Reverent, Earnest, Love (mostly the music and blessings) February 14, 2024
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music.trackback
“Happy Spring Festival!” Many blessings to everyone observing Ash Wednesday. “Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Gupta (Magha) Navaratri!” Peace and ease to all on Valentine’s Day and throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“Here are some of the forms in which love manifests itself. First there is reverence. Why do people show reverence to temples and holy places? Because He is worshipped there, and His presence is associated with all such places. Why do people in every country pay reverence to teachers of religion? It is natural for the human heart to do so, because all such teachers preach the Lord. At bottom, reverence is a growth out of love; we can none of us revere him whom we do not love.”
“Such is the power of love. When a man has forgotten himself altogether, and does not feel that anything belongs to him, then he acquires the state of Tadiyata; everything is sacred to him, because it belongs to the Beloved. Even in regard to earthly love, the lover thinks that everything belonging to his beloved is sacred and so dear to him. He loves even a piece of cloth belonging to the darling of his heart In the same way, when a person loves the Lord, the whole universe becomes dear to him, because it is all His.”
— quoted from “CHAPTER IV. THE FORMS OF LOVE — MANIFESTATION” in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda — Volume 3: Para-Bhakti or Supreme Devotion by Swami Vivekananda
Please join me today (Wednesday, February 14th) at 4:30 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 myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “One More for Ash Wednesday & Day 5 2024”]
“The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him — that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”
— quoted from the lecture “Practical Vedanta (Part II),” delivered in London (Nov. 12, 1896), as published in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda — Volume 2: Practical Vedanta and other lectures by Swami Vivekananda
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 
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