Heart Full

When I read that Bhagavan Das was going to be at Laughing Lotus for two events — Kirtan and a Bhakti Yoga workshop, I didn’t believe it. In the past year and half  I have found it very challenging to DIY an affordable yoga education. The elite world of renowned teachers are often difficult to come by. You have to diligently check their website for when they (briefly) come to NYC, or be willing (and able) to travel to a pricey retreat, or be willing to pay upwards of ~$100 per class as I did for the NYC Yoga Journal Conference. Not all teachers are so exclusive — but for a practice that’s about freedom and sharing, it does seem to carry a weighty price tag. So I was beside myself that Bhagavan Das would not only be giving two events at our local studio, but at $35 it was practically free.

It was an incredibly moving experience to chant with him. Sound’s vibrations resonates within you,  and as you harmonize with your neighbors a deeply moving connection is formed, which intensifies with time. He led us through an exercise of clearing the chakras through meditation and a kind of kirtan. And I realized how much I’ve been neglecting sound as form of healing. It had been so long since I had intoned the sounds of the chakras, I’d practically forgotten them, and I could actually feel the rusty energies trying to move through my internal molasses. While a year’s worth of neglect can’t be overcome in one workshop, there was an improvement in the inner energies, or possibly it was just my giddiness at being able to share a connection with a teacher who up until then, existed only on my iPod

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I’ve been hearing about the Rubin Museum of Art for a long time. They have exceptional exhibits (Carl Jung currently), and apparently their Friday nights are not to be missed. I don’t know why it took me so long to get here, it’s one of those items on my to-do list that somehow kept getting de-prioritized. But this past lazy Saturday I finally did make it.

I thought I’d start at the top floor, (the sixth) and work my way down. Figuring that I’d peruse / quickly browse as I do for most museums — peppered with a couple extra minutes on special items, but all in 2 hours, two and half tops. I underestimated, or had too much faith in my perusing abilities. I spent an hour on the sixth floor alone. I thought maybe it was me, that finally seeing artifacts embodying my beloved asanas (yogic poses), texts detailing the yogic traditions of people inspired me, naturally I would spend awhile here. But it wasn’t just me. I noticed scattered throughout the floor were other people who “came around the same time”, and were equally fascinated. I couldn’t even get my hardly-comes-to-yoga-class husband to leave. We were all captivated.

The fifth floor showcased Mandalas, and it was equally hypnotic. It traced the gentle progression of mandalas, focusing on tantric Buddhism.  The two dimensional circular patterned image (not unlike a kaleidoscope) I had in my mind of a mandala, were not these. These were breathtaking. Not just meditation pieces, but art rich enough to fill your imagination. In one room, there were mandala’s in every direction surrounding a golden majestic Buddha, it felt magical. Later, I discovered the *three* dimensional mandala. Three! It was gold and it seemed to rise from pure divinity.

I didn’t make it to the fourth floor and below. Our time was up. We had spent close to three hours just on the fifth and sixth floors, and the book store. I firmly believe that the energies of the objects affect the beholder, a mild kind of empathic connection. And in this museum each beholder is given a vision of peace, devotion and yearning. It wasn’t so much an educational experience to be in the company of this art, as it was a meditation.