So I am going through a new "chapter" in my life. People always say, "Ready to turn over a new leaf" or "Your best years are ahead of you" and my favorite, "You can start all over and do it right this time around". I don't know about all that, but I do feel I have a few more chapters in my life ready to be seen and heard. But change is always scary and things "new" sometimes put the past in perspective. As I contemplate on this, I took a drive this weekend to the foothills behind my home. Opened the car door and sat down on the snow patched ground and looked up at the hills and clear sky, while listening to Michael Kolasa's album, "All My Heart" and his performance of the mantra "Ganesha Sharanam". Genesha is the Hindu deity of "beginnings and remover of all obstacles". What a perfect way to start my meditation on my reservations and thoughts of a new future. Because my only "obstacles" are my own self and insecurities. The cold outside keeps me alert and focused...what is what I will do from now on on my journeys. I'll keep ya posted. Article soon... by Shanti Scribe - December 21, 2012 - Where will you be? What do you believe? Doomsday or Ascension to higher conscience? As the date approaches within days now, I get all kinds of feedback from people in my life and the general public. People on the street I meet are actually quite stressed and worried. They truly believe something bad is coming. But is it as "bad" as the Y2K bug, which never presented itself, or the foretelling of massive solar and weather events, that we seem to be a part of this past decade. This being the year of celestial events more then ever before. I've been witness to solar and lunar eclipses, the "Monster Moon", longest periods of heat waves, massive hurricanes and storms, planetary alignments and the granddaddy of them all - the galactic alignment on 12-21-12. I have read the book by Lawrence E. Joseph titled, "Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilization's End". The main fact being, that the author was a reporter for the science magazine, Omni, for decades, and has some very interesting scientific facts to back up the 2012 predictions. The main thing always being that the Sun will have some type of massive outpouring of energy. Here is an excerpt of some facts from the book: "Although the date would stump most trivia buffs, September 2, 1859, is when the greatest magnetic storm ever recorded hit the Earth. It is also the date likeliest to be replayed in 2012, with one important difference: this time, the devastation will be colossal. The Carrington event, named after Richard Carrington, the amateur British astronomer who took the lead in observing and explaining it, was actually a one-two punch that uppercut the Earth over the course of a week. The first of the two massive solar explosions began forming some-time in mid-August 1859, when an unusually large sunspot appeared on the northwest portion of the Sun's face. On August 27, it erupted like a zit, shooting out a Moon-sized glob of plasma, or supercharged gas. Such blasts are known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The first cosmic croissant of the Carrington event hit Earth the next day, August 28, 1859, causing some of the most beautiful auroras ever seen. The northern lights don't normally extend down to Havana, Cuba, but this time they did, making the sky there appear as though it were stained with blood and on fire. On September 1, 1859, the Sun erupted again, even more furiously. According to scientists' reconstructions, the second Carrington CME was dozens of times more powerful than average, weighing in at about 10 billion tons and 10 trillion trillion watts (trillions of times more than the sum total of all electrical, mechanical, combustible, muscular, animal, and plant energy than has been produced or consumed in the history of the planet). Traveling at about 5 million miles per hour, it was also one of the fastest ever recorded. Think of a tennis ball machine suddenly rifling out a (molten, radioactive) basketball. At 4:50 GMT on September 2, 1859, the second and by far the more powerful Carrington CME barreled into the Earth, fifteen to twenty hours behind the SEP shockwave it had detonated. The CME made quite a splash in the headlines, sizzling telegraph wires, causing fires, and filling the sky with an auroral glow that made midnight as bright as noon." Now, I could go into the doomsday outcome of all this being that we as a modern society, rely very much on Electricity. Virtually, EVERYTHING! Ever watch the NBC television series, "REvolution"? But as I gather with my new friends in peace and love, I longer worry about any of this. IF, it plays out like some scientists think it will, then not much I or anyone can do, but start over and maybe this time, for the better. But..... what if it really is a cosmic and spiritual evolution to a higher form of conscience. They say, discoveries in science and technology, multiple by the power of 7 each year, with the knowledge amassing from the beginning of civilization to the present year. And then that multiples by 7 again ever year!!! So realistically, we are looking at the cure for all diseases, world hunger, energy problems, space explorations...within just the next few years and not decades and centuries as we used to think! I found this video online and it really made me happy. It describes the possible solar energy burst from the Sun as "God's Drop". I find that analogy comforting. I now look forward to this "event" with new eyes and openness to the universal message. I say, "Go With The Flow". Not very enlightening, but to the point. I plan on making a trip, maybe to the desert, to witness this new day with open eyes and thankfulness. My best memory this year was being at Bhakti Fest, and meeting up with Shiva Rae to do early morning meditation. We sat on the desert floor looking East, and waited for the sun to rise and be thankful for our life, or planet, our surroundings. It was a beautiful sight to behold, knowing that it was a new day and new life and for being thankful for everything we have in our lives. It was a resurrection within each of us. So if any of you would like to join me on my morning meditation on 12-21-12 and welcome a new day, a new thoughtfulness, a new look on life...then let me know. And even if the world is engulfed in flames from a massive solar event...wouldn't that be an awesome sight to behold! September 22, 2012 - Riverside, CA: I was invited to attend the Clapping Monkeys Kirtan being held at F.U.N. Yoga Studio in Riverside, California, across the street from the UofR campus. The studios owners, Mike & Elizabeth Iasparro hosted the fun event! The group was having a dinner break at the India Snacks, Sweets & Grocery. This actually is a great place if you happen to what some authentic Indian cuisine and finding just that right food item at the grocery. The Clapping Monkeys is a local Kirtan group in the Riverside/IE area, that is made up of Yogi instructors and musicians that love to play a form of playful Kirtan. The group is made up of: Ashley Lombardo Fiala (Vocals, Harmonium), Danny White, (Vocals, Guitar) Daniel Cline (Tablas), Jeff Jaureguy (Bass), Kathy Bolte (Vocals, Harmonium, Guitar) and Karrin Alstad (Cello). The Yoga studio was fill from end to end with devotees. The fun, uplifting Kirtan music was humorous and family friendly that a few children were attendance and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, dancing to the songs throughout the evening. My favorite song being a mash-up of Kirtan with "Let the Sun Shine". A beautiful mixture of music and chant. For more information and schedule of their Kirtan performances, check out their website at: The Clapping Monkeys! Bhakti Fest 2012: A Personal Journal By The Shanti Scribe Sunday morning. Final day of Bhakti Fest - I get up early to pack up the tent so as to be ready to head home early today. But before I leave this bliss high I am on, I take in a couple Kirtan artists on the main stage. I get to hear Saul David Raye and Girish, who I worked with on the Yoga Music Union DVD. His set brought the crowd to their feet to dance, with funk sounding Kirtan songs and ending with his now fan favorite - Diamonds in the Sun - that was dedicated to the recently passed Kirtan musician, Geoffrey Gordon, that brought tears to the eyes of event MC, Shiva Baum on stage, as well as Girish and many in the audience. Girish I am floating and in a "sweet place" and ready to head back into the "real world" but realizing that THIS can be my REAL WORLD all the time. I get a smoothie for the road and listen to Simrit Kaur on the Hanuman stage by the food vendors. Wow! They are rocking the house and everyone is dancing! And I haven't even got into talking about Yoga and all the workshops the event offered. Next time. Simrit Kaur I head back onto 29 Palms Highway and back towards Palm Springs and then onto Los Angeles. I want to thank all the artists for their talents and for letting me document alot of them for my website. I want to thank the promoters of Bhakti Fest for putting on a wonderful festival that I will remember always. And I want to thank my wife for introducing me to the practice of Yoga, Sanskrit chanting and this yoga community. She has been into this for many years, and I always was a bit stand offish and had blind eyes to many new things. But she never judged me and I came around to enjoy this new path and journey. I hope I can be of service with my talents and document my experiences for others to enjoy. Till next time. Namaste Bhakti Fest 2012: A Personal Journal By The Shanti Scribe Very early Saturday morning. Still dark - I get up earlier than usual, because before I head over to the Sanctuary for the morning chant of the Hanuman Chalisa, I trek over to the Rose Labyrinth, an outdoor circular maze behind the main stage area. Yoga instructor, Shiva Rea, is hosting a get together there for a sunrise mantra mediation. We walk the labyrinth to the outer rings of the maze and sit down facing east in the dark. We are thankful for the new day, our new experiences we will have and new relationships we will make. The day breaks, the Sun has risen, and new life is welcomed into the world. It's a beautiful, simple example of gratitude and I am feeling high on life at that moment. Photos by LakshmiGrace Designs I head over to the Sanctuary for the chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa, and pass a huge line of new people coming into the festival for Saturday. This is the big day! People are here for the weekend and take advantage of the weekend pass to experience the Bhav! It is later reported that the festival had around 4,500 in attendance this day. Wow! After chanting, I'm hungry, so I grab a vegetarian slice of pizza from a local vendor in Joshua Tree called, "Pie for the People Pizza". They have some tasty pizza and even some fruit topped pizza with strawberries and other fruit. I down another smoothie and head back to the stage area. Catch the tail end of the sweet sounds from Gina Sala, the eclectic sounding Amritakripa, and relished to the sounds of The Hanumen. A group of great musicians from a few different Kirtan groups to make up one awesome ensemble. They do a Kirtan mass-up of some gospel spirituals that are quite wonderful. Amritakripa The Hanumen I take a lunch break to return in time for the fan favorite, C.C. White. She literally brings the house to their feet! A large group of musicians on stage. Everyone wants to be close to C.C. on stage. The stage closes for a dinner break and everyone returns for the "Rock Star" of Kirtan, Krishna Das. He is why Saturday is at record numbers. Krishna Das is a popular artist of traditional sounding Kirtan music. C.C. White Krishna Das I head back to the campground and I hear the music from there and was able to still catch the remaining acts from my tent as I drift off to sleep. |
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