Flying V And CBGB's (JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG)

As my blog celebrates its tenth year anniversary this year, I've decided to post some photos from my personal archives.

The first photo is a 1988 portrait of me with my '83 Ibanez Flying V guitar*. This photo was a promo shot for my band MIDNIGHT LIGHTNING and was taken at The School of Visual Arts. My band was getting ready to play at the University of Delaware.

* I gave that guitar to my cousin G. as a gift for letting me crash at his apartment in San Francisco while I vacationed there for two weeks in 1994. That was one of the sweetest sounding electrics I've ever owned!

This next photo is a flier for one of my LIVE ACOUSTIC™ shows at CBGB'S in NYC. I started performing again four years after my car accident: my physical therapist had to tape my right shoulder blade in place before every show so my arm wouldn't fall asleep! Again...where there's a will there's a way. (I'm currently unable to play due to my spinal diseases...but you know that already.)

The flier is sitting on top of one of my black and white photographs that was published in CBGB's 30th ANNIVERSARY book.

The photo of CBGB's was originally published in ROLLING STONE magazine paying tribute to the death of Joey Ramone. This was a great milestone for me. I moved to NYC and started my photography career at age 18 with one goal in mind: be published in ROLLING 
STONE by the time I was 35. I lost my photography business after I was hit by the car in 1997 at age 28...but my goal was reached at age 31, thanks to my photo agency Retna, NYC, London, reselling that photo to ROLLING STONE! Set a goal and work your tail off to meet that end, and you'll be happy to see what fruits you reap!

More photos from the archive will be posted in the future.

Enjoy your day!

Namo Namah
Bhakti

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG Happy Ram Navami!

Dear Friends and Fellow Bhaktas--

HAPPY RAM NAVAMI!

Jaya!

I recall the first time my eyes fell upon the Hanuman murti at my Beloved's ashram. I fell to my knees at his feet and wept the most profound tears of joy.

And so began my love affair with the greatest bhakta in the pantheon of Hindu deities. He is akin to John in relation to Jesus.

To have been given the name "Bhakti" by my Guruji is an honor I don't take lightly. It's a beautiful female name, and certainly sums up my life, my heart, and my sadhana. Swamiji Durgananda (Sally Kempton) once said to me, "You ARE Bhakti!" What a boon. For others to see this--especially during my intensive three years of internal work when insecurities abound--was indeed a gift. So much Grace! As we become ripe, we experience this as a universal truth.

RAM NAVAMI is the last day of Chait Navratri--the spring festival honoring Goddess Durga, one of the ten Mahavidyas in Hindu mythology.
Ram is an avatar of Lord Vishnu--one of the last avatars of Sri Vishnu to take human form. My beloved Hanuman is the greatest devotee of Ram. And so perhaps you understand why today is such a special celebration to me. There's so much LOVE and DEVOTION!

In addition to my regular (meditation) practice, I will honor Ram Navami by reading my favorite excerpts from the RAMAYANA, the epic tale of Sita, Ram, and Hanuman (I highly recommend Michael Buck's translation); I will chant my favorite Ram and Hanuman bhajans; perhaps read my favorite lines from Sri Rudram; and I will end the day meditating on my Heart Center, where the energy of all of these glorious deities reside.

This sadhana is so rich. Imagine being stuck in a body riddled with severe pain from spinal cord diseases...and yet still being able to quiet the mind, transmute anxieties, etc., and bring yourself back to the source. This IS grace. This is the reason for these spiritual celebrations: renewal.

This is the work of the physical Guru, and the Inner Guru. And you are That!

Wishing you all a blessed evening.

As always, from my heart to yours,
Namo Namah!

Bhakti

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG: How I Type With Spine Injuries

One of my students asked if I use Dragon Software to type. No, actually, I don't have a computer.

I lie I bed and SWYPE everything from my phone!

Where there's a will...

Jaya!

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG: Silver Linings Amidst Disability

Dear Ones,

"'Tis almost the season
to recline outside
And commune with the sky!"

I love when words flow through me, like the above poem. AUM.

Once you have experienced and lived from the hub of ALL creation, you see definitively that there's always a silver lining, no matter the level of chaos you are experiencing in the objectified field of awareness.

Chaos, too, is a manifestation of the One: Pure Consciousness.
Everything is a manifestation of the One.

This is what Subramuniyaswami refers to as DANCING SHIVA, and Baba Muktananda (as well as Vedic and Sufi mystics before him) called The Play of Consciousness.

Being 100% physically disabled and not able to sit up, one of my silver linings is becoming One with the sky (not that we have ever been parted!).

Find the One.

Discover WHO YOU ARE...your Truth...and meditate. Contemplate this Truth.

(Fifteen years ago, while on personal retreat at the now famous Omega Institute, a fellow devotee/bhakta recommended I read the back cover of TALKS WITH RAMANA MAHARSHI. I suggest you do the same. Read everything Ramana wrote...and watch the layers of your small self peel away.)

Find forms of remembrance because, friends, there are many levels of "enlightenment", and when maya tests your will, chances are you will need to remember what you have forgotten. (My quote, "I forgot to remember" sums up the dark night of the soul quite well. There is the dark night that lasts awhile, different for every seeker, and then, as has been my experience, we fall back into that place from time to time on our journey towards freedom from the cycle of birth and death.)

Twenty seven glorious years since I became
immersed in the glorious, cognitive pursuit of who, what, when, where, and why (jnana yoga);
glorious is an apt word, to be sure.

For me,  ever since childhood, the epiphanies  and experiences always came first, and then the pursuit of meaning, relativity...etc.
The journey through the fields of maya have been challenging, but as my beloved Guru said to me eleven years ago: "Sadhana is sweet, like a flower." Life may kick me down often and a lot...but indeed, my sadhana is sweet. So much grace.

How can I look out at this sky and not believe that everything is in perfect order--even while immersed in legal battle with Medicare to get my spinal meds paid for? (Thank you to my lawyer, from Maricopa, AZ, who is helping me pro bono. You see...right there: grace! More on that later.)


Eternal Blessings to you, as my very own Self.

Namo Namah
Bhakti




JAI BHAKTI ™ BLOG
CELEBRATING OUR TENTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG WISHES YOU A HAPPY CHAITRA NAVRATRI!

Dear Ones,

It is with great love and respect that I wish you all a Happy Chaitra Navratri!

This year we celebrate Spring Navratri from March 21 - March 28.

Above, is a photograph of my lovely Goddess Durga pendant from Gurudev Siddha Peeth, my beloved Guru's ashram in Ganespuri, India (thank you Savatri!).


Have a wonderful holiday filled with much kirtan, meditation, and great joy!

Kali Durge, Namo Namah!


Love,
Bhakti






Photo © 2015 Brophy
All Rights Reserved

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG PRESENTS: Shánti The Cat's Lampshade Antics!

My beloved cat Shánti DeVai thinks it's funny to play with my bedside lamp in the wee hours of the morning. The lamp has since been taped to the table...that hasn't stopped her from batting the lampshade around with her paws:

"No...no...no...I did NOT touch the lampshade!"

Early in the morning, and too busy watching the birds, Shánti doesn't yet realize the lampshade has been removed, and will be removed every night henceforth.

"Wait...what?! No more lampshade antics at 5:30 a.m.? Seriously? How could you?!"

And so Shánti will simply have to forget the lampshade.

Don't feel bad...she still gets the satisfaction of knocking my bills off the table every afternoon!

Photos ©2015 D.L. BHAKTI BROPHY

All Rights Reserved

Jai Bhakti™ & Shanti The Cat™ Trademark D.L.BROPHY

JAI BHAKTI ™ BLOG: BHAKTI BROPHY'S A WINNER AT CATS AT THE BAR!

Hello Friends!

It's been a long  time since I have been able to blog, as typing is virtually impossible due to the pain caused by my spinal diseases. I'll keep this quick as I SWYPE in my post from my phone:

On a whim, I entered a Haiku contest on the ever silly and wonder-filled blog CATS AT THE BAR...And won!

This has been an incredibly difficult week, what with my father passing in January, my uncle passing last Saturday, and Medicare deciding they no longer wish to pay for the medication that is keeping me alive.* Blah, Blah, Blah...such is life.

Therefore, being honored by T.V. over at CATS AT THE BAR is a beautiful gift of random whimsy. Yet another gift of grace amongst the Maya that is trying to drown this soul (as if!)

Click on THIS LINK to be redirected to the wonderful world of T.V. and his 18+ cats in Canada.

Namo Namah!

Love,

Bhakti

* It is due to weeks like this that I implore my friends, family members, and students to start their sadhana & meditation practices now. If you wait until you need it, you've waited too long!

Upcoming posts include information on my beloved friend JASON BECKER and his 26+ year battle with ALS; Namaskirtana Chants to aid those in the process of dying; Reverend Harriet Hawkins's Sermon on my process of prayer. 

Plus...a Thank you letter (and video!) from one of my students, Joey Grasso.

©2015 Brophy & Jai Bhakti™ Blog

BHAKTI BROPHY Quote No. 77.7 JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG

"I forgot to remember."

~ Bhakti Brophy, © 2008





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