interview with Desikachar

by L. Valdez Karl

(photo original Chennai Online upload)

Chennai Online Interview with Desikachar

“Intro: Where is the delusion when truth is known? Where is the disease when the mind is clear? Where is death when the Breath is controlled? Therefore surrender to Yoga – T Krishnamacharya in Yoganjalisaram.

Yoga was in the family. Krishnamacharya was born in Karnataka in 1888 and belonged to a family of distinguished ancestry. Among his forebears was the 9th century teacher and sage Nathamuni, who was a great Teacher who created remarkable works….In his youth, Shri Krishnamacharya experienced insights around some of these teachings in a mystic dream whilst on a pilgrimage….

His son, TKV Desikachar, had the privilege of living and studying with his father. For over 45 years, TKV Desikachar has devoted himself to teaching yoga and making it relevant to people from all walks of life and with all kinds of abilities. His teaching method is based on Krishnamacharya’s fundamental principle that yoga must always be adapted to an individual’s changing needs in order to derive the maximum therapeutic benefit.”

Chennai Online link to Google video of Desikachar speaking about his father.

I have studied three times at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India and I am transformed a bit more each time. It was during my first trip three years ago during the month long “Universal Yet Personal” intensive that I heard a teacher say that personal transformation in yoga can only begin in a group class but is accomplished in working one on one with a teacher, in the old way, the traditional way.

The longer I teach, the more I know this to be true.

I bow in gratitude to the teacher of teachers, Sri Krishnamacharya. I am honored and humbled that I am able to study with one of his long-time students (30+ years) Srivatsa Ramaswami, with whom I will spend a week in a teacher training next month. I touch his feet and thank him for showing me what pure yoga is and for inspiring me to go to India…to go home, to the heart of yoga.

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nandri!

by L. Valdez Karl



Nandri is “thank you” in Tamil and I’m thanking Sindhu for giving me these blog awards. nandri, nandri, nandri, Sindhu! hugs to you, my Indian sister! I think you know how I love Tamil Nadu!

Please check out Sindhu’s other blogs, especially Flower Girl’s Rural India and Flowergirl’s Recipes (for all you Indian food lovers.)

Sindhu honored me by asking if I would write something about my Indian adventures so mine was the first post in her Travelogue section of her blog. anytime I feel “homesick” for India (although I’ve only been to Tamil Nadu three times I consider it my second home), I go to Sindhu’s Rural India blog. my most wonderful experiences have been in rural Tamil Nadu, and I’ll tell you a secret: my dream is to open a yoga shala in Kumbakonam, teaching western visitors and helping the locals with therapeutic yoga. sigh…if only…hey, there’s a donation button in the sidebar, hint, hint…maybe I’ll get an anonymous benefactor…sigh….

People talk about wanting to go to India to see the “real India” — people think that the “real India” is all about naked sadhus, spirituality, yoga, and temple incense. but all of India is the “real India” — from the $200 a night hotel rooms to the rich Bollywood movie stars to the street beggars to the naked slum children using garbage for their toys. one of the things that I love about India is that nothing is hidden, everything is in your face 24/7, life and death on the streets. that can be very hard for westerners to get used to, if they ever do, but for me, it is liberation.

you either love or hate India, there is no in between. as soon as I put my feet down on Indian soil, I feel as if I have come home.

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March 31st , global action day for Tibet

by L. Valdez Karl

Please read my sister blog Ramblings of an Ageless Hippie Chick for information on the Global Action Day for Tibet.

Please sign the petition, watch the video, support Tibet.

BOYCOTT THE BEIJING OLYMPICS — AND THEIR SPONSORS COCA-COLA, LENOVO, and SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS!

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buddhist dog

by L. Valdez Karl


(photo credit: The Buddhist Channel)

Conan, the Buddhist dog, is just too sweet not to write about.

“Buddhists clasp their palms together to pray for enlightenment, but Conan, a chihuahua, appears to have more worldly motivations.

The dog has become a popular attraction at a Japanese temple after learning to imitate the worshippers around him.

“Conan started to pose in prayer like us whenever he wanted treats,” said Joei Yoshikuni, a priest at Jigenin temple on the southern island of Okinawa.

“Clasping hands is a basic action of Buddhist prayer to show appreciation. He may be showing his thanks for treats and walks,” he said.”

Conan is such the little cutie!

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friday fusion: Shakti

by L. Valdez Karl

Some of you may know John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. I saw the original Mahavishnu Orchestra when I was in high school in the 1970s and I was mesmerized. Their albums “Birds of Fire” and “Inner Mounting Flame” are jazz fusion classics and the albums contain poems by Sri Chinmoy. Carlos Santana was also a devotee of Sri Chinmoy.

After Mahavishnu, John McLaughlin went on to form the band Shakti. Shakti musician Zakir Hussain is the Ravi Shankar of the tablas in Hindustani music and of course, John McLaughlin is one of the best guitarists in the world. Many of you know Hindustani music only through Ravi Shankar, but Indian music (and Hindustani is only one small part of it) is as varied as India herself.

I know that many yoga people love the popular “yoga” musicians like Jai Uttal, Prem Joshua, and Girish, but if it wasn’t for groundbreakers like John McLaughlin and Shakti, fusing the sounds of Hindustani music with McLaughlin’s guitar, I don’t believe Jai Uttal, et. al. would be around now. Shakti was the real deal.


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emails from a Buddhist nun

by L. Valdez Karl


I sponsor a Buddhist nun named Tenzin Pema who lives at the Jamyang Choling Institute in Dharamsala, India. in the last two days I’ve received emails regarding the protests in Tibet.

Her first email read: “…am sure you know what is happening in Tibet at the very difficult time. It is very worrying and saddened to see that many Tibetan already killed and many imprisoned.

May peace and happiness become reality in Tibet and world very soon. Monks nuns and general public gathering at the Temple to do prayer and also doing peace march here in Dharamsala same as everywhere.

Metta and peace…”

The second email contained this attachment, a BBC interview with the Dalai Lama. nothing has been edited…

“Dalai Lama ‘helpless’ amid protests

As Tibetans make their most forceful demands for independence in years, their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in exile in Dharamsala, India, outlines his concerns to the BBC’s Chris Morris.

The Dalai Lama says he does not control the Tibetan people

“Am I early?” asked the Dalai Lama, as he ambled into the room. He sat down and coughed, and thanked us for coming.

“This is a critical time for us,” he said, as he waited for the interview to begin.

He compared it to 1959, an iconic date for many Tibetans, when a huge uprising against Chinese rule was suppressed, and the Dalai Lama himself was forced to flee into exile on horseback.

Eventually, he made his home here, in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, in this small town which is known to some as Little Lhasa.

It is awash with thousands of Tibetan activists-in-exile. As unrest in Tibet itself has escalated, there have been daily protests in Dharamsala throughout the week.

Cars waving Tibetan flags weave through the pedestrian traffic, leaflets are pressed into passing hands, and a hunger strike is taking place outside the entrance to the Dalai Lama’s temple.

I’m a spokesman for the Tibetan people, not the controller, not the master – Dalai Lama

And when the sun sinks below the mountain range, marchers – chanting Buddhist prayers for the souls of the dead – walk through the streets carrying candles.

“We have to do our bit,” said one of the marchers, who gave his name as Tenzin. “We have to support those who are struggling in Tibet itself, in our homeland.”

Emerging patience

But beyond the slogans there is not much that most people here can do except watch and wait, as accurate information about what is happening in Tibet becomes harder to find.

Many of the activists take a more radical line than the Dalai Lama himself. For years now he has campaigned for genuine autonomy in Tibet, not for independence. But a new generation seems increasingly impatient with nuanced diplomacy.

Dharamsala is now home to many Buddhist nuns and monks

“I’ve already received a request from Tibet,” he said. “Don’t ask for the demonstrations to stop.”

“I’m a spokesman for the Tibetan people, not the controller, not the master. It’s a peoples’ movement, so it’s up to them. Whatever they do, I have to act accordingly.”

Tibet’s spiritual leader is also appealing to the Chinese authorities. “Stability is important” is his message – but it must come from the heart, not simply from the use of physical force.

There is not much sign, though, that Beijing is listening.

“Of course I feel helpless,” the Dalai Lama admitted. He is particularly worried about the deadline given by China, for protestors to surrender by midnight on Sunday night or face the consequences.

But the one thing Tibet’s spiritual leader does have – here and around the world – is moral authority.

That is why President Bush met him in Washington recently, where the Dalai Lama was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, America’s highest civilian honour.

It infuriates China, but it is something that the authorities in Beijing cannot control.

And even if this spate of demonstrations peters out, even if they are successfully suppressed, it seems unlikely that we will have heard the last of the Tibetan issue in this Olympic year.”

The photo below was taken today (Sunday) by my gal pal in Nepal, Caroline aka Sirensongs.

Go to her blog to read her first-hand account of the attacks on Buddhist monks by Chinese thugs in Nepal….”This afternoon I witnessed a Tibetan monk beaten, along with two other protestors, during a nonviolent anti-China protest at Boudha Stupa.”

Also see my post on my sister blog that contains two posts from Vanessa on boycotting the Olympics.

Ironically this week the US saw fit to remove China from its list of human rights abusers.

Are you going to stay silent?

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every picture tells a story: saving Tibet

by L. Valdez Karl




(Tibetan protesters in exile held a candlelight vigil as part of an anti-China demonstration at Boudha in Kathmandu on Friday.
Photo: Prakash Mathema/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)


(photos nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 originally uploaded by The Buddhist Blog)

If you don’t know what is happening in Tibet, please visit my sister blog.

every picture tells a story.

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Gandhi: the movie

by L. Valdez Karl

For those of you who loved the movie Gandhi — or those of you who have never seen it — there is a 25th anniversary special edition DVD. it came out in 2007 but I just found out about it! the 2-disc set has interviews about filming in India, about finding the right actors, along with archival footage, plus the picture and sound have been digitally remastered.

from the reviewing website:

Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, a labor of love that took nearly 20 years to make it to the screen, is one of the last true epics that spans decades yet keeps you tied to an emotional, human anchor. That anchor would be Gandhi himself, Mohandas Gandhi or Mahatma “Great soul” Gandhi as he was referred to later on in his life by the people of India.

Winner of eight Academy Awards including Best Picture (1982), Best Director (Attenborough) and Best Actor (Ben Kingsley as Gandhi), Gandhi has been released for a second time on DVD, this time however as a glorious 2 disc set celebrating its 25th anniversary that has to be one of the best DVDs released in 2007.

The film chronicles the leader of the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. It opens with an appropriate statement from Attenborough stating, “No man’s life can be encompassed in one telling…least of all Gandhi’s….”

I have never been to north India where Gandhi spent most of his life. but what many people don’t know is that he also spent time in Tamil Nadu, the state that I travel to in India. I have been to Madurai twice, the last time just this past January, and I always make time for the Gandhi Museum. It is a place where I find peace in the riotous city of Madurai. the exhibits tell the story of Gandhi’s life in south India and how important Tamil Nadu was in the India’s struggle for independence. the last exhibit is in a room that is painted black — it is a glass case that contains the dhoti that Gandhi was wearing when he was assassinated and it still contains his blood stains.

I can not describe how much I love spending time at the museum, just walking around the grounds, visiting the bookstore, buying chai from the chai seller, who can’t speak English but always has a big smile for me when he gives me free pictures of Gandhi.

During my 2006 trip, on the train ride back to Chennai from Rameswaram (a 17 hour ride), my compartment mate was a businessman who started a conversation with me when he saw me reading Gandhi’s autobiography that I had bought in Madurai. It was the first time that I heard about how some Indians hate Gandhi. It really surprised me. I asked him why and he said that many Indians blame Gandhi for the Partition: “The partition of India left both India and Pakistan devastated. The process of partition had claimed many lives in the riots. Many others were raped and looted. Women, especially, were used as instruments of power by the Hindus and the Muslims; “ghost trains” full of severed breasts of women would arrive in each of the newly-born countries from across the borders.”

The Partition is still a very sensitive subject for many Indians. my compartment mate told me that many Indians hate Gandhi the same way that many Americans hate George Bush. those of us who know how much Martin Luther King, Jr. admired Gandhi will find this sentiment shocking.

some photos of the Gandhi Museum, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India….






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selling out

by L. Valdez Karl

I found this video via The Worst Horse which is all about pop- sub- and dharma-culture.

This video is the “Dharma-Burger/Video of the Moment: Get into a meditative pose. OK, good. Now, stare blankly — at the camera.”

from the Horse’s mouth: “Usually, the Horse doesn’t comment too much on the state of the yoga/pop-culture collision. We’ve got our hands full just keeping track of all the Buddhism, quasi-Buddhism, and meditation that’s currently in the mix. But we have made a couple of exceptions, and this video made by “Swami J” is the latest.”

We all know that in advertising “sex sells”, but nowadays “yoga sells”. add a few skinny “yoginis” — god forbid that any woman over size 2 would want some nice yoga clothes — and we have a winning combination for the American consumer.

can someone tell these ladies to eat a sandwich now and then?

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a reader’s view

by L. Valdez Karl


I get emails from people who comment on my posts, and the one below is from a friend in the yoga-rich San Francisco area who gave me permission to quote her (the emphasis is added.)

it does this old gal’s heart good to know that people read my yoga musings and are inspired to respond with such depth, and that I am not the lone voice in this modern yoga wilderness. plus she loves YogaDawg…:)

food for thought, talk amongst yourselves…..

*******************

“I am with you totally. I tell myself its just the Kali Yuga, our current era, which is known for shit being passed out as the truth. Now of course, my own beloved Siddha Yoga is the truth for me, but clearly born out of traditional Indian style yoga. When you mentioned the teacher in Chennai telling you its all about the relationship between teacher and student: that is my understanding of yoga as well.

So here I am, a physically “plus” sized gal, practicing Siddha Yoga for 25+ years. Love it when the physical, young folks taking their first yoga classes tell me how buff and happy they are now since taking ashtanga yoga classes. I tell them I also do yoga, practiced for all those years, lived in an ashram in India….and just look at their crazed reaction. Then I add that yoga, as practiced in India, is not just about how your body looks, but HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE: its all about love, baby. Not hearts and flowers love. The love you feel before you take actions. And that DOES NOT always mean to speak in a soft, spiritual voice, or to never feel anger, or to remove yourself from the world and live in a cave.

I liked your bit about the “price of yoga”. People will pay more to have their dog shit picked up than shuck out some do-re-me for individual instruction. Dakshina — it’s one of the practices of Siddha Yoga, I’m happy to say. Pay nothing, get nothing. Personal transformation? What’s that???

Once you get the taste of real homestyle cook’n, a MacDonald’s salad will never be the same. Its very difficult to articulate this concept to people coming to you to get their butts tight. How can I tell them about the personal yoga lessons was with my guru: one of the most transformative things that ever happened to me was when she hit me on the head with a marble. another time she hit me over the head with a wand of peacock feathers. What happened inside of me changed my headspace, my approach to life, everything, all in one small, silent and seemingly insignificant moment. Changed me for life. Saw life differently, and I must say, for the better, from then on.

IMHO, you’ve been turned onto homestyle cooking by your teachers in Chennai. once that door is open, you can’t go back. and you want your students to see it too: you are a teacher, you care for your students, you have integrity, and you don’t want them to settle for less. but they’re not asking for what you have to give. frustrating, isn’t it!

Got to say, I just love that Yogadawg’s perspective. here’s someone, online, who is putting it out there, confronting the US mass consumption style ideas about yoga. he’s a real “satsang” type. in Siddha Yoga, one of the practices, just like in Buddhist tradition, is to “keep the company (of others) who are seeking the truth”.

I do hope you’ll be able to do a 6 month stay in Chennai, being a student at the place you’ve been going to. now that “yoga” has become just a work-out for the trendy, with so many looking for their physical fix…to me, you have found a real gem in Chennai. Once you experience the true power of Homestyle Yoga, there is only one way to go: return and learn more.”

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