A Few Notes About Holy Events & Reaching a Higher Plane (the “missing” Sunday post for 4/13) April 13, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Karma Yoga, Kumbh Mela, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Loss, Love, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Passover, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Baisakhi, Bihu, Bill Conti, bodhisattva, Counting the Omer, Dharma Singh Khalsa M. D., Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa, Four Questions, Great Week, Holy Week, KISS MY ASANA, Lent / Great Lent, Ma Nishtana, Palm Sunday, Pana Sankranti, Passion, Passion Week, Passover, Pi Mai, Pohela Boishakh, Puthandu, Sikhism, Songkran, Suffering, Theravada Buddhism, Vaisakhi, Vishu
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“Chag Sameach!” to everyone celebrating Passover and/or Counting the Omer! “Happy Songkran!” / “Happy New Year!” and/or “Happy Vaisakhi!” to all who are celebrating! Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating and/or observing Lent & Great Lent during Great / Passion / Holy Week!
This is a “missing” (and back-dated) compilation post for Sunday, April 13th, which was Palm Sunday in the Orthodox & Western Christian traditions, as well as the beginning of Passover / Pesach. My apologies for not posting earlier. This post contains new and “renewed” content, plus some excerpts. NOTE: The excerpts often include references to other holidays/events. 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.
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.
“All you have to do is open up a little bit and then you’ll be experiencing a part of that person’s soul. It’s just there – in the presence of a beautiful painting, a creation, something created by someone else. This is insight into not who they are physically, but who they are on this other plane. So, what makes it magical, always, is to hear music performed live.”
— Bill Conti
People practice yoga for a lot of different reasons; but those reasons usually come down to opening up in some way. The opening up can happen on a lot of different levels: physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and even spiritual and/or religious levels. In addition to opening up, we start coming together — sometimes in surprising ways — and we start noticing the things we have in common. So, more opening up. Part of this opening up is about learning about ourselves and part of it is about learning about the world (and the other people in the world). Finally, there is an element of the practice that is about the Divine and about opening up to a higher plane.
Bill Conti, who was born April 13, 1942, has said similar things about music. Sometimes I have a playlist completely dedicated to the Italian-American composer and conductor known for soaring scores that inspire (underscore) the indomitable human spirit. However, this year, his music highlights the fact that there is just….
SO MUCH THAT IS HOLY
Every year, I say that May 1st is one of the hardest working days of the year, because so many people use that day to celebrate so many things. That being said, this year, April 13th may be one of the most revered days of the year as it coincided with several religious or philosophical observations: Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Christian and Western Christian traditions, the beginning of Passover (which started at sunset on Saturday, April 12th) in the Jewish tradition, Songkran or Pi Mai in the Thai or Laos communities, and Vaisakhi in the Sikh communities and some Hindu traditions. Even though some of these observations are connected and share history, they don’t always stack up like this since different traditions and cultures base their holy days on different calendars. However, the super pink moon always shines over the world in a way that is uniquely auspicious.
I am always up for a good auspicious story, one that is simultaneously inspiring and enlightening. The question is: How do we honor so much in the short amount of time that is a 65-minute class? That’s an especially tricky challenge when some of these are not even remotely connected on paper. The answer, of course, is to find the common denominator.
When considering different people’s experiences with the divine — or even what is best in mankind — we start with what is universal to the human experience: doubt and fear, passion/suffering, faith, and change. Everything changes and, in moments of great suffering — in moments when we doubt and fear ourselves and those around us — it is important to have faith in the fact that things will change. That faith can, sometimes, bring hope — and the power of hope is another common denominator.
That combination of faith and hope can not only bring people together, it can also help us reach a higher plane.
“When the audience and the performers become one, it is almost nearly divine, where this oneness can actually meet in some, not physical place, but in some spiritual place, in the middle, not the performers performing, not the audience receiving, but all of a sudden that contact is made and it becomes wonderful.”
— Bill Conti
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT BILL CONTI.
Reaching for a Higher Plane
MEET MS. BANNING: 2019 Kiss My Asana Offering #13
SO MUCH SUFFERING… & SO MUCH HOPE
“What makes this night different from all [other] nights?
1) On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice?
2) On all nights we eat chametz or matzah, and on this night only matzah?
3) On all nights we eat any kind of vegetables, and on this night maror?
4) On all nights we eat sitting upright or reclining, and on this night we all recline?”
— The Four Questions (“Ma Nishtana”)
While “How is this practice different from all the other practices?” a question you can ask before any practice, I ask it this time of year because it sounds a lot like “The Four Questions” traditionally asked by the youngest person at a Passover Seder.
Click on the excerpt title below for the more about the questions, the seder, the story of Passover, and a little about the 49-day observation of Counting the Omer.
Suffering & Hope (the “missing” Tuesday compilation)
PASSION = SUFFERING
Passion (noun): 1. [mass noun] strong and barely controllable emotion; 1.2 intense sexual love; 1.3 [in singular] an intense desire or enthusiasm for something; 2. (the Passion) The suffering and death of Jesus.
Origin: Middle English: from Old French; from late Latin passio(n-), from Latin pati- “suffer”
— quoted from Oxford Dictionaries
As noted (in the Saturday post, as well as the posts excerpted above and below), Jesus was a Jewish teacher or rabbi, who returned home to Jerusalem for Passover. The Gospel According to Saint John (12:1) is the only New Testament gospel that specifically refers to Passover as a reference point for the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life. However, all four of the canonical gospels mention preparation for the festival, feast, or first day (depending on the translation) of “Unleavened Bread” and describe a jubilant and memorable moment where Jesus rode into town on a donkey (a symbol of peace) and was greeted by people who honored him by laying down palm fronds (and possibly coats) to cover his path.
In Christian communities, Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent / Great Lent and marks Christians’ final preparation for Easter. Since people in different religious traditions use different calendars, Great Lent (in the Orthodox traditions) and Lent (in the Western traditions) do not overlap with each other. Neither do they always directly overlap with modern observations of Passover as they do this year. However, divine love, suffering, and hope/desire for the end of suffering connect all of these observations.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT PALM SUNDAY TRADITIONS.
PASSION & PEACE: 2019 Kiss My Asana Offering #14
NEW HOPES (& OLD SUFFERING)
Passover and Lent / Great Lent have ties to harvest festivals and new beginnings. However, even as people remember those ancient harvest festivals, there are people are currently celebrating their own harvest festivals and new beginnings. For instance, Songkran / Songkran Festival (the traditional Thai New Year) and Pi Mai (the Lao New Year) are (usually) three-day festivals that started on Sunday, April 13th this year. While Thailand has officially celebrated a secular new year (according to the Gregorian calendar) since 1940, Songkran is a national holiday. Pi Mai is also a government holiday.
Like all new year (and new season) celebrations, Songkran is a liminal time marking the transition between “what is no longer and what is not yet.” In fact, the name is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “to move”, “movement”, or “astrological passage”, and marks the transition of the sun from one zodiac phase to another. Technically, this movement happens repeatedly throughout a year and marks the change from one month to the next on the solar calendar. However, the transition between Pieces and Aries is considered the Maha Songkran (“Great Movement”), which marks the new year. In Laos, the second day is considered “the day of no year” and the new year actually begins on the third day of the celebration.
These celebrations coincide or overlap with other new year’s celebrations in Southeast and South Asia, including Puthandu (the Tamil New Year, April 14, 2025); the Hindu festival Vishu (April 14, 2025); Bihu in the Indian state of Assam (April 14, 2025); Pohela Boishakh (the Bengali New Year, celebrated on April 14th in Bangladesh and April 15th in various parts of India); Pana Sankranti for the Odia people in India; and a plethora of other celebrations in China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Many of these celebrations are also tied to the Theravada Buddhist calendar.
Songkran also coincides with Vaisakhi (or Baisakhi), which is a spring harvest festival in Punjab and Northern India. Vaisakhi is also a solar new year and is a particularly auspicious time for the Sikh community. In addition to commemorating the creation of the Khalsa order (the Sikh community) by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism (on April 13, 1699), it also commemorates the beginning of the unified Sikh political state when Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Sikh Empire (on April 12, 1801). That declaration was intentionally set to coincide around Vaisakhi as people recognized the power of coming together on such an auspicious occasion.
The significance of this date is also one of the reasons people gathered together during a Vaisakhi celebration in Amritsar, on April 13, 1919, to protest the British government’s Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919 (also known as the Rowlatt Act) and the arrest of two members of the satyagraha movement, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal (Dr. Satya Pal). Tragically, British Indian Army officer Reginald Dyer ordered British soldiers block the entrance of the Jallianwala Bagh (a historic garden with only one entrance/exit) and fire into the nonviolent crowd. Hundreds, possible thousands (depending on the estimates), were killed and over 1,200 others were injured in what is remembered as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre or the Amritsar massacre.
“I wash myself
In sacred waters
In order to please You.
But if it doesn’t please You,
What is bathing for?
I see,
The vastness of Your wondrous creation.
But without taking action,
How can I merge with Thee?”
— quoted from Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul by Guru Nanak (Translated by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa)
While the rituals, traditions, and related stories may be different, there are several common elements in Songkran, Pi Mai, and Vaisakhi celebrations. For instance, water is a prominent feature in these celebrations, which include ritual cleansing and bathing — sometimes in the form of a water fight or, for Hindu communities celebrating Vaisakhi, ritual bathing in one of the sacred rivers. Vaisakhi celebrations can also include gurudwara (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ) — an assembly place where everyone is welcomed into “the door of the guru” — as well as processions, kirtans, flag raisings, and alms giving. Sand mounds (sometimes decorated with flowers); processions; and various forms of alms giving are also part of Songkran and Pi Mai celebrations. In Luang Prabang, the capital of Luang Prabang Province in north-central Laos, there is a Miss Pi Mai Lao (Miss Lao New Year) beauty pageant. In both Thailand and Laos, the water may be perfumed. People celebrating in Laos may also spray each other with shaving or whipping cream.
One of the stories related to Songkran is the story of someone born with a deep well of compassion and the desire to see the end of suffering. A bodhisattva (bodistva) is someone on the path to Buddhahood either because of their birth, their practice, or from a spontaneous impulse (that is then joined with practice). In this case, the compassionate person is part of a poor family in a very (materially) rich community. While the community is financially prosperous, it is lacking in many areas. There was a lot of corruption, greed, and sin. People lacked compassion for those who were less fortunate and there was a lack of respect (for elders and for spiritual/religious traditions), as well as improper use of food and medicine. Faith in the dhamma (Buddhist “teaching” or “law”) had been replaced with faith in the dhamma as a business — not unlike the situation described on Passion / Holy / Great Monday.
According to one version of the story, Indra (the ruler of Heaven) looked down at the world out of balance and basically declared that people couldn’t have nice things if they didn’t have compassion and faith. Therefore, there was no longer rain in the proper time, food became scarce, the sun became too hot, and garbage built up in the streets — which, of course, brought disease… and more suffering.
The bodhisattva encouraged people to pray to Mother Earth, in the form of the Golden Tara, who told them they had to follow the dhamma. She also gave them a divine piece of fertile land, divine seeds, a song for rain, and a pots of divine powder in various colors. The people made a paste from the powder, to cool their skin, and then got to work sowing the seeds and singing the songs. Once they had an adequate harvest, they washed the paste off, and washed the feet of their elders. They also served their elders, cared for the less fortunate, and committed to practicing the dhamma.
“Within my own
Awareness
Are jewels, gems,
And rubies,
From listening to the teachings
Of the Divine Teacher
Even once.
All souls come
From the Hand of One Giver.
May I never, ever,
Forget Him.”
— quoted from Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul by Guru Nanak (Translated by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa)
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
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 a new 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).
Click here for the first 2025 Kiss My Asana post!
NOTE: Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa’s translation of Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul can be found in The End of Kharma: 40 Days to Perfect Peace, Tranquility, and Joy by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M. D.
### ELEVATE & PRAY FOR PEACE ###
Looking Around At All the Believers (the “missing” Saturday post) April 12, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, California, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Passover, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Ellen Lesser, faith, Gary Soto, Great Week, Holy Week, James Kubicki, kriya yoga, Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus Saturday, Lent / Great Lent, Maty Ezraty, Passion Week, Passover, Pesach, Rabbi Mordechai Becher, Shiva, shiv’ah, Stuart Chase, The Gospel According to John, Yoga Sutra 2.20, שִׁבְעָה, שבעה
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“Chag Sameach!” to everyone celebrating Passover! Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to celebrating and/or observing Lent & Great Lent on Lazarus Saturday!
This is “missing” post for Saturday, April 12th, which was Lazarus Saturday in the Orthodox & Western Christian traditions, as well as erev Pesach (the eve before Passover). This post contains new and “renewed” content. NOTE: There are passing references to death and dying. 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.
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.
“As far as I can tell, daughter, it works like this:
You buy bread from a grocery, a bag of apples
From a fruit stand, and what coins
Are passed on helps others buy pencils, glue,
Tickets to a movie in which laughter
Is thrown into their faces.
If we buy a goldfish, someone tries on a hat.
If we buy crayons, someone walks home with a broom.
A tip, a small purchase here and there,
And things just keep going. I guess.”
— quoted from the poem “How Things Work” by Gary Soto
Born today April 12, 1952, in Fresno, California, Gary Soto is a poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, memoirist, and film director/producer, who also writes literature for children and young adults. He was the first Mexican-American to earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA, 1976), at the University of California, Irvine, and taught at both the University of California, Berkeley, and at the University of California, Riverside. In addition to being a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, he won Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award for his memoir Living Up the Street (1985); the 2014 Phoenix Award for his children’s book Jesse (1994); and a Nation/Discovery Award and the Levinson Award from Poetry. Eight of his books have been translated into French, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
Mr. Soto is a two time recipient of both the California Library Association’s John and Patricia Award and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional accolades have come from his work on movies like The No-Guitar Blues, based on the story of the same name in his collection Baseball in April and other stories (1990) and the movie based on his book The Pool Party (1993, illustrated by Robert Casilla). He wrote the libretto to the Los Angeles Opera’s Nerdlandia and has also collaborated with the illustrator Susan Guevara on the bilingual Chato series (about “the coolest low-riding cat in East L.A… and his best friend, Novio Boy”).
Gary Soto’s work mirrors the Mexican-American communities of his youth (and his adulthood) as well as his early fascination with English (Western canon) literature, which did not reflect his lived experience. His parents were immigrants and day labors. When his father died, when Mr. Soto was five years old, the future award-winning author worked in the fields in San Joaquin and had little time for school. Later, he worked in factories of Fresno to help support his family. By high school, however, he had discovered his love of fiction and poetry and wanted to create literary worlds that felt like home. He mixed dirt with philosophy; English with Spanish; reality with fantasy. His fiction and poetry have the feel and texture of real life being lived in the moment or, they are, as he puts it, “portraits of people in the rush of life.”
Like so many others, I love what Ellen Lesser, in Voice Literary Supplement, called, “the immediate, human presence that breathes through the lines [by Gary Soto].” Another thing I love about Gary Soto’s portraits is that they illustrate how we are all connected, how our stories are all interconnected, and how it all comes back to what we believe.
“How strange that we can begin at any time.
With two feet we get down the street.
With a hand we undo the rose.
With an eye we lift up the peach tree
And hold it up to the wind – white blossoms
At our feet. Like today. I started”
— quoted from the poem “Looking Around, Believing” by Gary Soto
As someone who loves stories and loves yoga, I often quote Maty Ezraty who said, “A good sequence is like a good story. There is a beginning (an introduction), the middle (the heart of the story), and the end (the conclusion).” However, as I have pointed out before, life is a little different in that we meet each other in the middle of our stories and simultaneously progress forward and back (as we learn about each other’s back stories). We are also, simultaneously, living the middle, beginning, and end of some part of our stories — while also telling the beginning, middle, and end of some part of our stories — every time we inhale and every time we exhale. As Gary Soto put it, “We’re here in the day. One step, / A simple hello, and we’re involved.”
When we are sharing our stories with each other, we pick where we begin. Where we begin, when we tell a story, is based on what we know/understand about the story and may change the way the story is understood (by ourselves and others).
Elements of the following have previously been posted.
“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who do not believe, no proof is possible.”
— quote attributed to Stuart Chase, economist, social theorist, author
Like life, the various religious rituals and traditions currently being observed around the world are stories of cause and effect. In fact, the order and arrangement of things like Great Lent, Lent, and the Passover Seder intentionally heighten our awareness of cause and effect. Our physical practice of yoga, regardless of the style or tradition, can do the same thing. In fact, just like with the associated religious stories, where we start matters, because where start determines how things unfold and how the story is told. How the story is told reinforces the message and plays a part in what we remember — and in what we believe.
I generally associate the aforementioned Stuart Chase quote with the idea expressed in Yoga Sūtra 2.20, which indicates that we “[understand] only what the mind-intellect shows us.” All of which makes me wonder: What happens when we start in a different place?
For instance, what happens when three different people/communities, get together and tell the same story from their different points of view? In some ways, that is happening right now as today (Saturday, April 12th) is Lazarus Saturday in Orthodox Christian traditions (and, technically, in Western Christian traditions) as well as the day before Passover in Jewish traditions. It simultaneously marks a beginning, middle, and end of these observations with overlapping stories. While they don’t always coincide the way they would have historically, this year’s observations of Great/Passion Week in the Orthodox Christian traditions, Holy/Passion Week in the Western Christian traditions, and Passover in the Jewish traditions all overlap this upcoming week — and today is the “eve/erev” or moment of anticipation for all that is to come.
“As spring is nature’s season of hope, so Easter is the Church’s season of hope. Hope is an active virtue. It’s more than wishful thinking….. My hope in the Resurrection is not an idle hope like wishing for good weather but an active hope. It requires something on my part – work. Salvation is a gift from God for which I hope, but Saint Paul told the Philippians to ‘work out your salvation with fear and trembling’ (2:12). My hope in the resurrection and eternal life in heaven requires work on my part.”
— quoted from A Year of Daily Offerings by Rev. James Kubicki
Passover (in the Jewish traditions) and the story of Jesus (in the Christian traditions) are stories of hope, suffering, and the end of suffering. These stories overlap, historically, because Jesus was a rabbi whose last week of life — according to the Gospels — was spent travelling home for Passover and preparing for the betrayal, crucifixion, temptation, death, and resurrection. These stories, like so many of the holy and auspicious stories told this time of year, feature periods of waiting.
For instance, in the Jewish tradition, a notably period of waiting occurs after someone dies and their loved ones are “sitting shiva.” The Hebrew word shiva ( שִׁבְעָה ) comes from shiv’ah ( שבעה ), which means “seven”, and it is a seven-day period of mourning. The rituals, traditions, and prayers associated with shiva formalize the grieving process and also provide a container for people to express compassion. It can also be a way to express hope.
In the Gospel According to John (11:1 – 45), Jesus received the news that Lazarus was sick, but then waited (until Lazarus died) before traveling to Bethany. The text is very clear that Lazarus had been dead (or dead and buried) for four days. Historically speaking, and given that there are seven-day periods of mourning depicted in the Torah, Mary and Martha (and all of their friends) would have been “sitting shiva” when Jesus and the disciples arrived in Bethany. To be clear, they were waiting for Jesus and then they were waiting for the end of the mourning period.
While Lazarus Saturday is not always highlighted in Western Christian traditions the way it is in Orthodox Christian traditions, there are several parts of the story that are critical. First, Jesus waited (and knew when Lazarus died). Second, the description of how Lazarus was buried — in a cave with a stone in front — matches the descriptions of how Jesus was buried. Third, Jesus asks the sisters if they believe in him (and ask for verbal confirmation) — which was the whole reason he waited. Finally, it is notable that news of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead reached Jerusalem before Jesus arrived home for Passover.
Why did the news travel faster than Jesus? According to the Gospel, it is because he waited… in the desert — and that period of waiting in the desert is commemorated by people who observe Lent and Great Lent. However, those are not the only periods of waiting in the Christian liturgy. Remember, after his crucifixion and death, Jesus was buried, much like Lazarus — and his mother, Mary, and his followers waited. (But, that’s a story for another Saturday.)
Meanwhile, people who are preparing to observe Passover are commemorating the time(s) in Exodus when the Jewish people were waiting to be freed from slavery in Egypt.
Looking around, at all the believers — and their story/stories — notice how these periods of waiting are not only periods of hope and faith, they are also periods of time when people are expected to do something to actively express their faith (and their hope). Notice how they are actively participating in the elimination of their own suffering/sorrow.
“First and foremost, we believe creation of the world, G-d created a world in which he wanted the human being to actually be able to do something – that is to say, to exercise free will, to be like G-d, meaning to be a creator, not to be lab rats…. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. But to have a relationship with G-d requires that I have an exercise of my free will…. Free will means an environment in which not necessarily do I always have pleasure when I make the right decisions and not necessarily does someone always suffer when they make the wrong decision. Free will is having real power to create stuff. Free will is having real power to alleviate suffering.”
— Rabbi Mordechai Becher, in vlog explaining one of several reasons why suffering exists
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04112020 LSPW”]
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 a new 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).
### What Do You Believe? ###
Looking Around At All the Believers (mostly the music & blessings) April 12, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Passover, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, faith, Gary Soto, kriyā yoga, Lent / Great Lent, Passover
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Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to those getting ready for Passover and/or celebrating and/or observing Lent & Great Lent on Lazarus Saturday!
“How strange that we can begin at any time.
With two feet we get down the street.
With a hand we undo the rose.
With an eye we lift up the peach tree
And hold it up to the wind – white blossoms
At our feet. Like today. I started”
— quoted from the poem “Looking Around, Believing” by Gary Soto (born 04/12/1952)
Please join me today (Saturday, April 12th) at 12:00 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04112020 LSPW”]
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 a new 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).
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.)
### 
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Holy & Divine 2025 (a reboot) April 8, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Fitness, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Vairagya, Vipassana, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 8 Limbs of Yoga Philosophy, 988, Amacha, arrows, Barbara Kingsolver, Buddha, Buddha's Birthday, Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta, Diamond Sutra, Elephant Journal, Flower Festival, Four Noble Truths, Japan, Lent / Great Lent, Matt Caron, Metta, Noble Eightfold Path, parables, phyllodulcin, poisoned arrow, second arrow, Siddhartha, Siddhartha Gautama, Suffering, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Vesak, Wesak, Yoga Sutra 1.30-1.31, Yoga Sutra 1.32, Yoga Sutra 1.33-1.40, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutra 2.2-2.9, Yoga Sutra 2.3
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Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to those celebrating the Buddha’s birthday and the Flower Festival (in Japan) and/or observing Lent & Great Lent!
This “missing” post for Tuesday, April 8th features new and previously posted content, as well as some excerpts. Some embedded links will direct you to sites outside of this blog. My apologies for not posting before the Noon practice. 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.
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.
“A hundred different paths may lighten the world’s load of suffering. Giving up meat is one path; giving up bananas is another. The more we know about our food system, the more we are called into complex choices. It seems facile to declare one single forbidden fruit, when humans live under so many different kinds of trees.”
— quoted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Born April 8, 1955, in Annapolis, Maryland, Barbara Kingsolver is the award-winning author of novels, essays, and poetry, as well as one of the co-founders of the rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders. Her fiction and nonfiction reflect her experiences living in rural Kentucky, the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Indiana, Arizona, and Appalachia (where she currently resides). The author of novels like The Bean Trees (1988), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), The Lacuna (2009), and Demon Copperhead (2022) — and nonfiction like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007), about her family attempting to eat locally — has won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2023), a National Humanities Award (2000), the Women’s Prize for Fiction (in 2010 & 2023), and has had every one of her book’s listed on the New York Times Best Seller List since 1993.
While we can say that she writes about the the things that are important to her, including the opioid crisis in the United States, “social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments”, we can also just say that she really only writes about two things: suffering and the end of suffering.
Yoga Sūtra 1.5: vŗttayah pañcatayyah klişțāklişțāh
— “The tendencies that cause the mind to fluctuate (or rotate) are fivefold, and are either afflicting or non-afflicting.”
Yoga Sūtra 2.3: Avidyāmitārāgadveşābhiniveśāh kleśāh
— “Ignorance (or lack of knowledge), false sense of identity, attachment (rooted in pleasure), aversion (attachment rooted in pain), and fear of death or loss are the afflictions.”
If we look back over the previous nine days/nights and the stories associated with Navaratri, we see instances of suffering (in the form of “demons”) and the end of suffering (in the form of the goddesses being victorious in the battles and challenges). If we look back at the the civil rights movements I have mentioned over the last couple of months, we again see suffering (in the form of oppression) and the end of suffering (in the form of people being granted the civil rights). In fact, if we look back at the whole of humanity, we see this same theme play out again and again and again. We also see that every major religion and philosophy, as well as all medical sciences, have the same two ends of a common thread: people suffer and people want their suffering to end.
In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali outlined how the mind works and how to work the mind. The mind, he explained, has a tendency to wander, move around, and get caught up in those fluctuations. Those fluctuations are either afflicted or not afflicted — meaning some thoughts bring us pain/suffering and others alleviate or don’t cause pain/suffering. He also described nine obstacles, which lead to five conditions (or states of suffering) (YS 1.30-1.31); five dysfunctional/afflicted thought patterns that lead to suffering (YS 2.2-2.9); and specifically pointed to meditation as a way to overcome the suffering (YS 1.32 and YS 2.10-2.11).
Throughout the first two chapters of the text, he gave specific examples about how to overcome the afflicted thoughts; how to alleviate the suffering they cause; and how to overcome the obstacles and painful states of suffering. His recommendation: Various forms of meditation — various forms of sitting and breathing with awareness (āsana and prāṇāyāma).
One meditation technique Patanjali suggested is offering loving-kindness/friendliness to those who are happy, compassion to those who are sad, happiness to those who are virtuous, and indifference to those who are non-virtuous. (YS 1.33) It is similar to a metta meditation, which is actually a great way to start this practice. Another is simply focusing on the breath. (YS 1.34)
Knowing, however, that everyone can’t just drop into a deep seated meditation, Patanjali also offered physical techniques to prepare the mind-body for meditation. Although, Patanjali did not describe any specific āsanas or “seats” — just how to use them (and perfect them) — those physical techniques are our physical practice.
I personally find the yoga philosophy particularly practical, especially when practiced with the physical component. But then again, I tell my own stories and live in a different time and place than Patanjali and Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who would become the enlightened one.
“Prince Gautama, who had become Buddha, saw one of his followers meditating under a tree at the edge of the Ganges River. Upon inquiring why he was meditating, his follower stated he was attempting to become so enlightened he could cross the river unaided. Buddha gave him a few pennies and said: ‘Why don’t you seek passage with that boatman. It is much easier.’”
— a Buddhist “joke”, quoted from Matt Caron and from Elephant Journal
Historically speaking, Patanjali was in India compiling the Yoga Sūtras, which outline the 8-Limbed Yoga Philosophy as a way to alleviate current suffering and prevent future suffering, during the Buddha’s lifetime. “I have heard” that Siddhartha Gautama was aware of the Yoga Philosophy, and probably practiced it — but that doesn’t mean he was aware of the yoga sūtras (Sanskrit: “union threads”), simply that he was aware of the lifestyle and the codes of that lifestyle. Perhaps he even had a physical practice.
It is easy to believe that he found the practice helpful when, at 29 years old, he left the palace gates and saw suffering for the first time. In theory, this explains some of the parallels between yoga and Buddhism. It may also help explain why there are so many lists in Buddhism and why the Buddha taught in stories/parables. However, he did not share my sentiment that the yoga philosophy was practical (and accessible).
Remember, different time; different place.
“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)
Unfortunately, the caste system in 6th Century India (~563 BCE) prevented some people from practicing Yoga. So, the story goes that the prince sat under the Bodhi tree and was determined to wait there until he awakened to the nature of reality. In some suttas (Pali: “threads”), it says that the Buddha (“the Awakened One”) sat there for an additional seven days. Eventually, at the age of 35, he started teaching from this enlightened state. Some say that he only ever taught about two things: suffering and the end of suffering.
His teachings, which (again) run parallel to those of Patanjali, were codified in the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path. According to the former:
- Suffering exists
- Suffering is caused by attachment, clinging, craving
- There is an end to suffering
- The Noble Eight-fold Path is the way to end suffering
Following these paths includes some sitting… and waiting. What is promised at the end of the sitting and waiting is freedom from suffering. What we find in the middle is hope.
And, also, a celebration: the Buddha’s Birthday.
“By this name it shall be revered and studied and observed. What does this name mean? It means that when the Buddha named it, he did not have in mind any definite or arbitrary conception, and so named it. This Sutra is hard and sharp, like a diamond that will cut away all arbitrary conceptions and bring one to the other shore of Enlightenment.”
— The Diamond Sutra (13)
People celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday in different ways and at different times (depending on which calendar they are using). Some people celebrate the birth of Prince Siddhartha. Others celebrate the enlightenment or awakening of the Buddha. Some people celebrate both. While many of these celebrations occur in May (or even June, during a leap year) one of the birthday celebrations occurs in Japan on April 8th. While it is not a national holiday, it has been a major celebration for some Buddhist people (in Japan) since 1873.
Also known as Kanbutsu-e (Japanese: 灌仏会) or Hanamatsuri (Japanese: 花祭り) “the Flower Festival”, it is a day when some temples hold special ceremonies involving a Chinese tradition of bathing small Buddha statues with Amacha (甘茶) “sweet” “tea”, made from fermented hydrangea leaves, as if they were bathing a newborn baby. The tea is caffeine free, but the leaves contain phyllodulcin, which is “400–800 times sweeter than table sugar [and] 2 times sweeter than saccharin.”
People will also sit and breath — and perhaps contemplate and meditate on the teachings and parables of the Buddha.
“It’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ there is the living of the holy life. And it’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is the living of the holy life. When there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ and when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is still the birth, there is the aging, there is the death, there is the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, & distress whose destruction I make known right in the here & now.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
The following is excerpted directly from a 2020 post:
“‘I have heard’ two parables the Buddha used to differentiate between (physical) pain and (mental) suffering. Both parables also point to the ways in which we can alleviate our own suffering.
In one parable, a man is shot with a poisoned arrow. As the poison enters the man’s bloodstream, he is surrounded by people who can and want to help him, to save his life. The problem is that the man wants to know why he was shot. In fact, before the arrow is removed he wants to know why he was shot, by whom he was shot, and all the minutia about the archer and their life. While the information is being gathered, the poison is moving through the man’s body; the man is dying. In fact, the man will die before he has the answers to all his questions.
In another parable, a man is shot by an arrow (no poison this time) and then, in the very next breath, the man is shot by a second arrow. The Buddha explains that the first arrow is physical pain, and we can’t always escape or avoid that. The second arrow, however, is the mental suffering (or pain) that is caused when “the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught.” How we respond to moments of pain and suffering determines how much more pain and suffering we will endure.”
“And what is declared by me? ‘This is stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the origination of stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the cessation of stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress,’ is declared by me. And why are they declared by me? Because they are connected with the goal, are fundamental to the holy life. They lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, calming, direct knowledge, self-awakening, Unbinding. That’s why they are declared by me.
“So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undeclared by me as undeclared, and what is declared by me as declared.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
Click on the excerpt title below and scroll down to “So Much Suffering,” if you are interested in the ways the Buddha and Moses had parallel life experiences and journeys to freedom.
Remember Rachel’s Challenge, Especially When You’re Suffering (the “missing” Wednesday post)
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07142020 Compassion & Peace for Pema”]
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 a new 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).
### LOKAH SAMASTHAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU ###
First Friday Night Special #54 — Invitation & Excerpts RE: “Unlocking/Celebrating Many Talents” April 4, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, 9-Day Challenge, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Confessions, Dharma, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Maya Angelou, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Bhagavad Gita, celebration, Chaitra Navaratri, Claudia Tate, Joanne M. Braxton, Katyayani, Lent / Great Lent, Martin Luther King Jr, Maya Angelou, MLK, Navaratri, Restorative Yoga, Season for Nonviolence, Yin Yoga, Yoga Sutra 1.36
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Many blessings to all! “Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” Many blessings to those observing Lent & Great Lent!
Peace, ease, and celebration to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
Some elements of the following have previously been posted.
“My life has been long, and believing that life loves the liver of it, I have dared to try many things, sometimes trembling, but daring, still. I have only included here events and lessons which I have found useful. I have not told how I have used the solutions, knowing that you are intelligent and creative and resourceful and you will use them as you see fit.
You will find in this book accounts of growing up, unexpected emergencies, a few poems, some light stories to make you laugh and some to make you meditate.”
— quoted from the preface to Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
Today (Friday) is the sixth day of Navaratri, the Hindu festival of “nine nights” celebrating divine feminine energy in various manifestations. This sixth day of Navaratri is dedicated to Katyayani, one of the fiercest (and most violent) ways that Durga shows up in the celebration. She rides a lion; is associated with red (as a color symbolizing courage); kills the biggest demon(s); and has multiple hands (4, 10, or 18, depending on the depiction). One of those hands is in the “stop the ignorance” mudra.
Of course, the best way to stop ignorance is with a little wisdom.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. Do not complain. Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.
Never whine. Whining lets a brute know that a victim is in the neighborhood.
Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity.
I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”
— quoted from the preface to Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
For Those Who Missed It: The following, slightly revised, excerpt was originally posted in a slightly different context. An extra video offering has been added. WARNING: There is a passing reference to sexual violence.
“History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
This day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.
Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands.
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For new beginnings.”
— from the poem “On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou, recited at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton (1993)
PROLOGUE & EPILOGUE
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who didn’t have the best start in life. In fact, you could say that parts of her life were twisted and “rooted in pain.” Born in St. Louis, Missouri, about a year after her brother, Marguerite Annie Johnson was the daughter of Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian Johnson (née Baxter), a nurse and card dealer. The Johnsons did not have the best marriage and, for a variety of reasons, they sent their young children (ages 3 and 4) to live with the elder Bailey’s mother, Annie Henderson.
The four years in Stamps, Arkansas weren’t too bad, because the siblings were together and Ms. Henderson owned a general store which, along with her investments, allowed the Black proprietress to flourish when so many others were struggling during the Great Depression and World War II. But then, when Bailey Jr. was 8 and Marguerite was 7, their father collected them and took them back to St. Louis to be with their mother. About a year later, when she was 8, this little girl was sexually assaulted and raped (by her mother’s boyfriend). She told her brother, who told the family, who reported it to the police — but the man who violated her was only in jail for a single day. A few days after he was released, he was murdered. And the little girl blamed herself, blamed her voice and the power of her voice — and she refused to speak for almost five years.
Just as she struggled to survive, she grew up during a time when the whole country was struggling to survive — and when some were struggling more than others. She grew up to be a lot of things, including a streetcar conductor, a fry cook, a sex worker, a singer, and a dancer. All noble endeavors; however, the twist in the story came when she “found” her voice and she started to “sing”, despite being locked in a cage of oppression. The twist in the story is that when she started to use her talents, and really started to shine, she became the a woman whose words and name are known all over the world.
But, you probably don’t know her by her birth name. You probably know her by a variation of the nickname her older brother used when he called her “My” or “Mya Sister”. You probably know her as Dr. Maya Angelou, born on April 4, 1928. You may have even read a biographer (or an interview) indicating that the period of silence in the early part of her life, and everything she did to survive before she became a household name, was preparation for her destiny.
“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
— Dr. Maya Angelou
When she died on May 28, 2014, at least one obituary referred to Dr. Maya Angelou as “poet of many talents.” Like her friend, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on April 4, 1968*, she shared her talents with the world and she advocated for others to share their talents. Of course, to share our talents, we need to understand the value of our talents.
Additionally, as was mentioned over the two weeks, we also need to be rested and be in the right mindset. We have to understand that we have something to share with the world.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna makes it very clear that we will be remembered by how (and/or if) we fulfill our purpose. (BG 2:34-36), Of course, before we can fulfill our purpose, we have to see our purpose and truly see ourselves. In order to see ourselves and our purpose, we need a little light. Patanjali says that light is inside of us. (YS 1.36)
So, the next obvious question is, what fuels the light? It turns out that that power is also inside of us, just waiting for us get charged up.
“TATE: You are a writer, poet, director, composer, lyricist, dancer, singer, journalist, teacher and lecturer. Can you say what the source of such creative diversity is?
ANGELOU: I don’t do the dancing anymore. The rest I try. I believe talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it. Electricity makes no judgment. You can plug into it and light up a lamp, keep a heart pump going, light a cathedral, or you can electrocute a person with it. Electricity will do all that. It makes no judgment. I think talent is like that. I believe every person is born with talent.”
— quoted from “Maya Angelou: An Interview” by Claudia Tate, as published in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook, edited by Joanne M. Braxton
Please join me tonight, Friday, April 4, 2025, 7:15 PM – 8:20 PM (CST) for “Unlocking/Celebrating Many Talents.” 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.
This Restorative Yoga** practice is accessible and open to all.
[**NOTE: Some of the sequencing for this practice is from Yin Yoga. There will be a little bit of quiet space in this practice.]
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04142023 Time/Space Possibilities”]
Music Note: The tracks are slightly different. The YouTube playlist is the original. Unfortunately, Spotify may add tracks if you are using a free account.
A playlist inspired by Dr. Maya Angelou’s life and work is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04042020 Maya Angelou”]
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice). Having a wall, chair, sofa, or coffee table may be handy.
She introduces her “offering” here!
“Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, and into
Your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.”
— from the poem “On the Pulse of Morning” by Maya Angelou, recited at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton (1993)
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 a new 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).
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.)
*NOTE: This marks the end of the “Season for Nonviolence,” but it is not the end of the practice.
### “SING” & LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE ###
Make a Commitment to Imagination (w/excerpts) April 2, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 9-Day Challenge, Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: 988, Ananta Ripa Ajmera, Chaitra Navaratri, Hans Christian Andersen, International Children's Book Day, Janneke Ipenburg, Kushmanda, Laura Watkinson, Navaratri, Rian Visser, Season for Nonviolence
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Happy International Children’s Book Day! Many blessings to all! “Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” Many blessings to those observing Lent & Great Lent!
Peace, ease, and commitment to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“Make pictures
for my poem,
and please feel free:
these words
belong to you
even though they came from me.”
— quoted from the 2025 International Children’s Book Day poem & message “The Language of Pictures” by Rian Visser (translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson)
“[Kushmanda] also lives in our hearts. The fact that she is smiling reminds us that we too are our most creative when we are smiling and feeling positive, courageous (a quality of heart), and strong. The fact that this goddess, like Chandraghanta, rides a lion shows that the power of love is just as potent as the fire of transformation. It reminds us that the ability to love comes from inner strength. When we feel clouded by fear, anger, and grief, it can be difficult to imagine one day having the strength to love again. But Kushmanda is here to remind us that, no matter how brokenhearted we may feel at time, the power of love lives within us, and we can tap into it and become our creative best at any time.”
— quoted from the “Knowing Kushmanda” section of “Chapter 4 — The Art of Loving Your True Self” in The Way of the Goddess: Daily Rituals to Awaken Your Inner Warrior and Discover Your True Self by Ananta Ripa Ajmera
If you read a lot, you may learn more about your world (e.g., your culture and history), as well as about the world of other cultures. You may, for example, learn that Hinduism is not the only religion where the feminine aspects of the Divine are celebrated. It’s not even the only religion where an observation related to a woman, as the Divine, is associated with a period of nine days/nights. To my knowledge, however, Navaratri (“nine nights”) is unique in that it celebrates many different aspects of a single woman. Each night/day is associated with a different manifestation of Durga/Parvati, the mother goddess, and is part of nine-part story cycle/journey that ends with a demon-king being destroyed.
International Children’s Book Day is the anniversary of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen (b. 1805). This year’s celebration coincides with the fourth day of Chaitra Navaratri, which is dedicated to dedicated to the Goddess Kushmanda who, it is said, “created the world with her divine smile” — a smile that also powers the sun. She is recognized as Shakti (the creative force) and associated with good health (specifically with improving health), wealth, and strength. She is like the aspects of the Virgin Mary that are remembered on Candlemas.
Click on the excerpt titles below for other posts about International Children’s Book Day.
Consider the Environment that Holds Your Spirit, Again (mostly the blessings, music, & excerpt)
Please join me today (Wednesday, April 2nd) 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 “11142021 A Day for Children”]
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 a new 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).
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.)
### SING YOUR SONG & LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE! ###
Purpose & Responsibility (the “missing” Wednesday post) March 29, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Robert Frost, Tennessee Williams, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Bhagavad Gita, Imam Khalid Latif, Jack Hawley, Laylat al-Qadr, nasheeds, Peter Gould, Qur'an, Qur’ān, Ramaḍān, Reba McEntire, Responsibility, Robert Frost, Season for Nonviolence, Sūrah Qadr, Tennessee Williams
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who are observing Great Lent and/or Lent!
Peace, ease, and responsibility to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This “missing” post for Wednesday, March 26th features new and previously posted content, as well as excerpts. Since we have entered the final days of Ramaḍān, the practice and playlists include references to Islām. 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.
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.
“Having a clear intention (Niyyah in Arabic) and understanding your position, talents, motivation and means as an Amanah (translated as ‘trust’, or ‘responsibility towards others’) are important elements….”
— quoted from The Heart of Design interview (with Imam Khalid Latif), entitled “Building Conscious Community” by Peter Gould
We begin each practice with a purpose, an intention. On one level, there are the reasons we are on the mat — and those reasons can vary. They can be small and very personal and/or the can be multifaceted and directly affect others (i.e., communal). They can be physical, mental, emotional, energetic, spiritual, and/or religious. Either way, I believe the reason(s) we have for being on the mat are connected to our purpose and intention off the mat. In other words, I believe everyone has a purpose in life and that we should be very intentional about how we move through our day — not to mention our practice — as we go about the business of fulfilling our purpose.
Keeping our intention in mind, keeps us focused.
“‘People are in fact the sum total of the beliefs they hold in their hearts, Arjuna, and there are indeed various kinds of faith. One’s faith corresponds to one’s nature, and one’s nature is equivalent to one’s faith….’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (17.2, abridged) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
The idea that everyone has a purpose (in life) isn’t just my belief. It is a belief held by many people around the world. It is a belief at the heart of many spiritual, religious, and philosophical practices. One could argue that there are whole industries built around the idea of living a purpose-driven life. Furthermore, research even shows the importance of having an overreaching purpose. And while many can agree on the importance of having a purpose, on and off the mat, there is not necessarily consensus on the origin of that purpose.
Some believe we each, individually, put meaning into our lives and, therefore, give ourselves (and our lives) purpose. Others, however, believe that purpose is God-given. That latter group includes people (and faiths) that believe in having a calling. Sometimes, the idea of a calling is only applied to people within a religious and/or spiritual field. Other times, as explained in the Bhagavad Gita (“The Song of the Lord”), people believe that everyone is called to do something and that the something they are called to do serves the greater community, as well as the greater good.
In other words, we all have a responsibility to ourselves, as well as to others.
“‘Your very nature dictates that you perform the duties attuned to your disposition. Those duties are your dharma, your natural calling. It is far better to do your own dharma, even if you do it imperfectly, than to try to master the work of another. Those who perform the duties called for by their obligations, even if those duties seem of little merit, are able to do them with less effort – and this releases consciousness that can be directed Godward.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (18.47) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
This week, as I have been thinking about people involved in various civil rights movements, I have also been thinking about the responsibility that comes with purpose. According to the Bhagavad Gita, “The responsibilities of people in the various segments of society can be divided under four general headings: Seers, Leaders, Providers, and Servers. No particular group of people is superior to any other, but like limbs of the body, each has a respective role to play.” (18.41)
Throughout this sacred text, the word “responsibility” is associated (and interchangeable) with the words “dharma” and “sva-dharma” (“duty” and “personal duty”). These Sanskrit words have several other literal translations into English, depending on the context, including (personal) “merit”, “eternal law”, and/or “natural law”. There is, within this sacred discussion, a very definite understanding of free will, and the possibility that someone will intentionally or inadvertently not fulfill their purpose. However, there is also an underlying concept of predestination, based on our disposition (or nature) — and this underlying concept is related to faith as well as to duty/responsibility.
“Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.”
— quoted from the poem “The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost
“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. The world thirsts after sympathy, compassion, love.”
— quoted from the play Camino Real by Tennessee Williams (The first sentence is also the epitaph on his grave.)
March 26th is the anniversary of births of Robert Frost (b. 1894) and Tennessee Williams (b. 1911). Normally, I might talk about how their talents were clearly gifts and callings — that also came with responsibilities. Had I been a little more focused, I would have referenced the fact gifts like theirs (like yours) can not be held back — even by rocks and fences.
I could have made these references because, this year, this week coincided with what some consider the holiest days during the holy month of Ramaḍān: the last ten days/nights and, in particular, the odd nights. More importantly, Wednesday night might have been the holiest and most sacred night: Laylat al-Qadr (translated as “Night of Power”, “Night of Destiny”, “Night of Value”, “Night of Measure”, “Night of Decree”, or “Night of Honour”).
“We sent it [the Qur’ān] down on the Night of Power.
And what can make you know what is the Night of Power?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
The Angels and the Spirit [the inspiration] descend therein by their Lord’s leave for every affair.
Peace! It is till the rising of the dawn.”
— Sūrah Qadr (“Portion 97 of the Qur’ān”) 1 – 5
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE.
FTWMI: A Night of Great Power & Great Peace (a “renewed” post)
Take Another Look at Yourself (the “missing” Sunday post, which is a “renewed” post )
“Use your time wisely. Spend it only in pursuit of things that are good. Hold the world in your hand if you so desire, but never let the world use your heart as its abode. Your understanding of the world around you will be based off of how you take care of the world within you. Treat your heart as something precious and let only what is good for [it] have the privilege of receiving its love.”
— Imam Khalid Latif in a 2013 “Ramadān Reflection” for Huffington Post
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Ramadan & Eid 2024”]
Some quick notes about the music: First, my playlists for the final days of Ramadān are not halal (“permissible”) in all Islamic traditions, because of the orchestrations. They do, however, feature musicians who are Muslim (with a few exceptions).
Reba McEntire is one of the notable exceptions — notable, because in previous years she was the only female soloist and the only non-Muslim singer on the playlists. While this year’s playlists include several Muslim women as musicians and composers, “Pray for Peace” is still highlighted because it was re-released during the month of Ramadān in 2014 — but not just randomly in the month, the song was released in the last ten days of the month (during the holiest part of the month)!
Some songs on the playlist are Nasheeds (meaning they are religiously moral songs) that, in some traditions, are meant to be sung without instrumentation or only with percussion. I have, however, included orchestrated versions of these songs, because this seems to have worked best in an in-studio setting. I mean no disrespect by this choice. As far as I know, percussion or voice only recordings of the Nasheeds are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music — which is always a suitable option.
Finally, the YouTube version currently includes some additional before/after music.
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 a new 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).
### Your Duty Is Calling! ###
More Stories and Music [the 2025 version] (the “missing” Saturday post) March 22, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Karma Yoga, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Men, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Volunteer, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Advocacy, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek, Anton Chekhov, Asian American Performers Action Coalition Visibility Report, B. Alan Orange, Billy Collins, Chris Grabenstein, Hollywood Diversity Report, Hugh Wheeler, humanity, James Patterson, Jeff Yang, Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly McEvers, KISS MY ASANA, literacy, Maty Ezraty, Max Einstein, Rachel Howzell Hall, Season for Nonviolence, Stephen Sondheim, storytellers, vinyasa krama, Vladimir Nabokov
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“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who were celebrating! “Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who are observing Great Lent and/or Lent!
Peace, ease, advocacy to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This is the “missing” compilation post for Saturday, March 22nd. It includes some new material plus a revised version of previously posted content. The original post also contained a link for “Save with Stories” — a partnership with Save the Children and No Kid Hungry. A Save the Children link is still embedded in the sentence (below), “Being read to as a child is one of the great experiences in life.” 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.
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.
“A good sequence is like a good story. There is a beginning (an introduction), the middle (the heart of the story), and the end (the conclusion)”
— Maty Ezraty
People often tell me that one of the things they like about my classes are the stories, as well as the way the poses and the music tell the stories. They may even wonder why I tell such stories. Bottom line: I come from a long line of teachers who think the practice is a way to tell our stories and also a way to process our stories, every time we inhale, every time we exhale. It’s a way to go deeper into our stories.
But, since we all have different stories, we need to get on the same page — and I just happen to have the privilege of turning that page.
Today is a day when I normally tell the stories of four very famous storytellers born on March 22nd. These storytellers tell/told their stories in different ways. However, the storytellers themselves have something in common — other than the fact that they are all, as it turns out, the same gender and race and share the same profession and birthday. They all know/knew how to tell a good story.
Regardless of if you read the adult novels or children’s books of one of my parents’ favorite authors; the poetry of one of my favorite poets; or listen to the brilliant lyrics and music of the two composers on the list, you will find that they follow a simple structure. It is the same structure we follow in the practice; a structure containing the three parts highlighted by Maty Ezraty and, also, a Chekhovian promise (which we’ll get to in the end).
As I said before, today is a day when I normally tell the stories of four storytellers. (I have shifted, once or twice, to tell holiday stories.) However, this year, I feel compelled to start with the story of a fifth storyteller — and his story comes with it’s own Chekhovian promise.
“I would like to either pick up the mantle or stand next to my partner and hold the torch as we, you know, run into the Olympic arena of this society and discourse. Because aren’t we losing, Kelly, discourse? It’s black or it’s white, and that’s not the way the world works. We live in a gray world, and I want to tell gray stories.”
— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (July 13, 2017) NPR interview entitled “‘You’re Never Too Old To Screw Up’: Keegan-Michael Key On ‘Friends From College’” by Kelly McEvers, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek
Born today in 1961, in Southfield, Michigan, Keegan-Michael Key is an award-winning comedian, actor, producer, and writer who has said, “I have always, or for the most part, identified myself as a biracial person.” So, already, he is a little different from the other storytellers. Also, while some of the others believe in comedy — and include comedic elements in their work, Mr. Key is the only comedian on my list (this year). He’s also the only one of these storytellers that uses his whole being (mind and body) to tell a story, especially when he is impersonating someone (like Charles Barkley, Michael Jordan, Phylicia Rashād, or Eva Longoria’s Desperate Housewives character Gabrielle Solis)
In addition to starring in movies, television shows, music videos, and video games, Keegan-Michael Key co-created and co-starred in the sketch comedy series Key & Peele (with Jordan Peele, the aforementioned partner). The Shakespearean-trained actor appeared in the musical comedy Schmigadoon! and onstage as Horatio in the Public Theater’s 2017 production Hamlet and as Gerald in the 2017 Broadway premiere of Meteor Shower (by Steve Martin). During the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, he brought his Key & Peele character Luther (then-President Barack Obama’s “anger translator”) to life. He has also appeared as an actor during the annual fundraiser for Young Storytellers [Foundation], which features work written by elementary, middle, and high school storytellers.
“Don’t you love farce?
My fault, I fear
I thought that you’d want what I want
Sorry, my dear
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns
Don’t bothеr, they’re herе”
— quoted from the song “Send in the Clowns” from the musical A Little Night Music, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler
For Those Who Missed It: The following four profiles have been slightly updated since 2020.
Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930, in New York City, NY) was a legendary musical theater composer and lyrics, as well as an award-winning film composer. His accolades include 8 Tony Awards (more than any other composer), 8 Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom. In all my time working in theater, I can’t say that I ever worked on any of Sondheim’s musicals (or the musicals of our final birthday composer), but I’ve seen my fair share of both their works — and can definitely sing along.
Also born in New York City, NY, in 1941, poet Billy Collins has been called “The most popular poet in America” and has served as United States Poet Laureate (2001 – 2003) and New York State Poet (2004 – 2006). Collins considers “humor a doorway into the serious” and started his poem “Picnic, Lightning” by quoting Vladimir Nabokov. In Lolita, the protagonist says, “My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning)…”
The poem’s title is also the title of a collection of poems which my friend Mimi gave me in a moment when I was overwhelmed by grief. Fast forward almost a decade and, as if in a poem, I was dancing with Billy Collins on Nicollet Island and giving him a piece of Collins-inspired poetry. Even now, I can feel it…I can feel it…the joy of the moment, the joy of being alive; which fits in with his secret theory.
In a 2001 interview with The Paris Review, Billy Collins said, “I have a secret theory that people who are addicted to reading are almost trying to recreate the joy, the comfortable joy of being read to as a child…. Being read to as a child is one of the great experiences in life.”
Our second birthday composer is Baron Lloyd-Webber, or more properly styled, The Lord Lloyd-Webber…better known as the EGOT Andrew Lloyd Webber (no hyphen). Born today in 1948 (in Kensington, London), he was originally knighted in the 1992, given a life peerage in 1997, and appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of Garter (KG) in 2024. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, 2 film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He is an EGOT because he has won an Emmy Award, 3 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award (Oscar), and 6 Tony Awards — as well as 4 Laurence Olivier Awards and a plethora of other awards.
James Patterson (b. 1947, in Newburgh, NY), is a bestselling novelist and children’s book author whose books can always be found in my parents bookshelves. Doesn’t matter if it is mystery, suspense, romance, or science, Patterson keeps you in the moment and keeps a Chekhovian promise (which is fast approaching). One of his protagonists is a 12-year old orphan named Max Einstein. Like her namesake, this Einstein is a genius with wild (in her case red) curly hair. She is told that her story combined with her emotional and intellectual quotients are why she is considered the world’s “last great hope.”
“‘When you convinced me not to quit, you said, and I quote, “If we are to help save the human race, we must recognize the humanity in all, no matter their station in life.”’”
— Charl speaking to Max and Isabl in Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
The “Season for Nonviolence” principle of the day (for March 22nd) was “advocacy” — and all of the aforementioned storytellers have been advocates for literacy and storytelling. For his part, James Patterson has donated over 300 million books to school-aged children and the military, over $70 million to support education, and endowed over 5,000 scholarships for teachers. In 2020, he renewed a partnership with Scholastic Book Clubs and pledged $2.5 million to help teachers build their classroom libraries.
At one time, James Patterson was also seen as an advocate for diversity — in part because he insisted that a Black actor play one of his most popular characters, Alex Cross (who is African American in the novels). However, people’s perceptions changed a little, in June 2022, when Mr. Patterson was quoted (in the United Kingdom’s Sunday Times) as saying that “he and his fellow ‘white males’ were subject to ‘racism’ that prevented them from getting writing jobs. ‘Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes.’ He continued by saying, ‘It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males’ in film, theater, TV or publishing.”
The award-winning author apologized and issued a retraction two days after the interview was published; however, both came after significant backlash and factchecking that showed there were no gray areas here: his claims just didn’t match reality.
“According to the 2022 Hollywood Diversity Report, out of the 251 screenwriters for top box office feature films in 2021, nearly 68% were white; 47% were white men, specifically. A 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report showed that during the 2019-2020 season, out of the 1,214 broadcast script writers, only 26.4% were people of color, and white men made up 46.1% of the total. A similar trend extends across the scripted cable and digital industries.
In theater, according to the most recent Asian American Performers Action Coalition Visibility Report, nearly 90% of shows produced on Broadway and 76% of the shows by major New York nonprofit theater companies — which collectively set the theatrical agenda for the rest of the nation — were written by white playwrights. And multiple reports have highlighted the issue of men outnumbering women playwrights. For the book publishing industry, the numbers by race are just as staggeringly imbalanced, as a 2020 New York Times report showed. In 2018, nearly nine out of 10 books published by major houses were by white writers — which, based on the relatively even gender divide among authors, suggests that about 45% of the white writers published by major houses in the U.S. are men.
So, across these creative fields, white men — about 30% of the American population — consistently receive nearly half of all writing opportunities.”
“Out of the 44 co-authors I found in his front-line novel franchises — the ones aimed at global bestseller status — I only identified one woman of color: Rachel Howzell Hall (a bestselling crime queen herself and a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America). Nine others were white women.”
— quoted from the (June 16, 2022) NBC News “Think: Opinion, Analysis, Essays” article entitled “James Patterson’s carefully worded apology after ‘racism’ claim is an eyebrow raiser: The author said that he strongly supported diversity of voices, but that would be hard to tell looking at many of the co-authors he’s chosen to work with.” by Jeff Yang
Which brings us back to those Chekhovian promises.
It was Anton Chekov who said that if there is a rifle (or a pistol) hanging on the wall in the first chapter/act, it must go off in the second or third. He told another playwright, “It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep.”
Whenever we step on the mat, there’s a part of us that is making a promise. Whenever, I put together a sequence there’s a part of me that thinks about that promise, as well as about that second Sondheim song (“Putting it together…bit by bit…piece by piece”) and Maty Ezraty’s sequencing advice about the middle (the heart) of the story. I consider how can I build up to a big heart opener and how we each need to process our own personal story in order to not only lift and open our hearts, but to also support our lifted and open hearts — especially in a time when it is so easy to close off.
When I think about the fact that the practice is always a way to tell our stories — as well as a way to process our stories, I think about the music (and how I can use the music to tell our stories). The (original) March 22nd playlist not only tells the stories of some great storytellers celebrating birthdays today (as I intended) and is a way to process our current life-plot (as I intended), it also reflects my story as a lover of stories. At some point, I plan to remix it to include a little Schmigadoon!. In the meantime, however, the absence of a specific track for Keegan-Michael Key just highlights the fact that the original list was all the same sex, gender, and race.1
“A poet can feel free, in my estimation, to write a poem for himself. Or a painter can paint a painting for himself. You can write a short story for yourself. But for me, comedy by its nature is communal. If other people don’t get it, I’m not sure why you are doing it. I think the same can be said for being offensive, for no other reason than being offensive. Me personally, it boggles my mind.”
— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (Feb 1, 2012) MovieWeb interview entitled “Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele Talk Key & Peele Series Premiere [Exclusive]” by
B. Alan Orange
In some ways, practicing yoga is simultaneously like writing a poem, painting a painting, writing a short story, and writing comedy. You do it for yourself and — especially in a group class — it is also communal. As Maty Ezraty said, “Practicing yoga is a privilege. And with this privilege comes a duty to be kind, to share a smile, and to offer yoga from the mat into the rest of your life.”
Here is a mini-practice (5 minutes) which you can use it as your whole practice as the beginning/introduction portion of your practice and finish with a deeper back bend (even if it’s the same back bend — just with more awareness, more breath, and more smile.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03222020 Storytellers”]
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 a new 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).
NOTES:
1Just to clarify, since someone asked after class: While there are other storytellers I could have highlighted, the original focus was always the last 4 storytellers referenced above. I didn’t replace anyone, just added a storyteller and adjusted the narrative accordingly. Similarly, the playlist has room, time, and space, for another song (or two).
### Enjoy Your Story & Share Your Stories ###
More Stories and Music [the 2025 version] (mostly the music & blessings) **UPDATED w/post link** March 22, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Healing Stories, Lent / Great Lent, Men, Music, Ramadan, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Advocacy, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek, Chris Grabenstein, humanity, James Patterson, Keegan-Michael Key, Kelly McEvers, Max Einstein, Season for Nonviolence
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“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who were celebrating! “Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who are observing Great Lent and/or Lent!
Peace, ease, advocacy to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“I would like to either pick up the mantle or stand next to my partner and hold the torch as we, you know, run into the Olympic arena of this society and discourse. Because aren’t we losing, Kelly, discourse? It’s black or it’s white, and that’s not the way the world works. We live in a gray world, and I want to tell gray stories.”
— Keegan-Michael Key, quoted from the (July 13, 2017) NPR interview entitled “‘You’re Never Too Old To Screw Up’: Keegan-Michael Key On ‘Friends From College’” by Kelly McEvers, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek
CLICK HERE FOR THE RELATED POST (with a video).
Please join me today (Saturday, March 22nd) at 12:00 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03222020 Storytellers”]
“‘When you convinced me not to quit, you said, and I quote, “If we are to help save the human race, we must recognize the humanity in all, no matter their station in life.”’”
— Charl speaking to Max and Isabl in Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
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 a new 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).
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 Quick Note & Excerpts About Adventures and Music plus FTWMI: A Good Time for [More] “Craic” (a reboot) [a 2-for-1 post-practice Monday post] March 21, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Bhakti, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Kirtan, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, asana, bhakti yoga, compassion, craic, dialogue, gaelic, Hothouse Flowers, Irish, Kirtan, Leo Barnes, music, Nāda yoga, Rick Rubin, Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick’s Day, Season for Nonviolence, Wren, Yoda, yoga
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who were celebrating and/or observing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, and/or Lent!
“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating and Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox to those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Peace, ease, dialogue, and compassion to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
Pardon me while I catch up. The following is a 2-for-1 post-practice post for Monday, March 10th and Monday, March 17th. It includes some new content, excerpts, and a repost (For Those Who Missed It). There is also a bonus link to a music-related post for March 21st.
The 2025 prompt question for 3/10 was, “Who is someone to whom you can talk (about anything) and who is someone to whom you can listen?” (NOTE: It can be the same person/people.)
The 2025 prompt question for 3/17 was, “Conas a tá tu? (How are you doing?)”
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.
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.
“There are answers in the music
And there are answers in the words
And if we stopped talking in circles
We might get closer to the earth”
— quoted from the song “Be Good” by Hothouse Flowers (written by Liam Tadg O’maonlai, Fiachna Seosamh O’braonain, Peter Mary O’toole, Jeremiah Michael August Fehily, Leo Barnes)
There are some people who believe music has no place in (their) yoga practice. Others practice Nāda (“sound” or “voiced”) yoga, which involves silent, internal vibrations as well as mantra and music. Then there’s kirtan (“narrating, reciting, telling, describing”), which is a form of Bhakti yoga (“union [through] devotion or love”) that incorporates chanting with music. If we pay attention to what it says in the Bhagavad Gita (which I do), then all these paths are valid and valued.
Personally, I like to practice in a lot of different ways and often find myself somewhere in the middle of these different ways to practice. In other words, I like silence… and I like a good playlist.
When I am teaching, more often than not, I am using music. Sometimes, in fact, I will build a whole practice around music — or, more specifically, the messages/answers in the music. Sometimes, I will even be inspired by the messenger(s). When I teach practices without music — for instance, if we are outside or I am teaching the Monday night class affiliated with Common Ground Meditation Center — I have to ask an important question: Does this practice (or theme) work without the music?
If the answer is no; then, I need a different focus. When the answer is yes, as it was for the last two Mondays, we just go a little deeper.
3/10 — ADVENTURES AND MUSIC
“Some ideas may resonate,
others may not.
A few may awaken an inner knowing
you forgot you had.
Use what’s helpful.
Let go of the rest.
Each of these moments
is an invitation
to further inquiry:
looking deeper,
zooming out, or in.
Opening possibilities
for a new way of being.”
— quoted from the prelude to The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
In 2024, I wondered, “What would happen if every practice — and, really, everything we did — started with the reminder above (which comes courtesy of a person who has been meditating for almost fifty years)?”
In 2025, when the “Season for Nonviolence” principle of the day (for March 10th) was “dialogue”, I focused on how different conversations would be if we all followed the aforementioned advice of Rick Rubin, who was born March 10, 1963.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.
3/17 — “CRAIC” AND MUSIC
For Those Who Missed It: “Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig. (Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.)”The following was originally posted in 2024.
Take a moment to notice how you feel on the inside, knowing that how you feel on the inside affects how you move on the outside. Of course, how you move on the outside is going to affect how you feel on the inside. This is especially true today, especially in the United States, when a lot of people celebrate feeling “Irish on the inside.” Like Valentine’s Day — and, even Saint Stephen’s Day, on a certain level — Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated more as a cultural holiday than it is celebrated as a feast day.
The way Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated is particularly interesting when you consider three coincidences about that the fifth century (or late fourth century) priest. First, when he was sent to Ireland to minister to Christians who were there and to convert those still practicing the Celtic religions, he chose to co-opt — um, I mean, incorporate — the Irish culture into Catholicism. So, he was all about the heritage… but in a problematic way. Second, Saint Patrick was never canonized — which means that one of the most famous saints was (technically speaking) a saint in name only. While he has a feast day in several traditions, including in the Roman Catholic tradition, I find it fitting that he is remembered as a Saint because people felt like was a saint.
Finally, most of what we know about Saint Patrick comes from exaggerated stories, legends, like the one about how he ran all the snakes out of Ireland — and what would Saint Patrick’s Day be without “me good yarn?”
If you read the title of this post correctly, you know that I think Saint Patrick’s Day is a good time to have “a good time.” In keeping with the feeling, there will be music, dancing, and a story. The Irish tale I like to tell today isn’t about Saint Patrick (in fact it is most often associated with a different saint); but, it can be seen as an allegory. It is also fun to tell with the poses — because, y’all, there are a lot of bird poses in yoga!
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT THOSE BIRD POSES.
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The “DJ Double R” playlist (which includes some Kirtan) is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Songs for the DJ’s Adventure”]
The Saint Patrick’s Day playlist is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03172021 The Wren Cycle”]
Click here for a short music-related post for March 21st.
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 a new 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).
A Joyful Practice 