“The Body as a Temple” Teaching Theme

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AUDIO

In this audio excerpt, Swami Radha invites us into the paths of our senses to connect deeply within and also expand outward to the world around us.
You can listen to it here:

TEACHING IDEAS

  1. Take the line from the Divine Mother prayer “May all eating and drinking be the offering of oblations unto Thee” as a reflection for the month, considering the prayer with the nourishment. Observe the effects as you practice. What awareness do you gain?
  2. After filling the body with Light, repeat for yourself a few times this affirmation: “My body is a Temple” and then reflect: Do I really honor my body as a Temple? How can I manifest this truth in my daily life?
  3. Visualize yourself entering the Temple of Light at the Ashram. As you come in through the outside door, recognize that you are entering a place of peace. Taking off shoes and outdoor clothing, let go of all day-to-day worries and concerns. See yourself enter the inner lotus doors, placing around you the shawl of the teachings. Breathing fully, surrender to the joy of being in the Temple with it’s showers of Light and vibrations of mantra. Let your body become the Temple. See your body filled with Light. Imagine living life this fully, bringing the Temple into your day-to-day life. What would it look like? How would you change? How will you act on the insights from this visualization ?
  4. Practice regularly the Meditation on the Light, p 88-90 Yoga of Healing, Swami Radha. Decide on the extent of your practice (e.g. once a day for a week or a month) and write your reflections. Review at the end of the time.
  5. What do you feed your senses? Listen, watch, eat, act, touch, smell. Choose one sense to work with. What is your reason for engaging this sense? What is the result? Keep a log for a week. Evaluate. Any changes? What happens if you implement a change? Observe.
  6. The Temple of Divine Light is always open and listening. It offers Divine Light, natural light from the skylight and windows, and Swami Radha’s vision manifested in “clusters of light, cascading down in columns, pillars of lights, with little lights hanging down like grapes.” Spend time observing the Light manifesting in your own body, mind and speech. What are the qualities? Draw on experiences of knowing the Temple of Divine Light. What are the qualities?
  7. Reflect on this quote from Swami Sivananda’s (from the intro to Kundalini Yoga for the West)
    • “All human actions are divine actions. One universal life throbs in the hearts of all, sees in the eyes of all, works in the hands of all, hears in the ears of all. What a magnanimous experience it is, if one can feel this by crushing this little ‘I’! The old Samskaras (deep impressions), the old Vasanas, (karmic residue, unconscious propensities), the old habits of thinking, stand in the way of your realizing this Experience – Whole.
    • “The aspirant thinks that the world is identical with the Divine Mother. The aspirant moves about thinking her own form to be the form of the Divine Mother and thus beholds oneness everywhere.”
    • Breathe, write.
  8. Practice holding the image of a mass of Light in the shape of your body. (Living the Practice, p. 161 or Kundalini Yoga for the West, p. )
  9. Visualize deities—Tara and Buddha, Radha and Krishna or Siva and Sakti– one in each palm. Slowly bring them together at namaste, entering your heart as their Temple.
  10. Ask yourself, How has my Hidden Language training helped me to understand and facilitate my own personal physical healing? How many times and on what different levels has this occurred over the years?
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