1. New Beginnings Puja, Starts Monday, June 6th (this will be good!)

 

Starting June we will begin doing a special puja on the first Monday of each month to reset and renew ourselves for the month ahead. The puja will consist of the chanting of Om twenty-seven times, japa of the Ganapati bijakshara mantra, a short shodhashopachara puja, and a meditation and intention setting ritual for the month ahead. The ceremony will last between 30-40 minutes, and can be attended in-person or online. (Signing up for a recurring year of monthly pujas comes with the gift of one of the temple's sold out JOY t-shirts). Sign up here, and bring a friend along!

 

https://broomestreetganesh.org/product/monthly-new-beginnings-puja/

 

2. Pushpamala/Flower Garland Offering

 

Offering garlands to the deities in any Hindu temple is a joyous and aesthetically pleasing devotional act. As our temple gets up and running, we will be offering fresh garlands to all of the deities, and would love your help in doing so. We are purchasing the garlands from Vivek Flowers. If you would like to make recurring or one time garland donations in your name or the name of a loved one, please enter the information in the order notes in the checkout page, and we will take care of ordering the garlands, and offering on your behalf. We will also send you a photo of the deity with the flower garland offering after the pujas are complete. 

 

Sign up here: 

https://broomestreetganesh.org/product/flower-garland-donations/

 

3. Inner Stillness with Sacinandana Swami, Saturday, June 12th, 6pm. 

 

Please join Sacinandana Swami and Eddie for an evening of pranayama, meditation, kirtan, and devotional talks. the program is free or by donation, and can be attended in-person or on Zoom. We'll start the evening with some light pranayama with Eddie, followed by kirtan and meditation with Swamiji. The program will last between 90-120 minutes. 

 

You can register here: 

https://broomestreetganesh.org/product/inner-stillness/

 

4. The temple is looking for someone for part-time summer work! 

 

Somewhere between 5-10 hours per week (paid). Perfect for college students. Must be diligent, punctual, comfortable with detail oriented computer work, and eager to come to work as early as 7:45 a few days per week. Contact us if you are interested, or know anyone (or have a child) who is looking for work! 

 

PPS Did you make it this far? Here's something on Yoga: 

 

One of the ideas that was heavily discussed in my Ancient Yoga Texts course last semester were the three, basic attitudes that can be found in almost all of the Yoga traditions. Each is described as a bhavana. A bhavana is often translated as a mood or emotion, but it is more specifically a mood or emotion that accompanies an action or activity. For example, one day you might learn a yoga pose that brings you great joy, or a sense of freedom or lightness. When that happens, you have to consciously attach that feeling to the action itself. Each time you do that posture, you can recall the feeling associated with it, until the two become interconnected, and each time you do that pose, it brings you joy. The same is true with ritual, or with prayer, or with meditation. The mood with which we bring to any devotional practice is highly important, and when the mood and action become indelibly connected, you will always enter into that expanded state as you perform your devotional actions. All too often, we get bored, are tired, have stuff to do, or are rushing to "get it done." Sometimes we are simply achievement or goal oriented and miss the sweetness of the practice. So to recall the bhavana as you do a practice is one of the first tunings of consciousness that takes place in transformation. 

 

Here are three, key bhavanas that my professor, Dr. Karuna Nagarajan, discussed with us. 

 

1. Pratipaksha bhavana: this is adapting the opposite attitude to a negative thought or emotion. If you feel anger, try to replace it with tenderness. If you feel jealousy, try to replace it with sympathetic joy. Easier said than done, but nobody said yoga was easy! Pratipaksha bhavana is featured in the Yoga Sutras. 

 

2. Saakshi bhavana: observe your emotions, don't get lost in them. Things are going to come up, and we all know by now not to push them away. Observe them, and they gradually lose their energy and power, and we can also learn something about them. Remember, you are the observing awareness, not your thoughts. You wouldn't know you were having a thought, or an emotion, unless something was there to observe it. So, consciously practicing witness awareness periodically throughout the day is a great practice, and good for our overall mental and emotional wellbeing. 

 

3. Anitya bhavana: understand that nothing is permanent. The only certainty is change. So, we should practice with an equilibrium of mind, and also practice having equilibrium of mind. This is also found in many places in the Yoga Sutras, also in the description of what happens when success in asanas occur: we become balanced and able to withstand the ups and downs of life, the dvandvas, or pairs of opposites. The ability to withstand change is to have the knowledge and expectation that change will in fact come, so we don't need to be surprised by it, we just need to be strong enough to deal with it. 

 

Each of these can act as an anchor. See what happens if you can recall any of these at some point during the day, as well as during your practices. When we consciously implement these ideas within our spiritual practices, they can be there for us in our life practices as well. 

 

ES