Jai Maa Everyone! I’m feeling such deep inner peace and introspection today. After the conclusion of Navratri, the 9 day and night goddess worship, I’m thinking about my Navratri experience and how connected it is to Bhakti Yoga. During our last Bhakti Yoga session on 10/08, I was inspired by Acharya Shunya ji’s share about one becoming content with bhakti by decreasing desires. When we live our lives through our heart and become detached from our desires and negative thoughts, we can bring bhakti forward in such easeful and authentic ways. Throughout the 9 day and night Navratri journey, I kept returning to the power of my own mind, and I kept repeating the word sattva. I was affirming the sattva within me and the external sattva surrounding me. Navratri really mirrors and shines a light on my personal habits, daily sadhana, diet, and my overall presence and approach to each day. We are each filled with decisions to make, things to do, and Navratri highlighted how I can redirect the desires and mind chatter that show up in my day.
When I committed to the 9 daily invocations of the goddess, and was very present with Acharya Shunya ji’s words and wisdom, I was strengthened to do what is best for my highest Self. When I surrendered the outcome of my actions to Ishvara, and just focused on the responsibilities of my Self both as a shishya (Vedic student) and as a grastha ashrama householder, things organically flowed. I think I can too easily make life more difficult for myself when I'm not expressing from the heart, and I’m too focused on operating from my mind. If everything is an offering to Ishvara, and Brahman- even washing dishes, doing laundry, and making a family meal plan and grocery shopping, why do I need to complicate things by attaching any other meaning or level of difficulty to it? Rather than assigning meaning, and happiness or sorrow, it can all be an offering to Ishvara. Then I do not have to get stuck in questioning whether it’s bringing me dukha/suffering or sukha/happiness. I can be free from the mental chatter and trust more in Ishvara’s divine orchestration.
When I commit to being present and showing up for Acharya Shunya ji’s teachings, whether it's live or in her recordings, I am a more calm, poised, and balanced person. I felt inspired to share this because I think it’s important to be reminded that when we show up for our best Self, we get rewarded in more ways than we realize. Even after many years of studentship, I’m still in awe of how different I can feel after being present with our kula’s Vedic wisdom. I’m also grateful at how easy it is to stay connected to our teacher and shastra through this member portal and the abundance of content we have 24/7 access to. When I get pulled into samsara’s external chatter and triggers, whether it be about relationships, politics, environmental, etc, I remind myself that these things are very complex and multilayered. So what can I do? I can return to prayer, and chanting, and deeply send the highest frequencies of love, light and compassion. I can focus on my dharma, and how I can be the light. I can access the power of my heart, and my most sacred intentions. I continually cultivate my own sattva in hopes that it unites with the collective sattva of us all, and weaves together in harmony and peace on a global level. I look forward to keeping the synergy of Navratri and Bhakti yoga with me, guiding me throughout each day.
Beautiful! Things definitely flow better when we are connected to what is real, what is eternal. Lately when I get caught up in thoughts around what I’m doing, I question them- such as, when I’m beginning to notice fatigue at work, I ask “Who is tired?” This pulls me back from samsara and towards Ishwara. I feel the love and potency in That. Then I’m naturally inspired to take a short break to walk this body around, stretch it a little, drink some water, look at my hands and feel the pulsation there as Shunyaji described (that helped me a lot!) as I remember Ma Lakshmi in these fingertips, Ma Saraswati in these cupped palms, and Ma Durga at the base of these hands. Then I am back in the flow, with the ease of being an instrument, rather than a struggling “doer” with all her complaints and worries. Such a blessing to have these teachings of one truth, coming from so many different angles to help with integration.