Ah, Chinese New Year … Traditionally a time of cookies, mandarin oranges, lion dances, fireworks, red packets and reunions. It used to be a festive occasion, but things have become less so in the last few years … Another piece of culture bites the dust? I certainly hope not.
Went for reunion dinner last Wednesday and had an fun time catching up with my younger brother (inquiring about his back pain and all — ah, the things one can find out via Facebook!), who is now a real estate negotiator. It’s the last thing I’d ever imagine him doing, but I guess sales is in his blood since dad was quite a successful sales person back in the day. As for me? I don’t think I could even sell ice cream to a desert nomad … Although I could write an ad that would convince an Eskimo to buy a refrigerator. I guess those sales genes are somewhere inside me after all, eh? Ha ha!
Mum cooked up a storm, as usual. There were seven dishes in total and I managed to get a taste of everything but the king prawns and pork ribs. We had a nice little feast between the four of us (with plenty of leftovers for the next day!), after which the family adjourned to the living area to watch the CNY specials on TV. There was lots of conversation, but it was the comfortable silence in-between (an unspoken understanding that there’s really no need to talk) that made the evening extra enjoyable for me. Yes, I’m being drawn more and more towards silence of late. Not that I’m complaining.
Took mum and dad out for a late lunch on Thursday after dropping by to “pai neen” (wish them a happy new year). After that, it was off to Mid Valley to meet up with a gal pal for tea before my two classes that evening (both of which had members in attendance — wow!). Finished at about 9.30pm and made my way home.
Once again found myself at Mid Valley on Friday. Yes, I had nothing better to do on a public holiday. 
Had tea with a karmic connection and hung out for a while before driving over to Bangsar for some window shopping with Thursday’s gal pal. We indulged our collective sweet tooth on a variety of treats at Delicious and talked about everything from yogic philosophy to religion to social conditioning — deep! — before calling it a night.
Saturday was spent in silence … Silently grappling with the mind … It was having a field day creating all sorts of thoughts that made it very difficult to remain a witness. Turned to Mother for help and, thankfully, with Her grace, the witness persevered. Through it all, Her words kept me anchored and made sure I didn’t waver … Don’t look for attachment!
More of a warning than just mere words. And a lot easier said than done, especially when all the mind wants is to be attached!
Was up at 7am on Sunday, brimming with enthusiasm for the class I was supposed to teach that morning (filling in for a fellow instructor who had an emergency to attend to). The session went smoothly, but was one of the more “serious” classes I’ve taught thus far …
Had a quick kopi-o and bought some sundries before dashing off to a meeting at the Amma Centre. Got there and was greeted by the “prasad packing production line” — close to twenty devotees carefully filling little zip-lock bags with sacred ash and vermilion, sealing them and counting the lot. It was a full house! Yes, preparations are in full-swing for Mother’s visit at the end of March.
Couldn’t stay long as I had a CNY gathering to attend. What was supposed to be a reunion of ex-schoolmates turned out to be a royal “fong-fei-kei” affair. Of the ten people who confirmed their attendance, only two showed up (including yours truly). Two others who were on the “maybe” list managed to make it … Bringing the grand total to — FOUR people.
Well, it wasn’t a complete disaster as we did manage to catch up and chat till 5pm. It would have been nice if more people had turned up. Perhaps the timing was bad as it was the last day of a four-day CNY weekend. Most would have forgotten or were recovering from the previous night’s, ahem, festivities. Ah well, here’s hoping the next one will be a bigger and better gathering … Whoever ends up organising it!
Sunday’s adventures didn’t end there. Was having a tea-time bowl of bubur cha cha at The Curve when a completely unexpected text message arrived … The broad Cheshire cat smile that spread across my face was so unmistakable, the person I was with didn’t even need to ask who the message was from.
Thinking it was just a one-off “touch base” thing, I sent an equally brief reply and forgot all about it until another even more unexpected message arrived, followed by a phone call. Mother had made arrangements for dinner and satsang. I was pleasantly surprised … Wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon, but not being one to ever turn down an opportunity to spend precious time amidst evolved company, I drove over to the usual place in record time (traffic was smooth with a capital ‘S’!).
It was a hearty dinner that was rounded off with a couple of glasses of a rather smooth, sweet Yarra Valley red plus discourse for dessert (oh, and a brand new yoga book to read and reap!). Nothing like a little existentialism to help one digest a good meal. Ha ha!
Little did I know that this impromptu “treat” would end up affecting my sleep pattern (a side-effect of being in close proximity to one whose sleep has been disturbed of late, perhaps?). Went to bed earlier than usual, shortly after arriving home after dinner. Fell asleep, but soon found myself wide awake at 3.30am. Tried to go back to sleep, only to wake up about half an hour later. The first thing that came to mind was to chant and meditate, which I did. Climbed back into bed about an hour and a half to two hours later.
Was again wide awake at 7am, so decided to put in some self-practice. Went through the ashtanga primary series up till navasana and then wrapped up with a few of the closing series asani to lead into savasana. It was a beautiful flow that had me so energised, I hardly spent five minutes in savasana! So much for catching some extra sleep …
Didn’t feel sleepy at all throughout the day. Only went out at 5pm to meet up with a new acquaintance before taking a slow drive to Mid Valley for my two classes. Was there early, so ended up reading that new book in a quiet corner before classes began. It was a quiet night and I appreciated the silence.
The book — Awakening The Spine by Vanda Scaravelli — is quite an interesting read. It focuses on elongating the spine with each breath during practice. And just by applying the simple principles underlined by the author (personally trained by BKS Iyengar and TKV Desikachar), I found myself going deeper into certain postures almost effortlessly.
All this happened as I chatted with a member for over an hour about everything from body awareness to watching the mind to the beauty of stillness and silence. It was a joy to have been able to share my personal experiences in and passion for yoga and meditation with such an attentive and receptive listener … Especially at a time when most people are more interested in the physical aspect of yoga and have developed some sort of in-built aversion towards even the mere mention of the word “meditation”. Sigh …
Monday night ended with a jumble of things — signs of trust rekindled albeit tentatively; the nipping of an attachment in the bud; the other’s realisation of the inevitable; and strange, cryptic dreams that turn out to be rather amusing and revelatory once deciphered. Thankfully, sleep came quite easily, perhaps due to the day’s many activities, and of course, Mother’s infinite grace.
Woke up early on Tuesday, though not before dawn. Pottered around the house doing the odd chore here and there to allow the body time to get warmed up before getting on the mat for a relatively tamer hatha sequence (compared to the previous day’s part-ashtanga primary series!). Very relaxing and rejuvenating.
Had a light meal before company arrived for an interesting mid-day tete-a-tete. It wasn’t exactly something that I was looking forward to, but that I went ahead with anyway as it had been arranged sometime ago. Seeing that I hardly have anyone over at the house (I can’t help it, I need aloneness and silence!), this was definitely a rare occasion that will not be repeated anytime soon. Besides, Mother had built a very important lesson into this rendezvous and She made doubly sure that I would learn something priceless from it.
As soon as the meeting was over, an overwhelming urge to leave the house hit me and I found myself driving to Mid Valley to catch an energy class. Made it in time for the class, but decided to go have dinner instead. It turned out to be a good call as the class I had wanted to attend was cancelled at the last minute.
Introduced two more people to the benefits of neti (nasal irrigation) — both took home brand new neti pots to try out the technique I shared with them. Hope they can get over their “phobia” of voluntarily getting water up their noses. It’s worth the initial discomfort when you see (blocked sinuses cause swelling under the eyes, neti flushes out blocked sinuses) and feel (breathing becomes smoother and clearer) the results.
Left for home after getting some groceries. Was still stuffed from dinner and had to let it digest before bed, so here I am, blogging about the week that was. Am just about ready to hit the hay, so this post ends right about here …
How priceless are the lessons learned in YOUR life?
