Peace, tolerance, love . . . presence

I started to write yesterday but it didn't work, I saved it and went back to look at it and was like, yuck, no thats not gettings posted! lol So this morning I woke up sluggishly, instead of going to the studio to practice before my Mysore class I ate a Pro Bar with Coconut Water at home and then went to Starbucks to try and wake up. Read a bit, then went to the studio for the official 7:30am start time and no one showed up. No big deal, so I went to park and wasted time until two friends were able to join me and we practiced at the park, I did second series, first three postures of the third series, and then full set of pranayama. It sent me into a weird place, I ate, which grounded me again, then came home and fell asleep for an hour. Now I feel as if I'm human again. Good lord, not sure what that was about, but I felt a mess lol. If you've been following my blog, then you know that when I changed my name to Sat Inder back in 2010 officially ( but I began using it in 2009) it was because I became a Sikh. Sikhi is a religion from India that wears turbans, has a peaceful manifesto, but also carries swords so that you know they are willing to stand up for their beliefs, and won't sit idly by as you pick on another for their beliefs either. When it came to this country it was mostly because of Yogi Bhajan, who came to teach us Kundalini Yoga, which transformed many people, so they began asking about his turban and his bana (clothing) and his beard, etc. When asked he gave them answers from a yogic perspective, not necessarily from a traditional Sikh perspective, but it was those answers that caused many, myself included, to convert from our western upbringing to the ways of the East and join that faith (I hate the word religion). Sikhs embrace all faiths and are willing to fight for everyones system of belief, not just their own, and have been persecuted in India since the time the faith was founded, in 1699 officially. The name Sikh (prounounced sick) means seeker of truth, or student, so all that stands to reason why they chose that as their name. I have not been wearing my turban lately, I have even cut my beard and my hair. I still wear my kara and still follow many of the traditions within the faith, even though I have broken a few of their rules by doing the latter. To me faith is an inner experience, and sometimes those external things, like hair, turban, wearing white (which is only an American Sikh thing, in India only the old an infirm Sikhs wear white), carrying a sword, etc, serve as a way to find that inner space for the true light of the faith to begin to shine out, and then the outer is no longer needed. Part of the external trappings of the faith are so that one stands out in a crowd and you know they are different. I agree with that too, but also believe if you're living the inner experience, you will shine like a light from heaven and all will know there is something different about you, with or without wearing the garb. I stand out, always have, and imagine I always will. When I wore the turban I did get more attention, not always good, but not always bad. But I still have long hair and a beard, wear large jewelry and bright colors and live in Fundamentalist Central, so I say again, I will always stand out. But not just for those reasons, also because I live the life. I do the work, I practice asana daily, which gives my body a definitive glow, pranayama most days, which takes the glow and shines it into a bright light, I walk the talk, I don't just say the shit I say, I live by it and am committed to it. Some Sikhs may say that without that external garb it doesn't matter, but most in the know, the American Sikhs who practice the Kundalini Yoga, and many Indian Sikhs who know the power of spirit, still accept me into the fold as a Sikh. And I say that I am one, knowing the word to mean seeker of truth, especially strengthens the knowledge that I am one in my heart. Ok, all that said, I want to say something about the shootings in Wisconsin. Its sad anytime anyone is killed for no reason at all, or for no valid reason. I believe the man thought he was killing Muslims, which after 11 years you'd think educated beings would understand all Muslims do not want to kill Americans, hell I live in a neighbor which is mostly Muslim and they are peaceful with those of us who are not. Also, Muslims don't wear turbans. Not in this city anyway, or in most cities in this country. 90% of turban wearing people in this country are Sikhs, but many don't know that. In the middle east everyone wears turbans because it keeps you cool, but for the most part they just wear kufis or hand woven little beanies resembling yarmulkes. So turbans, no, not a Muslim. But even mistaking the turban for Muslim headwear does not excuse the fact that you fucking killed them! Dude, when in the hell are we going to chill out and learn to love, instead of all of this hatred that is coming out so fully lately. The night of the Sikh shootings the Muslim Mosque in Joplin, MO, was burned down. So its all just intolerance. And I must say I was raised in a fundamentalist religion, who preached that all except our faith were going to hell. But still, that doesn't mean we were to send them there, they were already going! lol Sorry, I don't believe in hell so always take the humorous side with it. Hell, or heaven for that matter, to me are both incarnations of our mind. Meaning that we can create it in our present, and if we live there strongly enough it goes with us after we leave these bodies. But I'm not going to get into my whole afterlife philosophy right now. When are going to learn to love? When? I began a yoga practice back in late 1999, early 2000, for physical reasons, but quickly realized that there was much more to it than that and began digging into books to study the philosophy and the energetic body and much, much more. I FELT something, for maybe the first time in my life, and was willing to allow myself to FEEL it. Before I drank, smoked, or whatever it took to shut off those sensations and be unfeeling, so that I could function. But now I feel when my heart expands and love pours out. I feel when my energy flows and when its blocked and notice what emotion I'm feeling when I come up against a block. And just for the record, it usually isn't love... So lets start a campaign, get people feeling things, using asana, using meditation, using Qi Gong or T'ai Chi, using Body Electric techniques. Using any goddamn thing that starts to make people feel, and encourage them to stay with the feeling, to embrace it and go further into it. I believe that once more and more start feeling, and being okay with it, not taking things or using substances to block the sensation, then they will also realize that other beings, maybe every other being on the planet, also feels. Not just human animals, but other animals as well, and even plants, etc. So when you know how you feel when something happens to you, you're less likely to cause it to happen to others, and may even be compassionate towards them when they feel it from some other source, because you've felt it too. We're all in this together, and we really are all one, in many senses of the word, not just physical, but again, thats another blog entry. So today feel. And when you do, go deeper into it if its a sensation, now if its an acute pain, thats the biggest sign saying turn around, go back. But if its a subtle sensation, go into it, feel it out, see where its coming from, what its cause was. It may lead you back to a childhood issue, or something that happened last week, or last year. Something that you buried and didn't deal with, emotionally, physically, energetically. And that thing got caught in your body, or in your mind and created its own space, just to say, he'll come back to me one day, or I'll keep poking him until he does. Then once dealt with, that thing goes away. Yes, it does! So starting right now, lets also not allow things to get buried, so we have to deal with them in the future, lets have the proper emotional, physical or energetic response now! Deal with while its here, thats being present, living in the now. Lets be present!!!