Eric Stoneberg

KIRTI LAKSMI: “to mention,” “to report” – This goddess sits comfortably on kusha grass, which is soft on one edge, sharp on the other. Her exalted speech offers & articulates all that is of value. She allows her consciousness to be soft & edgy, not edgy & blunt. She is the Queen Bee of inspiring, amusing & informational Status Updates.

SAUBHAGYA LAKSMI: “Sweetly Flourishing,” “Well Thriving” – This Laksmi marks the experience of feeling ENRICHED. You’re a honeybee gathering nectar (see yesterday) and so please mark those experiences that enrich you and then continue to draw nectar from those flowers. Visit them often. How do you enrich YOUR daily life?

SAUNDARYA LAKSMI: “Made of Beauty” – Savor and receive beauty in the form of your life; beauty is successful when it’s intoxicating without being toxic; so gather diverse experiences like a honeybee & turn that nectar into your sweet medicine; success & fulfillment are unfinished! The PROCESS of honey making IS the goal. The journey is the destination. What gets you buzzing, babe?

In addition to the usual familial Christmas activities, this year I’ve decided to mark the Winter Solstice like an authentic WASH (White Anglo Saxon Hindu) and mark 16 days of Laksmi. The 16 Laksmi’s are an esoteric set of tantric Godesses who signify sets & processes & maps of EVER MORE REFINED AUSPICIOUSNESS.

Every week I find myself with about 45 minutes to kill between yoga clients on West 18^th Street above Union Square. Rather than another 5 buck latte I usually take refuge in ABC Carpet & Home. Each time I enter that bohemian rhapsody of pricey treasure for the home I feel safe. Flights of fancy start to whirl through my mind and heart and I am recharged by beauty. (Plus I know where the closest clean, little trafficked men’s room is and that’s a rare commodity in downtown NYC.)

On a recent visit I saw wildly vibrant rugs made from recycled sari silk. Each one made me long to climb on top and lift off for a magic carpet ride. Especially this one ~

One of the favorite teachings I’ve revisited quite a bit recently goes, “The world is as you are. And the worlds of yoga are astonishing.” It has been quite wondrous indeed to take this image above and infuse it into my own morning meditation routine, which had honestly been a bit dried out of late. Drawing this piece of beauty in, imagining myself perched atop it, my morning mantra practice suddenly took on a visual vibrancy that was like a Technicolor whirlwind. I started to reveal to myself a colorful, visual power inside some mantra practices I had already been sitting with for years. That power had surely always been there, but I hadn’t yet tapped into this particular way of receiving it. I wonder what more is there too? For me, meditation is always an endeavor to create and hold my own receptive capacities – for the sake of savoring the gift of life. Gathering artistic inspiration from our outer world we can, like honeybees, take that nectar, that value, into the hive of our hearts. And there, process it into honey. And a spoonful of honey sure makes the medicine go down, in the most delightful ways.