yoga..

"There is no bond equal in strength to Maya, and no power greater to destroy that bond than Yoga"

law of retribution

Every wrong action or crime brings it's own punishment, in accordance with the law of retribution. The law of causation, the law of action and reaction, the law of compensation and the law of retribution-all these operate together He who robs another man robs himself. He who hurts another man hurts himself first. He who cheats another cheats himself first. Every wrong action causes punishment first in the inner nature of soul and externally in circumstances in the form of pain, misery, loss, failure, misfortune, disease, etc..
Swami Sivanada-"Practice of Karma Yoga"

yoga...

In yoga, you do your spiritual work and it affects the body. You stretch and strengthen your muscles and that affects your circulation, digestion, and breathing. You calm and strengthen the nervous system and it affects the mind. You cultivate peace of mind and it affects nervous, the immune system, and the cardiovascular system. If you look clearly you'll see that everything about you is connected to everything else.

saying

"remove selfishness, work on love and compassion and wisdom will enter"

adapt...

"Serve Love Give Purify Meditate Realize."
"Be good, do good, be compassionate."
"Enquire who am I, know the self and be free."
"Adapt, adjust, accommodate, bear insult, bear injury, highest Sadhana".
"Bear insult, bear injury, highest yoga".

This chant has been ringing in my head for the last two weeks, especially the line of 'Adapt, adjust, accommodate etc...

In my life I've had a lot of changes and a lot of movement, just in the past week I packed up my stuff in Toronto, headed to Florida and now I'm in the Bahamas for the next two months, and has much as I look forward to this time, I'm ready to settle down and be in one place. I'm ready to start on my journey towards opening my own center.

So these words are taking on a very deep meaning, not just the adapting part but for the next two months I've come back to my former life or "reality" of living in an Ashram, so I will be serving, loving, giving and meditating..and maybe I will realise :) or in my next lifetime......

Now the beginning part of my stay is for myself I'm here to continue my studies with a certain teacher in the Bhagavad Gita which I'm beyond excited for. These courses can be quite intense so the possibility is that I might not be doing the blog but I will take it one day at a time and will see, otherwise if not then I will see you all in 2 weeks..

I leave you with one last quote by Swami Sivananda

"Terrible is the attachment to the body. Remove the attachment through dispassion, discrimination and enquiry."

Kurma...2nd Avatar of Vishnu

KURMA AVATARA – Kurma – The Tortoise - Kurma was the second avatar of Vishnu. He took the form of a tortoise and sat on the bottom of the ocean after the Great Flood. A mountain was placed on his back by the other gods so that they could churn the sea and find the ancient treasures of the Vedic peoples.
The Devas feared that the Asuras would take over the whole world. Therefore, they prayed to Brahma, who suggested a solution: churn the Ocean of Milk in order to obtain the Nectar of Immortality. However, the Devas could not churn the Ocean by themselves. They struck a temporary truce with their enemies, the asuras, so that all could participate in the churning.
The Ocean was churned by using the mountain, Mandara, and the snake, Vasuki, wrapped around it. Each side would hold an end of the snake and pull on it alternately, causing the mountain to rotate, which in turn would cause the Ocean to be churned.

However, once the mountain was put on the Ocean, it began to sink. Then, Vishnu incarnated in the form of a turtle/tortoise to support the mountain. As the ocean was churned, a deadly poison known as Halahala emerged. This poison threatened to suffocate all living things. In response to various prayers, Siva drank the poison. His wife, Parvati, was alarmed and stopped it in his throat with her hands. This caused Siva’s throat to turn blue. Due to this, he is called Nila Kantha ("Nila" - Blue). From the Ocean various people, animals and treasures emerged – Sura, goddess and creator of wine; Apsaras, various divine nymphs; Uchhaishravas, the divine horse; Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree; Kamadhenu, the first cow and mother of all other cows; Airavata, the mount of Indra; Lakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune and Wealth… and finally, Dhanavantri, the Heavenly Physician, emerged with a pot containing the amrita, the nectar. As the Asuras rushed to take the nectar, the frightened Devas appealed to Kurma, who then revealed himself as the female Avatara of Vishnu, Mohini. The damsel distracted the Asuras, while the Devas secretly drank the amrita nectar. One Asura, Rahu, suspected foul play, disguised himself as a Deva and drank some Nectar. But before the Nectar could pass his throat Vishnu cut off his head. The head, however, remained immortal. It is believed that this immortal head occasionally swallows the sun or the moon, causing eclipses.