Friday Led Class

I walked to the shala in the dark at 5:30 a.m. this morning. It was quiet, except for the occasional dog barking as I pass by the houses and a bicyclist here or there headed off to their work. I saw hello to the ox tied to the post in the vacant lot. Friday is led class and I am in the 2nd group, which starts at 6 a.m. I get there early so I can have a place on the main floor and not have to practice in the restroom or the lobby.

I took my place on the steps with about 15 others who got up earlier than me, waiting for the first led class that starts at 4:30 to get out. I actually wish I was in the 4:30 class, but Laksmi our sitter thought I was insane to have her at our house at 4:00 a.m. I listened closer to the led class and Saraswati was teaching not Sharath. I like Saraswati, she is Guruji’s daughter and Sharath’s mom. She has a great sense of humor and she leads very much like her father. She led the classes for the first time in Islamorado when we went there to see Guruji. Her counting of the primary series is a good pace for me. I smiled as this made me very happy to have her today.

Sitting with my eyes closed on the lovely steps, yogis start to quietly file in. You can hear whispers of everyone and all languages are being spoken, Russian, Japanese, Portuguese and the lovely brits all saying, “Is that right?” I smile again as I am so happy to be here and so lucky to be here.

Right at 5:45 I hear the most beautiful singing from a man. It’s like an opera almost but longer syllables and words are dragging on. Then other men start to chime in. They are chanting and not all in one place, but from their houses. The chorus rings out through the neighborhood and you hear them for blocks. It is truly amazing the devotion in the Indians with their gods and their worship to them.  Every morning they chant, every evening they worship in the temples and every day they put flowers on statues and temples and their own puja rooms in their houses. This is the real deal. At home, many people go to church because they have to or they feel it is their duty and that they will be a better person if they do. Here in India, god, deities, their devotion is a part of their being since birth.

The chanting stops. I listen again to Saraswati counting the series, “15, 16, 17…” I am thinking, crap she is counting headstands to 20 counts today. Ok, no problem, bring it on!
Finally they end with the closing prayer:
http://www.kpjayi.org/closing-prayer.html

Those of us on the steps stand up and get ready to file in. I make it to the main floor in the back. My mat is touching the people on each side of me. Saraswati walks in and says: “Samasthititih!” We all stand up at the front of our mat and she starts the opening prayer:
http://www.kpjayi.org/opening-prayer.html

I smile. I am in Mysore, here in the shala, ready to go and ready to deepen my practice.
Om!