We started at 9AM and there was something different. It felt from the get go, that this workshop was going to be truly unique. Not only are we in beautiful Maui, with a healthy and happy John (who is as heart-centered and as focused as I've ever seen him in my 7-8 years of study with him), but we are also diving into the Gita and Ram Dass is with us! The yoga studio on Haiku was intimate and yet spacious, with a cornucopia of Hawai'ian flowers sprinkled through three different pujas. There's a huge picture hanging on the right side of the room of a jolly Maharaj ji (Neem Karoli Baba, Ram Dass's guru) smiling with a blanket wrapped around him.

As we began this morning, John spoke for about an hour on the Gita. On how we are all living the Gita every day and as yogis we must strive to go towards the light in the midsts of all our battles. The Gita is a small book with 18 chapters. The book traditionally is broken down into three sections (Ch. 1-6, 7-12 & 13-18) and each one deals with a specific marga or path.The first section is about karma (body), the second section is about jnana (mind) and the last part is about bhakti (heart). The bhakti marga has traditionally been considered superior than the karma or jnana path but as tantric yogis we don't want to make the body and mind inferior, since we see everything as Supreme Consciousness. 

That said, the Gita is a love story between the individual and God and it starts with a young warrior named Arjuna who has hit rock bottom. He is paralyzed by fear, has lost his way, does not know what to do anymore. He is in the midsts of  a battlefield and he asks his charioteer, to place them between the opposing armies. Krishna follows the order as Arjuna literally loses faith and can no longer act. He asks Krishna for help and the dialogue that they have is the Gita. Unbeknownst to Arjuna, Krishna is an avatar of God himself and through this book, Krishna explains to him the nature of life. He goes step by step, slowly revealing more and more to Arjuna, including, learning about an eternal Spirit that permeates everything and which cannot die. About karma and dharma, about love. And he learns that his charioteer, all along was God himself waiting for him to ask for help so he could reveal himself.

The Gita is about 2200 years old. Probably "written" (in those days it was oral tradition so the text was memorized) around 800BCE. Please check out Carlos Pomeda's incredibly enlightening videos about Yoga- one of them is solely about the Gita. He can explain this so much better than I can...

So, can you see the kind of reverential atmosphere that we started with today? Plus a stunning teacher from Hawai'i who is hosting John named Skeeter, gave a heartfelt introduction, where she thanked John as well as several other teachers, bestowing upon all of them Lei necklaces. It set the tone for today. Furthermore, John wanted all of us students to see this studio for the next three days as a mandir, a temple. He instructed us how to enter and he was firm yet loving with us about our discipline.

We moved then into asana and suddenly we were all Arjunas striving for the highest in every pose, holding poses for a long long time. He reminded us that our dharma is to align to the highest therefore, if he gives us a note he shouldn't have to give us the note again. It's up to us to make it meaningful.

I found myself going deep into our familiar poses: 

parsvakonasana, 

trikonasana, 

virabhadrasana #1, 

ardha chandrasana

eka pada rajakapotasana #1

eka pada bekasana

a handstand where we spotted each other in silence (gorgeous)

setu bandhasana

urdvha dhanurasanas (about 8 of them including one legged, one armed and dwi pada viparita dandasana)

We started to wind down with parsvottanasana

AMS (downward facing dog)

uttanasana

I want to note that between the 8 backbends (which felt great! So good!) we would pause and read verses from the Gita and then go back to the backbends! John reminded us that every pose is an offering, A chance for us to connect to something bigger. We then got down into philosophy, specifically the 25 principles of reality according to an ancient philosophy called Samkhya.

We broke for lunch.

We got back and Ram Dass was there.

I started crying when I saw him. He seemed happy. Really happy and jolly. There was reverence in the room. The group which is about 100-125 people felt even more intimate. We chanted and when I opened my eyes Ram Dass had one hand in namaste since the other one is paralyzed. I felt myself beginning to feel sad for him and then stopped because I could see that he was not sad at all. He truly seems perfectly content. His speech was a bit slow yet his mind is sharp and it made us hang on to every word. He told us stories about his guru, about the Gita, about his life. Too much to tell....

Here are a few highlights, out of many:

*How to know your dharma? When you are doing what you are doing and you feel intuitively good.

*He looked at us and said that it was our dharma we are teachers. And that he as a teacher is going to try to "suck you into God." And that as teachers we therefore must radiate: love, joy, peace, compassion, and wisdom.

*Best quote: "Psychodelics freed me from Psychology. Maharaj ji freed me from psychodelics."

Two hours later he left and returns on Friday. It's hard to capture in a few sentences his ease, his joy, his little side comments, his smile and the love-force that fuels every word out of him. 

I am so blessed to be here.

We finished our session today with a more contemplative yet short asana practice which included meditation, pranayama and chanting with our malas.

We left in silence.