A Joyful Practice

Grace & Friendship (mostly the music and an excerpt) June 17, 2023

Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone!!!

“61. It is owing to the presence of the soul, that the mind developes [sic] itself in the form of the body and all its members; as it is the presence of the light, that makes the room display its contained objects to sight. (The soul is the light of the mind—nous the container of infinite ideas).

62. Think now Ráma, on the relation between the ever unconnected soul and mind, to resemble the irrelation subsisting between the dis-connected earth and sky, and betwixt light and darkness and betwixt the intellect and gross bodies.

63. Those that are ignorant of the soul, view the quiet mind as such, after its motion and fluctuation are stopped by the restraint of respiration—Pránáyáma. (This is the doctrine of the Sánkhya and Buddhist, that view the becalmed and quiescent mind as the soul).

64. But the soul is self-luminous and ever lasting, omnipresent and super-eminent, while the mind is deceptive and egoism. It is situated in the heart with too much of its pride and vanity.

65. You are in reality the all-knowing soul, and not the ignorant and deluded mind; therefore drive afar your delusive mind from the seat of the soul, as they can never meet nor agree together.

66. Ráma! the mind has also like a demon, taken possession of the empty house of the body, and has like an evil spirit, silenced and overpowered upon the intangible soul in it.

67. Whatever thou art, remain but quiet in thyself, by driving away the demon of thy mind from thee; because it robs thee of thy best treasure of patience, and loads all kinds of evils upon thee. (i.e. the impatient mind is the source of all evil).

68. The man that is seized by the voracious yaksha of his own mind, has no change of his release from his grasp, either by the lessons of the sástras or by the advice of his friends, relatives and preceptors. (Greediness devours the greedy that desire to glut all things).

69. The man who has appeased the demon of his mind, is capable of being released from its clutches, by means of the dictates of sástras, and the admonitions of his friends, as it is possible to liberate a deer from a shallow quagmire.”

– quoted from (Book 6) “CHAPTER XXIX. Pantheism. Description of the World as Full with the Supreme Soul.” of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (translated from the original Sanskrit by  VIHARI-LALA MITRA)

Here’s an excerpt from today’s date-related 2020 post:

“If you look back, you will note that all of the ways I mentioned about friendship involve at least one of the five afflicted or dysfunctional thought patterns; thought patterns that create suffering – and all of those afflicted thought patterns are born out of ignorance. That is not to say that friendship is ignorant. In fact, it is easy to argue that friendship, community, and belonging are wise. There is a definite reason why the Buddha described sangha (“community”) as one of the three jewels. But, when we look at how we become friends with someone, it is almost always based on the outside. How we stay friends, however, is based on the inside.

Granted, sometimes we stay friends with someone, because of that final afflicted thought pattern: fear of loss or death.”

Click here to read the entire 2020 post about the power of friendship (with reference to the Soweto uprising and the Statue of Liberty).

Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 17^th) at 12:00 PM. 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 or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06172020 The Lady’s Power”]

NOTE: The playlist starts with instrumental music. If your Spotify is on shuffle, you will want your music volume low at the beginning of the practice.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

### MO’ METTĀ, LESS BLUES (UNLESS YOU’RE SINGING) ###