This is a “missing” post for July 5, 2023 (and also for 2022).You can request an audio recording of either practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
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.
“Every body continues in its state of rest, or uniform motion in a right line, unless compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.”
– “Law 1” quoted from “Axioms, or Laws of Motion” in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton
NOTE: Some editions use the term “straight line.”
Take a moment to relax, maybe place your hand(s) on your belly, and observe what happens if nothing gets in the way. Notice how your tension-free belly rises and falls as the breath enters and leaves the body. Notice how the “force” of the breath, which is a symbol of our life and a symbol of our spirit, is an agent of change – physically, mentally, emotionally, and even energetically.
You can use your breath, forcefully, to break up and/or release tension. Similarly, lengthening the breath and observing the breath (which can all be described as prāņāyāma) change things when we are practicing on the mat. The way we breathe and the awareness of our breath can also be an agent of change off the mat. We just have to pay attention and stay focused to things that are naturally occurring.
However, paying attention, staying focused, and even breathing deeply in and breathing deeply out can be challenging in certain situations… especially situations involving challenging people… rigid bodies, if you will.
“I most gladly embrace your proposal of a private correspondence. What’s done before many witnesses is seldom without some further concerns than that for truth; but what passes between friends in private, usually deserves the name of consultation rather than contention; and so I hope it will prove between you and me….
But in the mean time, you defer too much to my ability in searching into this subject. What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in considering the colours of thin plates. If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
– quoted from a letter marked “Cambridge, February 5, 1675-76” from Sir Isaac Newton to Dr. Robert Hooke, as published in Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton by David Brewster
Sir Isaac Newton was just a 43-year old “natural philosopher” when he published the first edition of his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) today in 1687. The treatise included definitions of terms, his laws of motion, and a law of universal gravitation. It was partially based on Sir Isaac Newton’s own observations of the natural world and partially based on the theories, definitions, and observations of others. Those others, which Sir Isaac Newton referred to as “giants,” included Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler – whose laws of planetary motion were themselves modifications of the observations and heliocentric theory of Nicolaus Copernicus, yet another giant.
All of the aforementioned natural philosophers – or scientists, as we now call people who study matter and the mechanics of matter in space and time (i.e., physics), started with phenomena that was naturally occurring; could be observe in nature; and could be duplicated on some level. Then they went deeper… or farther, depending on your perspective. For Sir Isaac Newton, going deeper and farther meant having discussions with some his peers and even with some people who were skeptical of his work. He even had an ongoing correspondence with one of his master teachers and precious jewels – someone we might refer to as a “rigid body.”
An object at rest remains at rest, and object in motion remains in motion (at the same speed and in the same direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force).
The acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables – the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
– Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion
In physics, a “rigid body” (or “rigid object”) is a solid collection of matter that (a) does not change in size or shape or (b) changes at such a miniscule level that it is not perceptible. In quantum mechanics, the focus is on a collection of points – which, on a very rudimentary level, takes us back to the original definition. Focusing on a collection of points means highlighting a consistent distance between points that allows for the external appearance of stillness. In Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, nothing is absolutely rigid and, therefore, something is only considered “rigid” if it is not moving at the speed of light. This latter understanding means that the issue of something (or someone) being rigid becomes an issue of perception (and relativity).
Just like with the laws of motion – and, in particular with “The Law of Inertia” (i.e., the first law), the idea of a “rigid body” is physical science that can be observed on and off the mat. We can observe it in the way we move – physically, mentally, emotionally, and even energetically. We can observe it in the way holding a pose is perceived as “stillness,” even though there is movement and change. If we just go a little deeper, we start to notice cause-and-effect and how the laws of motion are also the laws of karma. For example, if we do something nice for someone, they can do something equally nice for someone else. When we really pay attention, we start to notice the the ways things (and people) change over time – even when they appear not to change.
“Every relationship you develop, from casual to intimate, helps you become more conscious. No union is without spiritual value.”
– quoted from “Morning Visual Meditation” (Chakra 2) by Caroline Myss
According to Eastern philosophies, like Yoga and Buddhism, everything is an opportunity for practice. In fact, the Yoga Sūtras include many reminders that everything is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves, about our true nature, and about the universe. Yoga Sūtra 2.18 specifically states that everything is an opportunity to liberate ourselves. So, what do we do when we interact with someone who seems resistant to change and/or to seeing things from different perspectives?
We could view them as master teachers, precious jewels, and/or rigid bodies.
Master teachers give us a master classes in ourselves. Precious jewels – like a grain of sand or salt in the shell of an oyster, clam, or other shelled mollusks – can be that irritating source of something we eventually view as valuable. It’s all a matter of perspective. One way to cultivate this perspective is by viewing another person as our reflection. If we are interacting with someone who appears to be “hooked,” we might recognize that we are (possibly) also “hooked” – which is the first step in getting “unhooked.”Similarly, if we feel like we are banging our head up against a brick wall and start seeing someone as a “rigid body,” we might ask ourselves: What/where is the change we are not perceiving?
Remember, according to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity, nothing is absolutely rigid. Ergo, change is always happening… somewhere.
It is happening inside the mind-body of people we may consider rigid; it is also happening inside of our own mind-body. We are not responsible for the change that is happening (or not happening) inside of someone else. However, when we notice the possibility of change inside of ourselves, the question then becomes, do you resist the change or embrace the change? Answering that question does not mean that we give up on our ideas or conform to the way someone else thinks. No, it means going deeper and farther… like Sir Isaac Newton.
“‘But this I immediately discovered in him,’ adds [Dr. Henry Pemberton*], still further, ‘which at once both surprised and charmed me. Neither his extreme great age, nor his universal reputation had rendered him stiff in opinion, or in any degree elated. Of this I had occasion to have almost daily experience. The remarks I continually sent him by letters on his Principia, were received with the utmost goodness. These were so far from being anyways displeasing to him, that, on the contrary, it occasioned him to speak many kind things of me to my friends, and to honour me with a public testimony of his good opinion.’ A modesty, openness, and generosity, peculiar to the noble and comprehensive spirit of Newton. ‘Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,’ yet not lifted up by pride nor corrupted by ambition. None, however, knew so well as himself the stupendousness of his discoveries in comparison with all that had been previously achieved; and none realized so thoroughly as himself the littleness thereof in comparison with the vast region still unexplored.”
– quoted from “Life of Sir Isaac Newton” by N. W. Chittenden, as published in Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; To which is added, Newton’s System of the World by Isaac Newton, translated into English by Andrew Motte (first American edition; New York: published [1848] Daniel Adee, c1846)
*NOTE: Dr. Henry Pemberton edited the third edition of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy).
Up until the twentieth century (and the publication of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity), the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) was the starting point for many scientist as they observed and explored the natural movement of the world. In many ways, that first edition was also Sir Isaac Newton’s starting point.
After sharing his ideas and theories, Sir Isaac Newton went back, reviewed his work, and published a second edition of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), with annotation and corrections, in 1713. He published a third edition in 1726. Eventually, he was recognized as one of the world’s greatest mathematicians and physicists and his Principia became the foundation for classical mechanics – one of the cornerstones of modern physics.
Eventually, Sir Isaac Newton became one of the “giants.”
“A short time before his death he uttered this memorable sentiment: ‘I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.’ How few ever reach the shore even, much less find ‘a smoother pebble or a prettier shell!’”
– quoted from “Life of Sir Isaac Newton” by N. W. Chittenden, as published in Newton’s Principia: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; To which is added, Newton’s System of the World by Isaac Newton, translated into English by Andrew Motte (first American edition; New York: published [1848] Daniel Adee, c1846)
The playlist for Wednesday, July 5, 2023, is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10202020 Pratyahara”]
“Every body continues in its state of rest, or uniform motion in a right line, unless compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.”
– “Law 1” quoted from “Axioms, or Laws of Motion” in Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton
NOTE: Some editions use the term “straight line.”
Please join me today (Wednesday, July 5th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10202020 Pratyahara”]
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.
Happy 4th (for those who are celebrating). Many blessings to all!!
“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”
– quoted from the “Introduction” to Common Sense, signed by the “Author” (Thomas Paine, known as “The Father of the American Revolution”) and dated “Philadelphia, February 14, 1776
The following excerpt is from a 2020 post:
“On Wednesday, July 3, 1776, the future President of the United States, John Adams, wrote two letters to his wife Abigail. In one of the letters he theorized about the pros (like Canada being included in the declaration) and cons (like still having to deal with ‘The Hopes of Reconciliation, which were fondly entertained by Multitudes of honest well meaning tho weak and mistaken People…’) of making the declaration earlier. He then wrote, ‘The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.’
Meanwhile, Caesar Rodney rested and, on Thursday, July 4, 1776, he wrote a letter to his younger brother Thomas indicating, ‘I arrived in Congress (tho detained by thunder and rain) time enough to give my voice in the matter of independence… We have now got through the whole of the declaration and ordered it to be printed so that you will soon have the pleasure of seeing it.’ He, like a good majority of the signers, would sign the finalized “Declaration of Independence” on August 4th – although others would sign all the way up until November.”
Please join me today (Tuesday, July 4th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. 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 or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Today’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “4th of July 2020”]
NOTE: The playlists are slightly different, but mostly with regard to the before/after class music. The biggest difference is that the videos below do not appear on Spotify.
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.)
ERRATA: The earlier version of this post did not include the videos.
Many blessings to all, and especially to those preparing for Guru Purnima!
This is the post for Sunday, July 2nd. My apologies for not posting before the 2:30 practice. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
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.)
“Like many anniversary celebrations, the plan for 1987 takes particular events and holds them up as the source of all the very best that has followed. Patriotic feelings will surely swell, prompting proud proclamations of the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice shared by the Framers and reflected in a written document now yellowed with age. This is unfortunate. Not the patriotism itself, but the tendency for the celebration to oversimplify, and overlook the many other events that have been instrumental to our achievements as a nation. The focus of this celebration invites a complacent belief that the vision of those who debated and compromised in Philadelphia yielded the ‘more perfect Union’ it is said we now enjoy.
I cannot accept this invitation, for I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever ‘fixed’ at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the Framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, we hold as fundamental today. When contemporary Americans cite ‘The Constitution,’ they invoke a concept that is vastly different from what the Framers barely began to construct two centuries ago.”
– quoted from the speech given by Supreme Court Justice (and former NAACP chief counsel) Thurgood Marshall at The Annual Seminar of the San Francisco Patent and Trademark Law Association, Maui, Hawaii May 6, 1987
The following excerpts are from 2020 posts:
“If you talk about freedom, liberty, and independence, and then reference a significant horse ride, most people in America will think about Paul Revere and his midnight ride (of April 18, 1775). If you ask someone from Delaware, however, they might also mention Caesar Rodney, whose ride is depicted on the back of the ‘Delaware quarter.’”
“Freedom. Liberty. Independence. We’ve already established [in Parts 1 & 2] that when Caesar Rodney cast his vote for independence, today in 1776, his vote did not extend freedom, liberty, or independence to all humans within his territory. But, that is not the end of today’s story. Exactly 132 years after Caesar Rodney’s famous ride to cast a vote for independence, a baby boy was born to a railroad porter named William and his wife Norma, a teacher. This son, a descendant of enslaved people on both sides, would spend his whole life working to extend those freedoms to all. Today in 1964, on his 56th birthday, he received a great ‘birthday present’ in the form of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let’s go back to Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908.”
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
“And so we must be careful, when focusing on the events which took place in Philadelphia two centuries ago, that we not overlook the momentous events which followed, and thereby lose our proper sense of perspective. Otherwise, the odds are that for many Americans the bicentennial celebration will be little more than a blind pilgrimage to the shrine of the original document now stored in a vault in the National Archives. If we seek, instead, a sensitive understanding of the Constitution’s inherent defects, and its promising evolution through 200 years of history, the celebration of the “Miracle at Philadelphia” Bowen, Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention May to September 1787 (Boston 1966), will, in my view, be a far more meaningful and humbling experience. We will see that the true miracle was not the birth of the Constitution, but its life, a life nurtured through two turbulent centuries of our own making, and a life embodying much good fortune that was not.
Thus, in this bicentennial year, we may not all participate in the festivities with flag-waving fervor. Some may more quietly commemorate the suffering, struggle, and sacrifice that has triumphed over much of what was wrong with the original document, and observe the anniversary with hopes not realized and promises not fulfilled. I plan to celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution as a living document, including the Bill of Rights and the other amendments protecting individual freedoms and human rights.”
– quoted from the conclusion to the speech given by Supreme Court Justice (and former NAACP chief counsel) Thurgood Marshall at The Annual Seminar of the San Francisco Patent and Trademark Law Association, Maui, Hawaii May 6, 1987
This is an extra post for July 1st, specifically related to the 2022 practice.
“The vast range of experiences life offers falls into two main categories: desirable and undesirable. The nine obstacles described in the previous sutra rob the body of vitality, strength, stamina, and agility, and the mind of clarity and peace. The absence of these obstacles is the ground for joy.”
– quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 1.31 from The Secret of the Yoga Sutra: Samadhi Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
In Eastern philosophies, like Yoga and Buddhism, freedom, independence, and liberty are directly related to suffering and bondage. That is to say, there is a focus on how we free ourselves of dysfunctional/afflicted thought patterns – like avidyā (“ignorance” or “nescience”) – and what happens when we are free of those root causes of suffering. Therefore, I am always talking about freedom – even when I never mention the word. This is especially true in June and July, when there is a certain amount of hyperawareness with regard to freedom, independence, and liberty.
Still, it is super surreal to have so many people focused on celebrating freedom, independence, and liberty while so many people are simultaneously focused on taking away freedom, independence, and liberty. What makes it even more surreal is that there are also people fighting to preserve (and even extend) the freedom, independence, and liberty that was declared back in 1776.
July 1776.
Normally, July 1st is a day when my focus is on the work/effort to declare independence, secure freedom, and preserve liberty. I think about how Caesar Rodney, a Delaware delegate of the American Continental Congress and Brigadier General of Delaware Militia (just to name a few of his roles), rode two days – across muddy roads, rickety bridges, slippery cobblestones, and swollen streams; enduring extreme heat, dust, and thunderstorms; all while suffering from asthma and wearing a face mask to cover his cancer-ravage jaw – just to represent his constituents and to “vote for independence” on July 2, 1776. And, I know, he wasn’t specifically riding for me (or people like me), but that’s not the point. The point is that he did what he did for liberty, for freedom, for independence.
Sometimes, I fast forward and mention the efforts of Sengbe Pieh (also known as Joseph Cinqué) and the other enslaved Mende, West Africans who revolted on the slave ship La Amistad sometime around July 1, 1839. I might also mention how John Quincy Adams – then a 73-year old former president and, at the time, an active member of the House of Representatives – helped them secure their freedom through the U. S. Courts system. I might even mention the work of the United States Supreme Court which, on March 9, 1841, announced that, in the case of United States v. Schooner Amistad, 40 U.S. (15 Pet.) 518 (1841), the majority of the justices (7 of 9) decided that the Africans were indeed free individuals who had been kidnapped; that they had the right to assert their freedom; and that (as Justice Joseph Story wrote in the majority opinion) “the United States are bound to respect their rights.”
“Brothers, we have done that which we purposed, our hands are now clean for we have Striven to regain the precious heritage we received from our fathers.”
– Sengbe Pieh (also known as Joseph Cinqué or Joseph Cinquez) as quoted on the lithograph by Isaac Sheffield, commissioned by The New York Sun (published on August 31, 1839, erroneously credited to “James Sheffield”)
Yes, normally, I focus on the effort and wait until the third or the fourth to focus on resting.
However, in the last few years, I have seen more and more freedom fighters burning out. I have seen more and more people doubting their own efforts and succumbing to the stress of what feels like a never-ending battle. Maybe, like me, these people grew up with the old sayings about how there’s “no rest for the weary” and that we’ll sleep when we’re dead. Maybe they don’t believe the can afford the rest when there is so much to do. But….
“On a ride of more than 80 miles in sultry weather, rest is necessary for both man and beast. Where Rodney stopped on his tiresome journey for food and a breathing spell for his noble steed is not known. Doubtless it was at some of the country dwellings along the route. He was no egotist and never told much about the story himself. It was simply a day’s work with him, and not a matter of which to boast.
A deadly cancer in his face, which had been growing for several years, must have burned and pained him, but the fire of patriotism also burned in his heart and physical discomfiture did not deter him from carrying on. Nightfall found him still many miles from Philadelphia, and his weary mount must have rest.”
– quoted from the Sunday, June 28, 1931, The Washington Post article, “Little Sung Heroes of Independence: Caesar Rodney, Death in the Saddle With Him, Rode From His Home in New Castle, by the Sweet Waters of the Delaware, to Philadelphia and Made the Fourth of July Possible.”* by Frank B. Lord
While there is something to the idea of mind over matter, there is a point where the mind-body says, “Nope, we’re done.” In that moment, we may appear to keep going, but we may not be very effective. In that moment, we must remember that we need to rest and digest in order to create – and, make no mistake, the act of fighting to preserve freedom is a creative act.
So, I offer you this invitation. Take a moment to release, relax, and rest. Take a moment to put down your burdens and allow yourself to be supported. Take a moment to restore yourself to your own true nature. In doing so, you strengthen your connection to your power and to your purpose.
Last year (2022), July 1st was a Friday. More specifically, it was a First Friday and, therefore, we had the opportunity to focus on rest with a 65-minute restorative yoga practice. I invite you to request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
The playlist for this practice is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
NOTE: For the restorative practice, you can start with Track #1 or, for a less dynamic option, start with Track #9, #10, or #11.
*NOTE: The Washington Post (1931) article is a dramatic re-telling, rather than a news article.
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.)
– “The Seer is the pure power of seeing, yet its understanding is through the mind/intellect.”
“The soul itself is the centre where all the different perceptions converge and become unified. That soul is free, and it is its freedom that tells you every moment that you are free. But you mistake, and mingle that freedom every moment with intelligence and mind. You try to attribute that freedom to the intelligence, and immediately find that intelligence is not free; you attribute that freedom to the body, and immediately nature tells you that you are again mistaken. That is why there is this mingled sense of freedom and bondage at the same time. The Yogi analyses both what is free and what is bound, and his ignorance vanishes. He finds that the Purusha is free, is the essence of that knowledge which, coming through the Buddhi, becomes intelligence, and, as such, is bound.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.20 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
Freedom. Liberty. Independence. These ideals form the basis of every Eastern philosophy and, one can argue, they are cornerstones of human existence. They are definitely supposed to be the cornerstones of the United States of America – after all, the country was founded on these principles. So, it’s not surprising that when my yoga practice overlaps with my American experience there’s some extra energy. You may even call that energy excitement, as I definitely get jazzed by the idea of all people everywhere experiencing absolute freedom, liberty, and independence.
There’s one little hitch – and it’s something, I admit with some chagrin, that I don’t often mention explicitly when I have taught previous classes on freedom, liberty, and independence: When my yoga practice overlaps with my American experience it also overlaps with my experience as a Black American. In other words, I celebrate freedom, liberty, and independence fully aware that everyone in my country of birth wasn’t originally intended to be free. I celebrate freedom, liberty, and independence knowing full well that the Committee of Five, which drew up the Declaration of Independence, decided it was more important to present a “united front” than it was to condemn slavery. I celebrate freedom, liberty, and independence with a very definite understanding that the majority of the forefathers who signed the declaration never considered fighting for the freedom, liberty, and independence of people who look like me. So, all of that energy is churning up inside of me – along with the awareness that some people in my country of birth take their freedom for granted, while others are still fighting to experience that which they are (now) legally entitled to experience.
“Who is free? The free must certainly be beyond cause and effect. If you say that the idea of freedom is a delusion, I shall say that the idea of bondage is also a delusion. Two facts come into our consciousness, and stand or fall with each other. These are our notions of bondage and freedom. If we want to go through a wall, and our head bumps against that wall, we see we are limited by that wall. At the same time we find a willpower, and think we can direct our will everywhere. At every step these contradictory ideas come to us. We have to believe that we are free, yet at every moment we find we are not free. If one idea is a delusion, the other is also a delusion, and if one is true, the other also is true, because both stand upon the same basis — consciousness. The Yogi says, both are true; that we are bound so far as intelligence goes, that we are free so far as the soul is concerned.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.20 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
In any given year, for the last decade or so, I have taught at least 9 classes specifically related to freedom, liberty, and independence as it relates to the United States (plus classes related to the Civil Rights and Suffragists Movements, as well as classes related to freedom in a religious or philosophical context) and most people have never given a second thought to what’s going through my mind (or heart) as I do it. More importantly, most people never give a second thought to why I do it (let alone that I love doing it) given all that’s in my heart (and on my mind).
So, of course, now you’re wondering why….
I do it, and I usually love doing it, because I think history is important. I think it is important to understand, as much as we are able, how we got where we are as a country and as a community of people. (This is the same reason I teach so much about various religions.) With respect to the United States, I think it is particularly important to understand our history, because this country has never lived up to its ideals. While that can be seen as hypocrisy – and on a certain level it was and is – we still hold the ideals up as a standard. More importantly, we still have the possibility of dwelling within those ideals. But, we can only “dwell in possibility” if we understand that we are not currently “living the dream.”
“And the Yogi shows how, by junction with nature, and identifying itself with the mind and the world, the Purusha thinks itself miserable. Then the Yogi goes on to show you that the way out is through experience. You have to get all this experience, but finish it quickly. We have placed ourselves in this net, and will have to get out. We have got ourselves caught in the trap, and we will have to work out our freedom…. [Experience] leads, step by step, to that state where all things become small, and the Purusha so great that the whole universe seems as a drop in the ocean and falls off by its own nothingness. We have to go through different experiences, but let us never forget the ideal.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.18 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
I say all of this, online, knowing that there are people who can easily take my words out of context. More importantly, I say this knowing that we are living during a time when certain people relish taking such statements out of context. And, even though I doubt very many of the latter will see this, I still want to address people who might say, “See, see, here’s a black person who understands the importance of history.” To those people I say, “Yes, that is correct; I understand the importance of history.” To those same people I also say, “I understand the importance of history AND I also understand the importance of myth. So, when I teach, I make sure to distinguish one from the other. Give a statue of Robert E. Lee horns and wings and I will gladly teach the importance/significance of that.” {NOTE: I am not suggesting here that General Lee was a devil – although certain Union soldiers might disagree –rather, I am pointing to the fact that statues of him play the same role in society as artwork and literary references depicting a certain fallen angel.)
“Now comes the practical knowledge. What we have just been speaking about is much higher. It is away above our heads, but it is the ideal. It is first necessary to obtain physical and mental control. Then the realization will become steady in that ideal. The ideal being known, what remains is to practice the method of reaching it.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.28 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
Even though he wasn’t riding specifically for me and most of my ancestors, Caesar Rodney, the distinguished gentleman from Delaware, spent two days on a horse in order to vote for freedom. He did it while experiencing great pain and dis-ease. He did it because he knew that his vote counted. And, the fact that he did it means there’s a possibility – somewhere down the line – that people who look like me will one day experience true freedom, liberty, and independence in “the land of the free.”
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 1st) 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 “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
Stay tuned for more on Caesar Rodney and why John Adams thought future generations would be celebrating July 2nd!
“You are the witness of all things, and are always totally free. The cause of your bondage (suffering) is that you see the witness as something other than this.”
– Aşțāvakra Gītā 1.7 (“The Song of the Man with 8 Bends-In-His-Limbs”)
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.)
A Joyful Practice 