Blog Posts

Ingredients:

• 4 cups

(Album Cover for « Samsara » by Christopher Stewart)

Poligraf’s first album will be entitled « Samsara » in reference to the cycle of reincarnation in Buddhist culture.

Samsara is a Sanskrit and Pali term derived from to « flow together, » « to go or pass through states, » « to wander, » and which translates as « continuous movement » or « continuous flowing. »

In Buddhism, it refers to the concept of a cycle of birth and consequent decay and death, in which all beings in the universe participate

Sunday night completed 9 days of The Divine Mother’s worship. We had the perfect Swami Vishnudevananda style celebration. Gajananum from the Devananda Yoga Center in Berkeley, CA did an outstanding job. The food was perfect. Narayan and Hari Das took care of the details.

Swami Vishnu when He came down from the cave to get medical help from His frostbite was first admitted to a Maternity Ward and the next day a Father came over to apologize for His wife’s labor pain and her making noise. Swamiji s

(Untitled Artwork by Fred Bonneau)

« Polygraph » is intended as a portrait of human relationships turning to the sour, hinting at the necessity of constant genuineness. The composition lasts a little over 10 minutes and is composed of the following four sections :

1. Exposition
2. Confrontation
3. Consideration
4. Vindication

I have a particular fondness for that piece of music. One fine evening many years ago, the TV was on to Robert Lepage’s movie « Le Polygraphe » as I stumbled upon the main motif while tryi

I think He had a very hard life. Quite a task to bring Yoga to the West. Look at ALL the Yoga there is today. It’s everywhere. In the 1980’s the only place you could openly teach was in a Unitarian church. In public institutions they had to give you space. Swamiji wanted practitioners not preachers. Everything He said has come true except Nuclear war. I was quite fortunate to know Him. Ruby Blue, the last time I saw Her said, “ I know He told you to go to Sivananda and that is right but Vishnude

I see a lot of non-Indian friends on this site. While, their zeal and dedication to Yoga Vidya gives me immense joy, I am not quite sure whether they understand the meaning of Yoga and other terms of Indian Origin in their real perspective. I don't claim to be an expert or an authority on Indian religion or culture. On the contrary, there might be a great number of members who know much more than what I know about Yoga Vidya. However, being an Indian my self, I thought I should blog on some of t

("Steamroller" by dam)

The closing movement of « Juggernaut » is entitled, simply, « Epilogue. »

Inspired by ELP's « Abaddon's Bolero » from their « Trilogy » album, this instrumental piece is based on a single theme that is played in harmony by all the instrumentalists over various but similar chord progressions.

The section starts with bass line and triangle, soon followed by the main theme on guitar, and then the various instruments progressively add their voice to the ensemble. The music cres

("Label from a bottle of O·c·t·a·T·o·n·i·c" by Christopher Stewart, using a picture of William Henry Fox Talbot by Antoine Claudet)

The eighth and final movement of « Octoccata » is entitled « Multilethalead » and starts on a ostinato-based progression that slowly morphs into a relentless string of offbeat melodies harmonized by an increasing number of voices, building up to a climactic reprise of the « Lethal Lead » theme introduced in the fourth movement.

The « Multi » part of the section's ti

("Athletics tracks finish line" by Petey21)

« Marimbariation » takes its name from the brief passage featuring the marimba that leads this seventh movement of the « Symphony of Eights. »

Once the percussive instrument concludes its opening statement, the music returns to more traditional orchestrations as it explores a succession of quirky melodies supported by syncopated rhythms.

The section culminates on a repeated phrase wherein the main riff is a restatement of a previous figure which is now

Bharat had invited Swamiji to Delaware in 1973 and Swamiji accepted. Everyone is expecting to do Asanas & Pranayama from a world teacher a celebrity instead Swamiji spent the class time doing Devi chants. Bharat was really worried as people had paid for something different ! The next day Bharat asked some of the people in the class their thoughts. They loved it.

Swamiji was like a freight train when He did those “His” mantras, they were powerful. Swamiji told us TTC etc. some classic mantras and

("Nixie eight" by L. Marie)

How on Earth can a musical movement be named « Progigoriation » you ask ? Well, obviously, because it's the prog rock variation of another similar movement entitled « Igorchestral » I emphatically reply. And so it is that the music of this sixth movement of « Octoccata » is closely related to that of the aforementioned second movement, with the noticeable difference that it is orchestrated for a 5-piece rock band comprising of drums, bass, guitar, organ, and synth.

If

("behind the eight ball" by eschipul)

The next segment of « Octoccata » is entitled « Reoctoverture. » Basically, this section is a reprise of the introduction, hence the name, as it restates the theme presented therein, albeit through new and generally heavier variations.

The beginning of this fifth movement is intended as a tribute to Gentle Giant as it mirrors the way in which various fragmentary parts progressively recreate the main theme after the middle section of « Proclamation » (from «

I thought I could e-mail to mailing list the short lectures “snippettes” This action filled everyone’s mailbox and I have stopped this action. You never know until you try.

The lectures will be located at : http://idisk.mac.com/gregg.hill-Public?view=web

I know more about e-mail and computers after this failed attempt.

I tried and it was a great idea.

Peace.

One day Swamiji tells every problem the Camp has, for example, water pressure, Kids camp space etc.

He laughs when telling about how the smokers wanted a “smoking court” where they could sit down and smoke across the street outside the Camp ! He says only one person should enjoy the Yoga Camp and that’s Him because He designed it ! Everybody laughed. He found it amazing that people would come and live in tents to learn Yoga. He said, “He had Karma to work off in the Laurentian mountains. He said,

Swamiji while walking to school if He saw a Frog in a snake’s mouth He would tap on the snake’s head with a stick to free the frog. He knew it was nature’s way but not while He was there and He could see the frog in distress.

One day at Yoga Camp while looking out His window Swamiji noticed a bug in a spider’s web. Swamiji asked the staff member to remove the bug from the web.

Swamiji had to have a dog put to sleep as the dog couldn’t live due to an accident. That really bothered Him, but He did i

Ruby Blue met Swamiji as she came to Yoga camp in 1967. Swamiji was changing the oil of vehicle. He comes out from under the car wipes His hand off on His shirt puts His hand out to greet and says, “ Hi, I’m Swami Vishnudevananda. She said, “ He was genuine.”

Ruby Blue said,” There are 2 kinds of people in an Ashram, “ High class and no class.”

I asked Ruby, “ Who is teaching the 4:00 class ? She says,” King Kong if they could find him !”

Her husband Henny did everything He could to help Swami Vish