Archive for the ‘Love and Worship’ Category:
HuDost Returns and Rahasya Kirtan!
Sunday, April 3rd:
Surdas & Vajra Yogini www.rahasya.org will be offering a Live Music Yoga class at 4-6 pm followed by kirtan at 7 pm. Held at City Yoga.
Sunday, April 8th:
HuDost www.hudost.com will be performing at CityYoga in the evening, more details to come soon!
Both events to be held at CITY YOGA in April! These guys came out last year and were WONDERFUL! I highly encourage you to come check them out 
Being In Love
Love is a Force that moves through the heart. It is a Force so overwhelming and powerful that it quickens the pulse, sends blood rushing faster, spinning wildly in the center, generating heat, and that heat converts into the Divine Fire of Love itself … a Fire to burn away all that is not Love.
Love is a longing. It is a deep craving in the heart to dissolve into the object of its affection, to become the Fire, and to breathe that Fire deep into the belly, incinerating all that is no longer necessary. This is the Fire that transforms.
In Love, we resonate with our object of Love, and that object of Love becomes Love itself. It is Love because we recognize Love within it. It becomes a mirror of Love staring into the eyes of Love. And we dote on our object of affection. We are devoted to it. We adore it. We express our feelings of adoration. We value the other. The other becomes important, extremely important and cherished, even more than we value and cherish our own self. In doing so, we honor the Love that we find in the Beloved.
Love uplifts. Love supports. Love encourages. Love is gentle. Love is kind. Love is True.
It takes courage to Love. It takes courage to send our hearts out in space, like a lone star wavering in the sky, shining its own Light, bright. And not everyone will see that Light. Not everyone will resonate with it. Not everyone will adore it, worship it, venerate it, and find it worthy of valuing. But we Love, regardless, as a star shines, regardless. Love is a frequency. And one day, that frequency will be felt. One day, that Love will be recognized in the eyes of another. A Fire will spark.
A Fire takes care. It takes attention. It takes a breath, a wind, to keep it alive. It takes a body, matter, to burn as fuel. And so a Fire burns in the heart, raging wildly, burning up all that is not Love. And then, nothing is left but Love itself.
This is the power of Love. Love is a Force that can transform worlds. And Love is in everything. It shines brightly, just waiting to be discovered. It is in the eyes of the Beloved. It forms the roots of Nature. It is the fuel of creativity.
Open your eyes. Look around. Seek out Love in everything. Search for that which resonates with your heart. And when you find it, do not let it go. Hold on, but hold with hands of air. Love does not possess. Love does not bind. Love does not control. Love gives. Love is not concerned with itself, with taking or dominating. Love gives of itself. Love’s focus is on the other, always.
Love gives. It gives and gives and gives of itself so much that it relinquishes all that comes up as an obstacle to giving. And through this process, the bonds around the heart shatter.
Love is a beautiful and Divine gift. It only seeks to give and to feel those Fires of Love, to merge with that energy, to get lost, and to dissolve into Love’s very essence. To become Love itself is the goal of the Lover.
Love longs to spend time with the Beloved. For in that space, it can melt. It longs to hear the Beloved speak, through the rustle of trees, through the voice, through the quiet pulse of the breath… It is always in a state of recollection.
Love yearns for its Beloved with a desire, a longing, and an attraction stronger than any sexual union could ever satisfy. It is a yearning of the heart. It is a yearning of the soul to merge with its mate, the only mate a soul could ever have … the Divine.
And in that space, Love cries for the Beloved. It cries through the heart until the heart breaks. It suffers. It aches. It patiently endures the pain of separation. And those cries spill out from the heart and travel through the eyes as the oceans of the Mother, the constant reminder that She is never far from us. And in those tears we find comfort, security, safety, and more Love.
If this is your experience, you may be in Love, the highest kind of Love, the only Love there is. Everything else is merely lust. To distinguish between Love and lust is the duty of the Seeker. To abide by the Law of Love is the only regulation to embark upon the wild and open country of the Divine. Love is the Law.
Live in accordance with the Law. Be Love, beautiful beings. And I say this first and foremost as a reminder to myself, to be Love in everything, to seek Love in everything, and to remember the following quote:
“The blessing of the Almighty Lord is only received by a seeker who seeks the Law. If you do not seek the Law, the blessings will not find their way. Constantly seek out the Law in everything. The Law must be the seeker’s nature so much so that he should become the Law, so much so that the Law should become the seeker until there remains no distinction between them.” ~ Lord Lakulish
Jai Bhagwan. Be Love.
In Love,
Jennifer
HuDost Performance at City Yoga Oct 6 at 7:30pm
Time: Wednesday, October 6 · 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: City Yoga, 900F Anastasia Blvd, St. Augustine, FL
Cost: $10 – 20 Donation
More Info: HuDost in stripped down duo mode will perform it’s first ever St. Augustine concert on Wednesday October 06 at City Yoga. The show begins at 7:30 PM.
HuDost is living proof that the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts, pulling together musical styles as diverse as the jellies in Marco Polo’s kitchen cupboard. Their music weaves a seamless tapestry that renders tears and laughter in listeners, cultivating that namele…ss longing that abides somewhere in all our hearts.
As a commanding World Rock group, HuDost is best known for letting the music speak for itself. Their forthcoming release, entitled Waking the Skeleton Key, contains the first songs written by lead singer Moksha Sommer since she underwent brain surgery to have a tumor removed which impacted her language abilities. Music was her primary tool in fully regaining all that was lost and continuing to grow as a musician and a lyricist. Both her resilience and the fragility of life come through in these songs. The EP also contains remixes of tracks from their most recent album Trapeze, produced by Grammy Winner Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Peter Gabriel), which left both critics and fans raving about its beauty, versatility, and musicianship. Waking the Skeleton Key also features another high profile producer, being mixed by Grammy Winner Oz Fritz (Tom Waits, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Primus, William S. Burroughs).
Having toured the US constantly since April 2006 and also playing shows across Canada, Europe and even as far east as Turkey, HuDost has brought their atmospheric and resonant songs all across the globe. Some of their most memorable shows include performances at Alex Grey’s CoSM in NYC, the Salvador Dali Museum, Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, FloydFest, The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, headlining SE NPR’s World Fusion Fest, Heat Wave, The Memphis Levitt Shell, The Arlington Levitt Pavilion, WoodSongs at the Kentucky Theater (on PBS), Nashville’s Bluebird Café, and Tim Robbins’ WTF?! Fest at the Actor’s Gang Theater. HuDost has also opened for the California Guitar Trio and Jefferson Starship and has worked with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Neko Case and Mercan Dede.
HuDost was initially formed as an acoustic duo between singer/songwriters Moksha Sommer from Montreal and Jemal Wade Hines from New York, but later developed into a full ensemble. Bringing to the group a strong musical training background, Sommer has traveled the globe, studying no less than 12 distinctive vocal styles from around the world. Her clear, soaring voice is matched by the grungy underbelly of Jemal’s guitar mastery and rhythmic propensity. Adding to the group’s musically eclectic and original feel is the unexpected edge the group contributes with its exotic instrumentation that includes harmonium, bouzouki, oud and bendir among others.
HuDost functions as a duo or a band, incorporating musicians of varying sensibilities and backgrounds, and often including performance art, video installation and dance in their shows. A rich, eclectic blending of Pop and Rock with traditional Sufi music, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian and Balkan folk music, Farsi, Turkish, Arabic, Folk, their sound crosses all borders and barriers, taking the listener on a journey they will not soon forget.
PRAISE FOR HuDost
“HuDost has a folk quality yet is quite post-modern; the band offers new takes on ancient words and melodies, cross-cultural hybrid transcendental chill-out music with an edge. (The album will even be agreeable to those whose spiritual music is punk.)… This is not fluffy new-age music—it’s serious, complex fare with no aversion to addressing agony. Sommer’s vocal execution is precisely orchestrated, her voice-opening, hollow-toned vortexes piercing through the tough spots. This album is a journey of music and spirit.”
-Chronogram Magazine
“HuDost’s blend of exotic traditional Sufi chants, world folk music and powerful electric guitar licks makes a unique cultural bridge. We love HuDost.” – Alex and Allyson Grey
“a splendid project, which is certain to enchant innumerable listeners.” -Pir Zia Inayat Khan
“I love HuDost. I do. I love it. The guitar playing and the songs are all really inspired. It’s a CD I’ll listen to again and again.”-Steve Kilbey (The Church)
“Skillfully crosses musical boundaries for a brilliant, cutting-edge sound. ” –Reality Sandwich
“This is really great stuff.”
–Coleman Barks (Author of Illuminated Rumi)
“These beautiful atmospheric, warm and resonant songs weave the evocative, exquisite poetry from mystic poets Rumi, as well as Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan and Yunus Emre. With stylistic colors of folk and pop presented with the colorful harmonic vocubulary of the East, this gentle album delicately pairs the two art forms with great success.”–CDBaby (from review of ‘In an Eastern Rose Garden’)
“HuDost is guaranteed to energize your musical synapses with music that never rests, never stops moving. In conversational terms, Trapeze is an album that never really raises its voice yet commands the room. Trapeze is a classic.” –Wildy’s World
“Make no mistake about it. Moksha Sommer is a star.” –David Malachowski (Shania Twain, Savoy Brown, The Daily Freeman)
Learning the Science of Spiritual Evolution
Jai Bhagwan.
A lot of people ask me … what is Lakulish Yoga? Who or what is Lakulish?
Lakulish is a Sanskrit name, and like most Sanskrit names and terms, Lakulish is a process. Lakulish is the very process by which Yoga happens. Lord Lakulish represents the very Energy into which all matter transforms through this amazing gift we call Yoga.
Yoga is very presicous and very sacred. It has been around since the beginning of time. Yoga is a lifetime commitment to certain eternal Truths.
We presently live in an age of darkness. The great texts of Sanatana Dharma (the Eternal Law that is Yoga) call this the age of Kali (Kali Yuga). This is the age of ignorance, for we have forgotten who we are. We have separated from God. We are hurtful to our own selves, our own systems, our friends, companions, neighbors, and our environment. We lie. We cheat. We steal. We possess. We covet. We exist with sickness, disease, and with rajasic (passionate, greedy, power-seeking, materialistic) and tamasic (dark, heavy, lazy, dull) negative imprints in our minds.
It is this negative mindset that causes the separation. It is the mind that makes us sick and diseased. It is the mind that hurts, that lies, that cheats, steals, possesses, and covets. What we are on the inside, we will project into our outside environment. Our world is on the verge of destruction because we are destroying ourselves inside our very beings.
What is worse than this, is that in this age, Yoga, the very means by which we undo this individual and global sickness, has been reduced to a fad. “False prophets” abound, and it seems there are gurus on every corner professing to teach spiritual enlightenment or transfer some kind of spiritual energy that will instantly “awaken” anyone. But I caution you: be very keen and careful. If anyone is going to sell anything having to do with Yoga, they should sell God 100% of the time. I encourage you to pay attention to any spiritual teacher’s actions, not just his or her fancy, charming words, spiritual powers, or supposed energetic state.
Sadly, in this day and age, Yoga has become “en vogue” and a cliche. Everywhere I turn, I am faced with this reality (or should I say illusion). We are so far into ignorance, that we have even forgotten what Yoga is. We have forgotten that Yoga is about Union with the energy of God (Consciousness, Source, Energy, Chi, Kundalini, Creator, etc). Yoga is about removing the negative imprints of the mind so that our vital life energy (Prana) will grow and build and take over our bodies.
Right now, our most negative mental tendencies control us. And look what has happened to us and to our world. We like to think we are decent people. Civilized. But the truth is we are all very uncivilized, barbaric people attempting to show some degree of outward decency. But we do not like to think of ourselves this way. We like living with our delusions and hallucinations.
The truth is, when we separate from God and we think we (our minds) can control the body God created and run it effectively and efficiently … we fail. We all get old, sick, diseased, frail, our bodies rot, and we eventually slowly decompose and die. But the truth is we do not have to. We don’t. It all depends on who is in control.
When we step foot on the path of Yoga and we awaken our vital life energy (Prana) to the point where it becomes stronger than our mental energy, God decends into the body. The body becomes a Temple. We become Living beings infused with Light. The mind becomes a friend. It becomes clear and sharp and slices away the negative energies that once ruled us. The mind becomes clear as crystal, and we become reflections of that inner Light, and we reflect that Light to the world.
Change happens one individual at a time, one Soul at a time. Right now we are experiencing an Energy crisis. We have strayed so far from our Maker that we have forgotten who we are. But we are never lost.
There is a science, a very precious science, that has been passed down from a Soul who has walked the path of Yoga successfully to a Soul who deeply desires to do so. That science is the path of Yoga itself. That science is Lakulish.
Yoga is not a religion. As a science, Yoga deals with the elements: fire, water, earth, air, and space/ether. It deals with physics and chemistry. It is the very science of learning how to convert matter into light. And this very science will bring you to the footsteps of God, should that be a place you wish to travel. If nothing else, Yoga will allow you to live a very happy, joyful, long and fulfilling life. God does not want us to be unhappy. God does not wish for us to live in a cave. God does not want us to suffer. God wants us to enjoy this life we have been given. Yoga enables us to enjoy life fully. When we live under the governance of our minds, we are not allowed to live fully and peacefully.
Yoga cannot be put into a box. It cannot be canned. It cannot be labeled. It most certainly is not exercise or mere postures and breath work and most certainly does not belong to anyone! While it may relieve stress and make a person feel peaceful, its purpose far exceeds these effects.
I am writing this to you because it is time. The way Yoga is depicted in this age is inaccurate and incomplete. The purpose of Lakulish Yoga is to bring change, individual change.
Yoga is a part of an Eight-Fold system:
1. Yamas
2. Niyamas
3. Asana
4. Pranyama
5. Pratyahara
6. Dharana
7. Dhyana
8. Samadhi
Yoga is meant to unfold systematically, in this exact sequence. If you practice Yoga, or think you are practicing Yoga, and you practice out of this order, you cannot practice and have what you are practicing still be called Yoga. Yet Yoga centers all around the globe do this every day.
This is a very important and key statement. The first two steps of Yoga are called “The Law”. It is the Dharma. It is the Code of Conduct, God’s Code of Conduct. The Law of building and maintaining Energy. A Niyama can only happen when a Yama has successfully happened. And an Asana can only happen when a Yama and a Niyama have successfully happened. Thus, the only way a Pranayama can occur is when the other 3 prerequesites have happened successfully (there is a Yama in Pranayama and a Yama in Niyama). All of these words may sound very foreign to you, and that is okay. The purpose of my classes is to help you understand and practice this Yoga system, to develop your own individual practice.
Meditation is 7th on the list. And we think we know what meditation is. Meditation happens to us. We cannot just sit down and meditate. Yet meditation has become a fad and is taught everywhere. We can practice and hope that one day meditation will happen to us. But that practice requires a lot of work.
Union is WORK. Yoga is WORK. It requires daily practice. It requires a constant, unwavering committment to certain Codes of Conduct, called the Yamas and Niyamas.
The Yamas and Niyamas are at the core of the Lakulish Yoga teachings because Yoga cannot even begin without them. They are not philosophies to be glanced over while we push ourselves through vinyasas and twist ourselves into pretzels in Yoga class. The very first phrase in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras begins with the word “atha”.
1.1 Atha Yoga Anusasanam
1.1 Now we begin Yoga
Atha implies that Yamas and Niyamas have successfully been implimented. Then Asana happens. Then Pranayama can happen. Then God appears in the body. Yoga postures are a gift to mankind. They are the very means by which the bodily energy channels and organs are cleansed of impurities in order for the body to become a Temple and for us to become Living beings of Light.
I teach Yamas and Niyamas in my Private Yoga classes. I also teach nutrition and diet, Yoga practices, scriptures, mantra, and postures. I tailor each class to my individual student’s needs. Each person is different. Each person is in a different place on his or her spiritual journey. I have been blessed with an amazing, out of this world teacher, Swami Sri Ashutosh Muniji (I call him “Bapuji”). He is the current lineage holder in the Muni Mundal Yoga line. Muni Mundal is an order has been around for a very long time. Lord Lakulish was a member of Muni Mundal. And so was Patanjali Muni.
Lakulish Yoga teachings thus rely heavily on teachings from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and from the Bhagavad Gita, as these texts are very dear to our Yoga Lineage.
If you are interested in learning Yoga as it was traditionally taught and should be taught, please contact me at (904) 392-6588 to set up a private session. If you have questions, I will be more than happy to sit down with you and discuss any concerns you may have.
I certainly do not have all the answers. And I do not profess to be a teacher nor a guru. God is the only Guru. I am a student, and like my Bapuji, I wish to remain a student. I want to walk this path of Yoga, and I aspire every day to do so. But it is time to pay it forward.
It is time for me to share what I have learned from my Bapuji. It is time for humanity to wake up. We have slumbered in ignorance far too long. It is time to reunite with that Energy from which we have strayed so far. It is our birth right. And it is our duty.
Jai Bhagwan. Jai means “victory” and Bhagwan is that Energy. Let us let the Energy of God prevail within our internal nation once more. Let us find our Freedom, our Liberty, and our Justice. Our Founding Fathers understood this Truth when our country was formed. May we too understand this Truth again.
In Love and Highest Light,
Jennifer Jacobsen (Urja)
A Spiritual Conspiracy
On the surface of the world right now there is
war and violence and things seem dark.
But calmly and quietly, at the same time,
something else is happening underground.
An inner revolution is taking place,
and certain individuals are being called to a Higher Light.
It is a silent revolution.
From the inside out. From the ground up.
This is a Global operation.
A Spiritual Conspiracy.
There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.
You wont see us on the T.V.
You wont read about us in the newspaper.
You wont hear about us on the radio.
We dont seek any glory.
We dont wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.
Most of us work anonymously.
We are quietly working behind the scenes
in every country and culture of the world.
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys,
in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.
You could pass by one of us on the street
and not even notice.
We go undercover.
We remain behind the scenes.
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.
Occasionally we spot each other in the street.
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way.
During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront at night
is where the real work takes a place.
Some call us the Conscious Army.
We are slowly creating a new world
with the power of our minds and hearts.
We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders come from from the Central Spiritual Intelligence.
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking.
We each express ourselves in our own unique ways
with our own unique gifts and talents.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
That is the motto that fills our hearts.
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place.
We know that quietly and humbly we have the
power of all the oceans combined.
Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates
shall be moved in the centuries to come.
Love is the new religion of the 21st century.
You dont have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it.
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.
All are welcome.
The door is open.
~ Author Unknown
New KIRTAN Group!
NEW! Kirtan Group
Who: Urja (Jennifer Jacobsen) of Lakulish School of Yoga and YOU!
When: Every Wednesday evening from 6:30pm – 8:30pm beginning July 8th, 2009
Where: Sponsored by Namaste Healing Center - 2551 St. Augustine Blvd, St. Augustine, FL 32086
How Much: $5 suggested donation
What: Kirtan is a call and response chanting of Indian Sanskrit mantras and hymns along with various musical instruments. The chants are usually devotional in nature, directed towards the Divine or Higher Self. Kirtan is not religious in nature, and yet it easily encompasses all faiths and religious paths. Kirtan belongs to the Bhakti Yoga family, the family of love and devotion, and it dramatically builds and increases prana (the vital life energy).
For kirtan, bring a small pillow to sit on, as we will be sititng on the floor in a group. Bring your voice, and bring an instrument if you have one!