Monday, July 2, 2012

Guru Purnima, Mysore, candy and nuts


I just watched the above video by David Garrigues celebrating Guru Purnima (which is either today or tomorrow, July 3rd, depending on when you take the full moon to be). I really like his analogy (at around 5:20 to 5:40) about the guru being the container that contains our shakti or, perhaps more generally, all the various formative influences in our lives. The idea, as I understand it, is that it is not enough simply to learn something from somebody, as one would do if one were learning a trade; but one needs to integrate what is being taught with one's entire personality, so that it becomes an organic part of oneself. And a guru helps one to do just that.

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In other news: If you read Claudia's most recent Sunday Yoga Blog Times, you will know that yesterday (July 1st) was the first day the KPJAYI opened its doors for students this year. According to my "original" plan, I was supposed to be there yesterday! Which meant I would have been there the first time the shala opened its doors so early in the year in recent memory, and I would be observing Guru Purnima in Mysore! Think about that...

But as some wise guy* once said, "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas." Or, in this case, a merry Guru Purnima. So rather than go on and on about what could, would, or should have happened, I'll just say that I'll do my best to enjoy my practice in my little corner of the planet and share it with whoever cares to learn about it, until I get to Mysore one day. And then what? And then I go back to whatever little corner of the planet I happen to be living in at that time, and do my best to enjoy my practice and share it with whoever cares to learn about it ("Before Mysore, roll out mat, take practice; In Mysore, roll out mat, take practice; after Mysore, roll out mat, take practice..."). Go figure.       

*A little online research reveals that the wise guy in question happens to be former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith. Not that you'd care, necessarily...

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