Song to Infinite Spaciousness

Hi, I'm glad you're here. For this practice we will be working with the archetype Bhuvanashvari. And we'll begin with a little talk, a little chatter about the essence of Bhuvanashvari, and about working with archetypes in general. And then we'll move into a mantra, some sort of free-form bhakti, where we have lots of space to play. And we'll sit in that for a little bit. And I might give you some homework. We'll see how we do. So I'm glad you're here. So a note about working with the archetypes in general. The first thing to remember is that although the archetypes have names, they're really representative of an aspect of ourselves. They're not separate from us.

They're already within us. And we can work with them a couple of different ways. If we feel like we're really in the space of a particular archetype, and whether that's something that we're experiencing as easy or as challenging, it's a way of mediating that relationship within ourselves. We can also work with the archetypes as a way of serenading a part of ourselves that might be sort of sleeping and that we'd like to awaken. But as always, it's already in you. You are your own medicine. So that's sort of general talk about the archetypes.

And about Bhuvanashvari in particular, this is big time ma. This is space. Bhuvanashvari is the action of creating and all that's created. So lots of this like rajas in the best, most juicy possible way and what's made from that. Bhuvanashvari is vastness as in like the biggest thing you can imagine, but also the vastness that is contained in the tiniest grain of sand. And just a personal story about Bhuvanashvari.

For me, the essence of Bhuvanashvari is there is always space. And this really became my work when I had a teeny tiny child in my life. And I felt like I was always searching for some space for myself. And if you've ever cared for someone or something like 24 hours a day, it can seem like there is never any space. And so the work was really like discovering that, oh my gosh, there is space.

At the bottom of each exhalation there is space. At the top of each inhalation there is space. The space between each thought, the space between each feeding of a child. It's always there. The work is in seeing it and feeling it. So Bhuvanashvari. Space, similarly, will help us sort of navigate our mantra practice.

So the mantra work that we'll be doing here is super free form, where there's lots of room for you to experiment. I will play a couple of notes, but you will hear that I'm not always singing them. And sometimes I'm making sounds that seem to be completely out of left field. And I'd love for you to do the same thing, to just see how the sounds engage with one another. There's no wrong way to do it.

The sounds that we'll make are om, which probably you've heard before. Om is creation, mediation, transformation over and over and over again. Shreem is the seed or the bhij for beauty. Shreem is the seed or the bhij for transformation. Bhuvanashvariye is our archetype of this practice.

And namaha, I bow to. I bow to that aspect of myself that sees the space in a sky full of stars and in a grain of sand. Om Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Feel free to sing something else too, like space, space, space, space. So we'll settle into a seat where you can connect with your breath.

And start making some sounds. Shreem Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Om Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Om Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha.

Om Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Om Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Om Shreem Shreem Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. Om Shreem Shreem Om Shreem Shreem Bhuvanashvariye namaha. You might bring your awareness to the space between your eyebrows.

You might explore and notice sensation at that space. And with your awareness right there, can you get a sense of your body, your form, you in space? And you sense the earth beneath you and the ceiling or sky above you. The walls of the room that you find yourself in now and the presence of objects or bodies or others in that space. Relax the effort, soften the effort of feeling that, sensing the presence of your body in space.

And in time invite the eyes to flutter from closed to open eyes. Sort of drink in the space around you with your vision. Now for the homework, I think you're ready. In your day to day, in your life, in those moments when it feels like you're at your most constricted search for space, it may be really hard to see and you might not be able to do it every time. But whenever it occurs to you, go to this place, look for the vastness in a grain of sand.

So hard, so rewarding. Thank you so much for being here, for sharing this space. Jai Ma