Monday, February 20, 2012

Magnificient Shivaratri last night ...

and Amma coming out round midnight to bless us of her prayers...
Amma's elephant getting ready for celebrations:



Maha Shivaratri is celebrated with great devotion and religious fervor by Hindus, in honor of Lord Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods forming the Trinity. The festival falls on the moonless, 14th night of the new moon in the Hindu month of Phalgun (in the month of February - March, according to English Calendar). On the festival of Maha Shivaratri, devotees observe day and night fast and worship Shiva Lingam, to appease Lord Shiva. Many interesting legends have been related to the festival of Maha Shivaratri, explaining the reason behind its celebrations as well as its significance.

According to one of the most popular legends, Shivaratri is the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. It is also believed that Lord Shiva performed ‘Tandava’, the dance of the primal creation, preservation and destruction on this auspicious night of Shivaratri. According to another popular legend, described in Linga Purana, it was on Shivaratri that Lord Shiva manifested himself in the form of a Linga for the first time. Since then, the day is considered to be extremely auspicious by the devotees of Shiva and they celebrate it as Maha Shivaratri - the grand night of Shiva.

Shiva devotees observe strict fast on Maha Shivaratri, with many people having only fruits and milk and some not even consuming a drop of water. Worshippers dutifully follow all the traditions and customs related to Shivaratri festival, as they strongly believe that sincere worship of Lord Shiva, on the auspicious day, releases a person of his sins and also liberates him from the cycle of birth and death. As Shiva is regarded as the ideal husband, unmarried women pray for a husband like Him, on Shivaratri. On the other hand, married women pray for the well being of their husbands, on this auspicious day.

On Maha Shivratri, devotees wake up early in the morning and take a bath, if possible in river Ganga. After wearing fresh clothes, they visit the nearest Shiva temple, to give ritual bath to the Shiva Lingum (with milk, honey, water etc). The worship continues the whole day and whole night. Jaagran (nightlong vigil) might also be observed in Lord Shiva temples, where a large number of devotees sing hymns and devotional songs, in praise of Lord Shiva. In the morning,g devotees break their fast by partaking the prasad offered to Lord Shiva, after the aarti, the night before.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Start of a new life

Today I feel like I am born again.

New life
New spiritual path, new teacher, master, Amma
New family, family of choice...not only here but keeping only people that bring me positive thinking, positive changes, influences
New friends: enough of trying to fit, trying to convince people I am a good guy even though I get down at times, even though I cannot cope with too much conformism, too much classical jobs, corporates...
New health: lost 20 kgs in 6 months last year, keeping it going with:
new diet: no more gluten, added sugar, no eggs, no tomatoes, potatoes... 30% raw fruits, 50% vegetables (besides aubergine!)...
new sports: yoga replacing rugby, skimming and surfing still
new daily practices: meditation replacing TV...

Just very new feelings of: FREEDOM, empowerment, surrender, feeling worthy, lovable and loving, healthy...

Friday, February 17, 2012

First class in India: 80 students of BBM, Amrita University, Amritapuri, Kerala

What a blessing to be able to share my passion on social innovation and social enterprise with indian students.

Getting them to engage into key social problems of the 21st century, think about solutions, position them into selfless service...

Presenting key aspects of social sector in India, WW...
2 hours of introduction class on SI/SE with Stacey Antine, my friend from New York who started the Health Barn, a social enterprise in NY, Connecticut, back in 2005 and made it a success:


http://www.healthbarnusa.com/


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Darshans...

So far 2 darshans (see my definition and experience of darshan on the spiritual section of my projects) have marked me for ever:

  • one on the 18th of January this year ...when Devine Mother picked me from the bottom of the pool where I was drowning and set me into a new project, instrumental for her societal impact: Amala Bharatam... as well repositioned me in Amrita University...
  • and yesterday when she blessed my family, their picture and lifted up this bulk of hate accumulated by generations of angry people (grand parents, parents, siblings... accumulated frustrations, greed...), at the same time that she was guiding me for Amala Bharatam

I feel so light today (huge weight lifted from my shoulders), new hair cut, cleansing going on at an amazing pace.

Weekend at Gowry Art Institute, dynamic space for creative interaction, by the river...

I have known rivers...
I have known rivers ancient as the world and
Older than the flow of human blood in human rivers
My soul has grown deep like the rivers...
Langston Hughes

And this is what your soul will do if you ever dare to join the Gowry Art Institute, and get accepted by Sajitha, to come and stay for a few weeks and work on your...creativity, your soul, your connection to nature, to Gaia...

What an amazing place, one hour away from Trivandrum... or 2 if you take buses, wandering in the mountains, coming to Ponmudi Valley, on the way to Kallar...
What a trip from Amritapuri: 2 trains, 2 buses, 2 rickshaw... 5 hours later, discover the peace of this beautiful river by the mystic mountains of south Kerala...
Its village chamane, the local massage therapists that turn into amazing singers at night...
And the amazing Sajitha, helping people around, building houses, inspiring people to improve their lives, to get deeper inside and connect with the Core...
What a weekend again singing with Walid and local guys this time!
Ayurvedic massage...
Chamanic consultation... 'your cancer will not grow'... polips will disappear soon... take the spirit of the mountains... and these medication will cure you, physically... your soul too...
Strange sensation to be back 10 years ago in Peru...

Ayurveda massage: my first one: amazing feeling: your whole body is oiled, but big time!!... and you have 3 strong men massaging you energetically for an hour, from feet to head...laying on a wooden table...lots of incent, smells...
followed by an amazing steam bath, in a cabin.


Our friend Sajitha, the artist, painter, poet, link... inspiration of beauty... inside... outside: see in INSPIRING section for her work details



And of course my buddy, soul brother, Walid having a ball!!

Amazing food: of course rice, but organic one (from the farms around...) About rice: my favorite joke at the ashram: when standing in line, looking very serially at your indian neighbor and asking: 'I really hope that we will get some rice today!' They don't always get it... bit love it!







Wednesday, February 1, 2012

What a weekend: a muslim from Casablanca, a jew from Paris, a catholic from Biarritz singing together on a Kerala Beach in front of... Hindus...


What a blessing to sing all weekend long with those guys, amazing singers and beautiful persons... such a great ambiance and vibe! Uke, clarinette, and the amazing arabic notes of our moroccan friend, professional singer!
Especially after breaking my surfboard, shoulder and forehead, banging my board on the sand... on my first wave!!!
 From Amritapuri ashram Varkala, this beautiful Kerala beach is only half and hour away by car, taking the main road from Karunagapaly to Kollam, cutting across coconut fields and going along the coast a few kilometers until the Cliff...or the main beach of Varkala.
J, V, W, M, Y and myself all excited about some beach action... jumped into the water right on arrival.
Well shallow warned my bodyboarder friend... and I should have listened...

By the Way my tip in Varkala: do not go to Cafe Del Mar, it is very 'Budha Bar type' very arrogant, and not only did we get treated like 'shit' (small portions, missing items) but it as well 20% overpriced in comparison to other places.
I don't know how long they can sustain such lack of customer care... lets see!


I ended up backside, digging into the sand, on a small but powerful wave and breaking the nose...
This lead to more singing and more sharing which was surely the plan.
Hence tones of little concerts on the beach, in bars, in private houses.



What a beautiful time as well at this place: Bohemian Massala where we met again the happy italians met at the ashram a few weeks ago...

The last day, monday, heading with my morrocan soul mate to Trivandrum to go and meet one of the prominent malayali artist Sajitha, so sweet, so inspiring and so bright.
Again some great exchanges and moments of sharing.

I can only be grateful, thankful for so many inspiring moments... Jai Ma!