When Someone Tries to Crush Your Spirit...Always Remember:

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

--Albert Einstein 

My Blog Has Been Deleted

If you tried to access your blog and found that it has been deleted, you are not alone. This morning I tried to access my blog and was greeted with this wonderfulmessage (enter anxiety ridden sarcasm here):



Sorry. The blog at jaibhakti.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.
Did you expect to see your blog here? See, "I can't see my blog. Where is it?"



Here are the steps I took to retrieve my blog:


1) I clicked on the link provided: "I can't see my blog. Where is it?"



2) I was instructed that it is recommended to sign in to receive the best customer support available.
3) I signed in and a new window opened. Google asked me for my cell phone number so they could either TEXT or VOICE MAIL me a "Verification Access Code". I typed in my phone number and was immediately called with an access code. I typed the access code into the area provided and waited.


4) I was redirected back to the original GOOGLE sign in page. I signed in again.

5) I was bummed to find out that the "Customer Support" I was promised was actually the "Help Forum" where users type in questions and give each other support. I visited this page and was happy to find out that I was not alone: a Google Help Support guy named "Brett" started a thread that stated Google was aware that many blogs have been deleted. I read through the comments on this thread.
6) I checked my URL and my blog was up and running!

I realized that many of the items on my sidebar were deleted, and I have to re-format my blog (the archives are messed up). It seems that HTML is not working either. I had to format this post myself--that's why it looks so bad. I haven't written HTML in a long time.



I recommend that you follow the steps provided by Google, just like I did. I was sceptical about giving out my cell phone number, but it seems to me that this was Googles way of verifying that I was the actual "owner" of this blog.
I hope you find the information in this post helpful. May your blog be restored sooner than later.
Regards, Bhakti

Bhakti Brophy Says:

Stop ... Relax ... Listen ... Let go

The above mantra is a Trademark of D.L. Bhakti Brophy and may not be reproduced without permission.

There is a Light...

Your Light is always on.
Fear is real.
Fear is not real.
Anger is real.
Anger is not real.
Love is real.
Love is...
Love is.
Your Light is always on.
Leave your ego beside the threshold
of the door...
And Shine!
I beg you...
Bow down.
Put your Heart above your mind--
Experience THAT!
That which sustains you;
nourishes you;
breathes you;
and Loves you!
It is all I ask of you.
Find your Self
and your work here is done.

--Bhakti Brophy 10/21/10

Hello friends!
It has been a long time since my last post: I have missed the Blogosphere, to be sure. Unfortunately, the past two years have been rather hell-ish. I do loathe using the word "hell"; here I am using it to mean I was going through the most trying of trials--physical pain beyond belief, and I also was bedridden about 85-95% of the time. This messed with my body in a way that it never had before: being unable to walk around--well, you know the phrase, use it or lose it.

This past July 4th weekend I had experienced the worst physical pain in my entire life (and you all know how much I have endured already). I had a migraine headache that lasted about 4 days. I had my head covered to block any light from my eyes, and I spent the days using earplugs to drown out any noises. I had had enough. At first I wasn't depressed because I knew that I would make it through, once the migraine passed. But the migraine didn't pass the way it used to. It parked itself right in my left eye socket. At one point I picked up my cell phone and emailed everyone who was able to help me in the past, either by sending me strong energy (Dr. Kam Yuen); doing Reiki on me and sending me strong healing energy (my friend Bobby); or by sending me tsunami strength prayers (my dear friend Sally Kempton).

Bobby got in touch with me and was able to alleviate the migraine. I spent the next two weeks reading Dr. Yuen's books regarding working with and deleting pain from your body and mind. What a lesson! I started talking to Dr. Yuen on the phone. I learned his "method" by taking teleseminars and by talking to him on the phone and by reading his books over and over. My friend Bobby kept in touch and kept my level of energy up.

By the end of July I was walking around WITHOUT MY NECK BRACE ON for the first time in...almost a year. I started making myself walk to the end of the driveway and back (about two car lengths). Finally, I made myself walk around the block (about 1/5 mile). Of course, being me, I did too much too fast and ended back in bed with the pain on the rise.

People often make comments such as, "Why do you do that to yourself? You start feeling a little bit better and then you make yourself worse by doing things."

Personally, I have never understood how anyone could ask that question . I don't think anyone could truly understand WHY I do what I do unless they were in my position. If you live with severe chronic pain--you know what I'm talking about. (Let me give you a gauge on what I mean by "severe" chronic pain. After being hit by a car in 1997, I flew straight up in the air, flipped over in a fetal position, and landed on the lower left side of my lumbar spine. The sciatica I had from that accident was the worst pain I had ever felt, and I thought it was probably "severe" chronic pain. But compared to the pain I live with now, from the crushed nerve roots in my spine, the sciatica is about a 3 on my pain scale, and my pain is relatively an 8-9.)

So, why do I do things when I start to feel a little better?
A) Because I don't want to lose the use of my legs and body.
B) Although I try to make the best of it, by reading and learning and keeping my mind sharp, I cannot stand being in bed anymore.
C) I am an extremely creative person. I wish to be able to go outside and see nature. I love to look at the sky. I find much strength and rejuvenation by going outside and staring at the moon--oh, and it's especially cool when the moon is out during the day!
D) What is the point of having good days if I don't embrace them and make the most out of them?
E) The truth is, from a psychological point of view, when you live with a chronic condition and you are bedridden most of the time, getting a "good" day is such a gift--there is the feeling that one must not squander it; but there is also the fear that "this may be the last 'good' day I am blessed with, so I am going to do everything I can with the time I have!" This is the main reason why so many people who live in severe chronic pain, or any other chronic condition, tend to push themselves too far when we have good days. We're not masochistic...and we're not doing anything wrong by taking advantage of the blessing a good day brings.

I think people who are able to get up everyday and do the things they love (or do things they don't love, but have the ability to get up in the morning) forget what a gift it is. I don't mean this as a judgment. I mean it sincerely. If you spent two years unable to do the things you truly loved, wouldn't you spend every last ounce of energy you had doing something if your body actually decided to function the way it is meant to?

It takes strength to endure. It surely does. And people have called me courageous and inspirational, but the truth is...the Truth is what sustains me. Knowledge of my inner Self. Of course, my Mother and Father--wow, was I blessed with great parents! It is true that my Father had an extremely difficult time dealing with my disability the first two years I was 100% disabled--most likely due to the fact that he watched me build up a photography business and career in NYC and then watched as I lost it after my accident. Then I got back on the horse and got a teaching job four years later, and I lost that due to the Sept. 11th attacks...I think my father was taking his anger out on me. His anger over all of my losses and trials. But I must tell you--I feel it is my duty to tell you--WE HAVE SO MUCH MORE STRENGTH AND COURAGE AND POWER WITHIN OURSELVES THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE! I know this from experience.

I was fortunate enough to have been born innately "spiritual"; by this I mean I have always--since the age of three--been asking questions like, "Who is God?", "Why are we here?", "Who made us?" These questions used to freak my Mom out when I was a youngster!

The Truth is...there IS an answer. And you must find it yourself. No one can give it to you. No one can take it away. It is always present.

As I was stating above, I was fortunate enough to experience this before becoming totally disabled, and this knowledge has served me well. I can go through a day of hell-ish pain and then start reading The Upanishads, or Jesus's words, or I can start to simply focus my attention on my Heart Center. The joy is always there...ALWAYS present underneath the fear, anger, guilt, sadness, happiness, etc.. The joy is ever present--just like the sun.

It always struck me as funny that we say, "The sun is rising," and "The sun is going down." No it's not. We are spinning, not the sun. The sun is ever-present, as seen by it's reflection on the moon.

Your Light is ever-present, too. You have to find it. lt is always on--for as long as you are alive, your Light is shining...and when you die, it will merge with the Greatest Light Of All, like a river merges with the ocean...and you will shine on in Eternity.

You are That.

Much love
and Warm Regards,
Bhakti

Howard Zinn 1922-2010

My love and respect go out to the family of Howard Zinn--perhaps the greatest thinker of the Twentieth Century. My words could never do his life's work justice, so I ask that you read his books and essays, watch the archived video and print interviews (on Youtube and howardzinn.org, respectively), and see if you are not moved by his passion for equality among all human beings. Following in Thoreau's footsteps, Zinn reminded us all that the greatest form of patriotism is holding your government accountable for its actions.

Zinn never subscribed to violence--not in his actions, nor in his speech. He often smiled while lecturing, never expecting the listener to take his words at face value, but asked that we, as citizens of the United States, educate ourselves, for an ignorant people is a government's wet dream. He believed civil-disobedience to be the greatest way to wake up a government that won't answer to its constituents; the keyword here being 'civil'.

Howard Zinn was one of the greatest patriots of the United States of America. God Bless him, and may he rest in peace, knowing that by taking immediate action against race discrimination, the Vietnam War, and womens' rights, he helped start movements that paved the way for lasting change to take place. He was a pioneer who demanded that his government live up to the ideals set forth in the Constitution, and own up to the rights of all citizens mandated in the Bill of Rights because even though these rights were written by the rich and powerful, they were written for all citizens of the United States of America.

photos credits:
http://www.semnap.org/Images/howard-zinn.png
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/arts/photos/2010/01/28/zinn-howard-cp-8026854.jpg

METTA PRAYER

May all beings be peaceful.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be safe.

May all beings awaken to

the light of their true nature.

May all beings be free.

May it be so,
Bhakti

GUITAR WORLD Letter to the Editor

GUITAR WORLD was cool enough to publish my 'Letter to the Editor' in which I thanked them for honoring the great STEVE VAI on the May 2009 cover as well as printing an article on the great JASON BECKER in the same issue.

Check out the July 2009 issue of Guitar World to read all about it.

Thanks Brad Tolinski!

THE CLOSER, TRUST ME, AND AN EARTHQUAKE!

Last night, I had the worst migraine in the world (although it was not the worst migraine I have ever experienced in my lifetime, I knew it had to be the worst migraine anyone on the entire planet was experiencing at that precise moment. That's the power of the migraine talkin', baby.). The migraine started in the back of my head and then wrapped around the right side of my skull and parked itself inside my right eye socket. With ice packs wrapped around the back of my neck, I made my way upstairs into the beautiful lightness of my darkly lit bedroom. There's something about darkness that dispels the urgency of a migraine. As I slipped under the covers--Kitty Von Kitty nestling herself beside me--I felt the migraine losing its feverish grip upon my sanity. With a deepish in-breath (not too deep; didn't want to strain the already fighting muscles wrapped around the skull), I envisioned the tension in my body and released it on the out-breath. I repeated this four times, much like one would repeat the wash and rinse cycle while shampooing.

At 9 PM, after having expelled most of the migraine into the ether, I turned on the television and watched The Closer-- perhaps the most original detective series created since Prime Suspect. I must say that Chief Brenda Johnson's (Kyra Sedgwick/The Closer) obsession with eating food on the job is quite reminiscent of Superintendent Jane Tennison's (Helen Mirren/Prime Suspect) obsession with eating food on the job. Mirren and Sedgwick worked together on Losing Chase (directed by Sedgwick's husband, Kevin Bacon) back in the early 1990's. Is the food obsession a coincidence? I certainly hope not. This wonderful episode of the Closer ended, as usual, with Brenda breaking the case by relating the circumstances of the case to the goings on around her household--namely by listening to her fiance talk about this or that.

After The Closer, I began watching Trust Me, a modern day version of Madmen. I have been a lover of all things Madmen since the first episode, drawn to the show because of its truthfulness to the era it portrays: the language, dress code, blatant sexual discrimination, and sexual infidelities. Madmen portrays an America on the cusp of exchanging sexual repression for a sexual revolution. As I watched Trust Me I was waiting for a clincher--something that would pique my interest and make me want to watch the show for an entire hour. Minutes passed and no clincher: just another show about dysfunctional relationships and coworkers. Anyone interested in watching that treatment done to its fullest potential, go rent all six seasons of THE WIRE; the best cop show no one was watching until the sixth season and everyone should have been watching since McNulty uttered his first drunken word.

At around 10:30 PM my world was (literally) rocked. My bed began to rock from side to side. The stained glass angel hanging from my window-lock began banging against the window. Kitty Von Kitty awoke from a purring slumber. I muted the TV just as my Mom yelled upstairs, "Did you feel that? What was that?"

"It felt like an earthquake to me!" I yelled downstairs.

"I'm turning on the news," Mom yelled back.

The tremor only lasted 2-4 seconds. Thoughts raced in my mind, "Did a large truck just fly over the speed bump in front of our house? No...that would have caused the bed to shake up and down. What about an explosion far away? No...again, the bed was shaking back and forth, as if the floor was sliding back and forth beneath it." My mind was still contemplating the movement of the house as I turned the volume back on the TV. I watched the last half hour of Trust Me both in awe of how interesting the experience of the earthquake had been and how far off the mark Trust Me came from rocking my world. Two great actors a great show does not make.

The local papers confirmed that a .03 earthquake had occurred in Rockaway, a town twenty minutes from my house. I live 45 minutes west of New York City; a city that literally sits on hollow ground (the subway system) which itself is seated upon a fault line. Could the scientists predictions of an earthquake hitting New York City be correct? Anything can happen in a world where flowers bloom.

LET FREEDOM RING!

Thank you, Dear Lord,

For letting me be witness

to this most beautiful

day in American history.

With Great Love and Honor

I give praise to this,

our 44th president.

I thank him

for his humility,

character,

and enthusiasm.

May everyone catch his spirit of hope.

Love,

Bhakti

JASON BECKER

CLICK ON LINK ABOVE TO BUY JASON BECKER'S
NEW ALBUM: 'COLLECTION'. YOUR EARS WILL
THANK YOU!


As many of you know, I have been a great fan of guitar virtuoso Steve Vai for over twenty years. You also know that I had the great pleasure of meeting him last year. What you may not know is that when I told Steve about how my physical limitations have made it virtually impossible for me to play the guitar, drums, etc., he told me about Jason Becker's spiritual triumph over his physical limitations. Steve introduced me to the life of a man who would become my inspiration to keep making music, even if that meant writing a piece of music one month, programming the drum track another month, recording the drum track to my 8-track digital recorder another month; you get the picture. I was used to writing a tune in one day and recording all of the instruments myself until the piece was finished, most times working through the entire day and staying up all night. It never occurred to me that I could enjoy recording my music any other way, but after reading about Jason's story and watching videos illustrating his unique music writing style on YouTube, I have learned to discipline myself. I am recording again, albeit slowly but surely, and Jason is my hero.



Jason Becker is a TRUE guitar hero. He has been living with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) for almost twenty years. In a nutshell, he went from being a famous guitar prodigy in the late '80s, to a man not able to breathe by himself. He never lost his spirit or desire to live. I don't think I would be remiss to say that our physical 'dis-eases' have brought both of us closer to the Truth than we could have ever imaged. Perhaps I have that backwards: maybe it was our innate knowledge of the Truth from a very young age--our thirst to find that Truth--that has sustained us both.



An artist MUST create. Jason is a true artist. I could go on and on and write about what I know of Jason's life, but I would ask that you go to the source. PLEASE WATCH THIS TRIBUTE TO JASON BECKER'S LIFE. Your life will be changed for the better after you watch this video. There is nothing greater than being in the presence of greatness: Jason is the personification of how great the human spirit truly is.





FOR MORE INFO:



http://www.jasonbecker.com/



www.myspace.com/jasonbecker



TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO JASON BECKER PLEASE GO TO HIS WEBSITE AND CLICK ON THE APPROPRIATE LINK.

Thank you.
Warm Regards,
Bhakti

tags: Jaibhakti, Bhakti Brophy, Jason Becker, Jason Becker Collection, Steve Vai, Guitar Hero, Jason Becker Tribute,

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