Beggar's Bowl

Thursday, December 24, 2015

TUNE IN - TUNE OUT


"Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo: I bow to the Divine Teacher within."
 

TUNING IN

I cannot stress enough the importance of tuning in before you begin your Kundalini Yoga  practice and tuning out as you conclude. We tune in to disconnect our Self from our current reality and plug our Self into a higher vibration. By tuning in, we open our Self to the possibility of what is: connecting with the present state of one's inner most Self while at the same time being open to the possibility of transformation and deep healing. We begin every session with the Adi Mantra

ONG NAMO GURU DEV NAMO

The translation from Gurmukhi:
I bow to the Divine Teacher within

We chant this mantra three times either on one or two breaths depending on lung capacity and preference. I prefer two breaths because I have more power in my breath and it also gives me an opportunity to vibrate the mantra from my heart center and not my throat. Remember, chanting is not singing. Listen here for the correct pronunciation and cadence of the mantraThis mantra links you to the Golden Chain of teachers that came before you while acknowledging that you are that which you seek. There is no need for a master, a teacher, a guru. They only provide the map for you to reach your destination. The true work is done by you through your daily practice. 

When one deepens one's practice, and if time permits, some yogis follow the Adi Mantra with the Mangala Charn Mantra. The Mangala Charn Mantra is said to surround the individual's electromagnetic field with protective white light.

AAD GURAY NAMEH
JUGAAD GURAY NAMEH
SAT GURAY NAMEH
SIRI GURU DEVAY NAMEH

Translation:
I bow to the Primal Wisdom.
I bow to the Wisdom through the Ages.
I bow to the True Wisdom.
I bow to the great, unseen Wisdom

TUNING OUT

After you conclude your meditation you may do a "sound bath." You can use a gong, bells, chimes, or tibetan singing bowl. You can learn how to play the gong with one of my teachers, Hari Jiwan here. I call sound meditations, "meditation from the outside...in." The gong is the sound of creation that washes over your subtle body and brings integration of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The sound vibration "washes" over your subtle body clearing it of negative energy, psychic chords, and parasitic entities.  

Now, you may close out your session "as taught by Yogi Bhajan" with the LONG TIME SUN:

May the long time sun shine upon you
All light surround you
And the pure light within you 
Guide your way on. 

This comes from a Keltic prayer that was popular during the 60's when Yogi Bhajan began to teach in the U.S. We are in different times and yoga appeals to a more culturally diverse population. So in my classes, in lieu of the Long Time Sun, we close out with The Warrior Healer's Affirmations which came to me during a meditation:

I am infinite abundance and boundless prosperity.

I have unlimited potential, at this and every moment; I am the seed of creation.

I patiently await for what is mine; My destiny is already written.

I accept everything that comes to me, light and shadow, with graciousness and humility; Every thing is an extension of my Being.

I have a healthy detachment to objects and situations because I realize the transient nature of things; Nothing is permanent.

I use my awareness to raise my own consciousness, that of my family, my community and the cosmos; My existence is not in vain.

I am protected on all sides, at all times; I walk the straight path with no fear.

I trust and surrender to the process; Divine Loving Hands move all.

However you decide to close out your session, whether with the Long Time Sun or the Warrior Healer's Affirmations, it is important to do what resonates in your soul. You may even choose to say a prayer in your own religious tradition or recite a beautiful poem. I believe we are multi-faceted hu-man be-ings. It is important to honor all of your incarnations and integrate them in this life-time. The science of Kundalini Yoga can help you to do that. No sense in getting caught up in religious dogma if it doesn't sit well in your heart.  

If you are still feeling spacey after a session, drink water and/or touch the earth with bare feet.

And there it is R & B Yogis! More tools to live by. If you have any questions, you know where to find me.

See you in the ethers,

Mama Luz  
      

Friday, September 11, 2015

Karma is a bitch...

Karma is a bitch and she will serve up the retribution accordingly. At times, she can be brutal but mostly she's a nagging bitch. The kind that is constantly reminding you that its time to make serious changes in your life...or else! We are the sum of our karma, the culmination of our deeds and works from past lives and this life time. Try to not a think of karma as a punishment but rather a debt you arrived with, forgot about, and must work off. Karma "IS." And is not good or bad. If we remain emotionally neutral towards it yet remain spiritually active in the burning of it, we will eventually be freed from it. (TAKE NOTE: Neutrality is the key to freedom. Neutrality is achieved through detachment. Detachment is achieved through meditation). Through Kundalini Yoga, we learn to accept responsibility for the current state of our life and demonstrate to the Universe (God) that we are willing to do the work to heal ourselves. It is the union of one's Self with the Most High that makes healing possible. And by healing ourselves, we heal the world around us. Through deep practice, one recognizes that one has the ability to co-create one's life with grace and conscious action. That doesn't mean life is easy and not without it's difficult lessons. Self-realization is not about getting what you want, it's about getting what you need in order to learn your lessons, evolve, and ascend. If you maintain the grace needed to see what God sees, and proceed accordingly, through the purification process of burning one's karma, one discovers one's purpose in life, dharma, which is the purpose of karma.  

We each arrive on this plane with a unique gift or mission to complete. The reason why we have incarnated is to get closer to this self-realization. Sometimes it takes a many incarnations for us to discover what our dharma actually is. But essentially, dharma is how we serve humanity and how we make the planet better than it was than when we arrived. It does not necessarily mean becoming an ascetic and/or living a life of austere religiousity or spirituality. It can be through the creation of art, music, through being a caretaker, a teacher, or even by being a social justice warrior. Ask yourself: How am I a bridge that takes humanity from one state of being to another higher state of being? How do I raise the vibration of the planet? How am I a catharsis for the healing of others? Humanity could be one person. Or it could be humanity in its entirety. The best way to get clarity in this regard is through daily meditation.

MEDITATE ON THIS: 

From the Holy Quran, Surah 5 verse 32: ...if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind.” 

Sat Nam...Shalom...Salaam.

Mama Luz
 

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Be the Miracle

Kundalini is the path to becoming the miracle. - Luz Emma
Yeah...yeah...yeah, we've all heard it before: "Life is a miracle." It's cliche...it's corny...but it's true! Most of us are so wrapped up into what we are feeling, that we forget about the miracle that life is. The very fact that the same cosmic matter that is present in the universe is the same materia in the atoms of our bodies is pretty miraculous. I could go on and on presenting some scientific proof on the presence of GOD, a "Super Natural Intelligence," a "Supreme Being," or whatever you want to call it, but just the fact that you are reading this blog post means that you "believe" enough in miracles to continue reading. 

All miracles begin with faith. One must believe in the medicine in order for it to do it's healing work. And because Kundalini is spiritual alchemy, belief in "Supreme Being" is paramount. It does not matter how you define it, what it is important is to acknowledge that it exists and that believe that there is Divine order in what may seem as a chaotic existence. Kundalini is the path to becoming the miracle. It is said, that all purification is done, in fire, by fire or through fire. When one practices Kundalini Yoga, one consciously places one's self in the fire's of purification. Through asana, pranayam and meditation, we make our bodies and minds flexible so that we can bend to Divine Will as oppose to attempting to manipulate our environment to bend to our own. Often times, we do not know what our practice will yield, but we proceed with faith even though our bodies and our hearts may hurt. 

The frequency and the proximity in which we merge with the One often determines whether we will be called upon to be used directly as a vessel to transmit healing Light and Love. This takes our miracle work to a whole other level. Don't get it twisted, it isn't all sparkles, rainbows and bliss. Don't forget what happened to Jesus. The Divine is a demanding partner. Being a miracle worker isn't something one seeks, God chooses based on lifetimes of development and cultivation. If you have been chosen, it is because you have been prepared in pre-eternity. You will experience and see things that cannot be fully explained in books and texts. Things that are extra-ordinary and perhaps even para-normal. It is important to temper one's ego or else one's own "fire" will engulf you and you will go up in flames. What could have been a blessing can become a curse. It is always beneficial to have a teacher or guide that can keep you grounded and hold you accountable as you walk along The Path. But ultimately, one must walk through the fire alone, get burned and learn temperance and the lessons for one's Self. Experience is our best teacher. And at the end of the day, the miracle that you are can only be demonstrated in the your dharma, your integrity and your commitment to the service of humanity. 

In Light and Love, 
Mama Luz

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Meditation to Heal Ancestral Karma

The walk along the path is an individual one, and at times, a lonely one. But we cannot negate the reality that there have been those that have walked the path before us, there are those ahead of us, those behind us and those that will come after us. And The One, guiding us all along the way. The point being...we are never alone. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have ancestral guides (known or unknown) that interact with us on a subtle level. Deceased relatives and members of our karmic families (spirit families that cluster together based on vibrational frequency) make up our own unique "spiritual team" that is in constant communication with us, garnishing our attention through dreams, sensations, or "signs," ear infections, fevers, and headaches. And why do they take such an interest in us? To guide, to protect, to pay their own karmic debts and at times to live vicariously through us. It is important to note that not all on our spiritual team are at peace and have our best interest at heart. Some may be lost, wandering, resentful, possessive, angry and/or jealous. This affects us on an unconscious level and adds to the energetic baggage (karma) already weighing our matter down hindering our ascension and blocking our walk along The Path. Although one of the main reasons we incarnate is to burn karma, and pay our karmic debts, it becomes tricky when our process is affected by other unseen "forces." Of course we welcome and want to be surrounded by the angels, saints, and gurus to guide and protect us. But what about the others that have suffered on earth and with whom we share collective pain?  

When one begins the walk along The Path, we assume the responsibility of burning others karma along with our own, even more so as a Warrior Healer. This doesn't mean become a martyr or a magnet for misery. The wiser and the more seasoned Warrior Healer becomes better in using discernment while creating alliances (spiritual and otherwise) between students, allies and friends (don't forget they have their own spiritual team too). YIKES! So many things to consider. Therefore, it is important to know your Self so well that you are able to know your motivations and discern your thoughts and emotions with the utmost clarity so that you can learn your unique and individual life's lessons and purpose. This way you can live with your decisions and assume responsibility for the karma you create. It is important to remember, your ancestors had their opportunities, this is YOUR time. And presence is the key to infinity. The best thing one can do for one's ancestors, and spiritual team, is help them ascend by living one's dharma (life purpose), pray for their souls and raise the vibration of one's spiritual team through meditation. Honor is not worship. And worship is not honor. Meditate on that for a moment.

As your vibration changes so will your spiritual team: Would you want your team of yesteryear to be your team of today?! Let each other go and bless each other onto the next lesson. I like to think of "letting go" like hugging, when you release...they will release too! Someone has to go first, right? The light-er you become, the lite-er your team becomes and the higher you will ascend. The Path is neither straight nor on an incline. It spirals up like a man made trail on the outside of a mountain. The ones having gone before you carving out the initial trail and you leaving your footprints for those to follow. I have said this ad nauseam...spiritual alchemy is about ascension. And ascension is about releasing not binding. The less attachments we have, the free-er we become. Who doesn't want to be free? You ready?! It's time!

This meditation will help release the patterns that have bound you and your ancestors. You will be blessing your ancestors and receive the blessings of your ancestors.

BEGIN: Sit in EASY POSE, with a light JALANDAR BANDH (elogated spine, lifting behind the head and slightly tucking in the chin). Rub your hands together and bring them to PRAYER POSE with your thumbs against your sternum and your shoulders rolled back and down. Your eyes rolled in and up towards your THIRD EYE. Inhale through the nose and chant ONG NA MO GURU DEV NAMO (I bow to the Divine Teacher within) on two breaths. Listen here for the correct pronunciation and cadence of the ADI MANTRA which is found on my CD URBAN MANTRA: VOL I. Please purchase if you have not already and show your support of Rhythm & Breath. All proceeds from the album go to Rhythm & Breath's continued effort to bring affordable and accessible mystical tools to urban folk.  

MUDRA: Right hand over your heart center. Left hand on your back with palm facing outward on the opposite side creating a heart "sandwich." 

FOCUS: Eyes closed

PRANAYAM: Recite the complete mantra on one breath.

MANTRA: 

GURU GURU WAHE GURU
GURU RAM DAS GURU 

TIME: Continue for 11 minutes.

COMMENTS:
This is a mantra of self-healing, humility, relaxation, protective grace, and emotional relief. It calls on the spirit of humility and grace of Guru Ram Das.
The Raaj Yog was given to Guru Ram Das because he achieved this state of consciousness. Yogi Bhajan talks about Raaj Yog as a very particular state of consciousness. "It is living as a yogi on the inside, and as a king on the outside. It is being able to see the unseen, known the unknown and hear the unheard." The Guru Mantra is an ashtang mantra. Ashtang mantras have eight parts. They catalyze the kundalini energy to initiate through your own effort and devotion. The first part of the mantra, Guru Guru Wahe Guru, projects the mind to the Infinite, the source of knowledge and ecstasy. The second part, Guru Ram Das Guru, means “the wisdom that comes as a servant of the Infinite.” This mantra projects the mind to the Infinite and then brings finite guidance on a practical level.
TO FINISH: Recite the Warrior Healers Affirmations in GYAN MUDRA, your index finger pressed against your thumbs. Or in BUDDHA MUDRA one hand resting in the other with the thumbs touching. 

TO CLOSE: Rub your hands together, bring them to prayer pose and chant SAT NAM (Truth is my Identity) on one breath 3 times. Bring your hands up to your forehead and bow bringing your hands and head to the floor. This seals the work in your frontal lobe.

Well there it is. Bring us...us free!!! Meet me in the Rhythm & Breath circle with your questions, comments and impressions. I look forward to ascending.

Sat Nam, Salaam, Shalom,

Mama Luz

Saturday, April 18, 2015

MEDITATION: Root Out Anger and Burn it Out

Picture from "The Alchemy of Happiness" written by al-Ghazālī
If anger is a poison...love is the antidote. 
- Luz Emma

Anger exists. Whether you acknowledge it within your Self, or those around you, anger effects us daily both directly and indirectly for it is part of the hue-man condition. We arrive with it as part of our karmic baggage and it is either cultivated by our family (and society) or tempered through self-knowledge, introspection and meditation. Anger can be volatile and out of control or suppressed and denied. It can mutate into depression, resentment and/or passive aggression and seemingly become an entirely different demon, almost unrecognizable, but no less detrimental to our physical and mental health. Anger limits our ascension into the higher realms and weighs us down keeping us trapped in our lower chakras. Although anger is usually projected outward, anger can also be turned inward through self-loathing, criticism and judgement. It attracts lower vibrating beings (both living and of the spiritual realm) that feed off of lower vibrational transmissions and try to invade our lives both literally and figuratively. I will get more into that at a later juncture. BUt for now lets delve deeper into anger.

Anger lives in the lower triangle in our root chakra and is the first gateway from which we must pass in our path towards ascension. Anger is a subtle attachment: to a person, a situation, an experience. It is not fully released unless it is tempered consciously. Temper is the root word in temperance and it is not an irony that temper is used to describe an angry disposition. Temperance is a concept in Alchemy in which the fire is cultivated transformed, controlled, redirected and used to transmute (change) base matter into gold, poison into medicine, or for our purposes suffering into illumination. Temperance is the result of a daily meditation practice and what we do here: We raise our kundalini energy, cultivate our power, temper it to heal ourselves (our families and communities) and contribute to the world through our dharma. Ones ability to transmute anger determines ones ability to transmute any thing. Because anger is the basest of hue-man emotions if you can transmute anger...you are free from your hue-man condition. Compassion, forgiveness and love are the essential ingredients. When these are given to ones self, it makes it easier to extend them to your fellow hue-man be-ings. So lets put ourselves in the fire before life does it for us. 

BEGIN: Sit in EASY POSE, with a light JALANDAR BANDH (elogated spine, lifting behind the head and slightly tucking in the chin). Rub your hands together and bring them to PRAYER POSE with your thumbs against your sternum and your shoulders rolled back and down. Your eyes rolled in and up towards your THIRD EYE. Inhale through the nose and chant ONG NA MO GURU DEV NAMO (I bow to the Divine Teacher within) on two breaths. Listen here for the correct pronunciation and cadence of the ADI MANTRA which is found on my CD URBAN MANTRA: VOL I. Please purchase if you have not already and show your support of Rhythm & Breath. All proceeds from the album go to Rhythm & Breath's continued effort to bring affordable and accessible mystical tools to urban folk.  

MUDRA: Arms are stretched out straight to the sides. There is no bend in the elbows. The Jupiter (index) finger points upward and the thumb locks down the other fingers. The power of Jupiter, the knowledge, should be tough, stiff and straight. 

FOCUS: The eyes are closed. Concentrate on your spine.

PRANAYAM: Inhale deeply through the rolled tongue SITALI BREATH and exhale through the nose.

MANTRA: There is no mantra with this meditation. But what I do is think of the things, people, situations and experiences that make me angry. I acknowledge them as I inhale and consciously release them as I exhale.

TIME: Continue for 11 minutes.

COMMENTS: This meditation can be done either in the morning or the evening. If you do this eleven minutes every day, your entire life will change. This will give you a new life. Do this for 40 days, it will change your personality from A to Z.

TO FINISH: Inhale deeply, hold the breath for 10 seconds while you stretch your arms out to the sides as far as possible, exhale. Repeat this sequence two more times. Recite the Warrior Healers Affirmations in GYAN MUDRA, your index finger pressed against your thumbs. Or in BUDDHA MUDRA one hand resting in the other with the thumbs touching. 

TO CLOSE: Rub your hands together, bring them to prayer pose and chant SAT NAM (Truth is my Identity) on one breath 3 times. Bring your hands up to your forehead and bow bringing your hands and head to the floor. This seals the work in your frontal lobe.

There it is R & B Yogis! This one is challenging both physically and emotionally. But being the Warrior Healers you are, I know you can handle it! Please reach for me in the circle because "things" can and will come up over the next 40 days. 

May the force be with you, 

Mama Luz



*If you benefit in any way from Rhythm & Breath, please support by making a heart donation in the "beggars bowl" at the top of the blog page. All proceeds go to the research, dissemination and production of mystical tools to assist seekers along the Path. Thanks in advance for your support. All assistance is humbly received and appreciated! You get out what you put in.*


Monday, February 16, 2015

Currency Meditation

Bread. Dough. Dinero. Loot. Funds. Endz. And my favorite word for money...currency. Take a moment to reflect on the word you use for money and how it reflects on your current economic state. Once one becomes mindful of one's relationship with money, one is able to rectify one's relationship with it. It begins with how we hold it (literally and figuratively), the name we give it, our feelings of self-worth and how we express love. I prefer the term currency because prosperity like a current either flows or is obstructed. If our channels are open, energy flows, it is able to be received and transmitted. If there are blockages, the energy stagnates, nothing moves and one gets stuck. It is not easy moving through this blockage yet it is not impossible. Kundalini yoga is a way through this conundrum. Lets begin the New Year by invoking our power to live up to our fullest potential with infinite abundance and boundless prosperity!

TO BEGIN:
Sit in Easy Pose and chant the ADI MANTRA: ONG NA MO GURU DEV NAMO 3xs on 2 breaths. The correct cadence can be found on my album Urban Mantra: VOL I.

MUDRA:
Sit with a straight spine, chin in, chest out. Bend the elbows into the sides of the body, and place the palms in front of the diaphragm area, flat and face up. Crisscross the finger area only, left on bottom, right on top. The thumbs will be extended away from the rest of the hand, and point straight ahead. Make sure they are not stretched back so far that they point to the right & left, but are pointing exactly straight ahead.

MANTRA:

Har Har Har Har Gobinday

Har Har Har Har Mukunday

Har Har Har Har Udaaray

Har Har Har Har Apaaray

Har Har Har Har Hareeung

Har Har Har Har Kareeung

Har Har Har Har Nirnaamay

Har Har Har Har Akaamay

TRANSLATION:
Gobinday – Sustaining,
Mukunday – Liberating,
Udaaray – Enlightening,
Apaaray – Infinite,
Hareeung – Destroying,
Kareeung – Creating,
Nirnaamay – Nameless,
Akaamay - Desireless

FOCUS: Eyes closed turn inward and upward.

TIME: 23-1/2 minutes.

TO CLOSE: Sit in silence and become thoughtless for 40 seconds. Then inhale, place the palms flat against the heart, pressure as hard as you can against the heart and squeeze the entire body, getting rid of all the sickness, disease, potential. Hold 17 seconds. Exhale. Repeat 3 times total, inhaling & holding between 15-17 seconds per inhale. Relax.

COMMENTS:

This mantra fixes the mind to prosperity and power. It contains the eight facets of the Self. Har is the original force of Creativity. The four repetitions of Har give power to all aspects and provide the power to break down the barriers of the past. It converts fear into the domination to use and expand the reserve energy of the Navel Point. It invokes guidance and sustenance; all powers come to serve your true purpose. 

TO FINISH: Recite the Warrior Healers Affirmations in GYAN MUDRA, your index finger pressed against your thumbs. Or in BUDDHA MUDRA one hand resting in the other with the thumbs touching.

TO CLOSE: Rub your hands together, bring them to prayer pose and chant SAT NAM (Truth is my Identity) on one breath 3 times. Bring your hands up to your forehead and bow bringing your hands and head to the floor. This seals the work in your frontal lobe. 

So there it is R & B Yogis! You can choose to do it once or for 40 days. The choice is yours. Know that, as with any practice, the more disciplined you are the deeper you will go. And when you do the deep work on prosperity, one realizes that abundance is connected to your feelings self-worth inherited through lifetimes of karma and reinforced by your family and society. 

Begin the New Year loving your Self with this meditation then be generous with your love and you will see your life abound with prosperity. 

Sat Nam,
Mama Luz 


*If you benefit in any way from Rhythm & Breath, please support by making a heart donation in the "beggars bowl" at the top of the blog page. All proceeds go to the research, dissemination and production of mystical tools to assist seekers along the Path. Thanks in advance for your support. All assistance is humbly received and appreciated! The student that arrives empty handed...leaves empty handed.*