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"OM GAM GANAPATAYE NAMAH, OM GAM GANAPATAYE NAMAH, OM GAM GANAPATAYE NAMAH"
(This is a Mantra or Prayer to Lord Ganesh/Ganapati who helps overcome obsticles similar to St. Jude, blesses one with good fortune & is the guardian of the Chakra at the base of the spine. By Lord Shiva's decree, Lord Ganesh/Ganapati is to be invoked first before any other Hindu god & to open the base chakra during meditation. And that includes Lord Shiva as well.)
Lord Ganeh is at the top of my page for protection against any evil trying to enter here.
After performing the Ganapati Mantra, it is advisable to recite the Gayatri.
"OM BHUR BHUVAH SUVAHA TAT SAVITUR VARENYAM BHARGO DEVASYA DHIMAHI DHIYO YO NAH PRACHODAYAT"
(Om, we meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds.)
You may now invoke any of the other Hindu Gods you please but you should always do the Mantra dedicated to Lord Shiva, the supreme diety, before you do the last Mantra in your meditation.
"OM NAMAH SHIVAYA"
To finish your Mantras you should end it with a pitition for peace.
ON SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI
NOTICE: 21 AND OVER, NO SPACE CADETS, KAMAKAZI PILOTS or SOLICITORS, THANK YOU!!!
Argh!!! I was conceived in Munich, Germany,
but I be born on Welfare Island (now Roosevelt Island) on the East River off the East coast of Manhattan. Don't be tellin' anyone, but I was a stowaway under me mothers coat when she came to America by ship. From that time till the age a 2, me parents, me older sista & I lived with me fathers mother in Astoria, Queens.
I be 50% German,
25% Irish
and 25% Sicilian.
Then we moved to the Bronx & we lived there till I was 10. I've always been tapping on something with me fingers ever since I can remember. Drove me parents off their rocker. At about age 8, I asked me father if I could have drum lessons, but he flatly refused with a few choice expletives thrown in for good measure. We moved to Long Island in '58. I'm STILL HERE. When the Beatles hit these shores, I became an instant fan. I was the first lad in school to wear Beatle Boots. Man, did I take alot of lashing, verbally of course, over those boots. But all of a sudden, every bloke was into their music. Strangely enough, me father was the one who told me about George Harrison taking Sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar. I decided to buy a Ravi Shankar album & man did I get hooked on East Indian Music from then on. Me older sister is one year older than me & was into Doo Wop. What a difference a year makes. I'm only a High School Grad. Graduated Class of '68. Argh, I know ya swabs, 2 years later than I was supposed to graduate. I got left back twice in fifth grade. So keel haul me already. Einstien wasn't the greatest student either. And me art teacher in high school told me I'd never be an artist. Well, check out me self portrait down in the HEROES section & tell me what YOU think mate.
Well, 'ere I be in 1968...
...and then in 2008 at our 4th Class Reunion.
And if UR a classmate, then click the link below:
www.elvhs1968.ning.com
ELVHS 1968 Member Badge
http://elvhs1968.ning.com
View my page on ELVHS 1968
I be a 4 year Navy man, 1968-1972.
Me first ship, the USS Nereus AS 17...
...and me last ship, the USS Sumter LST 1181...
...and I'm a Viet Nam Vet ta boot.
But I counldn't wait to grow me hair when I got out.
Sometimes I be a Pirate...
...and sometimes I be a Wizard/Astrologer.
I'm a DEADHEAD, a PARROTHEAD and a HUG-A-HOLIC.
I'm straight, single, available & I'm not your "Average Joe". And still a horny old Sea Dog after all these trips around the sun.
I not only have the Sun in LEO,...
...but also have Capricorn rising.
I'm also born in the Chinese year of the RAT, as well.
Although, astrologically speaking, my "Moon in Taurus" at 15 degrees, it's strongest position, conjunct my "North Node" in the same sign, tends to dominate me HORRIBLE-SCOPE.
I smoke American Spirit cigarettes...
...and I like to drink Mojitos once in a while.
I'm 6'-2", hazel eyes with blonde/grey hair and I wear size 11 Flip-flops. I really hate shoes.
I love photography...
...scuba divin'...
...and playin' percussion in a band. (see Captain Don and the Toucan Band in the music section) I was asked by my friend Donny if I'd like to play congas in the band he was starting in 2003. I didn't own any drums at the time, but Donny said he foot the bill & that I could work it off. So, we played duets together until I payed him back. During this time he kept on asking me if I was serious about playin' the congas. I got sick & tired of him asking me over & over the same question. So, I went out & bought a set of bongos that matched the congas & a bongo stand just to shut him up. We've been together ever since then. The band has grown over the years to the point where now we sometimes do a seven man gig. Donny "The Captain" Parisi on acoustic & electric guitar, Mike "The Axe" Neugent (of Cadillac Moon) on electric lead, "Dangerous" Dave Cobb on drums, Rob "The Rebel" on bass, "Gorgeous" George ..on keyboard, a sax player, John "Scrumcious" Nolte on drums & "Poppi" the Toucan Pirate on percussion. Lately I haven't been asked to play. Hopefully this isn't a non-verbal PINK SLIP.
Around 1976 I met my friend Franc Menusan (see heroes). Franc is of the Creek-French Metis/Seminole heritage. Franc has been involved with recording with various artists: Powaqqatsi (1988) - Philip Glass (film soundtrack); Precious Waters: River of Life (1995); Cronologia (1996); Cooler Heads Prevail (1997) - Akira Satake; Absolute World (1999) - Various Artists. He has also been involved in composing music: "Visions of the Arawaks" Video: Evocative music, specially created by Franc Menusan using authentic Amerindian instruments, bridges centuries and brings the experience straight to the heart. He also appears as an actor in the film Ghost Dance by Eric Stannard about a Native American who lives in New York City.
Through him I got involved with playin' East Indian Classical music in NYC in the West Village, near NYU, for about 14 years on the weekends. I played the Tamboora/Tanpura, a East Indian droning instrument,
I usually backed up Franc on Tamboora as he played Sitar in an East Indian restaurant on Bleeker Street in the W. Village. I also backed up Franc when he played a Rudra Veena when we recorded our cassette, "THE DIVINE SOUND OF THE RUDRA VINA": Performed by -Franc Menusan on Rudra Vina,Brooks Parsons on Tablas and your truly on Tamboora.
lastly, Franc and I played back up for a Kathak Dancer who dances with 108 bells on each ankle,
and studied rythmic cycles (talas) and how they're played on Tablas. Below Paul Leake is featured playing tabla. Paul accompanied Franc & I at the restaurant, our performance at Hunter College, our stint at the United Nations building for the spring equinox celibration & on many other occasions.
I've also had a some experience with the Middle Eastern Dumbek. The master of the Dumbek, Seido, is pictured below.
During those years I had several occasions where I got to play latin music with some hispanic percussionists in Queens. In order to more fully appreciate this music, it was important to me to get involved in the East Indian culture, Hindu religion and philosophical/mystical studies of the East AND the West.
I learned about many things like:
OM (Pronounst A-U-M, it is the sound of Creation & the Univerce);
CHAKRAS (from the Sanskrit meaning wheel);
KUNDALINI (Spiritual energy that travels up along the Shusumna, central subtle nerve, through the chakras);
MEDITATION;
SAMADI (Ignition of the Kundalini with Meditation, Spiritual Concenration, & journeying through the Chakras up to the Crown Chakra at the top of the head and doing it without the aid of drugs...
..although many Sadhus use Cannabis Indica as a vehicle to reach an Altered State of Consiousness as written about in Wolf-Dieter Storl's book Shiva.);
MANTRAS (a Hindu prayer recited in Sanskrit, the ancient east indian language, and repeated, for the most part, 108 times);
EXAMPLE
"OM NAMAH SHIVAYA" which was mentioned near the top of this section.
JAPA YOGA (The repeating of the mantras using mala beads or a rosary);
JAPA MALA (common prayer beads)
or RUDRAKSHA MALA(beads dedicated to Lord Shiva).
Most of these rosaries/malas are made with 108 beads & one extra center bead that you never go beyond, it is refered to as The Mountain, when you reach the 108th bead, you must turn the Mala around with one hand using the fingers in order to continue your japa meditation. Basicly this is imposed on the user to help strengthen your self disipline. 108 is a multiple of the number 9 which is a multiple of the sacred number 3 which is considered sacred. Some special malas vary in the number & kind of beads.
THE SWASTIKA -
[ PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE YOU RUSH TO JUDGEMENT ON THIS SUBJECT. AND LET'S KEEP IN MIND THE FREEDOM OF SPEACH ]
The TRUE meaning of the SWASTIKA:
"The religious symbol which is revered by Hindus and ranks second only to OM is the Swastika. Today, the Swastika is known the world over, not as a religious symbol of the Hindus, but as the Nazi emblem. Hitler's use of the Swastika on the flag of National-Socialist Germany has besmirched the Swastika. But the Swastika continues to hold a religious significance for Hindus all over the globe. Like OM, the origins of the Swastika are lost in the misty realms of the past and they can only be guessed at by the piecing together of the surviving clues.
Unlike OM, the Swastika is not a syllable or a letter. It appears to be a decorative charecter which could have originated in a hieroglyphic (pictorial) script. The word Swastika is normally believed to be an amalgam of the words Su and Asati. Su means 'good' and Asati means 'to exist'. As per Sanskrit grammer, the words Su and Asati, when amalgamated into one word, become Swasti (as in the case of Su and Aaatam becoming Swagatam meaning 'welcome'). If this derivation of the word Swastika is true, then the literal meaning of the term Swastika would be "LET GOOD PREVAIL".
For more information contact -
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/omk ar.html
There are, in one area of Hindu philosophical studies, two Swastikas. One, rotating clockwise, being Masculine or Positive in nature...
...and the other, rotating counterclockwise, and being Feminine or Negative in nature...
( Example, Positive = doing your japa & Negative = receiving that which was prayed for)
...both have to do with Karma in this instance. The word KARMA comes from the Sanskrit and means "ACTION". But, philosophically speaking, it means "For every action, there is an equal & opposite reaction";
UNFORTUNATELY, IN THE PAST, MYSPACE HAS NOT ALLOWED ME TO SHOW YOU EXAMPLES, PICTURES, OF THESE SWASTIKAS. THEY SEEM TO WANT TO EQUATE THESE IMAGES OF THE SWASTIKA AS EQUIVALENT TO NUDITY, VIOLENCE OR BEING OFFENSIVE IN SOME WAY ACCORDING TO THIER TERMS & CONDITIONS. LET'S HOPE WE CAN ENLIGHTEN THEM.
KARMA (As explained above: "For every action there is an equal & opposite reaction"; "As ye sew, so shall ye reap");
There is a Karma desolving Mantra that one can use to dispel bad Karma which follows. First start by intoning "OM". Then do 108 repetitions of this Mantra. "THIRUNEELAKANDAM" SHIVA LINGA (A 3D symbolic representation of the joining of the masculine, Shiva, and the feminine, Shakti, energys);
and the word SHANTI, also from the Sanskrit, meaning PEACE.
I also got into other studies like SHAMANISM. For instance, one of my Spirit Animals is the TIGER (Durga's Vahana (or Stead)).
"PET ME. I DARE YA!"...
Buried at PhotoCasket
...another is the OWL (the messanger of the night).