Chanting and more...

Lots to tell... yesterday was another marathon day here in Mysore. After a nice practice we ate breakfast at Vivian's which is two doors down from our flat. I sort of have this little "clique" that I'm in. I had heard that it was kind of "cliquey" here so I decided to join one right away - no, just kidding. My theory is that people who arrive around the same time sort of gravitate toward each other because a.) you are lost and alone half the time so you recognize the same in another and naturally gravitate toward each other and b.) once you sort of have your group of friends you don't have that same lost and alone look about you and new-comers are less likely to gravitate your way. So anyway we sort of have this group Jonathon and Susie from Charlotte, NC, Vanya who is Swedish, but lives now in Canada, Michoto who is from Japan, Fiona and Andrew from New Zealand, and of course my flat mate Jen from New York, and Jen from Charlottesville. So also because we arrived at about the same time, we have basically the same start time for our practice, so we see each other every morning and so most of the time when I say "we" that is often who I am referring to because we also often meet for at least one meal per day.

So we had breakfast together and then we all went on our merry way to varied classes and appointments. Jen, Fiona and I shared a rickshaw over to Dr. Jayashree's house. I think I mentioned last week that we had registered for this Yoga Sutra class at the shala, and since we were also doing the Gita class we were maybe not going to also try to fit in with Jayashrees' schedule - wrong! Normally the class is one hour of chanting and one hour of philosophy - but this thursday it was two hours straight of chanting - we did all four chapters of the Yoga Sutra as well as some of the Shantih mantras. There were about 20 students sitting on the floor of her small room that was sort of a living room / office, some of them were already very competent at the chanting, she calls, we respond - and there is a booklet to follow along with. During the class I think both Jen and I silently resolved to convince the other that this was more important than attending the sutra class at the shala and since we were in agreement it was a done deal and we realized we would be eating the 700 ruppees we had to fork over to the shala for the other class. It is just too much of a special opportunity to miss - her teaching style, which is the tradional method of teaching yoga philosophy is called Sruti Parampara, where over time, the ear, tongue, and mind are refined and purified and the Sutras are committed to memory. But it is more than that, it has to do with her voice and just her. So we will be going to her class Monday - Thursday from 11-1pm for the rest of our time here. I feel so incredibly lucky.

So then, hop back in rickshaw and go straight over to James' house which is not in Laxmipuram, but is Saraswathipuram (sorry about that misinformation). No food, no nothing, luckily we still had a little water. This is now my fifth class, and we are about 3/4's of the way through the 2nd chapter. The major themes at this point as I understand them are that Krishna is telling Arjuna that he must know his dharma, and that he is a lucky person because his dharma is the best dharma of all, which is to fight for... dharma. And the one who can see opportunity within adversity is the greatest of men. So the idea of dharma is also talked about as following your path in life - it is the natural order of the universe and that if we follow our path with pure intention and good heart, then there is no such thing as unsuccessful effort, no matter how much we question whether what we are doing is right. So, the "pure intention" piece is what gets broken down next by Krishna, as we begin to get into the section about not being concerned with the fruits of our labor.