Rajanaka Newsletter February 2 2023

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Aho’Rajanaka,

I hope this finds you well. I have been more elusive than Phil these past few winter weeks. Apologies. Just keepin’ my head down and in it, doing the work, and showing up to pour heart and soul into the Zoom machinery. If you haven’t been able to make it to a live Session recently, the Archive for all current and past recordings is available and up to date. Join us when you can. We miss ya’, you are always most welcome.

On this auspicious day in which we celebrate the marmota monax, I came out seeing my shadow ready to chuck wood, whistle appropriately, and with (at least) half an eye out for the usual coyotes, badgers, bob (and for that matter mary) cats, and whomever else might want to send us runnin’ for the burrow. Nothing unusual. I haven’t burnt the house down (literally) in at least two years. I’m reasonably sure we will have (at the very least) six more weeks of winter ‘round here, climate change notwithstanding. All’s good.

Given the vagaries of predictive meteorology in this frightfully weathersome world, any day you actually can see your shadow is a very good day even if it’s not necessarily an easy one. Since when did better mean easy? Well sometimes. But comfort, like happiness, is overrated once we start to get on with our Inner Phil (be that he-chuck, she-chuck, or rather-not-say chuck, it’s always good to Chuck Check). Whether you’d prefer to scurry back to the haven of the burrow to catch a few more Zzzs or come out with the coterie (yes, a group of groundhogs is a “coterie), not to worry, we got your back when you’ve got your shadow and vice-versa.

That shadow thing is often hard to find because it’s hidden and we’re not all that sure we really do want to see it. Got Hanuman? Shadows can be hard to recognize even when they are as innocent as a chuckling. (Didja’ know that baby groundhogs are called chucklings? For reals. Now how cute is that?) These adorable but pesky marmots also know a thing or two we humans could well take to heart. According to the All-Knowing Google via Wiki, “Groundhogs are an extremely intelligent animal forming complex social networks, able to understand social behavior, form kinship with their young, understand and communicate threats through whistling, and work cooperatively to solve tasks such as burrowing.” Well then. It’s pretty clear we have a lot to learn from these true hiberators. But do whistle if you need help, okay?

Now before I scurry back into my burrow, a few quick reminders.

Tonight we’re going furtherfurther deeperdeeper into Hanuman of Five Faces. But you are mostmost welcome. We’re going to learn a pranayama and mudra connection to this most elusive of mythic monkeys and much more about the root mantra that is Panca Mukhi, the Son of the graceful Anjani. Each of these Sessions is worth your time and we’re going to turn things inside out once again, shake it out, see what happens. Thursday Sessions are always 7pm Eastern and the Zoom is always the same too: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/98183733328

Saturday, Rasa Essentials continues. We are on break THIS weekend, midSessions and resume Februrary 11^th. Rasa has been tasty I think. There is so much here to learn and these Sessions offer something for everyone who wants to take their yoga further into the heart. All Saturdays are at 5pm Eastern and always use the same Zoom link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95057662268

Sunday Mahabharata has been soooo good, even I think so. I think two weeks back really turned us all inside out (in a good way) Please take that Session for a free download, any time. Here’s the link to that Session: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/nkvjy0o2rsitc0wgmjk1i/h?dl=0&rlkey=p0izd73629z8g54ads5l97hjg

With Mahabharata you get a great story every session whether you have been with us regularly or not even once. We are on break THIS weekend and resume February 12^th.

Sundays are always 5pm Eastern, Zoom links same same:

https://rochester.zoom.us/j/314987250

On February 26^th there will be a specil seminar hosted by our pals at Open Sky Yoga on Zoom. Our subject is the Trimurti: Brahma, Visnu, and Shiva and this will be the sort of thing good for both beginners (like your students) and more advanced yogis (umm, you). You can register for this on the Open Sky website: www.openskyyoga.com. Do make time for this one. You’ll dig it like a chuckling.

Below the line are the correct links for 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.

See you zoomer or later, and please please take good care, as ever, write to me, I always love to hear from you

Douglas

douglas@rajanaka.com

· *MidWinter Thursdays: Pancamukha Anjaneya, The Five-Face Hanuman of the Tantra

Time: Six Sessions on Thursday Evenings, 7pm Eastern

Dates: January 12 we begin! Jan 12/19/26, then February 9/16/23
ZOOM link for all Thursdays: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/98183733328

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.

· *MidWinter 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

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.

· 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: Begins Sunday, January 8^th. Schedule will take us through the winter: Jan 8/15/22/29, Feb 12/19, March 5

ZOOM link is the same for all Sundays:

https://rochester.zoom.us/j/314987250

Tuition: $20 per Session or $15 if you buy a lot of them. Your call. Complete Archive INCLUDING a free Audio book is here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bfqt15y3n0uglir/AAAB_89LiCOob0hJI1w8BK7_a?dl=0

· SPECIAL EVENT with François Raoult and Open Sky Yoga

Please pre-register on-line at www.openskyyoga.com

TRIMURTI: The Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva

Time: February 26^th, 9am-1pm EST, $108

Description: The three Hindu gods known as the Trimurti are often cited as providing a model for organization of the universe. Brahma Creates, Vishnu Sustains, and Shiva Destroys. But this very elementary beginning is only the bare outline of a much richer understanding that leads us to a more refined and elaborate vision of the worlds in which we live and the practices of yoga through which we might engage our lives. There are further extensions of the mythic structure that provide relationships with sublime feminine in the form of corresponding goddesses and more far-reaching connections. Within this essential structure is a wealth of symbols, strategies, and concepts that mean to guide us to deeper appreciation and practices that inform a life of yoga. Our seminar will engage the Trimurti imagery to create a foundation for understanding the power of myth and its useful application in our study and practice of yoga. No previous understanding or exposure is required, just an open mind and a willing heart.

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