The Life of a Yogi
“You ever see Krishna eating a hamburger? No. You
ever see these Yogis at McDonald’s? No.”
~Sri Dharma (regarding compassion, health, and diet)
Day 7. Tomorrow is the last day, but time doesn’t seem to exist when you are
living like this. I wouldn’t have any idea what day it was if I didn’t have to
look at the schedule. I wouldn’t know what time it was, what season it was, if
it weren’t for the fact that this is just a teacher training. Or is it? The
name of the program, “Life of a Yogi” could not be more accurate. What happens
when you devote your every breath during the day to the Highest and practice
all these divinely realized ancient techniques over and over, imagining that “the
best of the best is taking place” as Dharma says? What results is a glimpse of
the Ultimate Reality...a little taste of the spiritual bliss that comes with
such depth, and a genuine teacher.
This evening during the hugely-attended (85 bodies!) Maha Sadhana, Dharma
explained what happens when you get all of your happiness from external things.
It goes away eventually, and leaves suffering in its place. He explained that
when you start practicing, you start to get more and more of your happiness
from inside your own heart. I love this idea, and I love that he emphasizes
that “practice” doesn’t have to mean being proficient at crazy poses. It means that you sit and meditate for five
minutes a day, that you renounce all the fruits of your actions to the Lord, be
nice to people, think of God when you get up, and when you go to sleep. I
always tell students this. They say, “I am sorry I haven’t come to practice.” I
always tell them that practice happens constantly, all day, every day. This is
perhaps the most important thing I have ever learned from Dharma.
Earlier in the day, we had the last of our small group teaching sessions. I
taught the full length Dharma IV class in my small group, and was amazed at the
effect the Psychic Development and Yoga Nidra has had on my teaching. I felt
very subtle energies coming from each student, and was able to intuitively
perceive their subtle needs and desires. I have taught this class once a week
for a year and a half at Dharma Yoga Missouri, and I definitely noticed a
difference.
As part of my Karma Yoga duties, I often stand at the entrance of the Temple
and greet people coming in for classes. Earlier, Baxter the doggy was running
in front of Dharma, and got distracted. He slipped and crashed into the door
and Dharma yelled, “Watch out!” But it was too late. We looked at each other
and laughed because Baxter went right about his business, hardly noticing. During
the Maha Shakti this morning, when Baxter jumped up on the little wooden stage,
Dharma went to gesture him away, but Baxter had so much momentum that he skidded
right off the other side and into the lamp table, and yelped. Immediately
Dharma went over to him and said with so much emotion, “Oh, I am so sorry!” He
stroked Baxter until he calmed down, then said, “Maybe you should cut your
nails sometimes!”
One of the highlights of my day today was Dharma’s 90-minute Deep Healing
Relaxation class after the Maha Shakti. I highly recommend this class for
anyone, regardless of your experience, or lack thereof, with Yoga. You don’t do
any postures, you just do some breathing exercises, some meditations, lie down
and have a guided relaxation. If you are ever in NYC, come do it! There is nothing
better than being blissed out on a Saturday morning. Just make sure you remain
silent for a long time afterwards, otherwise the effects wear off too quickly.
When I see Dharma in the morning light (or any time for that matter), I have a
rush of unconditional Divine Love. I have only felt that towards a couple
people in my life, mainly my children. The woman who is my roommate feels the
same way, and I realized that part of coming to this kind of program is to
reconnect with your spiritual brothers and sisters. I feel like twins with her
sometimes. We share our days like this:
Every morning we wake up to her alarm at 5 AM. We get up, get dressed. She
takes a shower while I put on the kettle to do the kriyas jala dhauti and jala neti
(AKA drink hot lemon water and then use salt water to wash the sinuses). She
cuts up some fruit for the day, gets a little bag of sprouted almonds for us to
share at lunch, then we walk to the center at 6 a.m. It is good for us to be
together while walking because we can support each other through the craziness
of NYC streets.
We get to the center around 6:25 or so, and get our materials ready for the
day. Then she sits and meditates until 7 a.m. when the program starts, I do
mantra with my mala beads. Throughout the day, we observe silence, unless we
need to ask someone a question. The other day she said, “I don’t know how
anybody can talk or eat with what we are going through!” It was true. I didn’t
know either. I often find myself next to her when we do our classes, because I
feel very comfortable with her pure, humble vibration. I make her laugh a lot. Too
much I think, sometimes. We often sit alone, in silence and eat our lunch of
sprouted almonds and fruit next to each other, not needing to say much.
By 9 PM or so when the daily program ends, we go into the Temple and clean, put
stuff away, and leave around 10:30 or so every night. After we walk home, I
bathe, she makes a sprouted almond shake or another little bit of light food. We
both sleep on the floor in the living room of the apartment we are staying at
with two of our other spiritual brothers. Just a rug, a pillow, and a blanket
to lie on. And then we go again the next morning.
The photo that is included was a little piece of paper she wrote to me and
slipped under my leg at lunch (she was observing silence). It says, “Just
overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. Dharmaji. The Science of Yoga. Everything
is true. I know it from the depths of my soul.” I took a picture of it, because
it was so simple and profound, like Dharma himself. I told her I was going to
keep that piece of paper so we could look at it when we are old ladies. I am
glad that we finally found each other again, and I want to make sure that I
find her in the next life.
~Olivia
Foss
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“Only children are allowed in the kingdom of
God. So, you are going to have to give up diplomacy and become the child”
~Sri Dharma Mittra
Kim beautifully prepared us for the day,
leading the pranayama, dhyana, and Surya Namaskar. The daily
morning practice led us into Dharma Gentle. The trainees were profusely
thanking Kim for teaching the much-needed class…
The scheduling of sessions for this training
couldn’t have been more perfect. The Gentle and Yoga Nidra classes were
strategically and compassionately placed to aid in the recovery and healing of
our bodies. Sri Dharma’s regularly scheduled Maha Shakti and especially Yoga
Nidra on Saturday was much anticipated! Following lunch, the small groups still
had to practice teaching Dharma IV, Yoga Nidra, or Psychic Development.
Our group was seated near Andrew’s group, and
as much as I was trying to concentrate, I couldn’t help but hear laughter that,
with time, increasingly became louder. Following our sessions, I had asked one
of the trainees from Andrew’s group. They had completed four consecutive Psychic
Development classes that clearly charged them to almost delirium.
Dharma mentioned today how important it is to
laugh, be cheerful. They all displayed cheerful dispositions, to say the least!
Maha Sadhana concluded our day. The power of collective consciousness and
moving together as if we are in “a parade”. Eighty- five people participated in
Maha Sadhana tonight. There were many opportunities to make an offering and to
chant. Dharma played several songs and sometimes during Maha Sadhana , it’s
just been one song . People didn’t want to leave but we know Sri Dharma is with
us wherever we go.
~Cindy Ley-Sepe
Baxter is ready to go
home after the morning’s Maha Shakti
The aforementioned Maha
Shakti
Baxter preparing for
Yoga Nidra
Kim’s much-appreciated
Dharma Gentle class
The start of Maha
Sadhana
Maha
Sadhana: “You have two minutes, do whatever you want.”
One of Sri Dharma’s
offerings during the asana jam
Danielle Gray first experienced the delights
of Dharma Yoga at a summer dance training program in 2010 (the summer after her
sophomore year of college). For two weeks, her daily schedule began with these
practices, and after the conclusion of the program, she found herself
continuing to practice Dharma Yoga with great devotion every day for the
remainder of the summer. By the time she returned to school in the fall, she
knew she had to obtain the tools to share Dharma Yoga with anyone who wanted to
learn. She attended the 200-hour Life of a Yogi Teacher Training in June of
2011 and became officially certified (in Dharma Gentle and Dharma I) the following April. Practicing and
teaching Dharma Yoga has been a source of great healing and joy for her on many
levels, and she is truly thrilled at the opportunity to attend the 500-hour
program. 
