Daily Practices

Nadi Shodhana

February 24, 2023 By Brian

When we sit to meditate, we attempt to still the fluctuations of the mind. Sometimes we do this by placing our attention on an object of meditation, which can be a physical object like a candle flame or murti, or something more subtle, like a mantra or even our own patterns of breathing.

Simply placing our attention on the breath as we inhale and exhale can be a powerful meditation technique. Part of the power of this practice is that it goes beyond “quieting the mind.” As we watch the breath rise and fall, we are actually working with our life’s energy pathways. This is called “pranayama.” Although this term is often translated as “breath work” or “breath control,” attention to the breath is really just the vehicle for direction or influence of the life force energy, prana.

In the West, we tend to think of the “nervous system” as something materially tangible, like the wiring of a house. In India, the emphasis goes beyond the physical structure to the flow of energy itself. It’s as much about the electrical current as it is the wiring.

Our patterns of current or life force energy can be thought of as pathways, roughly corresponding to the structure of our physical nervous system. The representation of these patterns or flows of energy are called the nadis.

What are the Nadis?

Nadi is a Sanskrit word for “channel.” The tributary channels of pranic energy in our system converge in patterns that form three main channels which weave around what we know as the Chakras (our seven major cerebral and spinal energy centers).

In Kriya Yoga practice, much attention is given to the Sushumna Nadi, which is the central, spiritual energy channel that corresponds most closely in location with the spinal cord, and represents the most direct journey of energy between the first chakra and the crown.

For energy to flow effectively through the central channel, the other two channels must also be balanced and free of blocks. These channels are:

1) The Ida Nadi, which flows to the left from the Root Chakra, weaving around the chakras until it terminates in the left nostril. This nadi is considered the left channel, and rules the left (or lunar) side of the body; and,

2) The Pingala Nadi, which flows to the right from the Root, terminating at the right nostril, ruling the right (solar) side of the body.

At the very beginning of nearly every meditation session, I spend some time breathing in a strategic way to clear and open these twin energy channels. This pranayama technique is called Nadi Shodhana. The phrase means “channel clearing” but it is often rendered in English as “alternate nostril breathing” (for reasons that should become obvious as you read the description of the technique). Some traditions call the practice “purifying breaths.”

Nadi Shodhana Technique

Sit quietly and relaxed with your spine straight. Close your eyes and take a few soft, deep breaths.

Bring your right hand up so that your palm is in front of your mouth. Your index and middle finger will be just in front of your forehead, right above the eyebrows.
Press your thumb in gently on the right side of your nose, blocking off the passage of air, and inhale through your left nostril. As you inhale, place your attention on the rising of the breath, and the left side of your body.
Release your thumb from the right nostril, and press the tips of your ring finger and pinky into the left side of your nose to block the passage of air. Exhale, feeling the air moving out through your right nostril, and the sensations on the right side of your body. Pause briefly before inhaling and sensing the breath rise on the right side again.
Finally, switch sides with your fingers and thumb once more and complete the cycle by exhaling through the left nostril as the breath descends on the left side of your body.

This four-step process of breathing in left, breathing out right, breathing in right, breathing out left is considered one cycle of Nadi Shodhana. Most of the time I will do twelve cycles at the beginning of a meditation session (although for Green Tara Sadhana instructions are specific to do nine purifying breaths at the beginning). The cycles can be counted on your free hand, using the twelve finger bones in that hand as if they were mala beads. Move your thumb to the next bone as you complete a cycle. When you reach the tip of the last finger, you’ve done twelve cycles of Nadi Shodhana.

Benefits of Nadi Shodhana

From an immediate, practical standpoint the practice of alternate nostril breathing as described above brings an almost instant sense of calm and centeredness. Respiration and heart rates decline, anxiety dissipates, cortisol and cytokines are reduced, oxytocin is released. Even five minutes of practice can reduce stress and increase mental focus. Over time, longer or more frequent practice (and incorporating other techniques such as mantra meditation) can quell inflammation, reduce blood pressure, relieve depression, enhance memory and mental clarity, promote optimism, stimulate creativity and generally improve one’s outlook and quality of life.

Beyond the immediate benefits, for the committed yogi, clearing these channels is essential preparation for more intense practices such as Kriya Yoga Pranayama, where the life force is directed to the higher cerebral centers in search of awakening, liberation and consciousness of God.

Resources

Here’s a great, short demonstration of the practice from Banyan Botanicals.

There’s also a good thread on the Nadis from V Shuddhi on Twitter.

My teacher, Ryan, also speaks about alternate nostril breathing in this video about preparing for Kriya Yoga Initiation as he describes the Kriya Meditation that he was taught by his guru, Roy Eugene Davis.

I’d love to hear from you with questions, or your own experiences with Nadi Shodhana and other pranayama practices. Leave a comment below or hit me with an email.

Daily Sadhana January 2023

January 16, 2023 By Brian Leave a Comment

It’s been nearly a year since I posted about my daily spiritual activities, so I thought I’d offer an update.

A few significant things have changed with the passing of 2022.

Firstly, I have pretty much parted ways with the Roman Catholic Church. I hold no ill will, and there may come a time when I will return to the practice of the Catholic Faith. For the time being, though, I find little in the American expression of Catholicism with which I wish to be in communion. I do still pray the Divine Office each day, but I no longer regularly attend Mass.

Second, I am spending much less time on esoterica. I took a very deep dive into Tarot practice in 2022. It was one of the tools that first started nudging me toward waking up, but I’m finding it less relevant in this season of my life. I still record a card draw each day, and will read for others if they ask, but I’m not putting any effort or time into study at the moment.

One of most significant additions to my spiritual life over the past year has been daily practice of Green Tara Sadhana, which I began learning in 2021, and began practicing daily on March 11th of 2022.

The other major change is that I have now fully committed to study and practice in the Kriya Yoga Tradition. I had begun formal study of the lessons from Self-Realization Fellowship in November of 2020, and have practiced several of their meditation techniques intermittently since that time. I was still largely experimental in my practice, though. Toward the end of 2022, as I began to assess and evaluate my spiritual progress, I decided that it would be best to direct most of my energy in 2023 and 2024 toward the Kriya Yoga path, and to place myself under the discipline of the teacher I most respect, Ryan Kurczak.

Morning Routine

My first activity (after washing my face and taking the dog out and feeding him), every morning, is meditation. Currently I spend about half-an-hour in Kriya Yoga meditation. The full procedure is presented in this video from Ryan.

After meditation, I like to review the Daily Word from Unity, and pray the Office of Readings combined with Lauds. Lately I’ve also been taking a quick look at the apps from Sadhguru, the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, and the Gayatri Sangha.

After making entries into my gratitude journal, I work my way through the daily lesson and writing exercise from David McGrath’s excellent book The Yogi’s Way, which is a two-year survey of Patanjali’s yamas and niyamas.

Several days a week I still listen and chant along with Devadas’ livestream of Coffee and Kirtan from Brooklyn. After that, I being the work day, usually around 9 AM.

Mid Day

Some time either towards the end of the morning or the first couple hours afternoon, I do my Green Tara practice. It helps me keep perspective on everything else that happens during the day, and brings a softness and compassion to even my roughest edges.

Evening

After the work day, I pray Vespers every evening, and also spend another twenty to thirty minutes in meditation. Some days it will be the full Kriya Yoga procedure. Other days I may do something a bit less elaborate, like alternate nostril breathing and silent mantra meditation.

Study and Exercise

I’ve also been making time for exercise each day for awhile now. My wife and I take a lengthy walk with our little dog, Louie, each afternoon. Lately I’ve been getting on an exercise bike for 25 minutes a day, and during that I listen to a podcast or lesson or something edifying.

There are always several books that I’m working my way through. Some are directly related to the Kriya Yoga path, others not.

If this all sounds like it takes up a lot of time, well, it does. I’m lucky to be semi-retired and able to do it. But honestly, I could have done it throughout my full time working years as well, if I hadn’t burned off all those karmas shaking cocktails, watching mindless TV, throwing darts, playing pingpong, and listening to Dean Martin records. I enjoyed those activities at the time, but I much prefer my current daily routine nowadays. 🙂

I’d love to hear about your essential daily practices, and also any questions you may have.

What is Japa, and Why Should You Do It?

March 10, 2022 By Brian Leave a Comment

“Ram naam karne se sab pura hojata hai.”
“Repeat the Name of God, and everything else is accomplished.”
– Neem Karoli Baba

What Is Japa?

Japa is a word that comes to us from Sanskrit, meaning “to mutter repetitions.” In early Vedic holy books, it was used in reference to repeating scripture verses, or incantations or the name of a deity.

When we do silent mantra meditation, that is essentially a sort of japa practice, as we repeat the mantra to ourselves silently. But most of the time, when someone uses the term nowadays, especially in the West, we mean repetition of a sound, either aloud or silently, while counting the number of repetitions on a japamala (mala, for short). A mala is a string of (usually 108) beads, with a larger centerpiece bead in the middle called the Guru Bead. Sometimes this centerpiece bead will have a tassel or other ornamentation.

Malas (much like Catholic Rosaries) can be made of a wide variety of materials. Some are wooden, some made from seeds or stones or even gems, and some truly beautiful ones are made with no beads at all, using knots in the twine or cord instead of beads. One of the pleasures of practice is to find a mala that suits one’s own temperament, and complements the mantra or name that is being repeated. For instance, I have a Tibetan Bodhi Seed mala that I use when chanting Om Mani Padme Hum. I have a green malachite mala for Green Tara practice. And for the Mahamantra (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare) I use a Tulasi Wood mala and bead bag from the ISKCON store. The range of styles and materials available is truly astounding.

How To Do Japa

Japa practice is relatively simple. We start with the bead next to the Guru Bead between thumb and finger, and say the mantra (either aloud or silently). Then we move to the next bead, proceeding all the way around the mala repeating the mantra until we reach the last bead next to the Guru Bead. That is considered one round of japa.

As you’ll see in the video toward the end of this post, some japa practitioners have more elaborate rules for their practice than others. I try to be respectful of the traditions from whence I received a particular mantra or practice, but there are two rules of thumb that seem to follow across most of the traditions, whether Buddhist or Hindu or sectarian within Buddhism or Hinduism. First of all, it is considered best to keep each mala for its own mantra or practice. Although I admit that early on when I only had one mala I did not observe this rule – and sometimes still, when using a little wrist mala on the go I will chant whatever strikes my fancy that day – I agree that it’s a better practice to have a specific mala for a specific mantra or practice if you can. The energy of the repetitions seems to accumulate, and when you pick up that mala, it puts you in a unique headspace for that practice. Do the best you can with this, though, and don’t beat yourself up if you only have one mala and want to practice a lot of different mantras.

The other rule is one that is easy to follow, and really ought to be followed by everyone, regardless of tradition. Out of respect for God and Guru, we never pass over the Guru Bead. Once we reach that special bead, if we’re going to continue japa we turn the mala and begin counting again in the other direction.

As to what sound you should use as a mantra, I would recommend trying a few different ones to see what resonates most with you. There’s an excellent book on the subject by Lily Cushman called A Little Bit of Mantras. The Hanuman Maui store has it bundled with a small wrist mala for practice. You can also do a Web search for something like “list of mantras” and will find more than enough information to get you started.

If you don’t have a mala, you can still do a simple japa practice. Each of your fingers has three bones in it. Begin by placing your thumb on the bone closest to your hand on your little finger. With each repetition, move past the joint to the next bone, then the next finger, etc. By the time you reach the tip of your index finger, that is twelve repetitions. Nine rounds of that (you can keep track of them with your thumb on three fingers on your other hand) is 108. Prety neat, yeah?

Whatever you use to count, remember that this is a devotional practice. If we just repeat the mantra mechanically to rack up numbers, there may still be something positive to come from our practice. If nothing else, at least we’re not out somewhere misbehaving for a little while. 🙂 But if we try as best we can to turn our attention toward the divine while practicing, to “Remember God” as Neem Karoli Baba put it, then the benefits (to ourselves and our world) will increase many times over.

Why Do Japa?

I put it this way in a recent post about my own daily spiritual practice. Silent mantra meditation (in the style of TM) gets us in touch with the unified field of consciousness from which everything in the universe springs. Devotional chanting (such as Kirtan or Japa) gives us a better sense of our own place in that universe.

TM-style meditation practice is valuable almost beyond estimation in terms of benefits to our health and well being. For me, though, without some sort of devotional practice to compliment it, it misses the larger point. Just as the practice of yoga asanas merely for health benefits ignores (and perhaps distorts) the devotion which is at the heart of the Yoga Sutras, using a mantra merely for benefits such as stress management and enhanced creativity ignores the larger purpose for which we ought to be getting calm and clear in the first place. Surely, we want to be more than just fit and less stressed. At least, I believe that we ought to.

For me, devotional chanting brought my life to an entirely different level of clarity and purpose. Perhaps that would have come in the long run with just the standard twenty minutes twice a day of TM-style meditation anyway, but somehow I don’t think so. Look out there at some of the high-functioning, creative powerhouses who tout TM as a key to their success, and you’ll find at least a few folks who have been practicing for decades, whose lives one might not want to emulate.

Part of the appeal of yoga and TM in the West has been the non-religious, non-sectarian nature of the practices as they are often presented here. That’s fine, as far as it goes, but there is a larger, richer, more beautiful context from which these practices have been ripped. Devotional practices such as japa can help us restore that context, and with it, the wonder and joy and love and healing that our lives and our planet so desperately need.

“The Lord is Awaiting on You All to Awaken and See
By Chanting the Names of the Lord, and You’ll be Free”
– George Harrison

Here’s the video I promised, demonstrating how to chant “Hare Krishna” ISKCON style, from our friends at Hare Krishna TV.

Note: On malas from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the centerpiece (Guru Bead) is called the Krishna Bead, and there is also a stray bit of string between the 100th and 101st beads to let you know when you are nearing the end of the round of japa, approaching the last eight beads. According to one of the kind folks at the ISKCON store in the U.S., the last eight beads on such a mala also represent the eight “confidential, principal Gopi (cowherd girl friend) servants of Srimati Radharani” as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

हरी ॐ

Do you chant with a japamala? What’s your favorite mantra? New to the practice and have questions? Hit me with a comment!

Daily Sadhana March 2022

March 9, 2022 By Brian

It’s been more than a year since I last wrote a summary of my daily spiritual practices, and they have evolved a bit, so I thought I would post a quick update.

Meditation and Scripture

I still begin the morning with a card draw, which gives me a suggestion concerning the energy patterns afoot for the day. Currently, I’m using the Thoth Deck, and finding it to be especially helpful in navigating life’s schedules, encounters and activities.

A morning silent mantra meditation is next. Of late I have been using an alpha wave audio from BrainSync along with repetition of the mantra for twenty minutes each morning and evening. I have also been doing some pranayama at the beginning of each session (usually four rounds of box breathing and a couple minutes of breath of fire). The morning meditation helps to clear my mind and calm my spirit for the day to come, and the evening meditation acts as a “reset” from the stresses of the work day, helping me to be more present for study or time with family.

Next is scripture reading and reflection. It is now a firm daily practice for several years to pray with the Catholic Office of Readings and Lauds in the morning, and Vespers in the evenings. I also read Unity’s Daily Word each morning, and take a few moments to reflect and make an entry into my gratitude journal.

Chants

Nearly every morning I still tune in to Devadas with his Kirtans from Brooklyn. I have also taken up the habit of chanting a round of Mahamantra japa in the morning, and one in the afternoon or evening. Lately, I’ve been using a Tulsi Mala and bead bag that I received from the ISKCON store in Florida.

It might be good to include a quick mention here of something I have found to be true, at least for me, at least at this time. Although all of the practices that I keep each day are important to me, there are only two that I would consider to be absolutely essential. I would find it hard to function without the silent mantra meditation and some sort of devotional chanting (either Kirtan or japa). If I did no other spiritual practice, I would hope to at least practice these every day, and preferably at the beginning of the day. Meditation gets us in touch with the unified field of consciousness from which everything in the universe springs. Devotional chanting gives us a better sense of our own place in that universe.

I think that a good “starter program” of spiritual practice for anyone would be five or ten minutes of meditation and one round of japa of some sort. If using a small wrist mala of 27 beads, these two practices would only take about fifteen minutes a day, and the positive changes that can be brought into one’s life with the investment of those fifteen minutes are inestimable.

Reading and Satsang

Throughout the day, I find it helpful to keep in touch with others who are on a spiritual path. This can be through inspirational music, or the vast array of websites and social media groups focused on religion, philosophy and spiritual practice. One of the most beautiful online communities is Deva and Miten’s Gayatri Sangha. There are lots of sweet souls, inspiration, mutual support and virtual gatherings to be found there.

I also enjoy the online Satsang of Krishna Das, and his Yoga Radio station on SiriusXM.

Reading spiritual classics and wisdom literature is also an important part of my own spiritual development. If you’re interested in what I’m reading and studying, I post occasional reviews or updates here.

Do you have thoughts or questions? Would you like to share your own favorite practices or daily routines? I’d love to read your comments.

Praying the Rosary

April 23, 2021 By Brian Leave a Comment

“A Very Powerful Prayer”

One of the first devotional activities that I learned during early explorations into Catholicism was to pray the Holy Rosary.

I had grown up in an Evangelical Protestant home, but stopped attending as an adult, and had observed no religion for a decade or more. I was drawn to a notice in our local newspaper about a session for anyone interested in learning about the Roman Catholic Faith, and decided to attend. I soon found myself there each week as an Inquirer to the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.

The RCIA sessions focused mostly on the “Big T’ Traditions of the Church, but we also learned about the vast and beautiful trove of Catholic culture and customs. The Rosary has been one of the most beloved and widespread Catholic prayer practices for centuries, so naturally it received some attention.

I obtained a Rosary and an instruction book, and began to learn how to use them. When I casually mentioned this to our Director of Religious Education, Sister Ancilla (a Springfield Dominican), her face grew serious, and it almost seemed as if she was in another world for a moment as she said “The Rosary is a very powerful prayer.”

A Brief History of the Holy Rosary

The use of beads or knotted ropes to count repetitions of mantras or prayers goes back thousands of years across many cultures. In Christianity, the Desert Fathers are known to have been using prayer ropes in the 3rd Century of the Common Era, praying the Jesus Prayer – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

It is thought that the use of 150 knot prayer ropes by the laity was practiced in imitation of Monks and Clergy, who prayed the 150 Psalms each day. Since most laymen were not literate enough to read the Psalms, they pronounced the Lord’s Prayer on each knot as a substitute.

Then, in 431 C.E. at the First Council of Ephesus, Mary was declared “Theotokos” – the Bearer of God. This declaration by the ecumenical council set in motion the more widespread adoption of Marian prayer.

The Latin word “Rosarium” means a crown or garland of roses. Dominican tradition says that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1208, giving him the form of the prayer. The Dominicans continued to teach and practice the devotion, and its use spread throughout Christendom. Pope Pius V (a Dominican) established the Rosary as an “official” devotion of the Catholic Church in 1569.

And so Dominic looked to that simple way of praying and beseeching God, accessible to all and wholly pious, which is called the Rosary, or Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which the same most Blessed Virgin is venerated by the angelic greeting repeated one hundred and fifty times, that is, according to the number of the Davidic Psalter, and by the Lord’s Prayer with each decade. Interposed with these prayers are certain meditations showing forth the entire life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, thus completing the method of prayer devised by the Fathers of the Holy Roman Church.

The “angelic greeting” is that of the Angel Gabriel in Luke’s Gospel “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

In 1917, three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal reported that they had seen apparitions of “a Lady more brilliant than the Sun.” She asked the children to pray the Rosary every day to bring an end to World War I and to bring peace to the world. Recitation of the “Fátima Prayer” at the end of each decade of the Rosary became a widespread practice thereafter.

In 2002, Pope John Paul II issued the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, declaring October 2002 to October 2003 the “Year of the Rosary” and giving us five new Luminous Mysteries to contemplate during the prayer.

The Rosary and the Prayers

The Rosary has a crucifix, a centerpiece and fifty-nine beads. The first five beads lead from the crucifix to the centerpiece. The others are arranged in sets (“decades”) around a loop from the centerpiece.

To pray the Rosary, we begin in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, with the crucifix in hand, making the Sign of the Cross. We then recite the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Then, on the first bead, we recite the Lord’s Prayer (which Catholics usually call the Our Father prayer).

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

As we grasp each of the next three beads on the way to the centerpiece, we recite the Angelic Greeting (Hail Mary prayer).

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Then the Doxology prayer (Glory Be).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

On the last bead before the centerpiece, we begin the first decade of the Rosary. We would proclaim the first mystery to be contemplated, and perhaps read a short reflection about the mystery, and then pray the Our Father. Then, on the next ten beads, we pray the Hail Mary as we continue to contemplate the mystery. We end each decade with the Glory Be and the Fátima Prayer.

O my Jesus, forgive us of our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen.

We continue on in this fashion through each set of one plus ten beads, until we have reached the centerpiece once again after the fifth decade of the prayers. We then pray the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen).

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our Life, our Sweetness, and our hope. To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then most gracious advocate, Thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us, the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

We conclude with this final prayer.

Let us pray. O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

The Mysteries of the Rosary

The Mysteries of the Rosary call to mind the most significant events of the Gospel. The are grouped into sets of five.

Joyful Mysteries	Luminous Mysteries
The Annunciation	The Baptism of The Lord
The Visitation	The Wedding at Cana
The Nativity	Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
The Presentation	The Transfiguration
The Finding in the Temple	The Institution of the Lord’s Supper
Sorrowful Mysteries	Glorious Mysteries
The Agony in the Garden	The Resurrection
The Scourging at the Pillar	The Ascension
The Crowning with Thorns	The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
Carrying the Cross	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Crucifixion	Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven

My Own Experience With The Rosary

I have found that Sr. Ancilla was right. The Rosary is, indeed, a “very powerful prayer.” For me, it is very much like devotional chanting, in that it seems to foster trust and surrender. It is when I let go of my need for control that I make way for marvelous things to happen in my life.

I have no data on this, but I also believe that the practice leads to a brainwave state which nurtures a sense of grounding and serenity. I can attest that I certainly feel more grounded and serene when I pray the Rosary daily.

Over many centuries, this practice has created something of an égrégore, to which our own intentions are joined when we pick up the beads. The Rosary connects me to generation after generation of others who have kept a devotion to the Holy Mother, and to her nurturing spirit of peace and compassion. There is power and beauty in that.

There is also power and beauty in creating a personal ritual or set of habits in relation to devotional practices such as this. I sometimes will light a cone or stick of rose incense and a Marian votive candle before beginning the prayers of the Rosary, and I still like to use the same Celtic Cross beads set that I first began praying with nearly thirty years ago. This helps to promote a sense of continuity with the grounding and serenity noted above.

Resources

Although the structure of the devotion described above may seem a little overwhelming at first, there are lots of resources available nowadays to make it simple to begin. There’s no need to memorize the prayers, or even to have a set of beads in your hands (although they are widely available and relatively inexpensive). Here are some links that may be helpful if you have an interest.

Rosary Army – Dear friends Greg and Jennifer Willits began making and giving away all-twine knotted Rosaries two decades ago, and they are still doing it today. You can request yours, for free, on their website. They also have an app that will lead you through the prayers of the Rosary.

Rosary Center and Confraternity – This site offers instructions on how to pray the Rosary, along with articles, videos, an online store and more.

How to Pray the Rosary – From the USCCB.

The Mysteries of the Rosary – From the Vatican Website

Sadhana January 2021

January 5, 2021 By Brian

As my practice develops I thought it might be good to keep track from time to time of my daily sadhana routine. Here’s what I’m doing at the current time.

Morning Practice

Now that the holidays are behind us, I do my best to rise around 6:30 AM Central Time. This gives me an opportunity to brew coffee for the family, and spend some time in meditation before the day begins in earnest and the kirtan stream from Brooklyn begins at 9 AM Eastern.

Silent Mantra Meditation – Usually while coffee is brewing I sit for my first meditation of the day. I begin with a short prayer of invocation and some breath work. Some days it is just a few deep breaths or cyclical breathing, some days I also include a couple minutes of breath of fire to really clear out the CO2. Then I begin the mantra repetition, and continue for twenty minutes or so. At the end I bring my hands into prayer mudra and give thanks for another day in this life.

Daily Draw – I have been in the habit for nearly two years of drawing a Tarot card each morning, reflecting and journaling. These daily draws are the practice that first brought me out of the darkness. They led me to sobriety, meditation, and the other habits and resources that have helped me develop. They’re still teaching and guiding me.

Office of Readings Combined With Lauds – I began the daily scripture and prayer discipline of the Divine Office for Lent 2020. In prior years I have left off the practice at Easter, but this time continued with it.

Daily Word – This short daily reflection from Unity has been a source of great comfort and encouragement to me since I began reading it in May of 2019. It’s uncanny how the messages and scripture passages so often relate to things in my life, and also relate to the scriptures in the Divine Office, and to the card that turned up that day.

Gratitude – This is the time that I set aside to write down a few things for which I am especially grateful. Sometimes they will be things that have presented themselves already in the morning, or sometimes they are things that I remember from the prior day. I find that starting each day with gratitude and thanksgiving is the foundation for a happy life.

In all, these morning devotional practices usually take less than an hour, and they help me bring a calmer mind and a better sense of purpose to everything that I do for the rest of the day.

Morning Chants

At 8 AM my local time, Devadas’ Daily Kirtan begins streaming. I find that hearing and chanting these ancient names of God have brought innumerable graces into my life. The main benefit of the practice, for me, has been surrender.

There’s a great story about Swami Prabhupada. He had come to New York City at the age of 70, with little money, no connections, and no worldly support. His guru had told him to spread the practice of bhakti to the West. At his lowest point, he wrote a poem saying that though things looked hopeless, he trusted that there must have been some reason that the Lord had brought him to America. His words were to the effect of “very well, Krishna – make me dance as you wish.”

I cannot explain how bhakti works in this way, but it does. When one feels like a feather on the breath of God, everything in life is sweeter and easier.

Evening Practice

I’m a lot more flexible with my practice later in the day. Without fail I pray Vespers each day. I nearly always spend twenty minutes in meditation as well, and lately we have been praying a Family Rosary before bedtime. I’ve also been delving into Paramahansa Yogananda’s lessons lately, and beginning to learn some of the techniques that he taught. These afternoon and evening practices are a lot less routine and fixed for me, though. I depend on the morning practice to do the “heavy lifting” and am able to just enjoy whatever I do later in the day as it comes. In this respect it’s something like the combination of a structured fitness regimen and open gym.

Other Times of Day

I may spend time in meditation or other edifying activities of some sort at other times of the day as well. This might be a short break for meditation, prayer or (most often) chanting.

But I set aside specific time for practice morning and evening each day without fail. I only wish that I had developed the habit in the days of my youth.

Do you have thoughts or questions? I love to read your comments.

Bhakti: Honoring the Names of God

September 8, 2020 By Brian Leave a Comment

“Ram naam karne se sab pura hojata hai.”

“Repeat the Name of God, and everything else is accomplished.”

– Sri Neem Karoli Baba

Meerabai

What is Bhakti?

The simplest translation of the word “bhakti” is “devotion.” For most of us Westerners, if we know the word at all, we think of it as synonymous with the beautiful Hindu practice of devotional chanting. We also tend to think of bhakti as synonymous with “kirtan.”

Many of us get our first brush with this practice at a local yoga studio. One of my wife’s teachers used to bring a harmonium to class from time to time, and they would sing together after asana practice. I first experienced the practice myself in a Kundalini Yoga class that we attended together.

The Bhakti Movement came to the fore in Medieval India. The practice of personal devotion to Hindu deities is much older, dating back to the First Century BCE. By the 5th Century CE, notable bhakti poets emerged in Southern India, and the movement spread widely and rapidly throughout the Indian Subcontinent during the 12th to 18th Centuries. Some historians believe that its growth among Hindus was at least party in response to the arrival of Islam.

Bhakti as we know it today, at least in the West, tends to take the form of singing the names of Hindu deities (or sometimes other Hindu or Buddhist mantras), often accompanied by instruments such as harmonium, guitar, dotara, tablas, mridanga drums and kartals. It is quite often practiced in the call and response style from Indian folk music traditions known as Kirtan.

I have come to think of this practice as a way to honor the light and life within each of us, and to draw our lives closer to that light. One need not be Hindu, nor hold any religious beliefs or convictions at all to appreciate, to enjoy and to benefit from this practice.

Bhakti as a Meditation Practice

One can think of bhakti as being simply a mantra meditation practice, with a melody. Just as we do in any mantra meditation we repeat certain words, phrases or sounds, and when our mind wanders off, we gently draw it back to the mantra we are repeating. This practice helps to still the mind, and helps us learn to keep our attention in the present moment.

Krishna Das uses the analogy of “a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.” The medicine is in the mantra. The music is just there for the sweetening.

Singing to Evoke the Loving Presence Within Us

When we sing, and particularly when we sing together, we manage to get in touch with that part of ourselves which is most authentic.

Here is what the legendary American Folk Singer, Pete Seeger, wrote in his introduction to a songbook titled Rise Up Singing.

Once upon a time, wasn’t singing a part of everyday life as much as talking, physical exercise, and religion? Our distant ancestors, wherever they were in this world, sang while pounding grain, paddling canoes, or walking long journeys. Can we begin to make our lives once more all of a piece? Finding the right songs and singing them over and over is a way to start. And when one person taps out a beat, while another leads into the melody, or when three people discover a harmony they never knew existed, or a crowd joins in on a chorus as though to raise the ceiling a few feet higher, then they also know there is hope for the world.

I cannot explain this in a rational, analytical way, but there is something about these Indian devotional chants that stirs one’s heart. It is, perhaps, exceedingly odd to be a grey-headed white Christian American, singing in fumbling Sanskrit about an ancient monkey god. But when I do, I get the sense that it is one of “the right songs” that Seeger mentioned.

We sing bhakti to stir the loving presence deep within us, a presence which is secure, perfect and eternal. There are many names for it, but there is only the one presence – the one Source – that which is life and love.

Entering the Age of Truth

The Hindus have a name for the time in which we currently live (at least according to some authorities’ reckoning). It is called the Kali Yuga. One of the four great epochs of the world’s time cycle, the Kaliyug is the age of confusion, or downfall. It is a time of great darkness, materialism and conflict. Not fun to be living in such an era.

The good news is that the Hindus also believe that during the time that we engage in spiritual practice, particularly devotional chanting, and especially when we gather together with others for bhakti, we enter into the Satya Yuga – the age of truth, and light, and beauty, and kindness and justice. As we enter into the age of light, that light enters into us, and radiates out from us to everyone and everything around us. We bring light, life and happiness to our own hearts, to our community and to our world.

Of course, it is hard to find data on this. How does one measure the truth in a person’s heart? How does one verify a person’s location in one of these four ages described in ancient Indian lore? Do these ages even exist?

What we do know is that negative states of mind, things like tension and anger and fear and doubt and worry, all have a negative effect on human physiology, neurology, psychological health and societal health. And we also know from anecdotal accounts and bonafide studies that practices such as bhakti, over time, can help to promote positive states of mind (and improved physical well being, too – music is now used to help treat chronic pain, to help speed the recovery of stroke victims and more).

Since bhakti is also an immensely pleasurable activity, I’ll take the chance that it doesn’t transport me to the Satyug. But I prefer to think that it does. 🙂

But how can a Christian sing to a “foreign god?”

I won’t argue with someone who believes that God is the ogre of the universe, waiting to stomp on the first person who appears to be having fun. I also won’t go into any detail in this post about the historical context of the Ten Commandments, or Church teaching on this topic. I do have thoughts on these matters, and perhaps will write more on the subject later.

For now, I will simply say that I have come to believe that these distinctions we draw between the Catholic Jesus and the Baptist Jesus, and Allah, and Jehovah, and Shiva – we are thinking too small. These are not different gods, they are different ideas about the One God.

In any case, I am at peace with it.

As noted earlier, one need not buy into any specific ideas about God or religion (or any ideas at all) to enjoy kirtan and benefit from its practice. Here is how one of my favorite bhaktas, Devadas, puts it on his Brooklyn Mellows website.

While these mantras are associated with the sacred forms, names, mythologies and great teachers of traditional Hindu culture, it is not necessary to be religious or even spiritual to enjoy kirtan or for it to be a transformative practice. While the practice of kirtan may awaken a spiritual mood or feeling within us, we aren’t asked to believe in anything. We don’t need to convert to any particular religion or sect. There is no dogma to follow. We aren’t asked to be anything other than who and what we already are. We can try the practice and if we enjoy it, great. We can come back to it and even integrate it into our lives. And if we try it and we don’t enjoy it, that’s also great. We can move along to something else that might be better for us.

Want to get started?

If you’re interested in learning more about this sweet, sweet devotional practice, there are two incredible online video resources that I would suggest.

Every morning, at 9 AM Eastern, Devadas has been livestreaming kirtan from his apartment in Brooklyn. He began doing this during the early days of the pandemic quarantine, and at the time of this writing is approaching six months without having missed a day. Watching his streams, and chanting along, have become a fundamental part of my own daily spiritual routine, and I have learned so much from him about the chants and the practice. It’s a beautiful gift to the world.

Also, once a week, on Thursday Evenings at 7 PM Eastern, Krishna Das livestreams kirtan and Q&A on his YouTube Channel. These sessions, too, are a great gift. His stories about his guru and his time spent in India are fascinating, and his perspective and sense of humor add quite a lot of that “spoonful of sugar” mentioned above.

There is Bhakti, Right Here in Key City

With a capital B and that rhymes with Key. 🙂 Sorry. I couldn’t resist.

We also have an entire website devoted to our own local kirtan gatherings. There’s not a lot of content on the site yet, but you may find something of interest there, along with links to other sites, resources, and chant lyrics. Visit KeyCityKirtan.com if you’d like. And if you live near the great Chicago Southland, come join us some time.

Do you sing bhakti? Share your favorite stories, insights and resources. Have questions? Email or comment. I’d love to hear from you!

A Simple Meditation Practice

September 8, 2020 By Brian

“If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”

– His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Photo by ESA/Hubble

I began a daily meditation practice in April of 2019. The resultant changes in my life and well being have been nothing less than miraculous. Before beginning the practice, at the age of 61, I was miserable, obese, depressed, in chronic pain, suffering from high blood pressure and pretty much just waiting around to die. Since I began the practice, I have lost nearly 90 pounds, am off the blood pressure meds that I had taken for more than a decade, and can barely wait to wake up each morning to find what the new day will bring.

In this post, I’ll share a simple practice that you can teach yourself and practice wherever and whenever you would like. It requires nothing but your time, attention and persistence.

Some Benefits of Meditation

Here are just a few of the effects of a daily meditation practice which have been documented in study after study.

reduced cortisol (the stress hormone) and cytokines (inflammatory agents)
increased oxytocin (the “love” hormone)
better sleep
less anxiety
reduced inflammation and pain
lowered blood pressure, better cardiovascular health
more electrical activity in the areas of the brain related to positive thinking and optimism
increased intuition, insight and self-awareness
improved self-esteem
more creativity
improved focus, attention span and memory
increased empathy
compulsions, bad habits, addictions and negative states of mind lift and disappear

There’s no way to do it wrong, as long as you do it.

Like many others, I had tried to meditate earlier in my life, noticing no effect. I think that my understanding of what meditation is, how it works, and my expectations were to blame. I wanted to “go somewhere else” or be someone else as I meditated. I wanted for all of the cares of the world to instantly melt away, and to find myself in an alternate realm of magic where I was at the center of it all – wise, powerful and in control. I wanted to feel all of that during meditation sessions, and when I didn’t feel (any of) that, I thought that I must not be doing it right. I quickly gave the practice up as a waste of time, feeling guilty that I didn’t “get it.”

When I began to meditate this time around, I started almost by accident, and without any expectations at all. It felt good, so I kept doing it. Then I started to research, and was lucky enough to stumble on this advice: there is no way to do this practice “wrong” – so long as you do it every day.

A Simple, Powerful Practice

There are many different types, techniques and styles of meditation practice. I have studied and experimented with quite a number of them, and still vary my practice depending on what seems to be working for me at the moment, or new things I have learned about and want to try. I’m going to describe my current daily practice. It is the one I would recommend to someone who is interested in beginning.

Several words of caution are in order before I describe what to do. This is a deceptively simple technique which has been used by millions of people around the world for centuries. It is practiced by people of all ages, nationalities, religions, beliefs and stations in life. It will yield vast benefits and blessings to your life if you practice it consistently, but this will take some time. One cannot “install” a new state of mind, anymore than one can install a crop. We plant. We nurture. Things grow and produce the harvest. Do not expect to “feel anything” or to see any results in the early days of this practice. It takes time.

I’m also not going to provide a lot of detail here on what happens to our mind and body during meditation. In general, we learn to become calm, our brain waves settle down into a lower frequency, our bodies become relaxed. Do not expect to feel or sense anything unusual or profound (although this may eventually happen). Just devote some time to the practice each day for a few weeks, and see what happens.

The technique that I’ll describe is the one that I personally practice each day. Although I have not been taught TM, I understand that this practice is quite similar to what Maharishi Mahesh Yogi taught. It comes to us from the Hindu tradition, but it is similar to centering prayer as practiced and taught by many Christian mystics of various denominations. It must be emphasized that this practice meshes well with nearly any faith, but one need not have any religious convictions or beliefs at all to benefit from it. The physiological and neurological response depends only on a willingness to practice each day.

How to Meditate

For this meditation, you will need a mantra. Mantra simply means “mind tool.” It is a sound that you will repeat to yourself silently during the meditation. When this technique is taught by a guru or yogi, a specific mantra may be selected for the student based on their age, gender, temperament, etc. For our purposes, almost any simple word or sound will do, although it would be best if the word does not call to mind a lot of associations. For instance “car” might be a poor choice, as your mind may be drawn to images of cars. This is why the ancient mantra sounds from India and Tibet make such excellent mantras for we Westerners, because there are no deeply ingrained associations with them for us.

The mantra I would recommend for starting out is “SO HUM” (sometimes pronounced “so-hung” or “so-haum”). The literal meaning of the mantra is “I am.” So it is an affirmation of sorts, but you should not focus on the meaning during meditation. Just repeat the sound silently in your mind.

Ready to begin?

Sit in a comfortable chair, feet on the ground. Hands in your lap. Don’t cross your legs or arms. Try to keep your spine relatively straight.

Set a (gentle sounding) timer for 20 minutes if you’d like.

Take a few deep breaths with your eyes closed. Open your eyes softly and briefly, and then close them again. No need to keep a focal point. Just relax.

Begin repeating the mantra silently. SO HUM. SO HUM. SO HUM.

Keep repeating the mantra silently. When your mind wanders, gently come back to the mantra. Do not judge yourself or worry when your mind wanders to tasks that you need to complete, or the TV show that you watched last night, or your grocery list or whatever. When you recognize that this is happening, just bring it back to the mantra repetition. If your mind wanders, or even if you drift off to sleep or whatever, it’s alright. There’s no way to do this practice wrong as long as you just do it.

After 20 minutes, wiggle your fingers, toes and maybe stretch a bit, to ease back into normal consciousness. Gently open your eyes, and breathe for a few moments before getting back to your day.

That’s it. The beauty of this practice is that it can be done anywhere, any time, without any props or aids or anything else added to the picture. Also, you’re not trying to focus your mind, or eliminate anything, or hold on to anything. It’s just a very gentle falling into your natural state of “relaxed but alert.” You may “lose” the mantra altogether sometimes if you get deep enough, and that’s okay too. Just bring your attention back when you notice that happening.

Some Final Words of Advice

Here is something that I shared with a friend who was considering beginning this practice.

I’m guessing that if you do this, the first few times especially, you’ll be frustrated. Nothing is happening, I can’t relax. I don’t feel different. My mind is racing. I’m not doing this right. Blah Blah Blah.

But if you stick with it and do it every day, twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the afternoon (if you can – go shorter if you must) then after awhile it will begin to make a difference.

The keys are don’t focus, don’t visualize, don’t do anything. Just sit, Breath. Repeat the mantra silently. Every day. Twice a day. Work up to twenty minutes a session. That’s it.

A Few Links

Here are a few links that may be of interest.

Centering Prayer (Video) – In this short video, my friend Gary Thomas, who is an Assembly of God Pastor, describes his practice of centering prayer.

Transcendental Meditation™ Official Website – I must emphasize, again, that what I practice is not TM, I have not been taught TM, and I make no claims that what I describe above will yield the same results. I would love to hear from practitioners about your experiences. Here are a couple of videos about that practice.

David Lynch Explains TM (Video)

Intro to Transcendental Meditation (Video)

How to Get Started With Meditation – This is a blog post which gives a little more information on what happens to the brain during meditation, and describes some alternative methods. The binaural beats technology described is also a great way to get started with the practice, helping to slow the brainwaves into the Alpha or Theta zones using stereophonic sounds. I still use that technology on occasion.

Do you meditate? What is your practice like? Please comment or email with your ideas, experiences and any questions.

Image Credit: Photo by ESA/Hubble

Keeping a Gratitude Journal

September 7, 2020 By Brian

Journal, Pen and Coffee Mug One of the very first things that I learned to do when I began to change my life was to begin keeping a gratitude journal. This incredibly simple practice can have a profound effect on one’s happiness and well being.

In fact, for the time and effort invested, this may be the single highest leverage activity in which one can engage for happiness, spiritual development and good mental health.

The process is simple. Find the time each day to write down three things for which you are thankful. Lots of folks seem to find the most benefit in doing this practice in the evening or just before bedtime. You don’t need a fancy blank book or app. Just grab a notebook and pen, reflect for a few moments, and list three things from that day that make you feel grateful.

It is truly as simple as that, and it seems easy enough as well, but at first it may be more challenging that you anticipate. The first few days it may be pretty easy to come up with things to write, but then you may find yourself repeating items – which is alright, but the real power of the practice comes from finding new things each day for which you are grateful. This is because you will find yourself actively looking for things throughout the day that you can write down in your journal that evening. As we are on the lookout for positive things, we gradually train ourselves to expect positive things. This single shift in attention has dramatic effects.

Here are just a few of the most common benefits that have been documented in studies of this sort of journaling practice.

Better Sleep
Healthier Eating
Lowered Risk of Heart Disease
Lower Symptoms of Depression
Lower Stress Levels
Improved Interpersonal Relationships
Less Focus on Materialism
Increased Generosity
Improved Self-Esteem
Improved Sense of Agency Over One’s Life

Fairly dramatic measurable results are found in studies within the first month of beginning a gratitude practice.

I learned about this practice while watching a “self-help” documentary about the Law of Attraction. I cannot recall who made the suggestion, or which movie it was, but I remember thinking “this is simple to do, so why not try it?”

Along with another practice called the “mental diet” which I’ll describe in another post, this habit did more very early on in my spiritual journey to change my attitudes, perceptions and the quality of my life than any other activity I can name. For me, the most significant result has been an easing of episodes of depression that had plagued me for more than 50 years.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with gratitude, or your questions. Feel free to email or leave a comment on this post.

Praying the Divine Office

September 6, 2020 By Brian

I was introduced to the Divine Office by a lifelong friend who is a Catholic Priest. From time to time he has come to visit our family for a few days, and he always brings several beautifully bound large volumes with him for his daily prayers. I was fascinated and intrigued by all of the ribbons and the elaborate process involved, but thought of this prayer as a somewhat arcane practice, reserved for the clergy.

At some point I considered praying the Office (also called the Liturgy of the Hours) as part of my Lenten practice one year, and did a little research. Unfortunately, a lot of the material online seemed more complicated and daunting than helpful.

I was eventually lucky enough to find a resource called Universalis. In addition to the website, there is also a smartphone app which makes it simple to add this ancient and beautiful prayer tradition to one’s day. My own practice is to pray the Office of Readings combined with Lauds (morning prayer) first thing in the morning, and then Vespers sometime during the evening.

Initially, I prayed the Hours only during Lent, and by the time Holy Week arrived, was satisfied with the prospects of putting the practice behind me until the next year. For some reason here in 2020 I continued the practice after Lent ended, and it has now become a habit that I intend to observe, if the Lord wills it, for the rest of my days. Beginning and ending each day with this deep dive into the Psalms helps to bring a longer-term perspective and a sense of centeredness to the flurry of life and its daily activities.

This practice has also given me a deeper understanding of the nature and context of Judeo-Christian scripture itself, and of the character of the God we Christians worship.

If you’re interested in praying the Office, I would highly recommend the Universalis website. There’s no cost for the web version, and both the desktop and smartphone apps are very reasonably priced. If you pray the Office of Readings with Lauds, you’ll want to set aside fifteen or twenty minutes for it, and Vespers is a bit shorter (maybe five or ten).

Do you have a formal daily prayer practice? I’d love to hear your experiences, resources, and questions.