The Holidays, when things get cold and dark, are the best time of year to party. It's also the birthday of the hippie owner John., so it's an extra festive occasion of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Channukah, and Late-Diwali.
[Humans need social contact, according to psychology, whether they think they like it or not, as we are pack animals and interdependent angels. So get out' the house and into a festive potlach atmosphere of interaction, and give an Irish goodbye when it gets to be too much.]
Use the back door for free parking
Yogis Cody and Stella have a night of music, singing, Sanskrit chanting (kirtan), party games, and lots of delicious food.
It's through the Cosmic Breezeway and in Oh Happy Days Vegan Cafe, a throwback to hippie times when all anyone did was smoke herb, attend anti-war protests, farm hair, and go to college to get a degree in systematically questioning the status quo and the corporate power structure.
Ah, those were the days when you could just turn on, tune in, and drop out. Come by to celebrate and give well wishes to the birthday boy with live musical performances.
Bring a VEGAN (no animal products of any kind) item, dessert, guacamole, salad, soup, or good quality chips. There's always pizza and entree items. All are welcome. It's FREE, so RSVP:
Hosted by Stella Han, Araceli Contreras, and Veronica DeSoyza (kinshipyoga.com)
Hosted by India-trained Stella "Kwan Yin" Han
As the longest and bloodiest year in history wraps up, with Israel raging war on an innocent public that Americans are paying for, it's time for yoga, meditation, gratitude, gift giving, and maintaining our humanity in the split-personality town that is the City of Lost Angels. This event is by donation.*
We may be surrounded by Hollywood's tinsel, but we are in search of spirituality. Come help us build community with a vegan/vegetarian potluck, free gift exchange (gift blanket with gifts for all), yoga, guided Buddhist meditation, kirtan (call-and-response Sanskrit chanting), spiritual music (holy harmonium), conversation, hugs, friendship, verbal sharing, and maybe even an Xmas jingle.
*There will be festivities, friend making, reflection, an inclusive altar, good vibes, surprises. All proceeds support Yoga Gives Back (networkforgood.com) a charity that provides education to children and micro-loans to women in India to help families rise from poverty by their own efforts.
Yogini Stella is an ambassador to save the world, country by country. Why India? It's the world's largest, now surpassing China. Why children? They need it. Why women? Women are the root of the family, family the root of Indian society.
Siri Mata-ji (larathayatra.com); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY
Krishna, the all-attractive "Dark One," has a thing for the human beauty, Radha.
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It was a very strange meeting of minds at the annual "Festival of the Chariots" on the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The morning began with KPFK (90.7 FM) playing Alan Watts on the topic of the Bhavagad Gita, devotional-Hinduism "Song of the Lord."
Alan Watts explains the Bhagavad Gita or"The Song of the Lord"
It's a world-famous text that attempts to tell an unbelievable story about how "God" on Earth, Lord Krishna (the "Dark One") argues with Arjuna (the best of men) to kill.
Hare Krishna vegetarians party on the beach
Arjuna doesn't want to kill, particularly not his friends an relatives. But Krishna insists it's the right thing to do.
It must be some kind of metaphor. Surely, it's a metaphor. It can't be literal. No religious text would tell its devotees to KILL or that it's right to kill as long as you're "just doing your job," aka social "duty" (innate obligation under the Vedas' strict caste system) and obeying the Lord.
It turns out it does. These mainly white Hare Krishna converts each said they would kill if God told them to. They weren't kidding. They urged me to kill if instructed. I said, "You must be out of your mind." It's like the satirical Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys opening that song from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables with the line, "God told me to skin you alive."
Krishna and Krist are pro-gun?
We think of conservative, Republican, gun-toting Jesus freaks eager for war with Russia -- or whomever the Pentagon is designating as the enemy of the moment, which as in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, changes from time to time. Sometimes we're told to hate/fear the communists of China, other times the Muslims of the Middle East, or the Ruskies or the liberals or the Satanists or the unpatriotic or, worst of all, those damned Unbelievers.
(Airplane!) Americans were once sick to the bloody teeth of Hare Krishna cult
It's good we get along, but our followers? Oy vey
No wonder India gets so much "communal violence," which is when Hindu mobs practice ahimsa (non-violence) to the utmost -- murdering Muslims, Christians, members of other castes or creeds or ethnicities -- because they, as the majority, are whipped up into believing the "other" is harming their interests. Indian Prime Minister Modi is accused of inciting ethnic violence and getting tens of thousands murdered to promote himself and his political party, the BJP, and Indian patriotism above all.
At no time did Alan Watts say the central dialogue between the Lord (a kind of "all-attractive" Krist figure) and the ideal man Arjuna was a metaphor. And everyone to a man today said, "It's not a metaphor. It's literally true. I would kill if God (Krishna) told me to."
Expect someone to come down from space ("heaven") and tell the Indians it's time to kill those darn, pesky, Muslim Pakistanis...and they'll do it with Christian Crusader gusto, "Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition." Un be liev a ble. So much for only being a cult aggressively panhandling for cash donations, ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna CONsciousness) is so much more and eventually will be a willing arm of the Indian Army.
The Hare Krishna devotional cult lives on in LA
Send hate mail and threats of communal violence to Wisdom Quarterly care of Editor Ashley Wells, through the comments section. Or if someone has another, less literal, take on the true meaning of the Advice to Arjuna in the Gita, we'd love to hear it. Here is Alan Watts' explanation as the interpreter of Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism, Zen, and Taoism for the West.
"The Song of the Lord" as metaphor
Wiki Bhagavad Gita edited by Wisdom Quarterly
God on earth (blue-black Krishna) tells Arjuna to fight and kill because it's "right" to do so.
These are all incarnations (avatars) of the Sustainer Lord Vishnu in Hinduism (South Park).
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If God says so, maybe we should kill? - No, guys.
Summarizing [Hinduism's] Upanishadic conceptions of God, the Gita ("The Song by God") posits the existence of a lower self (atman) and a higher GOD self (Brahman) within each individual [Note 1].
The dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Krishna his charioteer has been interpreted as a metaphor for an immortal dialogue between the human self and God [Note 2].
Commentators of Vedanta (the "best of the Vedas") read varying notions in the Bhagavad Gita about the relationship between the atman (individual Self) and Brahman (universal Self):
Advaita Vedanta affirms the non-dualism of Atman and Brahman [7], Vishisht-advaita asserts qualified non-dualism with Atman and Brahman being related but different in certain respects, while Dvaita Vedanta declares the complete duality of atman and Brahman [Note 3][6][8].
As per Hindu mythology, the Bhagavad Gita was written by the god Ganesha, as told to him by the sage Veda Vyasa.
The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis [9][10] of various Hindu ideas about dharma (social duty or innate obligation) [9][10][11], theistic devotion (bhakti) [11][12], and the yogic ideal [10] of liberation (moksha) [10].
The text covers Knowledge, Devotion, Action, and Royal (Jñāna, Bhakti, Karma, and Rāja) Yogas [12], while incorporating ideas from the Samkhya-Yoga philosophy [Web 1][Note 4].
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most revered Hindu texts [13] and has a unique pan-Hindu influence [14][15]. Numerous commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad Gita with differing views on its essentials. More
The annual "Festival of Chariots" in L.A.
The vast majority of the Festival will be on the Venice Beach Boardwalk.
Travel to India while staying in the U.S. at the 47th Annual Los Angeles Ratha Yatra or "Festival of the Chariots."
On the first Sunday in August, three deities (Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra) take their annual trip, or Yatra, on three 40-foot-tall chariots down Main Street in Santa Monica and onto the iconic Venice Beach Boardwalk.
The Ratha Yatra Festival includes a colorful Indian parade in addition to a festival at the Venice Beach Windward Plaza, featuring cultural performances, a FREE feast, kirtan (spiritual chanting), food stalls, and Indian gifts.
Together members are forming a new tradition, celebrating the ancient holiday of Guru Purnima and the perfect light of the Moon.
Moon beams shower us with the wisdom of a cool, sweet, awakening touch. Moon is a goddess. This three-day festival in takes place at multiple locations in Pasadena and Altadena, LA County, California:
Kundalini Kriya Yoga, meditation, sacred chant, Shabd Kriya, Ayurvedic wisdom, dharma lectures, kirtan, healing ceremony...Ravi Singh and Kriya's All-Star Teachers with music by Tom Rossi and Moni Vargas. EK (Evolving Kundalini).
Yogini Stella Han leads us in Meditation and Breathwork on Saturdays.
Meditation is a practice where individuals use mindfulness techniques (presence of mind, staying in the moment, full awareness and acceptance of what is) to focus the mind on objects, thoughts, or activity to help cultivate attention, expanded consciousness, and heightened awareness.
This is done in an effort to enjoy mental clarity, decrease stress and worry, and return to balance. It is the higher training of the mind following the higher training in ethical conduct and stillness.
ABOUT: Stella Han (stella4yoga@gmail.com) is a passionate full-time yoga instructor and former social worker from Los Angeles She earned a master's degree in social work degree USC) and has many years of experience in the fields of social work and psychology.
This is a question that doesn't get asked nearly enough. It is not mere "awareness." It is paying attention to the present moment without giving in to the habits of
being fond and attaching to the pleasant,
being dejected and rejecting the unpleasant
being bored and inattentive to the neutral (neither-pleasant-nor-unpleasant).
Mindfulness is therefore a special kind of awareness or presence of mind, wakefulness, vigilance that gives attention to whatever is in the present moment with radical acceptance, letting it be, and letting it go (just for the moment).
Simply being aware in the woods in not being mindful at all. Mindfulness (Sanskrit smirti, Pali sati) is remaining mindfully aware, dispassionate, detached, fully attending to without being entangled in that of which one is aware.
If lust or greed come up, be with them as a watcher without getting sucked in. If annoyance or anger creep up, be with them without becoming hostile. If boredom or mental-wandering arise, note them. That noting, that sudden awareness that the mind has wandered, is mindfulness.
Now it all becomes clear to me.
Now, bring it back to the present moment -- without becoming angry, frustrated, or dejected that wandered off, as mind by its nature will do.
Casting back to the past or forward to the future is the habit of the mind that mindfulness remedies. As Ram Dass famously said: "Be here now."
There is something magical about remaining in the moment. But we'll never know it if we never practice it until it becomes habit.
It is the way to happiness, contentment, and peace -- if done correctly, dispassionately, softly. It leads to clarity and vision, to knowing and seeing, and is essential for awakening.
The Buddha, in the famous "Fourfold Setting Up of Mindfulness Discourse," gives the four groups of things of which to be mindful:
It's FREE (donations welcome) and a vegan/vegetarian potluck, with chanting led by a yogini and guest. Every activity is optional. Participate in as much or as little as is comfortable and fun. No religion or belief system necessary. Bring a Trump-loving MAGA cousin if so moved.
Reminder: Bring a gift, monetary or a new toy donation, for families in need. Gifts will be collected and given to charity.
We want to wrap everyone in our great heart of practice -- ahimsa (nonviolence), compassion, and gratitude for all! This out with the old and in with the New Year party begins with a ceremony celebrating the spiritual.
Strengthen, soften, live from the heart.
Then it's call and response singing called kirtan in India. There will be a gift-giving blanket spread out. Bring one or multiple gifts to put on it, even a lightly used thing to put to good use or a handmade craft or vegan chocolate chip cookies or a special object. It's not a Kris Kringle or drawing; it's sharing with one and all. We might give away good incense or crystals.
Let us eat
Potlucks (potlatches) make for diversity
VEGGIE POTLUCK: Bring a vegan/vegetarian dish to share! It's time to eat and socialize, make friends. Might even take a yoga class before the ceremony. There's a parking lot and lots of free street parking in hipster Highland Park on Figueroa near Avenue 50. Metro is nearby. FREE TO RSVP:
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