Rajanaka Newsletter: August! September Sessions, Cool Stuff Ahead

 Saturday, August 5, 2023

 

Aho’Rajanaka,

 

I hope this finds you well.  It’s been a rainy summer here in Bristol and with that very green and a lot of bunnies.  I never seen so many bunnies.  If you’re a fox or an owl, you’re likely happier than we are but we do love the bunnies.  What’s not to like?  None of us ‘round here want August to end, but it’d be wise to get wheels turning for fall.  I’m only three weeks from University (but who’s counting?)  Good news: I’ve not (yet) been indicted for conspiracy to overthrow the government.  Bad news: I really gotta’ finish cleaning the barn and prepare for school.  I tell myself that it’s a blessing to feel like there’s never enough time.  Really.  Wouldn’t you like more time to read?  To catch up on movies or TV?  Learn Sanskrit?  We can justly bemoan being busy about banalities (and excessive alliteration) but lots of the things I justgotstodo I might actually enjoy doing.  I hope as much for you.  

 

It's easier than ever to know but it’s as hard as ever to learn.  It’s always a good time to consider what you want to do with the time you have.  

 

At least that’s the way it seems to me.  I hope you know I remain committed to learning with you. If you’d like to study together, I’ll be here to help, best I can, whenever you have the time and inclination.  I know this might seem overstated because we have a long history.  But we’re living in times when what we expect, hope for or think we can count on, where our norms measures seem up for grabs.  It’s hard to get back norms that have once been ignored or violated.  But I think if we stay true to our hearts---that’s the meaning of “confident”---then we stand a chance.  That’s not faith, that’s something we can do.  


Today, I’ve got to work on other things, so there is no Saturday Conversation.  See you soon!

Tomorrow, Sunday, August 6th, we will join for The Mahabharata.  One story at a time.  Come any time.  You are always welcome.  5pm Eastern, Zoom in here, it’s always the same link: 

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

The Recordings Archive is always available.  Tuition and links below the line.

 

We are on holiday beginning Monday, August 7th and will resume our ZOOM Sessions in September.  Here’s the plan.   Further details regarding are forthcoming.

 

EARLY FALL COURSES BEGINNING SEPTEMBER: 

THURSDAY POETRY, SATURDAY MYTHOLOGY, SUNDAY MAHABHARATA

 

THURSDAY EVENINGS, 7PM EASTERN, FIVE SESSIONS

“FOR THE LOVE OF MA: THE POETS AND POETRY OF GODDESS KĀLĪ”

FIVE SESSIONS ON ZOOM BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 7TH

(September 7/14/21/28 October 5)

Zoom Link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/98183733328 

Tuition is $100, payable by PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com) or Venmo (douglas-brooks-8)

 

 

SATURDAYS EVENINGS, 5PM EASTERN, FIVE SESSIONS

“KRSNA TALES: YOGIN, PRINCE, LOVER, GOD, SORCERER”

(September 9/16/23/30 October 7)         

Zoom Link: https://rochester.zoom.us/j/95057662268 

Tuition is $100, payable by PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com) or Venmo (douglas-brooks-8)

 

SUNDAY MAHABHARATA, 5PM EASTERN

(Resumes September 10th and carries on until we’re done in 2065 on my 108th birthday)

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

Tuition is $16 per Session, payable by PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com) or Venmo (douglas-brooks-8)

 

We will of course continue through the winter, so these are just our first set of offerings.  I’m listening closely to your input and suggestions, always feel free to write with ideas.  Sadie would love to hear from you too.  Send postcards (7296 Gregg Road, Bloomfield, NY 14469) and we’ll send one back.  Who doesn’t love a postcard?

I will be writing next week with all sorts of information about our fall Sessions, including more details about the poetry and mythology we’ll be reading together.  I have plenty to say about the current state of affairs in our beleaguered world but not to burden you here.  It’s August.  Take some time to rest, if you can.  Write to me anytime (douglas@rajanaka.com).  Our community is vibrant, caring, and inclusive---and you’re welcome now, then, and whenever you can make it.

 

Please take care.  We’ll talk soon.  Lots Recording Archives and tons of free stuff too below the line.  Download some recordings and go for some walks.  Listen, laugh, learn---it’s what we do.  

 

Breathe, we’re gonna get through this together.

 

Saprema, with affection Douglas

 

P.S.  Re: Hon. Justice Moxilla Upadhayaya and how to say her name.
The presiding magistrate judge in the Trump DC Case this past week was the honorable Moxila Upadhyaya.  The Sanskrit spelling of the Judge's first name would be MokSila. (I mean in transliterated Roman script.) That is the "hard" palatal "s" sound you hear is like what you hear in the familiar, moksa or ksatriya. Say, sorta' fast, "ick-Sh".) The choice to use an "x" in English comes pretty close to accomplishing the Sanskrit sound so long as you do not soften the "x" to "zha"-ish sound and say more like -ix (say "i-k-x(s)"). (By meaning her name is a feminine grammatical form meaning "One who is Liberated.")

Her surname is not uncommon in north Indian vernaculars and comes directly from Sanskrit. First, try this: UpAdh-yA-ya. In Sanskrit the first "u" is a short vowel like the "u" in "but.", thus say "uh". The first and second "a" is a long vowel (like "mAh"). The word Upadhyaya (and as a proper name) means "learned' or scholarly, usually a teacher of Vedic recitation or Sanskrit grammar and literature as such, more in the sense of a pundit than a "spiritual mentor" (where the word "acarya" would be more common for the latter of similar stature). Court judges in Sanskrit lore often have this very name! Her name means "judge." The judge by ancestry has a typical brahmin name that is used across north India from as far south as Maharastra all the way east to Bengal).

The problem I am hearing is that people don't know where to put the emphasis. Thus: u-padh-YAAH-YAAH. (That's upa-adhy-AA-YAAH, any better that time?)

However the Judge says her name is obviously correct but this would be the correct Sanskrit pronunciation. I will say it aloud for you on our Zoom Sessions so every one can hear it.

Thanks for your attention. ---yr friendly Skt pundit

 

&&

All FREE Special Saturdays for 2022 and 2023 are in these Archives for download.  For 2022 go here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/a34ja95pg4t8bamatfq3q/h?rlkey=0dcorxwfqhocsiime5rhcju1t&dl=0

For 2023 Specials go here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/rm505c2fcy04y3upn5abv/h?rlkey=6gk1d5rzyypn0r37100wzv5hk&dl=0

 

&&

Rajanaka Summer Camp 2023, “The Sorcery of Śiva: Teachings on Abhicara and the Luminous Shadow”.
Dropbox Archive link is here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/836d746qa8917cdcgnjll/h?rlkey=bqb06vxanp69s4o17gar035nx&dl=0

Tuition for the Archive is $200, please use the usual PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com) or Venmo (same email or douglas-brooks-8).


 

THE HEART OF RECOGNITION SESSIONS

Please use the usual PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com) or Venmo (douglas-brooks-8). 

*Dropbox Recordings Available IN FULL, NOW, Anytime!: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/3lvz5j1ajcidwjasy7fsl/h?dl=0&rlkey=qibpejcv3blkq0ngmjx6atsc8

*All Courses are recorded and available on our Archive for download.  

*Tuition for the Archive is $150, please use the usual PayPal (svcourses@gmail.com) or Venmo (same email or douglas-brooks-8).

INDIA is a go.  If you are interested in joining us on the India Pilgrimage that can still happen for you.  There’s room.   There are more details below the line but you can write to me directly with any questions or interests, douglas@rajanaka.com.  Join the Facebook Group Rajanaka 2023 India Pilgrimage even if you don’t think you can come this time.  You’ll meet lovely people and you won’t be able to resist.  This is the real deal.

 

SUNDAY MAHABHARATA

ALMOST EVERY Sunday---DATES AND REMINDER ABOVE---AND there is always ia 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 Recorded Archive INCLUDING a free Audio book is here:

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

(Remember that you must download Sessions from Dropbox because when you listen directly on Dropbox you receive only the first hour.)

NEW ARCHIVE COURSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE FROM THIS PAST SPRING 2023.

·      The Tamil Goddess in Six Sessions, tuition for all Sessions is $95.  You can download from here directly. Tuition is on the honor system, use Paypal or Venmo (svcourses@gmail.com)
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/owz6urldp6rnl4nv6bpdh/h?dl=0&rlkey=7rty7mxnjwk301bjk6vt7qtpi

 

·      Muruga of the Six Temples, tuition for all Sessions is $95 payable as PayPal or Venmo (svcourses@gmail.com), here is the Dropbox link for downloading directly: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/1fwu9qhlghlmz9t1a1sd2/h?dl=0&rlkey=2lz0ox3znbhl0iqc48qu59gpx

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

 

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.

  • Rasa in Theory and Practice.

Six Sessions on Saturday Evenings

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.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January 25th, 2024 UPDATE: Rajanaka Winter Sessions, Summer Camp, and a Free Session This Saturday

Image
  Thursday, January 25, 2024   Aho’Rajanaka,   I hope this finds you well.   We’re going to need each other this year, maybe more than ever.  Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse or weirder, it will and you’ll feel a lot better in good company.  It will be good to be in the conversation with you.   India Pilgrimage this year was pretty darn wonderful this year, gotta’ say.  Re-entry has been interesting.  (N.B., not every use of the word “interesting” is a good thing, much like the word “fragrant.”  Except when it isn’t.  You take my point?)  There are good stories yet to be told.  And there are a few more Pilgrimage Diaries yet to come.  I hope you’ve enjoyed these---all on the Rajanaka Substack and all free.   I thought it prudent to take another week before we begin Winter Semester.   It may some are actually looking forward to these Sessions, I sure am.   But I think we need to get the word out and refreshed. When was the last time (maybe ever?) that you had a solid, serious
Read more

Rajanaka Newsletter January 10 2023

January 10, 2023   Aho’Rajanaka,   I hope  you’re doing great  you’re well.    I think it’s safe to say ---wait, you know darn well that that  isn’t  safe to say--- that we’re learning more how “to live with.”    Living with ourselves may be the hardest yoga but it’s not the only.    There are others too.    Don’t you  always  just sometimes want to hit  ESC  and make it all go up and into the corner of your soul’s home screen?    We’re not eva’ going to be post-Covid, democracy like  most  everything else isn’t safe and secure  and never has been , and there’s no conclusion in sight.    Shall we add a dollop of gallows humor?  So rarely enjoyed in UnicornYogaWorld.     We  do  know that  sooner or later  the bleeding  does  stop. (<- Yes, I stole that from a doctor among you.)   Got meaning?   I’m teaching a University course this semester entitled  The Meaning of Life  and on the eve of the semester considering the educational value of dropping the entire proposed syllabus in favo
Read more

Rajanaka Newsletter February 3, 2024

Image
  Saturday, February 3, 2024   Aho’ Rajanaka,   I hope this finds you well.  The sun, well at least I think it’s the sun, has peeked through this wintry morning in Bristol.  My first reaction was “what’s that big orange thing in the sky.”  Then I remembered, oh yeah, there  is  a sun just not much ‘round here.  That’s cool, I say.  Short of catastrophe, every day has got its longs and shorts.  I really do want every day to be its blessing, even out here in the cold cloudy nowhere sane people would move to and mostly filled with rednecks wtf am I doing here Great Lakes.  It has its charms.  Living with yourself will be the hardest and the most important thing you ever do.  Lord knows, others will appreciate your efforts.  Well, maybe.   Good to keep it real, I say.  I am no optimist by nature because I find looking for the bright side is too much wishful thinking.  But the cynic or pessimist won’t do either because, if you think about it some, those attitudes create the  same deficiency
Read more