Best Yogic Poems
Scented smoke from sandalwood upwards rose
As the venerable sage in yogic pose
Chanted arcane, esoteric Vedic prose.
The Sylvan glade with marigold and rose,
Where the doe with its deer fearlessly goes,
For its tranquility the Rishi chose.
The ancient mantras of mysterious force
Stirred up the Asuras, put them in throes,
Invoked the Deva, who blessings bestows.
The demons destroyed, there were no further woes,
The sage sat in peace his sagas to compose.
Born thus were amanuenses of Epics, I suppose.
~ 10 May 2016 ~
Sukhasana – The Easy Pose Step 02
Posture -
Step of the Week
The easy posture to start with. Just sit on any flat comfortable ground (it should not be spongy ground or beds). Fold your legs at the knees that one foot rests inside your knee fold of your opposite leg and the other foot is on the ground beneath the knee ford of the opposite leg. This is the easiest pose to start practicing Yoga till you learn and practice to sit in the next right pose for Yogic breathing we would learn as Padmasana.
Sukhasana – The Easy Pose
In Praise of Sukhasana
When one sits
In this easy pose
To start practicing Yoga
The mild reconditioning
Of your nervous system
Starts to take you
In the realms of
Those shining stars
Which exists in
Tranquility and peace.
Gaining peace of mind
Remains the ultimate goal
Of every human being and
It began to show its
Beauty on your mind
And your heart
As soon as you start Yoga
To get filled with
The inner joy of peace
To feel the light of your God.
This simple posture would
Slowly eliminate
Your exhaustion and fatigue
Giving you
A highly needed relaxation and relief.
Even if you have strained yourself
By hard labor or games
You will feel
A soothing touch
In your mind and body
Which start creating its affects
As soon as you practice Yoga.
Your daily practice would slowly take you
In the realms of peace
And gradually Yoga would start
It’s functioning of rejuvenating
Your vital organs
For a better performance
Which are the key?
To happiness and
Your fitness and love for all.
Ravindra
Kanpur India 08 07 2013 ......... NEXT STEP NEXT WEEK
NOTE: This pose can be practiced any number of time in a day even after meals.
To see the pose of Sukhasana a URL is given below:
http://www.google.co.in/search?q=Photo%20of%20Sukhasana&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&source=hp&channel=np
Ganapati is a son of one of the Trinity God Shiv & Parvati.
Parvati created him out her power, placed him at entrance
To keep vigil, allow none as she wanted to go for a bath.
Shiv, her husband came and was stopped by Ganapati.
Shiv got angry and cut off his head, as being an outsider.
Parvati grieved too much for the loss of her own creation.
Shiv ordered servants to bring head of any animal asleep
Elephant ‘head brought, Shiv placed it on Ganapati’s body.
Thus Ganapati is having the trunk- head of an elephant.
She was still not happy and wanted more boon for her son.
Then Shiv granted an additional boon to please Parvati.
People will worship him before beginning new undertaking
Obstacles if any will be removed for all the true devotees.
Five faced Ganapati relates to embodiment of all potencies
They symbolize the five fleshes in the subtle anatomy felt.
The flesh body, the breath or energy body, mental body
Body of upper consciousness and body of Cosmic bliss.
The fifth body being the highest level of Yogic experience.
Thus the five days of celebration is for that five potencies
First day-atonement, amends of misdeeds like Thanksgiving.
Create vibration of love & harmony among family members.
Second day among neighbors, relatives and close friends
Create harmony among business associates on the 3rd day
For arts, culture, music, dance and religion on the 4th day
On last day experience love, tranquility from God Himself.
===============================================
*Ganapati is a compound noun in Sanskrit language. Gana means semi-divine gods
and Pati means the master. There is a myth about Ganapati, with the head of
elephant.
Panchmukhi Ganapati= Five faced Indian God Ganapati. Panch means five and
Mukhi means mouth.
Hindu/ Pancha Ganapati..Honoring Ganesha celebrated in December
===============================================
5th place win
Contest: Winter's Holi Days by Deborah Guzzi.
Limerick: Once the Yogi of Himalaya
or the laughing gas Yogi
I
Once the Yogi of Himalaya
Preached laughing loud with Prânâyâma*
They thought him immortal
Put him on pedestal
Now he’s the toast of lost Gondwana.
II
Once the same Yogi Himalaya
Taught laughing during Prânâyâma*
Lungs stuck to diaphragm
Voice: phonocardiogram
Now he’s part of iced Fujiyama.
• Sanskrit for the art of breathing in yogic practices:
• prânâ = (cosmic) energy; âyâma = vitality.
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013
Panchmukhi Ganapati
Five faced Ganapati relates to embodiment of all potencies
They symbolize the five fleshes in the subtle anatomy felt.
The flesh body, the breath or energy body, mental body
Body of upper consciousness and body of Cosmic bliss.
The fifth body being the highest level of Yogic experience.
Thus the five days of celebration is for that five potencies
First day-atonement, amends of misdeeds like Thanksgiving.
Create vibration of love & harmony among family members.
Second day among neighbors, relatives and close friends
Create harmony among business associates on the 3rd day
For arts, culture, music, dance and religion on the 4th day
On last day experience love, tranquility from God Himself.
+++++
Onam Carnival-
Pookalam
A flower carpet
Each house-front
Dinner on
Plaintiff leaf
Caparisoned elephants
Kathakali Dance,
Boat races
Of Karuvatta
Like raised hood
Of a cobra
To rhythms of Drums and cymbals
People throng and cheer
=====================
Pookalam meaning a flower carpet
Kathakali – an Indian Classical Dance of South India
Karuvatta- name of the boat race
+++++
Diwali
happy diwali
crackers yummy food house lit-----
bye bad welcome good
+++++
Date 1-12-13
Dr. Ram Mehta
Sixth place win
Forms: Free verse, Shadorma and Haiku
Contest: Happy Holidays by Debbie Guzzi
*What Gods there were
I did not know then,
And was not concerned with them.
But I do know now,
HE can come to us in any form.
Attacked by the dragon, Cancer,
Threatening to take away
My one talent to speak.
I did not see HIM positively,
But I do feel him now,
HE came to me as a doctor,
And gave me many years,
To live and play with my grandkids.
I also got a message from HIM saying
“Drink water from your own cistern
running water from your own well”.
Urine Therapy – a recent treatment**
On deadly diseases like cancer.
Though a non-believer before
I lived life as a good person
If one can't love some one, but hurt none.
Maybe not of help to anyone, but never betraying
One may live a good life as a non-believer
Or one may live a good life as believer
Infinite gains are on both the sides.
+++++++
April 6, 2014
Form: Free Verse
Third place win
Dr. Ram Mehta -the poem is wholly based on my peronal experiences when I was
attacked by Cancer in the 1994.
*The poem originally was posted on PS in the year 2005. This is a much longer
revised version of the old poem.
*The opening line of the First Prime Minister of India Nehru writing A Preface to
Gandhi’s Biography
“ What Gods there are, I do not know and I am not concerned with them”
**There are many Urine Therapy centers all over the world, one of them in
New-York. It is also called in the ayurvedic tradition of yoga, drinking one's
urine is called amaroli. Because extensive Vedic texts exist from at least
2000 B.C., this practice provides us with much of the most thorough guidance
available. Yogic techniques tell us exactly how to go about drinking or applying
amaroli.
If anyone wants to read more about it, here are the two sites:
http://www.heartlandhealing.com/pages/archive/urine_therapy
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/UT/Urine.aspx
I wish I knew how to be wise
And have that knowing look in my eyes
Remaining silent while you nattered
As though I knew what really mattered
I’d never chat about the weather
Or discuss TV when we’re together
Always wearing a benign smile
Eternal bliss would be my style
I’d radiate endless compassion
Forgiving all, as is the fashion
A fathomless well of generosity
In love, unbounded precocity
I really think I’d have a flair
For worry beads and matted hair
I’d hover inches above the ground
Odour of sanctity all around
My aura would light the darkest place
While mortals worshipped my radiant face
Transfixed by supernatural beams
Flowing like Himalayan streams
Now and then I’d emit a platitude
While those around would melt in gratitude
Dumbstruck by my ethereal emanation
The fruit of yogic bowel elimination
But if you bowed to kiss my feet
(I think that would be really neat)
You’d better not smudge my toeless sandals
Or comment on my holy love-handles
If your chakras had some obstruction
I’d offer my course in karmic reduction
Having a diploma in kundalini power
All cards accepted, pay by the hour
I’d burn incense and chant a mantra
All legitimate and based on Tantra
Tutelary deities could well preside
I’d keep a few on the side
While priests and sheikhs and rabbis slept
I’d meditate like a true Adept
Transmitting subtle healing vibes
Like the ancient Tibetan scribes
If I were wise I’d have no care
My whole life would be a prayer
No tiresome rules to bother me
I’d commune direct with divinity
I’d have no truck with full prostration
Or other forms of mortification
Knowing Maya in her other guise
New ways of binding with golden ties
Self-abnegation is for lesser beings
Fasting, bowing, cleaning latrines
Can’t you see it’s below my station?
On the path to Realization
Yes, I wish I knew how to be wise
But I might just have to compromise
I'm not in that vaunted league you see
I'll have to settle for philosophy
Jacaranda Moon
He had always been a wannabe hippie at heart
been crushed though by reason and unsolicited
fear while booze was no misguided answer no more
In defeat shattered retreat advance rehabilitation
Kai succumbed to steps into an unknown world
After praying to the Sun God of yogic proportions
the word love flowed out scripted in Jacaranda
petals in soil underneath the tree of life and a poet
tree in motion of change and growth they flowered yet
unknown and unfolded from scraps of bark and design
‘This is so funny’ a fellow struggler pointed out and in
‘there was a woman here some weeks ago’ a beautiful soul
who spelt the word love on the grass in same purple petals
One day adrift she appeared in now famous blue dress
and like an arrow and bee to the honey he
approached the stranger whom he must have known in
some previous life ‘You must be Tai and we have
something in common’ out of the very same blue which
adorned her beautiful body and beautiful mind
Against all odds they made even and love in heartfelt sense
and all senses drawn painted and joined on the hips ever since
‘If I could I would fetch you the moon on a spoon’ and spoons
scoop moons in the Universe which has become the
greatest gift ever bestowed for soul mates and lovers in hottest
pursuit of Sun Goddess showering violet dreams from above
In a flash in skin on skin and memories shared they
eloped together guided by the moon and its many meanings
Tai and Kai are flying 'Taikaiwe' together to the stars and beyond
on height and highs of love ‘Taibelle Mountain’
pushing and pulling rising and shining in serenity and passion
One day a couple of petals a present out of absolute nowhere
recast and transformed life’s story retold and reformed
shines lavender lilac union unimagined but real
13th February 2017
Tight Spaces
I wriggle through the tight spaces,
moving between these fussy wise cracks,
all in forward motion, my forward goal,
moving towards a light beyond, way up ahead.
A dimming glow, like a watery eye,
lubricating and easing my movement,
creates a viable, mercuriai, rhythmic pulse,
inching ahead, around and about and through.
Oh, these god-awful restricting spaces,
these furious fissures, these viral veins of transit,
all full of twist and turn, all jumbled up, all cramping.
The odor in this tepid din is one of aged musty moldy funk,
my twitching eyes, my heavy breath, my chest expanding,
breathing, through the yogic cure of stretch and release, I release.
Oh the pain in renewal, the ambition, it’s longing sighs alight,
clear through into my head, invading my core to my out stretched toes,
the wriggling motions do transmit waves of sensuous ciphers,
my straightened back charging to the crowning crown.
The light, oh, that dim light,
that hollow orb, the rays of dust backlit and starlike,
heavenly cloud of ash and shadow beckon;
floating as a holiday parade in slow motion
as if marching bands were moving asymmetrically,
seemingly chaotic, at random, cacophonous, atonal, obliterated,
a system of god-like symmetry in flux and flexing,
a multiverse of star clusters, clustering,
fanning-out into oblivion and its surrounding vicinities,
neighborhoods of gaseous clouds chatting,
straddling the outskirts, the farthest margins away;
of hemispheres and their continents, of space and its off-spring,
orbiting, careening, bounding, all which way, any way,
together, family like in its seeming disfunctions, outward.
There’s an itch at my back, unreachable easily, irritating, annoying,
I’m going to let it be, it’s too much work to assuage,
forward motion, my forward goal, moving inexorably,
the light ahead awaits in patience, just beyond the next obstacle.
Ever brew tea in an industrial brewer?
I did just yesterday with a tea bag fewer
then more have seen. I watched it drip
mixing water with steam and drip leaving
lines in between, the loose leaves.of tea.
A star pattern there when I peeked to see
what a tea maker brews inside of a T.
And when the heat hit my eyes I realized
what was so familiar to me...'do mine path'
was inscribed in the leaves.
I considered to know what I believe.
I paused to consider what might deceive.
Just and before I tossed the leaves.
... smiles.
you ARE a dope and I'm knot mean. Just
neurotic transmission of the secret unseen.
A VEnue open to peace in the mind
blowing open holes that Time left behind.
It's a network framed in a windy rhyme.
It's a new avenue and a way to be kind.
Well.come.to the filters mind. A pleasure
of a center that we all can find.
Neurotransmitter. A natural ChiMe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine
Dopamine was first synthesized in 1910 by George Barger and James Ewens at Wellcome
Laboratories in London, England.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
Ch'i
Qi
It is frequently translated as "energy flow," and is often compared to Western notions of
energeia or élan vital (vitalism) as well as the yogic notion of prana. The literal
translation is "air," "breath," or "gas" (compare the original meaning of Latin spiritus
"breathing"; or the Common Greek p?e?µa, meaning "air," "breath," or "spirit"; and the
Sanskrit term prana, "breath" ).
A vertical tube closed at either end,
within which is soul, wishing to ascend
but all that surrounds is organic form,
brought forth to life by a divine bliss storm.
The body has it’s need which soul does feed;
soon tail wags the dog and need becomes greed.
Senses externalised, everything sized;
no wonder then, God’s rarely realised.
Who we are can never be negated.
Waking each morn, we find heart elated;
dwelling in silence, we reclaim soul’s bliss,
rapture unbound where nothing is amiss.
Sushumna illumined, pierces the crown ~
One with the universe, in love we drown
16-September-2022
Notes: Sushumna is an energy conduit, beginning at the root chakra and going straight up to the crown chakra. For further reading refer Wiki or any yogic text.
Nothing new in the electrochemistry
It no longer is a scientific mystery
Waves Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta, Gamma & Epsilon
Descending from buoyant ecstasy to a persona forlorn
Zodiac signs & rainbow colours assigned to chakras renamed
Esoteric yogic techniques, exponents aplenty, all self-proclaimed
Fiery verbal duels, by many an argumentative eristic
Each it seems is the ultimate mystic
Leaving profundity to theorists whose verbosity we acknowledge
What matters is assimilated wisdom, not vicarious knowledge
So we go in within, alone, in meditational stillness, upon a virgin path
Each moment in the time continuum, a holy sabbath
What we seek is expansive consciousness & joy eternal
And what is eternal is obviously not embraceable in the ephemeral
So we chop off perishable egoistic attachments, fear & desire
And straightaway plunge our non-self into the divine fire
How? In unseeking stillness within ... deep within
Where at each moment we anew begin
No conflict, no violence
Effortless stillness, rippleless silence
No agenda, no seeker, no doer
We are still, yet there is a mover
The flow of the Universe within into which we dissolve
Emerging from which we automatically evolve
What do we gain & what do we lose?
Irrelevant, for we are not, yet desirelessly choose
What we lose is our sorrow generating gross contaminant
Gain being ineffable, exalted, joyous divine love enablement
There is no way; our choice itself is the way
Save unendingly effusing love, no rules to obey
Thoughts sublime, words kind, actions benign
Self, Soul & Spirit thus align
Trust the Universe, plunge into its loving stream
We need to wake up now, from our narrow dream
Upon lighting a candle, darkness is instantly expelled
Surrendering to the divine, ignorance is automatically dispelled
And that is all there is to it
Doable if we do & never ever quit
Simpler the truth, it seems the more elusive it is
So perplexed we are by life’s jigsaw quiz
01-November-2020
Although unsteady was dear Aunt Ann’s gait
She struck a yogic pose for a portrait
On an ironing table
Her legends are now fable
Before her name, we prefix title ‘Late’
14-July-2022
Limerick Poetry Contest
Sponsor Lisa YY
What is the true meaning of Yoga?
The understanding of Yoga as a physical and mental practice is widely observed by people all over the world. There are training schemes and centers for the ones who think Yoga is a solution to keep themselves healthy and fit. The asanas, the yogic positions, and formations to train the physique exist. Although, it is only but a branch of the actual lifestyle of a Yogi. Being ignorant about life’s deeper meaning and is the root of such misconception.
If only we chose to ask the right questions to find the true meaning of life, we could truly understand Yoga. Any human being can be in Yoga. All they have to do is to disconnect from the world, bhoga, and connect with the Divine Energy. Through Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Gyaana Yoga, and Dhyaana Yoga, one can realize the Truth. We are not this body that we seem to be in. We are not the mind and ego. We are the Divine Soul in reality. The World is a cosmic illusion. The union with the Divine is priceless. And Yoga, is the only path, the path to life’s ultimate goal, liberation. It is a permanent state of bliss and peace. Through meditation, taking control of the mind, body, and ego is critical in achieving everlasting bliss.
In order to douse the flames of passion, one must practice the discipline of body and mind. The sages called this Sama, Dama, Uparati, Titiksha, Shraddha, and Samadhana. We, humans, are said to be like a chariot with 5 horses. The 5 horses are the 5 senses that we are blessed with. We the Divine Soul, are the charioteer. To Discipline our life, we must take charge of the 5 senses by controlling the mind. Such discipline of the mind and body is called Sadhana. Once we gain such forbearance, faith, and fortitude, we must then develop the Desire for the Divine and Liberation. This is what the sages called Mumukshutva. If we are fortunate to become Mumukshus, then our desire for the Divine and Liberation, the realization will set us free in the path of True Yoga.
“I too thought Yoga was exercise,
Stretching my arms and thighs.
Till I realized, it was Union with God,
That Liberates us and unites us with the Lord.”
-AiR
Eons back there was naught what so,
Cosmic existence as we know,
Matter nor space now so rife,
Day nor night, death nor life,
All there was, was darkness
All around wrapped in nothingness,
And all-pervading cosmic will
Whence rose desire, the seed primeval—
Desire to manifest,
But who knows it the best?
One Alone, He may know,
Or He too may not know.
Perchance, love made first move,
When naught was, there was love.
___________________________________
Musings |06.10.2022|
Poet’s note: A Sukta on creation of cosmic reality in Rig Veda conjectures on how it all started. Where this all came from? It wonders if even God knows. Based on scientific evidence we now know all this cosmos is very much there and it started off from that Big Bang over 14 billion years ago. Thousands of years back Indic seers made this Sukta, based on no scientific evidence, nor reasoning, but on ‘visionary, yogic, or mystical experience put in words’. Rig Veda says it was cosmic will, desire to manifest. This piece , a free verse, says: at the root of it all it is love. ‘When naught was there, there was love’.