So many talented people and products useful for your journey-I receive no royalty, but except the joy of offering you tools to smooth your pathway and see you flourish.
In my opinion this is the best maybe you will find it relevant
Yoga asanas to prepare the body for deeper meditation and release of stress easily. Taught in person on our retreat days and available online as below:
Maharishi Yoga Asanas and Pranayama
Group Practice and Instruction online
Australia: Live 6:30 am (Saturday) Melbourne time
Please check the class time here time zone converter
Class goes for about 30-40 minutes. It is followed by a 20-minute group meditation, with thousands around the US practicing the TM technique at the same time.
We highly recommend that, before attending, you watch one of these videos and print out the PDF handout so you can follow along more easily. To make the most of your class, we suggest comfortable sports or yoga wear, a yoga mat or thick blanket, and a settled environment where you won’t be disturbed.
Would you like to invite a friend or family member to this class? Please feel free to share this link: https://enjoytmnews.org/welcome-to-maharishi-yoga-asanas
Water filters
-Zazen Water https://zazenalkalinewater.com.au
-whole house Great Water Filters
Ayurvedic massage
Sri at Abbotsford Convent 0415159307 https://onebiglove.as.me/schedule.php
Hidden River-Amy Belligen NSW attends our retreat property and performs treatments and massage as recommended by Suzanne on our in residence retreats
Ayurveda products
www.holysanity.com.au for teas, massage oils and all non prescription herbal products
Blue light glasses
Nepean Optical Rye ask for Dean he has access to the only supplier of true 99.9% blue light block out film for any glasses.
Vedic chanting-the sounds that are the fluctuations of nature
Rain melody for conscious listening anytime- https://youtu.be/QhLLsZiD478
Veda App by subscription
Vedic Pandits– https://youtu.be/lNUxrHLuoXs
Mantras (not for meditation but phrases to listen to) – https://www.panditbaskaran.com/mantra
Ethical Meditation teacher Noosa/Brisbane
-Laura Poole in Noosa www.laurapoole.com.au
Ayurveda consults in Sydney/podcasts
Dylan Smith https://vitalveda.com
The Gentle Osteopath-Philip Loft
Riverstone Health Brighton, body balancing and adjustments when we have an injury or the body is out of whack! Osteopath is greatly understating Philip’s abilities!
Brighton and Frankston
Homeopathic Medicine Seaford area-humans and pets
Tina Vella 0408 143 910
Kinesiologist and Spiritual Counciling
New Leaf Kinesiology Nanette Abbott-Mornington or online https://nanette-abbott.youcanbook.me
Body Energy work-Humans and animals
Sue Morris Soma and Soul 0411 183 913
www.somandsoul.com.au
Maharishi E-Books
On communication
Sama Veda
To aid sleep-listen in bed eyes closed
Sama veda recitation to listen to.
2 versions
–One of the best pundits Maharishi trained.
-Traditionally recited by younger pundits as per here
–link has very nice explanation of sama veda
Resources for meditators as they develop-articles that cannot go on the front of the website (a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing)Maharishi. Yet these understandings are useful to those like yourself who have some knowedge and experiences are growing, to access via the members area
Surrender
This was a question I was asked on retreat last month—why is surrender the shortcut? And how does surrender relate to dharma(life path)? ‘Surrender is the shortcut’ is a saying that comes from my days around Maharishi , as with most of this condensed Vedic ‘one liners’ if you ask me, l’ll say it’s all from my teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi., His understanding of Vedic knowledge was complete and easy to digest.
Surrender on the way in.
Maharishi taught very clearly that the nature of the mind is not a monkey. The mind wanders because it is seeking something and that something is the bliss of Being—the infinite, unbounded, eternal source of all thinking. The mind knows it exists because it was born from it; thought emerges from infinite silence like a child emerges from their mother. In the same way we may forget how we were born but somewhere inside we know, the mind may forget its origin but inherent within its nature is to seek its infinite source. This is why the mind wanders the world, not because wandering is its nature, but because infinite bliss is and it wants that.
How do we know this? Because when the mind finds it, it falls silent—something we have all experienced in our meditation at some point. We didn’t transcend because we finally worked our whole life out or put in enough effort to ‘get there’, but because we surrendered and allowed the natural process of our mind to turn inwards and make its way home. And this home, this infinity, it is a beautiful place—so full, so complete, that no thought can arise. For how can one add to infinite silence?
So why then do we find ourselves thinking in meditation? Because the mind doesn’t want to have to turn the world off to be in bliss. It wants coexistence. That’s why at some point in meditation you notice yourself thinking again. Not because the nature of the mind is to think, but because the body shifts into a state of deep transformation to allow this natural integration of silence and activity. The body’s transformation(change from an out of balance to a more balanced state during meditation) causes the mind to become equivalently active and at some point you realise you’re thinking about whether there’s enough cheese in the fridge for pizza tonight. And as you keep allowing this cyclical process of (TM or Vedic) meditation to unfold, what’s really happening is that you’re beginning to experience the profound wisdom that surrender is the shortcut.
Loss vs gain.
Surrender can have a bit of a negative association in the sense that it’s some kind of loss. You didn’t win, so you had to surrender. You didn’t get your way, so you had to let whatever you wanted go. And in some ways, surrender is a loss. But it’s one of those losses where you actually gain from it. You may not have thought of it in this way before, but in your daily meditation you are, for a moment, losing your relative life and everything that’s part of it. You can be meditating and totally lose the sense of where you are, what you own, your name, your body, your problems and desires—all these things we hold so dear to us. Yet what you gain in the process is your natural state of infinite Being. You gain the source of all thought, the source of all creativity, and the goal of all thinking and doing. In that way, surrender has taken you somewhere in 20 minutes that lifetimes of trying couldn’t even get close to.
And maybe we don’t quite feel or experience it like that. It’s not like we knock on the door of Being and it says, “Welcome, come in, take what you need, it’s all yours! Why are you getting so stressed? You have the keys to infinity!” More likely than not we are unaware of what’s taking place in the depths of our consciousness during meditation; we may fall asleep because we’re so fatigued or only remember the more expressed thoughts on the way out. But deep inside, each meditation, we are losing our false identity as small, separate, and alone, as we become infused with the bliss of Being more and more and more.
And back we go into the world each day a little more relaxed, a little more awake, a little more wiser. Again, not because we tried to but because we surrendered to our Self and our own nature. We took the shortcut.
Surrender on the way out.
But I think the real question I was being asked on the retreat was how does this apply to the eyes open aspect of life—how is surrender the shortcut there and what is its relationship to dharma(our path in life)? Surrender with the eyes open is an allowing of the intelligence of life, that which you have discovered through your meditation practice, to lead. Because we need to ask the question, if life’s intelligence isn’t the guiding force of our daily thoughts, feelings, and actions, what is? Where are we moving from? Who do we think is running the show? Surrender is the shortcut here because it’s what we actually want at the end of the day—the fullness of life instinctually, intelligently, and lovingly leading the way. This is dharma.
Doing less to gain more.
At some point in my own personal meditation journey, I started contemplating how incredible the technique was that I had been practising each day. For in doing very little I was receiving a lot. And I thought, if this way of practising meditation is giving me so much, why wouldn’t I just live my whole life the same way? And in fairness, it was already happening. My eyes open experience was naturally and spontaneously upgrading. But I still saw the ways where I was resisting my own evolution.
For example, I knew from meditation that whatever I needed in that moment was exactly what I was going to receive. Yet in life, I would find myself resisting the present moment and trying to control everything which inevitably led to more stress. In turn, I was missing the opportunity right in front of me to realise that nothing is missing and everything is already here. That life was supporting me to wake up and discover the treasury I was hiding within.
Another one, was that in meditation I would easily allow the process to take place. Whether it was gratifying or not, I was happy to sit, knowing it just takes a little time to settle into one’s true Self, and whatever was happening was benefitting me. Yet in life, I was still convinced that something ‘out there’ would eventually fulfil me, and with enough successful effort I too would be enough. I hadn’t yet fully realised that fulfilment was my nature and life is the process of sharing that fulfilment with the world.
I also saw that every day in meditation I was accepting and allowing everything to naturally take place; all the thoughts, noise, feelings, and agitation. I knew it was good for me because I always felt better on the other side. Yet in life, I would still find myself getting annoyed, rejecting parts of myself, not honouring my feelings, or thinking something was going wrong.
Obviously I hadn’t quite fully understood surrender as the shortcut with the eyes open, yet I knew it very well inside. I knew there was something greater than me orchestrating this life, because when I let go, a wonderful thing would happen—I would transcend. I would experience a freedom, a relaxation, a version of myself I didn’t previously know was possible.
But it can require a bit of radical trust in oneself to allow surrender in action. Because modern daily life will try to convince you that you’re not enough, that lasting happiness is with the next achievement, or at some point you’ll arrive and be complete. You have to keep remembering what you innately know and what your practice is showing you day in and day out. You’re not here to one day finish your to-do list and tick off your life. You exist to know your Self, to attune with Nature, and let your life be a glorious expression in service to the whole—that is dharma.
So I leave you with a contemplation for the week, something to return to as you’re making your morning cup of tea, heading to work, wrangling the kids, or wondering what your life is really for.
What would my life look like if I allowed the way I practice my daily meditation to be the same way I practice each moment in my life?
Love Suzanne xx