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(few pictures taken in Nov 2011 and Mar 2012)
We had a wonderful session this morning. We had a small turnout and the air was spiritually charged both from the meditation session and the dance session. Here is Pravin-Ji's write up on what he covered. The content of this mail is:
1. Pravin-Ji's write up
2. Experience shared by a participant
3. Smt. Vidya Vinod's dance and a senior's comment
4. Acknowledging all the helping hands
respected Seniors and many others:
We started YOG session (Vipasana) @ 11:02 AM
OMcaram, Gayatri Mantra, Trabkam Yajamahe (invoking Shivji) ...
General: Observe incoming/Out going breath ... fast, uneven, subtle ... just observe. At nostril area/above the lips ... Just observe (and do not react) ...
10 minutes ... AFTER 10 minutes ... Buddham Zarnam Gachhaami ... Seniors can OPEN eyes. Pep talk for 1-2 minutes and continue ...
10 minutes ... AFTER 10 minutes ... Buddham Zarnam Gachhaami ... Seniors can OPEN eyes. Sensation in SCALP area (don't cling there ... don't cling to sensation ... it will change)
10 minutes ... AFTER 10 minutes ... Buddham Zarnam Gachhaami ... Seniors can OPEN eyes. Easiest way to do Antah:Karan for ANUBHUTI
Conversation between the Vipasana Practices ... (more discussion at end rather than in between)
Talked about: You are the part of that supreme/universe; Use technology sparingly (E-mail/TV/Phone etc);
Talked about: Sit like a rock during meditation (3 hours/day) to JELL the mind, whole body become ONE piece!
Talked about: Don't engage too much in a MUNDANE tasks ...
Talked about: Learn and get experience ... so you can teach your future generation
Talked about: 3 hrs/day meditation ... bright room, divine fragrance or to Cut the shackles of BHOUTIC Jagat.
Talked about: How long your photo album will be kept by your family? ... and so on (motivating thoughts) ...
Suggested (general): Seniors/retired ... get-up @ 5:00 AM or at least 6:00 AM ... take shower/tea/light breakfast ...
Sit-Down-Firmly-Make-Up-Your-Mind and BOTH husband/wife choose the same place for ONE-TWO hours/day and do VIPASANA meditation technique at home ... acquire needed experience, awesome experience. Know SELF.
( I am just paraphrasing the intent here), you will feel lighter, invoking Kundalini (explained some the vital sign/features)...
11:45 AM now ...
Anulom/Vilom: 12 minutes ... Question/Answer
Showed FEW micro exercises ...
Class ended at 12:00pm. Thank you ALL ... for participating in meditation.
Open time slot for folks who wanted to sing BHAJAN (while waiting for LUNCH) ...
One participant had this to say about the meditation session this morning:
"This morning session was simply beyond description for me. I had moments of clarity during the meditation session. Your guidance every 10 minutes was helpful. For the first time, I had an experience of what "see things as they are" meant. I had also the sense of One-ness that connected us all in that spiritual environment. I also liked your constant reminder of turning away from mundane things and turning to the Divine. "
We had lunch at 12:10pm. We were fortunate to have the founder of Nrityalaya school of Dance Smt. Vidya Vinod come and explain some of the basics of Bharatanatyam. She explained the origin of Bharatanatyam, the three kinds of dance, the navarasAs, the ashtanayakas. Her explanation of Shiva and Parvati dance was so vivid for us to visualize Lord Shiva doing his tAndavam, while , Goddess Parvati's did lAsyam. The other word Vidya mentioned was "angashuddi" - body in perfection. This reminded me as being similar to "chittashuddi" - mind perfection/ purification for the Divine to reveal ITSelf. angashuddi for me meant body purification for the Divine to manifest through the body which takes Bharatanatyam to a different plane, not just an art form.
We are truly blessed to be a part of this rich tradition where the Indian classical art forms repeatedly purified the body, mind intellect for the Divine to reveal. One Senior commented "from here on we will look at bharatanatyam performance in a totally different light". Thank you Smt. Vidya for this knowledge sharing session.
Our sincere thanks to so many hands that went into making this event possible. Tikaram-ji and Ponnima for helping setup the table and decorating with strawberries and oranges for the centerpiece, Jyoti, Runalee, Sonali, Bharati, Devraj-ji for helping make and serve the lunch, to Alok-ji, Bharati, Ponnima, for helping in the clean up and Devraj-ji for pick-up/drop-off of the seniors.
Last but not the least, programs like these inspire me to continue to serve the senior community. Personally I would like to see more of these kind of programs, to that effect, I will be sending another mail in the next two weeks to get your input to restructure our seniors program.