IGX

This got to me super fast through Amazon. I took the free shipping and it showed up 3 days before they said the damn thing was going to ship. The dvd is 29.95.

The disc contents are:

Main Menu:

Introduction to Dance of Shiva
Introduction to Basic Movements
Basic Movements Practice

Main Theory and Practice Menu:
Level 1 Theory
Level 2 Theory
Level 3 Theory
Theory of Levels
Dance of Shiva and Yoga

A Note on Practicing

Level 1 Practice
Level 2 Practice
Level 3 Practice
Pranayamas and Rasas
Final Meditation

There are also some special features.

I've watched the main menu and the level 1 practice and theory. The basic movements goes over the four positions in the horizontal plane and in the vertical plane. There are like 20 chapters back to back of Andrey just doing these positions. The editing kind of sucks on this. At the end of each progression he starts again only to have it shift to the next chapter. Not a big deal, but kind of annoying.

The best feature of the dvd is the ability to watch the entire sequence from beginning to end or have it repeat one smallish section at a time. You can do this at slow speed or fast.

Dance of Shiva or Shiva Nata is a standing yoga that has a few positions for the lower body but really revolves around 2 sets of 4 positions for the arms and hands. The positions are labeled 1,2,3,4. The arms can either both move forward, both backward, right forward/left backward, left forward right backward.

For level one you start with both arms starting in position 1 and then moving forward until they come back to one and then you reverse it. Each arm is essentially mirroring the other. From there things begin to get complicated. The next progression involves the arms moving in opposite directions. Then one arm starts at position 1 while the other at position 2. You do this forwards, then backwards, then in opposite directions. This is a total mind fuck.

Yesterday I did my first session working on the routine. Once you get it conceptually, i.e., the various patterns that are going on, the practice becomes easier. It's totally obscure up to that point though.

Overall I think Lappa does a great job of taking something that is deceptively simple and breaking it down into manageable components.

Lappa calls it a system of conscious liberation. Is it? I'll let you know when I know.

Rasika is not for karmis, can lead to sahajjiya offenses.

Fat Cat wrote:Rasika is not for karmis, can lead to sahajjiya offenses.

I know not of what you speak rolling island man.

Rasas are special flavors of devotional service in Hindu thinking, so they are subdivisions of bhakti--devotion to God. There are many rasas, beginning with aisvarya-rasa (reverential devotion), and ascending all the way to madhurya-rasa (intimate love affair with God), such as symbolized by the union of pairs in Hinduism: Shiva and Parvati or Krsna and Srimati Radhika. This symbolizes God's self-sufficient quality, that God has a hladini-sakti, or ability to please and satisfy himself (i.e. God is complete and self sufficient unto himself) and also the relationship between atma and paramatma, the soul and the Supersoul. My point is that, if you aren't ready for this kind of thing, it's not something to be dabbled with as it's heavily inflected with very ancient and profound concepts from Hindu religion. They lead to really trippy emotional states, which when they are illegitimate are called sahajjiya--pretend or bogus--and amount to a type of delusion.

Fat Cat wrote:Rasas are special flavors of devotional service in Hindu thinking, so they are subdivisions of bhakti--devotion to God. There are many rasas, beginning with aisvarya-rasa (reverential devotion), and ascending all the way to madhurya-rasa (intimate love affair with God), such as symbolized by the union of pairs in Hinduism: Shiva and Parvati or Krsna and Srimati Radhika. This symbolizes God's self-sufficient quality, that God has a hladini-sakti, or ability to please and satisfy himself (i.e. God is complete and self sufficient unto himself) and also the relationship between atma and paramatma, the soul and the Supersoul. My point is that, if you aren't ready for this kind of thing, it's not something to be dabbled with as it's heavily inflected with very ancient and profound concepts from Hindu religion. They lead to really trippy emotional states, which when they are illegitimate are called sahajjiya--pretend or bogus--and amount to a type of delusion.

Gotcha. Not sure how I would know whether I was ready for this kind of thing or not. My sitting meditation has been going great for months now. Whether that is any indication I don't know.

The article that smet posted in the holosync thread really resonated with me: I haven't had any of those "transcendent" experiences that people talk about and they are not something I am looking for. I think the shiva nata is a great next step for me. I'll keep you posted about my experiences.

Thanks for the info and heads up. Appreciated.

Altered states are most definitely not what you should be after, and you seem to recognize that. What we should all be looking for is Complete Reality, that state where we experience Reality beyond thought and conception, like the meditators in the Smet's article that heard each tick of the clock as if it were for the first time.

while a guru may not be necessary; a friend or confidant who shares your penchant for spiritual athleticism is generally a good idea to have when shit gets weird, imho.

Hagbard wrote:while a guru may not be necessary; a friend or confidant who shares your penchant for spiritual athleticism is generally a good idea to have when shit gets weird, imho.

There's me, my mind, and the bad place.

Greystuff

I have Lappa's yoga DVD, but the duration of that session is about 2 hours. I know myself well enough to realise I will never be able to commit to such serious practice. How long does the SHiva Dance last? Can you do it as the sole yoga practice?

Hagbard wrote:while a guru may not be necessary; a friend or confidant who shares your penchant for spiritual athleticism is generally a good idea to have when shit gets weird, imho.

And a hearty Amen to that, lie-men.

smet wrote:Greystuff

I have Lappa's yoga DVD, but the duration of that session is about 2 hours. I know myself well enough to realise I will never be able to commit to such serious practice. How long does the SHiva Dance last? Can you do it as the sole yoga practice?

Smet, I have no idea how long the whole practice takes when put together and done straight through. You could do this as your sole yoga practice but I think you would be missing out. The patterns are done with the arms mostly with a few movements of the legs but there is no bending or stretching to speak of.

greystuff wrote:

smet wrote:Greystuff

I have Lappa's yoga DVD, but the duration of that session is about 2 hours. I know myself well enough to realise I will never be able to commit to such serious practice. How long does the SHiva Dance last? Can you do it as the sole yoga practice?

Smet, I have no idea how long the whole practice takes when put together and done straight through. You could do this as your sole yoga practice but I think you would be missing out. The patterns are done with the arms mostly with a few movements of the legs but there is no bending or stretching to speak of.

I've seen a version of this on Youtube and another version (without Lappa) on Brickhouse Body Mind. It looks more like a "kundalini" yoga exercise or a rapidly flowing, more sophisticated version of the traditional Yi Jin Jing...more oriented toward moving and channeling chi/prana (with attendant organ/health/nervous system benefits) than directly affecting the muscles. Undoubtedly a useful supplement to anyone's training if they are interested in that sort of thing.

Looks like bharatanatyam to me.