(thanks to the Yoga Sanctuary for the mp3)

At the beginning of every Ashtanga class, we sing this chant. There is something so centering about it. I told a friend that I get shivers every time, and he commented that it is because I was probably a high priestess in a past life or something.

That thought always makes me smile. Kind of makes me want to tap into that past life somehow, and gather up all the strength that could have resided in it.
I have noticed a laack of emotional depth in my practice since I have moved to Toronto. I haven’t quite firgured out why, but nevertheless- I am grateful for this chanting at the beginning of classes, because it helps me at least, come forward to that place of being totally in it.

I looked up the meaning. Here’s what I found.

“For the peaceful resolution of the deluding poison of cyclic existence, I bow at the lotus feet of the Gurus, and beholed the awakened joy of my own Soul; it is the ultimate cause of bliss that acts like a shaman, a true source of spiritual healing.“

I have a real problem with the notion of bowing at the lotus feet of the Gurus. There is something in that that sharpens my inherent distaste for hierarchy. Especially hierarchy in spiritual matters.

But it’s still pretty. And it still gives me shivers.