Winter Solstice 2010: Deep into the Darkness of Winter

Reconnecting with your innermost
self can open the doors to an
entirely new and unpredictable path.

Tailoring A Personal Retreat
This winter solstice, I won't be traveling, so I intend to spend time attending to my home and creating a sacred space. I'm deep into intention to create a personal winter solstice retreat.

* Prepare my meditation space * 

* Set intention for solstice celebration

as earth makes the gentle rotation from darkness to light. *

Winter Cold Fastens its Grip : Inner Retreat

Every winter solstice I find myself meditating to a different vibration than from the year before, allowing myself to listen to the quite voice within.

Make Your Own Retreat: 
If you don't have the time for a retreat get-away that is organized outside of your home, you can still find retreat within your own home.

1) Find A Room, or a Spot Intended for Meditation
In our guest bedroom, I re-arranged the space so that I have quite spot in the corner of the room. I've placed a little rug and a meditation mat in front of a small table. I put a few candles and significant photographs on it. All of it can be easily tucked away when guests stay in the room.

2) Set a Time for You and No Excuses to Cancel
For the next few days, set an intention and a time to step away from routines, relationships, and environments. Sit with yourself for 15 minutes, or longer. Practice silence.

If you have difficulties getting away from others, then let your family and friends of your intentions. Set the stage and let everyone know what you want makes it easier to drop into stillness and examine the undercurrent of your life. Once you do, you can plug into a connection with your divine nature.

Full moon over the Red Sea at Wadi el Dome Marina, Egypt

SIGNIFICANT Winter Solstice 21 December 2010

A most providential time as moon energy will be very extraordinary

Start to bring your awareness to this very auspicious time and begin to prepare yourself for the winter solstice. As the daylight is shorter and the days are cooler, the space around us creates an environment for reflection, prayer, and quietness. In Cairo, the December solstice occurs at 01:38 AM on December 22, 2010 (11.38pm UTC, December 21, 2010). The next day, another second of daylight lingers to bring a little sliver more of sun into our waking hours.

The Full Cold Moon

We will also have a full moon that begins at 10:13 AM. This December full moon is called Full Cold Moon. Sometimes this moon is referred to as the Full Long Nights Moon and the term "Long Night" Moon is a very appropriate name because the nights are now indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time.

This particular full moon makes its highest arc across the sky because it's diametrically opposite to the low Sun. The moment of the Winter Solstice at 1:38 a.m comes just over 15 hours after full moon .

Last, but certainly not least, this will also be the night of a Total Lunar Eclipse. Observers in Western Europe and western Africa will see the opening stages of the eclipse before the Moon sets.

Sometime give a talk to yourself, 'How I can be great'
Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes on how you can be great.
Make it a secret tape, and then listen to that electronic voice as a meditation;
it will work 100 times better."
~Yogi Bhajan

It's New Years eve, Full Moon, and Blue Moon

The full moon at 6:20 pm as it rises above the Red Sea.
It's new year's eve! Today we all get to experience not only a full moon, but a rare blue moon. The blue moon means a second full moon within a month's time. The last time we had a blue moon on December 31st was in 1990, with the next coming about in 2028.

What an amazing time for us to celebrate, reflect, and center ourselves.

**

Winter Solstice 2009

Are you relaxed and calm outside of your yoga studio?

Winter greetings to one and all. The longest night of the year draws near.
Winter solstice here in Egypt begins on the 21 of December at 07:45 until 19:47.

This is a time of life-death-rebirth, as we now journey deeper into the cold days of winter. Even in sunny Egypt, winter's kiss chills into our bones.

Since I could remember, I've celebrated winter solstice. I imagine it is because I come from farmer's roots. It really is my time of rebirth. As a new year approaches, I've decided to open the next 14 days as my personal time to journey into my Self.

1) I AM, I AM: For so many winter solstices before, I've sought workshops or teachers that hold special celebrations. I look outside for teachers to guide me to transformation and enlightenment. But alas, who really can bring someone to transformation or enlightenment? And what does transformation look like? And what the hell is enlightenment?

2) Scripting a New Script: In the face of my seeking, I continue to struggle with unfathomable "stories" that read from a negative script deep within my mind circuits. Despite my numerous 1000-day meditations and devoted yoga practice over the years, I continue to be blindsided by these devastating thoughts. My ego retaliates. I can only guess that I am now bumping into ancient fears that have nothing to do with this lifetime. I recognize that this isn't something personal to me and that we all share similar stories in our "secret" thoughts. After all, we are all one, so I acknowledge that there are no secret thoughts.

3) Teach Present Moment: God has blessed me with the gift of being a teacher. I love the cycle of learning and teaching. However, I feel that I can only be effective if my guiding Truth is truly free from mental burdens and unforgiving story lines. If my ego continues to trap me, my guiding Truth is suffocated. It's time to pull the electrical circuit on stuck mental tapes. The time and space on this planet right now offers us unconditional love to release those old programs. Be here. Be now. Be free!

4) Let It All BE: I embark on a self-guided journey to navigate the wild world ocean of my mind, body, and spirit. First comes concentration, then comes meditation.

This winter solstice, I will sing and dance with the Red Sea. I'll be practicing a selection of kundalini yoga sets to move the physical energy and combine several self-reflective exercises to move my emotional and mental energy.

Who would I be without my story? (Please refer to The Work of Byron Katie for more details about this question.)

If you happen to be in Ain Sokhna, let me know. I invite you to come and join me.

Happy Solstice to All. Happy New Year to One.

*** ****

Loving Letter on Vernal Equinox

Loving and Divine Soul,

On the occasion of the Vernal Equinox, I send my love, best wishes, and prayer to all of you.

As the earth constantly revolves around the sun, the light plays across the earth differently depending on the position of the sun. When the sun is over the equator, it is the equinox, and the length of daylight and night are equal. Once the sun goes to the northern hemisphere, as it will today, there will be more light in the north and less light in the south.

It has symbolic meaning. In the body the northern hemisphere is above the heart, and the southern hemisphere is below the heart. When there is more light, meaning more knowledge and awareness in the upper part of the body, we experience more calm and peace. In this state human ego, emotion, jealousy, pride, fear, anxiety, and so forth disappear. On the other hand, when the sun goes to the south, this represents more attention in the lower part of the body, that is, toward material possession, physical pleasure, and food and drink. At this time we become engrossed in worldly life, ignoring the real joy and happiness.

If we can tune ourselves to the rhythm of love and devotion, knowledge and consciousness, we can take care of the lower chakras and their propensities, but still be free from human vices. Those who are not truly spiritual, who achieve a little accomplishment in lower chakras, become filled with pride and ego.

There is a beautiful verse in Sanskrit:

agadha jala sanchari rohita naiva garvitam
gandusha jala matrena safari pharpharayate

“Although a big fish, such as a carp who lives in deep water, is not proud of itself, a tiny fish flutters a lot in a handful of water, making much noise.”

We should be intelligent and wise. Wise people do not show pride or vanity, but people with little knowledge are egotistical and showy. We should create balance and harmony in our spiritual lives as well as in our day-to-day living. On the equinox, the day of balance, I pray to God and masters to help us live balanced lives.

Again, I am praying for all of you.

With Love,
Prajnanananda