A Great Variety of Vendors Featuring; Nutrition, Bodywork, Crystals, Music, Astrology, Psychic Readings, Aura Imagery, Organics, and Much More!

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The Journey Expo Pittsburgh 2012 also offers lectures, demonstrations and workshops to spark attendees to higher levels of consciousness.

Presenters include: Dr. Linda Backman – Soul Evolution, Stephanie Charles – Akashic Records, Mandi Babkes – Holistic Nutrition, Psalm Isadora – Tantra Yoga, Tina Sacchi - 2012:The Reason Why We’re Here!, Dr. Lina Thakar – Ayurveda Medicine, Tracey Eisenman - Creating Miracles in Your Life - and more to come!

Saturday, May 5  10am to 8pm

Sunday, May 6 10am to 6pm

Click Here for Directions to The Holiday Inn North Hills

Vendor application by clicking here

For more information, please call Clyde Chafer at 440-223-1392

Sponsors:

Feb 2007, Devipuram Ashram, India

In the back of an Indian taxi,
an impossibly old car with upholstery organically dissolving into it’s greasy self
with springs that cut my ass cheeks
no a/c, I sweat profusely and hold my breath.
I am going to meet my teacher for the first time
will he be the one?
I feel my heart ache and my ribs felt like they were being stabbed
“it is my heart I have come to heal” I think to myself
we are in the jungle, and there are only Indians here.

I was working as a yoga teacher in California when I started reading the older yoga scriptures that talked about the importance of a guru-disciple relationship. I started experiencing insomnia, but I knew it wasn’t regular insomnia that kept me staring at the ceiling, wrestling with my sheets, feeling hot and sweaty on cold winter California nights. The fire burning inside me felt holy, it made my skin hot to touch and left a strange taste of sweetness like honey in my mouth.

Somewhere halfway across the world, in a country I had never been to, I could feel my guru calling me. I sent emails to the ashram he founded in India, but got no reply. Still I knew I had to go. With no response from the ashram I took the risk borrowed money to buy my plane ticket to India and found a substitute teacher for my yoga classes. I was afraid, but I knew India would change my life forever and I knew I would not be able to sleep until I went. Because I had not heard back from Guruji’s ashram, I bought my ticket to land in a nearby city where I had an Indian friend so I could wait there until I heard back or just show up at the ashram to see if he was there.

I  landed in India in the middle of the night. Instead of taking a taxi from the airport, I hitched a ride with some young Indian men I met on the plane. We piled into their cousins Jeep, who drove like a madman until they dropped me off at my friend Lakshmi’s house. I had met Lakshmi when she took my yoga classes in Los Angeles. Her family was very wealthy, there was a guard at the gate with a gun. He called Lakshmi’s mobile phone and handed it to me, she said she was out at a dance club and would be back soon.

When Lakshmi arrived, we went in her room with a small group of friends and they pulled out a contraband bottle of Patron tequila. I was a good vegetarian yogi on a pilgrimage to India, leaving my years of hard partying long behind me. Still, I thought, “Why not?” and took a shot of tequila. I woke early to the sound of mantras playing on tinny radios in the house. It was decided that it would be best if I went to Ammachi’s ashram in Kerala while I continued to send emails and wait to hear back from Guruji’s ashram.

Amma’s ashram was crowded like a small city, lots of Indians and lots of us “white westerners” come to seek salvation. I would rise with swollen, sleepy eyes at 5am to sit at the morning fire pujas. I learned to sit still and go into trance watching the fire, fixing my mind on the smells of the wood and the sounds of the priests chanting the mantras. I thought I had learned to meditate before, but three hours in lotus position on a concrete floor being eaten alive by mosquitos was a whole new level of concentration. Then I finally received an email from Guruji’s ashram. They told me to come as soon as I liked and that I was welcome.

Arriving in a beat up taxi, I could see that this ashram was very different from Ammachi’s, it was small and nestled in the jungle with hardly anyone there. Guruji was napping, so they had one of the young women devotees give me a tour of the temples. We went to the first temple and I sat on the roof looking at green palm trees and red earth and mountains surrounding us that looked like breasts and hips of a woman’s body. I closed my eyes and felt a strong energy pushing up inside my yoni, my womb. The girl told me this was the temple to the Shiva lingam, a lingam is the sacred masculine penis. We walked to the second temple, a small room and the entire inside was a giant yoni, the sacred feminine genitals. I sat on the stone yoni and felt my hips melt and my own yoni merge with the earth, as if i was magnetically connected to the roots of the universe. When we walked back to the ashram, Guruji was awake.

I saw a man sitting on a bench in the distance, with about four or five people sitting cross legged in the red dirt around him. He was wearing all white and had snow white hair and beard, from a distance he looked like Santa Claus. Even rom a distance, I knew immediately this was my Guruji, that I had come to the right place. I sat in the earth with the other disciples and he looked at me with kind, twinkling mischievous eyes.

Before I left to return to America, he initiated me into Sri Vidya Tantra. In the empowerment ritual he touched the chakra petals on my body and placed the sounds of the bija seed mantras in my body. I was to sit still and repeat the mantras he was saying. At first I felt clumsy and confused repeating these sanskrit words, then my mind felt sleepy and I felt like a robot repeating after him, like I was in a trance. Then a sudden hurricane wind blew through the room, I opened my eyes expecting the whole building to be torn down, but everything was the same, it was me who had changed forever from the initiation. Guruji asked me to teach Tantra back in America, to pass along the mantras and share the Goddess energy of Sri Vidya to do healing rituals for men and women. He also asked me to return and to bring my students from America.

On the day the taxi came to take me back to America, I was crying and sad to leave my new family, but knew I had to return to my teenage son at husband at home. I hugged Guruji one last time and then got in the cab. He stood waving at me and said, “Be careful, the world can be cruel”.

Psalm Isadora grew up on a born-again hippie commune in Northern California. From a young age, she had ecstatic experiences with the Spirit that did not fit in the dogma of the religion she was raised with. She traveled to India to study Tantra. She is currently writing a book about her spiritual seeking experiences.
www.psalmisadorayoga.com

Tina Sacchi is a Master in Holistic Alternative Arts, which includes Hypnotherapy, Energy Healing (Reiki/Shamanic), Mysticism, Chakra Balancing, Soul Path Guidance, Past Lives Resolve, Future Life Progression, Raw Food Coaching and Life Event Ceremonies. Tina is certified in Clinical Hypnotherapy through the Arizona Society for Professional Hypnosis as well as the National Guild of Hypnotists. Visit her website, www.TinaSacchi.com, for upcoming events and information on her international radio show.

Monsoon India is not for the faint of heart. Before the rains fall, marked by a sky slashed with fierce lightning and roaring thunder, moisture hangs heavily, pushing through skin, muscle and bone. The body feels as if it is submerged under the weight of an entire ocean and even the smallest movement requires effort.

     In truth, I had gone to India with that intention in mind. I had gone to study with a Guru hoping that she would reveal the blissful and limitless ocean of consciousness I was told I already was.  However, I was soon challenged by the heat, constant diarrhea and the rigors of having to admit I was filled to the brim with a slew of dark emotions. In short, Nirvana was not exactly the word I would have chosen to describe the state I was in.

     One oppressively hot afternoon, believing I had twenty minutes grace before the heavens opened, I made my way to visit someone I admired enormously. Mr. Patel was a sinewy little man who had set up shop across the street from the ashram where I lived and for as little as three rupees, he would iron any item presented to him. Yes, iron! In unrelenting heat and humidity, he would energetically press wrinkles out of fine Indian cotton using a dense, skillet-looking iron.

     Mr. Patel greeted me with a broad grin, sideways shake and wobble of his head and the usual, “Very good! I am happy to be seeing you!” Then he took the scrap of paper I handed over, noting the clothes I had left with him and disappeared behind a dark curtain.

     Several slow, long minutes ticked by interspersed with Mr. Patel calling out, “Sorry! Looking, looking,” until lightning began filling the sky, seconds ahead of ominous thunder. With that, rain began cascading down, bouncing knee-high off the dusty streets and rattling off cars and motorcycles as they raced by. A welcome and refreshing breeze blew in with the deluge, growing in such strength, the sound began shaking the room with deafening intensity.

     Finally, Mr. Patel appeared with an armful of beautifully pressed shirts, Punjabi’s and scarves dangling delicately from metal hangers. He carefully proceeded to take each one off the hanger, laying it flat and folding it with neat precision before placing it on a pile. Then gently wrapping the bundle in thick brown paper, he secured everything together with a length of fine string, knotted and tied in a pretty bow.

     By the time he was done and I turned to face the door, the road was awash with knee-deep, dirty water, swirling and cascading in a torrent as it headed downhill toward a nearby village. Behind me, Mr. Patel called out, “Monsoon! What to do! Must accept, must accept!” And that said, I realized, there was no option other than to take off my sandals, roll up my cotton pants and wade through the muddy brown river that had formed right outside the door.

     Cautiously stepping into the flood, precariously holding my sandals under my arm, brown paper package in one hand and an umbrella in the other, I began laughing at the absurdity of it all. I had given up my job, my friends, family and the comforts of life to come to India and be with a Guru who I had hoped would show me God.
However, instead of swimming in bliss, my mind had been over-run with doubtful thoughts describing the physical, emotional and psychological distress of being outside my safe, comfort driven environment. Now, here in complete contrast, was a simple ‘ironing dhobi,’ happily embracing his lot, enjoying the challenges of his life and in his own, simple un-Guru like way, offering a profound teaching.

     With the words, “Accept, accept!” ringing in my ears, I suddenly realized Nirvana was not to be found in exalted states beyond where I was right now. All that was required, was to accept whatever was presenting itself, to really welcome it in and let go of all resistance. Only then, would I be able to be at peace with all that India was generously offering, including intestinal amoebas, oppressive heat and the dramatic, unexpected and delightful wonders of monsoon.

Copyright- Julie Hoyle 2011
Julie is a natural intuitive, writer, artist and trans-personal hypnotherapist who lives on Grand Bahama Island. Her profound spiritual awakening is detailed in her book, ‘An Awakened Life- A Journey of Transformation,’ and she offers online courses in conjunction with Daily Om and at: www.truealignment.org

In the winter of 2005 I discovered something very powerful. As I sat on my surf board and contemplated the interconnectedness of my existence, I came to a realization that all the words to describe anyone/thing in my awareness field could be used to describe me. The world around me does in fact reflect parts of me. I have played with that concept quite a bit since the summer of 2005.
For years I have carried a note card in my pocket so I can jot down keyword phrases about the people and events in my life.  I make time weekly to review what I’ve written to look for those qualities in myself.  I can’t recall a time when the traits I’ve used to describe other people were not traits I possess.
When I’ve adored and admired a certain person, I’ve searched myself to see if I embody those same qualities.  I have over the years written down the same words over and over. The qualities I admire are on a list that I contemplate daily, and use as part of my vision board experience. I have gone as far as typing in the 38 qualities of “HER” into thesaurus.com so I could make sure I knew exactly what each word contained.
But, the real magic of this exercise has been found in the negative traits and experiences. When I become annoyed with people, I do the same.  I contemplate each word and ask myself “Am I that?” I have grown much as a man in doing so, and I know better which “good” qualities I can cultivate further as a result.
My first glimpse of finding my own annoying traits through the observation of others happened while I was tending bar in Laguna Beach, California. On any given night, “regulars” made up about ninety percent of the clientele. Rarely did I have to ask “What can I get you?” I knew all of their drinks, their drinking habits, and most of their dirty little secrets.
Most of us live our lives in a manner to which you can set a clock. It seems that we are most comfortable with routine. The patrons at Woody’s at the Beach were no different in that aspect. Happy hour was often filled with familiar faces, each day hosted different cliques. Most of the patrons were there to have a good time and relax, but some seemed to be there just piss on my Cheerios.  As I began to play with this newly discovered concept that all people represent something about me, apparently my interactions with people began to noticeably change.
One evening during happy hour a friend of mine/regular sat at the window service area smoking cigarettes and enjoying the evening air on the patio. The pace of the evening was steady as usual, and the clients were familiar. At one point in the evening the man in the window yells out through the smoke “What the f&%k was that?”
Startled, I engaged his question. He said part of the fun at happy hour on Thursday nights was watching the exchange between me and the Cheerios pissing guy.  He said for months now he would chuckle as the guy came in and got in line to get a drink.  He really enjoyed watching the two of us angrily exchange words.
Every time this cereal bandit came into the bar, my skin crawled. He knew the buttons to push with me and did so without fail. Each time I served him we almost came to blows (I wasn’t a pacifist back then). I may have if I didn’t feel so indebted to the owners of the restaurant for helping me out through my first days of sobriety.
That particular night however, I was merely observing and trying to see what about him was in me. I saw his pain. I saw how uncomfortable he really was with himself, and how it was easy for him to feel good if he could find a way to feel “better than” me. I saw how entitled he was, and how impatient. Then I saw all of this in me, and much more.
I knew that I did not care for that in him. Matter of fact I wanted to “pimp” slap it all out of him when it was projected at me. In seeing all of this I actually realized I wanted it “pimp” slapped out of me. My anger towards him was merely a reflection of the anger I hold towards myself.  I knew deep down the pain I’ve caused.  I knew the amount of anger, resentment, entitlement I felt.
When I observed this about our relationship I smiled and nothing he said affected me. I actually appreciated him more than any other person in the bar at that moment. He was my Guru.
I described this as quickly as I could to the patron in the window. I told him how Carl Jung talked about the synchronicity of life, and the meaning we each hold for one another. I further went to describe the interconnectedness of humanity, and the connection we feel with spirit; how when that is broken we feel lower emotions in our present moment. I told him I am beginning to see everyone as me and me as everyone.
“Tat Tvam Asi” he said. “That’s Hindi guru stuff Tim. You came up with all of that surfing?” We talked for a bit, and he later brought me books by Joseph Campbell, and some Hindi scripture to read.  That’s when I began to search for a connected theory of spirituality. Aldous Huxley’s book “Perennial Philosophy” helped quite a bit.
During the years between 2005 and 2010 I found yoga, discovered chanting and practiced with different sects of Buddhists and Tao Practitioners.  I attended a few churches, and listened to talks from people ranging from HH the Dalai Llama to Dr. Michael Beckwith.  I spend most of my YouTube time split between watching scientific explanations of consciousness and listening to inspirational speakers give sermons. Yet, I have discovered the most enlightenment from this exercise; I’ve coined “My Real Guru is a Douche.”

— Tim McAuley takes us on his journey of learning to ride the metaphoric waves of life in his debut book It’s All About Me!  He shares the tools and techniques he discovered to find his way and vividly illustrates that we each have the power within to become live a life aligned with harmony, happiness and love. You can improve your own happiness by looking within and realizing that, It’s All About Me.

Start the new year right and treat yourself to Hatha Yoga at Cleveland Botanical Garden. Join Clyde Chafer on a journey of discovery through Yoga in the Garden and Shiva Pulse. Find and wake parts of the physical and emotional body that perhaps have been dormant. This class is slow paced but challenging as the poses are sequenced to help find the personal edge of each individual, explore holding poses and maximize breathing. Yoga philosophy, breathwork and meditation make a well rounded six week session.

A paradise in the city awaits you at Cleveland Botanical Garden.  The Garden boasts some of the finest public gardens in the Midwest – each a gem with its own distinct personality.  The Garden is also home to the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse, a unique conservatory that takes you on an exotic adventure to the lush rainforest of Costa Rica and the spiny desert of Madagascar.  The ten-acre visitor center is open year-round and offers something different each visit. No matter what the season, beauty abounds, delighting senses and refreshing the spirit.

Yoga series is for both beginners and advanced students – all levels of fitness welcome.  Parking and Garden admission included.

Tuesdays, January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 & February 7, 2012
5:45 – 7:00 pm
Series Fee:  $72/member; $90/nonmember

Please register in advance online at www.cbgarden.org/events or by calling 216.721.1600 x100.

“A disciple is one who trusts himself. Out of his trust he comes to learn from somebody who has gone a little further than himself. He is not a follower, he is not an imitator and he is not seeking security ― he is seeking understanding. Even if that understanding brings more insecurity, he is ready for it. A follower is never ready for insecurity; he comes to a guru, to a master, to seek protection, shelter, to hide behind him. He is seeking a father figure. A disciple is seeking a master, not a father figure. He wants to learn what life is. Even if life is insecurity, he is ready to learn. Even if life implies death, he is ready to learn. The follower just wants a map. The disciple wants to go on an adventure. He is not worried about the map, he simply wants a challenge. ‘Challenge me!’ says the disciple. ‘Pull me out of my stupor,’ says the disciple. ‘Send me on a venture,’ says the disciple. The follower says, ‘Protect me, never leave me alone. Without you I am lost. Don’t send me away! Just let me hide behind you.’ Remember, the disciple is a seeker, the follower is simply sick with fear.”
~Osho~

Acharya Kedar, affectionately known as Acharyaji, will be returning to Pittsburgh/Latrobe, Pennsylvania on February 18-19, 2012, to offer a Supreme Meditation Shaktipat Intensive. Acharya Kedar is recognized by his students and followers of other great sages (like Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri) as being a perfected master of the yoga of the Absolute, whose experience of the Ultimate Reality, the Heart of God, is uninterrupted.

He is a Shaktipat Guru who transmits the power and Grace of his lineage (the lineage of Bhagawan Nityananda) through the full spiritual awakening known as Shaktipat that his Guru popularized. Acharyaji is also a published author and recognized teacher of Kashmir Shaivism. He is known for disseminating teachings and spiritual instruction in a compassionate, down-to-earth and often humorous manner, making the teachings and practices of Shaivism easy to apply to daily life. These teachings will be the focus of the upcoming weekend meditation retreat taking place on the annual celebration of Mahashivaratri (celebration of Lord Shiva). Shaktipat will be given.

In this shaktipat intensive, participants will learn:
-    how to open the door to free yourself from all suffering, doubt and worry.
-    how to rise above the power of words to free yourself from praise and blame.
-    how to understand, from your own experience, why you and the Self are one and why separation from the Absolute is your imaginary creation.

Free programs will be offered before and after this retreat. For information visit
www.suprememeditation.org/PAprograms.html