Yantras, Mantras and JapaAAAAAAA!

"Students often learn the spiritual significance of a yantra from teachers or books by studying the symbolic meaning of its dot, triangles, squares, petals and circles. But not every yantra has all of these components. Some consist of only a triangle, others a circle, others more than one triangle or circle, and others a combination of several of these elements." ~p. 149, "The Power of Mantra & the Mystery of Initiation", Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD ~student of Swami Rama from The Himalayan Institute

"The truth is, however, that only an awakened yantra has power." ~Pandit Rajmani Tigunait

Of the planetary yantras which I painted on my bedroom wall at the end of my first formal yoga teacher training in 2008, the one for Venus is what I focus upon each day lately. Each of these I only painted after doing arduous mantra practice for each mantra associated with the resulting yantra. Mantras are vibratory sound patterns from the heart of the Divine, and yantras are their corresponding visual form. But the 'mantra shakti' only emerges with time and grace, if it does at all. The truest yantra would be that which emerges only after arduous mantra practice from an individual student....not the forms created from a  book, even following explicitly detailed instructions. These were done with devotion and love though. Alas, the sable brushes I used seemed to have been consumed in the fires of devotion!

After posting this on Facebook, another teacher, Christy Ratliff Hayes, whom I had met again before my first New Kundalini Class at D's on Sunday -"Kick-Ass Kundalini"...wrote this: "Phoenix Amrita, I just invited you to a group that explores and colors mandalas. We post pics and share as much as we're comfortable. If you scroll down to the very first post, it explains. a few are coming over next week for potluck, coloring, and chat. Let me know, and I'll send you the details. I'd love to see you!"

I am not used to this...new friends inviting me over!!?! What is happening? This is amazing! I know it is partly because she was so stressed over having to end her class earlier from now on for mine on Sunday's, and we did chat back and forth amiably about that, and I didn't get angry as she seemed to be worried that I might be...why would I have been? She was just stressed about not knowing there was another class after hers...just as I would have been...but really...something more than just our kindness to each other seems to be afoot: Maybe the Lifting of a Demonic Curse and GRACE!!!!! WAHE GURU! CHERDI KALA!!!!!!!!!!!!