MISSION
Path of Compassion enlivens the art of meditation and mindfulness for anyone who wants to learn how to develop a meditation practice. We teach beginning meditators as well as seasoned meditators, folks who have been practicing TM, Metta, Vipassana, Zen and other styles of meditation. We offer people the foundational tools of meditation to learn how to let go deeply, beyond the distractions of the mind, into the heart of silence. The heart of silence is dynamic; a place of stillness that allows currents of healing and insight to flow. Meditation can offer a calm mind, more clarity, a keener ability to focus, better health and physical well being, reduction in stress and emotional reactivity, regulation of the nervous system and it can provide the opportunity for a nourishment which is similar to what we experience in deep sleep. The roots an established meditation practice can yield include the fruits of connection to one's own inner knower, an empowering intuitive guidance of the heart ~ the true compass ~ the infinite source of love, truth, compassion, creativity and wisdom that lives inside all of us.
Path of Compassion is the 4th Path, referred to as the Karunya Marga, which teaches one how to listen and feel for the truth in the presence of the shadow. The true feeling nature of the heart is a compass and when the shadows and challenges are cleared away it can serve as a divining rod in service to the mind. From this place of inner listening one develops the discernment to move from suffering to more freedom in meditation. How do you know which path you are called to? Whether it is a path of knowledge (Jnana Marga), devotion (Bhakti Marga), or action and service (Karma Marga )? Path of Compassion, the Karunya Marga, teaches us how to listen and to feel for whats calling us and to remember our true nature in the process.
Compassion polishes the elusive process of transcendence into a sacred art through the pillars of mindfulness, the precious jewels that shine the light on the inward journey. The pillars of mindfulness in meditation prepare the student with the necessary foundation to be present with a meditation technique, in such a way that it can culture the heart and the process of effortlessly letting go (Nirodhyama) in meditation. The elegant meditation techniques of the solar tradition, the Surah Parampara, include Apanasati (breath) meditation, Mantra meditation, as well as Krias and Pavanas which are designed to allow for subtler forms of listening to support the students journey from the busy mind into the Silence, the great mystery that lives within the heart.
THIS OFFERING COMES FROM LOVE ~ A LOVE THAT CULTURES MY HEART TO BRING FORTH THE WISDOM NEEDED
I teach from the experiences I have integrated in my own practice and in my life. As a teacher, I love to have conversations of the heart. I offer knowledge and techniques to support the unfolding of meditation practice through the art of listening. I listen with the ear of the heart to offer whats needed in relation to learning meditation or deepening in an established meditation practice. I share gems that deepen mindfulness and the art of compassion with students to support a return to the intuitive feeling nature of your heart that arises during practice. I work one-on-one in small groups to allow for the connection and support of the teacher student relationship. It is my greatest joy to offer you these tools to move from resistance to more effortless listening and letting go in meditation. From this inward place you can connect to more ease, peace of mind, insight and clarity so that you might discover your own wellspring of compassion, strength, joy, creativity and love in both meditation and in life. It is a process that unfolds with time, devotion, and fortitude in consistent practice.
I have had the great privilege and honor to deepen with my teacher, Aaravindha, these last 8 years on this inward adventure. My experience with the solar teachings and the journey of inward compassion is that the art unfolded in meditation is an elegant and potent container for growth and healing. Now more than ever, healing is needed to restore balance to the masculine and feminine polarities in ourselves and in the world. Meditation is the most direct pathway to come home to your true nature--your essence--which bestows one with the means for realization which lead to actualization. In this way, meditation practice is a revolutionary tool for inward and outward change, A return to love that brings forward a new expression. The most powerful foundation for action is from the presence of peace that can be touched moment-to-moment. Conscious action emerges from the now presence of peace. This Emergence is where we touch love, where we are renewed, in our return to presence and to essence.
Love,
Tarakini