Picture Yourself In A Boat On A River

George Harrison had been curious about Indian Spirituality since he first saw a sitar on the set of The Beatles film, Help! in 1965. During a dinner party at their dentist’s house, George and John Lennon discovered their coffee had been dosed with LSD. Harrison explained, “In the back of my consciousness. It was like somebody was whispering to me ‘Yogis of the Himalayas.”

Ravi Shankar and George Harrison practicing sitar on the banks of Dal Lake in Sringara, Kashmir .

A year later a friend introduced  Harrison to Indian music virtuoso, Ravi Shankar. They lived together on a houseboat in Kashmir so the moptop could immerse himself in the instrument and the philosophies that surround it. He read Rajas Yoga by Swami Vivekananda and Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda,  practiced Hatha Yoga and pranayama (yogic breathing).

Krsna Consciousness Comes West

Shyamasundar das was born Sam Speerstra in Oregon, USA. The son of a farmer, this Fullbright Scholar lived in Switzerland for a year. He recalls, “I went there to ski basically. But meeting all of the young people at this school, I suddenly realized Wow, there’s a lot of us out there looking for the truth. And Rock Scully was one of those. He was a rare soul.”

Rock Scully (L) and Sam Speerstra (R) roommates at a ski college in Switzerland 1960s

The duo moved to San Francisco, where Sam became an enterprising drug dealer. He imported hashish from Tangiers, gave Owsley’s “Purple Haze” to a then unknown guitarist named Jimi Hendrix, and hung with Grace Slick during the “White Rabbit” era. But he and his friends were seeking “the real thing” – a teacher, a guide, a guru. They found him in AC Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupad.

Beat Poet Allen Ginsburg Accompanies “The Swami” to San Francisco – SFO January 17, 1967. Sam third from left.

Beware Of Darkness

Harrison and then-wife Pattie Boyd were visiting her sister in America. George later recounted, “I was really afraid because I could see all of these spotty youths and they were still under the current of Beatlemania, from a kind of twisted angle..and trying to give me drugs, I’d say ‘no thanks I don’t want’, we were walking quicker and quicker.”

George Harrison and Pattie Boyd in Golden Gate Park

The ominous crowd aggressively followed the couple through the park and into a getaway car.  George continued, “Got on the jet, and as it took off the plane went into a [engine] stall [and started to plummet]. And the whole dashboard lit up saying ‘UNSAFE’ right across.…so at that point I stopped taking it actually, the dreaded lysergic, that’s where I really went for the meditation.”

Mantra-Rock-Dance 

Sam and a childhood friend scraped together a few hundred bucks to rent a storefront turned temple space in the heart of The Haight at 518 Frederick Street. Rock was living at 710 Ashbury Street with a new band he was managing, The Grateful Dead. They requested “The Dead” perform a benefit concert to raise money for The Swami to come to San Francisco. Guitarist Jerry Garcia agreed, “Sure why not? Sounds groovy man.” Hundreds attended the revolutionary Mantra-Rock-Dance event. AC Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabupad addressed the crowd,

“This chant comes from India. It will lead us to the spiritual world…
The mantra is not only for Indians. Hare Krishna chanting is for all people…
The words of this chanting are ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”

Mantra-Rock-Dance Poster Avalon Ballroom 1967

The next morning the temple program was packed and the West Coast movement had begun.

Shyamasundar das reflects, “No, we didn’t think that it would be historical. The dance and all that achieved so much fame later, but at the time this whole scene was starting up, the groundswell was happening, and we all just kind of jumped into it together.”

Within You, Without You

Some of the Beatles, wives, and friends attended a Transcendental Meditation (TM) program with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at a Hilton Hotel in Wales. The “fifth Beatle” business mastermind, Brian Epstein stayed behind. The newspaper headlines read, “EPSTEIN (the Beatle-Making Prince of Pop) DIES AT 32.”  While committing to their inward lives, the person responsible for their outward identities left this world. (I read the news today, oh boy…).

The Beatles, their wives, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Donovan, Mia and Prudence Farrow with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Reeling from this seismic shift, the group famously traveled to  Rishikesh for an extended two-month TM retreat. The Maharishi advised them, “You are a powerful force, If you hold on to Brian it will stop his soul from going to its next evolution. You know you have to grieve for him and love him. Now you send him on his way.” These experiences became Beatles’ songs including, “Across the Universe,” “Sexy Sadie,” “Dear Prudence” and much of the White Album.

Every Town + Village

Sam and his girlfriend Melanie were married, initiated by the Swami, and given the spiritual names Shyamasundar das and Malati devi dasi. These 20-somethings gave up drugs (and drug running), alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, meat and “free love.” They immersed themselves in the ardent study of ancient wisdom and action; received personal instruction on holy texts like the Bhagavadad Gita, devotional call and response singing known as “kirtan,” the art of cooking blessed food called “prasadam,” the act of selfless service referred to as “seva” and much more.

Prabuphpad, Shyamasundar das and Friends, early days

“Well, we had seen a lot of people who had presented themselves as big gurus, but they weren’t that convincing to us yet,” Shyamasundar das explained. “But seeing, Prabhupad, we knew immediately that this was a bonafide, genuine article. He was a transcendental personality. He exceeded everything we could imagine. It was a magic time, a magic experience.”

Shyamasundar das became Prabhupad’s personal secretary working intimately with the Swami on correspondence, transcriptions, recordings, outreach, special projects, and even carving the first Jagannath (sacred statue) in the West.

The first Ratha Yatra Festival in America. Shyamasundar das behind the wheel.

Together with childhood friends recently renamed Mukunda das, Janaki devi dasi, Gurudas, Yamuna devi dasi, this group became religious and cultural pioneers ushering in a new era of spirituality. They sufficiently spread the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra into music, movies, stage plays and nervous newspaper men in America.

Then they packed it up to do it all over again.

Chant + Be Happy

The outer pressure of Beatles-life was becoming unbearable. So the lads considered buying a private island where they could breathe. En route to their real estate trip, George picked up “The Happening” — a 33 1/3 album of Swami Prabhupad chanting The Hare Krsna Maha Mantra. He later said, “We sang it for days, John and I, with ukulele banjos, sailing through the Greek Islands chanting Hare Krishna.”

Beatles In Greece

George continued, “Like six hours we sang, because we couldn’t stop once we got going. As soon as we stopped, it was like the lights went out. It went on to the point where our jaws were aching, singing the mantra over and over and over and over and over. We felt exalted; it was a very happy time for us.”

If I Needed Someone

In September of ’68 Shyamasundar das convinced the crew to move from their tight community of sunny San Francisco to a big, drafty warehouse in London. These OG devotees were on a mission to spread the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, but it wasn’t coming together as quickly as it did in California. And now he had a family to support too. Shyamasundar das and Malati’s daughter was the first child born into the Hare Krishna movement, Baby Saraswati. On a December afternoon the phone rang. It was Rock Scully, who was in town and headed to a Christmas Party at Apple Corp.

Malati, Baby Saraswati, Swami Prabhupad, devotees and Shyamasundar das ( R) waiting in an airport.

I’ve Been Waiting To Meet You

Shyamasundar das had butterflies in his stomach as he made his way through the mob outside 3 Saville Row. A broad-shouldered bobby in a black suit yelled, “Stop!” He tried to explain, he was invited, that his friends were inside, but the unconvinced guard asserted, “Run along now laddy.” Their exchange was interrupted by the sound of teenage girls screaming, and a white Rolls Royce pulling up.  It’s then that Yoko Ono saw Shyamasundar das in the crowd and said, “You must be one of George’s friends come in.”

The room was filled with the so-called beautiful and important people, all anxiously awaiting an appearance by The Beatles. The fab four were having a heated meeting with new management behind a set of closed doors. Shyamsundar das took a seat in a far-off corner, away from the unruly energy of the Hells Angels, who had just dismembered and devoured a turkey before it could get to the buffet table. One by one John, Paul, and Ringo poked their heads out and rushed to the exit.

Beatles

“George, he peered out there, he started to leave, but he saw me and he just SHOT through all of these people. He sat down right beside me and said, ‘‘Hare Krishna! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting to meet you.” Shyamsundar das grins, “And it was like seeing my brother that I hadn’t seen in a long time.”

They talked of the sitar, Ravi Shankar,  Vivekananda, psychedelics, the plane plummeting, The Happening Record, The San Francisco Temple, The Mantra-Rock-Dance concert but mostly they spoke of Swami Prabhupad, Krishna, and the search for God, Santana Dharma. Jealous and confused party-goers gawked over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. As the discourse continued George said, “Shayam-sunda, you know, I feel like I’ve always known you somehow, maybe from a life before, like maybe we were brothers or something.” He scribbled his address on a napkin and left.

Whisper Words of Wisdom

Tensions were mounting at Twickenham Studios. With documentary cameras rolling, The Beatles were battling their way through ten plus takes of George’s Song “I-Me-Mine” based on the Gita passage 2:71;

“They are forever free who renounce all selfish desires
and break away from the ego-cage of
‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘mine’.”

Harrison’s bandmates seemed unable to really hear him, so he asked Shyamsundar das to explain. “All right, what’s it all about then?” John Lennon asked. Among other things, Shyamasundar das said, “So now all of you, you four guys, you’ve taken these very highly elevated births through so many previous austerities and pious acts. Krishna says, ‘Yad yad acarati sresthas tad tad evetaro janah’‘ Whatever action a great man performs, common men will follow.’  So now each of you has this golden chance to find the perfection of life and then lead everyone else up the path to self-realization.”

John Lennon, Shyamasundar das and Paul McCartney at the Let It Be Sesssions at Twickenham Studios

He continued, “Krishna consciousness doesn’t say, ‘Give up your life, your occupation.’ No. You can be a doctor, a mother, a bum, a Beatle—but be a doctor for Krishna, be a rock star for Krishna, dedicate everything to Krishna.”

After this exchange, George wrote, “Hear Me Lord.”

“Forgive me Lord, please / Those years when I ignored you
Forgive them Lord / Those that feel they can’t afford you.
Help me Lord, please / To rise above this dealing
Help me Lord, please / To love you with more feeling.”

Four days later he left The Beatles.

Here Comes The Sun

In late February of that long, cold, lonely winter, the Krishna crew piled into Shyamsundar das’s rusted out pick-up truck and drove to George and Pattie’s house. Malati placed hand-made flower garlands over their hosts’ necks, and cooked Prasadam in the kitchen. Mukunda noticed a harmonium in the corner. George asked, “Shall, we have a kirtan then?”

George and Pattie sharing Kirtan and offering Prasadam

As the instruments were being shuffled around, Harrison started to pluck out a few chords on the guitar and said shyly, “This is a little song I’ve been working on do you want to hear it?” Then sang,  “Something in the way she moves, attracts me like no other lover, something in the way she shows me, I don’t want to leave her now, you know I believe and how…” Shyamsundar das, remembers “We were awestruck, of course, trans­ported beyond space and time We didn’t know if we should look at him or close our eyes.  When it was over, he said, ‘Do you think it’ll sell?” We all laughed, Then George said, “It’s about Krishna, but I can’t say that, can I?”

So moved by this song, the group began a soft and slow version of “Hare Krishna” with Yamuna leading on vocals. Over the following hours it revved up into a fully ecstatic devotional expression, with booming mridanga drums, kartals clanking, and baby Saraswati bopping along in their laps all the while. After the final blissful chords George shouted out, “That’s it! We’ve got to make a record! The Radha Krishna Temple—I can see it now, the first Sanskrit song in the Top Ten!” That evening a smile returned to George’s face, it had been years since he felt this way.

John Lennon, Shyamadundar das, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd talking Santana Dharma

As the guests were leaving Janaki turned around, saying “I forgot to give you this” and handed George an embroidered bead bag, with a japa-mala inside. She thought it may help him keep his mind (and heart) on God.

A few months later, Harrison called Shyamsundar das from a villa in Sardinia, and sang some lyrics,

“Little darling / It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling / It feels like years since it’s been here
Little darling / The smiles returning to their faces
Little darling / Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun /And I say, it’s all right .”

Shyamasundar das remembers, “I was speechless. I loved it. He asked if I thought people would like it. Then he said, ‘You know it’s about Krishna coming into my life but I’ve got to disguise it a bit.”

Prayer To The Spiritual Masters

John, Paul, George, and Ringo decided they could work it out, and finish what they had started. Harrison called Shyamasundar das saying, “I’m over here at Abbey Road studios. We’re making our Beatles album here, but John’s got into a car crash and he’s going to be late, so we’ve got a few hours free in the studio can you all come over right away? Let’s make a record together. Hare Krishna!”

Paul McCartney was perched in control booth. Mukunda sat at the piano. Yamuna, Gurudas, Janaki and friends got situated behind mics, adjusted their instruments and attempted to sync into rhythm.

Shyamasundar das retells, “George, fresh from his holiday in Sardinia, shifted from harmonium to guitar and back, then settled behind his psychedelic sit-down harmonium…there were only eight tracks in those days, so we had to get it right early on…one take, two takes… into the third take we know this is the one. The maha-mantra leapt off our instruments and tongues and grew and gained momentum and weight and spiritual depth as it whirled in a three-minute, thirty-second package to the end: Bongggg! as Malati hit the gong.”

As abruptly as they came, George and Paul rushed off to work on their Beatles album, and the devotees went back home, wondering if anything would come of it.

Hare Krishna Mantra Single

Apple released the Radha-Krishna Temple’s “Maha Mantra” as a single. It sold 70,000 copies in one day, and though it didn’t hit the Top Ten, it played before Dylan took the stage at the Isle of Wight Festival and during half-time of a Manchester United football (soccer) match. The rowdy stadium crowds were able to sound out the syllables, “Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Rama, Rama Rama…”

The following year the “Radha-Krishna Temple” returned to the studio to make a full-length album. The infamous George Martin co-produced, while some of Harrison’s best friends added their talents, including Cream guitarist, Eric Clapton bassist Klaus Voorman, and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. Wanting to emulate that Sergeant Pepper’s / Hey Jude full-string sound, Martin booked the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

George Harrison, Shyamasundar Das, Malati, Baby Saraswati and the Radha Krishna Temple in the studio

The album offered obeisances to AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, the 16th century saint Sri Krsna Chaitanya Maha Prabhu, the Hindu God Krishna, his beloved consort Radha, and their many pastimes from texts like the Bhagavad Gita, The Brahma Samhita, the Srimad Bhagavatam and more.

Decades later George said joyfully, “It was to be of service…but it was the greatest fun of all, really, to see Krishnas on Top of the Pops.”

Instant Karma

John was recording the“Instant Karma”  when super-producer Phil Spector said to Harrison, “You should consider doing your own record.” Spector later recounted, “I went to George’s Friar park which he had just purchased, he said ‘I have a few ditties for you to hear.’ It was endless! He had literally hundreds of songs and each one better than the rest! He had all of this emotion built up… I don’t think he had played them to anybody…”

Phil Spector and George Harrison “All Things Must Pass” Sessions

They were songs like, “All Things Must Pass” a deep track about the Tao, inspired by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, overlooked for both the Abbey Road and Let It Be Records. “Wah Wah” a dissonant track mimicking  inner-Beatle conflict written the night George left the band, “What is life?” pondering the make-up / break up state of the Beatles and a post-Beatle era.“Isn’t it a pity” a ballad reflective of  the pending dissolution of his marriage and complications of a close friendship, “Beware of Darkness” a cautionary tale about letting yourself be pulled into the mundane parts of life, “Hear Me Lord” a longing for Krishna, and “Awaiting On You All” – an upbeat anthem about japa, long-rumored to be inspired in-part by the bead-bag Janaki gave him.

“By chanting the names of the Lord and you’ll be free
Yes, the Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see”

Spector and Harrison co-produced, enlisting friends and musical family in the collaborative (if perfectionistic) six-month odyssey. And though the EMI/Apple production team took meticulous session notes, it was near impossible to clarify who exactly played on the multiple takes and tracks – many were not credited. Derek and the Dominos guitarist Bobby Whitlock has said, “[George} included everyone on everything, he did because there was enough for all.”

All Things Must Pass Masters

The musicians included; Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton; Allen White and Dave Mason of Yes, keyboard/organ players Billy Preston, Gary Brooker and Gary Wright, members of the band Bad Finger, a pre-genesis Phil Collins, Bob Dylan co-wrote a song, and George covered on of his. Alan White wrote the orchestral arrangements, John Lennon and Bee Gee, Barry Gibbs are said to have played on two tracks. In the liner notes, Beatles roadie Mal Evans was credited with “tea and sympathy,” while the heart of Apple Records Chris O’Dell was known for providing the same.

It seemed to be a masterpiece in the making, but they couldn’t agree on a single.

My Sweet Lord

Amidst all the upheaval and artistic expression, George purchased Friar Park, a 100 + room 18th Century Castle, left to the Catholic Church in desperate disrepair. With 35+ acres of  lawns, gardens and underground grottos to care for he asked Shyamsundar das and the crew to move in with him. Three couples (with four young children between them) took residence in one of the wings of the estate. They engaged in construction, renovation, and landscaping projects, built a Krishna Temple on the ground floor, cooked prasadam, chanted kirtan, and kept a devotional mood.

Friar Park Vintage Postcard

Because it was the largest and warmest room of the massive mansion, the 1,000+ ft Victorian kitchen became the hub of the home, “Everyone more or less lived in the kitchen.” Shyamasundar remarks,” it had beautiful wood work covered with brown or green paint. So the idea was to scrape it off and paint it white.” What started off as an ordinary morning, would effect the material and spiritual worlds for years to come.

Shyasundar das remembers,

“It was foggy, and kind of dismal, but the sun was coming out.
I got up early, had some porridge, and I was up on the ladder,
scraping paint when the guys came in,
they were all pumped up from something
they had been playing in the studio all night.

Billy [Preston] went over to the electric organ and started playing
gospel riffs [he sings] ddaaaa daaaa daaaa daaa daaa daaaaa.

Klaus [Voorman] plugged in his bass, George grabbed his guitar.

They all start singing
‘Myyyy Sssswweeettt Looooorrrddd,
Mmmmyyy Ssswweettt Looorrrddd’.
When they were doing the ‘Hallejulah’
I yelled out, ‘Haaarreee Krrriisshhnaaa,
Haaarreeee Krrrriissshnnaaa.”’
They all turned to look up.
Pretty soon we’re all dancing around and singing on the top of our lungs.

‘This one is gonna be on the album’ George says.”

George Harrison All Things Must Pass Photoshoot Outtake

It soon became a favorite around the studio, and with Spector, who knew it should be the single,  but the corporate music machine and Harrison himself had concerns.  Phil later said,

“I picked ‘My Sweet Lord’ of all of the songs,
because I told him that’s the hit, and everybody fought me on that
‘cause they said it had religious overtones in it, and I just said,
‘It didn’t matter — it’s the most, commercial, song.

George was even nervous about it,
because the Hare Krishna in it,
and was the public ready for it?
I said it didn’t matter it’s a hit record.”

My Sweet Lord Lyrics handwritten by George Harrison

Years later Harrison remarked,

“I thought a lot about whether to do ‘My Sweet Lord or not.
Having written it, I thought it’s really committing myself to something.
There’s gonna be a lot of people who are gonna really hate me,
because people fear the unknown, ya see.
It’s sort of an instinct in people.

The point was, I was sticking my neck out on the chopping block.
But at the same time I thought,
‘Well nobody is saying it.
I wish somebody else was doing it,
ya know cause everything should be represented in a way.
Because if everybody’s just going [mimicks pop music] be bop baby, then yea ok…”

By Chanting The Names Of The Lord, You’ll Be Free

My Sweet Lord became, the #1 single worldwide. It sold 5 million copies initially, and another 10 million copies in subsequent years. It was awarded song of the year, single of the year,
and world’s single of the year by inner-industry publications.

All Things Must Pass Album Cover

All Things Must Pass was the #1 album on the UK charts for 8 weeks. It topped the Billboard chart for 7 weeks, sold more than 7 million copies and aas certified platinum 7 times over.

That’s The Way God Planned It

In an analogue era, Shyamsundar das hadn’t heard the good news about the song, or the record. He had been traveling the world with Prabuhuapd and found himself in New York City in the Summer of ’71. He learned George was nearby at the Plaza Hotel.

“Shayamsundar! Hare Krishna! Hey, what a great surprise. It’s really good to see you!” George remarked, before sharing about his charity initiative, The Concert for Bangladesh. George had wanted to have a kirtan as part of the show but no one else thinks it’s a good idea. “That’s Alright, George” Shyamasundar das said, “You’ll be singing My Sweet Lord and that’s got the mantra. What you’re doing is the highest form of service to Krishna: spreading His name to millions of people. Krishna will help you, you’ll see. The concert will be perfect.”

Phil Spector co-produced with an all-star line up: Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Ringo on drums. Klaus Voorman, Jim Keltner, Billy Preston, Soul singer and piano player Leon Russell, part of Joe Cocker’s back-up singers including, “Miss Brown Sugar”, Claudia Lennear.

The concert began with Ravi Shankar, the esteemed Ali Akbar Khan and Alla Rahka playing classical Indian music. Then George  pointed down at Shyamasundar das  in the front row, and said quietly, “Hare Krishna.”

The Concert For Bangladesh

The band broke into an electrified version of Wah-Wah. They sang “Beware of Darkness,” “Awaiting On You All” and a ten minute version of “My Sweet Lord.”

Shyamasundar das stared was in awe as everyone in the audience knew, and sang along to every word…

My Sweet Lord / Oh My Lord
My, my Lord (Hallelujah)
Mm, mm, my Lord (Hare Krishna)
My, my, my Lord (Hare Krishna)
Oh, oh my sweet Lord (Krishna Krishna)
Ooh, ooh, ooh (Hare Hare)
Now, I really want to see you (Hare Rama)
Really want to be with you (Hare Rama)
Really want to see you, Lord (Ah, ah)
But it takes so long, my Lord (Ah, ah, hallelujah)
Mm, my Lord (Hallelujah)
My, my, my Lord (Hare Krishna)
My sweet Lord (Hare Krishna)
My sweet Lord (Krishna Krishna)
My lord (Hare Hare)
Mm, mm (Gurur Brahma)
Mm, mm (Gurur Vishnu)
Mm, mm (Gurur Devo)
Mm, mm (Maheshwarah)
My sweet Lord (Guru Sakshata)
My sweet Lord (Parabrahma)
My, my, my Lord (Tasmayi Shree)
My, my, my, my Lord (Guruve namah)

He recalls, “My heart swelled with bliss at Prabhupada’s achievement, as George, Dylan, Ringo and Eric led 40,000 people singing ‘My Sweet Lord, Oh My Lord, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna…’–from that tiny moment in George’s kitchen when the song was born, to Krishna’s Name rattling the rafters at Madison Square Garden!”

Claudia Lennear later emoted, “That show was just something that was cosmic. If you were there to experience it will be something you will take to the grave.”

Inner Light

In the following 40 years George Harrison toured, remarried, had a son, recorded albums with friends, produced movies, went on pilgrimages to India, gardened in Friar Park and chanted to Krishna all the while.

‘My Sweet Lord’ remains in heavy rotation in radio,  has 587 million Spotify streams to date and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine and other noteworthy lists.

“Something” became known as one of the greatest love songs of all times.

“Here Comes The Sun” remains the #1 streamed Beatle Song even today.

“Beware of Darkness” was re-popularized during the global pandemic after appearing in the TV Show Ted Lasso.

“All Things Must Pass” is considered  the most successful solo album of any former Beatle, consistently ranked in “Greatest Album of All Times” lists.  It is often credited as the first ‘Triple Album” by a single artist.  It was nominated for album of the year, and later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The 30th anniversary re-issue  received six-platinum certifications.

The Concert for Bangladesh would become known as a pioneering event and the first mega-concert for charity raising an initial $243,000. The album sold over 5 million copies globally, and charted internationally. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1973.

“Hari’s Son’s” as George is sometimes called, left this world in 2012.  Shyamasundar das reflects,

“There’s no doubt in my mind, looking back, that George and the other Beatles,
but especially George, were highly-developed yogis in their past lives,
born into this incredible opportunity to finish the job and get out of this material plane…

I still have dinner with Ringo and Barbara from time to time,
when I’m in LA—and Paul sometimes pops by the London Krishna temple
from his office just around the corner in Soho Square.

George. George and I were together right to the end of his life
—and we still visit in my dreams,
and sometimes,
I swear,
I hear him whispering,
“Hare Krishna, Shyamasundar…”

George Harrison and Shyamasundar das

Chasing Rhinos With Swami

To hear more of this first hand account of Shyamsundar das’ autobiographical trilogy, Chasing Rhinos with Swami is available on his website  ChasingRhinos.com and on Amazon here.

Follow Shyamasundar das on IG here.

Learn more about the first London Krisha Temple here.

Listen To My Sweet Lord here.

Photos Credits + Thanks

Photos are courtesy of Shyamasundar das, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) and public domain. For sources, citations and permissions, please reach out to AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #HareKrsna

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

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The post My Sweet Lord: George Harrison and Shyamasundar das appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Stacy Peralta is a legendary skateboarder, an industry-defining entrepreneur, and an exalted film director who has been shaping surf and skate culture for over 50 years.

From his home on the Central Coast, Stacy explains, “The universe creates itself by working through us — all of us. Getting in touch with what you love, is getting in touch with what’s right for the world. When we don’t use it, it goes to someone else. The universe doesn’t wait around.”

Locals Only  

Venice born and Santa Monica raised, Stacy and his friends surfed most mornings. They mounted newly invented urethane wheels to pieces of wood, ideating, and innovating modern-day skateboards. “We didn’t know skateboarding was going to be popular one day, but we loved doing it,” he asserts. The crew conquered backyard pools and rode asphalt waves down Bay Street to the Zephyr Shop where owners Jeff Ho and Skip Engblom formed the infamous Zephyr Skateboard Team.

Early Bert-Turn Source; Stacy Peralta Ig. Original Photo by C. R. Stecyk III.

While allies like Jay Adams and Tony Alva electrified the burgeoning 70s vert-skate scene, Stacy stood out for his style, aesthetic, and work ethic. “I realized, ‘Wow I’m very lucky, and this could be a doorway to the world, so I took it very seriously’,” he shares. Big sponsors swooped in, filled his pockets and flew him around the planet. Peralta’s skills went prime time on the hit show Charlie’s Angels, and much later as a technical consultant on the cult-classic film Gleaming the Cube.

Two Voices

By the late 70s the teenager was ranked #1 by Skateboarder Magazine. There were demos and merch, appearances, autographs, and arrests. “I had done everything I wanted to do and more” he discloses. “And so the question I asked myself was, ‘Do you still love doing this?’ and the answer was, ‘No.’ I also asked myself, ‘Can you continue doing this?’ The answer was, ‘Yes I can, but I don’t love it’.”  

Instead of being sponsored, Peralta wanted to be the sponsor. “I hadn’t gone to college, so my brain was telling me, ‘You have no right to start a business,’.” he confesses. “But my heart was telling me, ‘That’s what you need to do.’ And so, I learned at a very young age, that there’s two different voices in me, one my heart, which speaks very quietly and very abstractly, and one my brain, which never shuts up.”

 At the top of his game, the pathfinder shocked the sports world when he listened to that quiet voice within and quit.

Future Primitive

The 19-year-old partnered with product designer George Powell to co-found Powell Peralta Skateboards. They had a strong start but by 1982, the sport’s popularity waned. Skateparks shut down and pro-skaters were out of work. “We barely stayed in business,” Stacy admits. Then he noticed something intriguing. As kids were leaving skateparks, they were practicing vertical skateboard tricks off curbs, onto benches, against mailboxes, and the like. “The more I watched, the more I thought that is the most democratized form of skateboarding,” Stacy observed. “We had to pivot to save the sport, and figure out what the sport wanted to be.” Powell-Peralta over-invested their financial and energetic capital into the evolution.  “People thought we were crazy” he chuckles.  

In the tradition of the Zephyr Shop, the born leader curated a team of unrelenting underdogs to rep the brand. With creative collaborator Craig Steyck, Peralta produced and directed the first-ever skateboard video, The Bones Brigade Video Show. The coveted VHS tape not only introduced street skating to next-gen groms, but showcased up and comers like Rodney Mullen, Lance Mountain, and a teenaged Tony Hawk. Stacy looks back, “We made the first video thinking we’ll probably sell 300. We sold I think 30,000. It was unbelievable. They became manifestos.”

Tony Guerrero Cracks Open the Consciousness of 80s Kids in Future Primitive.

Over the next 15 years, Powell, Peralta, and co learned about cash flow, product strategy, manufacturing, team management, and much more. Their evocative approach to advertising was groundbreaking, award-winning, and a lot of fun. “George was the only adult in the room, so we didn’t have anybody above us, telling us that we couldn’t do things.” Stacy smiles. He and Craig lit cars on fire, painted faces, succeeded, failed and tried again. They were OG content creators in the time of random-access viewing. From the brink of bankruptcy, Powell-Peralta revenues rose to upwards of $30 million dollars annually.  Christmas 1990 was projected to be their most profitable quarter yet. Stacy once again listened to the abstract whispers of his heart, and at the height of their success, left.

Dogdays In A Dogtown

The consummate seeker did the Hollywood hustle as a screenwriting student, spec script writer, shorts producer, commercial shooter, and television director for nine years. Amidst doubt and disappointment Peralta had to dig deep and ask himself what unique thing he had to offer.  “There is a loneliness that comes with following your heart,” Stacy notes. “But when you start feeling lonely, more insecure and uncertain, and you’re not sure what that next step is, it gives you the strength to keep moving forward.” When a good friend saw a rough cut of his passion project, she insisted he submit it to a career-making (or breaking) film festival. He resisted. She persisted. He surrendered.

Dogtown and the Z-Boys premiered at Sundance in January, 2001. The biographical love letter to his hometown, the guys he grew up with, and the culture they created won the Audience Award. And for his feature film directorial debut, Stacy Peralta won the best documentary director award. 

The movie played in select theaters across the country before being released on DVD. Yet a fourth generation was transfixed and transformed by the pioneers who preceded popular events like the X-Games and street skating in the Olympics. Throughout the process Peralta accepted, “You don’t have to understand what that thing is, you don’t even have to like it. Your job is to do it. And that’s something we don’t realize. We come at things wanting to know the outcome, you can’t know it.”

Over the following two decades Stacy made a career as a commercial, television, and documentary director. His films Riding Giants, Bones Brigade: An Autobiography and The Yin and Yang of Gerry Lopez became instant classics, positioning him as one of the preeminent surf and skateboarding filmmakers of our time.

Radical Transitions 

From fan letters of the 70s to the ask-me-anything Reddits of today, infinite aspiring-everythings and top of their game, what-nowers  have reached out to Stacy for insight and advice. He found a proper venue for this mentoring with Modern Elder Academy (MEA). A wisdom school dedicated to helping people reimagine and repurpose themselves during  one of the most overlooked  transitions….midlife. At a recent MEA event, Stacy shared, “Sometimes we have to carve out our own path and this requires doing things on a daily basis that helps put us in touch with ourselves and our purpose.  To do this is going against the current, it requires taking a proactive stance in our life but the payoff is remarkable because you become more alive and you are more in touch with yourself and what you have to offer.” 

Stacy Peralta’s 5 Things I Do Every Day 

1. I meditate every single day.

I try to do at least an hour and when I’m really good, I do 2 hours and it makes a gigantic difference in my life. The effects of meditation; it centers me, it calms my brain and gives me a better a chance at hearing those quiet voices that are the true voices I’m looking for. Whenever  you are in the middle of a true athletic moment and you the person dissolves and you’re just going with the action, the thing you experience at that moment is intense stillness. How is it possible that I could experience stillness when I’m riding a board going incredibly fast…?  I believe based on everything I’ve studied, that that is our essence. Another reason why I meditate to give me a fighting chance to get back to that place.”

2. I exercise every day.

I don’t want to do it. People think because I’m a former pro-athlete, that somehow it’s easy for me, it’s not [he laughs]. I never wake up wanting to do it, but to live the life I want to live I have to do it. When I’m done I feel amazing all throughout the day. It takes about 40 minutes. I could burn about 40 minutes, doing social media in a heartbeat and get nothing from it. When I do this, I’m getting something from it.”

3. I do something creative every day.  

Thanks to a friend traveling though town, Stacy recently began artistic an pursuit, he had wanted to try for over 40 years.  Peralta explains, “He unlocked me. And when he left, I went out and bought a paint set and it was as if a dam broke. One of the things that I am continuing to relearn as an adult is putting myself in situations where I don’t know if I can do it.”

Peralta Paints at Home. Copyright / courtesy of Dana Shaw and Colin Norman.

4. I learn something new everyday.

That can also be a combination of the creative or the physical thing I do. For instance, I’ve taken up a new form of surfing, called hydrofoil. It is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. Took me two and half years to get me where I am right now. So every time I go out, I’m learning something new about it. And if I don’t get to surf, then I’ll paint something that requires me to do something that I’m a little scared to do.”

5. I read non-fiction everyday.

I’m a heavy non-fiction book reader, because I want to understand myself, and the  world, and how people become who they are. No one ever asks me what I’m reading; I wish they would!  [he laughs]. I just finished a book, it was so amazingly beautiful that I’m in my third pass through it, it’s called “John and Paul; a Love Story in Songs” by Ian Leslie. It’s about the relationship between the two Beatles, and how they communicate with one another through the creative process. The author pulls it off so brilliantly, I can’t stop reading this book.”

Other recommended reading includes;

Quantum – Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer, Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, Material World  by Ed Conway,  A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko, Picasso’s war by Hugh Eakin, and Endurance by Alfred Lansing.

Against The Current 

Stacy clarifies, “I’m not a freak about things though, I don’t wake up and drink raw eggs and orange juice. I’m very disciplined, but I’m loose with my discipline, because I have to live with myself, and make my life enjoyable. There’s a very famous saying and it says this, ‘We don’t decide our futures, what we get to decide are our habits. And our habits are what decide our future.’ It’s about asking, ”What life do I want to live, and then saying ‘This is what it’s going to take to do this.”

He pauses thoughtfully and continues, “One of my goals is to live with the heart of a teenager and the wisdom of an adult.” 

Join Stacy Peralta and Teddi Dean at  MEA’s Radical Transitions Retreat; The Courage to Reinvent Yourself in Baja. 

More info on the retreat can be found here. 

Follow Stacy + all he is up to on his IG here. 

The only beach break where being a kook is encouraged. Stacy teaches surfing at MEA.

Author’s Note-
Thank you to Kari Cardinale and Teddi Dean at Modern Elder Academy – learn more here. 
And to Dana Shaw and  Colin Norman. Check out their work here, here and here…!

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Stacy Peralta; The Heart of a Teenager, The Wisdom of an Adult appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Delicious Detox Recipes

The owners of Your Super offer their suggestions for a food-based delicious detox.

Michael: Growing up as an athlete, and playing tennis at the professional level, I felt invincible! That changed when I was diagnosed with cancer at age 24. While recovering and trying to rebuild my immune system, I learned how important it is to fuel your body with a whole food diet.

My Your Super co-founder Kristel, would share her homemade mixes of superfood powders. While taking them, I felt more energized, happier, and increasingly more aware. The more I researched, the more shocked I became to learn of my athletic diet’s effect on the body, and how these nutrient-rich superfoods had been used by indigenous cultures for thousands of years. Why didn’t more people know about this? I made it my personal mission to educate and inspire people to fuel their body with the best natural whole foods. Good nutrition and information should be available for everybody!

Kristel: I knew how to mix up superfoods for Michael, because I had done it with my mom and aunt who are orthomolecular nutritionists. My Mom had been through cancer years prior. I thought, “Well if my mom had it, and Michael had it, I better do everything I can not to get it.” I became a vegan, using these superfoods as the most nutrient-dense part of my diet. This change in lifestyle helped to relieve my eczema (a lifelong struggle) and decrease inflammation in my body. I was inspired to become a certified health coach, studying with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Both: Since starting this program for our family, friends, clients and customers three years ago we have heard SO many success stories and hope to hear the same from you!

Fresh Start Breakfast

While making mixes for Michael’s detox, I knew it was important to use power-plants like organic wheatgrass, barley grass, moringa, and baobob fruit, spirulina, and chlorella which contain important micronutrients such as vitamins A, C, B1-7, B9, B12, E, K, calcium, potassium and iron. All of these greens additionally contain chlorophyll, which cleans the blood and draws materials out of your body, like heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides and environmental toxins. These foods increase oxygen content in your body and promote digestive health.

When becoming vegan, both Michael and I wanted to take in the cleanest available ingredients. We came to love a mix of organic pea protein, hemp protein, moringa, spirulina, and alfalfa. This plant protein mix contains 62% protein, 20 essential amino acids, chlorophyll, vitamins A, B9, B12, C, and iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. The superfood blends have the perfect combination of macro- and micronutrients, which aid in detoxification and digestion, support repair of the body tissue and the nervous system, and protect cells from oxidative stress.

These blends are now available as Your Super’s Super Green + Skinny Protein

For a delicious morning smoothie (part of the detox program) you may want to try one of these recipes.

Detox Morning Smoothie

1 tsp Super Green
1 TBSP Skinny Protein
Big handful of spinach
1/4 cucumber
2 mangoes
1 orange
1 cup water

*Mix in blender and enjoy!

Detox Morning Smoothie

1 tsp Super Green
1 TBSP Skinny Protein
1 big handful kale
1 mango
1/2 avocado
1 orange
1/2 lemon
1 cup water

*Mix in blender and enjoy!

Detox Morning Smoothie

1 tsp Super Green
1 TBSP Skinny Protein
1 big handful spinach
1/4 cucumber
2 celery stalks
1 (frozen) banana
1 apple
1/2 lime

*Mix in blender and enjoy!

Fresh Start Detox Lunch

We recommend a solid plant-based lunch loaded with nutrient-dense vegetables, healthy fats, and plant protein.
Here are some of our favorite fresh start detox recipes.

Lunch 1

Your favorite salad / lettuce mix
1 avocado
1/4 cucumber
1 cup cooked green peas
1 TBSP pumpkin seeds
1 tsp Super Green

Lunch 2

Your favorite salad/lettuce mix
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 avocado
1/4 cucumber
Handful of walnuts
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Super Green

Lunch 3

Your favorite salad/lettuce mix
1/2 cup brown rice
1 avocado
1 shredded carrot
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Super Green

Fresh Start Detox Dinner

For the last meal of the day, we recommend a smoothie utilizing our Forever Beautiful Mix. This antioxidant- and phytonutrient-boosting mix contains organic acai berries, maqui berries, acerola cherries, maca root, blueberries and chia seeds.

Additional ingredients such as vitamins A, B3, B6, C, and E, and minerals including iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc will support removing toxins from the body during your detox. Your skin, hair, and nails will love the extra natural vitamins and minerals! Here are some delicious smoothie varieties:

Dinner Smoothie 1

1 tbsp ForeverBeautiful
1 beet
1 cup mixed berries
1 banana
1 cup coconut water

Dinner Smoothie 2

1 tbsp ForeverBeautiful
1 cup blueberries
2 (frozen) bananas
A handful of cashews
1 cup water
A pinch of vanilla

Mix together in blender and enjoy!

Dinner Smoothie 3

1 tbsp Forever Beautiful
1 cup cherries
2 (frozen) bananas
1 orange
1/4 cucumber
1 cup water

Mix together in blender and enjoy!
We recommend you continue this detox for 5 days.

For our #FreshStart Guide and Detox programand learn more at Your Super Fresh Start Guide and Detox program.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Fresh Start Detox by Your Super Foods appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, known affectionately known as “Amma,” is a world-renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian. Throughout her life, she has embraced more than 40 million people worldwide, sometimes sitting nearly 24 hours to do so. Amma’s humanitarian organization, Embracing the World, is an NGO with consultative status with the United Nations’ Economic Social Council, providing compassionate service to those in need around the world. Amma’s life is the embodiment of love, compassion and selflessness.

She recently returned to the United States for the first time since 2019. Public programs will be held in the LA Area this week.

Amma Appears in Kerala, India

During 1952’s monsoon season in Kerala, Southern India, a young lady named Damayanti had a series of auspicious dreams about the Hindu deities Krishna and Kali. In the dreams they had piercing black eyes and blue skin. In the last dream, she saw herself giving birth to baby Krishna, who then suckled at her breast. The next day, Damayanti realized she was pregnant. It was an uncomfortable pregnancy, and her husband, Sugunandan, feared the worst. However, the birth itself was quick and painless. The family doctor worried about the child, for she had not cried during birth and rarely made any sounds. Moreover, her skin was blueish. But in the end, the child, with piercing black eyes, was fine. They named her “Sudhamani,” which is Sanskrit for “ambrosial jewel.”

Young Sudhami c. MAM

Sudhamani could stand, walk, and sing long before developmental standards. She worshipped cows and cried in devotion for Krishna, humming his hymns and reciting his name. Her family was disturbed, having never taught her such things. Sometimes her brothers and sisters would find her in the coastal backwaters in a meditative state, lost to the world. Amma’s family were convinced the strange Sudhamani would bring shame to their family. She was severely punished for her odd behavior.

Amma In Ecstacy c. MAM

At nine, they stopped her schooling in order for her to cook, clean and care for her younger brothers and sisters. As part of her chores, she would walk to more than 30 homes a day, asking the inhabitants for vegetable scraps to feed to the family cows.

The young girl couldn’t understand why the ocean provided the same opportunities of abundance to every fisherman in and yet the circumstances in each home were so far-ranging. In one thatched-roof hut, a family would be well-provided for—healthy, happy and grateful—while next door a similar family would be hungry and hopeless. Next door to them, could be an elder, riddled with illness, with no one to provide care.

Sudhamani Contemplates c. MAM

So upset by this disparity, Sudhamani considered throwing herself into fire out of protest. As she contemplated these conditions, she heard an answer from within: “It is because of the individuals’ past actions that they suffer.” But she was not satisfied with this answer. She pondered further and said, “If a person falls into a ditch, isn’t it my responsibility to help them out? So, if these people are meant to suffer because of their previous actions, isn’t it my duty to also help them?” 

Show Us A Miracle

One day, Sudhamani and her little brother Satish were gathering grass for their cows when they walked past an open courtyard gate. The Big Sis stood perfectly still as she heard people reading the Srimad Bhagavatam (the stories of Krishna). When a bhajan (devotional song) began, she dropped her bundle of grass and charged past the gate. Her body vibrated out of control, as her posture and expression and way of moving began to assimilate those associated with Krishna’s. So shocked by what they were seeing, some of the attendees ran into town to tell the neighbors. Naysayers yelled out, “If you really are Krishna show us a miracle!” Sudhamani said, “You have the real gem inside you. Why do you want to see an imitation?” They ganged up, “Prove to us that you have manifested Krishna. Show us a miracle!” 

Young Sudhamani/Amma in Krishna Bhavana c. MAM

News spread through the series of Southern Indian fishing villages, and after some convincing, Sudhamani agreed to attend the next reading of the Srimad Bhagavatam. This time, Sudhamani asked a well-known skeptic to empty a copper pot and fill it with fresh spring water. She prayed over it before instructing the skeptic to stick his fingers in the water. They came out covered in yogurt. Again, she had him dip his digits into the copper pot. This time they came out covered in panchamritam—one of Krishna’s favorite puddings! The crowd murmured in wonder as the thousand were served from a quart-size container.

Amma’s mother, Damayanti, who had previously been a strong disciplinarian with her daughter—regularly scolding her and even beating her—later said of the evening, “Changing water into pudding couldn’t be done by an ordinary person. After that, I saw her as God.” 

News of Sudhamani spread, and seekers started to come.

Amritapuri Early Days c. MAM

Soon the backyard banyan tree wasn’t big enough for the followers so Amma’s father donated the family cowshed to be used as a temple. Sudhamani would welcome worshippers with a warm hug. People started calling her “Amma” because of her motherly manner, and in return Amma would whisper into their ears, “My darling, darling daughter” or “My darling, darling son.”

Embracing The World

People from around the planet came for Amma’s embrace. By 1987 the demand for her darshan-embrace was so high that, at the request of devotees in America, a world tour was arranged. At first it was in private homes and small church halls. Now, there’s a line outside New York City’s Javits Center practically all the way down to the Lincoln Tunnel. Longtime devotees, sincere seekers, and first-timers have ranging experiences from the karmic and profound, to the understated and subtle. There are extreme stories, like Dattan the Lepper—whose wounds, sores, and puss Amma sucked until his symptoms subsided. And then there’s this particular curmudgeonly gent of name and fame in Los Angeles who swears, “Nothing happens when I hug her,” yet year after year he keeps coming back. Something that always sticks out, is the worn-out widow who was contemplating suicide when someone handed her an Amma flier. The Hilton Hotel hosting Amma was on her way home, so she checked it out as a final stop here on Earth. The worn-out widow sobbed uncontrollably in Amma’s lap until it seemed like something inside her seemed to crack. Seven years later, she has the most radiant smile, while doing endless seva (selfless service) at Amma’s public programs.

Amma’s Children c. MAM

 Awaken Children

For three decades Amma toured endlessly through London, Paris, Barcelona, Munich, Milan, Tokyo, Toronto, Nairobi, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, all throughout India, and in the United States: Seattle, San Ramon, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, New York City and other cities. In each of these cities there are free programs that consist of discourse, bhajans [devotional songs], a prayer for world peace, and the blessing of darshan [Amma’s embrace]. Amma often leads the massive halls in an English bhajan called “Everyone in the World”

Everyone in the world should sleep without fear,
at least for one night, sleep without fear…
Everyone in the world should eat ‘til they’re full,
at least for one day, eat ‘til they’re full…
Everyone in the world there should be one day when here is no violence,
no one is injured, no one is hurt…

All people young and old should serve the poor and needy,
at least for one day, serve selflessly…

This is my dream, this is my prayer,
love is the answer,
love is the way.

Amma doesn’t just wish and pray for compassion and change, she leads by example.

 In a book written by one of her most senior disciples, Swami Krishnamrita Prana, Opening to Grace, a woman recalls, “Every day my father sharpened a butcher’s knife and kept it ready to kill my mother. Not one night did we sleep without fear. My sister and I shivered in fear if we ever saw our father’s shadow. Each day we would pray, “May night never come.” The father murdered the mother, whose body was returned home from the morgue in the middle of the night. The woman continues, “I drew the sheet back and saw my mother covered in stitches, totally unrecognizable. I don’t know what happened after that, When I regained consciousness people were sitting around me, fanning.”

Embracing The World, And The Next Generation c. MAM

The girls were brought to Amma’s orphanage where she held them close and encouraged their studies. Since many in the hostel had come from challenging circumstances the camaraderie became like that of a family they’d never known. Children learned of comfort and kinship. The girl got good grades, and graduated with honors, when Amma asked her to enroll in the Bachelor’s of Business and Management School of Amrita University. She graduated, worked for a few years, completed her Master’s degree and was offered a job at Amrita University. The girl (now a woman) is responsible for the sustainable development of some of the 101 villages adopted by Amma’s ashram. Eight weeks into the job, she met her future husband. He had a similar sad background and the two have found so much healing in one another. She says, “Thanks to Amma’s care and love, the family we will create together will be much happier than the ones we were raised in.

Love Is The Answer, Love Is The Way: Amritapuri Ashram

From the humble family hut where Amma’s darshan began, a booming metropolis has sprung. The original cowshed remains next to the Kali Temple, but the rest of the area is almost unrecognizable. Aside from the rooms for the monastic disciples, Amma’s Amritapuri Ashram includes apartments for householder devotees residents, hostels for students, and guest quarters for visitors. Temples and worship halls, clerical offices, classrooms and places to get food. Approximately 3,500 residents in total.

Amritapuri Ashram Kali Temple c. MAM

Across the river is the Amritapuri campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham NAAC (an autonomous accreditation agency under the Indian government’s University Grants Commission) has granted Amrita an A++ grade, the highest it can offer. Amrita has consistently found a place among the top 10 universities in India. It has nine campuses in total, multidisciplinary teaching and research institution with a student base of approximately 24,000+.

In nearby Kochi is the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (Amrita Hospital), a state-of-the-art teaching hospital that serves has provided completely free treatment to more than 5 million patients—more than $105 million in charitable medical care since 1998. And in 2022, a second such hospital was built near Delhi in northern India.

Rainbow Over Amritapuri + Kerala Backwaters c. MAM

Embracing the World: Love as Service Work

In his 2013 New York Times piece, Jake Halpern explains: “In 2003, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, then the president of India, was so impressed with Amma’s charitable work that he donated almost his entire annual salary to her organization. His enthusiasm may stem from the simple fact that Amma appears to do what politicians cannot. Mr. Chandy, the chief minister of Kerala, told me rather dejectedly, “The government has so many limitations, but Amma gives an order and next day the work will start.”

Amma’s umbrella charity “Embracing The World” have a diverse steams of focus including education, health care, gender equality & women’s empowerment, environmental protection, disaster relief, research, food, water & shelter. Her practical philanthropy helps to enrich each aspect of someone’s life. Examples include the following.

Earthquake in Gujarat

When the 2001 earthquake that struck Gujarat claimed 20,000 lives, Amma immediately dispensed disaster-relief teams and psychological support. Her volunteers constructed a total of 1,200 earthquake-proof houses, community centers, schools, temples, and even a church and a mosque. When the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami hit Kerala, villagers from Gujarat travelled to Kerala to return Amma’s kindness. They joined Amma’s teams who were offering food, housing, medical and counseling services to those effected. Children who survived the tsunami were give art classes to draw about their experiences, and swimming lessons to overcome their fear of water, which they had seen wash away their homes and loved ones. Together, Amma, her sevites built more than 6,000 new homes for victims to start their new lives.

Support for Farmers and Families

Crop failure and debt has caused hundred of thousands of farmers to commit suicide since 1997. With no hope for future generations, often entire families end their lives together. Amma’s charities have provided advanced farming, and environmental education to adults, while more than 100,000 children have received school scholarships and stipends. More recently a homestead garden project was launched. Seeds were distributed to upwards of 5,000 families who now sustain themselves.

Embracing The World Participants

Self-Relience, Education & Employment

Amma’s Amrita SREE program (Self-Reliance, Education & Employment) has provided 300,000+ women with vocational education, assistance in creating sustainable business plan, access to micro-credit loans and micro-savings accounts from government-regulated banks.

And much, much  more…(For a full list click here ). 

Mangala Arati c. MAM

Amma Amma Taye: Staying up All Night With Amma

Meanwhile, in America, the final night of Amma’s programs in each city—called Devi Bhava—Amma stays up all night until about 9 or 10:00 a.m. the next morning, embracing one and all, giving mantras, performing weddings, baby’s first feedings and other auspicious acts.

The standard scene is as follows: You arrive at the location and get a darshan token. Your darshan token is sort of like a deli-counter number, signifying when you’re up for your embrace. While extremely organized, no two experiences are the same. On the rare occurrence someone will arrive to no line, immediately receive a token and be whisked to the front of the hall for their hug.

Offering flowers and receiving hugs

The Experience with Amma

Most will wait for a some hours, receive their token, enjoy the program and enchantment, receive their hug and happily return home. Others will wait and wait and wait. Receive a token. Accidentally lose it in the bathroom. Walk to the parking lot defeated. Only to bump into the long-lost loved one they’d always hoped to reconnect with, an elder needing assistance who drops the most prescient pearl of wisdom, the stranger with the ideal job opportunity, or similar. They return to the hall to see their token is being called, find it on the floor, receive Amma’s darshan, feel like every cell of their body has been recharged, and return to their daily lives, a more authentic version of themselves.

And yet another group may travel, work and serve Amma never asking for a hug, knowing that to be in her presence is the blessing itself. The lilas [divine plays] are infinite, intricate and specific to each soul. As the tour staff says, “Amma knows you’re here!”

Giselle Receives An Embrace From Amma c. MAM

In the time between receiving a darshan token and being held in the arms of the Amma, there can be the aforementioned programs as well plenty of space to wonder and discover. Rooms, halls, and floors are filled with a carnival of activity. There is music, mediation, videos of Amma’s extensive humanitarian work. Service opportunities and sacred shopping to financially support it.

Available for purchase—with all proceeds going to Amma’s charitable mission—are Indian meals and snacks, coffee, sweet, snacks and chai. Books, audio, traditional India saris, Western T-shirts and sweatshirts, bath and body products (including aromatherapy oils), home, temple and worship items, Ayurvedic herbs, personalized chiropractic care and massage, radiance healing, astrological readings and much much more.

Engaging with the sevites who pour their heart into these products and projects is as educational as it is inspiring. They are quick with an Amma anecdote that speaks directly to your current (unmentioned) circumstance. Seeing many of the same faces year after year brings its own form of comfort — joyful and familiar. Deep and transformative.

My Religion Is Love

At the heart of Amma’s life and teachings is her message of universal oneness. It is rooted in that fundamental concept of Indian spirituality, that Amma embraces and dedicates her life to uplifting one and all. 

As Amma says, “My religion is love.”

Amma’s Embrace c. MAM

See Amma on Tour *Now*

July 13-16, 2024
Hyatt Regency Irvine
17900 Jamboree Road
Irvine, CA 92614

For more info click here.

July 19-22 Albuquerque, NM
July 25-29 Washington, DC
July 31-August 2 Boston, MA
August 5-7 New York, NY
August 9-11 Chicago, IL

For more information on the tour click here.

For more information about Amma go to Amma.org

Author’s Note; All photos are copyright of Mata Amritanandamayi Math and Amritapuri.org.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Free Hugs; Amma Returns To America appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

It was an unassuming Tuesday Night in December.

A 70-something at the will call window shrieks, “Oh darlin’ I had ta try, my girlfriends and I used ta see ‘em at the armory down the road for 50 cents.”

A hipster at the merch table loads up on holiday gifts. “Flight was delayed in Charlotte. Thought I’d have to drive down. Why? Because Duane Betts is an insane guitar and I wasn’t going to miss this.”

Wild And Precious Life Album Cover

And three generations in the VIP lounge exemplify Southern Hospitality. “Big Jim saw The Brothers open up for Three Dog Night in the 60s, Young Jim played in a band with Duane in high school, and this is little Jimmy’s first concert. Say hi to the nice lady Jimmy. We want him to know that this music, this is home. It will be here for him long after we’re gone.”

Duane Betts steps up to the mic with a mischievous smile and says, “It’s good to be back in my hometown of Sarasota, Florida. You may know this one.”

From the back of the theater someone screams, “We know them all….!”

He can’t help but laugh, as he starts to sing, “Walk along the river, sweet lullaby…”

Everyone in the audience sings along, “You’re my blue sky you’re my sunny day, Lord you know it makes me high when you turn your love my way. Turn yooour loooove myyyy waaaay…”

Back Where It All Begins

“When I was really young, like five, my dad had a little guitar and he put it in my hands,” Betts explains, “The shapes of the chords and the stretching of the fingers and all of that just seemed too difficult, and really like something I didn’t want to do.”

In elementary school Duane declared himself a drummer and had garage bands throughout junior high. During rehearsals he remembers, “I started picking up the guitar. I noticed things coming to me more easily. I was learning by ear, I recognized the intervals, I knew the chord changes. So, then it just kind of developed from there.”

Bless your Heart; Duane and Dickey Betts in the early 1980s

Betts was 11 when the Allman Brothers reunited for their 20th anniversary tour. Duane went out on the road for a few weeks with his dad, Allman Brothers founding member Dickey Betts. The now forty-something lights up, “I fell in love with it. I love the music. I love the travel. I love the new venues, I love the sound of the sound check, the smell of the grass and walking around the venue before anybody’s there.”

On a subsequent tour “the kid” became a paid crew member, working as an assistant guitar tech. “I was learning a lot from being around everyone, and just hearing that music every night.” Duane remarks, “Warren [Haynes] wrote out a list of a bunch of records to go buy. I made 500 bucks a week and I would spend all of it at Tower Records on CDs.”

The immersive musical education included classic albums like, Blues Power  by Albert King, Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane, BB King Live at The Regal and more. Duane remembers, “I got really into listening to records and playing along with them. Everything from those blues and jazz records to all the cool contemporary music coming out of Seattle like Nirvana.”

One Way Out

“Well, the kind of tradition is, I mean, they like to get you out on stage to put you into the fire as soon as possible” Duane explains, “I kind of resisted it, I was kind of freaked out about it, I kind of put it off. In fact, I forgot my guitar at the hotel on purpose the first time I was supposed to sit in.”

The band were on a highway outside of Denver, when Dickey asked Duane, “You brought your guitar, right? You’re going to play with us tonight, right?” Duane responded, “Oh man, I forgot my guitar.” Duane retells,  “And he goes ‘Oh well, that’s okay, we have plenty of guitars’ and I go, ‘Oh yes, that’s right’ [defeated]. ‘I was thinking maybe I’ll get out of it if I don’t bring my guitar.”

Sketches of American Music; Duane Betts Sits On Stage Allman Brothers Tour 1989

Betts’ reluctant debut was met with continued mentorship. He reflects, “Like anything, anytime you’re nervous, and you do it and you don’t completely f*ck up, it’s an amazing feeling. And then I played a few nights later and I broke a string, and I was like beside myself. But that was a little bump in the road, it was pretty smooth after that.”

A year later Duane was thrown into a bigger fire at Woodstock ’94. The sixteen-year-old was pulled on stage to play on “The Same Thing” and “Soulshine.” The mud-soaked audience in Saugerties, NY, and everyone watching on MTV knew they would be seeing more of the emerging artist.

Wheels Turning

By age 19, Duane Betts was a professional touring musician.  He had a successful run with LA bands WhiteStarr and BackBone69. They cut records for Atlantic, opened for Kid Rock, and were part of reality TV’s infancy. Betts played on Letterman, and at festivals including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and Coachella. For more than a decade he was musical director of Great Southern and later toured with the Indy rock band Dawes.

BackBone69 in The Bu Early Aughts – Public Domain

He got tangled up.

He got clean.

He made space for a vibrant new chapter of his life.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do

Lisa Hadley is a fashion designer who travels the world creating outerwear for mass brands, and bespoke pieces for private clientele. A friend bought her an astrology reading she put off for months, then one day on a whim she decided to book it.  The astrologer looked at Hadley’s birth chart and asserted, “You need to be with someone who is like a rockstar. A powerful guy who can handle your presence.”

The next day Lisa was picking up a few last-minute items for a dinner party she was hosting when, as Duane recalls, “We were grocery shopping. My friend started talking to her. He’s more out front, where I’m more shy. He asked for her number.” Lisa and her friend agreed to meet up with Duane and his friend. The two had a lot in common, hit it off and as Duane jokes, “Then I took her home one night and we watched Cops and that was it.”  She shakes her head smiling.

Lisa Hadley + Duane Betts Wedding via LH SM c. Kaelan Barowsky

On their most recent wedding anniversary Betts posted to Instagram, “I feel so blessed to have found you at just the right time.”  Lisa confirms lovingly, “He did.”

Her friends still joke, “We didn’t think the astrologer meant an aaaacctttuuuaaal rock star.”

Waiting On A Song

For 25 years New Yorkers marked the start of Spring by the Allman Brothers residency at the Beacon Theater. In this tradition a big party was thrown at Madison Square Garden to commemorate their 50th Anniversary (a year late). “The Brothers” played the hits. Their rendition of “No One to Run With” was said to be a religious experience for all who attended. A few days later stay-at-home orders swept the country. Duane, Lisa and their goldendoodle Willie settled into her adopted hometown.

For someone who has lived on tour busses for three decades it was a major change of pace. “Being in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was a really great thing that summer.  There’s just so much open space, there’s not a lot of people” Betts explains. “I really never had time before to get up every morning and have my coffee at the coffee table and pick up an acoustic. During that time, I wrote a bunch of songs.”

Keep On Growing; L to R; Susan Tedeschi, Duane Betts, Derek Trucks

A long pandemic year later Duane and Lisa were at a birthday party in the Florida Keys when the tough-loving singer Susan Tedeschi urged, “Duane you need to do your own record. You should come do it in our studio.” Guitarist Derek Trucks jumped right in, “If you do that record, I’ll play on it.” Duane walked outside stunned, saying, “I don’t know what just happened.” His wise wife responded,” That’s a door that just opened for you.”

Tell Me What It Is You Plan To Do

In Tedeschi-Trucks’ Swamp Raga Recording Studio Duane Betts did some of his bravest work. His musical partner, guitarist Johnny Stachela states, “It was the perfect recording environment. We would roll in around 10am and just dive right into the creative process. We had so much fun. Every morning I would take a walk on the dock in the backyard to go check out a family of gators.”

They enlisted support from long-time collaborators and friends like bassist Berry Duane Oakley and keyboardist John Ginty. Stachela continues, “For the recording process we tracked the band live to capture the energy of the performance. Recording that way to analog tape is a lot like taking a photograph. It’s a snapshot in time.”

Swamp Raga Bhavana – Duane Betts’ Own Voice

Before the release Duane took a minute to talk about the experience, “You know it’s exciting. I mean I’ve made records with the Allman Betts Band, and had an EP, but I felt like it was time to do something in my own voice. On my own shoulders. I’m proud of what we did, and I hope people like it.”

Duane Betts’ debut record, Wild and Precious Life was nicely reviewed by judicious music critics and agro Redditors alike. Songwriters and sentimentalists took to tracks like “Waiting on A Song” and “Forrest Lane,” while rock fans revered the guitar riffs in “Stare at the Sun” (with Derek Trucks) and “Cold Dark World” (with Marcus King). Artist and underdogs trended towards the foreboding, “Saints to Sinners”, while the yogis and ex-pats dug, “Sacred Ground” and “Under The Bali Moon.”

Of course, Angelenos embraced “Evergreen,” an ode to Betts’ mother Paulette Howell, loved locally for lighting up LA with her radiant smile. Betts explains, “That’s an emotional one. She brings so much joy to everyone’s life including ours.”

Evergreen Early Days; Duane  Betts + Paulette circa 1976

Universally admired is “Colors Fade.” Johnny Stachela recalls, “We were staying at Dickey’s house and I picked up his old Gibson acoustic and wrote the guitar melody and chord structure. It happened so fast and I knew it was special. I brought the song to the guys with a few lyrics and Stoll [Vaughn] finished it. Duane wrote the bridge. It just has a timeless quality to it.”

Betts remarks, “We wanted to have a kind of Gram [Parsons] and Emmylou [Harris] kind of vibe on ‘Colors Fade’, so we asked my good friend Nicki Bluhm, who has an amazing voice, and is just a great talent and a great person. We were very happy that she obliged.”

Circles In The Stars

A month or so later, Duane experienced an initiation. On the iconic stage where Johnny Cash, met his wife June Carter, singer Maggie Rose spoke to the crowd, “I am very honored to get to sing on this stage often, but I don’t usually get to bring a friend of mine out, but this man has become a friend and a brother, music runs through his veins, please welcome Mr. Duane Betts.”

Betts sang new fan favorite, “Circles in the Stars.” He shares, “The idea is that when you’re with somebody, and it doesn’t really matter where you’re at or what you’re doing, you’re in the perfect place. It’s about being with somebody that you love and you love spending time with.”

It’s Better Than Gold; Duane + Johnny on The Opry Stage – Public Domain

He continues, “I wrote it for my wife, so it was really special for me to be able to play it for her on the Grand Old Opry Stage.”

Will The Circle Be Unbroken

“I mean, he’s family. We’re tied together by something much greater,” Betts states. “Through the music, through our fathers.”

Duane wasn’t the only kid on that 1990 Allman Brothers reunion tour. A teenage Devon Allman was on the road too. His dad Gregg Allman, was a founding member of the band known for singing the blues behind his Hammond b-3 organ.

Gregg joined the angels in 2017.  Devon admits, “After six months of grieving I realized I was denying myself of the power of healing through music and invited a bunch of friends to a comeback show.” When he found out the Fillmore West’s only available date was Gregg’s birthday, he knew it was meant to be.

People Can You Hear It, The Song Is In The Air; Devon Allman + Duane Betts

Allman asked Betts and his band to open the show. Devon reflects, “I think we were always intrigued to see if we would have organic chemistry together. Chemistry can’t be faked. Luckily we had it in spades with songwriting , singing together, etc …”

They did a couple of shows, and then they did a couple of tours, and soon the Allman Betts Band was born. Over time it evolved into an annual event called, The Allman Betts Family Revival. A Last-Waltz-esque offering inviting old friends, new family and raw talent to perform.

Winter at the Van Wezel

Now middle-age these bandleaders are throwing youngsters into their own fire. Devon smirks, “We are all on borrowed time. This isn’t our world. It’s our kids.  It is my responsibility to open the door for those that are next.  Rock and Roll needs it. It needs the young and the old, the male and female, the black and the white. Diversity and perpetuating the vibe is essential to its growth and longevity.”

On that unassuming Tuesday in December, everyone needed it.

Seven Turns On The Highway, Seven Rivers To Cross

It’s set break in Sarasota, Florida.

A regular at the White Buffalo holds the hand of her daughter who skips back from the bathroom lisping, “You’re my Blue Sky, you’re my sunny day.”

A tie-dyed troublemaker in the front row looks stage right and shouts, “We know you’re back there Dickey.” His cohort twirls a lammy yelping, “Happy 80th ‘Ole Boy, c’mon out.” They cackle like a couple of cartoon crows.

Yes, this is a hometown crowd for sure.

Seven Turns – Allman Betts Family Revival – 12.12.23 c. AVD

Duane Betts steps up to the mic and says, “This is a song of my father’s. It’s a Navajo legend, lesson kind of thing.” He closes his eyes, strums out a few chords and sings from the heart, “Seven turns on the highway, Seven rivers to cross, sometimes, you feel like you could fly away, sometimes, you get lost…”

The beloved ballad is a Navajo philosophy shared by Stewart Etsitty, a roadman of the Native American Church and Betts Family friend for some 30+ years. He taught that we have seven big turns in our lifetime. Seven major choices that define the quality of our incarnation, and how we get to the next.

Stewart joined the spirit side in 2000, but Wind River Indian Reservation Tribal Chairman Hon. Harvey Spoonmaker shares, “That’s our cycle of life. We’re always lookin’ seven generations ahead. We have ceremonies for the people who looked out for us, our grandparents, our parents, our aunts and uncles. They instilled in us our identity, who we are.”

All Our Relations; Duane’s Grandfather

He continues, “Through storytelling, through song, and through prayer we prepare the next generation for life. For their life. For what is expected of them as they get older. Because, they’ll also have their responsibilities. They’ll have to pass on some of these legacies too.”

Duane strums, “Seven turns on the highway, seven rivers to cross, sometimes we that we could fall away sometimes we get a lost…”

A millennial golf pro wearing a Patek Philippe puts his arms around a Publix Cashier who had to trade three shifts to be here this night. Her tired eyes sparkle as she sings, “Sometimes in the darkest night, you see the crossroads sign…”

A teenage couple in love and on too many mushrooms clutch each other, “Somebody’s calling your name, somebody’s waiting for you…”

Two out of the three Jims fight back tears, “Love is all that remains the same, that’s what it’s all comin to…”

A widower on a first date lets himself sob, “How in the world could you ever know, we’d ever meet again?”

Old college roommates savoring the rare night out sway, “Seven turns on the highway, seven rivers to cross, sometimes you feel like you could fly away, sometimes you get lost…”

“Happy Birthday To You…” Dickey Betts’ 80th. Allman Betts Family Revival – Van Wezel Theater – Sarasota, Florida 12.12.23 c. AVD

As the song comes to a close Dickey Betts walks onto the stage.

The Ramblin’ Man himself, Cameron Crowe’s muse for Almost Famous, in-part how Jimmy Carter got elected president.

Duane’s dad who met his mom at a Muddy Waters double-bill and named him after one of the greatest slide guitar players of all time.

Everyone in the Van Wezel Theater erupts into a round of “Happy Birthday to you.” Dickey Betts settles into a seat on the side of the stage — his wife Donna, daughter-in-law Lisa, daughters and family at his side.

The Road Goes On Forever

Duane, Devon, Johnny Stachela, John Ginty and the ensemble that makes up the Allman Betts Family Revival tear into a transcendent version of “Jessica.” The song for which thousands of babies, dogs, boats and bongs have been have been named.

The Allman Betts Family Revival play “Jessica” at the Van Wezel Theater in Sarasota Florida 12.12.23 c. AVD

Backstage there are cake and candles, hugs and high-fives. But the busses are packed and they gotta get going. Jacksonville tomorrow and Nashville two nights after that. The road goes on forever they say.

Out front the woman from the will call window squeezes my arm, “I told ya he would be here.”

The next morning the hipster with the merch texted,  “That’s why I would’ve driven down.”

A few weeks later an email comes in from Duane, “That was a magical night. Not only to celebrate dad’s 80th but to have him there on the sidelines was very, very special. I don’t think I will forget that night for the rest of my life.”

Neither will we.

Duane + Dickey Betts. White Buffalo Saloon 2017. c. Heather Nigra

“Love is all that remains the same,
that’s what it’s all coming’ to…”

Dickey Betts
(December 12, 1943-April 18, 2024)

To Learn more about Duane Betts check out Duane Betts.com
Buy Wild and Precious life on Vinyl at RoyalPotatoFamily.com
Stream on Spotify.
Learn more about Duane and Lisa Betts’ HorseshoeMusicFestival.com
IG at @DuaneBetts

Author’s Notes & Thanks 

Sincerest thanks to everyone who contributed to this piece including; Muffy Lavens and Nicole Hancock at the Van Wezel Theater, Lisa Hadley-Betts, Emily Ginsberg/Big Hassle Media, Devon Allman, Johnny Stachela, Chris Brush /Smoking Monkey Photo,  Kevin Calabro/ Royal Potato Family, Francine Bartlett, Hon. Harvey Spoonmaker,  Nick + Vernoy Paolini.

Cover photo by Heather Nigro /Moxxiiphoto,

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Duane Betts; Seven Rivers To Cross appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Yes, Cherlato is Coming to town.

Drop Top Sleigh Ride

“It’s no secret that I absolutely love ice cream and gelato”  Cher admitted, “When I tasted Giapo’s gelato while on tour in Auckland it was the best I’d ever had.”

Giapo Grazioli is accredited with what his wife Anna Rosa calls, “the third narrative of ice cream.” It is a craft perfected in New Zealand over 18 years. After meeting Cher while she was on her “Here We Go Again” tour in 2018, the two decided to create something special together. The artisan explains, “Cher and I had hundreds of Zoom calls. As all of these plans were finally taking shape and everything was looking nice, Covid came.  So we made a turn and said, ‘This project has to be something that gives hope to people, and we should start from a truck so it can deliver optimism.”

Run Run Rudolph ~ Cherlato Truck Making Waves In Venice Beach c. Cherlato

Put A Little Holiday In Your Heart

The Cherlato Truck has been seen spreading cheer on Abbott Kinney, Melrose, and Third Street. As well as at The Abbey, The Bungalow, The Pier, The Venice Beach Boardwalk, LA LIVE, and even the Hallmark Channel HQ.

Staffers Enjoy Cherlato (and Cher’s Xmas Tunes) at the Hallmark HQ.

Curious customers marvel at flavors like, “Snap Out of It! Kefir & Cardamom” a nod to Cher’s Oscar-winning role in Moonstruck. And “Chocolate XO Cher” which ideated from her 1974 pop hit, “Dark Lady.” Angelenos ask about a favorite, “Cher’s mom’s cheesecake.” Giapo smiles warmly, “That’s an original recipe that Cher’s mom [Georgia Holt] used to make at Christmas parties at home. When Cher made me a preview of this recipe, it was handwritten by Cher’s mom.”

Giapo and Team serving up Cherlato to Excited Angelenos. c. Cherlato

This season, the evolving menu boasts Winter classics like Gingerbread and Peppermint Candy Cane. Of course the CFDA-winning fashion icon includes a little glitz and glam. You can opt for having your Cherlato in a gold cone. (We’re wondering if Bob Mackie designed it!)

“Breakfast at Cher’s Donuts & Coffee” in gold c. Cherlato

Please Come Home For Christmas

The 77-year-old yogi, who graciously walks onto the world’s stages singing the Gayatri Mantra is conscious of eating clean. For her plant-based friends and fans, Cher and Giapo created, “I LOVE LA” a vegan favorite in Laker’s gold + purple. The menu also includes other seasonal edits.

Cherlato thoughtfully sources from small farm partners and LA markets. Their serving cups, trays, spoons, and napkins are recyclable and made with sustainable materials.

“I LOVE LA” and LA loves Cherlato c. Cherlato

Cher tells LA Yoga Magazine, “Giapo explained his process to me of the highest quality of ingredients, organic fruits, artistry, and the need to have the freshest and tastiest ice cream. He has brought all of this to Cherlato. We are both so passionate about our love for ice cream. We are so proud of the response wherever we go in LA.”

This Will Be Our Year

At the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Cher sang her latest single, “DJ Play a Christmas Song.” It hit #1 on the Billboard charts a few weeks later, making the Kennedy Center honoree the only solo artist to have a #1 song in each of the last six decades.

Giapo (and Cher) c. Cherlato

We talked to Giapo not long after this who said, “The experience for me has been humbling. I am a normal person, I’m an artisan. I am in awe. What I really like about working with Cher is that even though she’s such a high caliber artist, she’s still a human being and she loves the same thing that we do. She likes to have a great ice cream and laughter, And the more you stay close, the more you understand how she has been able to be who she is for the past 60 years of her career. It’s very inspiring.”

Are you Hungry for More Cher or Cherlato?

To find the Cherlato Truck, follow it on IG here.

To book the Cherlato Truck for your next event, learn more here.

You can find Cher’s new album, Christmas on Spotify and iTunes.

To follow Giapo, find him on IG here.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Cherlato Is Coming To Town appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Some years later from the back of his tour bus, Michael Franti explains, “My Lord is a song of letting go to whatever is going to come next. There’s so many times in my life where I’ve gripped onto plans that I felt were going to bring me joy, or get me to the next place, or thought were the answer…. And then when I let go, and it was like, ‘Wow, I’ve just learned something about myself and about the world that’s fulfilling me in ways that I had never imagined.’ So that song is about keeping your mind, your heart, your imagination open to things that might not be what you originally set out to do.”

Yes I Will

Michael Franti was attending the University of San Francisco on a basketball scholarship when a teacher encouraged him to pay attention to the world around him. He bought a pawn-shop bass, and penned thought-provoking poems. In the late 80’s Michael formed the Bay Area band, The Beatnigs. They threw parties in abandoned warehouses and banged on African drums. Franti became half of the hip-hop duo The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Their Gil Scott Heron-esque single, “Television the Drug of a Nation” was an acclaimed underground hit but in the 90’s radio still ruled.

There was a corporate machine in place, that largely mandated who could play what, when. No one knew how to categorize Michael Franti. Was he a rapper, a rocker, a reggae singer?  Was he against the system, for the people? An anarchist, a peacekeeper….? Couldn’t yet tell. Being an anomaly is part of Michael Franti’s karmic condition. He explains, “My mom had three kids of her own with my adopted father, and then they adopted myself and another African American son. I have one sister who’s a lesbian, and one brother who’s a police officer. And I grew up in this really mixed melting pot of a household.”

The Franti Family

Michael continues, “My mom always had a wisdom to her, that people should be their unique self. And she would always tell me, ‘Don’t try to be what other kids tell you to be, or to try to fit in, just be who you are, be your authentic self.’ And that’s something that I’ve really tried to carry in my music.”

Stay Human

Franti and some friends leaned into the musical lexicon that most influenced them. The result was Spearhead; a band so unique rock writers of the day had to come up with new words to describe them, “alternative hip hop”, “neo-soul,” “reggae fusion.” One of their debut songs was selected for MTV’s Buzz Bin and won a Clio Award.

Spearhead

A little like putting the medicine inside a spoonful of sugar, they wrapped socio-political messages inside sweet-sounding songs.  In the February, 1995, issue of URB Magazine, Michael clarified, “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to make statements anymore…. But when I was a kid, I got into the music first, and then later, after I’d listened to the songs for a while, I started hearing what the artists had to say. And that’s what I wanted to do.”

And I Sing, Power To The Peaceful

“I used to work in a hospital, and to make my shift, I’d have to leave at 4am,” Anita Akhavan states. “In the car I would blast a Spearhead song, the lyrics are, ‘We can bomb the world into pieces, but we can’t bomb it into peace.’ When I moved to San Francisco, Guerrilla Management was one of the first places I hit up to do volunteer work, because Michael has consistently been an artist who has used his platform to say something. He speaks to current issues, he does not shy away from them, but he also doesn’t shame people either. He facilitates dialogue.”

Anita became a member of Michael’s team and part of the production staff that put on the annual “911 Power To The Peaceful” Festival in San Francisco. The Franti-fronted gathering began in 1998 to bring awareness to the imprisonment of Mumia Abu Jamal. It was held on 9/11 each year to illuminate the death row inmate’s urgency. “September 11th, 2001 happened and everything changed” remembers Akhavan.

While many were directly impacted by the events of that day, millions more were relying on network news for information. Politicians and the reporters that covered them, repeated words like “terror,” and “mass destruction” subtly invoking Islamophobia, paranoia, and division. But in Dolores Park, people were coming together to talk about peace. “We already had it scheduled for that weekend” Akhavan explains.  “We opened it up to hundreds of social justice organizations from around the country to speak on issues that were taking place. And the intention of this was to be in community, sharing info, having conversations and learning.”

Revolution Never Comes With A Warning – Michael Franti Rocking PTTP c. PTTP FB

The potency of that inclusive act deeply affected those who were in attendance, as well as the 80,000 more who would join in the 11 years that followed. The festival moved to Golden Gate Park where no one was turned away for lack of funds. The largely volunteer staff coordinated yoga and movement, with social justice, environmental activists, and spiritual speakers, with an eclectic musical line-up that empowered a humanitarian movement.

Many years after the last PTTP Festival, Anita reflects, “Michael has always sang or spoken about what’s important I feel; and today I think his music reflects that we need to be kind to one another, we need to love one another, and be compassionate to one another, because we are all doing the best that we can with the tools that we have.”

Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong

“I went to Iraq in June of 2004, and it was 11 months after the war had started there,” Michael explains. “I played music on the street for Iraqi civilians in the daytime, and I played for U.S soldiers at night. And then after that, I went to Israel and Palestine, and I played for music for people on the street in both those places. I talked to soldiers, I talked to people who had lost family members in each of those conflicts.”

Franti continues, “I was passionately against war and I still am. But when I came back, I realized that I’m not on the side of Americans or Iraqis or Israelis or Palestinians; I’m on the side of the peacemakers. And I met people from all sides who were willing to go to incredible lengths to achieve peace, and to try to resolve conflict and bring about safety and understanding for as many people as possible.”

One of Michael’s first stops when he returned stateside was Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He visited with soldiers who were recovering from catastrophic combat injuries. The singer explains, “I was listening to their stories and understanding why they had made these decisions to go to Iraq. And I just developed this new understanding of it. And that’s when I started writing the song Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong.” The tune that many believe should be nominated for a Peace Prize invites the listener to let go of their fixed point of view, and recognize we’re all much more alike than not.

“One of the things that I learned on that trip was that there’s no one that you wouldn’t love if you knew their story. And to be able to understand people’s stories is what I feel is one of the most important things that is needed in the world right now. And the way that you have to do it is you have to step back from the judgment saying this person’s wrong, and I’m right and that’s what that song’s about.”

11:59

“Michael told me we were going to be doing this on a ship but I had no sense what that was going to be like until we actually showed up,” esteemed yoga teacher Seane Corn shares. “I remember walking out onto the main deck and there are massive canons attached to the boat pointing outward directly to where we would be playing and I would be teaching. The knowledge of where this boat has been, the impact it had on lives was visible to us. It was this real interesting juxtaposition between wanting to hold the space for unity, interdependence, and peace under the shadow of these weapons designed for the opposite.”

Worship Is Greater Then…

The USS North Carolina is the most decorated US Battleship of World War II. It participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and every major naval offense in the Pacific. It’s officially credited with 24 aircraft kills, the bombardment of nine Japanese strongholds, a merchantman vessel, and more. Some of its’ combat crew perished when it was struck by a torpedo. The Soulshine Tour held a sold-out yoga class with live music there. It was a first for all. As colorful yogis unrolled their mats onto the grey deck, a phrase entered Corn’s consciousness, “Worship is greater than Warship.” A mantra that powered her through the intense experience.

“It’s very easy for people to think about peace love truth and unity in the safety of their own yoga school.” Corn says. “They light the candles, they have the deities but it’s often devoid of the harsh realities of existence. So what the opportunity was that day was to hold both the shadow and light in peace there.” Between warrior poses, she asked the class, “When we say we want peace, what are willing to sacrifice?” Seane reflects, “It was complex for sure, but it was ultimately one of the most powerful yoga teaching experiences I ever had.”

Pray In Action Brett Mazurek / 3rdi

Seane pauses thoughtfully and continues, “Working with Michael, I always appreciate not just his artistry and his depth but his genuine commitment to raising awareness in a way that doesn’t alienate the myriad of beliefs that are out there. He is strong and he’s steady, he’s purposeful in his intention and masterful in capacity not just to hold space but to hold space for love. I have been blessed to bear witness to how skillfully he brings people together, in a way that is both provocative and uplifting and it’s a rare artist, I believe, who can do both and have everyone walking away feeling hopeful inspired and activated from within. And Michael is that kind of artist to me.”

Pray For Grace

“In the early 2000’s my brother was sent to Iraq as an infantryman to avoid a felony. I disagreed with that war so much.” Drew McManus, lead singer of Satsang, explains, “I absolutely loved Underground Hip Hop and message heavy punk rock, but I also exclusively played acoustic guitar. When I first heard Franti it kind of all clicked for me that I didn’t have to pick a genre.”

Drew escaped an abusive household, sold drugs to survive, and spent time in rehab. Soon after he had the opportunity to trek through Nepal where he received the message he was meant to dedicate himself to music. McManus pledged to help others who had experienced similar, but as anyone in the industry will tell you, the road to success can be a long, hard climb. Drew’s band Satsang played an open-air venue in Florida with an unusual set-up. The green rooms are on an upstairs balcony that overlook the stage.  There’s really no quiet, or privacy, but it can create some cosmic conditions.

A few months later the promoter for the venue asked if Satsang would like to open the upcoming Spearhead Show. Drew remembers, “I kinda freaked. I have been a Franti fan since about 2003. I thought, ‘We have to get to this show. Franti will watch our set and want to take us on the road.’ Drew did the math. Flights to Florida, plus gear, plus rental car would leave them $37 in profits divided by 3, but it was the chance of lifetime.

Michael did watch the Satsang set. Afterwards Drew said “If you want me to spit a verse on something I’m here for it” McManus remembers, The next day at sound check he had his engineer give me a mic. We did the collab the next 2 nights.”

Drew McManus and Michael Franti onstage c. Greyson Christian Plate

A few weeks later Drew got the call inviting Satsang to join Spearhead on the road for their summer dates. Drew reflects, “Seeing Michael’s rate of hustle, work, and output changed the way I approached my career for sure. I’m forever grateful to him for that boost and his council during that year. He continues to inspire me… the dude has been at it for decades and is still evolving as an artist and growing his audience. His stage presence and energy puts dudes half his age to shame! Him taking us on tour that year put so many eyes on us. There is absolutely no telling where we would be without his support. So grateful for Michael.”

Do It For The Love

“I first met Steve and Hope Dezember on Twitter” Michael mentions, “Hope started saying to me my husband has ALS and he’d really like to come to one of your shows as he may be dying soon.”

When Steve was first diagnosed he and Hope had only been dating for a few months. He told her, “I understand if you want to go away, but if you don’t will you marry me?” She immediately said yes. Not only did the loving couple endure, but Hope became Steve’s main caregiver.

Life Is Better with You Michael, Hope and Steve

Michael remembers, “The next day we met them and saw Steve in a wheelchair, he was almost completely paralyzed. He could barely speak in whispers but his positivity shined through so much. I invited them to watch the show from the side of the stage, and I introduced them as I was singing the song, ‘Life is better with you.’ And they both came on stage and at one point I look over and Steve whsipers to Hope, “I want to get up out of my chair.” And Hope lifted Steve up out of the chair and started to dance in front of 20,000 people and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

Hope Dezember shares, “It was such a moving moment to have Michael care about us so much, and then to have so many people receive us and care about us so much and it literally changed our lives.”

Overwhelmed by the emotional experience, Franti and his girlfriend ER nurse Sara Agah had an idea. What if they facilitated similar experience for others in need of a reprieve…? They created “Do It For The Love” a non-profit, wish-granting foundation that brings people with life threatening illnesses to have one on one experience with their favorite musical artist at a live concert. This year they are celebrating their tenth anniversary, having granted 3,5000 music-related wishes to an estimated 12,000 recipients.

And I Know One Thing, That I Love You – Michael with the Craig Family in Cape Cod

One of them was The Craig Family in Cape Cod. Mom Rebecca emotes, “My son Sawyer’s Do It For The Love wish was to meet Michael Franti. He had Sawyer sing, “Say Hey” on stage, and included our other son Jackson too. At that point Sawyer was about a year into his treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia. So many of our friends were there, who took video. It still brings me to tears every time I watch it. Michael gave me one of the best hugs I’ve ever received in my entire life. Our family believes that music heals and our evening with Michael filled us with love, hope, and positivity.”

Life Is Better With You

“You know how Michael introduces the song on stage?” Sara Agah Franti blushes, “He tells the story about how we had this amazing Valentine’s Day, on the beach, we went snorkeling at sunset, we had donuts on the boat, and it was so magical. And the next morning, we got into the biggest argument.”

The couple met at a music festival, became friends and after some years, it developed into something more. Much of their courtship was spent surrounded by the band and crew on tour buses. They took off to the other side of the world for some time alone, and Sara remembers, “We’re in Bali, and it’s supposed to be like the best day Valentine’s Day ever, and we’re sitting here processing for four hours,” She laughs, “We worked through it and he picked up his guitar and he started writing ‘Life is Better With You’, right there, it had come to him.”

Some Days Are Better Than Other Day  c. Angga Vandi

“Life is Better With You” became a commercial success. It’s in rotation on the radio, has been streamed more than 19 million times on Spotify, and was even in a Blue Cross Blue Shield commercial (internet forums abuzz asking “What is that song? I love it”). In the decade since it’s been released, hundreds have approached Michael and Sara sharing their stories, “It was our wedding song!” “He proposed to me by playing that on the guitar!” “Our family sings it in the car, even our two-year-old can sound out the words!” Sara jokes, “And this was before we were even engaged!”

Yes, Michael played it for Sara at their wedding, and the song continues to have deep meaning, not only to the couple but to the thousands who sing it as an anthem of sorts. Sara laughs, “Michael always gets this great pass, because if we have an argument on tour, then he’ll just go on stage and play the song to me and I’m like, ‘Aaaahhhh fiiiine, I forgive you’.”

Never Too Late

“The funniest thing is Taj will be playing with blocks, and he’ll start singing, Vibe check one two, one two Michael’s newest song,” Sara says.

In 2018 the Frantis added an addition to their family, Taj who is now almost five years old. Sara observes,” There was another time recently he was playing with dinosaurs and Legos and was singing “I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive.’ I’m like how do you even know the words of these songs? It’s the sweetest thing to see where his interests lie.”

Just To Say I Love You; Michael and Sara Agah Franti

Michael’s oldest son Cappy is now 36, his middle son Ade is 24. “Yesterday, I had lunch with my mom, “Michael says,” I was showing her a video of my four-year-old Taj, and he was being really rambunctious my mom was like [he imitates her shaking her head] yes, just like you.”

Michael lets that sink in, and says, “Being a dad, I guess the main thing is knowing which things are really serious and which things aren’t. What are the things that you should be very concerned about, and what are the things you need to just be more patient or flexible about. So, I feel more happy than ever today because of having that wisdom. It makes it a lot more enjoyable to be around a toddler who is as crazy as I was at that age.”

We’ve Got Room For Everybody

“People had been contacting me saying Kenny Chesney is using your song, “Say Hey (I Love You)” as the walkout song for his band on tour.” Michael remembers, “At first, I was like, “Who is Kenny Chesney?’ ”

The country music superstar Kenny Chesney is known for singing about topics like tractors, beer, and his hometown. His largely Southern and patriotic audience orients to America in a way that’s probably different than the social justice organizations in Golden Gate Park. But if you listen to Kenny’s lyrics closely, you may discover there is a message of unity just underneath. Michael explains, “I got to meet him at a festival that we both played at, and we just really hit it off. We became friends right away, and although his music is known as being in the country music genre. I consider him to be a musician of optimism, as I am.”

We All Friends Here; Michael Franti and Kenny Chesney

To me, optimism is actually one of the highest forms of courage.

Michael continues, “To me, optimism isn’t just like you wake up and go today is going to be a great day, no bad vibes and I got this. Optimism is when you can wake up and go ‘You know what, I know today is going to be challenging, and every day in fact might be. And there’s going to be things along the way that come up. And I have the wisdom, the tenacity, the love, the joy, the appreciation, the gratitude that will get me through these challenging moments’.  And to me, optimism is actually one of the highest forms of courage, and not just being naive about the world. And that’s what I love about his music.”

The two had been friends for about seven years when Michael got a call. He retells, “Kenny’s like, ‘Let’s go do this tour.’ And the first show is supposed to be at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, 90,000 tickets were sold. And then we get this call, the first 30 days of the tour are going to be postponed due to this little thing called COVID. And I remember thinking ‘A whole month, the tour is not going to happen for a whole month?’ And then three years later, here we are. So yes, so it didn’t happen, but so many other things have happened.”

The Sound Of Sunshine

“Michael is adopted. I’m a child of refugee parents, our parents had to fight and survive,” Agah Franti states. Like most everyone, the Frantis many activities halted during the pandemic. No concerts, no nonprofit wishes, no in-person public speaking, and no guests at their Soulshine Bali Eco-Resort and Retreat.

Sara remembers, “One morning, it was in August of 2020, Michael woke up and he looked at me, he’s like ‘We’re not just going to survive the pandemic, we’re going to thrive and we’re going to fight. And so we committed as a couple to build.”

Soulshine Bali c. Ary LeCir

Despite no bookings, the Frantis kept their staff on at the Soulshine Sound Retreat in Bali that they co-own. Agah Franti says, “ We just created this place where people can come and just be themselves, find the space to reconnect with themselves and  just have fun. We have an adult water slide, a jumping plank, three restaurants now, a spa. We put vinyl record players in the rooms.” The property features a walking path along the perimeter next to the river, and many native nooks for alone time. Vacationers and retreatants can enjoy cocktails and mocktails in the massive pool, practice yoga with some of their favorite teachers, and if desired, make new friends. Sara exclaims, “We love when people who don’t know each other can share experiences and make these connections.”

The Franti Family at Soulshine

Jennifer Carmel was recovering from her father’s passing, when she decided to do something different. She booked a SoulRocker Retreat lead by Gina Caputo to lift her spirits and try something new. “Soulshine is an absolutely magical spot. You can feel the energy immediately once you set foot inside the grounds” she states. The organic chef accredits the retreat with reconnecting her to her yoga practice, her breath, her body, her soul. We made friends for life on that trip.” Jenny exclaims, “We are all still connected, we have a group, and we plan trips and Michael Franti concerts together.”

Say Hey (I Love You)

“Michael Franti is one of the greatest performers on the planet!!” implores Native Wayne Jobson, lauded musicologist and DJ.  “His shows are transcendental. He is in the same league as Springsteen, Bono, Jagger, and Bob Marley. He becomes one with his audience who identify with him as a friend and brother rather than an untouchable celebrity. As a human, he is remains as humble as when I first met him 25 years ago.”

Over the last four decades Michael Franti and Spearhead have defied categorization. They have continued to evolve to meet the moment, inspiring millions of fans along the way In a film about his life Michael states, “The reason I started playing music is that I thought it could change the world…for decades I’ve traveled the world playing a mix of socially conscious, politically charged, rap, reggae and acoustic music I’ve played in night clubs and festivals and stadiums, and street corners. I’ve played for prisoners in Folsom and San Quentin, I’ve played in protests and in war zones. In 2004 I went to Iraq and played in the streets of Baghdad for US soldiers and for Iraqi civilians alike. I spent over 20 years on the road before I ever had a song in the top 20, and together with my band spearhead we’ve sold millions of records.”

Big Big Love; Spearhead Summer Tour

Michael Franti states, “The very best part of what I do is I get to meet tons of people every single day. Who are trying to survive in an incredibly challenging world. It’s hard, it’s really, really hard sometimes just to get by. And to hold onto your humanity, your dignity your pride, your heart, your soul and to feel like you have a sense of purpose in this world.”

Take Me To The Place I Need To Go

It’s a sold out show at the Hollywood Bowl, Spearhead is on stage rocking the place. A spotlight follows Michael Franti into the audience. Fans scream in excitement, snap selfies, and sing along. Two vets in the front row give him the peace sign, as a “Do It For The Love” family watches from the side of the stage.

Backstage a group of friends are gathered; music industry execs, radio DJs, TV stars, and such. In line to talk to the troubadour are bold environmentalists, publishing mavens, yoga stars, and striving musicians. There are social justice activists he has helped empower along the way. Michael walks in barefoot, guitar still strapped to his chest. He sings the acoustic, acapella version. ““My Lord, My Lord, My Lord, show me all the things I need to know” the group sings back in repsonse, “My Lord, My Lord, My Lord, take me to the place I need go….”

Michael keeps singing,

“We all get the time we’re given
Mine ain’t over so I’ll keep on livin’
We all get the life we’re livin’
Mine ain’t over so I’ll keep on givin’
‘Til the day I die,
My Lord, My Lord, My Lord,
Take me to the place I need to go…”

See Michael Franti at Bhakti Fest This Weekend

Joshua Tree Lake & Campground
Sept. 15-17, 2023
2780 Sunfair Road, Joshua Tree, CA 92252
More info here.

Join Bhakti Fest Presents Krishna Das, Nina Rao and friends for “Bhakti in Bali” at Soulshine

November 11-18, 2023.
More info here 

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Michael Franti; Take Me To The Place I Need To Go appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Venerable Thubten Chodron is a pioneering American Buddhist nun, and founder of Sravasti Abbey. She has been working on The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet now available through Wisdom Publications.

LA YOGA was lucky to get an early look at this extraordinary undertaking, and an audience with the beloved Bodhisattva behind it.

Each Heart

Cheryl Greene grew up outside of Los Angeles, during the Vietnam War. Like many confronted with the mortality of youth, she questioned the purpose of life (and death). “I couldn’t find any answers really in any of the theistic religions, and so, I figured it must have something to do with helping people,” she explains. The seeker became a teacher and got married. The couple returned their weddings gifts to travel through Europe, North Africa and Asia.

Back at home, the newlywed saw a flyer for a Buddhist course. The Tibetan lamas advised students, “You don’t have to believe anything we say. Think about it, if it makes sense to you, accept it. If it doesn’t, leave it aside.” The revered scholar reflects, “What they said really touched my heart.” She started meditating, became Buddhist and realized,  “I wanted to become a nun…I thought oh, I really want to devote my life to this.”

The aspirant studied in Nepal, and India, landing in Dharmsala. In 1977, she was given permission to be ordained, and took the novice precepts. In the years since she has studied, taught and started dharma centers in Italy, Singapore, France and the US. She has become known to many as Venerable Thubten Chodron, respectfully referred to in the familiar as “Venerable.”

But First

In 1979, Thubten started attending talks by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet. She would have appointments to ask him dharma questions, “So that kind of established a personal relationship,“ she says. In the early 90s, there was a conference of Western Buddhist teachers. Chodron recalls, “I had the idea that because we’ve been receiving teachings from Tibetan lamas who didn’t know about Western culture, and yet his Holiness did. And so I thought ‘Gee, it would be really nice if his Holiness wrote a very short text that the Tibetan lamas could use as a root text to teach the Dharma.’ Because Westerners, there’s a lot of Buddhist ideas that we need to become acquainted with.”

Venerable Thubten Chodron and His Holiness The XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet

Chodron continues, “So I went to his Holiness and requested that he write that, and he said ‘Oh, very good, but first, we have to write the long version’. And so, he sent me away with a transcript of a teaching he had given, I edited it, that was the start of the book.”

Venerable would collect questions from Westerners, transcribe talks, and be sent off to monasteries and libraries, for years at a time. “So the manuscript kept getting bigger and bigger” she laughs, “by this time it was 2,000 pages.”

The original idea of a “small book” has sprawled into ten large ones now known as The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series. It’s a compendium of Buddhist teachings, the ninth volume entitled Appearing and Empty  released this week.

Known for her depth, quick wit, and wide smile, Ven summarized each of the books for us.

1. Approaching The Buddhist Path

“When his Holiness starts teaching in the West, he goes on two planes. One plane is compassion and teaching everybody about the kind heart. The other plane that he gives to people in the West, because he says these are educated, intelligent people– is he starts talking about a cause and effect, and what we call the two truths; the conventional truth, the ultimate truth.

So in this first volume, we have a combination of talking about compassion, and service to society, how to help people here and now. So that’s volume one.”

2. The Foundation Of Buddhist Practice

“The Foundation Of Buddhist Practice talks more about rebirth, what is mind, the continuity of mind. It has a nice section about how to select spiritual teachers, the qualities to look for, and how to relate to spiritual teachers, because there’s been a lot of scandals. Here’s where His Holiness’s mind is so practical about; you have to check out people, you’re the one who determines if somebody’s one of your teachers or not. You have to look; do they have good ethical conduct? Do they have meditation experience? Do they teach the regular Buddhist path? Or are they making something up? How are they with their teachers? With their students?
Do they ask for a lot of donations? Or are they sincerely interested in their student’s path and helping them to attain awakening?

Then there’s a whole section also about karma, because Westerners are very interested, what is karma? How does it operate? And this whole thing about the idea of God who creates the world, and then either rewards them or punishes sentient beings, and how Buddhism is very different from that. So that’s the second volume.”

3. Samsara, Nirvana And Buddha Nature

“The third is Samsara, Nirvana and Buddha Nature. So there we go into more depth about what is our present situation as beings who are afflicted by distorted concepts, and by unrealistic and disturbing emotions, and how does that create rebirth. Is taking one rebirth after the other really a happy occasion or not?

So here are the four truths; our present situation, what causes it, and then, the path, and what the result is the true cessation. It talks about Buddha nature because we all have the potential, we have incredible potential to really practice and get out of samsara. So that’s volume three.”

4. Following In The Buddha’s Footsteps

“Volume four is Following In The Buddha’s Footsteps. The first part is talking about refuge in the Buddha, dharma and sangha. What is the Buddha? Are there many Buddhas? What is the dharma? What are the sangha?

Second part of the book is going into the three higher trainings. So ethical conduct, how to develop concentration, and then wisdom. Okay, so that’s volume four.”

5. In Praise Of Great Compassion

“Volume five is one of my favorite volumes. I mean, the whole thing I love all the topics, but this one especially, it’s called In Praise of Great Compassion talks about what is compassion from a Buddhist perspective. So again, this is very different than secular compassion. Secular compassion, you feel sorry for somebody. Buddhist compassion, you don’t feel sorry for them. You want to help them alleviate their pain and their misery, but it isn’t oh, you poor little baby, let me save you, okay? Because in Buddhism, you can’t save anybody people have to practice and create the causes themselves.

Then it talks about how compassion is spoken of different traditions, it talks about how to develop compassion and so on, and it’s a beautiful book.”

6. Courageous Compassion

“Volume six is called Courageous Compassion. This is talking about once you’ve generated compassion, once you’ve generated Bodhicitta, the aspiration to become a Buddha in order to benefit other living beings, then what do you practice? So here it explains generosity, ethical conduct, a fortitude, as many people call that patience, I call it fortitude, because it means you have to have inner strength, yea..? Then joyous effort. So to have effort, you need to have joy. Then meditative stability, so your meditation practice and then wisdom.

The second part of the book talks about the paths and stages that bodhisattva’s practice. Bodhisattvas are those who are aspiring to become Buddhists for the benefit of all beings and have a certain level of realization of compassion and Bodhicitta. And how the path is for them, what kind of realizations they get at different levels of the path.

And it can be really inspiring if you have a sense of your Buddha nature and you think oh, if I keep practicing, not expecting to be Buddha by next Tuesday, or even 10 years from Tuesday. But if I have a long view and it’s going to take many lifetimes, I can actually attain these amazing states where I can, I have the compassion, the wisdom, the skillful means, the power to benefit others as much as I am capable of. So it talks about those stages of development.

So that’s volume six.”

7. Searching For The Self

“Volume seven is called Searching For The Self, and volume seven, eight and nine are all about the nature of reality, emptiness, the lack of inherent existence. And how the ultimate nature and the conventional nature both exist. And you need to be able to posit both.

So Searching For The Self is a kind of like an introduction to emptiness. It talks about some of the different philosophical views of what selflessness or no self means, what emptiness means. Because there’s different views, Buddha taught different things to different people because it was his way of being skillful and teaching people according to their own level. It talks about that, and it talks about yes, just the realizations that they gain along the path.

So volume seven gives a lot of that introductory material. What is emptiness? What are the different philosophical views? Why do we study different views? How do they help us really realize the point of it? And how it doesn’t mean that nothing exists, and still exists.”

8. Realizing The Profound View

“Volume eight carries on from that, and it goes into a lot of the, what goes into the prominent arguments that are used to refute inherent existence. Because emptiness isn’t just close your eyes and empty your mind. If it would just get rid of all thoughts and empty your mind, then a cow would be enlightened. Because it doesn’t have a lot of conceptual thought. Maybe that’s why they say holy cow, I don’t know.

Realizing the nature of reality isn’t just blank-minded meditation, it’s not stopping our thoughts. It’s generating a very astute focused mind, that can really say here’s how I think things exist, can they actually exist in the way that I think they do?

So volume eight really gets into that, and really makes you look at well, how do I think things exist? And then, it also talks a lot about dependent arising, because we say on the ultimate level, which is analyzing how things exist, they lack any inherent nature. They are empty of inherent existence.

The more you understand emptiness and selflessness, the more you understand dependent nature. And this is like super profound. So that’s volume eight, and that’s the second of my favorite, most fun.“

9. Appearing And Empty

“Then volume nine, it continues on about emptiness. But here, we’re talking about what’s called the two truths. Okay, so the ultimate truth that things are empty of inherent existence, and the conventional truth or another way of saying it the veiled truth. Truth for somebody whose mind is ignorant, in other words, our minds. It doesn’t mean people who vote for the opposite.

All of our minds, even on the conventional level, we don’t perceive things accurately. We perceive them with the degree of accurateness and the sense that we can tell a car from a table, and we know if you plant carrot seeds, you get carrots.

So we can identify the things in our environment, we can work on a conventional level and have court cases, and all this kind of thing, but we don’t really, so that’s on the level of appearances. So that’s the first part of the title, appearing. But all these appearances that appear to exist out there from their own side, actually, are empty even here in existence.

In other word, they exist in relationship to our mind. They don’t have their own nature that makes them what they are. They depend on how we cognize them, and how we designate them. So that’s volume nine.”

The tenth and final volume will likely release next year.

Dharma In Action

When asked the benefits of this series for lay people, spiritual seekers and practiced Buddhists alike, Venerable responded, “What all this does is it softens our mind up, and it opens our mind up. So instead of wanting to put everything in a category, give it a label and then think we know everything about it. It’s calling us to be much more flexible, much more open-minded, much more realizing that every single person is a combination of well, every single organism I should say, is a combination of contradictory thoughts and contradictory emotions. So they’re all basically alike. So who’s the enemy? And who’s the friend?” A topic she regards as timely, as our country once again contends with the division and upheavel of her youth.

Venerable teaches at a Buddhist Center

Convictional Faith

These days, Venerable and her community are celebrating 20 years of Sravasti Abbey an American Buddhist monastic community on a 300-acre property in Washington State. Founded by Venerable (and her two cats) in 2003, Sravasti Abbey is now home to twenty-eight monastics who engage in dharma, community and service daily.

During a recent Q+A there someone asked about the concept of “faith,” Venerable responded; “In the West, when we use the word ‘faith’, we usually think ‘blind faith’. In Buddhism, faith means trust, confidence. And this convictional faith is really important because it’s through thinking about things, and coming to your own conclusion that then you say, ‘Oh, that makes sense, that’s how I’m going to act.”

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion

Appearing and Empty was released this week, and is now available through Wisdom Publications here.

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series is available through Wisdom Publications here.

To learn more about Venerable Thubten Chodron click here.

To learn more about Sravasti Abbey click here.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet and Venerable Thubten Chodron; Two Truths appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Today Rick Rubin’s Book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being releases through Penguin Random House.

The exquisite 432 page hardbound may finally answer some of the questions hungry musicians, aspiring record execs, and spiritual seekers have been asking the enigma for years. Questions like, “How can I make it in the industry…?” “What exactly do you do…?” And most recently, “How do you listen to a feeling…?”

And then again, it may not.

The Daoist presenting prose ensures readers that the answers are both inside of them, and from the cosmos…and that it’s possible to create the causes and conditions for the two to meet. It is an infinitely wide view refined over 40 years of mythologized creative and commercial success.

Gotta Serve Somebody; Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Recording Studio, Malibu. Courtesy of Showtime

A Way of Being

Rick Rubin famously launched Def Jam recordings from his Weinstein Hall dorm room at NYU. He learned messaging from wrestling villains like the Four Horsemen and used the technique to design The Beastie Boys’ epic explosion onto MTV.

In the decades since then, the legendary producer has become known for creating a sacred space, connecting to the collective unconscious, and inspiring an artists’ most distilled work. Lucky Angelenos have reported receiving pith instructions from the American Recordings founder while milling around the local farmers market, standing in line for a smoothie at SunLife Organics, and by posting up in the old Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose.

Of course, for yogis Rick provided a portal into another world by producing the Krishna Das classic, Door of Faith.

In The Creative Act, Rick Rubin invites the artistic adventurer on a journey within.

From The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin;

On Receptivity-

 “Creativity is not a rare ability. It not difficult to access.
Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human.
It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.”
-Rick Rubin

On Accepting The Assignment

I Need A Beat; Rick Rubin at the Def Jam Office (1133 Broadway, NYC) – Dharma Mittra’s 908 Yoga Posture poster behind 1986 c. Rick McGinnis

“If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life,
it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker.
This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea,
but because the idea’s time has come.”
-Rick Rubin

On Gestation 

It’s The New Style; The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Slayer +  Rick Rubin 80s. Source; Unknown

“At this point in time, it’s helpful to think of the work as bigger than us.
To cultivate a sense of awe and wonder at what’s possible,
and recognize that this productivity is not generated by our hand alone. “
-Rick Rubin

On Manifestation

It’s Yours;  Rick Meditative. Courtesy of Showtime

“Talent is the ability to let ideas
manifest themselves through you.”
-Rick Rubin

On Timing

The Great Surrender; Public Enemy signs with Rick + Def Jam Records 80s. Source; unknown

“Patience is required for crafting a work that
resonates and contains all that we have to offer.”
-Rick Rubin

On Doing

Whoooo’s Hoooouuussseee….?; Rick as himself in the feature film  Krush Groove 1985. Courtesy of Warner Brothers

“Do what you can with what you have. Nothing more is needed.”
-Rick Rubin

On Synchronicity

Legend Has It; Rick + Run The Jewels source; Broken Record Podcast

“When you’re working on a project, you may notice apparent
coincidences appearing more often than randomness allows—
almost as if there is another hand guiding yours in a certain directions.
As if there is an inner knowing gently informing your movements.
Faith allows you to trust the direction without needing to understand it.”
-Rick Rubin

On Support

Walk This Way; Rick Rubin and his partner Mourielle Herrera arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party c. Getty

“When the clues present themselves,
it can sometimes feel like the delicate mechanism of a clock at work.
As if the universe is nudging you with little reminders that its’
on your side and wants to provide everything you need to complete your mission.”
-Rick Rubin

On Habits 

By The Way;  Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers + Rick talk of their 30+ year friendship in the Showtime Series Shangri-La.  Courtesy of Showtime

“If you make the choice of reading classic literature
everyday for a year,
rather than reading the news,
by the end of that time period
you’ll have more honed sensitivity
for recognizing greatness from books than from the media.

This applies to every choice we make.
Not just with art, but with the friends we chose,
the conversations we have, even the thoughts we reflect on.
All of these aspects affect our ability
to distinguish good from very good, very good from great.
They help us determine what’s worthy of our time and attention.”
-Rick Rubin

On Intuition

Takin’ The Long Way Around;  The Dixie Chicks, David Lynch + Rick  c. Getty

“It’s not always easy to follow
the subtle energetic information the universe broadcasts,
especially when your friends, family, coworkers,
or those with a business interest
in your creativity are offering seemingly
rational advice that challenges your intuitive knowing.
To the best of my ability,
I’ve followed my intuition to make career turns,
and been recommended against doing so every time.
It helps to realize that it’s better to
follow the universe than those around you.”
-Rick Rubin

On Deep Listening

Everyone I Know Goes Away In The End; Rick with Johnny Cash c. Getty

“Our work embodies a higher purpose.
Whether we know it or not, we’re a conduit for the universe.
Material is allowed through us.
If we are a clear channel,
our intention reflects the intention in the cosmos.

Most creators think of themselves as the conductor of the orchestra.
If we zoom out of our small view of reality,
we function more as an instrumentalist
in a much larger symphony the universe is orchestrating.”
-Rick Rubin

On Intention

The Last Waltz; Rick reflects             courtesy Showtime

“With the objective of simply doing great work,
a ripple effect occurs. A bar is set for everything you do,
which may not only lift your work to new heights,
but raise the vibrations of your entire life.
It may even inspire others to do their best work.
Greatness begets greatness. It’s infectious.”
-Rick Rubin

On Trust

Rolling In the Deep; Adele wins 7 Grammys for her “21” album produced By Rick at Shangri-La c. Getty

“In an abundant world,
we have a greater capacity to complete
and release our work. When there are so many ideas
available and so much great art to make,
we are compelled to engage, let go, and move forward.”
-Rick Rubin

On Eternity

It’s Time To Move On; Tom Petty + Rick in the studio on “Wildflowers” c. Robert Sebree

“As human beings, we come and go quickly,
and we get to make works that stand
as monuments to our time here.”
-Rick Rubin

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Rick Rubin; Sacred Spacekeeper appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

“People wait for the big moment, the great event, and forget that happiness comes from building steadily on the small daily things of life.
People wait for that special moment to express love and forget that love springs from thoughtfulness practiced every day.
People wait, but waiting is future and NOW is always the time.”

-Meher Baba

Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

“Recognize that you have the courage within you to fulfill the purpose of your birth.
Summon forth the power of your inner courage and live the life of your dreams.”

-Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

Swami Satchidananda

“The light is within.
It is already there.
Take your time to see it.”

-Swami Satchidananda

Paramanhansa Yogananda

“You must not let your life run in the ordinary way;
do something that nobody else has done,
something that will dazzle the world.
Show that God’s creative principle works in you.”

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Yogi Bhajan

“When you understand who and what you are,
your radiance and everything around you
becomes creative and full of opportunity.”

– Yogi Bhajan

Mahatma Gandhi

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thought become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything.
What we think, we become.”

-Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Swami Sivananda

“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts.
This is the secret of success.”

-Swami Sivananda

Swami Vivekananda

“Never say no, never say, ‘I cannot’, for you are infinite.
All the power is within you.
You can do anything.”

-Swami Vivekananda

Sri Ramakrishna

“The winds of grace are always blowing,
but you have to raise the sail.”

-Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Sarada Devi

“Even the impossible becomes possible through devotion.”

-Sri Sarada Devi

Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi

“Don’t give up! Your miracle is on the way!”

– Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

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Anandamayi Ma

“Having been born as human beings, we must not waste this opportunity.
At least for a few seconds every day, we must enquire as to who we are.
It is no use taking a return ticket over and over again.
From birth to death, and death to birth is samsara.
But really we have no birth and death.
We must realize that.”

-Anandamayi Ma

Swami Muktananda

“We exist in Consciousness, and we merge back into it.
We are that consciousness.
This is called sadhana.”

– Swami Muktananda

Amma

“Death is not complete annihilation.
It is a pause.
It is like pressing the pause button on a tape recorder.”

-Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma)

Ramana Maharishi

“The body dies, but the spirit transcends
it cannot be touched by death.”

-Ramana Maharishi

Meher Baba

“Neither seek death nor fear it,
and when death comes to you it is converted
into a stepping stone to the higher life.”

-Meher Baba

Sri Aurobindo

“Death is but changing of our robes
to wait in wedding garments
at the Eternal’s gate.”

— Sri Aurobindo

Guru Nanak

“Death would not be called bad,
O people, if one knew how to truly die.”

-Guru Nanak

Thich Nhat Hanh

“Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing.
Many of us believe that our entire existence is only a life span beginning the moment we are born or conceived and ending the moment we die.
We believe that we are born from nothing and when we die we become nothing.
And so we are filled with fear of annihilation….

“The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions.
They are not real. The fact that we think they are true makes a powerful illusion that causes our suffering.
The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation.
We only think there is. When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief.
We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

“When death finally comes you will welcome it like an old friend,
being aware of how dreamlike and impermanent
the phenomenal world really is.”

– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Tell your friend that in his death,
a part of you dies and goes with him.
Wherever he goes,
you also go.
He will not be alone.”

– Jiddu Krishnamurti

Jalal al-Din Rumi

“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes.
Because for those who love with heart and soul
there is no such thing as separation.”

– Jalal al-Din Rumi 

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Ascending Into The Light; Words Of Wisdom On Death, Transition + New Life appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

John Densmore stands at the edge of the ocean. As the sky changes color, blue to yellow to crimson gold, he rhythmically taps a hand drum, and recites his own spoken word poetry, “And the Sun God Ra….!”

The cold waves rage closer towards his feet until he’s finally forced to move. He keeps the beat, as he treads backwards, casually mentioning, “Ya know this is where we wrote Moonlight Drive” He half-hums, half-sings the tune, “Let’s swim to the moon, let’s climb thru the tide…” The seagulls interpret this as a cue to take flight. A single feather floats down past his face. He lifts one eyebrow, giving a  “Hm…what do you think that means?” look.

In the weeks prior Densmore inducted friends, The Jefferson Airplane, into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and played with Ringo Starr at Olivia Harrison’s LA book launch. But you wouldn’t hear it from him. No, he’s effortlessly weaving in and out of Harry Belafonte lyrics, political theory, environmental ethics, indigenous prayers and polite conversation, beating his drum all the while.

I ask if it’s true his childhood home was paved over to build part of the 405 highway. He laughs, “Yea, that’s good Amy, and I think [The Beach Boys’] Brian Wilson’s did too. Now wait a minute, let’s get metaphoric. My roots are a freeway on-ramp. That’s very LA, wouldn’t you say?” I nod in agreement.

God This Is The Stuff

In the Los Angeles suburb of Westwood, there’s a sign that says “San Diego Freeway North,” where the Densmore home once stood. A few blocks away is a still thriving Catholic parish. John’s mother would drag him and his sister to St. Timothy’s Church every Sunday morning. The septuagenarian recalls, “I went up to the balcony because I didn’t like the smell of frankincense. The mass was in Latin, so it was like, ‘What is this mumbling?’ and the drunken Irish organ player is just slamming away on the thing. I’m sitting alone up there, 10 benches, nobody but me, but the bench is rattling, it’s vibrating, it’s so loud. And for an eight-year-old, that was like acid. It was like heaven. It was like, ‘Wow, vibration!’ and it’s shaking my psyche and it plants music in my head. I’m like, ‘God, this is the stuff.’ So, all my young life, I was completely in love with music.”

Cool In Training  Source; John Densmore

At around eight-and-a-half John’s parents rented him an upright piano. His pet parakeet Bill would practice with him, sitting or strutting on the keys, sometimes even singing along. Mrs. Densmore made sure John worked on what was assigned, and not just he and Bill’s arpeggio interpretations. He reflects “Even as a kid I knew that what made the difference between a great musician and an ok one was what was between the notes. Ya know, the feeling you give the silences and the sounds.”

The Densmores’ orthodontist advised against the clarinet, so the junior high band director suggested drums. Learning the nine rudiments on a rubber pad was borderline torture, but John loved the powerful feeling of sitting behind a kit. In the high school marching band the teen made his way through the bass, the cymbal and finally the snare. “It was so far back that being in a band wasn’t cool yet” he grimaces, “Being a jock was cool.”

Chasin’ The Trane

The marching band drummer gigged at local Catholic school dances, but bars and frat parties paid more. To appear of age, Densmore and his friend scored fake IDs in Tijuana. They used them to sneak into jazz clubs like the Lighthouse and Shelley’s Manne Hole. Densmore states proudly, “Kerouac and Cassidy saw Charlie Parker. We saw John Coltrane.”

Jazz Machine Elvin Jones Source Getty Jones

The iconic jazz saxophonist John Coltrane was known for bringing listeners on a journey, transcending planes of consciousness, and seemingly changing the atomic structure of the air. John and Grant sat transfixed during a 30 minute rendition of “Chasin’ the Trane” in which Coltrane, and his drummer Elvin Jones were in telepathic conversation, making musical alchemy.

After one such set the underagers slinked backstage. John smirks, “We heard Coltrane say ‘Hotel’ to Elvin, and for the next few days all we could say to each other was ‘Hotel, hotel.”

Waiting For The Sun

The jazz freak attended Santa Monica City College and Cal State Northridge (then San Fernando Valley State College). “I loved music but never thought I could make a living at it.” He remarks, “I was a music major, got A’s, but then I changed to business because I wanted to make money. But I got D’s in business. That was trying to tell me something there.”

To keep up with the cats they jammed with, John and Grant tried LSD. Grant got caught in a Charles Mingus album cover while Densmore watched an Acacia Tree breathe. “Yea and acid was legal then,” he remarks, “Before I smoked any pot, I took acid. I had terror for the first five minutes. I was in the void or whatever, and then I saw God in every leaf for eight hours straight. Afterward nothing had changed and yet everything had.”

A few weeks later the duo reconnected with a buddy from high school days. Robby Krieger had been kicked out of private school and was living up in the Pacific Palisades at his parents’ place. He was a guitar player influenced by Robert [Crossroads] Johnson, and Jimmy Reed. Krieger turned them on to Dylan. They turned him on to LSD. Soon they all formed a band called “The Psychedelic Rangers” who dosed far more than they gigged.

Let My Love Open The Door

“The acid was shattering to the nervous system,” John recalls, “The silent guru, the one Peter Townsend likes, Meher Baba once wrote on his chalkboard ‘If drugs open the door, and leads disciples to me, that’s fine. They should close it after that.’ The meditation, the chanting, it’s a lower-slung longer journey, but it’s a sustainable one.”

Robby had heard of a Transcendental Meditation class being taught at the old Masonic Temple, off Santa Monica Boulevard in West LA. The group received their preliminary instruction from a TM teacher before being initiated by its founder the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John recalls, “This is a year or so before The Beatles discovered him. So we go to this little room, 40 people, and, oh my God, the love vibe is palpable. There’s this little guy in white with the beard and robes, and it was the antithesis of the vibe I got from a priest at Catholic school, with black outfits and the tight collar, and [he wags his finger] ‘You’re a sinner’ and oh, it just blew my mind. So, we started meditating.”

Maharishi Was Our Booking Agent

One day a self-assured UCLA grad student named Ray Manzarek and his girlfriend Dorothy attended the program. John retells, “And Ray kept saying, ‘No bliss, no bliss,’ because he was comparing it to acid, which is like, bam. And meditation, like chanting, it’s a long discipline. Ray comes up to me, “I hear you’re a drummer, you want to come down to my parents’ garage and jam?”

John was already in a few other bands but made his way to the Manzarek’s Manhattan Beach pad. He retells, “And Jim’s there and he’s so shy, it’s ridiculous. I think to myself, ‘This is not the next Mick Jagger,’ but then I get these words handed to me on a piece of paper, ‘Day destroys the night, night divides the day.’ Whoa, break on through to the other side, it was like hearing drum beats when I read them. And so that was the beginning.”

Ray’s brothers quit the band, and John brought Robby to a rehearsal. The two made a pact to let go of all their other projects and commit to this one. Densmore jokes, “I don’t think Maharishi knew it, but he was our booking agent. He put the band together.”

Stoned Immaculate

Jim Morrison was a UCLA film student, living on a Venice Beach rooftop, taking LSD and writing lyrics for a rock concert he saw in his head. Morrison wasn’t a musician. He was an introverted artist finding his voice literally and figuratively. The only band of the era to opt out of a bass player created a safe space for the singer to explore his sound. John remembers, “He would bring in these crumpled pieces of papers, coffee-stained napkins, and notebooks with incredible lyrics. He was talking about a connection to the void, the words were trying to tell us that there is something else.”

A couple miles East in the Densmore house, John placed a picture of the Hindu God Krishna, a candle, and a copy of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi on his bedside table.  His new friends came over for a spaghetti dinner. To John’s relief, they were on their best behavior when Mr. Densmore asked if the boys had a name for their band.

The Doors From Venice (L to R Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger) c. Henry Diltz

Ray, John and Jim cruised South on the 405. Morrison shoeless in the passenger seat lit a joint and asked, “What do you think of the name ‘The Doors’?” Ray explained that Jim had gotten it from the Aldous Huxley book The Doors of Perception and Jim explained that Huxley got it from a William Blake poem that read, “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” Mr. Densmore responded, “The Doors’ is the worst name I ever heard for a band,” John boasted, “I told him that his reaction meant we were on the right track!” Soon after a marquee on the sunset strip changed its letters to read, ‘The Doors – The Band From Venice.”

I Guess I Like It Fine, So Far…

The Doors played the London Fog Club five hours a night, four nights a week. With about 30 songs developing including drafts and covers they had to find a way to fill the time. John thought to the unhurried improvisations of Coltrane and Jones. Ray thought to a Ravi Shankar album, of which his friend had designed the cover. Densmore exclaims, “Oh my God, it’s just so mystical long ragas. Which gave us the idea to break the three-minute [radio play] barrier, to do “Light My Fire” for seven minutes, “The End” for 10 minutes, and “When The Music’s Over” 11 minutes. So that came from ragas.” Years later John and Robby attended the Kinnara School of Music where they learned from the maestro, “Ravi was telling us, not literally, ‘You guys in America want to orgasm too quick. Take a long foreplay and you’ll have a bigger payoff.”

Best Seat In The Chateau Marmot Source; Unknown

The payoff came just hours before The Doors got fired from The Fog, when booker Ronnie Haran saw their set. She convinced her boss to make The Doors the house band at The Whiskey-A-Go-Go where they opened for popular acts including The Animals, The Rascals, The Turtles, Buffalo Springfield, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and even the Van Morrison fronted, Them.

Elektra offered The Doors a deal. Company president Jac Holzman bought a billboard on the Sunset Strip to announce their first album’s release, and by July of 1967 The Doors’ “Light My Fire” was #1 in the nation. John Densmore reflects, “Yea, I hoped to pay the rent for a decade. And as you can see, my hair is white and I’m still talking about it 50 years later. It was some kind of blessing. Something came through bigger than the four of us, and we needed this sort of, stable mattress of me and Ray and Robby to be the foundation for Jim to be on top of psychically and sonically.”

We Got The Numbers

Between 1966 and 1971, The Doors played more than 350 shows in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe. This included iconic venues such as Ondine’s Discoteque, The Fillmore East and West, The Avalon and Winterland Ballrooms, The Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, and the Isle Wight Festival in East Afton Farm, England. Six Consecutive albums; The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun, The Soft Parade, and Morrison Hotel went certified platinum (and sometimes multi-platinum) in the United States and platinum, gold and silver internationally.

The Doors’ massive popularity was likened to a Dionysian Feast. The once-cautious lead-singer’s anti-authoritarian, freedom-at-all-costs ethos were fully expressed when he didn’t change lyrics for a network television censor, and when he became the first rock performer to be arrested on stage. Charges required multiple venues to cancel already scheduled shows. Frenzied fans protested.  The band braced for impact. The self-proclaimed “Lizard King” questioned the honor of the American judicial system and the sanctity of the first amendment.

Riders On The Storm In Europe Source; Unknown

John admits, “So yeah. It was hard. Jim was not easy, let me tell you. I lobbied for a year to stop playing live, because it was so great, and then it got not great due to his self-destruction. We knew there was a big elephant in the room, we didn’t know he had a disease, alcoholism.”

Everything Would Appear To Man As It Is, Infinite

As a birthday gift a friend bought Morrison  time at the Village Recorder. A studio built in the old Masonic Temple off Santa Monica Boulevard, where John and Robby first met Ray at the TM training. Jim recorded his spoken-word poems, from An American Prayer. He reads, “We live, we die and death not ends it…”

Eight months later a report came in from Paris that Morrison had slipped off into the infinite. Forever 27.

John reflects, “So yeah, I was on a rocket ship. It was exciting. I’m proud of it, but I’m glad that meditation and yoga, Robert Bly men’s work and whatever other stuff helped the rocket ship landing not be so bumpy. Because at the downside of that peak, some folks died. Well, many.”

The Other Side

On the Santa Monica sands, the winter winds whip. The 78-year-old continues to tap his hand drum while he extolls, “Carl Jung said that the first half of your life you’re out there doing a lot of stuff and the second half of your life you’re analyzing what the hell did it all that mean?”

I ask if he’s talking about the Jung quote, “The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it.” He grins, still drumming and says, “Yea, that’s the one.”

Bloody Red Sun Of Fantastic LA  c. Amy V. Dewhurst

John’s ability to translate deep teachings and dark meanings is in-part what has always made his artistic expressions so captivating. His first post-Doors memoir Riders on the Storm was a New York Times Bestseller and source material for the Oliver Stone cult-classic film, The Doors. His second work The Doors Unhinged has become required reading for music business majors in universities across the country.

The Seekers

John Densmore’s latest offering, The Seekers, is a special kind of book. A trojan horse of spirituality in which he layers ancient wisdom, lessons learned and thought-provoking prose inside entertaining rockstar stories. Inspired by Gurdjieff’s 1927 classic Meetings with Remarkable Men and insisted upon by friends and family, the easy-read is nothing short of magnificent.

Within it John thanks teachers like Robert Bly, Peggy Feury, Fred Katz and even his junior high band leader, Mr. Armour. He pays homage to great instrumentalists like Ravi Shankar and Emil Richards. He tells legendary Laurel Canyon tales like Van Morrison working out the words to his seminal album, Astral Weeks. He talks about the time he got kicked out of a Jamaican recording studio by a then-unknown Jimmy Cliff and weeping when he read Laurie Anderson’s good-bye letter to her husband Lou Reed. Densmore somehow segues from jazz drummer Elvin Jones to beloved Pushti Marg scholar Shyamdas in the same sentence. And oh yeah, there was that time he smoked a joint with Willie Nelson. Naturally.

‘Til The Stars Fall From The Sky… c. Amy V. Dewhurst

Fan favorite passages include musician Tom Petty’s reflection on Jim Morrison’s well-lived life; “Tom said, ‘Some artists, the very very great ones, come along with the flame turned all the way up. And the flame is all the way up and you use a lot of fuel fast. And you’ve just got to get the heat that comes off of it.”.

John’s appreciation for the godmother of punk, Patti Smith giving it all up to raise her family, “[Patti] became a mother and a housewife. What? The woman who wrote ‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine,’ had settled down in the Midwest?! At first it seemed unthinkable, but it was a heroic move.”

And the last moments with his mother on the Earth plane, “They had obviously told her I was on my way because she was lying in her bed, all decked out with turquoise earring, a turquoise necklace, and slightly smeared lipstick. A ninety-four-year-old woman still wanting to look good for her son is an image that will stay with me forever.”

Amongst the Hafiz quotes, Gita passages, Ram Dass moments, and Neil De Grassi Tyson data Densmore assures the reader,“I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with some extraordinary people. To be a member of The Doors and have the unusual access I have been afforded is one of the greatest blessings of my life. But what I’ve learned is that anyone can access magical moments these gifted artists live in.”

Back on the beach in Santa Monica he shares, “I play hand drums and read poetry at small events, and some nights it’s so powerful because the audience and I are so connected. It’s as exciting as Madison Square Garden.”

What You Seek Is Seeking You

The sun takes its time syncing into the Pacific.

John Densmore pauses for a moment, breathes in the crisp cool air. He rat-a-tat-tats out a few final beats, turns to me and says, “Ya know Joseph Campbell said, ‘The goal in life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe.’”

I think to myself, “Seems like you have that one figured out…”

As though he heard the thought he shrugs.
I smile.

At the same time we both start humming “Let’s swim to the moon, let’s climb thru the tide…”

Heartbeat of the Universe,  John Densmore  c. Amy V. Dewhurst

Join John Densmore at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena

The Seekers Book Reading  + Signing
Friday December 16, 2022
7pm
For tickets click here

The Seekers is now available where all books are sold

Click here to purchase.
Click here to learn more at Hachette Books.

To keep up with John Densmore

Check out his website, JohnDensmore.Com
Follow John on Social; Facebook , Instagram.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post The Doors’ John Densmore; The Other Side appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

The elevator doors open to someone sitting behind a drum set getting a lesson from E-Street Band member Max Weinberg by interactive video. Max’s drum kit from the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express Tour is affixed to the other side of the partition.

“The Mighty Mighty” Max Weinberg – Tunnel of Love Express Tour © AVD

Roy Bitan’s keyboard synthesizer has marker-written notes on it with songs that many millions of people now know by heart, “Atlantic City”, “Dancin’ in the Dark,” and “I’m on Fire,” among them.

“Professor” Roy Bittan’s Synthesizer, hand-written notes © AVD

Born To Run

From a pair of headphones you can listen to Bruce’s longtime manager Jon Landau recall how they met back when he was a rock critic in Boston. Landau’s review in the May ‘74 edition of Real Paper helped propel the songwriter’s career. It stated, “On a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time…. I saw rock ‘n’ roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen.”

Jon Landau (l) and Bruce Springsteen (r) 1974  UMass Collection © Jeff Albertson

Sounds of Bruce and his electric guitar wailing in unison come out of the Clive Davis Theater. Inside is unseen footage from the ‘78 tour. With the raw potential of determined youth the singer asserts, “I’ll be on that hill with everything I got, Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost, I’ll be there on time and I’ll pay the cost, For wanting things that can only be found, In the Darkness on the Edge of Town…”

Within a display case there is a hand-written letter from Bruce to his landlord explaining why he can’t pay his rent. There’s a typed one from business manager Michael Tannen to Bruce’s parents. It reads, “Enclosed are some recent clippings on Bruce’s tour which I thought you would like to see…we are all terribly proud of him, as we know you are too.” I smirk recalling the now infamous show here at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood in the late 70s. Bruce’s mom and dad were in attendance, and between verses of “Growin’ Up” he implores, “And so you guys, one of you guys wanted a lawyer, and the other one wanted an author. Well, tonight, youse are both just gonna have to settle for Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

When They Said Sit Down, I Stood Up

Eileen Chapman, director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University and co-curator of the exhibit gets hurried across the space and into a black directors chair. Before her on-camera interview begins, she graciously chats with attendees about her years managing New Jersey’s Stone Pony Nightclub where Bruce got his start, and how much fun she’s having as a councilwoman of Asbury Park.

As Chapman is getting mic-ed up the crew calls for quiet. Something is still making noise. It’s a new video of Bruce Springsteen himself, answering questions about why, and how he’s still touring the world. He remarks, “Then you gotta have something to say. So, In a perfect world you know we’ve made some new music and I’ve got new things to say to my fans when I see them, and I look very forward to doing that, so that’s a great [inaudible] to get you out on the road. I want to see you, I have something I want to say to you, I have a way I want to make you feel, I have a way I want to feel, let’s do this together and see where it takes us…”

Vietnam Veteran Benefit Concert – Los Angeles Sport Arena – 1981

The walls are covered with seemingly innocuous artifacts that actually tell a much larger story of times when Springsteen had something to say. Like the ‘81 “A Night for the Vietnam Veteran” concert poster at LA’s Sports Arena. And the ’84 Born in the USA tour program; a seemingly patriotic song with a much deeper message, in-part about how vets were treated at the time.

I recall Bruce’s potent and skillful activism over the years. This includes writing the title song for the 1993 film Philadelphia that helped humanize the AIDS crisis and the 2000 tune American Skin/41 Shots which is a commentary on racial inequality and brutality.

Springsteen’s set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2006 comes to mind. He voiced what many displaced residents were feeling, “It’s what happens when people play political games with other people’s lives” before strumming the depression-era classic, “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live.”

In another case are relics from the ’79 “No Nukes” Concert at Madison Square Garden. They include band rosters, schedules, stage plots and setlists. There are lighting directions written in ballpoint pen on how to cue his newest number, “The River, Slow ballad low lights.”

Come On Rise Up

I turn to see a program from The Rising tour, which stops me in my tracks. Many of us first heard songs off this album during “America: A Tribute to Heroes” a TV special and telethon that ran on all major networks on September 21, 2001 – just twenty days after 9/11. I watched with childhood friends from our usual loud and raucous hometown bar. That evening everyone stood still as Bruce and the band somberly sang, “My City of Ruins.” We sobbed silently into our beers, awaiting hopeful news from Ground Zero that would never come.

The following summer when the album was released it was like a map to get out of grief. Songs  like “You’re Missing,” “Lonesome Day” and “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” assuaged the indescribable. While “My City of Ruins” encouraged us to find a way forward, “With these hands I pray for the strength Lord, with these hands, I pray for the faith Lord, with these hands, we pray for the lost Lord…Come on rise, come on rise up, come on rise up, come on rise up, come on rise up….!”

Bruce + The Big Man, Born To Run
Source; BS FB © Eric Meola

The exhibit includes an accordion of Danny Federici, and a saxophone of Clarence Clemmons, beloved E-Street Band members for some thirty plus years. Fans wondered how their absence would be handled after their passings before the 2012 tour. I still get chills any time I think of the spotlights on their empty spaces on stage here at LA’s Memorial Coliseum. Bruce serenaded softly, “Well, all I know, is that if you’re here, and we’re here then they’re here. I can hear them in your voices, raise ‘em up.”

In another video set-up you can listen to Jon Landau reflect, “Once Bruce walks on stage the question in mind is this going to be an absolutely great show tonight, is it going to one of the greatest shows he’s ever done, ‘Is it going to be the greatest show he’s ever done?’ That’s the range of possibilities. Bruce as a performer is so dedicated and so committed. In working with him for 45 years, I have simply never seen him go on the stage and do less than 100% of what he’s capable of that night. As Bruce has said, come into a building at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, equipment is being set up, looking at four walls and a lot of empty seats and his job is that by 11:30 at night to have created an event that people, including himself, will hopefully never forget. To make something, out of nothing. To create a spiritual experience, where before there was just emptiness, that’s what it’s all about.”

I Hope When I Get Old,
I Don’t Sit Around Thinkin’ About It,
But I Probably Will

I hear an audible gasp. Another attendee sees Bruce’s Fender Esquire guitar. The one from the Born to Run album and tour. He shares with me a slew of stories about nights he’ll never forget. “They played for THREE AND HALF hours straight, I don’t know how they do it! And now at their age! One time, my buddies and I went to…..”  watching this guy’s eyes glisten while talking about his “Glory Days” brightens the room on an overcast afternoon.

Stenciled on a wall is a quote by Bruce “The heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, love making Le-gen-dary E-Street-Band!” It is a phrase he often chants while introducing the musicians who break the local sound curfew with him night after night, for most of their lives.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Induction © Jeff Kravitz / Getty Image

I laugh thinking of high school friends I haven’t seen in more than a decade whose primary form of communication these days is sending sporadic texts on a thread aaalllssso introducing the E-Street Band.

“The Deeeeeaaaannnn of the Unnnnnniversity”

“The foundation of the E Street nation, Mr. Garry W. Tallent! “

“On the guitar, the minister of faith + friendship, keeper of aaaallllllll that is righteous, and staaaaar of the Sooooopraaaanos teeeelevsion shooooow, Little Steven Van Zandt….! “

There’s a wall of hand drawn signs fans have scribed over the years, asking for their favorite songs. Among them is a life-size cut-out drawing of Bruce’s wife and musical collaborator, Patti Scialfa. It requests “Red Headed Woman,” a tune Bruce frequently sings to introduce her on stage.

On another video guitarist and vocalist Nils Lofgren discusses his ever-lasting search for a hotel gym. Seeing Nils I have a sense-memory flash back to meeting him outside the Vatican in Rome, Italy, the night after they played the Stadio Olympico Show in 2009.  Bruce took our sign and announced from stage, “For the birthday girl who came all the way from New Jersey to see the boss man on her birthday.”

I giggle thinking of the gelato stand owners and taxi drivers who would ask us in English where we were from and when we said “USA, New Jersey” they would reply in Italian, “Aaah, El Pedron, El Pedron” Italiano for “The Boss.”

“Aah El Pedron, El Pedron” – The Author At Rome’s Colosseum #BornInTheUSA

‘Cause Down The Shore Everything’s Alright

As I exit, I scan the Spotify QR Code for the playlist created by the curators of the exhibit. I hop in the car and head home on the 10. Someone abruptly slams on their brakes, and then I slam on mine. Everything in the front seat goes flying. In that moment, “Rosalita” begins blaring, I laugh out loud remembering a similar situation some 25 years ago.  A friend borrowed her older brothers’ topless jeep so we could cruise down the shore, not mentioning that no-one reeaally knew how to drive a stick shift. That thing choked its’ way all the way down the parkway to exit 98 “Rosalita” on repeat all the while.

I think back to all the nights at Jersey Shore bars, when Springsteen’s version of “Jersey Girl” alerted patrons last call was coming, all the hook-ups that turned into couples, all the weddings I’ve been to where that was the bride and grooms’ song. All the children who ask me to tell them about the night their mom and dad met and all the “Don’t you dare” glares I get from their now middle-aged parents.

I smile-wide remembering late-night dance parties powered by “I’m goin’ down,” and fourth of July parades where the firetrucks were chalked with the lyrics, “No Retreat, No Surrender.”

Let’s Make Our Steps Clear That Others May See

“The Power of Prayer” comes on the Spotify playlist – I look down at my phone wondering, “How have I never heard this before, what is this, when is this from…?”

I uncharacteristically burst into tears, pondering what any of the aforementioned memories, national crises, or global movements would have been like without these songs, without these statements, without this man.

“Bruuuuuuuuce” Courtesy of ShoreFire Media © Danny Clinch

Throughout time there have always been troubadours who transform through song. There was the Tibetan Buddhist Jetsun Millarepa, the Catholic Saint Gregory the Great, and even the Hindu mystic Mirabai.

In our place, in our time we have Bruce Springsteen.
An American treasure, a soul singer.
A healer, a sadhu, a modern-day sage.

Right on cue, as if answering my inquiry, Bruce busts into the chorus, “Darling, it’s just the power of prayer, Baby, it’s just the power of prayer, Darling, it’s just the power of prayer…”

Thanks Boss.

Bruce Springsteen Live! At The Grammy Museum

Bruce Springsteen Live! is now open to the public and running from October 15, 2022- April 2, 2023

For more information on Bruce Springsteen Live! At the Grammy Museum click here. 
To buy tickets click here.

Co-curated by Jasen Emmons, Chief Curator and Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at the Grammy Museum, Robert Santelli, and Eileen Chapman, director of The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, Bruce Springsteen Live! explores the evolution of Springsteen through the decades and grants exclusive backstage access to Springsteen and the E Street Band’s legendary performances.

Author’s Note; Thank You Rob DeMartin Photography. 

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Soul Singer; Bruce Springsteen Live! Exhibit at The Grammy Museum  appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Her name is Kali – She is the Hindu Goddess of Liberation, of change and transition, of endings before beginnings. She is beloved by billions of devotees worldwide, and though you may not know Her by name, you’ve probably seen Her image “hiding in plain sight.” For She inspired  Rock ‘n Roll’s most infamous logo.

In 1970 the Royal College of Art in London got a call from the rock n’ roll band, the Rolling Stones’ office. They inquired about students proficient in poster design for their upcoming European tour. An artist who had showed promise in that format was selected and sent to meet the band’s lead singer, Mick Jagger.

John Pasche was 25 at the time and pursuing a Master of Art degree. He remembers, “My design for the tour poster went down well and later in the year Mick invited me to his home to talk about a logo design that he had in mind to use on the Stones own record label.”

John’s First Commission with The Stones – Europe 70 Tour Poster

Paint It Black

John continues, “During the meeting, Mick explained that he wanted a logo design which would stand alone as an image without including the Rolling Stones name. A bit like the Shell logo for the petroleum company. He also showed me a picture of the Hindu Goddess Kali which he had seen in his local corner shop and asked to borrow it. He just said he liked the image without specifically explaining why. I was conscious that there was a lot of interest in Indian culture and religion at the time.”

Kali Mata

The two talked through some concepts pulling inspiration from Kali. Pasche explains, “For me it was the tongue sticking out of her mouth that was the spark of the concept of using a disembodied mouth and tongue as the logo. It seemed to symbolize anti-establishment and rebellion which was seen as the bands image at the time”

The art student worked for a few weeks, and presented some preliminary sketches. John retells, “ At the next meeting with Mick, we both agreed on one of the sketches which is very much as the logo is now. He needed to show the rest of the band who were happy for me to proceed to finished artwork.”

The Original Rolling Stones Logo Sketch By John Pasche

Tongue + Lips

John Pasche’s “Tongue and Lips” logo first appeared on the back cover, inside cover and label of the 1971 Rolling Stones’ album Sticky Fingers. A record that frequently ranks on “best of” lists. It contains Stones classics like, “Brown Sugar,” Wild Horses,” “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” “Moonlight Mile” and “Dead Flowers.”

Artists Andy Warhol and Craig Braun designed the album cover that contained an actual zipper. They were nominated for a Grammy Award for best recording package in 1972 and are sometimes erroneously credited with having designed the infamous logo.

Stones Travel In Style

Over the last 50+ years the logo has appeared on t-shirts and stickers, stadium stages and private jets, baby clothes and bottles of alcohol, it’s one of the most requested tattoos of all time, and the shape was even built AS a stage at the 2006 Superbowl half time show. It’s regarded as the most recognizable logo in the history of the rock ‘n roll industry.

Of the “Tongue and Lips” phenomena Pasche, now 77 reflects, “I had no idea at the time that my logo design would be used for over 50 years but I put that down to the fact that the band have been making music and touring all that time without wanting to change their logo. I am obviously happy that the logo seems to be liked by young and old. The interest in retro design and fashion has certainly helped.”

She Who Is The Mother Of Time

For being a conduit to one of Kali’s most infamous forms of the modern era, Pasche says, “At the time I didn’t know much about the Goddess Kali but discovered that in Hinduism, she was the goddess of time, doomsday, and death, or the black goddess. Also that she evolved to a full-fledged symbol of Mother Nature in her creative, nurturing and devouring aspects. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mick knew a lot more about this than I did and that is why he chose her image to show to me.”

John Pasche with his iconic Rolling Stones Design

Pasche  has enjoyed a rich career designing art with music legends like The Who, David Bowie, United Artists Records, Chrysalis Records and more, is a recipient of multiple industry-renown Design and Advertising awards, Music Week awards and Communications Arts awards.

He concludes, “From the day I created the logo I have always felt that it was the perfect image for the Stones and am flattered that a lot of other people like it too.”

Jai Kali Ma!

John Pasche Design

To View John Pasche’s Work Go To JohnPascheDesign.com

To Get Your Own Hand-Signed Rolling Stone’s Logo Art Check Out RollingStonesLogo.com

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post How Hindu Goddess Kali Inspired Rock ‘n Roll’s Most Infamous Icon appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Bob Roth c. Alexander Berg courtesy DLF

Bob Roth is America’s favorite Transcendental Meditation teacher

For more than 45 years he has brought Transcendental Meditation (TM) to millions of people through his role as CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, as host of SiriusXM radio show, Success Without Stress, through his podcast Stay Calm, available on the iHeart radio network, and as the New York Times best-selling author of Strength Into Stillness. (Now available in paperback!)

Bob’s work has improved the lives of students in underserved schools in 35 countries; military veterans and their families who suffer from post-traumatic stress; women and children who are survivors of domestic violence, incarcerated and homeless populations and more. He has taught titans of industry, government, sports and entertainment, including Oprah Winfrey, George Stephanopoulos, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, Katy Perry, Hugh Jackman, Robin Roberts, and many more.

Roth’s contagious compassion, exceptional intelligence, and light-hearted humor are always an honor to be around. In the following exchange we learn more about this proven practice.

What Is Transcendental Meditation?

Amy: First can you just tell us what Transcendental Meditation is?

Bob Roth: Transcendental Meditation is a very simple, easily learned, effortless practice that allows any person to access a field of calm and science that already exists underneath all the noise, deep within everyone. Just like an ocean has choppy waves at the surface but is silent at its depths, every human being has a silence deep within. We’ve just lost access, we’re stuck up here [points to his head].

It’s practiced for 20 minutes, twice a day, sitting comfortably in a chair, you don’t have to sit in any strange position. You’re given a mantra which is a word or sound that has no meaning in TM, just a couple of syllables. Then you’re taught by a teacher to dive within.

It’s easy, it’s effortless, it’s so tender and gentle and kind and compassionate a meditation. It’s not a strain. It has huge health benefits.

TM For Better Health

Amy: What are some of the benefits?

Bob Roth: Benefits of the meditation, according to research, are very significant. I’ll give you an example: it takes about five and half or six hours of a good night’s sleep for your body to take your metabolic rate to drop about 8%, so that’s a good night’s sleep. In 20 minutes of TM your metabolic rate drops 16%, twice as deep, in just a few minutes.

You know what cortisol is? Too much of it is a bad thing. What they’ve found is if you get a good night’s sleep, cortisol drops about 10 %. During 20 minutes of TM they drop 30-40%. So the first thing that happens is a huge reduction of stress, improvement in sleep, much less anxiety because cortisol goes down.

Sorry about all the science here.

Amy: I love it…! The facts help eradicate that outdated “woo woo” stigma around these proven practices.

Bob Roth: Right.

There’s a neurotransmitter called serotonin. Serotonin is called the happiness neurotransmitter or the well-being neurotransmitter. When a person is depressed – and people are that way now during this whole thing – there’s a real decrease, a sharp decline in serotonin.

TM courtesy DLF

Antidepressant medications like Prozac mimic serotonin. During TM just as there’s a decrease in the anxiety hormone cortisol, there’s an increase in the happiness neurotransmitter serotonin. They both maintain that through the whole meditation and afterwards, through the rest of the day. A person feels stronger inside, happier inside, less anxious, less stress. Research shows that they sleep better at night, that they feel better throughout the day. The research on the brain shows that they think more clearly, and are more resilient. Lots of real good things that we would all love to have.

This is important. It’s not a philosophy, not a religion, nothing you have to believe in. Just a lovely simple technique. It’s not in opposition to anything. People can do other forms of meditation, they can do prayer, they can do exercise – TM fits in nicely with everything.

TM For Clarity of Mind

Amy: I love the old joke, “If you think you don’t have time to meditate for 20 minutes then you need to do it for 40.”

Bob Roth: The reason that is, is because your mind is not clear. There are 1,440 minutes in a day. If you don’t have 30 minutes, or 20 minutes out of that 1,440 minutes to take care of your brain for self-care, then your life is not well-organized and your brain is not clear. That’s why they say you need 40, because you’re in serious trouble!

Meditate American courtesy DLF

Amy: Yet, our society seems to run on this bigger, better, faster, more syndrome. In the ‘80s and the ‘90s it was actually “cool” to be stressed out. Where do you think we are with that now?

Bob Roth: The fact of the matter is, it is a crazy world! To be successful, to succeed, to pay your bills, to grow the way you want to grow, to feel like you’re expanding; in your career you want to do more, you want to be more creative, have more influence, then we want to do more. But what TM does is give us an inner equanimity and an inner steadiness so we can do all of that and not get all tied up in knots.

I use the ocean analogy. The ocean is both active and silent. The mind is both active, dynamic but inside silent, quiet, calm. What TM does is give us the energy, the clarity and the inner balance so we can do all of those things and not go crazy.

TM For Sports + Performance

Amy: We’re now seeing a rise in professional athletes turning to TM for performance enhancement. Can you tell me about your experience in sports franchises?

Bob Roth: Oh yes…! There are two aspects to performance. One is what happens biochemically with cortisol. If I am anxious, then my adrenal glands secrete cortisol which is a stress hormone. I need a little cortisol to get going in the day but not too much. My body secretes cortisol if I’m worried about something, then I get more anxious and secrete more cortisol and it becomes a vicious cycle. Two of the problems with cortisol is it affects my immune system, so it weakens or compromises my immune system so I get sick more often. The other thing that it does – it floods my hippocampus which is the memory center. Now, say you have a 10-year-old child and they’re a sensitive soul and they study very hard for the test. Then they get anxious before the test, the test comes, their body secretes cortisol. It floods the hippocampus and they can’t remember anything.

MLB’s Barry Zito, David Lynch, Russel Brand and others at DLF Quiet Time in Schools Event – San Francisco courtesy DLF

Amy: That happens to a lot of people. Geniuses in their field, but terrible test takers.

Bob Roth: A lot of people. When you talk about the athlete who choked under pressure. It’s that. The athlete knows how to shoot a free throw, to catch a ball. But when the cortisol floods the hippocampus they freeze, they choke. So when you have a way to reduce your anxiety levels dramatically during TM then you’re not constrained, you’re not having that reactive thing.

The second thing that it does is it speeds up mind/body coordination. It wakes up part of the brain for focus, reactivity, quickness. It calms the part of the brain, the amygdala, which gets very anxious. So this is a dream come true for any athlete.

Amy: Makes sense, an obvious, proven way, to sharpen skills and performance.

You mentioned a sensitive 10-year-old child. I know you’ve taught many children over the years, who have grown up into amazing adults, who have then taught more children. They’re some of the steadiest people I know. How have you witnessed these generations, sort of re-wire reactions to outside circumstances?

Bob Roth: You just said it right there. Re-wire. There are neural pathways in the brain. They’re pathways in the brain – like when you’re young and you’re learning to tie your shoe. It takes a while. You try and you fumble, and you try and then you keep trying and all of a sudden ‘click’ you got it. And you don’t forget it. Or you’re learning to ride a bike, wobble wobble wobble and then you’ve got it. Or a stick shift or something.

Those are neural pathways in the brain doing something that became familiar. What the problem is with kids, is that they become neural pathways for anxiety, tension, fear, fear of failure, stress. Anything that comes up, there’s a test that’s two months away or a paper, already those pathways, those highways are there.

Children meditating in school courtesy DLF

What happens when you do TM is that it establishes new neural pathways in the brain. Healthier neuropathways. Calmer. All the different parts of the brain are now, instead of going crazy, are now functioning in an integrated, more communicative way. So then the brain is functioning more efficiently. So as far as academic performance, or in business, just being able to stay steady when everything is crazy. In your profession with deadlines. We need that. We need to have that equanimity. We can’t go the old route of, “Somebody pushes my buttons and I overreact.” No! Then we’re a victim of the past.

It’s like, “I had a bad relationship with someone five years ago and I have reactivity to that. Now I’m in a new relationship and I’m still in five years ago. I can’t trust the person. But that person did nothing – I’m in five years ago.” So the ability to meditate and have your mind settle down to that unboundedness inside and have your brain, all the different parts of the brain connect together. Then that forges new neural pathways and then you’re freed from the past, you’re yourself. And it allows you to see maybe this guy is a loser too! So you can see it fresh rather than just reacting. This guy may be great! But if you’re only reacting from the past you’ll never know.

TM For Trauma

Amy: How have you seen this benefit trauma survivors?

Bob Roth: Same thing – the healing. We work with veterans. PTSD is contagious. With veterans they have serious hyperarousal of the amygdala, which is that ‘fight or flight’ area of the brain. So they’re overreacting to everything and that area of the mind for equanimity and calm is offline. High levels of cortisol. Such high levels of anxiety that they start self-medicating and it becomes a downward cycle.

Veterans Mediating On Retreat

Research that was conducted in the San Diego VA Medical Center a few years ago showed that TM was, in many ways, better than anything that the VA is using right now to help veterans in reducing the symptoms of PTSD. We’re working on a new thing called “Healing the Healers,” which is bringing meditation to doctors and nurses on the front lines who are suffering from PTSD themselves.

Active Duty Military Meditating courtesy DLF

Amy: In recent years we saw so many doctors and nurses go through significant trauma, as though they were in a warlike environment with astronomical death tolls. The stories from family members who work in ERs in the New York/New Jersey Area are horrific.

Bob Roth: Totally. This whole field is called ‘Moral Injury’. That is – you’re a nurse. You have one ventilator and there are two people that are dying. And you have to decide. YOU have to decide, with the families behind the glass wall looking, who lives and who dies, who gets the ventilator and who doesn’t. That is horrible trauma. Our Heal the Healers  is the initiative in which we’re working with hospitals to serve all the healthcare workers on the front line.

Heal the Healers in hospitals courtesy DLF

What we want to do is take TM away from the “Oh that’s for celebrities, for rich people who can mess around.” This is a medical intervention that has to go to everybody. That’s what we’re working on – to have the research done that shows how effective it is so that the government and Medicare and insurance companies will reimburse it.

TM To The People

Amy: I heard you now have an office in DC to help with these kinds of initiatives?

Bob Roth: Yes, right near Capitol Hill. Before the lockdown happened, we were teaching a lot of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to meditate. So that they can help move these things … and not just TM. Other evidence-based integrative approaches to healthcare. It is clear medicine isn’t going to do it all – they’ve got to look outside the box. But it should be proven to work, not just new age mumbo jumbo. I know I shouldn’t say that with you in LA. [laughter].

Amy: [Laughs] Ha, I know, the epicenter of the new age. Now, what about the marginalized communities DLF has gone into? There can be a lot of trauma and scarcity in those environments to work through.

Bob Roth: They say that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to the second birthday is the most impactful 1,000 days that person will ever have. So if they grew up with trauma, neglect – did you know that neglect is more traumatizing for an infant than physical abuse? You’re just left there. Alone. Neglect is more traumatizing. A lot of these youngsters have that kind of trauma from birth. In Washington DC, we’re in community centers. We’re teaching, for free, great-grandchildren all the way up to great-grandparents. So whole families are learning to meditate. Again, all religions, all backgrounds. It’s the tool of the times, we need it now more than ever.

Meditators at the David Lynch Foundation, Washington, DC

Amy: It’s said that if one person is healed that it heals seven generations back and seven generations forward.

Bob Roth: That’s true. American Indians say that and the Vedic literature also says that.

Amy: Sounds like you’re doing a lot of clearing there!

Bob Roth: It’s a wonderful thing on so many levels to do.

If You’re Going To Change The World, Start With Yourself

Amy: How did you come to TM? It seems to be a magic carpet for you.

Bob Roth: [laughs] It’s been!!!

I started as a college student. I was 18 years old. I had worked for Senator Bobby Kennedy in high school and I saw him speak in San Francisco at San Francisco Civic Auditorium on June 1st 1968 and I thought, “Oh we’re going to change the world!” It wasn’t that I was a Republican or a Democrat, it was just that we were 2,000 people and we were going to change the world. And, Amy, four days later he was killed. That had a huge impact on my life.

I vowed when I went to college that I would go to law school and become a United States Senator and change the world, like Bobby Kennedy was going to do. I thought the way to change the world was through legislation, through laws. It took me about one month in college in 1968 to realize that politics is important, but it’s not going to be my path to change the world.

Bob Roth early in his career on the Larry King Show courtesy DLF

Then I thought, “Well, my mom was a school teacher, so what if I write educational curricula? What if I give tools at a very early age, kindergarten, that they could use to help them navigate?” What I saw even then was going to be a stressful, traumatic world. I was going to school full-time, I was working full-time, there were riots in the streets because of the Vietnam War.

I’m a skeptical guy by nature, I’m stressed, I’m not sure what to do, I wasn’t a druggie. I had this one friend who I really trusted of all the people I knew, who was so normal and down to earth and smart and awake and funny and clear. And he was doing something called Transcendental Meditation and I didn’t know what it was. I decided to find out what it was. I said, “I don’t believe in any of this stuff.” And he held up a pen, and he dropped the pen in my hand and he said, “You don’t have to believe in gravity for the pen to fall.” You don’t have to believe in meditation.

So I learned it. From the first meditation it was so natural and profoundly relaxing. One of my first thoughts after I learned it was, “Oh. So this is the tool I’m going to teach those kids.” June 28, 1969. 50 years later I worked with David Lynch on the Foundation. We brought it to over a million kids and we want to bring it to 10 million kids in the next five years.

Amy: I think you’ll do it .

Bob Roth: Thank you. From your lips to God’s ears.

Everything Is As It Should Be

Amy: Something I ask everybody is, where do you think dharma meets free will? Like, you listening to your friend, and going to that first TM class.

Bob Roth: There’s a wonderful story that I’ll tell you, that relates to that then I’ll answer it. I was with Maharishi somewhere, a big conference. They had been talking about cause and effect. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. People were saying you can see some cause somewhere, whether it’s genetic or whatever.

A reporter asked him, “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” And Maharishi said, “Everything is as it should be.” Which seemed kind of harsh. The reporter then said, “Then why are you working so hard to change it?” And he said, “Because everything is as it should be.”

I think what you have is: we have our dharma, we have our path. Built into that path is the opportunity to change that path. The opportunity. You have that opportunity to make a choice. Now you might say that is also driven by dharma. That gets too complicated for me!

I am sort of a simple guy, I just want to make a better world. I meditate twice a day. It gives me the energy.

Bob Roth In His Element courtesy DLF

You know. It’s life. You can get knocked down a lot. You have to pick yourself up. In relationships. In jobs. You have to pick yourself back up.

Independent of that, I’m teaching TM, the meditation for me has helped me maintain my resilience. I have more energy now than I had when I was 25. I sleep better now, I feel healthier now than ever. I think it’s just we have free will. we can take care of ourselves, we don’t have to let our bodies just wear down like they inevitably could.

The World Is My Family

Amy: What are some of the other projects the David Lynch Foundation is working on right now, and how can we, the readers of LA Yoga Magazine help?

Bob Roth: There’s a beautiful ancient Vedic proverb that says “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam” which means “The world is my family.” That child that is suffering down the street, or Rwanda, or anywhere, is our child. We can’t. I could cry. We can’t ignore that child. Obviously, we have our own children and we have to feed them and take care of them, but that doesn’t release us from our commitment, our dharma, our responsibility, to do everything we can to make the whole world family. A rising tide needs to lift all boats.

DLF Quiet Time Around The World – Bali courtesy DLF

One thing that can be done through the David Lynch Foundation is help us bring the meditation to the people who need it, in some regards, the most, who are so vulnerable. That 10-year-old child living in the Bronx or – I just came back from Israel and then I was on the West Bank, and I was talking to little Muslim children and Palestinians, the fear that they have.

DLF Quiet Time Around The World – Uganda courtesy DLF

I think one thing is, educate yourself. Go to the David Lynch Foundation.org website. See if there’s something there that resonates with you. If you have the finances to be able to support us, 100% of it goes just to bring TM to the people who need it the most. You can learn to meditate yourself.

One time someone asked Maharishi, “What can a person do to create peace in the world?” He said, “Learn to meditate and become a light unto yourself.” We should all become a light unto ourselves.

Learn More About Bob Roth, the David Lynch Foundation and Transcendental Meditation

Purchase the new paperback version of Strength Into Stillness

Listen to “Stay Calm with Bob Roth”

Learn more about The David Lynch Foundation for Transcendental Meditation.

Watch a TM Intro Video By Bob Roth Here.

Follow Bob Roth on his social media channels, IG, FB, Twitter, LinkedIn.

Author’s Note; Thanks to DLF-LA Regional Director Lynn Kaplan, for her help with this article.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post DLF’s Bob Roth: Become a Light Unto Yourself appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

From his studio in Northern California, Mickey Hart states, “It’s about transcendence, and that’s what certain kinds of music does. It takes you from this, your normal waking state, to another virtual space outside of that, and that’s one of the powers of music that I’ve enjoyed over the years, to be able to enhance consciousness and do many things that you can never do without it. So yes, I am in the business of transportation. I don’t have trucks, but I do have music.” A dharmic assignment that some say he signed up for before birth.

The Cosmic Background

“My parents happened to be rhythmically astute. Both of them were drummers, so it kind of runs in the family” Mickey remarks. The couple won the mixed doubles competition in rudimentary drumming at the 1939 World’s Fair. “In the womb, the bass is the heart” he explains, “My mother’s heartbeat was beating a tattoo of about 140 decibels, very loud. So I was imprinted, just like everyone is imprinted, with a rhythmic signature even before you come out into the light.” Mickey’s family hid a drum pad and snakewood drumsticks in hard-to-reach corners of his grandparents’ apartment, but the four-year-old always found them. He notes, “That set my whole life on course, and it never ever veered off of that.”

Mickey Hart -Early days back East source; MH FB

Mickey and his mom moved to the attic of an old Cape Cod house on Long Island. The Italian truck driver who lived below had five kids, and a longing for quiet. “He took exception to my drumming skills,” Hart recounts, “At about 5:30 [pm] just when he came home from work, he would come up the stairs and bang on the door, and my mom would be there with a broom and she said, ‘over my dead body.’ [he laughs]. And so, my mom helped a lot, defended my right to play, because remember, druuums are loooud.”

Meeting The Mentor

When Mickey walked into the Lawrence High School band room, he crossed a threshold. “There was magic in that room because there was a magician in it,” he once wrote. The teen bought a stack of hall passes off a friend with a printing press so he could hang around band teacher, “Jonesy” and the array of drums that he harbored. This earned him a rap-sheet with the principal. In his senior year, he quit school and enlisted in the Air Force. He was ready for his initiation.

“Druuums are loooud” source; Music Archive

Hart dropped his tray down onto the mess hall table of the Strategic Air Command outside of Madrid, Spain. Someone slipped him a note, “Be prepared to defend your belt at four o’clock tomorrow. Or else you’re a dead man.” He apprehensively entered the dojo with Pogo, the base judo instructor. Instead of destroying the young braggart, Pogo developed him into a European armed forces judo champion. Every available moment was spent training, lifting, learning how to harness inner energy, and hone mental focus (even in his sleep). “He became my first teacher in the higher sense,” Mickey acknowledges. After 18 months he was totally transformed and Pogo reassigned. They never saw each other again.

Akiwowo Oloko Ile! source; Music Archive

Mickey served as a drummer in the Airmen of Note, an elite big band unit that traveled through Europe playing American military classics. He moved off base and in with a metropolitan playboy he had met while buying a used Alfa Romeo. At one of his roommate’s parties, the percussionist put on Babatunde Olatunji’s Drums of Passion and the jetsetters went wild.

Mickey explains, “Baba had all these drummers playing, but he combined the brass of New York City, Nigerian percussion and the street. It was a giant underground hit; sold millions of records. When I heard that music, and I heard the talking drum on it, it changed my life. I never was the same after that. And that sound resonates even to this day in my mind. So he started back then to influence who I was to become.”

Knockin’ On The Golden Door

Out of the Air Force and into the musicians’ union, Mickey milled around the basement of the Roseland Ballroom hoping for a weekend gig. A letter came from his dad out in California who had just opened a music store. The twenty-something spent the next two years intimately learning the workings (and the things that don’t always work), on a variety of drums. Count Basie’s percussionist Sonny Payne invited Mickey to their show at San Francisco’s Fillmore West theater. That night a nameless, faceless, never-again-seen stranger, introduced Mickey Hart to a guy named Bill Kreutzmann.

About a month later, “Bill the drummer” banged away with his newly named band before jumping off stage at the Straight Theater, saying something like, “Sit in for the second set.” By the time the two borrowed drums from a friend’s house, got them in a truck, and up onto the stage the next set began. Mickey hadn’t yet met these people, nor heard their songs, but the musical conversation that occurred was extra-sensory, soul recognition, sorta stuff. He affirmed, “We knew it right away. Bill knew it, I knew it, the band knew it, Jerry [Garcia] knew it. Jerry said, ‘So that’s Grateful Dead music! We could take this around the world!’”

Drums And Space

In 1665, the Dutch Physicist Christian Huygen proved the “Law of Entrainment”–  that two objects vibrating at different speeds in close proximity will sync with one another. It happens as frequently with mechanical items like clocks as with coworkers’ menstruation cycles. This can happen at an accelerated pace when both beings are committed to it. “We practiced every day, all day,” Mickey recalls, merging into what he and Bill called a rhythm machine, a tractor beam.

Rhythm Devils In Flight! Mickey Hart + Bill Kreutzmann on plane, 1968 ©  Rosie McGee

“He would take the right stick, and I would take a left stick and I’d hold him behind, he’d hold me behind, and we were able to play as one. And we lived together too!” Mickey says laughing. “So you really get to know somebody. Every waking moment was spent practicing, playing. There were thousands and thousands of hours put into being able to play like one drummer or eight hands. That wasn’t by accident, we knew we were meant for each other. It’s kind of like getting married, you have that relationship that is very close and you feel each other’s mind, body, everything, the whole sensibilities about a person, it draws you close to them, and we have that for each other. And we focused on drums, drums being the connecting fiber in our relationship.”

Now Is The Time Past Believing

Bill, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, and bassist Phil Lesh lived in a second band house at 24 Belvedere Street in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district. Because all the bedrooms were already taken Mickey took up residence in a closet-kinda room, half under the stairs. There was a knock on the door, Mickey retells, “Phil Lesh gave me a record, Drums of North and South India, that Alla Rakha was on.” The newest group member grabbed his Indian drum, the tabla, and was primed to play along. He came out confused, asking Phil to confirm the credits which said there was just one, not five or six drummers. The Eastern polyrhythmic time signature blew his ever-expanding mind. “It felt at first unattainable.” Mickey admits.

Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi + Pandit Ravi Shankar source; Music Archive

A few weeks later, Hart was invited to attend a performance of virtuosos Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha. Back in high school he worked as a soda jerk at a jazz club to watch Latin legends like Tito Puente’s sticks travel the kit. Now he was mesmerized by Alla Rakha’s fingertips dancing atop the tabla. The Hindustani classical musician from a village outside of Kashmir taught the marching band drummer from Brooklyn “rhythm games.”

Mickey reveals, “I had to really focus a little bit more than I would in the normal four- fours and threes and sixes, which are the rhythmic signatures of the western music. They play in what we would call odd time signatures, five and seven at nine and all these time signatures that were outside of the rhythmic lexicon. When I found this, it just totally intrigued me.”

American Beauty; Mickey Hart + the Grateful Dead on a trail ride near Mickey’s Novato ranch, 1969 © Rosie McGee

Nestled into a new ranch home in the Novato Mountains, Mickey and the band gave themselves over to these rhythm games for months. It soon led to songs like “The Eleven.” In time, the intricate layering of beats opened infinite possibilities within each song, each set, each concert. Hart offers, “And that changed my life, and the Grateful Dead’s life as well…”

While The Music Plays The Band

The rise of the Dead has been meticulously chronicled in books, films, magazines, the cassette tape trade, and early days of the internet. Mickey jokes, “I know what I did every day of my life — any time I’ve ever played.” There are warehouses of their recordings, and an official archive at UC Santa Cruz. There are places of pilgrimage, and historic dates revered, because as the great impresario Bill Graham once said, “They’re not the best at what they do, they’re the only ones who do what they do.”

“They’re A Band Beyond Description” – GD © Roger Ressmeyer via Getty Image

The Grateful Dead never played the same show twice, and they did it more than 2,000 times, over 30 years. Warner Brothers Music president Joe Smith called it, “One of the great phenomenons of the entertainment world.” A group reluctant to take a publicity photo became what many millions consider the greatest rock ‘n roll band of all time. The top grossing tour act, who gave their music away to tapers, officially sold more than 35 million albums. They were inducted into the Rock n’ Roll hall of fame, received a Grammy for lifetime achievement, and even won an award for packing a record number of people into New Jersey’s Meadowlands. Hallowed ground.

“When I Paint My Masterpiece” – Vegas ’93 © Jay Blakesberg

54 years, 10 months, and 3 days after materializing into the band Mickey states, “We didn’t even have a set list. We just went out there and started a song, and then someone offered another, and then we went there, and then the same thing happened. So, we played for hours without a chart, without a map. We were all going on that adventure together, and we knew it. We were out there in the zone, and we wanted to take people with us. And we’ve been able to raise consciousness for millions of people.”

Mickey, Jerry Garcia + Joseph Campbell © Jay Blakesberg

The allure, the magic, the mystery, the ritual, the rite can perhaps best be described by pioneering anthropologist Joseph Campbell, who gave a lecture at UC Berkeley declaring, “I go to this building with EIGHT thousand people in it, and they’re all standing for FIVE hours in a rapture. And I had suspected that there might be something interesting to observe because of the name, the Grateful Dead. That is a phrase that comes from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and it refers to those dead, which is what we are when we are un-awakened…”

Deadheads in Rapture © Jay Blakesberg

Campbell continues, “And what I felt there was something that seemed to me, to be a true religious experience. Namely, these people were all one; the heart is burst open and one loses oneself in a spiritual experience of compassion, of suffering and living and joying with others who, in the same mode, are having this experience. And so, it seemed to me there, that we had an awakening of the kind that the great religions first intended. And that it somehow involved everybody. There were kids there, there were old people there, and in other parts of the building you could see there were people there just dancing and dancing…. It seemed to me, and I’m meaning this very seriously, a prime religious experience that transcended all the bondage and definition of ‘who’ and ‘what’ [which] are the curse of the world today. And so, this I would say, is the answer to the atom bomb.”

Let Our Chant Fill The Void, That Others May Know

There was a popular bumper sticker selling in stadium parking lots that read, “There’s nothing like a Grateful Dead Show.” And while each assembly illuminated a new hue of ascendance some were notoriously surreal. One of them was Egypt ’78. By all differing accounts an undeniably mystical odyssey into otherworldly antiquity.

“Yes, that was a beauty,” Mickey reflects amorously.

Hamza El Din source; Music Archive

As the Aswan Dam was being built across the Nile River, local villagers knew they would forever be displaced. A Nubian Oud player named Hamza El Din traveled by donkey to collect the stories and songs of his people. He made his way to Marin County, California where Mickey met him.

Hart reminisces, “Hamza, very soft, Hamza was the quiet side, which I had never found before. I mean, he was silence; he was quiet, he was calm, he was centered. He wasn’t loud, everybody around me was loud. This was the other side. When I found Hamza, it all snapped in, and it was like the romancing of the air, as opposed to the auditory driving, which is the loud side. It brought people in, it wasn’t the music that went out, it was like you went into the music, and you had to listen very carefully.” Hamza introduced Mickey to the Tar –a hypnotic frame drum from North Africa that has a recalibrating, calming, cooling effect.

Sometime later, a long-held dream of the Grateful Dead and extended collective started to take shape. Donning rarely-worn business suits, Phil Lesh, GD publishing’s Alan Trist, and GD manager Richard Loren convinced multiple government agencies in several countries to allow for a big adventure. The Grateful Dead family of 50+ arrived in Egypt during the last night of Ramadan. The celebratory mood helped ease logistical endeavors, like importing The Who’s sound equipment in from England, and mic-ing the 5,000-year-old tomb of Pharaoh Cheops (of which Jerry Garcia reportedly remarked, “This should be weird enough.”).

Tar School Orchestra, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Jerry Garcia Egypt ’78  © Adrian Boot/Urban Image

At the right paw of the Great Sphinx in Giza’s Sound and Light Theater, the show began. Mickey orates, “Hamza had a school of tars in a place called Abu Simbal and there were 40, 50 drummers from the school up on stage playing this beautiful 12-beat pattern, which was my favorite. And then Jerry came out, and Bobby came out, the band just joined in.”

Hamza and his orchestra patted out the sacred wedding song” Ollin Arageed”. The native tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap cycled into the familiar clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-clap of “Not Fade Away.”

The 178 Deadheads who had chartered a 747 from the states did not miss a beat. The sound traveled past the monuments in the Valley of the Dead and all the way into metropolitan Cairo where First Lady Jehan Sadat had allowed the special permit for this unusual event.

Mickey smirks, “Another funny thing was they had a fire on the side of the stage where they would heat the drums and pass them out one by one, and they kept rotating the drums, with the humidity, the drums would sink in tone. And the fire was blazing, the drums were being heated up over the fire, they were being passed around and there we were in Egypt! There was Bill Walton, there was Bill Graham. Ken Kesey was there, all kinds of people came. It was wild.”

Egypt ’78 Full Moon Lunar Eclipse © Adrian Boot/ Urban Image

As the sun set each evening silhouettes watched from the distance. Were they adversaries, onlookers, Isis, Osiris, Anubis? On the third night a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse at 23 degrees in Pisces shadowed the Sahara Sky. The nomadic Arab tribe, the Bedouins, emerged forth into the light. They tied their camels and secured their caravans to dance with the Deadheads to “Fire on a Mountain.” This audible, astrological, intercultural confluence is believed to have opened another dimension.

In a film about his life, Bob Weir avowed, “Time went away. Future past, all of it was right here…when the pyramid was lined up with the Sphinx, I would hear echoes in a sound that seemed to go far beyond this place and time. At dusk the mosquitos come out and I looked at my arm and it was covered with mosquitos. And I’m thinking ‘Ok welcome to hell.’ And then something flies by my face.It was a bat. I look across the stage, and the stage is swarmed with bats and they’re taking out the mosquitos. They’re saving our asses! There’s a rock n roll band on a thousands of year old stage, at the foot of the great pyramid, surrounded by a cloud of bats and I think to myself, ‘Take me now Lord, I want to remember it just like this.”

Late into the dark desert night, the entourage traveled by camel and horseback to an oasis, where there was talk of Israeli and Egyptian leaders at the US’s Camp David reaching a Mid-East peace agreement. The compass always points.

Mickey + Bill Graham Riding On The Edge In Giza source; S+C

In the month that followed, Mickey traveled by ship down the Nile River recording maritime songs with his new Nagra. A sojourn that would impact the preservation of indigenous music on a mass scale. He reflects, “So yes, so that’s what happened with Hamza. We were friends until the end, and he taught me a lot. I loved him. He was one of my guides, one of my doors, one of the doors that I went through my rhythm door.”

Drum Circles

In San Francisco in the mid-80s, Mickey opened a newspaper to see Babatunde Olatunji was playing nearby. The one whose album had awakened something within the young airmen in Madrid, so many roads ago. Hart recollects “He came to town at a club, and I went down there and I just got into a conga drum line or something. We were all playing and afterward I asked him, ‘Hey, I’d like you to open for my band, at the Oakland Coliseum on New Year’s Eve. And he didn’t know who I was, and he never heard of the Grateful Dead. So he just kind of blew me off. And then I guess somebody told him afterward, and he called me and he said ‘Yes, I’ll be there.’ And of course, he called all of his people from all over the world, and he opened for the Grateful Dead. Magnificent performance.”

Baba © Jay Blakesberg

The Nigerian drum master’s tribal beat amplified out through KFOG San Francisco Public Radio and a National TV broadcast. Mickey smiles, “And so he came into our world, and he became like Baba, like Dad, like father to all of these deadheads who wanted to learn about drum circles and about using the drum for healing, using the drum for meditation.”

The primordial, familiar feel of drum circles quickly caught on. From Dead Show surroundings, they migrated onto college campuses and summer camps, corporate retreats and city squares. Varun Soni Ph.D. Dean of Religious life at the University of Southern California confirms, “Whenever the Grateful Dead performed with other musicians, Deadheads would do deep dives into their respective catalogues in order to learn about different genres and approaches.”

Mickey + Baba source; MH FB

Dr. Soni continues, “Through Mickey Hart’s personal relationships and professional collaborations with other virtuoso percussionists like Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Babatunde Olatunji and others, Deadheads were introduced to rhythmic sounds and styles from all over the world. As a result, they started their own drum circles and communities, and became part of an ancient and global percussion lineage of trance and transcendence.”

That lineage reached critical mass in 2004 when Mickey’s organization Rhythm for Life and Remo Belli distributed several thousand instruments to nearly 5,000 percussionists. Breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for largest drum ensemble. Mickey deduces, “So that’s how it was, you felt powerful after a rhythm meditation.”

Rhythm For Life Drum Circle © Susana Millman

A Call To All Nations

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh….” The Dzintars Latvian Women’s Choir reached a crescendo. Jerry Garcia leaned over Mickey’s shoulder, “We got it.” Mickey, sitting behind the soundboard at George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch lit up, “Yea that one was really powerful.”

From the rainforests of Papa New Guinea to his son’s heartbeat in utero, Mickey and his team have recorded, preserved and produced music and soundscapes from around the world. They created the “Endangered Music Project,” a collaboration with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which presents recordings from musical traditions at risk. Their captures and curation have become “The Mickey Hart Collection” with the Smithsonian Institution. Mickey has produced albums of Hamza, Babatunde, Ustad Sultan Khan, Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, Native Americans, Indigenous Balinese, Haitian Vodou and many more. He has released 17 solo albums with consistent collaborators and introduced “World Music” to the masses.

Produced By Mickey Hart © Patty Healy c/o Blakesberg Retro Photo Archive

In a pre-internet era, Hart and comrades like Frederic Lieberman, Elizabeth Cohen, and many others voraciously collected drums and information about drumming from all ends of the Earth. This resulted in a peg-board style organization system in his barn, lovingly referred to as the “Anaconda.” Its molten skin became authored books Drumming at the Edge of Magic, Planet Drum, Spirit of Sound, and Songcatchers.

In 1996, 3.5 billion people watched the opening ceremony of the Centennial Olympics. Mickey, Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo and Philip Glass’s composition “Call to All Nations” was performed by more than a hundred local percussionists and singers from around the world. Boxing heavyweight Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame and fireworks flew up into the sky.  Somewhere out there, Jonesy was looking on saying, “You did it, man.”

May All Beings

Local poet laureate, lyricist Robert Hunter handed Mickey an unmarked cassette tape of something he quick-recorded off of public radio. Mickey pressed play, rewind, pause, play for many years before discovering it was the only known recording of the Gyuto Monks of Tibet; an exiled people whose spiritual practice included multi-phonic vocalizing. That is, chanting three chord mantras from deep within their throat. The fervent collector was on a quest to meet and record them.

Some 15 years later, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama declared that the dharma should be experienced by everyone, and thus for the first time in history, allowed these powerful prayers to be recited outside of the monastic environments. Beloved Buddhist Scholar Tenzin Robert Thurman arranged for this sangha to come to Amherst, Massachusetts.

Mic-ed Up For Mantras © Susana Millman

Author and Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally shares fondly, “Mickey’s curiosity about the world, combined with the events of Tibet and them being in India, and so forth, morphed into something in front of our eyes. On an off day of the tour, Mickey, [sound engineer] Dan Healy with myself tagging along, went to Amherst College and recorded the monks. Over the course of the day Mickey was chatting with the abbot and said, ‘Oh Well, doing shows is what we do. We’ll do a show for you’. And he turns to me and says, ‘Sell it out Denny’. With various people we did put on a show at Berkeley Community Theater. It was not only sold out, at intermission there were still five people hoping against hope sitting on the steps of the theater.” This collaboration evolved into an album and West Coast Tour.

Mickey + The Gyuto Monks of Tibet! © Susana Millman

While traveling from Marin County to San Francisco’s East Bay the monks intuited, “We sense a lot of pain over there.” At their request, GD manager Danny Rifkin pulled over the passenger van so the Tibetan monks could do a side-of-the-road purification puja for the inmates of the San Quentin Prison.

Rifkin reached out to campus chaplain Earl Smith asking, “What’s the single best thing we can do?” Smith responded, “Some kind of program for children of these prisoners would do more for their spirits and their hearts than anyone could imagine.” McNally continues, “In the course of all this, Danny finds out, and shares with Mickey, about the choir, and the chapel, and Mickey who never met a sound he didn’t need to record said, ‘I have to record them.’ So bit by bit the arrangements were made to have this recording session in the chapel.”

Mickey and the team produced, He’s All I Need, an album of the San Quentin Mass Choir. Chaplain Smith has said, “We had a mix of staff and inmates doing what had never been done before. We had female staff members join the choir, and correctional officers playing the organ and drums.” In those moments they weren’t prisoners, and guards, (“who” and “what”) but Christians coming together to sing the gospel.

Mickey with San Quentin Mass Choir
© John Storey / Getty Images

This unifying record was funded by the Grateful Dead’s charitable arm, The Rex Foundation, and proceeds were returned to the prison ministry to enhance their programming. Danny Rifkin and Chaplain Smith co-founded Project Avary to assist children of incarcerated parents. Of their time together, traveling with and recording the Gyuto Monks, Tenzin Bob Thurman says, “The Grateful Dead, and the Gyuto monks being in the same business of transportation with people is correct. And of course, the transportation is to move them out of their habitual rigid identity, into some sort of higher vision, feeling connected to other beings and the universe in a positive way, seeing the possibility of love and compassion dominating over hatred and violence and horrible things in the world.”

“He’s All I Need” San Quentin Mass Choir © John Story / Getty Images

Basic Human Needs

Mickey and his equipment manager Ramrod backed a truck up to his barn. They loaded it with djembes, and cow bells, bullroarers and slit gongs, hoop drums and shakers, tambourines and gourds. Anything that made a noise. They drove it up to Woodstock MC, and humanitarian, Wavy Gravy’s Camp Winnarainbow. This getaway for underserved youth had some pretty tough characters ages 7-14. Mickey wondered how he could help them break through to the “spirit side.”

The disparate group played a variety of beats in the camp barn, and creek bed, until the campers clicked in together. One day Hart handed out copies of the The Ojibwa Dance Drum and declared they would be making their own power drum, his very first.

Camp Winnarainbow source; CW

In Wavy’s own words, “Mickey Hart brought rhythm to Camp Winnarainbow with a large and awesome drum he built from scratch with the camp children. The children participated in creating the drum fully, starting with obtaining a piece of cowhide and scraping it to prepare the drum skin and decorating the final product. Many of the children then repeated the process by creating their own treasured personal small drums to add to the ensemble which continued to accompany camp evening programs and fire circles year after year. After several years the big drum was loaned to the San Francisco Airport where it went on exhibit. How cool is that?”

Returning With The Elixir

Mickey’s grandmother had Alzheimer’s and hadn’t spoken in almost a year. As they rode in a car together he characteristically beat a small drum. She smiled and said, “Mickey!” He recounts, “And I said, ‘Grandma you spoke!’ The drum had triggered that response in her.”

Over the past 30 years, Mickey has been devoted to exploring the healing power of rhythm on damaged, diseased, or dysregulated systems in the body. He declares, “Shamans traditionally used drums and rattles to heal. So music and rhythm therapy isn’t something we’re inventing. But through scientific investigation we’re greatly expanding our knowledge.”

Neural Networks! Mickey + Adam Gazzaley, M.D., Ph.D. © Susana Millman

Hart addressed the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging about the healing effects of music, and is a board member of the nonprofit organization the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function. Mickey has been working with Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD at the University of California San Francisco Sandler Neurosciences Center. Dr. Gazzaley warmly expresses, “Mickey and I have spent many years exploring rhythm and the brain to assess the benefits of a rhythm training experience on cognition. The results are very exciting and show a positive influence on memory in older adults. Planet Drum had a huge influence on me in the early 90s, as I set off on my path as a neuroscientist. Working with Mickey has been an incredible experience. He is always in rhythm and his mind never stops beating. I am incredibly grateful for his friendship and the influence he has had on my science.”

To Go Up The River

Director Francis Ford Coppola was struggling to find the soundtrack to his film. He saw the “Drums” section of a Dead Show and sensed the solution was near. Mickey, Bill K, and their crew mic-ed every indigenous instrument they had, but none of it sounded like an airstrike. They knew they needed to build something special for the Apocalypse Now Sessions. The Beast and the Beam were born.

Drum Jungle – Apocalypse Now Sessions © John Werner

The Beast is a large piece of circular steel that Mickey’s collection of percussive instruments hang from for easy action while in the zone. The Beam is based on Pythagoras’s monochord. It is a piece of wood or metal with piano strings stretched across several feet and tuned to reach unbelievably low pitches.

Mickey explains, “These instruments take you on a slipstream, it’s sort of like a superhighway of the senses if you will. Doing it in concert, I’m able to go down very low, down to 15 cycles, which is extremely low. It’s almost where hearing drops out and you only have feeling. And I put that down every night, so people can go to these spaces, maybe called yogic spaces, where you feel something, you’ve never felt before, and it’s calming, and they’re centered, and it’s spiritually rewarding, and it changes you.”

Mickey + Bill Walton Backstage with the Beam! © Jay Blakesberg

While Coppola, concert goers, doctors, scientists, healers and even an astrophysicist love these sounds, perhaps no one more so than the basketball and broadcast legend Bill Walton who generously shares, “When I first came across the low-end of The Beam in the early 1970s, I knew immediately that I had found something so powerful, stimulating, personal, important, and critical to my overall well-being, that I had to have more…so I relentlessly badgered Mickey, until he had no choice but to get me my own. My first Beam, was the original one, from the first days of the Rhythm Devils and Apocalypse Now.” Bill used it for many years, until he needed to return it to Mickey.

The NBA and UCLA player continues, “One New Year’s Eve, at the Bill Graham Civic, where I was practicing counting backward to fulfill my sacred duties as Father Time, Mickey appeared, without a warning, and softly proclaimed, ‘I have something for you.’ Right then and there, Mickey presented me with my own personalized, brand new, and improved Beam, big, long, glistening, spectacular, gleaming in the golden light, with a beautiful engraved message, ‘To Bill Walton, if it’s worth playing, it’s worth playing loud! Mickey Hart’

“I still play all the time, and loud too, sometimes the neighbors down the street call to ask if everything is OK, generally though, not until their houses start shaking…and when I’m privileged enough to witness Mickey play his Beams, I never hesitate to ask him to turn it up, so he can take us down, to the bottom, to the foundation, to the core, of life itself.”

Mickey yells playfully, “Thank you Pythagoras, wherever you are!”

Planet Drum + In The Groove

Zakir Hussain is considered the pre-eminent tabla player of our time. He is a chief architect of the World Music movement who has received two of India’s highest honors. Back in 1970, he was a 19-year-old new to NorCal. Zakir relives, “I visited Mickey at the barn in Novato, he handed me a strange looking hand drum and said, ‘play this.’ I looked at him and wondered why I am not asked to play tabla and proceeded to find my way with that drum. Suddenly all inhibitions about stepping out of my ancient tradition and creating a groove on an out of the box drum melted away and I found myself in a wonderous place. The beginning had commenced.”

Pump Song – Mickey, Zakir Hussain + Friends at Novata Ranch, 70s © Patty Healy c/o JB Retro Photo Archive

Zakir was teaching at the Ali Akbar School of Music in Berkeley, CA. Through his father Alla Rakha’s arrangement, the young man joined the tribe who had taken residence in Hart’s ranch. Mickey remarks, “And that was it, living as close as you could be as rhythm brothers since the 70s!”

Around this time, Hart was recording his first solo album. Zakir remembers, “Mickey sent me on a small Cessna plane to Reno to pick up Chief Rolling Thunder, we returned with the Chief and joined in on a prayer chant to bless the beginning of the recording process. It felt at that moment that we were collectively standing on a way different plateau of awareness; it was pristine and simple and felt blessed. That is when I knew that Mickey and I are tied together for the long groove run.”

Mickey + Zakir source; MH Facebook

In the early ‘90s, Hart and Hussain assembled some of the greatest drummers alive to create a percussive ensemble and album. Planet Drum won the first-ever World Music Grammy. It spent an unprecedented 26 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Charts. Those lucky enough to get their hands on a copy would rip the cellophane off, crack the plastic case open, and get transported to another world.

It would still be a few years before the internet went public, so this was the first time the populace heard the sounds and rhythms of undisturbed Earth. There were Udu chants from Africa and hoop drums from the Artcic. Berimbaus, balafons, bamboo, bird chirps, windchimes and ocean waves. The language in the liner notes was like a treasure map to far-off lands.Who are the Yoruban? What are temple caves? How can you make a song by banging your hands against your chest?

Planet Drum In The Redwoods © Susana Millman

Nigerian talking drum lineage holder, Sikiru Adepoju explains, “Planet Drum is not just a group of drummers. We are peacemakers and musical ambassadors. We are all drummers from different cultures. We don’t speak the same language, but we have one common language: the language of the drum. We are always learning from each other. I never know what the music will sound like until it’s finished. We compose the music instantly— not writing down notes, just listening and playing. Our music reaches a broader audience because it includes so many cultures. At our shows, Deadheads, Indian fans, Spanish fans, African fans, all jump up and down to the beat. Our rhythms bring people together in community.”

Planet Drum Ensemble © Susana Millman

Sikiru continues, “ A lot of people don’t know what “World Music” means, but it includes everything: Jazz, Blues, Rock, Reggae, Calypso, Afro-Beat, and Traditional Music, different languages, and different musical styles. We combine this all together in one, and create a new style known as “World Music.” Musicologists regard Planet Drum as one of the most important records of the 20th century. In 2009, the ensemble won their second Grammy award for their album Global Drum Project.

Grooving with Global Drum Project © John Werner

Like almost everyone spinning on this sphere, these touring musicians’ schedules reconfigured over the last two years. Of this liminal time Mickey ensures, “Once you see everything in rhythmic terms, you say well, war is bad rhythm, peace is good rhythm, love is good rhythm, hate bad rhythm. The world is out of rhythm, the world’s out of time. How do you put it back together? Well, the only way I know, I don’t go shoot them up, what I do is I use vibration and pull people into that slipstream and allow them to raise their consciousness. Vibration is everything in music and in life. If you have a misunderstanding with your partner, it’s rhythmic, and you say okay, how can I put myself back in rhythm? Okay, this is out of rhythm, this is a rhythmic event. Oh, we got to find the groove again.”

Mickey, Zakir, Sikiru, and Giovanni Hidalgo, a master of Latin rhythms of the conga, bongo and timbale joined together again to help mass consciousness get back in the groove. In early Spring, the Planet Drum Ensemble debuted elements of their new album to a sold-out crowd at Stanford University’s Frost Theater.

Concert-goers were desperate to get out of their houses, hear music and hang out with friends, but were still a little uneasy about the precarious state of the world. Mickey implores, “That’s why we made In The Groove a dance band record. I wanted people to dance, to move. You’ve got to change it up, you can’t stay in your old groove. So the idea is to get your life in rhythm, and be able to enjoy it.”

Four seconds into “King Clave,” at the Frost and there was a notable shift. Sikuru states, “This song is special because it features Baba Olatunji’s voice at the beginning. Baba passed away in 2003. His voice on the track keeps his memory alive and keeps his energy present. When we perform “King Clave”, it feels like Baba is still right there standing with us.”

The song’s music video was co created with B-Corp, Playing for Change. It features more than fifty dance and percussive players from around the world including Zakir’s brothers and Giovanni’s father. It played within the United Nations’ General Assembly to remind delegates of the universal heartbeat of humanity.

In The Groove! © Jay Blakesberg

In The Groove was released on August 5th Planet Drum devotees remain amazed that these musicians keep achieving new potency of percussive medicine. Zakir adds, “In The Groove is the next step up on the ladder of rhythm cycle awareness on a more intimately collective level amongst us than ever before. We have been together for these 30 years, it felt like a blink of an eye but the deeper understanding of each other not just as friends but as keepers of our respective traditions is magnified a thousand-fold and that respect and reverence is on display here.”

Giovanni notes, “I praise the Lord that he give me this great opportunity because it’s not only a team, that’s my family, a lot of loyalty, a lot of love and a great understanding. We can help heal the people with our rhythm. I’ve seen it happen.”

Mickey closes, “I hope everybody who listens, really gets what we put into it, out of it.”

Don’t Tell Me This Town Ain’t Got No Heart

“Bwwwwoooiiiaaaaainngggghhhhhh”
“Bwwwwoooiiiaaaannnggggghhhhhh”

Two downbeats of the song “Shakedown Street” and 70,000 people jump to their feet. It was Saturday night of the “Fare Thee Well” concerts. A reunion deemed by press as “the last show.” Little did they know. It had been 20 years since The Grateful Dead played Chicago’s Soldier Field Stadium. Jerry Garcia’s transition out of the Earth Plane, left many to miss him in a “longtime way.” Now here it was two decades gone by and the soul of the music, and the spirit of the community as alive as ever.

The Chicago PD estimated that almost 300,000 deadheads descended on the city, with cover bands playing in airports across America. Planes were filled with new-old-friends, trading road trip tales spanning half a century. Folks shared photos of their grown kids named after Dead lyrics, and grandchildren born to these tunes. Former college housemates got hall passes from their wives for the weekend and a new generation who never saw Jerry, ran up railings and jumped over walls to catch a glimpse of the living legends up on the stage. Gasps, shrieks, and rose-handed hugs enveloped kith and kin; reigniting relations shrouded in time.

“I Love You More Than Words Can Tell” © Jay Blakesberg

Mickey wrapped out the teary-eyed moments of the final bow by saying, “The feeling we have here — remember it, take it home and do some good with it.” An undeniable imprint was left on all who attended, and the 175,000 who watched from home. By New Years Eve, a new incarnation of the Grateful Dead wheel had turned.

Dead and Company has been touring as steadily as possible for the past seven years. Mickey marvels, “We’re all quite taken back by how its flipped generations. Its like a flip card and all of a sudden here you are from the 1960s, we’re out here in the 2000s, and they’re grooving on it, they’re dancing to it, they know the lyrics, it’s a spiritual thing.” Just like mantras remembered from lifetimes ago, fans effortlessly sing along to every song. Of the 400+ originals in the Grateful Dead catalogue, historians note that “Drums” has been played the most. This second-set staple is a time when Mickey and Billy draw concertgoers into the percussive groove of the world beat. Join the slipstream. Ride the horse.

In the cyclical motif from which the Grateful Dead pulled their name, so too, the band has invited others to join them on this voyage. Dead and Co bassist Oteil Burbridge has recently accompanied the duo for the “Drums and Space” part of the show.

Oteil emotes, “I’m really honored to have officially been made a Rhythm Devil. Drums were actually my first instrument so getting to play drums and space every night makes me feel that same magic I felt as a kid. That sense of wonder never goes away. It’s amazing to think how long he’s been doing it and that he still hits so friggin hard! He’s done and is still doing so much for drums and music in general on this planet. Mickey’s spirit is irrepressible. Truly. It’s really something to behold.”

Rhythm Devils © Jay Blakesberg

Dead and Co’s tours sell out in seconds, and entire internet forums are dedicated to trading tickets. The subculture that has surrounded this band continues to course across the country (and to Mexico!).

Mickey muses, “I look out there and I’m the only one that ages. They’re still 20, 30, 40 years old. This music seems to be built to last, I guess. With Dead and Co. we were playing stadiums, sometimes two nights in a row. It’s enormous, the amount of Deadheads that are coming out. It seems as though the Dead music and the Dead culture have been passed down through generations like father to son, father to daughter, mother to sister and all that stuff until finally it’s flipped its way into this century, this decade. So how, why? It’s probably because of the trance, because of the zone that we play in, because of the kind of music we play…so yes, it came full circle, and I’m just amazed, powerful spiritual material, that’s the only way you can explain this.”

“So The Kids They Dance And Shake Their Bones” – Dead + Co at Met’s Citifield July ’22 ©BobMinkinPhotography

Hart pauses thoughtfully and continues, “It’s also a community, many bands don’t have communities, they have audiences, they come and go. So I guess it’s completely different, the universe, psychologically, physiologically, it’s people getting together that are like-minded, that are calm and peaceful, love each other. They take what they have felt at the concert and do some good with it out in the world. And that’s the best payoff you can get. I always think ‘don’t leave it here kids, this feeling, take it home, do some good with it’, and that’s really what’s behind all this. Besides having a great time, laughing and playing music and making a living, and so forth, it’s knowing that it makes for a better world.”

“Moving With A Pinch Of Grace” – Photo by Brande Jackson source; Dead and Co IG

Mickey continues, “So it’s been an incredible ride and it’s not over yet.”

God Is Sound

God Is Sound © Jay Blakesberg

There are few people on the planet who have surrendered themselves to sound vibration as fiercely as Mickey Hart. Talking about a life of trance and transcendence, rhythm and rock n roll, producing, preservation, and music as medicine,  the transportation captain, Mickey Hart simply states, 

“Basically, I use this as my meditation, as my yoga. I stretch, and I do my yoga poses every day. I’m constantly on my mat. But music takes you there, it really takes you there.”

Nada Brahma. God Is Sound.

Get In The Groove

The Dolby Atmos mix of In The Groove is now available here. This revolutionary technology allows for an immersive percussive experience, with drum beats and vibrations enveloping the listener above, below and around them.

Stream In The Groove here.

To learn more about the Planet Drum ensemble check out: PlanetDrum.com

To keep up with Mickey Hart, visit his website and social media channels; MickeyHart.Net, FB,  IG.

#ForeverGrateful

Author’s Note; Infinite thanks to all who contributed to this offering in words, images and energy including; Rachel Anne, Susana Millman, Dennis McNally, Jay Blakesberg, Bob Minkin, Rosie McGee, Adrian Boot, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju, Giovanni Hidalgo, Oteil Burbridge, Bill Walton, Wavy Gravy, Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, Tenzin Bob Thurman, Varun Soni, Ph.D., Chaplain Earl Smith, John Werner, John Storey, Jahanara Romney, Jen Fountain, Karen Wiessen, Rose, Ben Baruch, Felicia Tomasko, Anna Rychlik, SI, NB, NK, MZ, AA, BG, The GD, PDE and of course…Mickey Hart. #NFA

For source citations, copyright info, collaborations please email; AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Mickey Hart: God Is Sound appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

It was the late 90’s, before Spotify and iTunes, Napster and MP3s. Albums didn’t drop onto streaming services and immediately upload onto our phones. Corporate-run radio stations dictated who heard what, when. Rebellious youth tried to fight the system. Grunge bands sued the conglomerate Ticketmaster for their concert-tour monopoly. Women in babydoll dresses and Doc Marten boots kicked and elbowed their way to the top of the charts by singing about something other than love, marriage, and men. But it was still a pretty-patriarchal game. That is, until a feisty singer-songwriter arrived on the scene.

Out Of Habit

Today we celebrate 25 years of Ani DiFranco’s Living in Clip. An album that not only empowered millions of women, but rewrote the record industry playbook.

The story starts in the 1970’s in Buffalo, New York – a once bustling steel city, famous for the Erie Canal. There, a nine-year-old Ani DiFranco got her first acoustic guitar. She met a guy named Mike, who she describes as, “a local songwriter, troubadour, gigging, barfly kind of poetry and philosophy reading, sort of an intellectual, but also an alcoholic, and real character. Like the unofficial mayor of Buffalo. Everybody knew him. He took me under his wing, and he started bringing me to his shows. And I was playing with him when I was a little kid in bars.”

At 18 Ani moved to New York City for a stretch. “I was walking down 12th Street; I saw this sign that said, ‘The New School for Social Research,’ and I was like, ‘What’s that’? I signed up for Feminism 101 right away, and I encountered all of these amazing thinkers who taught me to question all my presumptions, and things that I was accepting, to really start honing in on, ‘Why do I feel bad all the time?’, disconnected, not sure if I even exist in many ways. It’s because all of my ways of thinking are coming from outside of me, and even the language that I use to process is a patriarchal design. So really starting to unpack all of that, by reading these second-wave feminists Audre Lorde and bell hooks, Carol Gilligan and Alice Walker, the list goes on and on…”

The unpacking happened out loud, over a guitar, on bar and club stages. DiFranco openly examined where all the rules came from; who they benefitted, who they oppressed and how they informed her direct experience. Ani recounts, “I made a record like a two-track recording, voice and guitar, straight to two-track tape, just DAT tapes. I did it in a couple hours and there’s my first album, and the second one was like that. But right in the beginning, I wrote ‘Righteous Records.’ Just as a sort of, it was a joke with myself, [She makes a funny voice] ‘Like yes, I got a record company, you’re talking to the CEO.’ I put an address on that cassette and letters started coming in. You remember those days, right? Talk about pre-internet. Letters would come into that P.O. Box and say, ‘Can Ani come play? We have $150 from the women’s center at whatever college, and can she come play the take back the night parade?’ My answer was ‘f*ck yes,’ every time. It was organically through that first cassette really that I started touring.”

Over the next decade DiFranco would evolve into a fixture of college towns, folk festivals, feminist marches, reproductive rights rallies, as well as environmental and political cause events. She and band members Andy Stochansky and Sara Lee traveled by a beat-up van, and then eventually a bus. They felt like real pros when they could finally afford a front-of-house soundman. An essential member of any touring act.

Sounds Like A Whole New Show

The group recorded their performances throughout 1995-1996. They strung them together onto a two CD set, complete with tour photos, liner notes and lyrics; an immersive experience in the days when you could hold art in your hands. Living in Clip – the seemingly autobiographical album (affectionately named for the road amps that were always about to blow) ushered in a new era of folk rock. Ani’s bare-it-all honesty transported listeners out of their suburban bedrooms and college dorms into a new paradigm where “business as usual” was no longer welcome. She offered differing lenses from which to view social politics, the emotional aftermath of the sexual revolution, the collateral damage of casual relationships, the perception of strong women, vulnerable women and the stigma they had to be one of the other. She was one of the first to openly sing about bisexuality, abortions, one-night stands, and the like. Each song was (and is) an anthem, giving voice to a new generation desperately seeking an updated vocabulary.

The Living in Clip groundswell began in independent record stores in the North-East. Soon Indys and the big chains across the country sought the double-disc. The words the [she said in the funny voice]) CEO had scribbled on an old cassette evolved into an independent record label, “Righteous Babes Records.” “I didn’t have a grand plan, nor did anyone I hired. We were garbage picking our furniture in the office, this little one room in downtown Buffalo… All I knew was what I didn’t want to do. I got interest from record labels and I had lunches and dinners and meetings, and I just felt like ‘eww’ every time. Not that they’re bad people, but it’s like these are not my people, these are not my revolutionary people. So I knew I didn’t want to go there, because I felt like that would change everything.”

Press from major magazines wanted a glimpse of the musical-activist who remembers, “They would hardly say anything, but they would come to take my picture, that’s how it starts. And every photo shoot, I felt like a soulless corpse afterwards. It would take one photo shoot in that world for me to question my existence.” Although she stayed true to herself, and her audience, the “machine” did continue to come calling, the track “Shy” was nominated Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Rolling Stone magazine called Living in Clip “One of the most important recordings of the ‘90s.”

And It Helps Her Through Her Day

Over the last 25 years, thousands of women have shared anecdotes with Ani of how the album changed their life, “The stories that have come back over the years are just all really specific and beautiful. Some of them are more like, ‘You saved me. I didn’t kill myself, because I had your music to know that I existed.’ Certainly saving somebody from annihilation, from doom, is a great feeling. But I think some of my favorite letters and reflections are,‘I started off somewhat okay, I got your music and then I f*cking x, y, z I slayed. I came into my own power, I started doing my own thing, which is this, and here’s what I’ve been doing.’ Which so many inspirational people doing cool ass shit….”

When a now-40-something fan recently gushed about how much this album changed her teenage life, Ani simply stated, “Well they (second-wave feminists) did that for me, I did that for you, you’ll do that for somebody, and that’s how women become themselves I think…”

Living in Clip

To join the many thousands who have been changed by this album, see Ani on tour this summer; AniDiFranco.com 

Living In Clip Vinyl 25th anniversary re-Issue is now available at Righteous Babe Records here.

Listen to the album on iTunes here or Spotify here.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Celebrating 25 Years of Ani DiFranco’s Living in Clip appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Gannon and partner David Life are students of Shri Brahmananda Saraswati, Swami Nirmalananda, and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. They met in 1983, and co-created Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City’s East Village in 1984. The Lafayette Street location was not too far from early 80s Wall Street, the punk scene of St Mark’s Place, the fashionistas of Soho, and the crack-fueled crime that proliferated the era.

In the midst of the chaos, Sharon and David opened most classes by chanting “Om”, reading from the Bhagavad Gita and giving a short dharma talk before leading students through yoga asana series. Their hands-on adjustments, and soothing savanasas sent aspirants into other astral states. Sharon and David made yoga “cool” among the iconoclasts and struggling creatives who have always been drawn to downtown.

Some of the famous names included Donna Karan, Christy Turlington, Russell Simmons, Sting and Trudy Styler, and students who would go on to build their own yoga empires like Ana Forrest, Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman, Dana Flynn, and countless more.

As the popularity of the studio grew, so did its locations. Jivamukti expanded across New York City, and into Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Norway, Russia, Mexico and more, with a wildlife sanctuary and ashram in upstate Woodstock, New York.

The hub of this international movement became its flagship studio in NYC’s Union Square. The famed and fabled space was home to classes, teacher trainings, and kirtan events. (In fact, it was at a Jivamukti that kirtan wallah, Krishna Das began chanting publicly at their Monday night satsang!). Next to the check-in desk was a boutique that led to the Jivamukti-Café; a magic portal where those were meant to meet “randomly” did. Best friends, business partners, writers and publishers, actors and agents, husbands and wives, lovers, and more all laid eyes on each other for the first time (this lifetime) over chakra smoothies and macrobiotic bowls. The resulting miracles are too infinite to quantify.

The vegan cuisine, and meet-cute kismet were combined with literature about animal activism, and ways each of us can do our part. Sharon and David have long worked with (and been honored by) PETA, the Humane Society of New York City, Farm Sanctuary and more. And now, as a new generation is waking up to these truths, I’m honored to talk to the revolutionary Sharon Gannon about the foundational principles she has been living and teaching for most of her life.

Amy: What is a Jivanmukti, and how does one live the life of one?

Sharon Gannon: The Sanskrit term, jivanmukta means one who is living liberated. Jiva means individual soul and mukti means liberation. The most direct means to living liberated is to do all you can to contribute to the liberation of others.
You could say that a jivanmukta is an abolitionist —one who does not condone slavery in any way or form. They are free.

Amy: Why do you believe that a vegan diet is the responsible, kind, courageous choice at this time?

Sharon Gannon: The most responsible, kind and courageous thing any human being can do at this time is to dare to care about the happiness of others—all others. This would naturally lead to a vegan diet. A vegan diet is the simplest recipe for joy, for yourself, the animals and the world. In fact, to dare to care about the happiness of others in the broadest sense would not only apply to other humans and other animals but also trees, soil, mountains, rocks, rivers, lakes, oceans, air. All of the manifested world would help us human beings come closer to realizing who we really are. It would help us achieve the goal of life—enlightenment and liberation from samsara.

This expansive view would help us become enlightened by healing the disconnection we feel with the rest of life. We would come to realize how truly connected we are with all of life and understand that what we do to someone else we do to ourselves. When we poison the water we poison ourselves. When we treat other animals as slaves and exploit them we keep ourselves in bondage. All of life is interdependent. We humans are not the crown of creation. The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.

Covid—the global pandemic is a zoonotic disease, caused by a viral pathogen that has crossed the species barrier. Such a mutation has occurred due to our violent mistreatment and eating of animals. There is so much violence in the world
today and most of it seems to be out of our control, but what we choose to eat is within our control. A vegan diet hugely reduces the violence in the world and the repercussions of that violence.

Amy: You’ve said, “”When people ask me why I don’t eat meat or dairy products, I often reply, ‘I just can’t afford it’. The expression on their faces is always one of incredulousness. “Oh come on—I don’t believe that” they say, to which I reply, “Well it’s true karmically.”

Can you tell me what you mean by that…?

Sharon Gannon: An explanation of karma and how karma works is presented as one of the important foundational philosophical teachings of classical Yoga. Karma means action. Every action, no matter if it is a physical or subtle action affects the reality in which we live. Everything we do will come back to us, eventually but inevitably. The person who understands this will be careful about the things they do, say and think. Karma works like this, for every action there will be a reaction.

Albert Einstein reminded us of this law of karma when he pointed out that space is curved. Whatever is thrown “out there” will find its way back to its origin. Personally I have a lot of unresolved negative karmas I am trying to deal with in this lifetime, so I can’t afford to load on any more problems if I can help it.

I’m already carrying a heavy load and trying to minimize my future suffering. I am thrilled that Patanjali, in his self-help manual, The Yoga Sutra, gives many ways to do that. For example, if you don’t want to be hurt, don’t hurt others, if you don’t want to be lied to, don’t lie to others, if you want wealth, don’t steal. And he goes on. Put in simple words, it’s the same golden rule that Jesus as well as many other enlightened teachers have suggested: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.”

Amy: In your book, Yoga and Veganism; Diet to Enlightenment, you give readers the steps to the aforementioned freedom, and a path towards becoming a jivanmukti via the yamas. Can you give our readers a run down of what the yamas are and how we can ascribe to them?

Sharon Gannon: Patanjali gives five directives called yamas for how to behave toward others, if we ourselves want to become an enlightened being (a yogi). Yama means restriction. The yamas refer to ways that a wanna-be yogi should restrict their behavior towards others in order to reach the goal of yoga. He defines each yama as well as provides us with incentives to encourage us to adopt the yamas as a practice. He does this by describing what happens to a person who takes these practices seriously. In my book I take it a step further, specifically describing how each yama relates to following a vegan diet. I will give some brief examples.

The Yamas and Niyamas and Yoga and Veganism

a) Ahimsa.

Means not to harm. Patanjali says that if you refrain from harming others, others will not harm you. What does this have to do with a vegan diet? When you eat animals you harm them, the environment, as well as your own health.

b) Satya.

Means not to lie. Patanjali says that if you tell the truth, then others will listen to you and the words you say will come true. You will be able to say what you mean and mean what you say. What does this have to do with a vegan diet? Deceit is used by the animal user industries to advertise and promote the sale of meat and dairy products.

We lie to ourselves. Even though some may acknowledge that to kill an animal causes the animal pain and it isn’t a nice thing to do, many justify it as a “necessary evil.” But when is evil ever really necessary? The truth is that we do not need to eat animals or products like milk or eggs. Biologically we as a species do better on a plant-based diet. Eating animals is not hard-wired in us. It is a learned behavior and that’s good news because what is learned can be unlearned.

c) Asteya.

Means not to steal. Patanjali says that if you do not steal from others you will be wealthy. When we eat a meat and dairy based diet it involves stealing. We steal the animal’s lives from them. We steal their babies. We take everything away from them. They have no rights, are given no freedom of choice. The very things that we value so highly for ourselves: freedom, liberation, respect, and the right to choose we deny others, other animals. The law of karma says, what we do will be done to us.

d) Brahmacharya.

Means not to abuse others sexually. Patanjali says that if you do not abuse others sexually you will enjoy good health. All animals that are enslaved and bred (raised) for food are sexually abused. Farming and herding animals used to be referred to as animal husbandry; these days it is called animal agri-business. Any way you look at it, rape is business as usual in this industry. Sexual perversion, child molestation and countless acts of cruelty can be found behind the closed doors of farms, breeding facilities, slaughterhouses and meat packing plants.

The mass majority of the public has no idea that this sexual abuse is going on and that the meat, milk, and eggs they are eating have come from sexually abused animals. Perhaps if they saw these hideous places of sex abuse, degradation, violence, blood, and gore inflicted upon defenseless animals, many of which are babies, they might become vegan. No wonder that in the US it is now a federal offence to take a camera and film inside one of these facilities.

e) Aparigraha.

Means greedlessness. Patanjali says that if you do not take more than you need, if you do not hoard so as to cause others to be impoverished then your destiny will be revealed to you. You will know your purpose in life, what you were born to do. Wow! Who doesn’t want to know that?

Our insecurity and greed has caused the devastation of the planet, extinction of many species of life due to starvation and disease as well as the displacement and impoverishment of other human beings.

For a human being on planet Earth today, eating meat and dairy products is greedy. Greed stems from insecurity and fear. When a person is afraid of the future they tend to hoard. This takes one out of the experience of the present moment and puts them into a chronic state of worry about the future. Only if you can drop into the reality of the present will you be able to glimpse the purpose of your life.

A vegan diet is a kinder choice for all involved and leads to a stress-free life rooted fearlessly in the present.

Amy: You have led such an extraordinary life, of lasting impact. This is a question, I ask everyone; where do you think dharma meets free will?

Sharon Gannon: The Sanskrit word, dharma, as I understand it, means to “fix in place.” Seen in that context, our past actions fix in place our future .

The law of karma tells us that our past determines our future. We cannot change what we have done in our past, but we can change what we do now…to a certain extent.
This is where free will comes into play.

Every action that we do, every thought, word or deed, plants a karmic seed, which under the right conditions will sprout, grow and bear fruit. The law of karma says that you reap what you sow. If you have hurt others in your past you are destined to be hurt in your future. But there are loopholes that are spoken about in the yogic scriptures that allow a person to free themselves from such predetermined results.

The trick is to find a way not to water (or fertilize) negative karmic seeds, so that they will dry up and never be allowed to sprout, grow and bear fruit in your future.

Two of those that I know of:

1. From Patanjali: Love, Bhakti, love for God, Complete surrender to God, As Patanjali says, Ishwara Pranidhanad va- PYS 1.23.

2. He also says later on in chapter four: that the karmas of a normal person are black, white or mixed, but the karmas of a yogi, one who has realized their connection to the Divine are clear. Karma-ashukla-akrsnam yoginas tri-vidham itaresam PYS 4.7

God frees His devotees from having to suffer their past karmic miss-deeds.

2. From the Bhagavad Gita: When you find yourself in a situation that triggers a negative response like despondency, anger, jealousy, revenge, or sadness, instead you decide with your free will not to indulge those negative emotions and instead, embrace the situation with calm discernment. In other words, you don’t react with negativity.

It was Arjuna’s predisposition to fight. He was born a Kshatriya, a warrior. But when faced with the idea of killing his own relatives and friends he became depressed and despondent and wanted to change his career and become a yogi.

But because he was in a “bad place” emotionally, Krishna tells him that he is not in the right frame of mind to be able to make such a decision that would alter the direction of his karma. So he must go through with it and fight. The outcome of the battle of Kurukshetra might have been different if Arjuna had approached his situation with vairagya, calm yogic discernment and really was evolved enough at that time to walk away and into the forest to live a life of a yogi. But he wasn’t.

The message for us all is to do our best to be free from negative emotions, not allowing them to determine our actions. We can start by not resorting to blaming and complaining and seeing ourselves as a victim of others or of circumstances and instead embrace each moment with love. Being able to love what is, allows us to truly exercise free will and move towards our enlightenment.

Amy: Thank You Sharon-Ji, Jai Sri Krsna

Sharon Gannon: Jai Shree Krishna.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Sharon Gannon; Everyday Ahimsa appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Michael Imperioli. Jim Spellman, Getty Images

It’s another precarious pandemic morning. Michael Imperioli materializes on the Zoom screen. He leads the group in prayer, purifying breaths and a sitting meditation. He reads aloud long passages by the Tibetan Buddhist Lama, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Within one of them it states, “For such a commitment is not at all about saving oneself, rather you have something to give sentient beings, you have evolved yourself spiritually enough so you can give what you have gained to others. That’s the purpose of the Bodhisattva vow, you yourself become a teacher, while remaining a student, you are going to be the guide for this tour, and you yourself are going to be a tourist.”

In a later conversation, Imperioli says similar but in his own words, “It’s hilarious that most of these people got to know me as this psychotic, murderous, drug addict, and now they want to sit and meditate with me…I mean, listen, fame is such a bizarre thing. If you can at least turn people on to something meaningful, something that may somehow be beneficial, that’s good.”

The causes and conditions that led Michael to the meditation cushion, began all the way back in the Italian working-class neighborhood of Mt. Vernon, NY. As a kid he saw epics like the Ten Commandments and King of Kings. At about 6 or 7 years old, he was writing, directing, and acting in his own plays, casting cousins in their backyard barbeque debuts. He was the first in his large Catholic family to go to college, except he didn’t… “The night before I was supposed to leave, they were going to drive me upstate, my bags are packed, my mom was giving me some money to start a checking account when I got up there, and I just said, ‘I don’t want to go. I really want to go to acting school.” Imperioli remembers, “It was very hard, and abstract for them, but they understood.”

Tendrel

Michael dreamt of attending the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, like actors before him that he admired, but in a pre-internet era that was elusive. The family agreed he would go to college “in the city” while following his call. So the teen took a tour of Fordham at Lincoln Center, and NYU in Greenwich Village. Instead of taking a cab some 40 blocks to Grand Central he decided to walk back. He meandered down 15th Street where he saw Strasberg’s studio. Within those walls he met lifelong friends and creative collaborators like John Ventimiglia, Sharon Angela and Tom Gilroy. The 17-year-old became enraptured in the punk rebellion of 1980’s East Village. He went to raucous clubs off Canal Street, listened to Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Suicide, Television and early REM. He watched films by John Cassavetes and read books by Jack Kerouac. He hung around St Marks’ bookstore where he picked up a copy of the Buddhist scripture, The Diamond Sutra.

On Thursday afternoons actors would gather outside The Drama Bookshop to get a free flash of Backstage Newspaper so they could plan their service-job schedules around that week’s auditions. Michael repulses, “And you’d go to those horrendous auditions for sh*tty plays that didn’t pay any money. And your whole Saturday was just standing on line with literally hundreds of people for something they were putting up in some shi*thole that used to be a movie theater that they paid like a dollar to the city to buy.” For about six years the actor sustained the struggle, working as a cook, bartender, waiter, and busboy, voraciously studying, and refining his craft. He reflects, “In hindsight, those things are good I guess, because they build character and make you feel like you’ve earned something. And certainly, if you can go through those things unsuccessfully and not get the job and still persevere, and be really deluded about your own talent, to think that you’re going to succeed because the odds are so astronomically against success.”

Imperioli booked off-Broadway plays, and arthouse flicks. Mainstream audiences caught their first glimpse of him in John G. Avildsen’s film Lean On Me, about East Side High in Patterson. Yet it was in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 classic Goodfellas that Michael claimed his space in the mafia movie canon. The fresh-faced artist plays a small but pivotal role as Spider, a club attendant who gets callously killed by one of the leads. Some 30 years later he reflects, “Those scenes are really kind of where the story turns, where it becomes like, ‘Oh, wow, this is really sick.’” Michael’s performance left an impression on audiences and industry execs alike. He did the New York actor beat, with roles in Law and Order, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, The Basketball Diaries and more. Casting directors like Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken called him in to read for anything that he was remotely right for. Of this time Imperioli recalls, “In my 20s basically, all I did was pursue acting. Really, everything else took a backseat to it: relationships, friendships, family, everything. I was very, very, very, very driven towards that. I really wanted to be not just an actor but be successful.”

Karma

Like many New Yorkers, Michael didn’t have a driver’s license, which didn’t stop him from saying he did, to secure a part in an upcoming HBO pilot. His first day on set, he met co-star James Gandolfini. He reminisces through laughter, “I was driving him, and I didn’t know how to drive, and they made me back up, doing dialogue, talking to him, yelling, I did it like ten times, finally I smashed into a tree, the airbags go off, it’s a brand new Lexus, the cars all messed up, and I don’t know what’s going to happen if I’m gonna get fired. He’s sitting next to me I barely know this guy, and I look over and he just starts cracking up hysterically and I’m like, ‘Alright –this is gonna be ok.’ And you know from there, I’ve acted with Jim more than I’ve acted with any other actor, probably more than I will act with any other actor.”

That pilot of course, was The Sopranos. Creator David Chase’s brainchild that The New Yorker magazine lauded as, “Television’s greatest achievement”. It ran 6, 6 ½ or 7 seasons depending on who you ask, advancing the medium not only by giving rise to the beloved antiheroes of today, but by introducing gabagool to American audiences. The alchemy of the ensemble cast was once-in-a-thousand-lifetimes kind of stuff, like a Springsteen-style fable in which the hometown underdogs win the World Series.

Michael breathed being into “Christopha” Moltisanti, an up-and-coming soldier of The Sopranos crime, family, who would go to hell for his boss. While his heroin-addicted character dreamt of being a Hollywood screenwriter (“You f*%cking D-Girl…!”), Imperioli actually wrote 5 episodes. Those range from the subtle Italian humor of referring to the underworld as an Irish bar, to horrific scenes that still haunt commuters twice daily. The record-breaking series collectively acquired almost every industry accolade and honor. For his embodiment of Christopher Moltisanti, Michael Imperioli received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In the live telecast speech he celebrated, “Being on The Sopranos is like the greatest thing in the world, for an actor. If this was the only thing I’d done, I’d be ok with that. Probably. To my collaborators on the show, you’re my family and my friends and I love every minute being with you guys. You’re the greatest and I love you all …”

Michael Imperioli and James Gandolfini at the Primetime Emmy Awards, @realmichaelimperioli Instagram

That palpable love, friendship and artistic expression answered a lot of questions for early-Imperioli. The one who followed his heart, had it stomped on for years before attaining the Earthly achievements he worked so hard for. But this gave ground to new questions, different kinds, for which there was no road map. He explains, “I’m married, started having kids, got on The Sopranos, which was a wonderful job, and I started making some money, and getting known to the public and to the industry and peers. I had a good family life and friends, and creatively fulfilled. And yet, there was still something — I was still kind of miserable at one point and had a lot of bad habits. And started looking into very different diverse spiritual paths. I didn’t really know what I wanted. I wanted some kind of spirituality but I also wanted the magic.”

His first stop on the spiritual-shopping tour was the works of Carlos Castaneda, an iconoclast who made space for etheric-thinking in the late 1960s. Michael reflects, “I was fascinated by the fact that a guy in our modern times fell into this ancient tradition of mysticism that had been kept from most of the world, a lineage that was very mysterious and romantic for sure, but there was something about the training, and this guy giving himself over to a spiritual path in a way, challenging his own perception of the world, his perception of himself, his ego. I went through all his books, and it led me towards some other spiritual paths”. Those included Christian Science, the Russian mysticism of Gurdjieff and Ouspenskii, Hinduism, Theosophy, Occultism, and more. The seeker says, “I studied with a shaman from Panama, that was really my last stop before I found Buddhism, and I believe she had a lot to do with setting me on my path.”

Dharma

Michael and his wife Victoria followed the clues down an alley off Canal Street, he retells, “It was only a few blocks from where we lived. And when we went in, my wife and I realized it was an afterhours club in the 80s that we used to go to before we had met. It was like the most decadent, sex, drugs, and rock and roll place. And now it’s a Dharma center.” It was “Jewel Heart” a space dedicated to Gelek Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama. Michael makes fun of himself, “ I kind of thought, ‘Well, now I’ll become Buddhist and everything will be ok. I didn’t really realize that there was work involved.”

Gelek Rinpoche gave Imperioli instruction for preliminary practices. He remembers, “I’m like 20 minutes a day, are you out of your mind?! There’s no way I’m going to be able to do this. There’s no way I’m going to be able to sit and meditate regularly. It’s not going to happen.” He didn’t yet know the old joke, “If you don’t have 20 minutes to meditate, you need 40.”. Or….that he was preparing to meet his teacher.

Garchen Institute Stupa, courtesy of Garchen Institute

Tibetan Buddhism

One of the tenets of Buddhism is the belief in reincarnation – that consciousness will re-enter the cycle of samsara (birth – life – death – rebirth) until it elevates out. In this tradition it’s quite common for lamas, monks, and other holy people to give clues to their loved ones about how to find them in their next lifetime. And for loved ones to look for their departed in the smiles of local youth. Such was the case when a young boy of 7, was recognized as his earlier incarnations in a Tibetan village in 1944. He was immediately entered into the monastery to receive the teachings and transmissions of His lineage in an unbroken succession. This being became known as His Eminence Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche. When He was 19 years old, He entered the requisite three-year spiritual retreat. However half-way through, His solace was broken. Communist China had invaded Tibet. They dropped bombs, shot meditating monks, sterilized women, and attempted to destroy all divinity in the country.

Buddhists take a vow of non-violence. However, there are causes and conditions in which the devoted are compelled to protect their three jewels: The Buddha, The Dharma (teachings) and The Sangha (community).

With this interest, the “Tensung Mak” was formed, an “Army for Protection of the Doctrine”. They fought for two years, likely enabling icons like His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Gelek Rinpoche and others to escape to India. The Tensung Mak finally surrendered when a forest they were hiding in, was lit on fire. Garchen Rinpoche, and others of the army, were interned at a prison. They were tortured and starved leading many to suicide, “the suffering was inconceivable” a survivor later states.

Garchen Rinpoche kept His mind on The Buddhadharma, and when the occasional breadcrumbs came, He thought, “I should give my food away. If I’m going to practice generosity, I should practice it now.” On His deathbed, He was filled with so much anger, He spit in a guard’s face. They tied Garchen Rinpoche’s frail and failing body onto a coffin and carried Him into the infirmary. There, the same guard implored, “I am not angry, but I have a request. You are young and very sharp. Eat food.” The young Rinpoche resisted, “If I’m going to eat, you have to give me as much as I can eat. Then I’ll really eat. Otherwise I won’t eat at all.” The guards gave Him (and only Him), all the food He needed, and within a month, His malnutrition was healed. An older holy man, named Khenpo Munsel was transferred into the prison where Garchen Rinpoche was held. He mentored the young man in the deepest teachings of the dharma. Rinpcohe spent the next 20 years practicing these in secret and meditating in the middle of the night.

When Garchen Rinpoche was released in 1979, He saw His beloved homeland in tatters. Despite governmental threats, He spent the next 15 years traversing the countryside to comfort His impoverished and anguished people. He dried their tears, listened to their prayers, and restored the lost hope of many. In 1993 Garchen Rinpoche visited His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet in India. His Holiness praised Garchen’s devotion, resilience and compassion, bestowing the revered and sacred Bodhisattva vows upon Him.

His Eminence Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche, courtesy of Garchen Institute

Taking Refuge

Back in TriBeCa in the 2000’s Michael and Victoria Imperioli had immersed themselves in the practice of Buddhism and opened their own dharma center. It’s there that His Eminence Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche entered their lives this lifetime. “He has the vibration of real flowing compassion, and it flows constant and unwavering.” Imperioli emotes. In July 2011, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet was in Washington, DC leading a large-scale Kalachakra (empowerment ceremony) for World Peace.

In a nearby hotel room, The Imperiolis took refuge and received vows, from Garchen Rinpoche, making Him their root lama (main teacher). Michael was given the refuge name, Konchog Zopa Sonam. Konchog is a family name (passed down through the lineage), Sonam means, “auspicious’ and “Zopa”, well, Zopa is the Tibetan word for Patience. Something the actor well-known for seamlessly delivering speedy dialogue never gave much mind to. He recalls, “When I took refuge and He gave me the name He said, ‘The key to your practice is patience, because when you lose your patience you lose your love.’’ At first this wisdom didn’t quite land, but the immenseness of the observation has expanded within the practitioner ever since.

Victoria Imperioli, Garchen Rinpoche, Michael Imperioli and White Tara, courtesy of Michael Imperioli

Over the last 15+ years, Konchog Zopa Sonam has allowed his Bodhicitta (mind of awareness) to ripen. His edges seemed to have softened, his view widened. The driven young artist has actualized into one with knowingness. Groundedness. Majesty. Despite his initial defiance, he relies on his daily Shamatha sitting practice, and as permissible much longer meditation retreats. “Becoming Buddhist is a path to really wake up from delusion” he assures. The seeker is committed to his practice, his teacher, his Buddhanature, and most distinguished these days, being of benefit to himself and others.

Michael Imperioli, His Holiness the XVII Karmapa Thaye Dorje and Victoria Imperioli, courtesy of Michael Imperioli

For The Benefit

In late 2019, something curious happened. Michael recounts, “I was really resistant to social media, and then I went on Instagram to help promote a TV show I was on. Then I realized, ‘Well, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to just turn people on to stuff that I like, art, music, movies, Buddhism.’ I started posting things about Buddha, and people started asking me how to meditate, and I would write back and give people meditation instructions. It was happening a lot, to the point where I was like, ‘Maybe I should make a video or something’. So, I asked my teacher, Garchen Rinpoche, I said, ‘A lot of these people that I’m communicating with want to learn how to meditate.’ And He said, “You don’t have to ask for my permission. If you want to benefit other people, go ahead and do it.’ I tried to do an Instagram Live session. It was a disaster. But through that, I met someone, and we started producing this Zoom webinar.”

The Zooms began as a simple seated mindfulness meditation. No talk of lamas or lineages, prayers or patience. Then there was a global pandemic, a social movement, an election, an insurrection, division, despair. The growing list of participants started asking Michael profound questions. They inquired about anxiety and depression, grief, dharma, karma, causes and conditions, sickness, suffering, old age and death. So he asked his teacher how to handle.

Garchen Rinpoche replied, “Just keep the focus on working with the mind. Because Buddha is not the name of a man, it’s the name of mind” With the calm candor, of a seasoned teacher, Michael relays this during an online meditation, “When you become aware of the fact you’re thinking, either go back to the breath, focus on where the breath is moving in and out of your nostrils right above your lip, or we use the visualization technique of the clear limitless unstained clear, blue, sky. The sky being the mind, the clouds representing the thoughts which arise from the sky and dissolve back into it. The third technique, which is a little harder, and usually takes a little more experience but you’ve been doing this a year now, is just by the fact of becoming aware of the thought, using mind to look at mind, to look at the fact that the mind is thinking, just let it be. And almost sink into that clarity of mind that recognizes it’s a thought…”

Michael Imperioli with Drupon Rinchen Dorje on retreat at Garchen Institute, courtesy of Michael Imperioli.

Bodhisattva

It’s now early 2022 – Michael’s Instagram account has become something of an online art-gallery where the masses come to learn about unsung cultural contributors; a curation that has been revered in magazines like Vice and GQ. His book, Woke Up This Morning with co-writer Steve Schirripa hit the New York Times bestseller list, and their Talking Sopranos podcast won a Webby. His punk band Zopa (sound familiar…?) released their debut album, and it’s just been announced Michael will co-star in the second season of Mike White’s HBO hit The White Lotus. Amidst all the excitement and activity, the father of three is complimented on his commitment to the digital Sangha that has developed; the group of students who religiously sign-on to sit with him. Michael deflects, “Yeah well, I’m happy to be there if people want to step onto this path. I’m not really – I guess I am kind of teaching, but I’m not a teacher. I’m more like a fellow student that has been around for a while and am kind of helping the other students out.”

“That’s the purpose of the Bodhisattva vow, you yourself become a teacher, while remaining a student, you are going to be the guide for this tour, and you yourself are going to be a tourist.”

This is the Way of the Bodhisattva.

Garchen Rinpoche and Michael Imperioli, courtesy of Michael Imperioli

Zopa On Tour

Michael’s Band Zopa is on tour in California this week;
2/8 Zopa @ The Chapel – San Francisco – click here for  tix + info.
2/9 Zopa @ Wayfarer – Costa Mesa/OC – click here tix + info.
2/10 Zopa @ Zebulon – Los Angeles – click here for tix + info.

To Learn More about Michael and Victoria Imperioli’s Zoom Meditations, check out his Instagram
@TheRealMichaelImperioli

To Learn More about Garchen Rinpoche go to: Garchen.net

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Michael Imperioli: This is the Way of the Bodhisattva appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Elected into office in 2002, Congressman Tim Ryan has been exemplifying the qualities of a Spiritual Warrior for the past 20 years. The outspoken meditator who is for working families and choice, counts farmers and vegans among his closest friends. He’s brought emotional tools to the toughest vets, and inspired even his most conservative colleagues to try just one downward dog. Hailing from the 13th district of Ohio, a Georgetown University study recently listed the lawyer in the top 35 most bipartisan reps in the house. You may have seen him during the primaries on the Democratic presidential candidate debate stage explaining to the nation that we’re more alike than some may think.

I recently had the opportunity to do an extended on-camera with interview Congressman Tim Ryan. Here are 5 excerpts from that exchange.

1. On getting out the yoga vote…

“I tease my yoga friends all the time,
‘Oh you want to be one with the universe and sit on your mat and your cushion
but then you don’t want into politics.
I hate to break it to you, but that’s part of the universe.”

2. On how to approach the big issues…

“It’s really about getting to the root cause of what the problems are.
If you’re talking about education or mental health,
you really gotta focus in on trauma, and diet, nutrition and food.
You want to talk about climate,
the root cause really is what we’ve done to our soil and our agricultural practices.
So for me to push trauma-informed care, social and emotional learning,
these different techniques for our vets who are coming back so traumatized,
or regenerative agriculture for how we heal the planet,
it’s all about getting to the root cause of the problems
and having innovative solutions on how to really deal with it.”

3. On bravely bringing mindfulness and wellness resources to the Hill…

“Oh, I just said F*ck it, you know, (he laughs).

It was just, it needs to be done….there’s so much stress and anxiety and conflict,
and the staffers have a lot of pressure and stress too.
I wanted to just begin to open it up… and then that’s one way to affect policy.
If people are using this for their own personal wellbeing,
then when me or my staff says,
‘Hey, along those lines, we’re trying to get more money for social and emotional learning’
or some other program, there’s already a general awareness, like, ‘Wow, that really works.’

4. On making holistic healthcare, trauma-informed therapy and mindfulness programs available to veterans…

“I tell ya, I’m from Youngstown, Ohio,
I’ve seen some pretty burly Vietnam vets go through some of these programs
and just absolutely rave about it.
They wish they would have found it 30 or 40 years ago.
They got divorced, alienated from their kids,
and these programs are helping them heal themselves
and also start to heal those relationships and to me,
that’s what it’s all about and again; getting back to the healing.
Heal our vets, heal our kids, heal each other, heal the planet…
That’s kinda the underlying theme of the whole thing.

5. On recent Covid-related changes to work/life balance…

“Who knows, maybe this is an opportunity for us to really recognize
that slowing down, being with our families, having dinners together
that are home cooked, maybe this is the shift we need.
My mom used to say, ‘the Lord works in mysterious ways’.”

Learn More about Congressman Tim Ryan

Learn more about Congressman Tim Ryan.

Follow Tim Ryan on IG

Follow Tim Ryan on Twitter.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Congressman Tim Ryan: Spiritual Warrior appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

A Teacher’s Journey: Sri Dharma Mittra

Sri Dharma Mittra is known as  “the teacher’s teacher” a great yogi who is revered as an elder, a sage. He was born in the remote village of Pirapora, Brazil in 1939. One of five children, he and his brother Satya became enamored with yogic studies via books.

At 19, Sri Dharma Mittra enlisted in the Brazilian National Airforce where he served for six years. During that time he practiced bodybuilding, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In 1962 he won a national bodybuilding contest, and placed second in power-lifting. This same year, Sattya traveled to New York City to meet
Sri Swami Kailashananda (also known as Yogi Gupta).

Two years after arriving in NYC, in 1964, Sri Dharma Mittra met Yogi Gupta in person, and dedicated his life to the practice of yoga. He took every possible class with the Swami and his disciples. Three years later, Sri Dharma Mittra himself became a Sannyasi (one who renounces the world in order to realize God).

During the 1960s and 1970s Sri Dharma Mittra offered yoga asana lessons in the hotel ballrooms and public places where Yogi Gupta was giving discourse. With his teacher’s blessing, Sri Dharma Mittra opened “Dharma Yoga Center” in New York City in 1974.

For more than 50 years, the center has served as an international hub for classes, teacher trainings, and devotional study. Known as “The Teacher’s Teacher,” Sri Dharma Mittra has affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of yogis in America (and beyond).

When asking one of those students what they most loved about their time studying under the master, the student responded, “He would start every class reminding everyone to make every pose an offering to God.”

Sri Dharma Mittra photo by Joy Santos

A Conversation with The Teacher’s Teacher

Amy Dewhurst: What is yoga? Or what does yoga mean to you?

Sri Dharma Mittra: Yoga is the settling of the mind into silence. That’s what Patanjali tells us in the opening of the first Pada [book] of The Yoga Sutras. We have all of these beautiful techniques that we have received to help us in this process: the ethical rules, the Yogic practices, the physical exercises, the breathing exercises, meditation, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, et cetera. Patanjali outlines the main ones and, if you have the karma to have a nice yoga teacher, they will instruct you in the practice. The secret though is constant practice. Practice, keep acquiring Self-Knowledge and keep trying to become firmly established in compassion. This will help to settle the mind into silence and put you on the path to Self-Realization.

Amy: How did you come to the practice?

Sri Dharma Mittra: When I was a teenager, my brother gave me a copy of a book he found called Days of Peace that described the state of Samadhi. It was exactly what I had been searching for all of my life up until then. Where I was then in Brazil, there were no yoga teachers available, so I had to be patient.

Eventually, my brother went to New York City and met there an Indian Guru named Swami Kailashananda — the American students called him Yogi Gupta, because that was his family name and it was easier for them to pronounce and remember.

My brother wrote me a letter and said I’ve met the person we’ve been searching for. Come here as soon as you can! I asked my mother’s permission, sold my business, left the [Brazilian] Air Force, and bought a one-way ticket to New York. The day I arrived, I met the guru. For me, it was like meeting G-d. I knew I had found what I had been searching for all of my life up until then. I committed myself to his teachings and the practice, and for me, that was it.

Amy Dewhurst: How did you become a teacher?

Sri Dharma Mittra: I met my guru in 1964. I then took every class every day with him and his swamis. In 1967, I was asked to begin offering classes at the Yogi Gupta New York Ashram both to the residents and to the students that visited for classes. I taught classes concerning the third and fourth steps of yoga: Asana and Pranayama. In 1974, I asked the guru’s permission to leave the ashram and start my own school. With his blessing, I opened the Yoga Asana Center in New York City in 1975 that eventually became the Dharma Yoga Center. I have been sharing the full practice ever since.

Sharing Inspiration with Students

Amy: You’ve been teaching yoga asana since 1967. When students come through the doors, what do you hope to pass down to them, inspire in them, invite them to ripen into, to become?

Sri Dharma Mittra: Even if the students only arrive wanting to learn a little bit about how to make the physical body healthy, strong and more flexible, I try to make sure they leave having always learned some other things as well.

For many people, Asana is what gets them through the door and often keeps them interested, but so much of what we need to understand is that we are more than this physical body — this pile of bones, flesh and blood, that is born, lives for a while, and then dies.

Asana is wonderful for helping us to cultivate a radiant state of health, but Asana is only one eighth of yoga. If our practice begins and ends with Asana, then we are not really practicing yoga.

What is most important is that the students can come to see themselves in all living creatures. That they can come to understand there is something behind all life that allows us to experience everything, but come to know that we are so much more than the body and the mind.

Sri Dharma Mittra on Teaching

Amy Dewhurst: In all of those years do you have a favorite memory of teaching, or a moment when you really saw the impact your teachings have had on the world?

Sri Dharma Mittra: What gives me the most pleasure is to see people of the world behaving better and better — to see the compassion steadily increasing.

I told a story to the students online just this morning how a couple of years ago, I pretended to have my dentures fall out of my mouth while I was teaching (I dropped a set of plastic novelty teeth on the ground). While most of the students were disgusted, one of them leaped forward to grab what they thought were my false teeth to hand them to me.

This person had developed wonderful compassion and reverence for the teacher — good qualities for the student of yoga.

Amy: Your famous 908 yoga postures poster is can be seen in almost every yoga studio on the planet. Can you tell us how this happened?

Sri Dharma Mittra: I had an idea in the early 80s to do something to honor my teacher and to try and provide a tool that would help people to make progress in Asana; where they could see all the main poses and many variations all in one place.

I bought a video camera, a monitor and a regular camera with a squeeze bulb trigger. I would assume the pose, check the position in the video monitor, think of G-d, squeeze the bulb sometimes in my mouth, spit it out, and five seconds later, the camera would take the picture.

I eventually had over 1,300 pictures. I cut them all out so they were just the image of me without the background and over time began to arrange them on vertical wires I had hung for that purpose with clothespins.

Eventually when I had 908 of them arranged in the way that seemed right, I went to a special shop that could print large images and spent most of my money having copies made. Most of the original copies, I gave away or plastered on bus stops to promote my classes. Whenever I went back to check on them, they were gone! People kept taking them because I think they liked them. We keep printing them ever since and people keep buying them, so that’s good.

Amy Dewhurst: How has yoga changed in America, and in the world, since you first started teaching?

Sri Dharma Mittra: With technology, everything is constantly improving — getting better and better. In the beginning, if I wanted a certain book, I had to write to an ashram in India for permission, then send the money and sometimes it was months before I could finally hold it in my hands. Today, every yoga book is for sale on the internet and it can be delivered the next day. The main ones, you can read for free online anytime.

In the 1960s, there weren’t too many people who knew much about yoga even in New York City. Today, there is a yoga studio on every corner and if you don’t find the teacher you like there, you can go online and find thousands more everywhere.

If you have a question today about anything, you ask Swami Google-ananda. Before you even finish entering in the question, he already gives you many choices for answers.

We have yoga mats today — all these things to make the practice comfortable. I can’t wait to come back next lifetime and practice yoga in a space station!

Amy: If you could impart upon young aspirants one word of advice, or one thing you would hope they would learn, what would it be?

Sri Dharma Mittra: The action of compassion is to place yourself in others. I would tell them to learn to see themselves in others — that’s a master key to everything.

Amy: This is a question I ask everyone, so thank you for your thoughtfulness in answering. Where do you think dharma meets free will? How much is predetermined, how much is in our hands?

Sri Dharma Mittra: Dharma is the Divine Plan. If you accept and believe in the Laws of Karma, then you see that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; that everything we are currently passing through is a result of our deeds from the past. If you accept this way of seeing things, then free will is not part of the equation. We are here making decisions, taking actions, experiencing emotions, but we are doing this according to the Divine Plan. “Not even a single blade of grass moves without the will of the L-rd.”

If you believe this to be true, then every action you take is according to your Parabda Karma — the karma of this lifetime, and everything there is set, so the decisions we make, even the thoughts we think and emotional states we pass through, it’s all part of the larger process of purifying the heart and mind so we can eventually achieve Self-Realization, the goal of all life.

Amy Dewhurst: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Sri Dharma Mittra: Without Yama and Niyama, there is no yoga. It’s like spaghetti without the sauce. I have been saying this for many years and people usually laugh when they hear it the first time, but it’s true.

There are people in Cirque du Soleil who can do Asana better than any Yogi and there are pearl divers who can hold the breath longer. There are even people who can learn to concentrate the mind on one point without wavering to make great breakthroughs in science.

What transforms these actions into spiritual practice is a firm foundation of Yama and Niyama. Find a nice yoga teacher who can teach you these, who knows also about the main poses and breathing exercises and who can teach you how to sustain the concentration so it becomes meditation.

If we add the compassion full force to all of this, keep the diet, we are practicing yoga, and this will have the effect of transforming the way we experience life. Be kind to your guests and your pets. That is yoga.

Amy Dewhurst: Thank you for all you have done! I’m honored to interview you. Pranams.

Sri Dharma Mittra: Thank you for this great opportunity to share a little bit about the yoga!

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post The Teacher’s Teacher: An Interview with Sri Dharma Mittra appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

At 81, the icon reflects, “Each of us is born, I believe, with a unique mission, a purpose in life that only we can fulfill. We are linked by a shared responsibility: to help our human family grow kinder and happier.” This is an outlook gleaned from the four decades of “Changing Poison into Medicine.” It is a Buddhist practice that many say Tina has mastered this lifetime.

Tina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, 1939. Her father was a sharecropper in the still racist and stifled south. A local civil rights leader was lynched not far from the home they inhabited on the Poindexter Families’ farm. The singer recalls, “I was the child my mother never wanted; that was a heavy burden for a little girl to bear.”

The Bullocks would abandon their daughters for years at a time. They awaited the phone call, the letter, the explanation that would never come. Tina recalls, “Fantasies about the silver screen often got me through difficult times. When I was working in the fields, picking cotton and strawberries in oppressive heat, I would imagine a far-off paradise where I could live like the elegant movie stars did. I had no idea where this magical ‘Hollywood’ was, but I knew, deep down inside, that I wasn’t destined to stay in the farmlands. Even then I did not believe that my circumstances would limit my possibilities. I knew that someday I’d find my way out into the world.”

When Anna Mae was 16, her grandmother died. Out of other options, the girls moved in with their reluctant mother, in St. Louis, Missouri. They snuck off to the Club Manhattan to see Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm Band. Tina remembers, “He picked up his guitar and hit one note and it was just like ‘Jesus listen to this guy play.’ I almost went into a trance when I saw him.”

Years prior , in 1951, Ike Turner wrote and recorded what many consider the first rock n’ roll record of all time; “Rocket 88.” However, when the album came out it was credited to his saxophone player (Jackie Brenston) – a plot point that would shape his every thought and action thereafter.

Anna Mae idolized Ike. Week after week asked if she could sit in for a song. One Sunday night, the Rhythm Kings drummer put a mic down on the club floor. The frail teen wailed B.B. King’s, “You Know I love You.” Hours later she was asked to join the band. The soulful singers’ stage presence was unparalleled. Ike wasn’t going to let anyone else’s success evade him, so unbeknownst to her, Ike legally changed Anna Mae’s name to Tina. They later wed in a civil ceremony.

Ike and Tina Turner’s debut album, “A Fool in Love,” topped the R&B Charts, and quickly crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. They did grueling one-night gigs across the country, ascending to national television spots on the late night shows. They attracted the attention of mega-producer Phil Spector, who paid Ike to stay out of the studio while he recorded Tina’s vocals over a string section on the single, “River Deep, Mountain High.” It was a new sound that secured the couple as the opening act on The Rolling Stones Fall ’66 tour. It is even said she taught Stones frontman Mick Jagger how to dance.

Although all of Ike’s tightly-held dreams were coming true, the success inflamed his deepest insecurities. The bigger they became, the more he tried to control everything and everyone around him. He built a recording studio with automatic locks, and cameras in every room, had extramarital affairs with other women named Ann and indulged in a thousand dollar per week cocaine habit that burned a hole through his nose.

Tina Turner and her children (1967). Photograph courtesy of Rhonda Graam/HBO

Tina and her housekeeper were raising four children; two from Ike’s previous marriage, Ike Jr. and Michael; Craig from a prior relationship of Tina’s, and Ronnie, whom they shared. When she was pregnant with Ronnie, Ike brutalized the young mother. Tina remembers, “He beat me with a shoe stretcher, and after that he made me go to bed and he had sex with me, and I was all swollen and that was the beginning of the torture. That was the beginning of how it was.”

For seventeen years, Tina arrived at rehearsals and shows with black eyes and bruised lips, dislocated joints and broken bones. She was scalded with hot coffee, and had her jaw cracked. People in their inner and outer circles would extend the heavily subtexted, “Are you ok Tina..?” “Are you taking care of yourself..?” These are coded questions customary to victims of domestic violence. She made a futile escape attempt, but was found before she could even get on the bus. Despondent and unable to see another way out, the 29-year-old took 50 sleeping pills. The emergency room doctors pumped her stomach and tried to get a pulse. When Ike came in the room and shouted “M*therfucker!” her heart started again. In a 2019 interview she says, “that’s how afraid of him I was…”

The Power of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Almost immediately after this incident, a sound engineer said to Tina, “You should try chanting, it will help change your life.” A few months later, her son Ronnie came home carrying what appeared to be a wooden rosary. He exclaimed, “Mother, these are Buddhist chanting beads. If you chant ‘Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’ you can have anything you want.” She thought, “What? How could I ever have anything I want? I didn’t even know how to process that statement.” He asked her to attend a chanting meeting up the street, but she was imprisoned in her own home. Not allowed by Ike to leave.

A few weeks later Ike brought over a woman named Valerie Bishop. Tina remembers, “Out of nowhere, she started talking about chanting. She was a Buddhist. Apparently, the universe was trying very hard to send me an important message. This time, I was ready to listen…Three people who didn’t know one another, and were of different ages, genders, and ethnicities, had each offered the same advice about changing my life for the better.”

Tina read a Buddhism book by Daisaku Ikeda about a 13th century Japanese Philosopher named Nichiren, who distilled the revered Lotus Sutra into just one phrase, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Directly translated it means, “Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra.” However to the many millions of Buddhists worldwide who are part of the Sokka Gakkai community, it also means “Changing Poison into Medicine.”

Changing Poison into Medicine

Tina thought of all the poison she had swallowed in her life, All the abandonment, indignities, bruises, and brutality. She remembered reciting prayers back at the Baptist Churches, and created a ritual of saying the “Lord’s Prayer” followed by “Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo.” She would steal away for a few minutes out of Ike’s watchful eye. That turned into ten or fifteen. Soon chanting filled her days.

Tina recalls, “The more I chanted, the more I felt my true self, my inherent Buddha nature, awakening. My life condition kept rising, and I developed a newfound feeling of detachment around my husband. I became so strong inside that eventually our conflicts began to feel like a game, like some sort of karmic test. In the midst of chaos, I felt as if I had been reborn. The brighter my inner light shined, the more my environment improved.”

Tina was cast in The Who’s Rock Opera Tommy fulfilling her childhood vision of being a movie star, while far away on a film set, getting a short respite from the overwhelm of abuse. At a concert around the same time she enrolled the audience in the call-and-response style singing she learned in the church choir. Someone in the crowd yelled out, “Tina you are finally receiving…” She felt the deeper meaning of that message, and was ready to make a change.

The famous couple were on tour in Dallas, Texas, when Ike backhanded Tina in the backseat of a limo. She pointed her finger in his face and said, “I’m not going to take your licks anymore.” He responded by screaming, “M*therf*cker never talked to me like this before” and pounded on her.

When they arrived at their hotel her white pantsuit was covered in blood. The crew didn’t know if they should set up for the evening’s show. Ike laid across the bed, and Tina massaged him to sleep. As soon as he started to snore, she left the room, ran across the highway, through on-coming traffic, and into a Ramada Inn. She asked for the manager, asserting, “ All I have is the Mobile card and thirty-six cents, but I promise, if you give me a room tonight I’ll send you your money.” A lawyer-friend arranged for a flight back to LA. It was Fourth of July weekend,1976, her own personal independence day.

Buddhist sangha members, Ana and Wayne Shorter, invited Tina to take shelter in their home. Ana told her, “When we became friends in New York [years prior], I sensed a deep sadness in you and felt you were hiding something about your situation. Since we first met, I’ve had your name in my prayer book and have been chanting for your true happiness.”

Although her hosts protested, Tina scrubbed floors, cleaned dishes, did the laundry, chanting “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo’ all the while. She could picture herself singing to sold-out stadiums, extending the blessings of the Buddha to everyone in attendance. Tina recalls, “While I was facing the hardest challenges of my life, I was also dreaming the biggest dreams I ever imagined, and I was chanting several hours a day to achieve them.”

Some of the members of the Sokka Gakkai chanting groups were older Japanese women, who had lived through World War II and the atomic bomb. They moved to the US with their military husbands. After chanting one evening, the women asked Tina to talk a little more about her situation.

She was usually hesitant to share, but felt an unfamiliar deep comfort in their company, and started to spill, “Divorcing Ike proved to be more complicated than I had ever imagined. I was facing an army of lawyers filing lawsuits against me for walking out on concerts and recording contracts I was supposed to do with Ike. Meanwhile, I was also being harassed by thugs Ike sent to intimidate me, whose tactics included setting fire to one of my friends’ cars and firing bullets through my windows. On top of that, I was in debt, I had no savings, no income, no place of my own to live (my sons and I were staying with Ana and Wayne Shorter). I was a Black woman in my forties trying to restart my career as a solo n’ roll artist in an industry that prizes young white males above all else. Plus I was in need of new management. Oh, and I had health challenges, too.”

The women responded by clapping, “Congratulations Tina! You are so fortunate!” She thought they hadn’t understood what she had said, but the women responded with Buddhist wisdom. Through chanting “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo” one could transform their many poisons into medicine, meaning the more misfortune endured, the greater opportunity for blessings.

At the divorce proceedings, the judge called Ike and Tina into his chamber. Surely the paperwork was filed incorrectly. It looked like Tina didn’t want any of it. The homes, the cars, the royalties, and recordings. At the last minute she changed her mind, saying, “I do want one thing. My name, I’ve worked too damn hard for it.”And with that she started rebuilding.

Confidante Rhonda Graam booked the newly single singer anywhere they would take her. Cabaret clubs, Vegas, The Hollywood Squares. She met music manager Roger Davies on the set of an Olivia Newton John TV Special and asked him to check out her lounge act. Davies was bored by the dinner slot, but blown away by her late night set. He tried to get the chart-topping songstress a record deal, but everyone asked “Where’s Ike…?”

In the December 7, 1981 edition of People magazine she answered that question once and for all. There was a collective gasp when international audiences read writer Carl Arrington’s article about Tina’s abuse in unfiltered detail. Capital Records A&R exec John Carter took a chance, saying “Once a star, always a threat” – but when new upper management came in they tried to kill the deal. John pleaded on his knees to allow Tina to make just one record.

Feeling the pressure, and having a knack for what’s needed, Davies brought Tina to meet songwriters in Europe. As a courtesy she hopped in the recording booth with Terry Britten to work on a tune she didn’t care for. But as she got the rhythm, she realized, this didn’t sound like an Ike and Tina Song, or a cover song, but a TINA TURNER SONG.

Tina Turner performs live on stage at Wembley Stadium in London (1990). Photograph by Dave Hogan/Courtesy of Getty/HBO

What’s Love Got To Do With It

That ballad was “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” The tune would become a soul-bearing sensation selling 1.5 millions copies worldwide. At 44, she became the oldest solo female artist on the hot 100 chart. That year she received three Grammys for the single including “Record of the Year”, “Song of the Year’ and “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.”

The single’s album, Private Dancer, was promoted throughout 1985 in a 177-date worldwide tour. It received multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and went 5x platinum in the United States. In 1988 Tina played a Pepsi and HBO sponsored concert in Rio, Brazil for a crowd of 180,000 people. Before each of these performances she chanted backstage for at least an hour, “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” praying that everyone in the audience was able to change their poison into medicine. That they would each come to know their true essence. Her long held vision finally came true.

Tina’s spirit of survival empowered people everywhere, and MTV VJ Kurt Loder suggested the heroine write a memoir. Together, Loder and Tina penned I, Tina, an international best-seller that was later adapted into the major motion picture, What’s Love Got To Do With It. When a guest on the Oprah Winfrey talk show, the production team received more than 50,000 letters from domestic violence survivors and a sisterhood of fans who were strengthened by Tina’s Story. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

The Best

In the decades to come, Tina secured her spot as one of the most prolific and revered performers of the modern age. She starred in the cult classic, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and was bestowed an impressive collection of Grammys, platinum, gold and silver records. The Broadway play Tina; The Musical, shares her story with a broader and younger audience. In her 2020 book Happiness Becomes You (Astria) she opens up about her devotion to Nichiren Buddhism, and finally, her HBO documentary TINA is her way of saying goodbye to her fans.

Her warm, nurturing, and supportive partner of many decades, music exec Erwin Bach remarked, “She said, ‘I’m going to America to say goodbye to my American fans and I’ll wrap it up.’ And I think this documentary and the play, this is it — it’s a closure.”The two intend to spend the rest of their days in their idyllic home in Zurich, Switzerland. Their rich and rewarding life is filled with old friends, close family, and their Buddhist Sangha. There is a soothing compatibility between them that reverberates with respect, understanding and lasting love. The poison has been changed into medicine. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Celebrating TINA

TINA, An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Singer Tina Turner, was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Documentary Special in 2021. The film by Academy Award winning directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin, celebrates her extraordinary life.

Tina Turner left this planet on May, 24, 2023. We honor her life and legacy. 

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Tina Turner; Changing Poison Into Medicine appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Intro: Remembering 911

I grew up in suburban New Jersey on the commuter line into New York City. I worked my way through school as a junior account executive for a brokerage firm on Wall Street during the dot com boom of the late ’90s and early ’00s. Back then, the streets of lower Manhattan seemed to be paved with gold. A short while later they were covered with concrete, ash, and unanswered prayers.

In August, 2012 I secured a publishing contract for the book Heartbreak Yoga. It was intended (and pitched as) as a collection of  yoga asana postures to help one navigate romantic heartbreak. When I sat down to write it, the following chapter was the first thing to spill out. I didn’t know that was buried in there all those years later. Turns out all the vinayas, deep breaths and Hanuman Chalisas really did help to clear the gunk out of my heart.

Thank you to FMT + LA Yoga for publishing this first-hand account of the imprint September 11th left on me, and countless other in the New York Area. May all find the healing that they need. Om Namah Shivaya. (Following excerpt reprinted with permission from Changing Lives Press. Copyright Amy V. Dewhurst 2013.)

That One September: Pain Is Part Of The Deal

“Pain is part of the deal. When I think back to that time, I was so sure someone must have the answer. I wanted someone to tell me how to make my life-pain free. Looking back, I can’t imagine who I thought got through their entire lives and managed to avoid the pain. Now I realize there is not now nor has there ever been a single person on this planet who has successfully avoided the pain of being a human. Pain is part of the deal.” –Gurmukh Beloved Kundalini Yoga Teacher and owner of Goldenbridge Yoga, Los Angeles, CA

It was a typical middle-class, suburban community smelling of freshly cut lawns. Behind picket fences were well-meaning but nosey neighbors and Detroit-built SUVs. The teens made out on church retreats, smoked spliffs on their way to varsity practice and sang Syd Barrett Songs as they aced the SATs. Proud parents snapped photos at prom parties, comparing curfews, report cards and whose virginity was still believed to be intact. Fourth of July Fireworks fell down on Memorial Fields as “The Boss” blasted from beer trucks. We were proud to be “Born in the USA.”

City Tragedy Touches Small Town Life

There were the typical triple “our town” tragedies: horrific earth-shattering car accidents, awful overdoses and the stand-alone suicide. This community came together in joy and grief like a Grecian epic, getting good at repurposing embroidered black funeral wear for Little Suzie’s wedding just by adding a colorful wrap.

Then there was that one September when we perfected the skill. Our small pond police chief would go to Ground Zero to get the bodies, as Claire at Beaugard’s would make a place for them to rest. The main street was short and the words were few. “Todd. Thursday.” No one needed to say much more than that—time and funeral parlor location were well understood. I was working on Wall Street and going to school in the city. Based on proximity, willing creativity and the irrepressible urge to grieve optimistically, I took over “Celebrating the Life of . . .” collage duty. The college kids would comment on my compositions, coming home on weekends for wakes.

My group of Jersey Girls became like a team of professional, fashionable mourners, trading in our standard issue 20-something Steve Madden shoes for more reasonable flats. The grief/heat combo of standing room only funeral services always concluded with a fainting or two. I observed early on it was the girls in three-inch-plus heels who had to lock out their knees to stand up straight that were usually the first to hit the floor. But who could blame them? They wanted to say goodbye to their first loves in style. “It’s what he would’ve wanted me to wear,” she said, uncharacteristically strong. We stood together sobbing as Scooter, her 20-year-old atheist, anti-establishment boyfriend’s corpse was being carried out of the Catholic Church, draped in an American Flag.

First the leaves fell, then the snows came. Stockings were hung from the chimney with care, in hopes that “The Missing” would soon be there. New Years’ Resolutions consisted of “Please God, if you bring ________ home, I promise, I will never ________ again.” It was around Valentine’s Day the DPW finally cleared the crowded commuter parking lot. If there was no DNA discovered, they would donate unclaimed cars to the fire department for “scared straight” DUI drills during driver’s ed.

We buried empty caskets, and with them, mom and dad’s dream that little John-o’s job in the big city would afford him a slightly better life than they had had; an extra AC in the den, power windows & vacations “down the shore,” even during leaner years.

Searching the Faces of Survivors

Meanwhile, Back at Work . . . combat soldiers with uzis had been deployed downtown. The Bull and The Bear were barren. Subways, sidewalks, StairMasters and bar stools were all eerily empty. Government issued IDs allowed entry to the cobblestone streets of Old New York. There you would frantically search the faces of survivors striding past.

Desperate families would plead with handmade flyers, “Have you seen my dad/mom/husband/wife/brother/sister/son/daughter/lover/neighbor/ rabbi/priest/dog/cat/fiancé/ friend . . .?” A regretful shake of the head was the default response. You couldn’t make eye contact with the families. You could barely breathe from the ever-escaping fumes.

There was a woman at The New York Sports Club who would ALWAYS take my treadmill during my assigned time. She would pretend she couldn’t see me waving the sign-up sheet in her direction over her Financial Times newspaper. She would pretend she couldn’t hear me shouting “Excuse me, your time is up!” over her Sony Discman tracks and StarTAC cell phone calls. She would pretend she couldn’t respond, having just taken a big sip of Pepsi from the can. She would pretend she couldn’t feel me tapping her shoulder. Of course not, she was winging her bony Rolex & Harry Winston-clad arms around trying to fling me off. I hated that bitch and her gorgeous red Kate Spade bag. She loathed me, Miss PYT, probably 30 years her junior, flagging around the stupid treadmill sign-up sheet, indignant about time.

Her tycoon husband had left her for a younger woman before I had even been born. She learned to day trade out of divorcée defiance, victoriously taking over 51 percent of his brokerage firm. You know what they say about a woman scorned—she joins the boys’ club at Harry’s in Hanover Square and smokes Cuban cigars just a few minutes after burning the bras. She felt, despite NYSC standards, she was entitled to the extra fifteen minutes of cardio at my workout’s expense. “Show some respect for your elders!” she spewed.

That ornery old bitch was one of the first recognizable faces I frantically scanned in early October. With overwhelming relief, I fell into her ugly old chicken-arms. I cried grateful but silent sobs, as she wailed aloud, “Thank God you are okay, I have been looking for you everywhere, I knew you commuted on the PATH Train, I thought . . . Oh God, Sweetie, thank God you are ok. Thank you God. Thank you God. Thank you God.”

Remembering 911

But that story was just one in a million (1 in 2,997, to be more precise). Never again did I see the funny, sweet guys from Fire Company #5 who teased me each time I emerged from the World Trade Center’s basement mall, Banana Republic bag in hand:

“Uh, Oh, somebody didn’t make it home laaaast night.” “Woo-hoo, walk of shame shopping trip.”

“Hey Bertolino, your girlfriend’s cheatin’ on ya.”

“Ah ha ha ha . . .”

The homeless woman who slept on the steps of Trinity Church: “Alms for the poor? Thank you. God bless you.”

Gloria, the woman who worked at Mangia Deli, who took the lunchtime delivery orders over the phone:

“Amy, Kerri & Dan? One twenty Wall Street, right? The usual for you guys?”

My personal trainer Blythe: “One more rep, you can do it, I believe in you . . .”

My friend Todd: “Hey, I’m going to make the 7:14 train, can I grab ya a Heineken for the ride home?”

My friend Jen’s dad, Mr. Fialco: “Give your old man a call. Tell him I’ll drop ya home on my way. Save ’im a trip to the train station.”

And many, many, many more . . .

What wasn’t conveyed in those overused images of the towers tumbling down was the innate silence the city suddenly fell under. Well, that and the smell. I’m not brave enough even to begin a description of the smell. A re-watch of Schindler’s List, Born on the Fourth of July, or Glory may help you imagine it. Sucking in dry wall dust during a renovation might help you breathe it. Add to that the paranoid fear of a cop driving behind you after you’ve had three glasses of wine at dinner, or the way your hair stands on end in historically spooky spaces— Alcatraz, Amityville, Auschwitz. There. That’s the zygote of a description. I’m braver than I thought. You probably are too.

I tell you this grim tale not as a victim, but as a survivor of earth-quaking, building-breaking, heart-shattering, soul-squeezing, mind-numbing, God-questioning, wholly humbling, totally vulnerable, on-my-knees, “How could this have happened?” heartbreak. Some forthcoming melodramas may have seemed hysterical and ungrounded otherwise.

With love and respect to all who survived, and especially to those who didn’t, I’m grateful to have had the following experiences. I missed my train that Tuesday morning.

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post That One September — Heartbreak and Remembering 911 appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Satsang: Gathering Musical Community

Satsang; it means community, it means to gather. And as Drew McManus, lead singer of the band of the same name shares, it means, “In the company of truth.” This is something McManus has been seeking in himself and the world around him for as long as he can remember.

Drew McManus and his Journey from the Outer to the Inner

Drew grew up in the urban sprawl of Des Moines, Iowa, surrounded by section 8 housing. He slept to a soundtrack that included the cacophony of cries from brutal crime. “I had a really rough childhood,” Drew discloses. “My stepfather was super abusive. He hit me and my brother every single day. My understanding of the world was formed under the threat of violence…every waking second.”

The only solace was when McManus’s mom would throw on classic country music LPs like Hank Williams, Jr. or The Highwaymen. When he was three years old, someone put a plastic guitar in his hands. He carried it at all times, pretending he was country-rock “god” Garth Brooks.

As he got a little older, McManus immersed himself in the aggressive dissonance of skate culture. He watched videos on VHS and listened to the heavy punk rock that accompanied them: Black Flag, The Suicide Machines, and favorite, Bad Religion. He resonated with the survivalist stories he heard in hip hop music sung by Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and more. His intrinsic poetic rebellion was soaking in similar artists who had come before.

At 13, McManus noticed his mom’s new boyfriend had an old acoustic guitar. Drew asked if he could “mess around with it.” The boyfriend responded, “Man you can have it.” His mom bought him a 20-page, “How to play guitar” book complete with chord charts. He went to the local library and checked out The Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty”, and the Black Crowes “Shake Your Money Maker” on CDs. He taught himself how to strum, and within a year started to write songs. Drew had finally found that emotional and creative outlet he craved as a kid. But the genetic coding and karmic conditions he was born with had other plans.

McManus got busted with “a super small amount” of marijuana. The budding musician was put on six months of probation getting drug-tested twice a week. The child of many generations of addiction, he recalls, “I had zero interest in drinking alcohol, because I was raised by an alcoholic. I had no curiosity about putting it into my body. But not being able to smoke pot and still needing some sort of escape, I just started drinking and didn’t really stop.”

He moved out when he was 16 and made his way to the nearest big city. “I always liked cocaine, but I could never afford it,” McManus admits. “And then, when I moved to Chicago, I found myself in a little hustle where I was selling drugs. So, it became a lot more affordable. And that became quite the issue.”

Within a few years, all of his relationships disintegrated, McManus recalls to the point, “where no one wanted to be around me, and then I tried to kill myself and failed miserably.” Remaining friends and family staged an intervention. Before he knew it he was en route to rehab in Billings, Montana, where his dad lives. Drew remembers, “I didn’t put up much of a fight. I was pretty much homeless at the time too, so a part of agreeing to go to treatment was like, ‘Cool, I don’t have to worry about who I owe money to, or where I’m gonna sleep.’ It was just a huge relief. I remember thinking I’ll just fully surrender to this. This’ll be kind of nice.”

After the agony and offloading of in-patient treatment, Drew found himself in 12-step programs seeking his “higher power.” He couldn’t really find it in the church basements where others were baring their souls. So he set out on a journey in the mountains of Montana. “I just spent a lot of time climbing and hiking, and fishing, and just removed myself from society for a little bit.”

Life-Changing Convos in Coffee Shops

In the calm quiet of nature, Drew McManus made efforts to make peace with his past, honor the emptiness of the present moment, and see what spirit had lined up for him next. There was still a lot of deep healing to do, but he made that next-right-decision to responsibly land work at a local coffee shop. One of the regulars at that coffee shop would forever change his life. Drew adoringly adds, “So she would come in and drink coffee while she would do her anatomy books for her 500-hour RYT. I would never charge for a drink, and I would always flirt with her. And then eventually, she asked me to go on a hike. It was just crazy. She had three kids, a master’s degree, and I was fresh out of rehab and sleeping on a couch at the time. It just made absolutely no sense, but we made it.” McManus jokes, “I knew right away. She tried to fight it for a while, and I had to keep reminding her over and over. Like ‘You can’t be fighting this. This is the universe in action. You don’t wanna be the one that slaps God in the face’.”

Drew and Summer joined together as friends, as a couple, as man and wife, and co-parents. She offered him the safe and stable homelife that his younger-self had never experienced. He worked to provide for his new family, at the coffee shop, and outdoor store, waiting tables, working at a ski mountain, and trekking through the desert. A coworker who led expeditions invited him to go rock climbing in Nepal. He tucked away the funds and went on pilgrimage.

He reminisces, “I was lucky. My wife is a sage. She is a very special person, a yoga therapist, an Ayurveda practitioner, a psychotherapist. She’s the real deal. And for the first four years we were together, she just ever so gently pushed me into things, so I could realize it for myself.”

Trekking To the Himalayas

Landing in Kathmandu Valley, in the shadow of Mount Everest, the climbers planned to ascend some boulders, but the conditions weren’t ideal. The duo decided to trek through Khumbu. It would take five weeks by foot. Drew reminisces, “It’s the first time in my life that I had the space where I wasn’t in survival mode. I wasn’t in problem-solving mode. It was just like – all I have to do today is walk that way. It was on those walks that I would start digging in, and it was like accidental therapy.”

Drew McManus on A Pilgrimage to Find Satsang

Like many who go on pilgrimage, he asked himself the extensional questions. “What does it all mean?” “Why are we here?” And of course, “What am I here for” The answer, he somehow always knew, came louder and louder. “No, no more tapping out” he thought. “This is what you were made to do, so let’s go do it.”

He then had the fated meeting with a group of yogis who invited him to a “Satsang.” Drew discovered the word’s deeper meaning. When he returned home to his wife, he exclaimed, “Dude, it’s music!” And she was like, “Yeah babe, I know.”

Drew gathered the “Satsang” and a band was formed. Satsang has been traveling coast to coast playing concerts and festivals while growing a devout fanbase who beats the band to the words of their own songs. Satsang’s 2016 debut album, Story Of You, had millions of plays on Spotify, and contains the fan favorites, “I Am” and “Remember Jah.” Their follow-up Pyramid(s), boasted the beloved anthem, “Between” featuring Nahko Bear. The 2019 release, Kulture, explores the activist side of the singer/songwriters.

All.Right.Now: An Album of Truth through Music

So what do rolling stones like the members of Satsang do in a year when they are forced off the road? They surrender to the moment, let those shoulders down, heal some of the old wounds, and do it all in the studio for all to hear. The 2021 release All.Right.Now is a stripped-down and deeply authentic version of everything we’ve seen the band do before. Their music offers a sense of solace when we’ve been needing more community and the shared experience of deeper truths. Satsang’s bust-out single from All.Right.Now, “This Place” features Trevor Hall, in a collab that fans have been eagerly anticipating, according to the comments shared on the song’s hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and social media sites.

This Place with Trevor Hall

As All.Right.Now releases out into the world, the band is getting back on stage.

Drew McManus longs to create the sacred space so many seek to rejoin. He says, “It’s rare in this life to find that tightrope between the ethereal and the physical. And when we play live shows, that’s where I feel that, and that’s where I can stay in that for longer than a brief second. So, I’m looking forward to getting back there, in that magical energy exchange that happens between the crowd and us. That is why I’m here.”

Satsang’s album All. Right. Now. releases on Side One Dummy Records and is available on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube and wherever music can be heard.

They open for Michael Franti at Red Rocks Amphitheater on Saturday June 5th.

For more info visit:
https://www.satsangmovement.com/
https://www.facebook.com/satsangMT/
https://twitter.com/Satsang
https://www.instagram.com/satsang/

Satsang shares All.Right.Now

* PHOTOS BY Greyson Christian Plate

Amy V Dewhurst

To Check Out Amy’s Work Go To; Sense + Color, You Can Reach Her At IG:  Amy_V_Dewhurst  + AmyVDewhurst@SenseAndColor.co #PutYourGoodWhereItWillDoTheMost

www.senseandcolor.co

The post Satsang Lead Singer Drew McManus and His Search for Sacred Sound appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.