Rajanaka Newsletter for February 18 2023

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Aho’Rajanaka,

I hope this finds you well. According to Fahrenheit’s thermometer it went from 60 to 17 degrees in the last 48 hours here in Bristol. If you don’t like the weather ‘round here just wait a minute. Upon a time I longed for milder climes, then talked myself into “the seasons,” but now I just hold fast for the madness and try to accept the inevitable with a decent appearance of unconcern knowing full well that we are concerned. Yoga isn’t about denying the hard truths but trying to engage them skillfully. Well, as skillfully as we can. Would that help? I try to stay in the question to make a way forward both inside and out. This morning I wrote a bit more about staying with the fray if you care to read. I must caution you that an important example here involves our politics. But how could it not? We are political with or without our chosen participations.

https://contraiety.blogspot.com/2023/02/making-peace-in-all-of-it.html

If the world or life or the dog’s health, the climate, or even just what’s for dinner evokes some anxiety, you’re not alone. Glo (formerly Yogaglo) has just published an hour and some podcast where I talk about anxiety and yoga. You can use the Almighty Google to find that link. This coming week I’m recording another bit for Glo about stress and burnout. Who isn’t seems to be closer to the truth than any of that faux “we got this…” but we got this, one way or the other, and that’s what important. We aren’t helpless, we need not be victims of our own making, and we’re not going to quit doing what we can.

Engage or take a break if you need, action and non-action are both karma as Krsna reminds us: it is misaction that should concern us. Misaction begins in intention but in the end redounds to character meaning that we can try with all our hearts to do good, to be good, not because we must or because that is our “true” nature but because we can and that is the better choice. We must not fret we have not done our best, only that we will retreat from better. We’ll not be free from error, much less horror. But we can be free enough to understand misaction from the rest. This world demands much from us and I am heartened to believe you will be that good company. Is there a greater blessing than to have such friends? We may not always succeed but we will support the effort be the company we wish to keep.

Today’s Saturday Session continues our study of Rasa Theory. Every session means to have its own “coherence.” What I mean is that you can come to any and it will be worth your time. You needn’t worry if you have missed previous Sessions and, truth is, the recordings are there any time you like. Come today if you can. The Zoom link is always same same for Saturdays. Drop a rupee in PayPal or Venmo (svcourses@gmail.com).

We completed this past Thursday the Five Faces of Hanuman. These Sessions focused on the Tantric Hanuman and included stories and symbol but focused on mantra, mudra, and the subtle practices of Tantra. The Dropbox Archive is complete, so avail yourself. Tuition would be welcome ‘cause it’s the right thing to do. Links all below.

Tomorrow, Sunday at 5pm Eastern: Mahabharata. We are starting some of the best stories in the epic. Join us. Zoom link below.

A friend of mine told me that I’ve over-exposed myself, that there is too much available, that my continuing to offer Sessions on Zoom has zoomed us out. He is likely right about this. When I lived with Appa those many years, day in and day out he showed up. Some days I could barely hold my attentions. I was young, often tired despite the daily wakeup 4am cold bucket bath, and sometimes just tired of the work. I think he was too but he never seemed to tire of me. I know he did it for love when he might have done other things. I think to myself, I can try to be just half that man. And truth is, I do love the Rajanaka, you. Because you have been such good friends and because this is what we do, we show up for one another, when we can. So there will be new Sessions beginning in March on Thursdays and Saturdays along with our continuing Sunday Mahabharata. There will be Rajanaka Summer Camp July 6^th-10^th in Bristol, and there will pilgrimage India come December (beginning a few days after Christmas). Details will come this week so we can plan. Come when you can.

I have stacks of The New Yorker mostly unread. I know there is much there worth reading. I’m not ready to toss them. Life may not give us all the time we wish we had to do all the things we wish we could do. But those writers over there at that magazine of arts and literature, news and culture? They show up week in, week out. I’m not cancelling even if I never get to all of it. But I will get to some. I hope you make time to do a few things you really want to do. For my part, I’ll show up as much as I can and I mean to keep my promises. I feel confident you’ll help me do just that.

All the rest you need is under the line here. See you soon.

Saprema, with affection,

Douglas

Here is some of what is coming:

· The Rasa Sessions CONINUE THIS EVENING, Saturday February 11^th, 5pm Eastern. Zoom in. All Saturdays are at 5pm Eastern and always use the same Zoom link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95057662268

· The Weekend Session, The Trimurti, on February 26^th with our hosts Open Sky Yoga, a registration at www.openskyoga.com HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Apologies but attendance was meager.

· NEW Spring Courses, on Zoom, beginning in March. More about subject this week!!

· Rajanaka Summer Camp, July 6^th-11^th in Bristol, New York. Details VERY SOON.

· India Pilgrimage, December 27^th-January 10^th (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.

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.~~

There is a NEW 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

ALL Newsletters are now also available on the Kalliyam blogspot. Look here:https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/382690512817812933

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

Tbe 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.

· *MidWinter Thursdays: 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.

· *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

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.

· 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

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