A Joyful Practice

Rules For Me & Thee PLUS EXCERPT: “[Love] Letter to the World” (the post-practice Monday post) May 11, 2026

Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone Counting the Omer and/or observing/celebrating the Fifth Week of Pascha.

This is the post-practice post for Monday, May 11^th.  The 2026 prompt question was, “What is your favorite rule?” You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra           (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

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

“Art is memory. It is the excavation of so many memories we have had–of our mothers, our best and worst moments, of glorious experiences we have had with friends or films or music or dance or a lovely afternoon on a sloping, green hill. All of this enters us and, if we are artists, must be shared, handed over to others. This is why it is so important to know what came before you. It is also important to understand that things will follow you, and they may come along and make your work look pedestrian and silly. This is fine; this is progress. We have to work with what life presents to us, and we have to work as well as we can while we can.”

— Martha Graham, quoted from a 1990 telephone interview with James Grissom

Since yesterday was Mother’s Day, I can’t help but think of rules my parents taught me. We all have rules. There are rules we were taught as children and rules that we’ve learned along the way. These are rules that simultaneously serve as life’s guide rails (that direct us) and guardrails (that prevent major disaster). Perhaps the most common such rule is The Golden Rule, which we can find in the sacred texts and scriptures of every religion and philosophy.

According to the Gospel According to Matthew (7:12, NIV), Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” This is essentially paraphrasing Leviticus 19:18 and Hillel the Elder, who explained, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.” Additionally, in the Islām, there are several examples of the Golden Rule, including when Ali ibn Abi Talib wrote, “…you should desire for others what you desire for yourself and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others as you would like good to be done to you. Regard bad for yourself whatever you regard bad for others…. Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you.”

As I stated before, the Golden Rule is not only found in the Abrahamic religions and, in fact, there are examples of it that predate the Torah (also known as the Christian Old Testament). For example, in the Mahābhārata, Vyasa wrote, “Do not to others what you do not wish done to yourself; and wish for others too what you desire and long for for yourself — this is the whole of Dharma; heed it well”. Of course, no matter how (or where) it is communicated, the fundamental message is about love, compassion, and charity. Compassion/love and charity are also the focus of the oldest (surviving) book with a printed date: a copy of a Chinese copy of The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, a sacred Buddhist text commonly known as The Diamond Sutra, which was translated from Sanskrit and printed today (May 11^th) in 868 A. D.

“Furthermore, Subhūti, in the practice of compassion and charity a disciple should be detached. That is to say, he should practice compassion and charity without regard to appearances, without regard to form, without regard to sound, smell, taste, touch, or any quality of any kind. Subhuti, this is how the disciple should practice compassion and charity. Why? Because practicing compassion and charity without attachment is the way to reaching the Highest Perfect Wisdom, it is the way to becoming a living Buddha.”

— The Diamond Sutra (4)

Click on the excerpt title below for more about The Diamond Sutra and Martha Graham (born today in 1894).

FTWMI: [Love] Letter to the World

“When I was young I studied with Martha Graham; not to learn to dance, but to learn to move on the stage. If Martha Graham could have had her way, she would have taught us all how to move – through life. That has been and will be her goal: proper movement through life, the relationship of the body to the mind and the body to the spirit. Martha Graham is a compulsive student of the human heart.”

— actor Gregory Peck on Martha Graham (in a documentary)

There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices. 

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

### “Keep the channel open.” ~ MG (& Keep the heart open!) ###