LOAY 800-Hour, Day 4

The Life of a Yogi

I am just a reflection of you~

Sitting and listening to Adam Frei was an awakening of sorts for me this morning. He gave us a whole lecture (which was far too short, in my information-hungry opinion) about how to teach the Psychic Development series, as well as spoke with us for a while about our required booklist. As he spoke, all I could think about was how incredibly lucky we all are to have him as a teacher. Obviously Dharma is the Guru, but the Guru lives in a body that is over 70 years old, and he doesn’t have unlimited time and energy to spend on us. Adam is truly blessed to spend so much time with Dharma on different levels, and has a most excellent memory, especially for details. So, when questions arise, he is always prepared with a tremendous amount of information. Being well-read and experienced in many of the topics that come up during the trainings, he articulates that intelligence very generously. It is completely and totally obvious that he is devoted to being a clear channel of Dharma. My favorite part about his teaching is his seemingly unlimited stories about Dharma, and his sense of humor.

That is not to say that he is the only one like that. When I need inspiration, I just look around and see Yoshio with his physical grace and tremendous focus and discipline. I turn to the other side and there is Melissa sitting like a stone statue in lotus pose for what seems like hours on end, while also embodying sattva and sweetness. I turn around and there is Bernadette, a solid, living example of loyalty to the Guru. Then, when I hear that familiar laugh, I turn to see Kim, always smiling with child-like joy and sharing her immense repertoire of knowledge and techniques to help people.

That all said, I mean it when I say I need to look to them for inspiration! Tomorrow is my oldest daughter’s first day of Kindergarten, and I am going to miss it. Two days later is my other daughter’s birthday. They left me a message saying that they want me to come home (I don’t know why their father let them do that). Before I left home for NYC, Dharma’s son saw a picture of them and said, “Bring them over!” At the time, I laughed to myself and responded to him that I needed a break from the craziness of householder life. Now I can feel the tug of the nadi that connects me to them. After all, there are nadis that connect the Guru and Disciple, and the Mother is the first Guru. While I intellectually feel privileged to be here, emotionally it was a tough day for me. We are at the half-way point.

Another highlight of the day was the two Yoga Nidra practices in a row in our small groups. It was desperately needed after our fours days of hard work. Since it is Wednesday we are lucky to have a double-shot of Dharma with one of the toughest Master Sadhanas I have ever attended, and an easy Maha Shakti class followed by Psychic Development. Sometimes, when I go through these trainings, it is hard to imagine that life on Earth even exists outside this building.

 “Every pose is an act of adoration to the Lord.” ~Dharma

~Olivia Foss

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“Relaxation is the best antidote for impurities.”

Day four, and surprisingly my body is not terribly sore. This recovery could be attributed to the phasing in of the Yoga Nidra practice. We ended yesterday evening with Sri Dharma’s Yoga Nidra, and today each of the four groups had small group teachings. We were fortunate to have been given a script written by Dharma in our manual. Since we all just received the manual, the teachers simply read the script. Timing and delivery are key. The teacher must allow enough time for the student to imagine what the teacher is saying… also making sure they do not fall asleep!

One (of many) aspects of the teacher training I look forward to is the review of the required reading. Every trainee is assigned to read and reflect upon different Vedantic texts. The students are so fortunate to be assigned these texts…. Many are increasingly becoming more difficult to find as they are slowly going out of print.

Adam, as always, led an excellent and insightful review of the texts and why they were selected for us. Raja Yoga, by Swami Sivananda was the focus this morning. In this text, Sivananda comments and clarifies beautifully the Yoga Sutras. An example is the explanation of the 11th Sutra in the 3rd Pada: “The modification of Samadhi is the destruction of all-pointedness (mind) and appearance of one-pointedness of mind (concentration of mind).”

Sri Dharma’s teachers always remind us to “put the mind right here” (referring to the 3rd eye). The kriya, or purification, of the mind is to take the fluctuations and continuously bring focus to the third eye. Adam explained, in terms of Sri Dharma’s lineage, the focus is always on the third eye. Dharma has repeatedly stated that our eyes are like out of date cameras. When eyes are closed, the inner eye is always being stimulated. Since these trainings, I have a pretty extensive library on the science of Yoga.

~Cindy Ley-Sepe

Assigned reading for the trainees

Psychic Development Technique with Sri Dharma Mittra