Comments on: Mata Amritanandamayi: Up and Down http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/ Ashtanga Santa Barbara Blog Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:16:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: The Drishti Blog » Blog Archive » Whoa - It’s the Yoga Community’s Beloved Amma on CNN! http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2917 The Drishti Blog » Blog Archive » Whoa - It’s the Yoga Community’s Beloved Amma on CNN! Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:14:10 +0000 http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2917 [...] Mata Amritanandamayi, or Amma, as she is more affectionately called, is featured on CNN today - wowza!  Amma is known as the “hugging saint” because she holds events all over the world in which followers line up for hours to receive a single magical hug from her.  Amma just recently visited Los Angeles, in fact, where thousands of people (yoga students included) received inspiring hugs from this most charismatic and unique of gurus.  (Santa Barbara Ashtanga teacher Steve Dwelley actually wrote about his experience visiting Amma earlier this month in his blog.) [...] [...] Mata Amritanandamayi, or Amma, as she is more affectionately called, is featured on CNN today - wowza!  Amma is known as the “hugging saint” because she holds events all over the world in which followers line up for hours to receive a single magical hug from her.  Amma just recently visited Los Angeles, in fact, where thousands of people (yoga students included) received inspiring hugs from this most charismatic and unique of gurus.  (Santa Barbara Ashtanga teacher Steve Dwelley actually wrote about his experience visiting Amma earlier this month in his blog.) [...]

]]> By: insideowl http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2606 insideowl Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:42:24 +0000 http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2606 Really liked this. Also, you reminded me of some lines from Wallace Stevens: By this light the salty fishes Arch in the sea like tree-branches, Going in many directions Up and down. Really liked this. Also, you reminded me of some lines from Wallace Stevens:

By this light the salty fishes
Arch in the sea like tree-branches,
Going in many directions
Up and down.

]]> By: JLafitte http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2579 JLafitte Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:58:49 +0000 http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2579 Terrific essay. Well worth keeping up with the hiatus between your posts. Terrific essay. Well worth keeping up with the hiatus between your posts.

]]> By: Ramana groupie http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2119 Ramana groupie Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:50:58 +0000 http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2119 In my experience, the process of death is the ultimate in ascend/decend. Rejoice! Great gift to be a witness to the process of dying. Ultimate reality. In watching my loved ones pass away, it has brought a new light into the process of being in a human body. The pleasure, the pain, rejoice in sensation! No judgement if it hurts or if it's bliss. Let it in (easier said). The oneness divided into all kinds of organisms. There is an intelligence to this process called life. Not brain intelligience, nature and an evolutionary intelligience. How blessed are we to have a glimpse into this greater reality of life! In my experience, the process of death is the ultimate in ascend/decend. Rejoice! Great gift to be a witness to the process of dying. Ultimate reality.
In watching my loved ones pass away, it has brought a new light into the process of being in a human body. The pleasure, the pain, rejoice in sensation! No judgement if it hurts or if it’s bliss. Let it in (easier said). The oneness divided into all kinds of organisms. There is an intelligence to this process called life. Not brain intelligience, nature and an evolutionary intelligience. How blessed are we to have a glimpse into this greater reality of life!

]]> By: Micah Elconin http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2062 Micah Elconin Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:49:20 +0000 http://ashtangasantabarbara.com/blog/2007/08/07/mata-amritanandamayi-up-and-down/#comment-2062 Thanks for yet another well put slice of the cosmic pie.... After about 1/2 a decade living my life in a way that more or less put ascent on a pedastool, I've spent the last couple of years allowing myself to enjoy a long and beautiful descent back into the the normalities of 20th centrury 20 something life (as you have noticed through my lack of presence at the shala, part of that has included me revising my practice to show a bit more respect for my body's strengths and weaknesses). It's been a wonderful ride (for the most part), and I have enjoyed reconnecting with wordly and material life's pleasures, but with, as you have described, a new take on it all. I get it just a little but more, but that little bit is so powerful. My body, although beaten up a bit on the surface, has deeper abilities and understandings that it lacked a decade ago. Mechanics are second nature. I was giving a friend a massage the other day and was asked where I learned what I was doing. I thought about it and realized that all I was doing was utilizing my understanding of how the body feels from the inside and simply transfering that knowledge into the massage. My mind has more tolerence for distractions. Critical thinking and creative expression seem to pour themselves into work with much less effort than I remember. This is extremely interesting given the fact that some of the activities I choose to engage in must be detrimental to my mental faculties. Practice seems to have increased my ability to find the base principals, take in the big picture and simplify the chaos etc... Take music for example. I've only recently begun to engage the guitar and song writing again. Although my "chops" aren't what they used to be, I am a better musician than I ever was. It feels different. It looks different. And I seem to get it so much more than I used to. And then there is my heart... I think I turned it off for a while there, but as it turns back on, I once again notice something new and improved. A love for those around me that isn't out of neediness, but more from a place of joy in connection. Learning to find joy and peace in my solitude has given me the tools to connect stronger with those around me. There's less grandmother zen, less clinging, and more.... well I guess, love. What I also find extremeley interesting is that my practice and ascent seems to have benefited from my descent as well. My experience on the mat has intesified to some degree. Deeper and denser things are begining to move and come to life in my body and my psyche. Granted some of this is just the coniuation of the proccess that I started almost a decade ago, but I've enjoyed the new energies that have awakened and given new life to my practice. Sun Salutations have never had so much meaning and potency for example. Down dog is infinitely mesmorizing, and my hips don't need lotus to open up etc... Then practice finds its way into my world. Cooking becomes an extension of the mat, as does walking, talking, kissing and so many other worldly parts of my day, and then they in turn fuel my practice. I guess my point is that I got as high I could get, and yes, I am enjoying what happens when I go walking into the world. I look forward to the continuing interplay between my own ascent and descent. Maybe one of these days I will find a way to once again share in at least the ascending part with my local ashtanga community. All the best, Thanks for yet another well put slice of the cosmic pie….

After about 1/2 a decade living my life in a way that more or less put ascent on a pedastool, I’ve spent the last couple of years allowing myself to enjoy a long and beautiful descent back into the the normalities of 20th centrury 20 something life (as you have noticed through my lack of presence at the shala, part of that has included me revising my practice to show a bit more respect for my body’s strengths and weaknesses). It’s been a wonderful ride (for the most part), and I have enjoyed reconnecting with wordly and material life’s pleasures, but with, as you have described, a new take on it all. I get it just a little but more, but that little bit is so powerful.

My body, although beaten up a bit on the surface, has deeper abilities and understandings that it lacked a decade ago. Mechanics are second nature. I was giving a friend a massage the other day and was asked where I learned what I was doing. I thought about it and realized that all I was doing was utilizing my understanding of how the body feels from the inside and simply transfering that knowledge into the massage.

My mind has more tolerence for distractions. Critical thinking and creative expression seem to pour themselves into work with much less effort than I remember. This is extremely interesting given the fact that some of the activities I choose to engage in must be detrimental to my mental faculties. Practice seems to have increased my ability to find the base principals, take in the big picture and simplify the chaos etc… Take music for example. I’ve only recently begun to engage the guitar and song writing again. Although my “chops” aren’t what they used to be, I am a better musician than I ever was. It feels different. It looks different. And I seem to get it so much more than I used to.

And then there is my heart… I think I turned it off for a while there, but as it turns back on, I once again notice something new and improved. A love for those around me that isn’t out of neediness, but more from a place of joy in connection. Learning to find joy and peace in my solitude has given me the tools to connect stronger with those around me. There’s less grandmother zen, less clinging, and more…. well I guess, love.

What I also find extremeley interesting is that my practice and ascent seems to have benefited from my descent as well. My experience on the mat has intesified to some degree. Deeper and denser things are begining to move and come to life in my body and my psyche. Granted some of this is just the coniuation of the proccess that I started almost a decade ago, but I’ve enjoyed the new energies that have awakened and given new life to my practice. Sun Salutations have never had so much meaning and potency for example. Down dog is infinitely mesmorizing, and my hips don’t need lotus to open up etc… Then practice finds its way into my world. Cooking becomes an extension of the mat, as does walking, talking, kissing and so many other worldly parts of my day, and then they in turn fuel my practice.

I guess my point is that I got as high I could get, and yes, I am enjoying what happens when I go walking into the world. I look forward to the continuing interplay between my own ascent and descent. Maybe one of these days I will find a way to once again share in at least the ascending part with my local ashtanga community.

All the best,

]]>