Note: the following interview took place in Miami Beach, FL in November 2003. Two hyphens (--) indicate a question from the interviewer to Daniel. This transcript was edited only slightly to better fit the written format.

-- Who are you?

DH: Wow. Such a good question to start with. Why not start with one of the most difficult questions. To answer that, let me start with some groundwork. Understand that we live in two worlds. At least two. One world is the commonly agreed upon one in our society. The one where we go to work and have relationships and eat and have bodies. In Buddhism this is called Maya. It’s illusion in the sense that the other world is more real. More real in that it is unchangeable. You see, what is real is what does not change. Everything in the material world changes. In the other world, the unchangeable world, bodies, food, work and problems are unimportant. They don’t exist, actually. We, two legged creatures called humans live in both these worlds. That’s our job. And if we do it well, we’re aware of both. We succeed in both.

So who am I is the question. When most people ask that they’re asking for a material world answer. So I’ll start with the other. I don’t know who I am. There is no I. There is no Daniel. There is one energy and I am a part of that, an extension of that. And everything is part of that energy. This table, this glass, the ocean over there, that woman with the roller blades.

Mostly people are unaware of that world and so they stay in the material world. It’s so limiting. I once heard Stephen Levine describe dying as being like taking off a shoe that was too small. There’s so much pain in the world because people are walking around with huge spirits crammed into little bodies. The ironic thing is that we could simply wake up to know they are so much bigger, that they are everything actually, and the pain would go away.

Now, all that said, who am I? In this body, in this life, in this role, in this moment, I am a man named Daniel. Who has also used the name Shekhar. Funny, after talking about how big we really are, it feels silly to go back into the little definitions that we’re normally so accustomed to.

-- A little of that would be helpful so people can relate to the personal you.

DH: Yes, of course. I am an ordinary man who goes through life facing the challenges and delights of being human. What we do is how we commonly define who we are. Especially in the United States. At the moment I work with people in a variety of ways. Counseling is one of my favorite ways. I find it so gratifying to sit with someone. I never know what will happen and my goal is to help free them from anything that might be inhibiting their natural state of happiness.

I’m a poet and writer. I love music. Really anything creative. Community is important to me. And friendships. That’s one of life’s greatest blessings.

What else do I do? I guess it’s all aimed at understanding ourselves. Yoga, astrology, counseling, meditation. I love these things because they bring me (and the people I work with) more into my real self.

How’s that?

-- Great. In fact you got into another question I was going to ask about your work. Is there anything you want to add to that?

DH: The work I do is as much an evolving process as who I am is always in motion and changing. That’s what keeps work (and life) exciting. My first job was delivering newspapers when I was 10 years old. Since then I must have had more than fifty different jobs. So when I talk about my work now, it’s a challenge to define it. The work I did yesterday already may not be relevant to “my work” today. For some time now the work has been about freedom – freedom from what blocks our potential. Some of the forms and techniques have changed and evolved. The target remains the same and the bow and arrow changes. Perhaps it’s a new bow altogether or perhaps I learn a new way of using the same bow. And it’s co-creative; it depends on what each person (or group) brings to the meeting. One of the reasons I love astrology is that it is deep enough to encompass the evolution that unfolds in me.

-- Why do you practice astrology? What’s the value of it?

DH: I use astrology because it works. Few people agree on how it works and the evidence is clear that it does work.

The primary value is that it helps us to understand ourselves better. You could say this whole earth game called life is about realizing who we are. The ironic thing is that realizing who we are is really about realizing who we’re not. My focus with astrology is on the soul journey. Looking at where we’ve been, what lessons we’ve been learning and what our soul chose to learn in this lifetime. When we understand our karmic challenges, it’s easier to move through them. And when we move through personality challenges, it opens us up to be who we are, which is so far beyond personality.

I’ve studied many self-understanding tools: the enneagram, tarot, the Myers-Briggs personality sorter. They’re all wonderful and what I love about astrology is that it’s deep enough to account for the complexity that we are.

And we can continually use it to see what’s happening. Not to predict the future, rather to understand the energies at play, to preview the weather. Everyone knows that timing is everything. The word disaster means to go against the stars. The word consider means with the stars. Astrology can help us strategize when to launch a business, when to go on a meditation retreat, when to buy or not to buy a new home. This part of astrology is practical.

Ultimately I practice astrology because it’s been helpful to me and to the people I work with.

-- What is Happyyogi Yoga?

DH: Happyyogi Yoga is how I understand yoga. It’s a blend of everything that I’ve learned through my studies and my practice. It’s different every time. What I share in a yoga class depends on who’s there and what’s appropriate. There are several elements, which I feel are important:

1. Including the other components of yoga besides asana is essential to me. Yoga has become physical exercise or calisthenics to most people. And really it’s so much more. It’s a science of how to be happy. In Yogic terminology it’s Samadhi. I bring whatever I can, especially from the scriptural roots of yoga, into a relevant and contemporary context, to help people experience Yoga, which is happiness, bliss, and ecstasy.

2. I like to begin classes with chanting. It brings us into the vibration of Yoga. It sets the mood.

3. Vinyasa is important. Linking breath to motion creates awareness. Breath is the key element in the yoga practice.

4. Meditation. It’s why we do the physical practice; it’s the point of the asanas. To do all those postures without meditating is like making a beautiful cake and then not eating it.

5. Humor is a big part of happyyogi yoga. The insidious disease called seriousness can easily creep into a yoga class. On the path to happiness, there should be some happiness. Something I’m playing with in my own practise these days is how to be focused without getting serious. Laughter is such a high vibration. It drops our tension and instantly brings us to the present moment.

6. Experiencing some challenge is an incredible opportunity in yoga. A student once told me that they thought my class would be too easy because of the name happyyogi yoga. When we’re challenged we can react or think negative thoughts, or we can focus on the breath. We can assert our equanimity by breathing steadily. Then when we are challenged off the mat, we’re that much more likely to maintain our center. The value of yoga is in how it helps our life. Who cares if we can put our foot behind our head or sit in lotus?