Tyagaraja

Memories of the lost ages me in bottom left holding up some hater cars by a strang...

I performed at the 1st Block Party by Free Press with my band back in the day called Million Year Dance.  There was about 40-50 people watching our set.  I performed for the paper’s 3 year anniversary party in the back of Brasil with about 50 people there.  I wouldn’t say I’m best friends with the crew, and in fact in recent years I see them less and less, and still I do feel a kinship and community with them.  I’m glad to have known them and have been a part of a swelling storm of Houston music scene.  They have come a long way from those days and I’m supremely happy for them and their success.

Me and Doyle Odom III and my tree branch crown, trying out my theatrics on new audiences in 2007

My band performed at the FPSF for the past 3 years.  I released by album “Open Book” at 2010 FPSF.  I lost my journals and was completely devastated for a whole year at the 2011 FPSF.  I was shocked and surprised by Free Press that they found my journals and they returned them to me the day before we performed at the 2012 FPSF, which made this a very special performance.  Needless to say that I have had many emotional and insane experiences at FPSF.  This year was totally different as I was finally just an audience member.  And still, with the history and all the emotions; I felt that maybe I was also a member of this growing Houston music scene.  After all I started playing music in Houston when Michael Haaga, Tom Bunch and John Lomax were all ranting about how there was good music in Houston and no scene to support it.  So do we have that now?  Does Houston have a music scene, what is that scene, and is there a since of community in it?  All this was brewing in my brain while wandering the grounds.  I also wanted to be truly open and release all those previous feelings to have a fresh start and truly enjoy the festival as someone that wants to like music, as someone that wants to feel happy about the music scene in Houston.  I did not want to go into it with complaints and criticism, just let it flow naturally… (this portion is only to set up the fact that I have been along for the whole journey this somehow gives me more of and educated approach to this blog, I’ve been there done that sort of thing.)

My journals so dear to me were lost for an entire year, from Summer Fest to Summer Fest. I'm so fortunate and happy to have them back

As I cruised through the festival grounds I over heard several conversations and even engaged in a few with friends and fellow Houston artists.  It was mixed opinions.  Some said, “This is just amazing, I’m so happy they have done this for Houston and the Houston music scene.”  Here! Here!  Others complained, “This is ridiculous, these people don’t know how to run a festival, what sell outs, where’s the local artist this year?”  Hmmm, completely different opinions, you can never really please everyone.  I just wanted to remain neutral and a mindful listener.  Both sides had merit in my opinion of opinions.  Also there is a much deeper process that should be understood, what are we really all here for?

I performed at Bonnaroo and at FPSF several times.  I’ve performed and attended all the famous Austin festivals.  I know what I’m getting into when I step foot inside the festival grounds.  I know that human beings go there with the intent to take as many drugs as possible and become completely obliterated to forget their worldly troubles and maybe even their own identity.  And as the day grew on and the madness began to swell I realized I was an outsider in what I thought was my own community.  I began to feel that I couldn’t relate to this mentality of festival goers whatsoever.

I had earplugs in the entire time, and that experience just mutes the entire volume of Elenor Tinsley Park by a few decibels.  I was sent into an acid flashback in-between bands while I waited for Alabama Shakes.  I could hear the entire hillside in one breath, like one chaotic voice.  It reminded me of walking in the cafeteria at Hutto Highschool while tripping on acid and you can hear everyone’s conversation and the banging and clanging of dishes and silverware like the endless dribble of a chaotic human river gushing by at full speeds.  The sound of this mindless chatter made me think, “what are they all talking about.  Am I self-righteous enough to say that all these conversations bouncing off each other have no weight and no real sense of humanity in it at all, just mindless chatter moving its way up into the Houston atmosphere so that there is a little bubble of chaos floating over the bayou city.

Trying my best to insert some positivity into the youth at the FPSF 2011. Also we are supporting and promoting a fine art and science of Yoga and Meditation. This is how to improve community and mend broken hearted artists and drug addicts.

Alabama Shakes began.  I felt relieved, some real music and real artists, not faking a thing, just being real and sharing with us their deepest emotions and experiences.  As I was enjoying the music I looked down at a fellow human sitting on the ground searching for something.  He looked in his pockets and patted his clothing.  He took out his wallet and opened it.  Sheets of acid and other pills spilled out of his wallet.  I could tell now that he had lost his money.  He reached in his pocket and pulled out what looked like a zippo lighter, when he opened it more bags of drugs spilled out of it.  All those drugs and no money.  He was laughing and seemed disoriented, obviously he was high on his own supply.  Again I was sent into deep thought.  I know this exists, it’s nothing new, it happens and will continue to happen.  But I went back to the original questions, is this good for the community?  And what kind of community does it support?  Or is this festival a dream of music lovers that look to capitalize in a market doing something they love to do?  All these questions are of great importance because all to often our modern day dreams and visions are pursued without any mindfulness at all, so these questions really need to be thought about and answered by everyone, from the concert promoters to the humans attending the festival.  How can you even enjoy yourself and the music if you are that intoxicated?  Further more, is the festival itself programming and promoting that being a mindless drug and sex fiend is the greatest thing in life?

I looked around at my fellow human beings and could see in their faces that they live for this experience, this is quite possibly the most enjoyment they have in their modern lives.  It’s their way to escape for a while.  Maybe they don’t live their daily lives like this, and ok anything in moderation.  But to what end and what effect does this culture have on music, art and further more fine art?

I only heard positive messages in the music from two bands from the whole time I was down there.  I didn’t see everything so if you did and want me to know about it please speak up.  Vintage Trouble and Alabama Shakes were the only two acts that used their music to say and promote something very positive and inspiring, something that binds hearts and community.  I was wandering past the 2nd main stage to the neptune stage.  The Mavericks were on stage–multiple players all playing real instruments.  (Now some opinions)  I didn’t really care for that style of music, but I was thrilled to see real players and real song writing.  Only where were the people, there was hardly anyone watching them.  A few steps later I arrived at the Neptune stage where all I could hear were the most absurd techno farting sounds I’ve ever heard from DJ Borgore.  On the screen was just an ass in slow motion booty poppin’, and friends let me tell you that his crowd was packed with kids all jumping and bending to the will of the DJ.  A friend of mine later referred to Borgore style of music as “Butt Wave,” I laughed out loud.  So this is the experience that young ones want?  I never felt like more of an outsider in my own music scene as I did at that moment.  It made me want to leave, and immediately go write a song and write this blog, simply to counter the carnal energy that was now unavoidably washed all over my being.  Maybe I’m too sensitive, maybe I’m old fashioned, maybe I’m too principled?  But to me this festival does not at all improve community, in fact to me it perpetuates corporate influence in art and not to mention the extreme waste of resources and land it creates.

Two promotions at once. Gunjen Mittal is showing the audience classical Indian Dance an ancient fine art form, and I am singing a song about meditation and understanding that we are all experiencing each others suffering as a unified spirit.

I was glad to see some recycling bins this year, that was a first, if they were there previous festivals there were not enough because I looked for them and could never find one.  It still didn’t really matter, I watch hipsters, frat boys and progressives guzzle beer and drinks and throw their trash on the ground DIRECTLY NEXT TO THE FUCKING RECYCLING BINS.  The clean up crew will not sort out the recycling from the trash once it hits the ground its all going in the trash.  Not to mention how much of it will actually enter the bayou, one of downtown’s only natural water resources.  What a waste, something I can’t support and will no longer be a part of.  Even if it means buying a ticket to go in with trash bags and clean up after all my little piggy fellow human beings.  To me the lack of mindfulness and actual care and concern for the community showed its ugly face.  If you do care for the community your efforts are misguided and actually damaging the community in many respects.

Sure, many local businesses made more money because of the festival, the city and all the affiliates of festival raked in the cash, and some would argue that this capital gain is good for the community, and will over all give the mentality to the Houston audience that Houston does indeed have a music scene.  And after careful and mindful analysis that is the only good that I can honestly recognize.

For a local band to play the festival it is damn near a waste of time and energy.  Yes you receive clout and some level of hype.  However, you don’t get paid, and in fact you work and suffer so hard just to play the festival that it drains you emotionally, physically and you spend hundreds of your own hard earned dollars just to get it together to play the festival.  Every year I played FPSF I came out in negative.  So I can’t honestly say that this has been a good thing for local artists whatsoever accept for the trickling of hype I mentioned above.

The corporate grip on art and music is strangling it to death.  I’m confident that the artist is so creative and adaptive that they will always find ways to break through the corruption and end up on the other side performing great acts and inspiring others.  Artists are nothing but vessels of expression, and there really is no value that can be placed on ability that you are born with to allow others without this ability to feel emotions, listen to great stories and inspiring melodies.  Corporations and these festivals are only perpetuating the destruction of fine art, and furthermore promoting a lifestyle of lost souls.  The focus is completely misguided.  Maybe people want that experience?  Maybe people don’t want to look deep within themselves and be mindful and change their lives to move in positive, regenerative and sustainable directions.  Fine arts and real song writing and artistry is continually being shoved into the back of our minds by corporate entities, thus becoming devalued.  Everything is being produced fast, and the content can only be something that people being programmed by these commercial entities can relate to, thus the creation of the worst sounds in the world “Butt Wave.”

We applied to Free Press for art installations at the festival and were NOT approved. It cost no money, I would do it myself, and rubbing turmeric paste on the trees not only gives nice color and intriguing presence to the tree, it is also very healthy for the tree enriching it's growing ability. It's also an ancient act of giving highest respect to nature that has been done in India since antiquity. I did see some nice gadgets attached to a fire hydrant giving people drinking water, that was leaking and wasting 100's of gallons of water just spilling and pouring out into the gutter, and why we were not allowed to put yellow paste on the trees is beyond me?

I would like to personally encourage an enlivened debate about these topics and at the very least think about all the questions raised.  Because if you want to improve your society, your community and support and uplift art and artists, by all means there are ways to do it.  Thank you to all things sacred for the fine arts, for artist like Pandit Jasraj who revive our love for fine art and Indian raags.  Thank you Pink Floyd for showing audiences that a rock show doesn’t have to be all about depravity, that you can fuse several forms of art to create a masterpiece that has stood the test of generational gaps.  Thank you to Mariza Fado for having the most amazing voice on earth and bringing classical music and opera to a world stage in a very modern and relatable way.  Thank you to Vintage Trouble for saying some caring and positive words during your set to a crowd of crazed, drunken, drug and sex addicts.  They are the ones in most need of this kind of positivity.  Thank you even to the band The Manichean.  Since I was 15 years old I have wanted my show to be more like a play and a theatrical experience, I’ve worked my whole career toward this vision and I have yet to gather all the resources together to make it happen.  So was the Manichean the first to do this, well no, and neither was I, and at least someone is.  At least the Manichean is saying to the audience, “No, you are not limited to relating to “Butt Wave,” you too can experience art, open your mind and heart and understand that there is more to life than drugs and sex and loosing your identity and wasting and trashing the earth.  That’s why I support The Manichean.  If I don’t have the resources yet to pull off my vision I will join theirs because if they succeed it means that my vision will also.  These acts will create a sense in the audience that this kind of art is worth something of value to them.  That is how you build community and support the arts.

And of course thank you to Free Press for trying your damnedest  to do what you love and do it well.  I would like to suggest that now that you are successful with Summer Fest, let’s pull back a little and reanalyze what “supporting the community and local artists” is all about.  Maybe you can start up a “strictly local” festival again, without any corporate influence whatsoever, so that the local communities can thrive without the corporations taking the biggest slices that leave the locals going, “well that was fun, now what.”  Because a real community of support is possible.  I just can’t say I have seen it yet, and I’m happy and open hearted enough to believe that it’s possible.  Or maybe it should be up to us, maybe we should stop waiting around for someone else to take the lead and deliver what we ask for, maybe we should take charge on our own and make our own visions and dreams come true?

Cheers and as Ellen Degeneres says, “Be kind to one another.”

With all my heart and honesty

Tyagaraja

This is the character I'm playing (not far off from my real personality) in the Manichean rock opera "Lovers" on June 28th at the Alley Theater. Promoting the idea that art can encompass multiple themes.

Ok so let’s just be real.  We are literally all at fault.  In some way or another, no matter how progressive we are all contributing to the failing design of instability in the world.  My mind, being one that is solution based, immediately jumps to the question:  What will we do about it?

While I was researching and gathering my thoughts for this blog Sandy hit the east coast and devastated NY and surrounding areas.  As in the case of the Haitian earthquake or Hurricane Katrina, or the Syrian Gov slaughtering its own people, my heart’s reaction is always the same.  ”These are MY PEOPLE, MY FLESH AND BLOOD, MY SISTERS, BROTHERS, DAUGHTERS, MOTHERS AND FATHERS.”  These are our people, we can no longer live under the vail of separatism.  The tragedies are already great and the moment we fail as a human race is when we decide, “Oh, I’m glad it wasn’t me,” or “It’s just karma,” or “God always has a reason.”  There are many more statements of separatism that we make on a daily bases and it causes complacency, ignorance and removes our ability to participate in the rejuvenation.

Haiti has become one of the world's most extreme cases of suffering, and it's being overlooked.

When we have these kinds of attitudes it marks the degradation of our society.  Now, there are those that have the same reaction as me… those that would risk their own life in crumbling rubble in order to serve others.  It shouldn’t take tragedies for these emotions to hit our inspiration and change us forever.  I would think by now we could all recognize this model is not working and it’s beyond the right time to change.  In fact, we are behind and have so much work to do.  The need is urgent.

We most certainly have contributed to these problems, and now that we know we are at fault for the worlds troubles, we can clearly see that it is our duty and responsibility to the Earth and the beings living here to do something about it.  This doesn’t mean running out and standing in front of tanks, or in the front line of protest, or get angry and start preaching.  Once we see truth and recognize it we should calmly and positively engage.  Our Guru Dev always says, “Be neither reactive or inactive, be positively proactive.”  Yes, there is a process that is natural for a human being to feel.  We fill ourselves with information, we become aware, we become emotional because of our inherent love for Mother Earth, and then we feel restless or even helpless because the problems exist in such great magnitude.  This is perfectly normal.  The difference is any action met with such anger and chaos is only going to stay a flamed for a short while.  But the calm presence of a devoted soul acting out of love and compassion for Mother Earth and all beings is a constant flame unwavering in the wind.  We cannot participate in global or even inner family rejuvenation if we ourselves are not healthy inwardly.  The model of this kind of consciousness is what we all seek, why don’t we put it into action?  I know that everyone wants quick solutions and fixes to our problems, but the most important thing that needs fixing is our mindfulness.  This process is essential in order to take the positive proactive choice that won’t leave us with spinning wheels of frustration.

Roaming freely in the streets of Rishikesh India, the blessed Go Mata Cow

To see the World as ours and to feel that the beings living here are our own flesh and blood is one of the most important steps in this process, and it is one of mindfulness.  It will leave you with no other option than to want to participate in the rejuvenation.  Your heart will not allow you to sit idly and watch it happen.  Your heart will understand that even if you survive, what life will the future generations lead?  Now that we understand that the oppression of the colonial grids and the slaughtering of indigenous people, traditions and culture has lead us to this separatist, materialistic, military state, we understand our role in the game and how clearly we can take a step back and envision what our new role must be.  This Statement references Part 1 of this blog use this link to read Part 1.

Now, the problems are evident and clear!  Onward to solutions.  Landscape design can be transferred to all aspects of life:  Your inner landscape, your garden, your social interaction and your community building design.  One of the most tangible aspects of a permanent cultural design is Community Building.  Not every can make food forests, and design landscapes that catch and preserve water and rainfall, not everyone can be a meditator cruising the inner landscape and working on the Self.  But everyone can engage in the community, there is no excuse.  Right now we are under the guise that our political and military figures have all the “power.”  What we need to realize is that we have the Power, the Power of True Community.  It’s inherit in our blood, it’s at the roots of our indigenous ancestors.  What those political entities have is “authority,” not Power.  Power comes from inner strength, courage, compassion, and many other unbreakable things.  You CANNOT steel, kill or disturb the True Power of the Soul that is inherently within all of us.  Also, let us not forget that we are the majority and we have given away our “Power” to the wealthy minority.  Now that we can stand in our Power as beautiful shining people of Earth we can make clear steps to engage our communities and inspire them toward the same unified goals.

Do you know your neighbors?  I mean really know them?  Have you ever asked about their past or families or what they even do for a living?  If the answer is no, then you can see in a very obvious way that the oppressing colonial grid is working to stop you from engaging your community.  A.D.D.  American Dream Disorder!  (a quote from a very dear relation, can tell you more in person.) We are being raised to believe that this house with fence is mine and I want to keep myself separate and safe from the rest of society.  We can see how that controls us and makes us weaker.  Simply if we can stand together as a united front we can solve our own burdens and problems and stop relying on others that don’t even have our best interests in mind.

Singing and Dancing could definitely be helpful in community building! This is during a Farmers Market in Mumbai India. We grew to love the community there and met so many wonderful people and families.

Here is a very simply and tangible approach to Community Building.  This can be done by anyone:  Make a simple flyer or hand drawn advertisement for a pot lock dinner on your block in your neighborhood.  Invite everyone on the street go door to door if you have to.  Tell everyone to bring food.  Food always brings people together for the common good!  The purpose of the meeting could be very simple.  ”Meet the Neighbors!” could be the title of it.  There does need to be a “facilitator” (not a leader, the idea is that the community is one whole mind.)  Their job is easy.  Give a simple 3 sentence intro as to why we are gathering and at the end give a summary of the community input.  The purpose of the pot luck could be very clear and simple.  Three questions:  Who are you, what is your working trade, how long have you been a community member.  The idea is not to asses any problems or issues until there is a uniformed understanding of who everyone is.  It sounds simple and within that meeting a plumber may meet an architect and share a common bond, and some skill trade may come out of it.  Two people that love the outdoors may discover that they lived next door to each other all this time.  There is a great game to get this type of conversation going called “Common Ground.”  Everyone stands in a circle and pop corn style start blurting out the things they like or hobbies they are interested in.  An example could be, “Common ground for hiking.”  And everyone that likes hiking would step into the center of the circle.  Bam!  Instantly there is your neighborhood hiking group.  Bonds are formed immediately out of these types of simple activities.

A Community Building of Permaculturists after the North Cal Permaculture Convergence coming together to learn in the field with world renown permaculture professor Geoff Lawton of the Permaculture Institute. We are reading the landscape for contour in order to construct a pond that will be the staple for the surrounding food forest implementation

It seems almost too simple, and look at the reality of it.  A community that is engaged and knows each other on a personal level will:  reduce crime, reduce domestic abuse, reduce waste, slow traffic, improves health, reduces stress and many many other great things.  Most of all your community will start to become aware of the common good, thus allowing them to see in a very clear way what are the problems and issues that we face as a collective, and how can we improve.  The community will see, “Oh hey you have a garden and food growing in your back yard, I want that too!”  And pretty soon the fences come down and we are all enjoying this life in the village demographic as we were granted the right by birth.  If you would like more information on community building or facilitating your own neighborhood potluck, please contact me (j.tyagaraja@gmail.com)  I can go on and on about this subject, and I think you understand the general concept.  The group City Repair in Portland OR gave birth to some really amazing landmark ideas on this subject and put them into action, they are awesome check out the site.   City Repair Website

Ok, let’s say that you absolutely don’t like socializing and aren’t ready to get out of your home and mix with people.  What role can you play in the rejuvenation design?  I would say a good starting point is walking the confines of your living space with a clean slate, a new insight.  Turn your attention to the areas of your living space that could be more sustainable.  Ask yourself these simple questions, “What is the function of this space?  What environment do I want to create?  What is lacking in the space that I have?  Where are there room for improvements?  What is the maximum level of sustainability and rejuvenation I could hope for within this space?  Rarely do we ask ourselves these simple questions, we just move about life as if we don’t need to improve.  All the world around us is constantly changing and all we try to do is suppress it and think somehow life can go on in this unsustainable way.  Now that you have seen the areas of opportunity within your very own living space there is a really great staple to begin with for anyone whether you are in an apartment or a house this simple implementation will generate life and higher level of functionality and will dramatically decrease your waste and in fact, put beneficial bioactivity back into your system.  Simple Worm Composting Video By Permaculture Institute in Australia.  Worm composting is the first step anyone should take in an urban setting to reduce waste and generate positive yields back into your system.  In the video they are using one of those common three teared green plastic containers and those work great.  But you don’t have to buy anything you can use any container really, you just might have to modify it a bit to be able to catch the most important part the “worm juice” for compost tea!  After you get your worm compost started and you are dumping your kitchen scraps into the worm bin, the worms do all the other work for you.  You just have to keep the top cover moist every now and then, fill it with your kitchen scraps and then and let the worms work their magic.

This is a fancy one, doesn't have to be fancy

The end result is a thriving compost of positive bacteria that you can then add to your potted plants or ground plants and the effects are dramatic.  The plants will let you know how healthy and lush they feel.  You will most certainly yield more fruit and benefit this way, and now your food scraps aren’t being taken off to some festering landfill and turning the ground into unusable soil.

See what I mean, this can be really easy and cheap.

The juice that drips from the worm bin is almost the most priceless ingredient.  You can pour small amounts of the worm juice into a container of water with a small water pump (like you would use in a fish tank) and some fired stones (for aeration).  Let the water pump run over night, and the aeration of the water pump increases positive bacteria content by the thousands, and this will greatly enhance the life of your plant systems.  You will never have to buy compost or plant food if you take these simple steps.  Just using the simple aeration method actually doesn’t produce the highest yield possible, and this video by Dr. Elaine Ingham, the world’s leading soil biologist.  Dr Elaine Ingham on Compost tea brewing click this link

Ok damn, I’ll make it even easier.  If you don’t like meeting neighbors, and you don’t like dealing with the Solid Gold of Permaculture, Worm Composting, what is there left for you to do?  At least harvest your own damn rain water.  The water is only falling out of the sky the least we could do is catch it and save some of it, so we are not running the damn faucet for every little thing.  In a time of great need of conservation we need real answers that solve issues quickly.

Rain Barrel with overflow spout feeding a line of rose bushes in our Urban Permaculture Sight in Sugarland Tx

Installing a water catchment on your property or even off the front of your apt (especially if you have a balcony) is a huge step toward conservation and rejuvenation.  It should be illegal not to do it.  If every building on the planet had water catchment devices for rain just think of the surplus of resources that could be generated.  That’s the real kicker, these solutions are simple and they are suppressed by an authority that wants you to by Ozarka water or what ever the hell the Coca Cola company is pushing on people and draining resource with.  Ok, so I won’t go into detail about how to install the rain barrel, and I will say that I will personal facilitate anyones desires to have a water catchment device installed on their property.  Oh, and Americans are alway so afraid of sanitation issues it’s ridiculous.  So, I have a solution even for you.  Not sure if you know this, but a block of limestone balances PH levels so you can drink the damn rain water coming off your rough with a block of limestone in your water tank, it’s that easy.  If you don’t want to drink it, use it for your plants, wash your dog with it, just use it for something and turn off the damn faucet.  Sorry, I’m passionate about saving water hehe…  If you would like more info on water catchment or would like me to install one on your property please email me here: j.tyagaraja@gmail.com

Now, I’ve outlined 3 solutions for you in this blog and I would like you to take them to heart and go back to your life asking these questions.  Crack open your eyes and become aware.  Wake up wake up wake up!  There really is no time to waste and in fact we now have so much to make up for our past transgressions.  And it’s not getting any easier.  There are some very serious entities at work that do not want to see the positive evolution of the planet, and seek to pollute and alter the atmosphere, change the temperature and keep us reliant on GMO foods, because the only thing that will grow in an infested polluted landscape is something that does not even derive from nature.  The moment that these ideas become a solution is the moment that you know we have completely slipped away and are removed from the needs of the people and the planet.  I wish I could say I will end on a happy note.  I’m hopeful and positive, and at the same time there is a huge magnitude of suffering and oppression that needs to be lifted, there is so much work to do.  I will leave you with a piece I wrote loosely called “Do Your See the Spray?”

Do You See the Spray?

“I wake up to look hopefully into a clear blue sky–or  even a sky with clouds–beings of mist and energy–Either way–I look upward (or outward) to witness this illustrious beauty in its natural state.  Instead I see spray… it’s knifing through what might potentially form as a rain cloud–that would send its loving and bathing energy to my plants bellow that thrive and live off of it.  And then the plants energy becomes my body and we are sharing with each other with care and tenderness.  And then maybe the rainclouds move away and the sun comes raining down and lifts the spirits of Earth’s beings once again and we live to understand the importance of that symbiosis.  Instead I look up and I see spray… I think to myself, “What kind of a world do we live in?”  ”When does this become an acceptable answer?”  ”Since when have we gotten so far away from our understanding of what gives us life and creation, and how far away from that relationship have we stretched?”  The clouds I see are not clouds.  They don’t have the same spontaneous lively patterns.  These clouds make an X and straight lines and stretch across the sky for miles–then only to spread and block out that which gives us life and energy.  I look and see a rainbow amidst this foreign mist only it’s not a normal rainbow.  This one reflects similarly to the way oil reflects on a soiled concrete floor of a gas station–writhing and bubbling with chemicals.  Then as the foreign mist spreads out it plummets to ground level, the temperature increases as we increase a facade dependency on chemical based, factory made, GMO commodities.  These basic needs of survival should be our very own birthright as beings of the Earth.  We should bare the right to produce and share them on our own.  The Energies of the Earth should not be owned by anybody especially not the wealthy few that DO NOT have the interest of the Earth and beings living within in mind at all.  So I ask myself, “What is this spray?”  ”Why is it causing so many strange things to happen?”  ”Who is behind this unsustainable display of greed and authority?”  ”,And how can we stop them, or at the very least, how can we open their hearts to the understanding of Earth’s desperate and drastic needs?  She is crying to us…  We must respond with the same Love She has for us.  When I look up and wake up, I want to see Mother smiling back at me.  I don’t want to see spray…”

Photo Taken out in front of Whole Foods on loop 360 the day before ThanksTaking. What is it?

Please… at the very least just ask yourself, “What is it?”

Link to a very interesting video about the subject I\’m writing about above. For more information email me, and we can send you the hard research that’s being done on this particular subject. j.tyagaraja@gmail.com

Be kind, caring and compassionate.

Peace

Humbly

Tyagaraja

PS please don’t be blind to what ThanksTaking truly represents and it’s not just history it’s still happening right under our noses and needs our participation in the restoration it’s our duty, start to educate yourself at the very least…

Don't pretend this doesn't exist. This is a house on an Indian reservation in Utah.

I had a long philosophical discussion with my good friend Josh Applebee.  We had some time to kill before I was to go on stage to perform for an amazing event at Eat Gallery in Houston Tx.  What you first have to understand is that my dear friend Joshua is the best example of looking for the positive.  Our conversation somehow lead us to the topic of History, and how important it is for us to know history and not only that but accurate history filled with well rounded facts.  Then I took it a step further to say what is more dangerous than not knowing your history or where you came from is actually believing in a false history or choosing to believe a false history.  For example, the case of our beautiful indigenous “American Indian” tribes, whom were all but wiped off the face of the landscape.  The story that has been perpetuated by materialistic American culture is a complete mockery of what actually marks the date of a massive plague genocide that swept across this Home Land we call US.  My dear friend Joshua, searching for the positive, as the noble man he is, presents this idea:  To me, “sometimes it’s not so important what is the truth, what is more important is what you believe in.” He continues, “Now in this case would it be better to focus on all the horrific facts of Thanksgiving or would it be more beneficial to our culture to focus on the joining and coming together of two people.”

What two Peoples coming together looks like...

I took a deep breath and it hit me instantly.  ”I suppose that would be valid if the indigenous people of this land were completely exterminated, I mean not a single Indian person native to this land still living.  Then we may be able to take the history and distort it to serve a bigger view of thankfulness and well wishing.  However, these peoples still exist and they are one of the most marginalized and oppressed people in our Nation of the so called US.  Therefor, this is not a Historical event, this genocide is still taking place.  These indigenous people have been driven into infertile lands, and they are suffering from: diabetes, drug addictions, depression, marginalization, and no form of big business or government has their best interest in mind.  This modern day genocide is a continuation of the slaughter and colonization of this nation.  These facts have absolute purpose in the design of our mental capacity.  We cannot understand where we have come from or where we are going in this country of the US until this gruesome fact is analyzed.  Further more, even if there were no indigenous peoples left in this land, it’s still of utmost importance that their heritage and legacy live on in the hearts of those who wish to carry it–the burden of the lost souls of our true brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters and sons.  This is our true heritage, and it has been suffocated by colonization and the stamp of the oppressing grid.

Our colonized heritage begins

Now where are we left?  My programing tells me to enjoy Thanksgiving, to gather with my family and cook, tell stories and live in sentimentality.  And my conscience… that part of me that is cracking with awareness begins to question.  What are we celebrating here?  Who was involved?  What was the real story?  and most importantly… What should we do now?  John Trudell said, “Asking American Indians to celebrate Columbus Day is like asking US citizens to celebrate Osama Bin Ladden day.”   That pretty much sums it up!  You see, Columbus really represents a virus… a plague that swept across what is truly a sacred land.  And now what have we done?  We’ve taken that virus and just transformed it, and bred it into a different species.  And the original American People are still under attack.

John Turdell, Shepherd of Indigenous Peoples, Poet, Icon

They are still oppressed and marginalized and made slaves to a political system that doesn’t care about them.  Should I celebrate Thanksgiving?  Should we reflect on the positive of gathering as a people?  Well that just presents more questions to me… How do we celebrate?  And do we even gather?  We celebrate capitalism and materialism.  Let’s just set it straight.  The fact that the day after Thanksgiving is the most chaotic shopping day of the entire American year is a testament to the fact that we have severed ourselves from the duty to our spiritual connection to what Thanksgiving really represents and really stands for… And do we even gather?  Most people I speak to during the holidays tell me, “Oh I can’t wait to get this weekend over with so I can get away from my crazy family.”  Again a further testament to a design that has failed us.  We are raised and bred as slaves of separation.  We don’t want to know our neighbor or involve ourselves in our family life.  What is the so called “American Dream?”  A picket fence and a house of separation… Mine!  Don’t cross this line!  We’ve put barbed wire and barriers all across this sacred landscape claiming and owning the ground that is by design supposed to be the right of the People and all living beings of Earth.  This is our land, which means we have a responsibility to take care of it.  How can we celebrate and give thanks with such desecration of land that is meant to provide our needs?  This destruction is inward also.  We’ve been bred into chaos and confusion, depression and pain.  We are programmed to believe that we always have to seek externally for happiness, when all the while happiness is within grasp.  The design of life is within sight, just go outside and listen to the trees the Earth and the ground, observe how creation interacts with Itself.  Once you do this, your sight improves… your eyes open, your heart tunes with the rhythm of the Creator.  One thing that quickly becomes clear is the overall fragility of life.  The plasticity of the modern system, and the drive toward confusion and consumption.  You can see it, like a world wearing a mask.  What is underneath bares the answer.  You see, you can’t blame the system, it’s a product of years of perpetuation of a very small demographic of people.  We can’t expect that the design of the privileged few would represent the needs of the great oppressed majority.  It’s not their fault it’s just bad design…

A grid design system that is not sustainable and doesn't promote community or creativity.

Now that you’ve made it through all the gritty details of our history, you know why we are spinning in this current state of consumerism and waste.  These root issues are what is driving us further way from our duty as shepherds of the land that is here to provide for us.  This leads you to my third question, what should we do?  How should we act?  What is to be done with all this madness?  The answers are quite simple, and you have to take this journey of understanding for these systems of design to resonate with you.  First you really do have to understand the state of the world and what got us here, and then you have to open your heart and listen to the needs of the Earth and the majority of the peoples walking on Her soil.

Mayan Aquaponics Farming

It’s really interesting that most of the answers to our modern dilemma reside in the teaching of indigenous peoples… not just from the Americas but around the world.  We have severed our connection to true integration in understanding and living with the Earth.  The introduction of the grid style housing, and monoculture agriculture is a huge root in the problems of the modern world.  Now that we’ve seen these systems fail and create more problems of instability the solutions make so much more sense.  Those solutions are found in our ancestors and indigenous peoples of the Earth.  They knew what the Earth wanted, and they also knew how to cultivate the Earth for the benefit of the People, it was a truly harmonious and symbiotic relationship with the Earth.  Now I feel like it’s my duty to become a shepherd of the land, just as they were.  Now we have a great opportunity to merge the principles of indigenous peoples with the positive advancements of modern day science.  This is our future, and for me the only work worth getting involved in.

I won’t outline all the solutions in this breathy blog, and still there is a little opportunity to give some examples here.  We are clear now that when looking for solutions we first have to understand the root of the problem.  One very large root in our modern world is our food system.  Growing monoculture farms, shipping it on trucks, using fuel and energy, buying it in a grocery store that takes fuel and energy and arguably creates more waste than growth.  It’s clear that this is not a sustainable system… again the solution is simple.  Localized farming.  One might argue that if everyone grew their own food then what would be left of the farming industry and all the jobs it may or may not create.  Well, now that we have a new perspective of life we can see that with the shift of consciousness so comes the sift of our ideals and needs.  One also has to take into consideration the quality of life and sustainability a concept like localized farming represents.

Indian Manual Water pump farming no electricity or gas used

The human being is an adaptive species and any limitation is only in the mind.  If we transform the food system to a more sustainable one, it is a guarantee that more and more creative ideas will blossom and the Earth will provide the answers we need to carry on.  How many lot’s do you see abandoned when you are driving through a city?  How many empty spaces of just grass is growing all over medians along highways and roads?  How much space and opportunity do we have even within our own yards?  There is more than enough landscape and more than enough resources to grow food locally.  My parents entire subdivision could be feed from a food forest if done properly in the park connected to their neighborhood.  And the people in the neighborhood would then have a new reason to gather and congregate around a system that is designed to benefit them, not drain them of their energy time and money like so many of our modern recreational activities.  It’s all about the design systems.  We have the power to make the change.  We have the knowledge of our true history to guide us toward our higher purposes.  We just need to change the focus of the design and make for certain that the “designer” has the Earth and the People in their best interest, and from then on the Earth does the talking.  We are not special, everything we need is giving to us by the Creator and it’s time to connect to that idea and start giving back…

Wandering, Observing, Integrating, Learning, Understanding

Since going through the process of writing this blog and putting it together I’ve decided to make a Part 2 that is mostly solution based so that we can take the understanding of the past and apply it to the needs of our People in the modern world so that we get back to integration with the Earth.  And I’ll start with a story about these kinds of experiences:

Ravi from Urban Permaculture Farm, Dharmalaya, in Eugene Oregon, and me having an apple from his tree, nice and warm from the sun, sweet and juicy

Permi Designer in training... until next blog...

These books of mine disappeared for a full year click on the picture to read all about it

It is All there Is

A wish is a question for the heart.  Your dreams dance and play then they fall apart.  Splinters and fragments fall one by one like needles in a pin cushion.  I touch each one with my eyes.  The visual is so striking and so telling.  In this planned chaos I retrieve every last fragment.  I study them individually long enough to witness their death and birth.  Pieces become whole and somewhere you loose sight of whether any of it was different or were they all pieces of the same whole?  I am the anger that is the love that is the impatient that is the trusting that is the laughter that is the endless wondering of the how and when?  Our Creation gives us no boundaries, there is no gage for how big of a breath you can take.  Wondrous, wondrous the glowing of the throbbing dream.  We grow and change with its formless mass.  Constantly swallowing time constantly elapsing into forever.  A small role in the great forever, causing forever to appear everywhere.  And now I know-I don’t have to just believe.  The breath I take, a prayer, ever dawn and dusk, the rise and fall of my belly, every cosmos, the opening and closing of my eye lids.  Every Dream… a lasting one… For It is All there Is

Meditating in the Sacred Vishnu Kund in the Garudadri Hills of Southern India, it was said that the ancient Rishis mediated in the Shakti Pitha (Seat of Energy)

One Aspect of Breathing

We start with an offering one glance to the Light within Lights.  Our souls breathe it in through the power of the Divine.  We speak in a constant prayer of a universal code: So Hum.

We move and play from the birth of a seeded toe and words formed from an ancient mouth give the offerings.  And we breathe life they breathed in… Every God and Goddess every energy formed and unformed and unmoved be the Light of all Lights, and I breathe It in.  How fortunate am I just happy breathing?

So much power can be held in the Light within Lights when I breath It in my body’s form will disappear.  I breath It in, I breath It in, the merging Light of which my soul ascends… Ohm.

We will end with every once of Love within Love.  We all breath It in there is no need to have control, guided by Light, guided by Light, the search for Truth will only lead to the Divine…

Hanumanji Arthi (waving of the flames) in a random side street in the outskirts of Delhi

The Shepherd and the Sheep

The destiny of the shepherd is no far greater than that of the sheep.  Without the two there is not one.  Their feet graze the same path, their hearts beat rhythmic blood.  To lead is to listen.  To lead is to bare witness.  To lead is to feel safe at home.  To lead is not to be above, and to be lead is not bellow.  Especially once the two enter God’s Channel.  Then we are all lead by God only.  Therefor to lead is not to pull or force–but to open and show–and to be lead is not to follow, yet simply to open the eyes and become inspired to walk on one’s own accord.  Can the shepherd ever become a sheep?  The moment the shepherd can witness the inspiration glowing in the face of the lead–the shepherd will have the realization that it is by God’s Grace only this transformation is made possible–that it has been one of an inward movement outward as opposed to outward in.  In this the Shepherd has understood a teaching and now the roles are reversed… the Shepherd learning from the Sheep

Live for the Glory of God.

Make every activity an act of God and we will all become Shepherds.

Meditating on a rock in the middle of the Sacred River Ganga in Rishikesh India

Two of my most prized Journals. The two books are full of writings from India, and my travels across the globe.

A Love that’s Hard to Come By

I curl up in the bed beside you and feel the warmth of your deep sleep.  For a long time I have dreamed of this dream I now live.  The comfort of your waking arms pulling me close is precisely what my heart dreams for them to do.  You are my embrace, you are my Queen.  Not a single pair of eyes have seen a fairytale like this.  The chance of our meeting and the passion that exists thereafter is truly hard to come by.

Tyagaraja and Gunjen in a taxi South Bombay

Going Home (this prose was turned into a song that was written in the Mic booth during recording sessions of “Open Book.”)

The Warriors have met their match no battle for the timid.  The mountain’s high and the moon is low, my blood is slowly thickened.  A question for my old man, “can you hear their footsteps?”  I wonder if we’ll make it back with a trophy I don’t feel like saving.  I’m sailing out to meet her now riding on a spaceship.   It’s the bluest sky I’ve ever seen, now I know that She’s my maker.  Going Home…  The palaces awaiting me are filled with all of the undead.  They’ve never lived and always were a homage to my forbears.  Simple men live out their lives no glory for their presence.  A photograph and a broken back is sounding just like heaven.  Is this Heaven?  We’re Going Home…  The calendar says it’s March I swear I have no reference.  I’m out of touch and I’ve lost my head thank God I’ve been de-programmed, you were programmed now you can let it go, and Go Back Home…  This one’s for all those I’ve loved I hold you in my heart’s blood.

Sirsasan in Rishikesh

Words from my Teacher’s Mouth (these words are unrecorded and have never been repeated.  It wouldn’t mean anything to anyone to have them disappear other than me.  I’m so glad to have these sweet pieces of truth back in my hands.)

-1,000’s of channels leading to the brain draw in energies of cosmic nature.  Whenever we have Divine attributes and our inner connection to the Divine cosmos, we grow spiritually.  Commotion begins with the end or discarding of spiritual practices.  This is how we loose our inner connection with the eternal Divine Spirit.  We must witness the Cosmic electrical energy working through the heart and creating Samadhi or Shanti in the mind spirit and body.  We make so many constructions and work in the world yet little work is done on the inside.  The nerves send messages to the brain and the body reacts.  If we focus our efforts in daily meditation to send our love and energy to our selves and to all of the world we are sending energy in the same way our bodies do.  This energy will be felt by all that cross your path and by all of creation.  This inner work is work worth giving the effort.

-A teacher is a noble post, a pillar in society.  A pure teacher is always thinking about the elevation of the student.  A Mother is always thinking about the care of Her children.  The Love of Radha is in all Love.  A bird Mother feeding her babies from her own mouth… a River Mother is with love and responsibility taking care and nurturing all along the banks of the river.  Like this, Love needs no language.  Love is felt in the heart by all beings.  Give love with every action.

Tyagaraja on tour with Amma Sri Karunamayi 2008

Click this link to read a piece called Dealing with Loss, written a week after my Journals were thought to be lost forever

Click this link to read Summer Fest a Day of Mourning, written 3 months before getting my journals back. I never lost hope