The Divine

 

What is Brahman, What is Allah

 

 

 

Sunset @ Cox Bazaar Bangladesh ©SadhanaYoga

 

For me I cannot explain what Allah is; In Bradaranyaka Upanishad, when Yajnavalkya was questioned by his students to describe God, he could only say, “It is not this and it is not that” (neti, neti, neti).

Allah is the creator, without which we would not be here, he is in my heart, he is my soul, without him I do not exist.

He is without form, colourless, characterless and formless, my Universal Spirit is omnipresent and omnipotent and like cosmic energy and indescribable. For a Muslim to even try to imagine what Allah looks like is unimaginable yet unnecessary, as is formless but he exists.

We fear him and love him. I know that when I perform my prayers, my meditation, reading my scriptures, when I talk to Allah he is there, guiding me in my journey and even when I do wrong I know that he will forgive as long as I learn from my mistakes. As with Patanjali’s Yamas and Niyamas, or Buddhas Four Noble Truths we also have our ethics and codes of practice that we try to adhere to and it is hard at times, but knowing that Allah is in our heart makes can make it easier – as we have seen above, due to kleshas (obstacles) such as avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego) etc that can cloud our judgements and lead us to sway ‘ off the path’.

Therefore, we follow 5 basic principles of Islam

1. Believe in the oneness of God
2. Perform daily prayers
3. Fast during Ramadan
4. Almsgiving
5. Pilgrim to Mecca.

 This will lead us to our path of peace on this life and the next.

As Muslims we believe in the Atman and after death the soul passes on.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful 

 

“Say (O Muhammad): He is Allah, (the) One. Allah the Eternal Absolute [Allah- the Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need]. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.”

 

 

 

Qur’an: 112: 1-4

 

 

 

 

 

 He who knows the Bliss of The Divine, whence words together with the mind turn away, unable to reach It? He is not afraid of anything whatsoever. He does not distress himself with the thought: “Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is evil?”. Whosoever knows this regards both these as Atman; indeed he cherishes both these as Atman. Such, indeed, is the Upanishad, the secret knowledge of The Divine.

Dont be a Prisoner to the senses

Look in the mirror.  Are you seeing what’s really there or what you perceive.

Most of us it’s the latter. To make sense in this world we label. We label things as good and bad, right and wrong, yes and no because that’s how we make sense; that’s how information from all Senses come together in the mind they fight for attention and the louder more strident ones win

The ears when open hear what they think is there rather than just listening, the Tongue tastes what’s nice rather than enjoying the mix, the nose smells out rich fragrances and limits the unpleasant ones, we touch what feels good rather than dwell in the uncomfortable and we see what we choose to see rather than taking a look and not bring scared to go further

Each sense can bring us into a prism of comfort; a cacoon of warmth rather than allowing curiosity to help us spread our wings, take flight and enjoy stillness within movement

2011 Newsletters

Spring
Last month I suggested we listen to your dreams within. With the encouragement of Mother Spring maybe getting there wont be as difficult as the mind perceives.

I am writing this newsletter sat in my garden with the sunshine on my face and the birds singing to keep me company (ok I started this newsletter on Monday and it was nice then!) and no matter what darkness life brings to us, we know that with courage and love things can be ok. All it takes is faith, be that faith in the Divine but most importantly faith in the Self.

Tomorrow when you wake up before the eyes open – smile, thats all smile , dont force it if it feels strange than smile more, laugh and know that taking a deep breath of sunshine into the heart those intentions we made at the start of the year can come to fruition.

As the beautiful poet Rumi so wonderfully expressed

“Its good to leave each day behind
like flowing water, free of sadness
Yesterday is gone and its tale told
Today new seeds are growing”

march

pic from Sadhana Yoga Retreat

dream and listen to what is within

… I know we are not quite there with the blue skies but we know that very soon the season of freshness and newfound energy will return soon. But for many of us that light seems a too far away. I have had lots of emails from people who are experiencing guilt for not keeping those well planned resolutions and new goals.

I hear that 2011 is the year of realising our dream. Dreams can bring us feeling a little more closer to what we would like to achieve and doing what we enjoy.
We all start the new year with new dreams and hopes that life takes over and sometimes those dreams remain within rather than being explored. I know its easier said than done and we can become impatient when things are not going to plan, but its within us to change the way we behave, react and feel.

How – continue eating well and NOT feel guilty of you’ve had a splurge, keep moving – take a brisk walk, enjoy Yoga breathing exercises, Meditate, enjoy getting stronger in Pilates and keep your potential just like the return of springtime so too will our will grow and blossom, give it time and smile as your breath with it and close your eyes and listen to you.

Keep smiling, keep breathing ….properly

Sadhana
x

Dont let Fear nor Pride take your breath away

over the last 48 hours i have been confronted by two individuals, on separate occasions who are scared. due to their Fear they carry with them anger and an unwillingness to open their mind and become liberated.

I teach a regular Yoga and Pilates class on a Thursday night at my local community in Monton, Eccles. I have the hall until 8pm after which the Mancunian Singing Group use the hall. On several occasions the Group Leader has confronted me in regards to various issues such as being 2 minutes late to finish my class, or incense being burned.

The latter incident when I was confronted by the Group Leader and his friend took to communictaing with me through anger, fear which led to rage and aggression (in the presence of my students) . During their ‘communication’ I was also asked if i can speak/understand English. Being a proud British born Bangladeshi I did mention that yes I can speak English and even have 2 business degrees from Leeds and Paris.

The 2nd incident occurred today when i parked my car outside a ladys house to buy some milk from the corner shop, she came out and asked me to move my car and go back to where i came from, and i dont think she meant Eccles.

The point I am trying to make it that although i have been a victim of racism throughout my school life, aswell as in Paris and even in Eccles I have also learnt through the wonderful practice of Yog that its all because of our sense of fear…what we cant see, what we dont know, what we assume and perceive, what we cannot understand, we have the need to label things as good and badm right and wrong rather than seeing whats really there rather than perceiving it so that it makes sense to us, hence the irrational behaviour. This irrational behaviour increase the suffering aspect of the Self so that doubt, desire, need and greed take over rather than kindness, joy and acceptance.

Whilst these people were shouting and raises their voices I breathed slowly and didnt raise my voice back to them, which in turn angered them even more. We cannot fight rage with rage, nor am I saying that we shouldn’t stand up for ourselves its all about how and what we are trying to achieve.

Even though I was trying to stay calm, of course my sense of fear ( I did feel threatened in the first incident) did lead me to feel anger and hurt, my Ego also revelled in pride. Pride feeds the Ego just as much as anger.

How do we find balance; balance between dukkha and sukkha (suffering and joy) , how do we stay true to our character and be strong, how do make sure that our Ego doesnt get bigger than theirs and let pride which can also lead to irrational behaviour get in the way??

I dont know but what i do know is that whenever such incidents occur (of which are few and far between , rather than several times a day in my school days) i continue to breath with calm, and try to keep my faith in my Self and others by smiling through it all.

Im not writing this blog as a what to do, or look how great i am or anything but just as a this is what happened and I continue to breath with love and support

Sadhana

Listen to what is within

dream and listen to what is within

Dear Yogis and Pilates Friends

Hope you are all well, I know we are not quite there with the blue skies but we know that very soon the season of freshness and newfound energy will return soon. But for many of us that light seems a too far away. I have had lots of emails from people who are experiencing guilt for not keeping those well planned resolutions and new goals.

But as always there is good news- I hear that 2011 is the year of realising our dream. Dreams can bring us feeling a little more closer to what we would like to achieve and doing what we enjoy.
We all start the new year with new dreams and hopes that life takes over and sometimes those dreams remain within rather than being explored. I know its easier said than done and we can become impatient when things are not going to plan, but its within us to change the way we behave, react and feel.

How – continue eating well and NOT feel guilty of you’ve had a splurge, keep moving – take a brisk walk, enjoy Yoga breathing exercises, Meditate, enjoy getting stronger in Pilates and keep your potential just like the return of springtime so too will our will grow and blossom, give it time and smile as your breath with it and close your eyes and listen to you.

Past, Future, Afterlife and Now

Sylhet Sunset, Bangladesh 2007

End of the year, fresh start, resolutions made, unmade, followed by guilt, pressure and back to end of year, fresh start…

why do we constantly look back and ponder, wonder and ask why…why do we constantly look forward and think what if, could be, maybe, hopefully…

are we scared to stop and be within , to embrace the now, the breath and just have faith, hope, prayers and most importantly love…love for the Self, the spirit if we don’t have love for the Self then what chance is there to share and love for others

is it fear stopping us? Fear of what – ourself, fear from others, fear from taking a look inside the mind or all of the above? Or perhaps in all honestly not being able to breath properly or at all

As a Yoga and Pilates Teacher I am constantly nagging students or to be honest anyone who listens and especially to those that dont, how to breath…properly

the last few days or weeks ok a bit longer I have been going through a stage of not catching breath, this is my fear of not being able to love within..

Recently as morbid and morose as it may sound I have been thinking about death – not because I am scared of it, just curious in a supported way

being brought up with eastern philosophies death is very much part of our life. I was eight when I first went to Bangladesh. Staying at my grandfathers village in Fenchuganj (Sylhet). We were the only Muslim house surrounded by Hindu families and it was here that we were faced by death in its starkest , purest, rawest form. When a Hindu being passes they are cremated on the funeral pyre and the Atman (Spirit) are taken to the next stage of life.

First time I saw this the smell was profound, disgusting, and my God I was scared. A couple of years ago death become much closer when my close friends mother passed. As a Muslim we believe that as soon as a person dies, we try to put the body back into the Earth from where we came as soon as possible, the quicker the better so the body no longer suffers and can find solace and peace in Mother Earth.

My friends mum was a wonderful kind lady who despite her illness always had the time and compassion to ask how I am , how my parents are and if everything was ok, knowing that she was suffering with her pain and lack of mobility her eyes always shone with love and kindness. She was loved deeply by her children and grandchildren and it was one of her daughters (my close friend) who nursed and cared for her throughout her life.

When she passed, my friend and I, two of her grandchildren and with the aid of 2 Muslim ladies ‘prepared” her body before it went to rest in Earth. We were shown how to bathe the body with clean scented water. It was my first real experience of a dead body, but strangely it was comforting, awakening and oddly reassuring that she will be ok. The body was still warm as she had only passed a few hours before hand and I had enormous admiration and love for my friend taking part in the cleaning. I asked if she wanted to do it and she replied “I bathed my mum when she was ill and I would like to bathe her one last time before she rests”.

My friend has lost her mum and that can never be replaced and it got me to appreciate what I have, how grateful I am to have a mum as wonderful as mine, she is a true yogi, my Mother Earth and is filled with unconditional love. She has been helping me recently deal with the year gone and all the what if of 2011, and I guess in a way it has all lead me to think about my friends mum (may she rest in peace), death and try to help myself love again and find stillness in this life.

Like most of us im sure I have been through all sorts;  good and bad;  dukkha with sukkha (sorrow and joy) although it has been a bit more of sorrow rather than joy.

I have been stressing about 2011, pondering about all the things I should have done in 2010 and not being able to find comfort and love when I have been in my yoga practice . Why …because the ego has kept labelling, wanting, needing, grasping, attaching

but that’s what I need to sort out…stop feeling guilty, acknowledge what has been done, what needs to be done and somehow, with breath, faith and love everything it will all be ok

im not quiet sure what the point of all the above is, but you know what its ok too, we don’t always need a point a goal, its nice to find comfort in thought and hope and as I always say

find a sit, take a breath and see what happens

Happy Present Day

Sadhana

xx

A book is not really a book

 

so when i picked it up i still hear “what’s a good Muslim girl like you”  ( I say good – but …) ok the first bit is true I am a proud to be Muslim but I did get asked the question more than once

“whats a good Muslim girl like you doing reading the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita”.

Well, honest answer – I didn’t have any choice, I had to read it in order to pass my British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) teacher training.

 

I had heard of the Bhagavad Gita all my life having Hindu friends and living in Bangladesh, Indian films etc but I never took much notice of it, especially as I thought it was a text for Hinuds, so whats the point in reading it

but that was my mistake (the first of a few more, well I say a few more)

it isnt a text that can be read – it needs to be studied without religion but with pure faith, it needs to be feared and loved, it needs to be alive within not dead with black and white words and the Bhagavad Gita did and continues to do all of the above but so much more

words have meaning it needs to be dissected, but comrehended and loved and that way as intended the Bhagavad Gita (the Lords Song) will truly sing to the Self.

I was asked to write an essay on the BWY, easy if I stuck to the Penguin version but it didnt feel right. Just as I was looking for a Kathak class and came across the wonderful Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Manchester (Indian Arts and Culture centre) there happened to be a Bhagavad Gita class. Perfect, sit in a couple of classes, write my essay , job done

  

Janice Wong as Warrior Arjuna

I attended my first Bhagavad Gita class and class numbers doubled from 1 to 2 (including me). So rather than being normal, and a good little students, it started  my Leo the Lion  mouth and me couldn’t stop asking question after question ( I am good at asking questions, not sure if I have trust issues or like the sound of my own voice – please don’t answer this!) but I knew that within the fist few minutes I started to realise that this text was more than just a book;

Theres a lot I can write on the Bhagavad Gita but all I want to say is that it changed my life – (yes i know this sounds oh so dramatic and being Asian we are born and raised on the draama yaar) but it did; it bought me closer to my faith and Allah, it helped me to start to see whats really there rather than what my ego perceives, it has helped me in my teachings of Yoga and Meditation, it has helped me to listen in my meditations and know that i will be scared but that its ok,  and it helps me in each and every step of my life,  especially when it gets a little bad. I am very very very very very slowly learning to  accept what is gong on – what my sva- dharma is, my duty is rather than constantly fighting within.

   Janice Wong and Me as Warrior Arjuna and Lord Krishna

I still ask questions, but so did Arjuna the warrior and as Lord Krishna said when we stop fighting, when the head and heart are in Yog then we can learn to life our live rather than someone else’s (or at least that’s my translations of Lord Krishnas answer).

so going back its for those who want to listen and especially those that don’t

its a text that you can pick up anywhere and I promise you the answer you are searching for will be there

so for my BWY essay did it pass – well being Asian and loving the bling rather than writing an essay I decided to write a play – well Bollywood is within all us brown people! I felt a black and white text just didn’t justify what Krishna was trying to say to us inquisitive Arjuna’s and to this day I continue to fall in love with this wonderful song

I thank my two teachers of the Bhagavad Gita whose sincerity and passion have helped me enormously in my life and I thank them for bringing the Bhagavad Gita one step closer to my Sadhana journey, closer to my faith, to Yoga and to others.

 

 

yo mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyat tasyaham na pranasyami 

sa ca me na pranasyati.

For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.

Bhagavad Gita, Chp 6 sloka 30

Old Bodies – Old minds?

 I think not

Just got back from teaching my winter yoga, pilates and meditation retreat. A wonderful blend of new (10 new bodies for me to explore from 26 years old to a few decades more) and old (a familiar place and wonderful setting)

but it was the chance for me to re confirm that just because the age body gets older this by no means means that the physical body has to surrender and almost stop

I always wanted to teach yoga to all bodies and any body – and have been fortunate enough to work with babies, people with learning difficulties, cerebral palsy, young bodies, not so young bodies, MS,ME, cancer and renal dialysis patients and many more. Working with these people has helped me to learn about the wonderful workings of the body.

It saddens me when I hear statements and presumptions such as “im too old for Yoga”, “im not bendy enough”, “its too late for me now”. I can understand to some degree where they are coming from when every picture they see of a Yoga body is contortionism and impatience, ego is boosted and its plain and simple posture, posture and posture.

So whats it all about then ? Breath and stilling the mind – bloody hard work but so worth it. But regardless of age and ability we can all try and see what happens

if the body is kept healthy through good diet , strength building work  complimented by mobilising joints but most importantly the right attitude then the body will grow with us and help us to enjoy all stages of life – and to help us deal better when things arent so great

its a joy to be able to teach all bodies and any body and it was this ethos i wanted to practice Yog and i am fortunate to come across fellow yogis like yourself who listen and enjoy their body – from the mind and breath (subtle) to the tangible vessel (physical)

and heres the proof – my beloved and greatly missed Nanajii, my original yogi and Gurujii who passed at the ripe of age of 112 (or thereabouts, all oficial paperwork was burnt during in 1971 …another story).  He had the wisdom and the intellect to live life with   strength in his body, and love and breath  for Allah, for his 11 kids, around  54 grandchildren and around half million great great grand children (ok not that many but a heck of a lot..the grandchlildren and kids stats are correct at time of writing)

Picture in Bangladesh Ahmed Ali

What would Bruce Lee do…Jnana Yog

Hatha Yog - great way to start but there is so much more and many of us don’t know how

So rather than asking “What would Jesus do?” (bear with me) I asked “What would Bruce Lee do?”…read on

very long horrible story short , after pulling out 2 teeth and dislocating my shoulder whilst climbing in Banff, Canada.. 8 years later i was still walking around with dislocated shoulder until i hurt my elbow and then realised my shoulder was also at fault…keep going…i needed a shoulder op, which went terribly wrong (this was after months of battling with awful surgeon’s ego), so i had another shoulder op  by very nice and cute reduced ego surgeon .  but despite him trying to sort out botched shoulder number 1 he eventually told me i may never be able to use my left shoulder properly again….oh no what would large ego body do . it is then that i  realised that i am becoming another Yogasan Teacher

but where’s the real Yog..so i  asked the question “What would Bruce Lee do?”

after injuring his back and unable to move, he turned to his readings and he read and read and read and went back to the principles and philosophy of martial arts to become the great compassionate Bruce Lee (still with the amazing body, but even more amazing mind)

so i rested my body and exercised my mind.  I read, and read and read and i still read to learn what Yog is about, and i found it The Bhagavad Gita and i opened my eyes and started to see what was really there rather than what i thought or perceived to be there

there’s a minefield out of texts and its hard on your own to plough through what Yog is really about – so i found some great Teachers of Yog philosophy and i continue to study and share my readings with my wonderful Yoga and Pilates students, peers and anyone who will listen and especially those who don’t and i a few years later i continue asking what would the breath  do

…