REMINDER - Chant Sangha on Sunday, 5 April 2020 at 8 pm

The list of chants will be:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa sūrī

Durgā Sūktam

Śivapañcākṣarī Mantraḥ

Gāyatrī Mantraḥ

Āyurmantraḥ

Mṛtyuñjāya Mahāmantraḥ

Asatomā (Mahāvākya) + om śāntiḥ

Closing invocations

The Zoom! link is https://zoom.us/j/4627003009

We hope you can join in.

Photo by "My Life Through A Lens" on Unsplash

DAY TEN of the "What am I Seeking?" Personal Journaling Retreat

"Yesterday we began to think about the puruṣārtha which is a model that helps us to engage with our desires. Puruṣārtha literally means ‘the aims of man’ but we can think of it as ‘the aims of human life’. Aims and desires are linked since we achieve nothing without desire. However, the extent of our desire for each of the four elements that make up the puruṣārtha must be appropriate to our need and life circumstances.

In your journal write about what you desired at the different stages of life you have lived so far, starting with babyhood. Consider the times when life has felt fulfilled or balanced and also those when it has not.

In the light of that knowledge write about what you think might be appropriate desires for now and at future stages of life. Use the dharma (duty), artha (prosperity), kāma (pleasure), mokṣa (freedom) concepts to guide your thinking.

You might find that copying out yesterday’s diagram and writing on it or sticking pictures on it aids your reflections."

- Helena del Pino

[Photo from Pixels]

DAY NINE of the “What am I Seeking?” Journaling Retreat

"Desire is the great motivator for human action but it needs channeling towards the right aims. It is in the right ordering of our motivations that we begin to uncover the deeper driving desire of the heart, which links us with our true identity. Often we start in the wrong place. We want to know our true identity as a piece of knowledge rather than as a lived experience. In pursuing this ‘identity knowledge’ we run the risk of overlooking much that is good or true or important in life.

The right ordering of our desires and motivations is an ongoing practice. In the Indian tradition the scheme for this is called the Puruṣārtha and it is designed to guide us towards a meaningful life.

First, we must desire to live a virtuous life and to uphold our responsibilities – dharma

Second, we must desire enough material comfort in order to provide for the fundamental material needs of ourselves and those for whom we are responsible – artha.

Third, we must desire to find pleasure and a sense of delight in life – kāma (not karma which means action)

Fourth, we must desire to be free – mokṣa.

In your journal write your initial responses to these four things. Notice which you feel drawn to, which surprise you and which you push away. What questions do you have about them?"

[Image: source unknown, widely used on websites]

DAY EIGHT of the "What am I Seeking?" Personal Journaling Retreat

"Given the importance of the heart in yoga teaching it might be surprising to know that the word ‘love’ is almost completely absent from the yoga teachings. Yoga does, however, have a lot to say about desire which is seen to be the driver of human behaviour. Without desire nothing would happen yet it is our desires that often get us into trouble. Desire can be either creative or destructive.

Spend today noticing what your senses are drawn to. What do you look at longingly, what tastes do you crave, where does your nose lead you, what skin sensations do you seek, what sounds are you attracted to? Try and notice rather than analyse or judge."

- Helena del Pino

[Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels]