Its Time to Elevate

Instagram: youssefwhossef Bhakti Yogi. Musician. World Traveler.

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*Living Here and Now* For most people it can take until the end of their lives to capitalize on gratitude within relationships. Now that death is knocking on their door, they can easily express all of their disagreements, regrets and gratitude towards those close to them. Things from the far past can resurface and be healed right then and there, and the friendships during that time are brought to a profound level - because everyone is realizing the value and preciousness of time. As they laugh, cry and share memories they cannot but help and think "Why was it not always like this"? Similarly we can think, when will I honestly and tactfully address those deep-rooted things within my own life and friendships? When will I really be able to express my fullest gratitude towards everyone who has graced my path? How many of these problems are really just trivial? How long, or what challenges, will it take for me to make the next steps that my future self is begging me to take - for my own healing and for all others? As I spend some of my last days as a college student, I can't help but reflect on the preciousness of time. I stroll through the same nature trails and campus with newfound beauty and the breeze feels charged with an elixir of gratitude. I laugh and cherish moments with friends as we know our paths could not cross for a long while. If we really capitalize on the moment, our whole life can be one big beautiful gratitude meditation. How nice would that be? (at Marrakesh, Morocco)

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Life determines our problems, but we determine their size. I heard someone once say that there are two types of people in the world. The first thinks "We are all just products of our environment", while the other thinks "I am a product of the decisions I make in response to life's circumstances." Excessive worry hinders our self-development and perpetuates the false idea that we are in control of everything. We often choose to worry as a way to avoid change and justify our lack of intelligent action. If we are even a little honest we can see that we are not in control of most things in life, except > > > how we REACT to circumstances. The more we dwell on an issue in our life, the more it zaps our energy to solve it. By meditating on a trauma or misfortune, the mind is hijacked, and we practically experience the very event we are trying to avoid. Abandoning worry does not mean that we neglect to give importance to an issue, it just means that we propel ourselves forward with the best action, planning for the worst but expecting the best out of every situation. . . . . #yoga #bhakti #devotion #spiritualwarrior #holi #mindovermatter #yogi #dontworrybehappy #conqueringfears #abundance #meditation #holistic #love (at Holi (The Festival of Colours))

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I've got great funky friends all over the place! #happybdaykira (at Ichetucknee Springs State Park)

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*Becoming Receptive to Higher Energies* As we contemplate the problems in society and feel a desire to make a difference, we must develop our inner resources in order to be capable of offering service. We cannot give what we ourselves do not possess. In order to have something valuable to share, we must purify ourselves and live in a more transcendental way. Then our interactions with others will be genuine, emerging from our inner core rather than being superficial behavior adopted for the sake of appearances. The effect we have on others, and our ability to truly enter their hearts, is based on who we are and the energies we radiate. Our own love, devotion and higher awareness are automatically communicated to others, who in turn can also make an important difference. Because our internal consciousness so greatly affects our external environment, we should constantly be asking "How can I develop and grow so that I can share with others?" This kind of attitude, paired with humility and compassion, can make us more and more receptive to higher energies. By nourishing our roots with spiritual nutrients, we become like a tree whose branches bend low for everyone to pick delicious fruits from. Routinely nourishing the self with spiritual practices such as reading, meditating and chanting - we can truly embody the compassion we want to bring forward to so many situations in our personal lives, and in the greater societal spheres around us.  . . . . (at Alhambra)

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Isn't it amazing that we each have our very own u n i q u e contribution to this world? From how we serve and love others, to all of the quirks that make us beautiful individuals - we each have a precious gem to offer. Without the diversity of culture, friendship, and mother earth's gifts, how fun would this world be? To love means to serve each individual in a very personal way. We can make life a meditation, honoring the spark of consciousness, the essence --the soul-- within everyone we encounter. The externals, conditionings and mind will be there, which may not always be pleasant, but we can realize that the natural desire of everyone is to love and be love. I am so grateful that YOU are YOU and I am ME. Also grateful there are 38+ species of Helianthus (sunflowers) out there somewhere! . . . . . #helianthus #sunflower #motherearth #organicgardening #permaculture #bhaktiyoga #plantseedsoflove #spiritualwarrior #individuality #sparkofhissplendor (at Springfield (Jacksonville))

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Me wormin' my way out of college and entomology projects (at Salar De Uyuni - Bolivia)

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Another revolution around the sun feels pretty good. Thank you all for being a part of the magic! (at Art of Living Retreat Center)

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"The stage of perfection is called trance, or samādhi, when one's mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This is characterized by one's ability to see the Self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the Self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness and enjoys himself through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact." . . . . . (at Chefchaouen The Blue Pearl شفشاون الجوهرة الزرقاء)

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"If you lose your wealth, you have lost nothing; if you lose your health, you have lost something; but if you lose your character, you have lost everything." By practicing ahimsa, or nonviolence, we can really cultivate compassion for all living beings. This extends beyond physical violence and also means compassionate living and thinking. The nature of this world is that every animal exists by feeding on another living being - this cannot be avoided. What we CAN do is alter our actions to reduce our harm (to the environment, animals and personal health) as much as possible. This includes practicing vegetarianism. The number one cause of death in America is heart disease, caused by meat-based diets and poor health habits. Animal agriculture is the primary cause of deforestation, species extinction and climactic change on earth. Physiologically, our bodies are not meant to eat meat. Only herbivores can move their jaws side to side in a grinding motion. Only herbivores use sweat for thermoregulation, while meat eaters like dogs and bears use panting. Herbivore's intestine length is very long in order to digest plant matter, while meat eaters have very short digestive tracts to quickly move decaying flesh out of the body. We only possess the body characteristics of herbivores, no wonder poor digestion and heart disease are the number one killers here. Try to regulate and make a change in diet. For most people, the switch to vegetarianism isn't overnight and the main challenge people face is lack of culinary knowledge. Learn new recipes, make smoothies, cook Ayurvedic feel-good meals that are natural elixirs for health and well being. Make a change in your life and the lives of others - the animals, environment and your body will thank you. I'd be happy to point anyone in the right direction! . . . . #loveanimals #vegan #ahimsa #goseva #cows #vegetarian #growyourown #gardening #compassionateliving #bhakti #yoga

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Spent the weekend in the blue ridge mountains cooking for 1,800 people, dancing, learning, hearing inspiring life stories and rockin' out to Kirtan. #sadhusanga #kirtan #heavenlymountain #bhakti #yoga #feast #dancing (at Boone, North Carolina)

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*Differentiating between spirituality and aspiring spiritualists* Since time immemorial tyrants have misused and twisted spirituality for exploiting others in pursuit of their own materially based conquests. Other, less zealous individuals simply perform religious rituals in the hopes of material prosperity at the gross (money, possessions, etc.) or subtle levels (removal of anxieties, good image, etc). Being that the Divine is not simply our order taker, we sure do seem to have very large shopping lists. Due to this mentality, many think "If the Divine cannot immediately arrange for this shopping list of desires to be delivered, what is the use of any spiritual process”? This is a very basic relationship - one of only receiving. This egocentric model, to some degree, is representative of most of our day-to-day relationships: we feel incomplete so we go out with our shopping lists and possessiveness expecting others to fulfill our every desire. To become our truest selves, one must recognize their own faulty and conditioned state of mind and decide to enter the school of spiritual rehabilitation. A true spiritualist does not have a shopping list, but rather only wants to give assistance, guidance, service and charity to others and the Divine. They think "How can I make my beloved happy?" and even go out of their way to serve all others. The process is not only about becoming a better person, but cultivating sincere relationships. We must remind ourselves that so many varieties of people are attracted to the spiritual process. The nature of a hospital is that there are sick people, but they desire health so they have decided to get help from qualified practitioners. Those who have entered spiritual rehabilitation will not always act properly or possess the right mindset because they are still recovering. Without this realization, many aspiring spiritualists avoid association with any sort of spiritual organization. (at Omega Institute)

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Humility means that one should not be anxious to have the satisfaction of being honored by others. The material conception of life makes us very eager to receive honor from others, but from the point of view of a man in perfect knowledge – who knows that he is not this body – anything, honor or dishonor, pertaining to this body is useless. One should not be hankering after this material deception. People are very anxious to be famous for their religion, and consequently sometimes it is found that without understanding the principles of religion one enters into some group which is not actually following religious principles and then wants to advertise himself as a religious mentor. As for actual advancement in spiritual science, one should have a test to see how far he is progressing. He can judge by these items. False ego means accepting this body as oneself. When one understands that he is not his body and is spirit soul, he comes to his real ego. Ego is there. False ego is condemned, but not real ego. In the Vedic literature (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10) it is said, ahaṁ brahmāsmi: I am Brahman, I am spirit. This “I am,” the sense of self, also exists in the liberated stage of self-realization. This sense of “I am” is ego, but when the sense of “I am” is applied to this false body it is false ego. When the sense of self is applied to reality, that is real ego. There are some philosophers who say we should give up our ego, but we cannot give up our ego, because ego means identity. We ought, of course, to give up the false identification with the body.

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It hasn’t sunk in yet that my college experience as I know it is coming to an end. Thinking of the precious friends made and experiences leaves me in awe. Living in the dorms on campus freshman year I thought – man, how cool is this? I am on my own with my best friend and the world is ours to explore. We can become anyone we want to be now! It felt liberating. School was easy, there were wild things happening every night and we were quickly finding friends. Jamming with the musicians, joining the hippie-minded crowd, it was all so fun. During the summer I took my first solo backpacking trip through the Andes Mountains of Peru and Bolivia, marveling at the mystic Macchu Picchu and simple village life around me. Sophomore year: we got our own place – a small apartment we called the “Lost and Found” house, and what a fitting title that was. Ian and I hosted far-out potlucks, filling our quaint place with 100+ people from anywhere and everywhere - dancing wildly to the funk of Herbie Hancock and guitar solos of Zeppelin. People painted our walls with their own artistic creations while a heavy fog filled the air. It was like floating on top of the world having so many people come to our place and share their stories. I was always a seeker and this was the year I really started questioning this “new-age” route to enlightenment and satisfaction. I found a need to go deeper and decided to try vegetarianism and deepen my meditation practice - things were changing. Junior year comes around and I’m living in a house with sweet-hearted environmentalists, aspiring yogis and seekers. It was time to simplify – no crazy potlucks, no more Lost and Found. Wait; don’t get me wrong, we were still having our fun! Richie and I started traveling to every big music festival to lead workshops on environmentalism, spirituality and mantra meditation. I was conducting research on dolphins in the St. John’s River. Summer rolls around and Richie and I found ourselves hiking through 8 countries on a journey from Denmark to the northern tip of Africa. Morocco transported us back some 500 years to seemingly ancient times where a devotional mood saturated the atmosphere. Continued...

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*Seeking Control* Who in this world can claim complete control of their life? The nature of this world is that we do not have a choice over so many things. Being born into the world, we automatically sign up to go through aging and the inevitable (but rarely spoken of) process of death. We don’t get to browse an online selection of parents before we are placed into the womb of our mothers. We don’t get to choose our health, race or geographical region at birth. Even as adults, day to day life can be so uncertain – we can turn on the news to catch a glimpse. One day we are healthy and the next we are sick. One day we are satisfied and happy with what we have and the next thing we know – everything can be taken away.  It seems like today’s society is one of “The controllers vs the controlled” – political, corporate and societal influences are creating so much upheaval throughout our tiny planet. We are all, in more gross or subtle ways, hankering after some level of control – or at least to escape the control of others. We want others to like us, we want things to go according to our own master-plan, we want happiness, etc. So what is it we DO have control over? My teacher Radhanath Swami often says that “One’s greatness can be measured by their ability to tolerate provoking situations.” We have the ability to control one thing in life, and that is – how we REACT to situations. When we have low self-worth and trying circumstances come our way we can think, why me? Or we can fall to the level of criticizing others to remove ourselves from any responsibility. It is so so easy to think these ways. One who is trying to cultivate humility will think, how can I make use of this situation? They are still eager to serve others, even when provoking situations arise – this mentality is a complete 180 from the standard idea of success in today’s society. This idea that by serving others we can rise to the highest level of self-realization and satisfaction is so sweet because it is not based on gaining things for one's own temporary enjoyment. The Sanskrit word for service is seva, and it goes beyond just simple service - it means intelligently applied compassion in action. (at Machu Picchu, Cusco, Perú)

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Happy birthday to this lil nugget. Showing me such unconditional and full love. Sharing a love for helping others, learning and of course eating tons of chocolate in the process. So much talent and brains in these two. Thanks for being so great n goofy, love yah!!

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This captures our friendship pretty perfectly. . . . . #lilsis #splashy #bhakti (at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park)

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Had a blast with this improvised jam for our Sitar-yoga fusion class and Bhakti Night focused on "Changing the Ecology of the Heart" Thanks to everyone that came out and thanks to @jerrbearsoap @madhukirtan and Ananda-murari for rockin out with me. (at Dragon Dance Yoga)