TYS August 2024 Newsletter

WELCOME AUGUST.

The Season of Vishnu at Devi Ashram

Musings with Ranjani

Greetings, Radiant Beings!

How lovely that you are part of our little yoga community. What does the word inspired mean? Feeling inspired to do something, not just to do something but to do something for the greater good, but also the feeling that you can and will do it. So, what does Inspire have to do with Traditional Yoga Society? At TYS, we inspire folks to be better versions of themselves and thus make the earth a better place for all its inhabitants. We want to inspire all to love more and hate less. We do this by following the teachings of a living yoga tradition over 5,000 years old, which means we adhere to our practice to do our service activities with more awareness and love and without being attached to the fruits of our labors. TYS is a non-profit and depends on donations to continue what we do: to inspire us to be better humans. What do we do, you may ask; as our name says, we are traditional in our teachings, and being part of this tradition means service, but if you look at the great saints, sages, mystics, and teachers and all the teachings they told their students to serve.

Serving is paramount to us and is very much part of the practice. Yearly, we incorporate service activities and events that will enhance the lives of those participating. We offer free quarterly kirtans to Dayton, Ohio (which means space rental, advertising, and promotion, among other costs, to make these events happen). We adopt an inmate twice a year; each inmate we adopt sends us a wishlist, and we endeavor to fulfill the list up to $500.00 each; the only requirement is that the inmate has no support from the outside. TYS likes supporting other non-profits by buying items on their wishlists and participating in service events. We make bags for people experiencing homelessness to deliver in December. These are a few of our service activities. We want to increase these events next year. We want to add days when we provide free meals to people visiting or participating in events at the ashram. We want to support animal rescues by providing food for the animals in rescue and having more free events, such as a Mother's Day celebration for mothers who have lost a child or children, Thanksgiving Tofu Trot, a Christmas celebration for those that Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year. We are committed to the environment and consider ourselves stewards of the land. We plant native perennials, trees, and shrubs to support nature. We are clearing and restoring land in Kentucky to create a space where people can camp, commune with nature, meditate, pray, contemplate, and heal. Doing these things requires money, and that is where you come in. Can you make a monthly donation to the Traditional Yoga Society that is fully tax-deductible, and no amount is too small, and of course, no amount is too large ;)?

If you are interested in making a monthly or one-time donation and want more information, don't hesitate to contact us at info@tysdayton.com or follow the links below to set up your donation.

I appreciate your support and generosity in helping us spread the message of love for all, excluding none.

Let's inspire the world together.

In service and gratitude,

Ranjani

Inspirations & Musings

Divine Mother,

Divine Mother, I humbly ask for your guidance in serving you completely. Please provide me with all I need for this service and remove all that is unnecessary. I am dedicated to serving you wholeheartedly, and I trust your wisdom to guide me on this path.

What is ownership?

Dictionary.com defines ownership as a legal right of possession or proprietorship.

With that as the definition

What do you own?

Your House

Your Car

Your Pet

Your Land

Your Mind

Your Intelligence

Your Life

Your Security

Your Health

This list could continue on and on and on, but I'm assuming you get the point.

If you own them, how can they be taken away easily and quickly?

You don't own anything; everything belongs to God Almighty. God has created the world for you to enjoy but not to possess and abuse.

Possessiveness is, in fact, a disease that can only be cured by practice.

Benevolence Corner

Soup On Wheels

TYS has frozen homemade vegan soup in the freezer. As a part of our outreach, if you need a meal or know someone who does because of illness, surgery, death of a loved one, financial problems, divorce, or anyone who requires a little extra TLC, TYS is here for you. If you know anyone who needs a meal, let us know at info@tysdayton.com

Reflections with Kali

Man’s original food is the light of God;

material food is not for him;

but from disease

his mind has fallen into the delusion

that day and night he should eat only this food.

He is pale, weak and, faint:

where is the food of by heaven

which has starry tracks?

That is the food of the chosen,

food eaten without fork or throat.

Rumi, Mathnawi II 1083-6

This excerpt of The Manthnawi recently presented itself to me. How powerfully it struck me.

How long does it take us to get lost in maya? How long have we been diseased? According to the yogic scriptures, it has taken lifetimes to develop these samskaras. We have been living with these worldly samskaras for so long that they have become a plague. We have become lost in our delusion.

So, over and over, we think the things outside of us will help us, but then we find ourselves pale, weak, and faint. This made me contemplate what kind of food I am seeking. In a period where I do feel weak and tired, I need to ask myself what kind of food am I consuming. This poem gave me a lot to think about. Where do I originate from (atman), and where am I lost in delusion? When I do not feel strong, am I looking to the world or my practice for strength? I know samskaras run deep. It sometimes seems impossible to fight those demons, the unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors, but this reminded me that I have to return to my center within and that the food I need for strength is not material food; it’s not food I eat with a fork, but it is the food of the “‘chosen” and I interpreted this as the food of the saints. The saints chose soul food, spiritual food, and the food of heaven, and this is why they were great. When I feel weak, I must remember where proper sustenance and strength come from. The food that feeds the body will never give me inner strength and pull me out of the mire of delusion. This is a great message for me.

Guess What?

We have three more releases slotted before the end of the year. The next one is OM Dum Durgayei Namaha, Salutations to the Lion Rider, the one with resplendent magnificence. She is the One who is benevolent to those seeking the truth and pure destruction to those who would harm those seekers of truth.

If you still need to check out our Spotify channel, please do and share it with others who need some inspiration in their lives.

Check out the PDF book on relationships. Remember, the relationship with yourself is the most important and will be the guidepost for all other relationships.

https://www.tysdayton.com/relationships-pdf