Rajanaka Newsletter 25 February New Courses for March and April
Saturday, February 25, 2023
Aho’Rajanaka,
I hope this finds you well.
NEW SPRING SESSIONS BEGINNING:
THURSDAY, MARCH 2ND SIX MURUGA MYTHS
SATURDAY, MARCH 4TH TEMPLE MYTHS.
Tuition has been lowered because your time is always valuable.
Please read on and then the details.
Word this morning was snow in…LA? Did that happen? And once again this past week we learned that truth depends on your news source, not on what’s true. Granted, it’s been a long time since Yudhisthira’s chariot touched the ground for just a little fibbing but the receipts are in. It just mustn’t become a post-fact world if we’re to stand a chance though I bet you’ve noticed even the facts seem harder to believe. The good news is that there things just as important that don’t ask you to believe anything, much less “get the point,” come to the bottom line, or uncover the real truth. Wait. What?
If I had a rupee for every time I hear someone use the word “myth” to mean false, bogus, mistaken, or phony, I could take us all to India for frees. Geez. Words mean what people think they mean (think: yoga) and while I’ve given up crusading to reverse popular understandings, I remain committed to more thoughtful meanings. You may have noticed we don’t even bother calling Rajanaka “Tantra” anymore, better just to move on and not be more misunderstood. To be thoughtful, to be appreciative of complexity is to know that you are yourself not always eager to appreciate complexity. Alas simple usually sounds better even when it’s nowhere near true.
I take solace in thinking that we can think about myths without defending their value, knowing as far as we can the difference between bad-facts-myths and really-good-stories. What makes a myth a particularly good story is that it never requires you to believe it. In fact it demands that you don’t. Instead you get to ponder, dream, meditate, ruminate, sometimes chafe, worry, repine, languish, even sweat. (Who me? Sweat?) But you also get to resonate, remember, imagine, consider, even dare I say think? I think you take the point. There’s never a right myth or a correct or definitive version. There’s just someone’s telling.
And it gets touchy too because there’s never been a myth that hasn’t from its outset been appropriated, plagiarized, stolen, or claimed. People make myths their own no matter where they’ve come from, even if that’s the collective unconscious. Most importantly, myths have no one interpretation, that being their greatest gift and the way we distinguish them from facts. Facts are reductive, we’re looking for answers and more narrow constructs. Myths are meant to be expansive, they will defy singularity, insist orthodoxy is at best plurality: in a myth we’re not persuading ourselves of truth but creating an invitation to conjure meaning.
Meaning isn’t about arriving at the truth but neither is myth your own alternative-fact. There aren’t alternative facts, only complexities we find difficult to sort out (and sometimes can’t). But there are myths that will help us with meaning-making and that can enrich our lives. No myth is definitive any more than its meanings can be so diminished.
Myth is a game of addition, elevation, and like a good yoga class, provides a chance to stretch some and expand if you dare. You need not break boundaries, merely bring yourself to that place where plausibility is confounded by the opportunity for growth yet unrealized. That means that myths are often best not when they are safe but when we are keenly aware that they are not but that we need them for those very reasons. Best to tell a myth in good company and consider its fruitful convolutions with respect for the facts.
· TODAY is our last of our six sessions on Rasa Theory (for now). And today we’ll make rasa a practice that speaks to our experience as 21st century yogis. This one would be worth your time even if you’ve not made it before, and the Archive will be there anytime. 5pm Eastern. Zoom in here: All Saturdays are at 5pm Eastern and always use the same Zoom link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95057662268
· SUNDAY MAHABHARATA is ON this week, and that’d be tomorrow.
With Mahabharata you get a great story every session whether you have been with us regularly or not even once.
Tuition is now reduced to $15 because it’d be good for you to come when you can.
Sundays are always 5pm Eastern, Zoom links same same:
https://rochester.zoom.us/j/314987250
· Rajanaka Summer Camp, July 6th-11th in Bristol, New York. Details VERY SOON. A minor plea: If there is going to be Summer Camp I need folks to register and offer a down payment to secure our place in the shade. That pre-registration is $200, payable using PayPal or Venmo @ svcourses@gmail.com or PayPal at nallapaampu@gmail.com. Our total cost will not rise from last year and our new venue at Bristol Valley Vineyards is a sure winner. Planning for summer seems almost as impossible as leaving for India after Christmas eleven or so months from now but We Gots to Plan. PLEASE, take a moment, think about the Great Good Fun that is ahead, and Join Us if you can. Worth it. Like nothing else but in a good way.
· India Pilgrimage, December 27th-January 10th (dates to be confirmed but start planning here.) Costs will be very very very close to our last trip three years back. We mean to be as affordable as possible.
NEW SESSIONS!!
SPRING SESSIONS BEGINNING:
THURSDAYS IN MARCH & APRIL at 7pm Eastern
SIX MURUGA MYTHS: THE NONBINARY ARCHETYPE
You may not be much familiar with Ganesha’s brother Murugan. He is really only “important” in south India where his temple cult is significant. But in this archetype of the Tamils resides one of the great body of stories and imagergy. One of Muruga’s names is Shanmukha, Six Faces, and for each there is a temple and a very particular story. We will go on mythic pilgrimage together to the six temple myths of Muruga. (In December we are visiting these very temples on India Pilgrimage. This would be a great opportunity to make these trips.
Tuition is $15 per Session, or $90 for all Sessions to PayPal or Venmo (svcourses@gmail.com) . If you can’t make it live, the Archive recording will always be available.
The Zoom for all Thursdays at 7pm is always the same. ZOOM LINK: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/98183733328
Dates: March 2, 16, 23, 30, April 6, 13
SATURDAYS IN MARCH AND APRIL
CORE TEMPLE MYTHS OF SHIVA, SHAKTI, AND. 5pm Eastern on Zoom
In Tamil country the Gods are everywhere and so are their temples. Each and every temple has what is known as a sthala-purana, its own “ancient place tale”. In these temple myth sometimes familiar stories are retold but always with a twist and sometimes the tale is distinctive and unlike anything else we’ve heard. Six weeks, six stories, six temples in Tamil country each with their own lore. Dive deeply into mythologies that matter.
Tuition is $15 per Session, that’s $90 for all Sessions to PayPal or Venmo (svcourses@gmail.com) . If you can’t make it live, the Archive recording will always be available.
The Zoom for all Saturdays at 5pm is always the same. ZOOM LINK:
https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95057662268
Dates: March 4, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15
So much more. NEW FREE ONE HOUR, A Conversation About the Goddess Aranyani, The Wild One of the Forest, on the Archive here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fzcqc48pzzlilxa/AAB6LMj-WGPpjEBuEp6eqjz5a?dl=0
ALL Newsletters are now also available on the Kalliyam blogspot. Look here:https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/382690512817812933
More still below the line, see you soon, okay?
Saprema, Douglas
&&
The Archives.
And all the information you need to download. Tuition is on the honor system. Please use svcourses@gmail.com for Venmo or PayPal or use nallapaampu@gmail.com for Paypal. If you don’t use either send a check in snailmail and we’ll be grateful too (make it out to me, 7296 Gregg Road, Bloomfield, NY 14469). And if you don’t, can’t, or just won’t that’s cool but send me a postcard with your return address and I will send you one back. Who doesn’t like to get a postcard? I love postcards.
You can find all of our Newsletters on the Kalliyam Blogspot here:
https://kalliyam.blogspot.com/2023/01/rajanaka-newsletter-january-10-2023.html
And so much to read on the Rajanaka Sammelana, Rajanaka Adesa, and the Contraiety [SIC] Blogspots, links here:
https://rajanaka.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-story-in-news-rajanaka-past-and.html
https://rajanakadesa.blogspot.com/2023/01/vrata-resolutions-and-new-year.html
https://contraiety.blogspot.com/2022/08/what-you-havent-earned-is-more-important.html
That should give us something to talk about.
· Pancamukha Anjaneya, The Five-Face Hanuman of the Tantra. NOW IN ARCHIVE. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d62llefrjvyidefn3uequ/h?dl=0&rlkey=p774e7zbme37d8cc49ocysog2
What will you find?
Six Sessions and PDF to aid in study. Write to me if you need help.
Description: No form of Hanuman is more important or less understood and studied than the great Pancamukha. Here Hanuman bears the visage of Varaha the Boar, Garuda the Raptor, Hanuman the Monkey, Narasimha the Lion Man, and Hayagriva the Horse. We will bring this character to life in mythos, mantra, and mudra, in theory and practice, and there will be new stories and work that extends far beyond what we have done before with the Tantric Hanuman. Everyone is welcome. We start at the beginning and we go deep.
Tuition for Six Sessions is $150, payable over time if you need, use PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com or nallapaampu@gmail.com) or Venmo (douglas-brooks-8 or svcourses@gmail.com) If you can’t afford full tuition, talk to me. Your access is guaranteed. Tuition further promises unlimited access to the Recorded Dropbox Archive that will allow you to listen whenever you like. Registration for all is by attendance and tuition is on the honor system.
· Saturday CORE: Rasa in Theory and Practice.
Time: Six Sessions on Saturday Evenings, 5pm Eastern
Dates: January 14 we begin! Jan 14/21/28 then February 11/18/25
ZOOM link for all Saturdays: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95057662268
ARCHIVE is HERE: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d4uwwjw17seca2livd6r2/h?dl=0&rlkey=nh4g7xj6x7skeghw4x6tcsk2c
Description: Rasa means essence, taste, liquidity, flavor, sentiment, elemental feeling and emotion. At the heart of the study of poetry, Rasa Theory is a remarkable, rich, and complex method of analysis and appreciation of artistry and aesthetics. But rasa is also a roadmap, a process and practice, a method for understanding and exploring our most elemental feelings. Rajanaka has among the most developed and useful rasa traditions of yoga. At the center of every yoga is engagement with feeling and the development of “taste”: rasa is the core of our being and here we learn the way through that labyrinth of essence.
Tuition for Six Sessions is $150, payable over time if you need, use PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com or nallapaampu@gmail.com) or Venmo (douglas-brooks-8 or svcourses@gmail.com) If you can’t afford full tuition, talk to me. Your access is guaranteed. Tuition further promises unlimited access to the Recorded Dropbox Archive that will allow you to listen whenever you like. Registration for all is by attendance and tuition is on the honor system.
· SUNDAY MAHABHARATA.
EVERY Sunday is a new story, every bit of it makes sense no matter when you choose to attend!
Time: Sessions on Sundays at 5pm Eastern.
Dates: Every Sunday unless we announce otherwise!
ZOOM link is the same for all Sundays:
https://rochester.zoom.us/j/314987250
Tuition: $15 per Session or $20 and all goes to India causes. Your call. Complete Archive INCLUDING a free Audio book is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bfqt15y3n0uglir/AAAB_89LiCOob0hJI1w8BK7_a?dl=0
Tuition for any of these Archives is $150 for complete access. You are on your honor to access them as you please and offer tuition via PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com or nallapaampu@gmail.com) or by Venmo (svcourses@gmail.com or douglas-brooks-8).
Gayatri Mantra
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/r58rwnp3ryxgi6a6y8yme/h?dl=0&rlkey=59kbd7hjdrl8n809zv8becmdi
Lalita 1000 Names
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/18o5rtle7p91hz2/AADQnph8ofpPAX5mtW7mX-L4a?dl=0
OM Autobiography
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/11jd30d14ibjjtv3wauaj/h?dl=0&rlkey=1wugbag9m7myo1c50gt6qoa6d
Shakuntala for India
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/osx5n6i9vrz5vi5ek9vch/h?dl=0&rlkey=pa7akqysgrauu07mw9te61yb1
Pancamukha Hanuman
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d62llefrjvyidefn3uequ/h?dl=0&rlkey=p774e7zbme37d8cc49ocysog2
Rasa Theory
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/d4uwwjw17seca2livd6r2/h?dl=0&rlkey=nh4g7xj6x7skeghw4x6tcsk2c
Free Saturdays in 2023
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rm505c2fcy04y3upn5abv/h?dl=0&rlkey=6gk1d5rzyypn0r37100wzv5hk
Sricakra Puja Appa Svadhyaya
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bi7z70589ztuak4/cakra%20puja.wav?dl=0
Religion 270 The Meaning of Life
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ab5ioprn7bk2qgsd8800i/h?dl=0&rlkey=k9g4xukvctff91fkye1wo5mdr
Poised for Grace Audio Book
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iw0za7jwml6m7mc/AACjDhxf9owOXjbkzT2r2k-Ra?dl=0
Patanjali Essential Core
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2qd7wc5qroiva3v/AAAaZPvnc9I2JQSrO88Iv1exa?dl=0
Sivakamasundari Practicum
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ifddb0hglwrm5hx/AABGyYYfSJ9B_KHhU1LgdsT3a?dl=0
Mahabharata Sundays
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bfqt15y3n0uglir/AAAB_89LiCOob0hJI1w8BK7_a?dl=0
· FREE One Hour Conversation this week on the Archive entitled Prana and the Five Pranas, Origins, Meanings and Mudras. (Please download directly from Dropbox, you need not ask to join the folder.) Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/qcc7o1wxw69v55iyt5nlf/h?dl=0&rlkey=6jhxlo0i6zp2o69kuoxe8mkh5
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