idea, and it stayed in the back of my mind for a couple of years. Last night, the monkey reared its head, and I found myself compelled to start googling for everything I could find; video (below), audio (courtesy ubuweb ethnopoetics), and workshops (apparently your best bet outside Bali is Seattle or burning man). Unfortunately, noone on the internet seems to know all that much about Ketjak, and everyone seems to be quoting the same sources, and it is hard to get to the original knowledge. Any way, here is what I could gather.
I was suprised to find that the monkey chant was a product of the 20th century, I expected it to be much older. Apparently it has roots in a much older Balinese Exorcism Ritual, but the monkey chant proper is from the 1930s. Which brings me to my next misconceptions. I believed that monkey chanting was a somewhat random affair, perhaps with a conductor to guide the experience of shrieking and howling, but still very open to inprovisation and play. What I learned is that Ketjak is a scripted piece. It is a reinactment/retelling of the Ramayana focusing on the battle between the monkeys and the demons, and perhaps, told from their perspective. As the chorus chants, they sway and wave their hands, sometimes chanting together, sometimes dividing in two groups and chanting at each other. Occasionally a figure such as Ravana will pop up, and he will be chanted at (exorcized?)
As a practice it seems that it must provide an extremely invigorating, and trance inducing experience. It is said that it takes participants white alot of time to 'come down' from monkey chanting. The ritual choreography also creates an interesting experience of group mind, perhaps the same kind of group mind that Hanuman's Monkey Army experienced when they went to war in Lanka. I am always amazed at the practices that evolve out of devotion and a longing to understand and feel close to their chosen dieties. Ketjak appears to be a powerful tool for creating a certain bhava, or divine mood; a mood that allows one to feel the epic of the Ramayana play out inside the body. We are so lucky that human creativity is able to meet the challanges put forth by the very human need for divine connection, be it with yoga asana, kirtan, vedic chant, or ketjak.




video is from the movie Baraka, which is excellent.

March Theme: Bring Prana to your Psyche

I have been contemplating change recently. The ability for people to change and grow and evolve, and the likelihood that people will actually change. What I keep coming back to, is, most people don't change. The find a rut that is comfortable enough, and they stay there. If this isn't entirely true for you (as it is for at the majority of the population) then I would suggest that it is probably true for you in at least one small aspect of your life. I know that I have places where I don't grow.

I have also been contemplating the requirements for growth, should one have the interest (wouldn't you rather watch tv), and the ability (you might lack the discipline and commitment) to change their life into something more wonderful. There are those of us out there who do change and grow. Some of us to creep, turtle speed towards our potential. It occurs to me that it takes constant work. I personally, have to do a metric ton of work to experience a tiny bit of lasting and significant change. I am incorrigible. It may take you slightly less work to grow a little bit more. Lets hope so. To perform this work, of course takes energy. Lots of energy. For the most part, people have enough energy to get to work, eat some food, and maybe have a hobby and some friends. They simply don't have the energy required to do transformative work. To bring awareness to the unconscious and to overcome deeply ingrained patterns without avoidance or violence is intensive labor. Gratefully, we practice yoga. Yoga provides us with a chance to source greater amounts of prana, so that it is useable by our psyches in service to greater self awareness and skillful action. Our poses can help, our pranayama can certainly help. Our meditation can really assist once we have cultivated our prana. Our meditation practice can shed light on our habits, provide insight into the best use of our prana that is possible. If we are unwise, we will practice and practice, and then use all of our newfound strength to continue chasing our tails. It is my sincerest hope that this is not our fate.
With this intention, I would like to offer you a subtle practice, one to bring your consciousness to your behavior.

Practice:
Pick a habituated statement that you make several times a day, something that you ay on auto pilot: "oh, I'm pretty good, thanks", "Have a great day", "You would say that", "that's a laugh". It doesn't matter what it is, it just has to be a robotized, automatic programmed response that saves you the burden of being conscious and creative. Got one? good!
Now: Stop saying it. Be aware of what is coming out of your mouth. Become creative, attentive, and present.
Also: Enjoy noticing how many times you forget and say it anyway. Practice forgiving yourself without giving up.

Good Luck!

photo credit: Samonberry

Watch "Sita Sings the Blues" Online

A woman named Nina Paley created a wonderful animated Ramayana, that is delightfully Sita-centric. Apparently, she found great solace in this tale, (the greatest breakup story ever told) after her husband went to India for 6 months for work, and ended up breaking up with her over email. It features many different styles of animation, and is quite a visual feast. It also has a stunning soundtrack, one that was in the center of a bit of controversy. The movie is set to the olde timey 1920 jazz tunes of Annette Hanshaw. There was some question around copyright issues, and intellectual property rights, and there was the possibility that the film would never be seen. You can follow the entire struggle here on Nina's Blog. Much of this has been worked out, mostly due to the generosity of sponsors. It will be shown on PBS in NCY on March 7th, and it is also available to be seen on the internet in its entirety here! I am writing this as I watch, and I am thoroughly enjoying.

via boing boing

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