INAUGURATION DAY: TURN OFF THE TV AND TUNE INTO THE HEART WITH JAI BHAKTI™

In response to the level of anxiety friends and family members are experiencing during the transition from President Obama to our new President-Elect, I invite you to turn off your TV today and Tune into the bandwidth of your Heart.

I invite you to join me for meditation and prayer starting at noon (EST). This is a global event: folks from all over the world have responded to my plea to send out peace and love during these divisive times. I will be holding the place of the Heart for us.  

You can find the free meditation instructions I posted on JAI BHAKTI™ back in 2005 here:

In response to the level of anxiety friends and family members are experiencing during the transition from President Obama to our new President-Elect, I invite you to turn off your TV today and Tune into the bandwidth of your Heart.

I invite you to join me for meditation and prayer starting at noon (EST). This is a global event: folks from all over the world have responded to my plea to send out peace and love during these divisive times. I will be holding the place of the Heart for us.  

You can find the free meditation instructions I posted on JAI BHAKTI™ back in 2005 by clicking here .

Let us not be wary.  Let us share the peace and love of our Hearts on this day and always. It's what the world needs now. 

Whether you meditate, pray, chant/sing, or study sacred yogic texts ("unity) for one minute or for hours today, every second of peacefull Heart you send out will have a profound affect on yourself and the world. 

Namo Namah, 

Bhakti

(Donna Lynn Brophy)

Thank you to everyone on Facebook, and Twitter (especially Betty Buckley) for sharing this JAI BHAKTI™ offering with your Friends and Followers.

2017 NEW YEAR'S PRAYER...

Let us not focus on

what we hate,

Let us focus on

what we Love. 

Amen. 

Forgiveness and Trust

Forgive those who have wronged you;
we are all doing the best 
we can at any given moment.
Never be ashamed for having trusted;
you will be stronger for the lesson inside the pain.

CAVERNS OF THE MIND: SPIRITUALITY and FEAR

Spiritual Seekers--

Experiential knowledge of the Truth within and without does not erase the existence of the human condition.

When your spiritual energy (Goddess Kundalini Shákti) is awakened, you'll notice your practice becomes somewhat of a roller coaster ride as the kundalini touches upon charged energy pockets of the subconscious. I call these pockets the "caverns of the mind".

As the intensity ramps up, this time in our practice can seem a bit overwhelming. At times the emotions can be so intense that we feel like abandoning our practice. But the Goddess Kundalini is alluring, She keeps us coming back to the mat by entertaining us with visual and kinesthetic experiences that are as euphoric as the emotions are gut wrenching.

Fear is the greatest obstacle to spiritual freedom. Fear is the antithesis of freedom.

Fear caused the most upheaval in my practice (and life!) during this three year period of intense practice with the Goddess after shaktipat diksha.  For months I was playing Whack-A-Mole with my mind: every time I worked through one fear, another popped up.

The key is to work through your fears.

As much as you'd prefer to call it quits and go back to a life of ignorant bliss (that's not really bliss, tho, is it?), your practice will continually pull you back. In my early twenties I read a quote by Chögyam Trungpa, and it has proven to be true--"Once you're on the spiritual train, there's no getting off." This is a good thing. A boon of the highest order.

So what do we do with fear?

First we must acknowledge it's existence. Sit quietly, focusing on the natural rhythm of the breath. Once you're attuned to the sensations in your body, ask the question, "What emotions am I feeling right now?" You may be surprised at the answer: sometimes we think we're angry, 
but we discover we're actually sad. We think we're feeling guilt, but we're feeling fear.

By focusing on our breath and centering ourselves, we're distancing ourselves from the mind and letting our physical intelligence (intuition) lead us to the truth of what we're feeling.

I'm sharing all of this with you because even though my three years of intense austerities was years ago, and my practice is quite ordinary without the bells and whistles, I still go through periods of intense emotional upheaval. Not nearly as often as I used to, but I do get thrown off center, lose my footing, so to speak, and stumble.

It only makes sense, tho, right?

The spiritual energy is purifying our body, mind, and spirit. Sometimes this purging is done while in meditation without any 
feelings of upheaval. Other times, we are forced to face our fears head on. If we don't, they're just going to gain more momentum and come back with a vengeance until we acknowledge them.

Okay, you've sat quietly and you recognize you're filled with fear. Most times simply naming the emotion "Fear" and staring it straight in the face will help loosen its grip.

Our emotions want to be acknowledged. They're like little kids begging for attention, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm right here!" Once we've acknowledged it, we can sit quietly with the emotion, simply watching and feeling its presence, until it's transmuted back into pure consciousness energy. (This takes practice, but its worth the effort. Watching charged emotions dissolve back into pure 
consciousness energy is enlightening. To experience first hand the existence, sustenance, and dissolution of something is mystical, for this cycle is the cycle of birth, life, and death.)

Sometimes we need to go deeper, and explore the root of our fear. Such was the case in my practice the past two weeks. My practice itself was beautiful, but dealing with the mind stuff it brought up felt like pulling teeth; I was (am) dealing with shame that's surfaced from a traumatic childhood experience. Not fun, but necessary for my spiritual growth, as well as my overall growth and health as a human being.

This shame has been controlling so many facets of my adult life, creating so much fear--Once I realized this to be the case, I used meditation and contemplation (raja yoga), and studying of scripture and texts pertinent to my specific trauma (jnana yoga), to get at the root cause--to pull the roots of this samskara out of my subconscious mind. There's still much work to do. I feel I've pulled back enough layers of the onion that I'm finally at the door to healing. After all this work, I'm ready to begin the real work. Such is the spiritual life!

While navigating my way through this upheaval--and I use the word "navigating" because I felt lost many times-- I cried often and a lot.

Again, it was not fun. It was not easy. But I know that everything is a purification. The Goddess is expelling that which is keeping me bound.

Remember that everything IS energy,
even the pain and angst. And it's not only okay to cry, it's physiologically necessary to expel the grief, fear, etc., from our system in order to heal.

Remember that our sadhana (spiritual path/practice) is for the sake of our freedom from everything that keeps us bound to the cycle of birth and death. Our practice is not for nothing. The goal is yoga: Union with our highest Self. That which is beyond shame and fear. That which is our birthright. That which we already are and always have been, but which is often veiled by the play of consciousness in the form of maya (illusion).

Its best to write these truths down on Post-It Notes and index cards and keep them handy, because we're unable to recall these truths when we're in the throws of maya.

In closing, I would like to add the importance of
having spiritual friends and mentors, someone who's been where you stand now. (Be sure to use your intuition: anyone who claims your spiritual growth is contingent upon how much you pay him or her, or asks for egregious "donations", is most certainly a charlatan).

Remembering that you're not alone is key to weathering the caverns of the mind. All Great seekers go through this purification. Take refuge in the scriptures, too. I consider the Svetashvetara Upanishad home, and lose myself within the words often.

Also, it's good to remember to lean on the things that bring joy to your life. We're not martyrs. It's vital to let yourself experience joy while going through these upheavals. For me, it's music. Sometimes spiritual music in the form of kirtan, Qawwali, namaskirtana, bhajans. Other times, it's the grace infused compositions of my beloved friends Jason Becker, Steve Vai, and Vernon Reid, respectively. This week it's been all about Jason. 

We are human. Balancing our spiritual and daily lives is a tough road to navigate at first, but in time the two merge. And this is grace.

Love and All Great Blessings to you,
as my own Self.

Bhakti


Namo Namah





*Eternal thank yous and salutations to Sally ji Kempton [Swamiji Durgananda] for her countless years of altruism, asking only one thing in return: that I practice with great love and devotion. So much love.

Essay © 2015 D.L. Bhakti Brophy
"Caverns of the Mind"© 2002 D.L.Brophy
All Rights Reserved 

KALI, WEATHER VANE, AEROPLANE, TREE

Kali Durge Namo Namah!

I've said it a million times and I'll say it again:
I'm not able to sit up for more than a few minutes, so I'm forced to stare at the sky when I'm blessed with the chance to sit outside. (Look closely:  there is an airplane in the above photo!)

Find the grace amidst the hard lessons of life.
Find the jewel in the mud.

This is one of the lessons Mahavidya Kali teaches.

Life can be brutal at times, but there is ALWAYS grace. Always.

Jai Ma Kalika!



Love.

Bhakti

INSTAGRAM: @jai_bhakti
TWITTER: @BhaktiBrophy



For more info on the glorious incarnations of Shakti, including Durga and her Mahavidyas, check out my beloved friend and mentor Sally Kempton's book AWAKENING SHAKTI.

www.sallykempton.com (Cut and paste into your browser.)


©2015 D.L. Brophy

JAI BHAKTI™ Blog: Tapas, Trust, And Grace

Dearest Ones,

I went through a period of profound purification caused by tapas (spiritual austerities) the past two months.

While we go through this heavy, dark period of angst and depression,

the mind is not fickle about helping us forget that the purifying aspects of tapas is not only a part of the 

spiritual journey,

but an essential clearing out of samskaras--old habits/tendencies etched in the fabric

of our subconscious minds.

In the midst of this round of purification,

the elephant I was wrestling in the dark was unadulterated fear.

Fear, in any form,  always comes back to fear of death. Always.

For me, it was not so much my own mortality I was fearing. I made peace with

my mortality years ago. I would have to in order to navigate my way through life

with these spinal cord injuries and severe nerve pain.

A decade ago I used to say I had no fear of death,

I only had fear of living the rest of my life

in this hellish pain.

I was not wrestling with fear of my own death, it was more a fear of those around me dying.

Not being physically able to care for myself compounded the angst. (It's not surprising to me that dealing with unadulterated fear was at the center of my tapasya. In the past ten months, 13 friends and family members have died. Yama's been a busy god of death in my area as of late.)

During the purifying process, we tend to feel once removed

from the Self within-- the Atman, our truest and highest Self (aka God, Pure Consciousness, insert your word of choice here ______).

It's not that we forget that the Self/God dwells within the Heart Center,

we simply cannot access this sanctuary freely. Our mind helps us forget the portals of entry, be it chanting, meditating, practicing hatha, kriya, or jnana yoga. We don't feel it's innate pull, the longing to get back. This causes more angst, and, as mentioned above,

the mind is not going to remind you how to access the Self within.

Ha! No.

The ego enjoys dragging us back down

to its state of ignorance.

It's at this time that some lose faith;

they feel forsaken.

It's at this time we must Trust.

If God, in the form of Pure Consciousness,

has created everything, everywhere,

how could God ever leave?

Where could he go that he is not already?

If God is everywhere,

within everything,

He cannot leave.

Hence, there is no "finding" God/The Self within and without,

only discovering and remembrance of That which always was present, even if we weren't.

Once we realize that our angst, depression, and heaviness of Heart

is a causal effect of tapas--

once we remember what we forgot (that we are the Self within),

we sometimes get angry at God for hiding His presence from us.

This is a good time to contemplate the word grace.

The Nataraj, the murti (sculpture) of Lord Shiva dancing while

crushing the ego under foot,

has a five-fold function,

one of them being the ability to veil Himself from us, and

another being the giver of grace that enables us to experience Him again.

At the moment we remember the Self within--

that glorious energy center within that sages, seers, and mystic poets

have aptly coined the ocean of bliss,

that is when we bow our heads below our Hearts

and say thank you. Thank you for taking us back to ourSelves.

As the residual ash of tapas disappears,

we find ourselves back in union with our true nature.

I experienced this today in the form of crying tears of joy

45 minutes into meditation.

I Witnessed myself not as my body,

but as the one who knows I have a body.

Not as the one who is in pain,

but as the one who knows I experience pain.

I became The Witness, experiencing pure awareness.

Jesus revealed Himself in my Heart Center,

along with Hanuman, Krshna, Bade Baba Nityananada, Baba Muktananda, Swami Chidvilasananda Paramahansa; all of the great bhaktas were dancing within,

reminding me they had never left,

but were only shadowed by the ignorance of the small mind.

And so I say Thank You

For showing me what I need to hold on to,

and what I can leave behind.

Thank you for this gift of tapas that felt like hell,

but left me stronger and wiser.

And perhaps chipped away at that pesky ego that keeps me bound.

So Much Love,

Bhakti

Namo Namah

Photo & Essay © 2015 D.L. Bhakti Brophy

All Rights Reserved. Jai Bhakti™

What Is The Small Mind / Ego?

A student just asked me to explain the difference between the word ego as used by Freud, and the small mind/ego as it relates to raja yoga/meditation. Here's my reply.

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: 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

BHAKTI BROPHY Quote No. 77.7 JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG

"I forgot to remember."

~ Bhakti Brophy, © 2008





TWITTER:
@BhaktiBrophy
@JaiBhakti™

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG BHAKTI BROPHY: THE VALUES I MOST ADMIRE IN A PERSON

This evening I was asked what values I admire most in a person. Here is my response:


"An Open Mind and Open Heart:
The ability to forgive oneself and others.
The ability to Love oneself and others."

Forgiveness and love start right here, right now.



Jai Bhakti!
Victory to Love and Devotion!™
THAT is what my blog is all about,
Hence the name.

Namo Namah, my Friends.
Namo Namah!





©2014 DL BHAKTI BROPHY
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for asking permission before reposting.

BHAKTI BROPHY QUOTE #0.1 "THE CIRCLE"

"Every one of us is the center of the circle." 

~ Bhakti Brophy





©2014
All Rights Reserved

JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG: ADVAITA vs DVAITA

Nonduality and duality are two sides of the same coin.

       ~ Bhakti Brophy, 2013

It took me 25 years of study and practice with both nondual and dual teachings to realize this Truth.

At some point in our practices, we discover this Truth, we experience the place where nonduality and duality converge. This seems paradoxical, but then, isn't every great spiritual lesson?

I never quite understood why people put so much credence upon names and labels. The arguments that arise from people fighting over advaita vs dvaita (and these rifts are more apparent today than ever!) are unfortunate, because these teachings are to be used as dharana techniques, if you will. They're a means to an end, they're not the end themselves.

And this Truth is blown wide open once you realize that the nondual IS the dual, and the dual IS the nondual!

Tell me, what is the difference between "Neti! Neti!" (Not this! Not this!) and "Iti! Iti!" (This! This!)?

Study these two terms long enough and you will see the humor in ever seeing separation between the two!




COMING UP NEXT ON JAI BHAKTI™ :

A practical exercise to help you experience the ultimate unity behind Neti! Neti! and Iti! Iti!

Namo Nama,
Bhakti

@BhaktiBrophy
@jaibhakti™




©2014 DL Bhakti Brophy
All Rights Reserved.

Thank you for asking permission before reposting. OM Shánti! : )

Bhakti Brophy QUOTE # 3 -- RECONCILING HUMANITY & SPIRITUALITY

Your humanity
will never diminish
your spirituality.



©2014 DL Bhakti Brophy

THANK YOU FOR CALLING ME HOME (2005)

ॐ नमः शिवाय 

FOR YOU

Thank you for calling me home...

My beloved.

Your warmth, Your love, Your grace

Carry me beyond the mind,

Beyond the body,

Beyond the pain.

You heal me with Your loving Shakti--

After a while, I surrender.

You uphold me,

You cleanse me;

I sway to the rhythm of Your tender caress.

An ocean of nectar envelops me--

A fireball of grace

Rejuvenates me.

Your love transforms me

Until I no longer exist;

Until there is nothing

But Your love.

Thank You for calling me home.


-- Bhakti Brophy 
    जय भक्ति ™





© 12/29/2005 DL Bhakti Brophy
All Rights Reserved
(Originally published in 2005, JaiBhakti™, जय भक्ति ™)

BHAKTI BROPHY QUOTE No. 7.7 COMPASSION

Compassion is the only answer because Love is truly all that exists under the veil of Maya--Maya itself being a manifestation of the One.


©2014

WITNESS CONSCIOUSNESS. JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG

The One who Knows
You are Reading this
Is your True Self.
The Knower.
The Witness.

The purpose of life
Is Union with The Self.
Witness Consciousness
Is key.

Hari Om Tat Sat!




Journal entry ©2008 DL Bhakti Brophy

BHAKTI'S TONGLEN PRACTICE: How to Deal With the Suffering and Injustices of the World (JAI BHAKTI™ BLOG)

BECOMING DEPRESSED OVER THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS HELPS NO ONE.
YOU CAN AFFECT A POSITIVE CHANGE!

Two weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit, I had emergency surgery to reconstruct my cervical spine. This meant that I was unable to volunteer, which I would have done had I not been laid up. Watching so many people suffer--and incensed as the US Government sat idly by with its bureaucratic thumbs up its bureaucratic arse-- left me in a state of despair. I spent my entire life helping others, and now I was stuck immobile on my parents' couch, watching the horror unfold on TV, unable to lift a finger to help. The physical pain I was experiencing, and the toll the nerve damage was taking on my physical body, meant nothing to me: My heart was breaking.


I expressed my dilemma with my dear friend, Meditation Master Sally Kempton:

"I feel useless, Sallyji! Why would I be rendered unable to help when so many people are suffering? I want so much to go down south to help. These people are suffering and I can't do a thing to help them."



I already knew that my meditation practice--everyone's meditation practice--effects a positive change in the world, but I could not reconcile why I would be given the capacity to give so much, and then not be able to help when so many thousands of people were in dire need of assistance.



Sally taught me the Buddhist practice called Tonglen, as taught to her by Pema Chödron. You can find Pema's Tonglen instructions in many of her fabulous books.



I tweaked the practice to better suit my situation. What remains hardly resembles Tonglen as it was taught to me, but the intention is the same, therefore I continue to call this practice Tonglen. Being virtually bedridden for the past nine years, I use this practice when I begin to feel discouraged that I am not able to be out in the world teaching, doing charity work, sharing my love of life with others, etc. When I feel my own suffering is in vain, I offer this practice to the world:



"May my suffering be enough for this world

so that no one else may have to suffer.

May my pain be enough for the world

So no one else may have to experience pain

May my level of physical discomfort be enough for this world

So that no one else may have to suffer this level of physical discomfort.

May my offering be enough

So that others may live in peace and good health.

Let my suffering be enough for this world.



May every being know

that he or she is being upheld by Grace.

Thank you for blessing me with this Life,

With this Grace,

With this Love.

I offer my life to Your service,

To the service of All.

May it be so.

And so it is."*



If you are feeling overwhelmed by the injustice and suffering in the world, I ask that you look deeply into these feelings. Label them ("I feel sad." "I feel helpless." "I feel scared." etc.), contemplate the feelings, and then create your own Tonglen based practice.



You will learn that, through your meditation and spiritual practices, you are effecting a positive change in this world. Moreover, through going deep in meditation (Raja Yoga), and by studying the Vedas (Jnana Yoga), the reality of existence reveals itself to you. You realize we are all exactly where we are meant to be at any given time. We are all playing roles: we have played them all before, and will continue to do so until Self Realization, and the cessation of the cycle of birth and death.



Tonglen is all about Love and Devotion (Bhakti Yoga) to the One who has become the many.



Love and All Great Blessings to You All


As my very own Self,

Bhakti






*©2005 DL Bhakti Brophy
 ©2014 DL Bhakti Brophy
 All Rights Reserved

THE INFINITE SUN

While in meditation, I heard myself referring to The Self Within as THE INFINITE SUN.
I find this quite fitting--perhaps this will be the title of my new book.
Here's an excerpt from the journal entry written while coming out of this joyous meditation. Enjoy!



THE INFINITE SUN

My Heart Center on Fire
with cool rays of the Infinite Sun;
The Self Within.
Source of Infinite Love and Light.
Life.

No body.
Nobody.
Just am.





 © 2013 DL Bhakti Brophy
All Rights Reserved
(Excerpt from new book.)