It was great to be at Yogaville after 7 years! The Krishna Das kirtan retreat at Satchidananda Ashram was amazing. I had the rare opportunity to connect with Krishna Das, to receive his heart-filled transmission, and to authentically immerse myself in one of the most potent yogic traditions of the Indian subcontinent. Krishna Das is a renowned storyteller! The stories opened me up to the possibilities of the true miracle, finding the love that lives within us as our own true nature, becoming a good human being living more graciously in the world. We practiced and chanted a variety of things over our time together and I made some notes to share.
We practiced singing from our hearts to hearts and not to our egos. I literally felt so relaxed after singing mantras over and over again and learned new mantras. I even slept well in a dorm with 5 other women, 2 of them snored and the room was stuffy. The dancing and singing made me so exhausted that the sleeping environment didn’t matter. The weather was warm and muggy in VA. We took 2 Intergral Yoga classes per day along with breath work, chanting and meditation. We meditation inside of the Light of Truth Universal Shrine (LOTUS). The food was delicious organic food from their farm with no meat. I felt purified when I left.
Ego vs Intuitive – Intuition is not mind stuff. It’s what your gut tells you. You don’t have to think about it. You just know. Ego is driven by over thinking.
Breathe the holy breath – not the holy spirit
Energy is an awareness practice that is deeper than your mind.
The only thing we take is our state of mind. Our thoughts are not our true nature. We can take more awareness by practice. Liberation is between the states, mind and sub-conscience.
Clean out the dark shadows of our hearts. If we don’t deal with our shadows our shadows will deal with us.
Karma is the path to freedom.
I noticed that Krishna Das has a funny and dry sense of humor that’s entertaining. He spoke at length about his story on how he got in to a negative life in his early years. He surrendered everything he owned, gave out everything here and moved to India for two years. He worked with an Indian guru and after two years, he didn’t want to come back to America. His guru said, ‘you must go back to America and face your life.’ You are still attached to your old life and you must go back. The guru gave him his name, ‘Krishna Das’, He came back to America and share devotional yoga and that he did.
We also chanted ’Shree Hanumaan Chaaleeaa’ along with Nina Roe, an amazing chant artist who plays with Krishna Das. The chant was hard for me to sing, my tongue couldn’t keep up or maybe not flexible enough. I sat next to someone who helped me sing it and said it takes a lot of practice.
Here’s a photo of inside the LOTUS Shrine at the Satchidananda Ashram.
