Start (Now) As You Mean To Go On September 21, 2020
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(“Shana Tovah U’Metukah!” to anyone who is observing the High Holidays.)
“‘There is no difference between Time and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it.’”
– quoted from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, born today in 1866
If you only live your life according to the Gregorian calendar, which is a solar-based calendar, it may be strange and confusing to hear people wishing each other a happy new year at the end of January, the beginning of February, towards the end of March, or at the beginning of fall. We forget that the way we manage and identify time is partially constructed. It’s a matter of perspective, and people’s perspectives can be different. So, right now, all over the world people are wishing each other a happy new year and planning how they want to live their lives if they are blessed with a new year.
“Either get busy living or get busy dying.”
– quoted from the film the novella “Rita Hawyworth and Shawshank Redemption: Hope Springs Eternal” by Stephen King, born today in 1947
“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.”
– Leonard Cohen, born today in 1934
Friday at sunset was the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, “the the Head of the Year,” which is also the beginning of the High Holidays in Judaism. The “Ten Days of Awe” or “Ten Days of Atonement,” which culminate with Yom Kippur, “The Day of Atonement, are observed through reflection, remembrance, and repentance. And, as I mentioned yesterday, they are days where people let go of what no longer serves them and plan for the year ahead. That letting go and planning revolve around the concept of Teshuvah (or Tchuvah), the Hebrew word for “repentance” or “return” – and therefore around the practice of forgiveness.
Forgiveness can be a tricky thing because, as the Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield points out, it requires us to process and honor feelings of betrayal, grief, anger, hurt, fear. It also requires us to process and honor that we have those hard feelings, in part, because we also feel love and expectation. Kornfield speaks of it as a “deep process of the heart” and I think it is also, very much related, to those siddhis (or powers) “unique to being human.” In fact, it’s related to all six: the power of knowledge without doubt; the power words; the power to “study, analyze, and comprehend;” the power to eliminate threefold sorrow; the power to cultivate friendships; and the power of generosity. Of course, we need to tuck into our own hearts and use those power, and that requires going through the pain we are currently experiencing in order to discern the movements of the heart.
“Sometimes, you have to step outside of the person you’ve been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you want to be. The person you are.”
– H. G. Wells, born today in 1866
“Don’t let the sun go down without saying thank you to someone, and without admitting to yourself that absolutely no one gets this far alone.”
“Don’t live in this place.”
– quoted from the 2005 University of Maine Commencement Speech by Stephen King, born today in 1947
Please join me on the virtual mat today (Monday, September 21st) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom.
This is a 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice that, in the spirit of generosity (dana), is freely given and freely received. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.
If you are able to support the center and its teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” my other practices, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible, class purchases are not necessarily.)
There is no playlist for the Common Ground practices.
A Joyful Practice 