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MONDAY’S POEM: Hamsa
A while ago I offered a poem on the breath. It was inline with my approach to Qigong breathing. I got good feedback on that poem and even published a bookmark for use in my Qigong classes. That poem is here.
Last week I wrote about the happy discovery of Hamsa as both a way to breathe and a mantra meditation rolled together. My practice of Hamsa and my Qigong breath poem inspired today’s offering:
Hamsa
Inhale
Expand
Belly out
Ribs out
Spine straight
Head up
Ham…
Sa
Exhale
Neck free
Shoulders down
Chest in
Belly in
Contract
Pause
Be…
Ham
Sa
I Am
That!
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
More on Hamsa – and Less
Formal meditation is not always easy for me. I like to sit, maybe with a candle and some incense burning, offering my hopes and prayers to the Goddess. I have all the rituals well in place; I have the accoutrements: zafu and zabuton from my Zen meditation days, a collection of incense that could open a store, altar objects large and small to create sacred space in every corner of our house.
And while I enjoy sitting and all the ceremony I surround it with I am not always able to easily and quickly move to that still center where merger with the Divine is attained.
I don’t think it’s about practice, more practice. I was initiated into traditional TM by some German folks just returning from India and their own initiation and study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1969. I’ve had some time to practice! And yes, I do return to TM reasonably often but it is not a daily practice now. When I return to TM I don’t often find that still point within.
I also sit zazen from time to time. I enjoy watching my breath and seeking stillness. I enjoy the formalism of Zen and slip easily back to my times at Zen Mountain Monastery with Roshi Loori. But even with my formal training, practice and approach I don’t often achieve that quiet mind and find that still center.
With this backdrop my excitement in finding and reading I am That by Swami Muktananda has its context. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, Hamsa as a meditation practice is already changing my life.
Hamsa – I am That is a mantra meditation approach I immediately understand. And my first breath with this mantra showed me a way inward that is straightforward and effective. Ham – I am – is the sound we make when we inhale. Sa – That – is the sound we make when we exhale. Each breath repeats this mantra Hamsa, I am That.
And it only takes one breath! On one repetition of Hamsa it all comes rushing toward me and plants itself deeply within. My years breathing on a cushion, my yoga time on a mat with my TM bija-mantra, my qigong breath and movement, even my time in my writing chair seem to merge into this single still point in the middle of my chest, my heart chakra, and quietly abide.
What more could I ask for than to receive and embrace a “new” meditation practice that in some alchemical way combines all of my practices and takes me immediately to that quiet-mind, still center?
And there is almost nothing to it! It is a breath. We all breathe. We repeat this mantra, this Hamsa 12,600 times a day! And all we have to do is remember the deeper meaning.
I don’t need a cushion, I don’t need a candle and incense, I don’t need images and objects, I don’t even need to still my body, or prepare it through exertion. I only need my breath. Ham Sa!
MONDAY’S POEM: Molting by the Light of the Moon
On Friday evening, here on the East Coast, we experienced a very powerful full moon in Aries and a Lunar Eclipse. As I wrote here that Friday morning the effects on me were substantial. I came through the experience renewed; today’s poem reflects the experience and results.
Molting by the Light of the Moon
The Great Moon swells
To her fullest magnificence.
She takes on all we have to give her
Stripping us of the surplus, refuse.
It can be a painful time
Of loss and grief and letting go.
Like snakes their skin and crabs their shells,
We twist and scratch to transform.
In the midst of the molt
We are left wounded and vulnerable;
This is a rough and dangerous time
To release the old and trust the new.
And then we crawl
Into the light of the Full Moon,
Hardening shells, thickening skins
Armoring once again a New Self.
The shadows recede
Hiding no longer the threats once held.
The night sky bright light encouraging,
We stand taller in New Minds.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Aries – Today!
Every Friday Rosemary publishes a “news post” on events in the Heavens as well as events in her life and work. Similarly I post whatever is on my mind on Fridays. Today, Rosemary’s news and my thoughts coincide.
And here’s what’s most important from her “news”:
Happy Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse!
Today, Friday, October 18 at 7:37 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time we experience both Lunar events. The Moon moves into the shadow of the Earth and stirs up our unconscious mind and emotions. What has been hidden that needs to be brought out of the shadows and into the light to be examined? And what old motivations and fears can we now release?
This is a potent time for all of humanity as we are being called to expand our consciousness. What are you doing for your personal growth during this week?
This swelling Moon to fullness here on the east coast this evening is clobbering me. First my body has been whacked. I am stiff and achy with cold-like symptoms, but I know I don’t have a cold. I have not slept well for the past two nights (the filling Moon affects us for three days on either side of her largest); so, I’m feeling strung out. Emotionally I’m feeling stressed and tense, like there’s something I need to do but don’t know quite what it is and am anxious about it. Even mentally I am not feeling very sharp; all I want to do is go back to bed!
What’s going on? The Full Moon always affects me, but usually in less potent ways. I always sense it with minor physical symptoms. When others complain of similar symptoms I remind them of the Moon and always get an “oh, yeah, that explains it.” We all experience these phases.
But this one is hitting hard. Maybe because the Moon is in Aries we are getting that fire and power from this Mars sign. But I think the eclipse is having the most dramatic impact on us today.
As Rosemary observes, the eclipse is the result of the Earth’s shadow falling on the Moon and blocking the Sun’s light. “We’ll be receiving the most pure Moon energy with it blocked from reflecting the Sun’s powerful light.” And we are asked to examine what we have been hiding, to bring it out of the shadow. “What old motivations and fears can we now release?”
This is a time of major transformation. It is time to shed the old husk and leave behind fears, anxiety, stress, anger and grief. This shedding of the used up and ineffective parts of our selves is not an easy process. Like a snake shedding it’s old skin it has grown out of we need to let go; this can be painful. And when the release is accomplished we can be vulnerable for a time. But we have to go through this.
Do Full Moons affect you? Do you pay attention to the phases of the Moon? She is our emotional companion for the journey. She helps us through our shifts and changes.
And we no sooner get through this Full Moon today when Mercury plunges into retrograde on Monday! I’ll say more about that then…
Have a great weekend! Take it easy on yourself and be very careful. As Rosemary concludes:
Have a luminous week! And watch out for the luna-tics who don’t know how to drive during a Full Moon or a Mercury retrograde!