SHUBH MAHASHIVARATRI!

ॐ नमः शिवाय || शुभ महाशिवरात्रि
Om Namah Shivaya!
Shubh Mahashivaratri!

My old Nataraj from Gurudev Siddha Peeth

Tomorrow is Mahashivaratri, one of my favorite celebrations in the Hindu calendar. In February we celebrate Shivaratri on the 13th night of the month. This being "maha" Shivaratri, the potential of each prayer, each blessing is multiplied by a thousand; keep your sankalpa fixed on the Lord within and without.

We honor Lord Shiva for his will to create, his compassion to destroy (our ignorance), and his loving grace, amongst many other characteristics of Mahadeva. In honoring Lord Shiva we also honor Shakti, the creative energy-- pure consciousness, that enables us to see and be a part of Shiva's dance.

Look up at the moon tonight and say--

ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
शिवाय नमः ॐ
Shivaya Namah Om

My eternal Blessings to everyone, everywhere.
Bhakti

INSTAGRAM @jai_bhakti
TWITTER @BhaktiBrophy

(image c. 2018 D.L. BROPHY)

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. 

DONNA LYNN BROPHY SPINAL DISEASES FUNDRAISER!

Please help Donna (aka Bhakti) get the spinal surgery she needs in NYC.

“We can find inspiration in various walks of life. Whenever we see someone rising above their limitations, having the courage to continue to not only be creative in the face of great adversity, but also to excel, these people raise the bar for all of us and seeing them continue to find a way can be tremendously inspiring. Donna is just one of those people. Her passion for music and the guitar has given her the courage and strength to rise above tremendous limitation. And this is how one can change the world for the better. By being an excellent example. You go sister!”
 - Steve Vai
*Guitar Virtuoso (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, PIL, Whitesnake)
*Four time Grammy Award Winner 
*Symphonic Composer


Donna Lynn Brophy (aka Bhakti) was hit by a car in 1997, resulting in multiple surgeries, including cervical spinal reconstruction in 2005.  Living with spinal cord nerve root injuries and four incurable spinal diseases causes Donna severe chronic pain and has left her virtually bedridden and 100% disabled.

Donna’s insurance no longer covers the cost of her disability and care. Therefore, her family has set up a SUPPLEMENTAL NEEDS TRUST to help provide all the costs that insurance and governmental benefits deny.  This Trust will make it possible for her to have cutting edge surgery in NYC.  These costs are significant, costing tens of thousands of dollars each year.
Please help Donna maintain her current level of care and quality of life.


Donations can be made online through www.gofundme.com/GoBrophy

or by mailing a check to:


Donna Lynn Brophy Supplemental Needs Trust
    P.O.Box 556
    Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927

THANK YOU! 🙏

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.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Happy Birthday to the One who is all things to all people in all places at all times.

Hallelujah!

Namo Namah,
Bhakti

The Atman Is Beyond Stain

"The Inner Self (Atman) is blissful because it is not stained by the mechanics and ruminations of time."

~Bhakti Brophy

Photo & post © 2015 Brophy

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™