Work In The Invisible
The prophets have wondered to themselves, “How long should we keep pounding this cold iron? How long do we have to whisper into an empty cage?”

Every motion of created beings comes from the creator, The first soul pushes, and your second soul responds, beginning, so don’t stay timid.

Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, “I’ll do nothing until I can be sure.”

Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don’t be one of those merchants who won’t risk the Ocean! This is much more important than losing or making money. This is your connection to God!

You must set fire to have light. Trust means you’re ready to risk what you currently have. Think of your fear and hope about your livelihood. They make you go to work diligently every day.

Now consider what the prophets have done. Abraham wore fire for an anklet. Moses spoke to the sea. David molded iron. Solomon rode the wind.

Work in the invisible world at least as hard as you do in the visible. Be companions with the prophets even though no one here will know that you are, not even the helpers of the Qutub*, the abdals.

You can’t imagine what profit will come! When one of those generous ones invites you into his fire, go quickly!

Don’t say, “But will it burn me? Will it hurt?”

–Rumi

*Qutub or Kutb is a Muslim Sufi word for the highest form of master

I saw the moon set over the ocean and cast a glow across the water like the sun setting. I felt myself in the path of its beam. I soaked in the glow of the beam and felt the beauty and magic the moon was sharing with me. Then the ocean swallowed the moon and I was left with a feel of having witnesses something miraculous.

This year has cast its beam on my life. I have felt the blessings of another year practicing and teaching yoga at Pacific Ashtanga.  I am grateful for the new students that have found the practice and for the dedicated students who have returned for another year.

The greatest blessing this year was having my mom and dad move from Indiana to Southern California. It has been a dram of mine for a long time to have them near me and be part of the Shala. One of the things making the Shala special is that it is a family business. The Shala has always felt like a family, and now the family is complete.

May we all continue to put ourselves in the path of the Beam and welcome another year of magic and blessings. Thank you for sharing your practice with me.

Love Diana

In the first video, Sharath talks about Parampara, a traditional Indian cultural practice where knowledge is passed down from one guru to the student. He stresses the importance of finding the right teacher from whom you can learn Ashtanga as it was meant to be.

In the second video, Sharath talks about his beloved grandfather, Pattabhi Jois, or as we all refer to him affectionately as Guruji, and his dedication to the Ashtanga practice.

If you are having issues watching the second video, here is a link to the video on You Tube.
R Sharath Conference 2 on You Tube

Again thank you to Rochelle and Paul Gold for sharing these recordings on YouTube with us.

Here’s a trailer to the movie. It’s a must see!

Of all the great spiritual texts, there’s only one that Gandhi carried with him everywhere. Even though The Bhagavad Gita is not about religion, Gandhi called it his “prayer-book” and its the one he lived his life by. The Gita is a beautiful poem that happens to capture the heart of yoga beautifully. It’s also the one book Guruji and many yoga teachers recommend for aspiring yogis.

Like all poetry, the Gita is best read slowly, from your heart, not your head. Because the setting for the story is a war between two families, it’s often confused with supporting violence. However, the war is simply a metaphor for the war we all fight daily. It’s a reminder that our mind can be both friend and foe and you have to stand up and fight the enemies – jealousy, anger, impatience, doubt – the enemies that prevent our true selves from shining through.

The story is told as a conversation between Arjuna, the warrior representing the good family and Krishna representing the Divine. As Arjuna struggles with having to fight this battle he really doesn’t want to fight, Krishna shares insight on relationship with the Atman (our true self or soul), the Divine and Liberation. He also
references yoga and yogis throughout – and never once mentions asana! The Gita defines a yogi as “the lluminated one”. So… we have to be careful about calling ourselves yogis… most of us aren’t quite there yet, we’re simply “on the path”.

Regardless of what’s going on in your life, the Gita can be your compass, offering direction, comfort and wisdom. One time you be may be called to take action, another time surrendering might seem the better option. It reminds us to take care of the physical body that houses our precious soul ; to fight for our svadharma (our personal path), to love our work and the power we have to make the world better because we bring joy to whatever that “job” is ; and to live life fully but let go of attachment to a specific outcome. even though we may relate this to not caring, it’s really just our mind projecting what we think the fruit of our effort should be. Just being present, giving our best effort and being true to ourselves is enough, the
blessings will come.

Here are two videos of Seiji performing two separate “forms”. Both are of the Chen family style, the original teachers of Tai Chi. Those us who’ve been studying since April are now learning the 19 Step Short Form. No worries though if you want to give it a try, new and returning students are always welcomed and will learn the popular Yang Style 24 Step Form to start with.

Class is on Saturdays at 12:30 Noon and lasts 1 hour for new students. From 1:30 to 2 pm we do the new stuff.

This starts out looking similar to the above form, but you see that it changes after the first few movements.

This clip contains brief demos of chakrasana (backward sommersault), Setu Bandhasana entrance, and traditional headstand entrance and exit.

Below are video excerpts of Dr. Gyaltsen’s talk from that evening.