Take Another Look at Yourself (the “missing” Sunday post, which is a “renewed” post ) March 30, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent, Life, Love, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Robert Frost, Suffering, Tennessee Williams, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wisdom, Writing, Yin Yoga, Yoga.Tags: B.K.S. Iyengar, Bramaviharas, Chaitra Navaratri, chakra, chesed, gevurah, Great Lent, heart, kabbalah, Lent, Maty Ezraty, parighasana, Patricia Clarkson, Ramadan, Ramadān, Robert Frost, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, sefirot, Skandamata, Swami Rama, Tennessee Williams
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“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the holy month of Ramadān. Blessings to anyone observing Lent or Great Lent! Many blessings to all during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
This is the “missing” post for Sunday, March 26th. It is also a revised (and expanded) from 2019, with an itty bit from 2020 – so, literally another look. Some links in the post connect to sites outside of the blog. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
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.)
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.”
– quoted from the poem “Mending Wall” 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.)
There are people in the world who will say you haven’t read poetry until you read Robert Frost, and Southerners in the world who will say you haven’t seen a play until you’ve seen Tennessee Williams. Born 37 years and over 2,000 miles apart, these two literary icons shared a birthday (3/26) and way with words. Although, some would say they used their words in different ways.
Born in 1874, in San Francisco, California, Robert Frost wrote about things like “a snowy evening,” “mending a wall,” and “the road not taken” – although, in the latter case, people often mistake it for “the road less traveled.” His poems are often as much about perspective as they are about the way we tell a story (and the fact that the way we tell a story can change the story). They also illustrate how the stories we tell (ourselves and the world) are not always about the truth so much as they about what we understand about the world and ourselves.
Born in 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, Tennessee Williams wrote about emotionally volatile people in the South and from the South. He wrote about characters and circumstances that reflected the emotional turmoil he saw and felt inside himself and all around him. Then, so that the emotional states of the the people and situations could not be ignored (or missed) he reinforced them with the use of props, sound effects, and blocking. In other words, he used the physical to embody the emotional and energetic – and, in doing so, drew the audience into the hearts of the characters.
Even though their mediums and subjects were different, they both wrote in a way that can make you pause, look again…and again. Once or thrice you may even wonder how many ways you can see/interpret/understand what has been said, and how it applies to your life. A good story, regardless of the medium, will make you do that: consider how it applies to your life.
“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
Every once in a while (as I did last Wednesday and again on Sunday), I mention Maty Ezraty, who was a teacher of teachers and who said that every yoga practice should be like a good story. One of my takeaways from that suggestion has always been that, each part of the mind-body-spirit is like a character in a story. Just like each character has a different purpose and a different point of view, each pose/sequence can give each part of our bodies and minds an opportunity to tell their story. Another takeaway is that everything is leading to and from the heart of the story.
So, let’s start with the hearts.
“What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.”
– quoted from the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams
Yes, I said, “hearts” – plural. Swami Rama from the Himalayan tradition said that we have three hearts: a physical heart, which for most of us is on the left side; an emotional heart on the opposite side, which for most of us is on the right; and an energetic heart that connects the two. That energetic heart, which some consider a spiritual heart, connects our hearts with all the other hearts around us. Additionally, in yoga and other Eastern healing arts, energy for the heart flows through the arms.
The heart chakra, in yoga (as it comes to us from India) is symbolically and energetically associated with the upper torso, shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers. In Yin Yoga, which is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, the heart median has three branches, one of which runs down the inner arms into the pinky fingers. According to the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, there are 10 Divine attributes (from the Tree of Life) through which G-d is revealed to the world – and 7 of these can be found in the body. Love/loving-kindness (chesed in Hebrew) is associated with the right arm and is balanced by strength (gevurah in Hebrew), which is associated with the left arm.
Just as people contemplate the Divine attributes when they are counting the Omer in some Jewish traditions, people in Buddhist traditions contemplate the Divine abodes (brahmavihārāḥ in Sanskrit), which are heart practices: loving-kindness or benevolence (mettā); compassion (karuṇā); empathetic joy (muditā); and equanimity (upekkhā). In some Indian philosophies (like Yoga), the ability to cultivate a good heart/make friends (suhrit-prapati) and generosity (dana) can also be considered heart practices. On (and off) the mat, we can contemplate these same emotional and energetic aspects of ourselves by bringing awareness to our arms and how we use our arms… to reach out, to embrace, to extend ourselves.
We may notice – as we move through our practice or through our day – how we are expressing our heart or how we are withholding our heart. But, there’s always the possibility that we don’t notice. We may not notice when we are off the mat, because we are distracted. We may not notice on the mat, because we are focused on other parts of the mind-body. This is why it’s important to notice how we move and why we move the way we move – because it all tells a story.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,”
– quoted from the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
There are hundreds of poses and hundreds, thousands – maybe even millions – of ways to move into and out of pose. And each one of those ways gives us another way of looking at the story. The tricky thing is that sometimes we keep coming back to the story the same way. But, what happens if we came at things a different way? What happens if we let a different part of our mind-body-spirit take the lead? What happens if our circumstances and understanding of the world changes? What happens if our understanding of ourselves changes?
Sometimes, the practice can be like a favorite story that we read again and again – or re-read, years after the initial reading – and we suddenly see everything from a different perspective. In fact, one of the things I like about the practice is the opportunity to revisit themes and/or sequences and suddenly discover something completely different. It’s also one of the things I love about reading (and watching) great works of art.
“We have to use a spell to make them balance:
“Stay where you are until our backs are turned!”
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.”– quoted from the poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost
Parighāsana (Gate Pose) stretches the pelvic area and hamstrings, while also engaging the sides of the torso and abdomen eccentrically (up side) and concentrically (down side). According to B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, the pose “keeps the abdominal muscles and organs in condition and the skin around the abdomen will not sag but remain healthy. The sideways spinal movement will help persons suffering from stiff backs.” I find that it is a great way to get into the hips and the legs. Another aspect of the pose is what happens to the heart area – not only physically, but emotionally.
Parighāsana offers us the opportunity to open up the shoulders (physically) and open the gates on all sides of the heart (emotionally and energetically). It also offers some interesting insight into how we sometimes engage the different aspects of our heart. For instances, when I cue and describe the pose in a practice, many people have a tendency to lift the bottom hand up to meet the top hand – rather than extending the upper body down towards the lower hand. To be fair, many people do not have the strength and flexibility to kneel on one leg, stretch out the other leg, and then bend sideways until the top hand lowers down. But, what is interesting is how people deal with the resistance. Initially, they lift the bottom hand up – because it’s easy (and obvious). When I point out that it’s the top hand that needs to reach down, many people will fold in on themselves; essentially closing down and hiding the heart to make the connection. However, the “goal” is to open the gate and to stay open in the process.
“Lonely . . . When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.”
– Don Quixote in the Prologue to Camino Real by Tennessee Williams
We all build walls around our hearts. Sometimes we do it for protection, because we have perceived an actual threat. Other times, we build walls, because of fear associated with a perceived threat. That perceived threat might turn out to be an actual threat, but it could also simply be a possibility (or a misperception). Of course, we can also get in the habit of building walls – because it’s what others have done before us, what we’ve been taught, and/or because we have experienced harm in the past. But, even castle walls have gates and drawbridges, a way in and a way out.
When we really pay attention to the ways we engage our heart, on and off the mat, we may find it challenging to open the gate. We may find that we take the easy route – especially when there’s a little awkward balancing, as there is in parighāsana – and/or we may find that we are compromising ourselves (and our hearts) in order to make a connection. One suggestion I make, during the physical practice, is to bend the lifted elbow (so the hand is behind the head) and then use the whole body to rotate the elbow up. This changes the focus and reinforces the idea that we are opening the heart and the side-body. I often sequence a modified side plank after the “Gate Pose,” as a reminder that there can be more than one way to open a gate.
Take a moment to consider a time when you compromised yourself in order to make a connection. How could you have refocused your awareness, energy, and resources in order to reinforce what was important? Could you have made the connection (or a similar connection) in a different way?
In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois says, “I always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Remember, we are all Blanche…but we are also those strangers. Click here for the brief 2020 post about making loving-kind connections.
“It should be of the pleasure of a poem itself to tell how it can. The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom. The figure is the same as for love. No one can really hold that the ecstasy should be static and stand still in one place. It begins in delight, it inclines to the impulse, it assumes direction with the first line laid down, it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life–not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion.”
– quoted from the essay “The Figure a Poem Makes” by Robert Frost (which served as an introduction to his Collected Poems beginning with the 1939 edition)
Two of my favorite lines from Robert Frost speak of wisdom and delight, and the gift that comes from giving our whole selves. Every time I step on a yoga mat, I experience the wisdom and the delight. I also experience a plethora of gifts. One of those gifts is how the practice affects the mind. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams has Brick acknowledging that he is an alcoholic, but not seeming to want to give up his drinking because, “It’s like a switch, clickin’ off in my head. Turns the hot light off and the cool one on, and all of a sudden there’s peace.” But then, as his father points out to him, there is the morning.
One of the gifts of yoga is that it brings peace without the hangover. It can flip the switch. Another thing to consider is that the practice has a way of opening the heart so we can get to the violets.
“To me, its meaning is simple. The hard, the cold, the oppressive will—at long last—be broken apart by a force that is beautiful, natural, colorful, alive.”
– Patricia Clarkson explaining why she was quoting Tennessee Williams during a 2009 HRC New Orleans Dinner speech
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
Errata: The Robert Frost poem is called “Mending Wall” and a link has been embedded for a Winter Solstice post.
### HEART-SUFFICIENT ###
Take Another Look at Yourself (mostly the music w/UPDATED link) March 26, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Robert Frost, Suffering, Tennessee Williams, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Chaitra Navaratri, Great Lent, Lent, Ramadan, Ramadān, Robert Frost, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Skandamata, Tennessee Williams
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“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the holy month of Ramadān. Blessings to anyone observing Lent or Great Lent! Many blessings to all during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.”
– excerpt from the poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost
“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. The world thirsts after sympathy, compassion, love.”
– excerpt from the play Camino Real by Tennessee Williams (The first sentence is also the epitaph on his grave.)
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, March 26th) at 2:30 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
Click here for the “missing” post related to this practice.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
Errata: The Robert Frost poem is called “Mending Wall.” Some formatting has been updated.
### HEART-SUFFICIENT ###
The Grace of Responsibility & Doing What You Can (mostly) March 25, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Lent, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Alabama, Chaitra Navaratri, Great Lent, Kushmanda, Lent, Ramadan, Ramadān, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Selma to Montgomery, Yoga Sutras 2.1-2.2
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“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the holy month of Ramadān. Blessings to anyone observing Lent or Great Lent! Many blessings to all during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
“… to all of the freedom-loving people who have assembled here this afternoon from all over our nation and from all over the world: Last Sunday, more than eight thousand of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama. We have walked through desolate valleys and across the trying hills. We have walked on meandering highways and rested our bodies on rocky byways. Some of our faces are burned from the outpourings of the sweltering sun. Some have literally slept in the mud. We have been drenched by the rains. [Audience:] (Speak) Our bodies are tired and our feet are somewhat sore.
But today as I stand before you and think back over that great march, I can say, as Sister Pollard said—a seventy-year-old Negro woman who lived in this community during the bus boycott—and one day, she was asked while walking if she didn’t want to ride. And when she answered, ‘No,’ the person said, ‘Well, aren’t you tired?’ And with her ungrammatical profundity, she said, ‘My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.’ (Yes, sir. All right) And in a real sense this afternoon, we can say that our feet are tired, (Yes, sir) but our souls are rested.
They told us we wouldn’t get here. And there were those who said that we would get here only over their dead bodies, (Well. Yes, sir. Talk) but all the world today knows that we are here and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying, “We ain’t goin’ let nobody turn us around.” (Yes, sir. Speak) [Applause]”
– quoted from the “How Long? Not Long” speech* by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
*NOTE: This speech is also known as the “Our God Is Marching On!” speech.
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, March 25th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03242021 Selma to Montgomery”]
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.)
### GET CREATIVE & HELP THE ARC BEND ###
Auspicious and Holy Stories (the “missing” Wednesday post) March 22, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Abhyasa, Art, Baha'i, Bhakti, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Kirtan, Lent, Life, Music, Mysticism, New Year, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Vairagya, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: Anton Chekhov, Chaitra Navaratri, Durga, Goswami Tulsidas, kriya yoga, kriyā yoga, Lent, Maty Ezraty, Nandi, Nandini, nasheeds, Ramadan, Ramadān, Sami Yusuf, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Shailaputri, Stephen Sondheim, The Gospel According to Luke, The Gospel According to Matthew, Tom Robbins, Tony Vigorito, Ugadi, ummah
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Many blessings to all! “Happy Ugadi, Happy New Year!” to those who are celebrating! “Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the holy month of Ramadān. Blessings to anyone observing Lent or Great Lent during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons! Happy Spring to those in the Northern Hemisphere & Happy Fall to those in the Southern Hemisphere.
This is the “missing” post for Wednesday, March 22nd. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
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 their stories. However, this year, I feel compelled to tell a few different stories. They are the stories being told, celebrated, and observed all over the world today. They are auspicious stories. They are holy stories. They are stories filled with their own promise: a promise of hope and renewal.
Some elements of the following were posted in 2020 and 2021, in a slightly different combination and context. You can click on the years to find the original posts. There are also some embedded links below, which connect to additional context.
“The truth, from my perspective, is that the world, indeed, is ending — and is also being reborn. It’s been doing that all day, every day, forever. Each time we exhale, the world ends; when we inhale, there can be, if we allow it, rebirth and spiritual renewal. It all transpires inside of us. In our consciousness, in our hearts. All the time.”
– Tom Robbins quoted in the Reality Sandwich article “The Syntax of Sorcery: An Interview with Tom Robbins” by Tony Vigorito (posted online June 6, 2012)
“Renewal” is a funny word, because I don’t think it is (technically) a homonym (i.e., a word that has multiple meanings), but it is a word that can conjure up very different sentiments. Simply stated, a “renewal” is the continuation or extension of something. Sometimes we think of it in the context of an activity or state that has been continuous, but had a set ending date – like when we borrow a book from a public library. Other times, we think of it in the context of continuing something that has been interrupted. Renewal can also be used to refer to something that has been repaired and/or restored to its original state… so that it can continue fulfilling its purpose.
Regardless of how you think of the word, “renewal” is a concept that we often associate with Spring. In fact, similar to how cultures all over the world celebrate light overcoming darkness during the darkest times of the year, cultures all over the world spend some portion of Spring celebrating renewal. In many cases, these celebrations mark a renewal of faith and a celebration of the continuation of a covenant with God.
Today, March 22, 2023, is a time when at least five different communities around the world are observing rituals related to renewal. While people within the Bahá’i Faith just finished observing the Bahá’i 19-Day Fast and celebrating the Nowruz (the New Year) – and have a few weeks before their most holy festival, Western Christian and Eastern Orthodox Christian communities are observing the last few weeks of Lent and Great Lent. At this same time, some people in India and the Indian diaspora are celebrating Ugadi, the Hindu (or Indian) New Year, which is also the beginning of Chaitra Navaratri. Finally, the holy month of Ramadān in Islām is scheduled to begin tonight at sunset. (In countries that do not have sightings of the crescent moon, the holy month will begin on Thursday or Friday). Some of these celebrations and observations will extend into April, overlapping even more auspicious and holy times for even more communities around the world. Each ritual has different customs, traditions, and significances; however, what is important to note is how each observation renews people’s connection with their faith, their community, and the deepest parts of themselves.
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
– quoted from The Gospel According to St. Luke (4:1-2, NIV)
NOTE: This is almost identical to The Gospel According to St. Matthew (4:1-2, NIV)
As I’ve mentioned before, the word “Lent” comes from the Old English word for “spring season” and is a period of 40 days meant to mirror the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness prior to being betrayed, crucified, and resurrected. For Christians, it is seen as a period of preparation (for Easter) and involves fasting, prayer, reflection, redemption, and (yes) renewal. While the story is the same, the Roman Catholic and Western Christian traditions use a different calendar than the Eastern / Orthodox Christian traditions. The way the Sundays are counted is another difference in the way Lent and Great Lent are observed. In Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions, Sundays are considered “Feast Days” – anniversaries of Easter and the Resurrection – and, therefore, they are not counted as days of penance. In Orthodox traditions, Sundays are included in the count.
The holy month of Ramadān is another observation within an Abrahamic religion – and it also involves yet another different calendar; so, the overlap in holy times is not always the same. Ramadān is an Arabic word derived from a root word meaning “scorching heat” or “dryness.” In addition to being the name of the 9th month of the Islāmic calendar, which is a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community, it is also one of the 99 “Beautiful Names of Allah” (also known as “99 Attributes of Allah”). While the fasting from sunrise to sunset during the holy month is a holy obligation (for those who are physically able) and one of the Five Pillars of Faith in Islām, I normally don’t focus on this particular ritual and tradition until the end of the holy month – which includes a night that is considered the holiest night of the month, a night of revelation and destiny.
“I know I’m waiting
Waiting for something
Something to happen to me
But this waiting comes with
Trials and challenges
Nothing in life is free”
“My Lord, show me right from wrong
Give me light, make me strong
I know the road is long
Make me strong”
– quoted from the song “Make Me Strong” by Sami Yusuf
There are several calendars used in India and Southeast Asia which may be referred to as the Hindu calendar (or, in some cases the Buddhist calendar). For the most part, these are lunisolar calendars. Some, like those used in Nepal and certain regions of India, emphasize the lunar cycles and start with the (spring) harvest season. On the flip side, the Tamil calendar emphasizes the solar cycle and begins around the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. (In fact, I have seen the Tamil calendar described as a purely solar calendar.)
The Indian calendars tend to have twelve months, however, in some areas (particularly in the North) a month begins the day after a full moon and in other areas (often in the South) the month begins at sunrise after the “no moon” or new moon. The months are usually divided into the bright half (waxing, when the crescent appears after the new moon) and the darker half (waning, the day after the full moon). Because of the different starting points, the same lunar-oriented religious holidays may start at slightly different times throughout the continent. Either way you look at it, many people are beginning their observations and celebrations of Navaratri.
Navaratri (which means “nine nights” in Sanskrit) technically occurs four times on the Hindu calendar, although extra emphasis is put on the one beginning today and the one in the fall. Like the others, the fall celebration of Sharada Navaratri is a celebration of divine feminine energy – specifically of Durga, the divine mother, in various manifestations. It is considered the most celebrated. Magha Navaratri and Ashada Navaratri are the least celebrated, although they have special significance in certain regions. The second most celebrated Navaratri is Chaitra Navaratri, which begins today and is also Ugadi, the Hindu or Indian New Year.
Like the others, Chaitra Navaratri begins by celebrating Durga as Shailaputri (“Daughter of Mountain”). Shailputri is the daughter of Himavat, the Mountain King or Guardian God of Himalayan Mountains, and is recognized as a divine manifestation of Mahadevi and a reincarnation of Sati (the wife of Shiva), who then reincarnates as Parvati. In art, she holds a trishula or trident in her right hand and a lotus in her left hand, all while riding Shiva’s bull Nandi*, whose name means “happy, joy, and satisfaction.” In some regions, this spring celebration culminates on the final day with Rama Navami – a celebration of the birth of Lord Rama.
“Lord Ram gave Hanuman a quizzical look and said, ‘What are you, a monkey or a man?’ Hanuman bowed his head reverently, folded his hands and said, ‘When I do not know who I am, I serve You and when I do know who I am, You and I are One.’”
– quoted from the epic Sanskrit poem Ramacharitmanas (Lake of the Deeds of Rama) by Goswami Tulsidas
All of the rituals and traditions mentioned above could be considered vigils (or feature vigils at some point during the observation) – as they are periods of time when people are “keeping awake during the time usually spent asleep, especially to keep watch or pray.” Even when people are not literally staying up all night, they are required to be mindful (i.e., awake) to how they can fulfill the obligations of their faith on a day-to-day basis. All of these rituals and traditions are practiced in community. Finally, they all fit into the rubric of kriyā yoga, as described by Patanjali in Yoga Sūtra 2.1-2. They all involve a combination of tapah (“heat, austerity, or discipline” and the practices that cultivate heat, discipline, and austerity on a number of levels), svādhyāya (“self-study”), and īśvarapraņidhāna (“trustful surrender to [God]”). Furthermore, they all have the intention or goal of bringing about that ultimate “union” and the end of suffering – which is, on a certain level, a promise made by all the major religious, spiritual, and/or philosophical traditions.
Which brings us back to that Chekhovian promise.
Anton Chekov 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 (to ourselves). We are also, on a certain level, keeping a promise. Whenever I put together a sequence, there’s a part of me that thinks about that promise and how I can honor it. I also think about a song by Stephen Sondheim (“Putting it together…bit by bit…piece by piece”), as well as about Maty Ezraty’s sequencing advice about the middle (the heart) of the story. I consider how I can build up to a big heart opener (and/or a big hip opener). I also think about how we each need to process our own personal story in order to not only lift and open our hearts, but also to support our lifted and open hearts – especially in times when it is so easy to close off. Then I think about what best moves us into stillness and a period of reflection, after all that we’ve done to get to the middle (the heart). Finally, I think about rituals and traditions.
I often indicate that traditions are rituals that have lost a little bit of their meaning. Saying that may, sometimes, take away from the fact that both rituals and traditions are powerful. They have powerful affects on our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. They are part of our stories – and, also part of the ways we tell and share our stories. They can also be the ways in which we process our stories. Similarly, our practice is full of rituals and traditions that – on and off the mat – renew our connections with our beliefs, our communities, and the deepest parts of ourselves.
“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.”
– Maty Ezraty
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
Two quick notes about the music: First, some of the songs on the playlist are, or could be considered, 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 each song are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music. Second, I broke one of my personal rules and included a song (in Hindi) for which I only have a partial translation. I’m still searching and seeking.
*CORRECTION: During the 4:30 practice, I mixed up Nandi and Nandini, the cow of plenty in the Mahabharata. My apologies for the confusion.
### Unity yields Equity and Equality ###
EXCERPT (FTWMI): It’s Bach’s Day Too! March 21, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Art, Bhakti, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Fitness, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent, Life, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Vairagya, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Advocacy, Johann Sebastian Bach, memory, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Philosophy, samskaras, samskāras, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, World Down Syndrome Day, Yoga Sutra 2.11, yoga sutras
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“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating! Happy Spring to those in the Northern Hemisphere & Happy Fall to those in the Southern Hemisphere. Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent or Great Lent during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons! & Don’t forget to rock your socks on World Down Syndrome Day!
For Those Who Missed It: This is an excerpt from March 21, 2020. There is a link at the end of the excerpt if you want more of the philosophy. Some embedded links below connect to sites outside of this blog. Class details and links have been added (as I was not yet teaching online three years ago today).
“[Music] should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the re-creation of the soul, where this is not kept in mind, there is no true music, but only an infernal clamour and ranting.”
– Johann Sebastian Bach (b. 1685)
According to the Old Style / Julian calendar, March 21st, is the anniversary of the birth of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in 1685, Bach’s statement about music also works as a statement for yoga: ‘[Philosophically speaking, yoga] should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the re-creation of the soul, where this is not kept in mind, there is no true [yoga], but only an infernal clamour and ranting.’ People who think of yoga only as a form of exercise are often surprised that there’s more. One can only imagine their surprise if they walk into one of my classes – especially on March 21st, when the playlist starts with Bach and then becomes a soundtrack for other events that correspond to this date in history.
Imagine their further surprise when all of that is just the background to a deeper practice.
Click here if you are interested in reading the complete 2020 post and going deeper into some of the ways we explore the Yoga Philosophy.
“Samskaras – the drivers of our mental tendencies – manifest in the form of memory. We are able to remember something because the subtle impressions related to the object have been stored in our mind. Because they are hidden beneath thick layers of the forces of time, the mind is not aware of their existence. But like a seed that lies dormant until spring brings moisture and warmth, samskaras awaken when the conditions inside and outside the mind are conducive.”
– quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.11 from The Practice of the Yoga Sūtra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Please join me today (Tuesday, March 21st) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03212020 Bach’s Day Too” or “03212021 Bach’s Day Too” ]
NOTE: Some tracks have slightly different timings on the different platforms.
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.)
### I’M ADVOCATING FOR MORE KINDNESS TO YOURSELF & TO OTHERS (& LOTS OF SOCKS)! ###
FTWMI: Another New Year, Another New Season (a “renewed” post) March 20, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Art, Baha'i, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent, Life, Loss, Meditation, Music, New Year, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusione, Calendars, Dick Davis, Spring, Swami Jnaneshvara, Yoga Sutra
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“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating and Happy Spring to those in the Northern Hemisphere. Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and/or completing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2022. Dates and class details have been updated. Some links were updated after the 2023 posting. Since the “Season for Non-violence” word for today is “Choice,” consider what choices you want to make in this new year and new season.
“At a time of another crisis, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá offered these words of counsel: ‘In a day such as this, when the tempests of trials and tribulations have encompassed the world, and fear and trembling have agitated the planet, ye must rise above the horizon of firmness and steadfastness with illumined faces and radiant brows in such wise that, God willing, the gloom of fear and consternation may be entirely obliterated, and the light of assurance may dawn above the manifest horizon and shine resplendently.’ The world stands more and more in need of the hope and the strength of spirit that faith imparts. Beloved friends, you have of course long been occupied with the work of nurturing within groups of souls precisely the attributes that are required at this time: unity and fellow feeling, knowledge and understanding, a spirit of collective worship and common endeavour. Indeed, we have been struck by how efforts to reinforce these attributes have made communities especially resilient, even when faced with conditions that have necessarily limited their activities. Though having to adapt to new circumstances, the believers have used creative means to strengthen bonds of friendship, and to foster among themselves and those known to them spiritual consciousness and qualities of tranquillity, confidence, and reliance on God.”
– quoted from a rare “New Year” message from the Universal House of Justice “To the Bahá’is of the World,” dated Naw-Ruz 177 (March 20, 2020, in reference to COVID-19 recommendations)
I mentioned in my last a “9 Days” video that we all have patterns. One of my patterns seems to be falling behind at certain points in the year. Maybe you have noticed that same pattern in yourself. Maybe, like me, there are times when you can pinpoint reasons, explanations, stories about why your engagement in the world changes – e.g., those years when Februarys were extra challenging and the fact that my maternal grandparents and my mother all died during (different) summers. Then there are times when the pattern seems odd (i.e., when you forget that those extra challenging Februarys still have a hold on you). Either way, when you start noticing those patterns, you may also start noticing correlating patterns – like when you start catching back up.
The following is a revised, updated, and abridged version of a 2021 post. The original post included information about the March 6th and 13th practices.
Today, March 20th, is the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere – which coincides with Nowruz, also known as the Persian New Year or Iranian New Year, which is also the Zoroastrian and the Bahá’i New Year. Nowruz is a compound of two Persian words and literally means “new day.” As this is a new beginning for so many around the world, it feels like an auspicious time to start catching back up on my blog posts!
The date of this New Year (and of the Vernal Equinox) is established every year through the astronomical observations that result in the Solar Hijri (Persian) calendar, which is the oldest and most accurate solar calendar. Technically, today is the end of the Bahá’i 19-Day Fast and the beginning of the Bahá’i New Year is at sunset this evening; but it is also a moveable based on the change in seasons.
In “the Most Holy Book” of the Bahá’i faith, the Kitáb-i-Agdas, the prophet Bahá’u’lláh explained that the equinox was a “Manifestation of God” and, therefore, would mark the new day/year. He also indicated that the actual date would be based on a “standard” place chosen by the Universal House of Justice (the nine-member ruling body of the worldwide community) in Haifa, Israel. In 2014 (which was year 171 in their community), the Universal House of Justice chose Tehran as the special place in the world that would serve as the observational standard. This is year 178 180.
People within the Bahá’i community spend the last month of the year preparing for the New Year by observing the 19-Day Fast. Throughout various parts of Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, and the Balkans people from a variety of faiths have traditions which sometimes include a month’s worth of (preparatory) celebrations. These celebrations include “spoon-banging” and costumed visitors in a practice similar to Halloween’s trick-or-treaters; rituals related to light; a celebration of the elements; a celebration of ancestors; and stories about how light (literally and symbolically) overcomes darkness.
“But his splendid son, Jamshid, his heart filled with his father’s precepts, then prepared to reign. He sat on his father’s throne, wearing a golden crown according to the royal custom. The imperial [divine glory] was his. The world submitted to him; quarrels were laid to rest, and all demons, birds and fairies obeyed Jamshid’s commands. The royal throne shone with luster, and the wealth of the world increased. He said, ‘God’s glory is with me; I am both prince and priest. I hold evildoers back from their evil, and I guide souls towards the light.’”
– quoted from “The First Kings” in Shanameh – The Persian Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsi (translated by Dick Davis)
One such story appears in the Shāhnāma (“The Book of Kings”), an epic Persian poem written by Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusione around the 10th and 11th centuries and one of the world’s longest poems attributed to a single author. According to the legend, there was a time when the world was plunged into darkness and a deadly winter that caused most people to lose hope. However, the mythical King Jamshid, who spent over 100 years building a great kingdom, saved the world and restored hope by building a throne out of gems and precious metals. He then sat on the throne and had “demons” lift him up to catch the dying light so that he became as bright as the sun. More gems were gathered around him and he became even brighter. This became the “New Day.”
I often mention that every day, every inhale, and every exhale is the beginning of a New Year. We don’t often think of it that way, and we certainly don’t (as a whole) view and celebrate life that way. But, the bottom line is that every moment of our lives is a “liminal” moment: a transitional or threshold moment that serves as a doorway between times. We may notice we have more daylight, more sunshine, and we call it “Spring!” But, in some ways, this moment is arbitrary because we have been getting more daylight since the Winter Solstice.
Sometimes, when the winter is really cold and really dark (or we’ve been cooped-up inside too much) we pay attention to the little incremental differences between one day and the next. We notice the lengthening shadows and the extra seconds. Most times, however, we don’t start noticing the changes until we are told to notice the changes. Even then, however, what we notice is the end result – the culmination of all the little changes; not the transitions themselves. In the Yoga Sūtras, however, Patanjali underscored the importance of paying attention to the transitions.
In fact, when detailing how the practice of “concentration” “progresses,” Patanjali highlighted the final three limbs of the Yoga Philosophy (dhāranā, dhyāna, and samādhi) and referred to them collectively as samyama. Once he explained how each one flows from the previous ones (all stemming from the earlier practices of prāņāyāma and pratyāhāra) – and cautioned against efforts to skip the stages of progression – he delineated the difference between external and internal experiences. We often think of these as being very obviously related to things that are happening outside of the body and/or separate from us versus things happening inside the body and/or directly related to us. We may even break things down as things we can touch/hold versus things that are not tangible. However, there is also an aspect of the practice that transcends these arbitrary delineations: outside becomes inside.
Endings become beginnings.
“The transition from one year to the next year happens in an infinitely short moment that is actually non-existent in time. So too, there are transitions in the moments of life and the moments of meditation. Mindfulness of transitions in daily life and during meditation time is extremely useful on the spiritual journey to enlightenment.”
– quoted from the commentary on “Yoga Sutras 3.9-3.16: Witnessing Subtle Transitions With Samyama” by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati (“Swami J”)
Please join me on the virtual mat today (Monday, March 20th) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice. 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.
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The playlist for Sunday, March 20, 2022, is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “032021 New Year, New Season”]
NOTE: Due to artist protests, one song may not play on Spotify. As I support artists in their efforts to bring about change, I am not re-mixing affected playlists.
This is a 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice that, in the spirit of generosity (dana), is freely given and freely received. If you are able to support the center and its teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” my other practices. Donations are tax deductible)
### RIDE THESE WAVES ###
FTWMI:… some Powerball® thoughts March 19, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Healing Stories, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, One Hoop, Poetry, Twin Cities, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Andy Greene, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Beecher, Dave Van Ronk, Elvis Presley, Jacques Levy, lottery, Mbube, Powerball®, Robert Allen Zimmerman, Rubin Carter, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Solomon Linda, Timothy Hampton, Tony Glover, twists
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons! Happy New Year, to those who are celebrating!
For Those Who Missed It: This is an abridged (and then revised and expanded) version of a 2022 post that primarily focused on “Winning the Lottery.” Some elements of this post also overlap with the 2023 Purim post. Some embedded links connect to websites outside of my blog.
“The problem with this answering line is that the world of the blues that seems to be evoked by the idiom and form of this song is generally not a world in which one’s baby goes off to a ‘foreign land.’ African American blues singers in the tradition that Dylan is building on here may sing about their baby going off to Chicago, or New Orleans, or Natchez. But not on a trip abroad: that’s an experience that, at this particular moment, is still mostly the province of a modern, educated, Caucasian upper middle class…. Dylan goes on to claim in good rural language that he’ll ‘get lucky’ or ‘die tryin’ ’ as he rambles to reach his beloved. ”
– quoted from “II. Ramblin’ Boy: ‘Protest’ and the Art of Adaptation” in Bob Dylan’s Poetics: How the Songs Work by Timothy Hampton
I recently heard a young, up-and-coming artist compare achieving a huge milestone to winning the lottery. For sure, I can see that. Especially when you consider how many people commented on the fact that this artist hit this much deserved milestone before his much lauded collaborator. (Don’t misunderstand me, I’m a big fan of both artists, but there’s something more than talent at play here.) I think having a hit song is also like that. Because while there is a lot of hard work that goes into creating a hit song, there’s also a lot of luck. It’s like that old adage: you can’t win if you don’t play. Of course, most people who play, don’t win – at least not really big – and it’s the same thing with being a big star in music.
The existence of streaming services and social media means that a lot of hustle and marketing on the part of the artist (and their community) can get an artist noticed today, in a way they couldn’t get noticed 20-plus years ago. That attention can really push a song up the charts. However, we’re still in a time time when songs are hits (in part) because they are played on the radio. And for all that hustle, many songs are played on the radio because of the way the musician looks. This is true across genres. This is even more so when it comes to music in and from certain countries and cultures. Being talented and having the “right” size, complexion, ethnicity, and (on a certain level) gender and sexuality, is like hitting the Powerball®.
“The Multi-State Lottery Association encourages all lottery players to be responsible in their amount of play.
For some people gambling can become a problem. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, there are a number of helpful resources listed below.
National Council on Problem Gambling
24 Hour Confidential National Helpline
Call: 1-800-522-4700
Chat: ncpgambling.org/chat
Text: 1-800-522-4700
Association of Problem Gambling Service Administrators”
– quoted from the “Play Responsibly” tab on the Powerball® website
While I’ve been known to play bingo in a church basement (for charity and the chance to win a homemade quilt), I’m not really one to play the lottery. My limited understanding is that there’s a lot of different ways you can win with a Powerball®. However, just like with music and other things that could make you wealthy beyond your dreams, you have to be responsible and avoid the scams. You have to balance the temptation and your desire with reality. The reality, again, being that if you don’t play, you don’t win; but most people don’t win… big.
If you’re talented and have the aforementioned equivalent of the Powerball®, you can do things other people can’t do. You can write songs that make people re-think the world. You can sing songs other people not only wouldn’t think to sing, but might be afraid to sing. You can inspire people to sing your songs… even when they don’t always understand you. To me, Bob Dylan and his eponymous first album are a great example of a musical Powerball®.
“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”
– quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s debut studio album, Bob Dylan, was released today (March 19th) in 1962. I didn’t use it for the anniversary this last year – because I thought it would distract from [the] sūtra study – but, normally I use one of the playlists that I also use on Bob Dylan’s birthday (hint, hint). It’s a playlist that combines music from the original album – which only included two original Bob Dylan songs – with Bob Dylan songs covered and/or made famous by others. It’s a good way, I think, to highlight the fact that Dylan is as inspired as he is inspirational.
Bob Dylan, the album, was recorded on November 20th and 22nd of 1961. In addition to the two original Dylan songs (“Talkin’ New York” and “Song to Woody”), there were eleven covers or traditional folk songs (including Negro spirituals). While Bob Dylan did arrange some of the folk songs, there’s one arrangement that he famously, uhmm… “borrowed” (without permission) from folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Exactly a month after recording the album, Bob Dylan had an informal recording session in a Minneapolis, Minnesota hotel room with Bonnie Beecher and Tony Glover. Those bootleg recordings may or may not have been distributed out of someone’s trunk; but, they were the equivalent of modern-day artists streaming their music. They got people excited about Bob Dylan as a musician and may be considered a better glimpse (than the studio album) of what was to come from the artist.
The bootleg recordings did not, however, drum up enough attention to really sell Bob Dylan. The album has never been super popular (chart wise) in the US or the UK. Neither did it, initially, receive a lot of critical recognition or attention. Part of the lack of interest, at the time it was released, may have been because it sounded nothing like what was popular at the time. According to a Rolling Stone article by Andy Greene, “[The album came out at] the height of ‘The Twist’ dance craze, and 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had the word ‘twist’ in the title, including “Dear Lady Twist” by Gary U.S. Bonds, “Twistin’ The Night Away’ by Sam Cooke, “Hey, Let’s Twist” by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, “Twistin’ Postman” by the Marvelettes and “Alvin Twist” by the Chipmunks.”
In addition to “Peppermint Twist,” also by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, which spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the airwaves at the time were filled with doowop artists like Gene Chandler; crooners like Ray Charles and Neil Sedaka; women like Connie Francis, Shelley Fabares, and Little Eva; Motown girl bands like The Shirelles; and boy bands like the Beach Boys and The Tokens (whose number one song at the beginning of 1962, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” is it’s own “lottery” cautionary tale). Of course, there was folk music; however, as Andy Greene pointed out, “To most of America, the Kingston Trio were the embodiment of folk music…. but [Dylan] sounded nothing like the Kingston Trio.” Then there was Elvis Presley… and some 1962 reviewers did compare Dylan – as well as his voice and his style – to Elvis Presley.
Which is weird to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Bob Dylan fan (on a lot of different levels). I even dig that first album. However, the comparison to Elvis is curious, when you really think about it. At the time, maybe they were both just seen as young, eager singers changing the “face” of music – and I get that. They were also young, white singers making popular (city) music out of traditions associated with Black, poor, and/or rural America – and I get that comparison, too. However, it’s hard for me to not view them through the lens of history.
Elvis was a singer, a performer, an actor, and a U. S. veteran; but, he was never recognized as a songwriter. Most say that he didn’t even pen the songs on which he is credited as a co-writer. Also, he didn’t have a ton of protest songs associated with the anti-war and Civil Rights movements. Finally, Elvis never won, as Bob Dylan did in 2016, a Nobel Prize in Literature. In fact, (to me) the only thing Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley had in common in 1962, especially when compared to other also talented musicians at the time, was that elusive Powerball® of talent, drive, and other people’s perceptions.
“How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone”
– quoted from the song “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, March 19th) at 2:30 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05242022 ‘Bob’s Poems”]
“Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin’ that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he coulda been
The champion of the world”
– quoted from the song “Hurricane” by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
### + ###
The Grace of Kindness & God’s Silence March 18, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Lent, Life, Love, Minnesota, Movies, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Twin Cities, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 2 Corinthians, Alison McGhee, Carry app, Clem Snide, Denis Johnson, Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright, Franz Wright, James Wright, Julia Keller, pandemic, Pulitzer Prize, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Nonviolence
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
“You could call someone
where it’s still early.
Go out and look at the stars
shining
in the past
Or open the Joachim Jeremias to the densely printed
page, it’s corner folded
for some reason
not yet remembered
before you set the clock.
You have to set the clock—
for a moment that doesn’t exist yet”
– quoted from the poem “Home Remedy” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Do you remember this week, three years ago? Do you remember today?
I know, I know, some parts of the last three years are a blur; but, three years ago today, I was putting together a full-length practice video, to post on YouTube. It was a Wednesday, everything was shutting down, and I was posting the video so people could keep up their practice. I had no real plans to do anything else… other than post on the blog for two weeks and maybe post a couple of more videos. Goodness. Do you remember when…?
It’s a little surreal to realize that – not counting my videos on the Carry prenatal yoga and meditation app – my first full-length (physical) practice video, with all it’s flaws, is still my only full-length (physical) practice video. What is super surreal is to think about the hundreds of full-length audio recordings I’ve made in the meantime and, also, to realize that 2019 was the last time I taught a live class on the anniversary of the birth of Franz Wright.
“I am her to learn
to bear
the beams of love,
what else
Bells
through the leaves, I am here to endure the
bells tolling
underground”
– quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Born in Vienna, today in 1953, Franz Wright spent portions of his childhood in Washington (state), California, and the Midwestern United States (in particular, Minnesota). In addition to sharing similar poetic themes, he and his father, James Wright, are the only parent and child to win a Pulitzer Prize in the same category. The elder Wright suffered from depression, bipolar disorders, and alcoholism and focused on the emotional suffering he saw around him, especially that suffering experienced by the disenfranchised in America. The younger Wright wrote about isolation, loneliness, longing, insomnia, and death intersecting with kindness, love, faith, hope, and peace. Three years ago today, I thought it oddly and serendipitously appropriate that my first virtual offering focused on Franz Wright’s work.
Three years later, I find his words still ring true and, oddly, still fit our current circumstances.
Versions of the following were original posted on March 18th and 20th of 2020. You can click on the dates (to the left) to view the original posts. Some links (below) will take you away from my blog.
Chicago Tribune critic Julia Keller once described one of Franz Wright’s collections as being “ultimately about joy and grace and the possibility of redemption, about coming out whole on the other side of emotional catastrophe,” while Denis Johnson supposedly compared his poems to “tiny jewels shaped by blunt, ruined fingers – miraculous gifts.” I know, that’s a lot to take in (and you might need to read that Va. Woolf-like sentence again). The thing is; I think we are (still) in the middle of a Franz Wright poem. So, brace yourself.
I first came across Franz Wright’s poem “Solution” in a 2015 blog post written by Alison McGhee, a New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-nominee, who writes and teaches up the street from where I was in March of 2020. In the post (which I strongly recommend), Professor McGhee wrote about an encounter she had with someone best described as her exterior opposite. Yet the interior movements of the heart, all of our hearts, are ultimately the same – something both Alison McGhee’s short post and Franz Wright’s poem illustrate bluntly, beautifully, and miraculously.
Both the post and the poem contain reminders we could all use right now.
“What is the meaning of kindness?
Speak and listen to others, from now on,
as if they had recently died.
At the core the seen and unseen worlds are one.”
– “Solution” by Franz Wright
Franz Wright’s poems are full of natural spirituality and that oftentimes “heartbreaking human conflict between religion and spirit.” The final line of the poem “Solution” reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:18 where Saint Paul and Saint Timothy wrote, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” NOTE: The New Living Translation translates this passage as “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” In 2020, I suggested focusing on what is unseen (during the practice). Today, I suggest focusing on the unseen as grace (how ever that resonates for you).
“II
The long silences need to be loved, perhaps
more than the words
which arrive
to describe them
in time.”
– quoted from the poem “Home Remedy” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Franz Wright won two National Endowment for the Arts grants (1985 and 1992), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1989), a Whiting Award (1991), the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, (1996), and the aforementioned Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His first collection after winning the 2004 Pulitzer Prize was entitled God’s Silence. I haven’t read all of it (yet), but I am still fascinated by the idea of 144 pages worth of Franz Wright poetry curated around the idea of “God’s Silence.” Notice, that it’s 144 pages – not 144 poems. (Poets everywhere are now doing the math.) This is the kind of the thing that gets me oddly excited, because there is so much I want to know!
I want to know if he was referring to silence that is the response to a prayer or a request (or even a curse); the silence that precedes an answer; the silence that follows the answer (when the questioner is dumbfounded or in awe of the response); the silence when one is pondering the best way to phrase something and therefore measuring their words; the silence of shock (can we shock God?); the silence of disappointment; the silence of wonder; the silence when no one is around; the silence of sleeping children; the silence between one breath and the next; the silence of meditation; the silence of peace; the silence honoring the dead; the silence just before a newborn declares itself alive; or….The list goes on.
He could have been talking about all of the above. Or none of the above. There are so many possibilities – and they are all full of grace (whatever that means to you in this moment)!
“I
Armed Conflict
Snowy light fills the room
pronouncing itself
softly. The telephone ringing
in the deserted city— ”
– the poem “Armed Conflict” quoted from God’s Silence by Franz Wright
The first section of God’s Silence is entitled “East Boston, 1996” and the first poem in that section, “Armed Conflict,” sets the stage for the other poems, including “Solitary Play: Minnesota, 1961” – which is a dark and twisted coming of age poem. The latter feels even darker and more twisted given so many current events related to children and our conflicts about the 2nd Amendment. And that’s the thing, again, about Franz Wright’s poetry: We don’t have to go through the things he went through to feel, deep inside of our own hearts, the gut-wrenching things he felt.
We don’t have to be the son of James Wright to understand what it is like to stand in the shadow and the light of a parent who struggled every day with their own darkness and light. Neither do we have to be abandoned by said parent to see the poignant irony of living (and dying) in much the same ways. Nor do we have to spend our finally days, dealing with terminal lung cancer and writing what are essentially love poems to our spouse*, to understand why a collection of memories is named Kindertotenwald (essentially, a forest of ones who will never age). We all get it, can get it; especially, if we read (or listen to) Franz Wright’s poetry.
Maybe, possibly, we can also get the grace that was his kindness, love, faith, hope, and peace.
“After all, it was only a blizzard in Minneapolis in 1959. How are you supposed to describe something like me? And when you think about it, why should you try, why should you even care?”
– quoted from the prose poem “Wintersleep” in Kindertotenwald by Franz Wright
I not only care about poetry that gets you through hard times, I love it. In part, because it makes you realize that someone has been through harder – or, as hard of a time as you. Additionally, I think one of the reasons I was/am so fascinated with the idea of God’s Silence is that part of my practice involves silence, moving into silence and stillness. The kind of silence and stillness that can make people uncomfortable, because it is so powerful. Yet, it is simultaneously the kind of silence and stillness that is the epitome of peace. When Patanjali codified the philosophy of yoga in the Yoga Sūtras, he wrote, “yogash citta vritti nirodah.” (YS 1.2) Yoga ceases the fluctuations of the mind.
Silence.
Perhaps, God’s silence.
“Like you a guest, a ghost here
Everything will be forgotten
And either I am too alone
or I am not
alone enough
to make each moment
holy
(no one bats 1,000 friend
no one
bats 500)
And I have heard God’s silence like the sun
and sought to change
Now
I’m just going to listen to the silence
till the Silence.”
– quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, March 18th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07082020 On Death & Dying”]
*NOTE: Franz Wright was married to the translator Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright. In addition to writing and recording some of his poems (including the Clem Snide song “Encounter at 3AM,”) Mr. Wright recorded some of his final thoughts and conversations before he died in 2015. Last Words, is a documentary featuring those final recordings.
“All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
– The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 4:15 – 18 (NLT)
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.)
### Ecology ###
Keeping the Overcome Promise (the “missing” Wednesday post) March 16, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Changing Perspectives, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Twin Cities, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Amelia Boynton Robinson, Bill Moyers, Chad Mitchell Trio, Civil Rights, Clark Olsen, Dick Goodwin, Frankie Laine, Fred Shuttlesworth, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos, Harry Belafonte, Harry McPherson, Henri Nouwen, Hosea Williams, James Reeb, Joan Baez, John Lewis, John McCormack, Judge Frank Minis Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Maurice Davis, Nina Simone, Orloff Miller, Peter Paul & Mary, Richard Goodwin, Richard Quinn, Sammy Davis Jr., Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Sullivan Jackson, Tony Bennett, Viola Fauver Liuzzo
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
This is the “missing” post for Wednesday, March 15th. NOTE: I have maintained the language of the quotes. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
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.)
“Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the Congress:
I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy.
I urge every member of both parties, Americans of all religions and colors, from every section of this country to join me in that cause.
At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama.
There, long-suffering men and women peacefully protested the denial of their rights as Americans. Many were brutally assaulted. One good man, a man of God, was killed.
There is no cause for pride in what has happened in Selma. There is no cause for self-satisfaction in the long denial of equal rights of millions of Americans. But there is cause for hope and for faith in our democracy in what is happening here tonight.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
Other than some legal action, Monday, March 8,1965, was a relatively peaceful day in Selma, Alabama. I say “relatively,” because the day before was what is now known as “Sunday Blood Sunday” – when non-violent protestors, like future Congressman John Lewis, Reverend Hosea Williams, and Amelia Boynton, were beaten as attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge – and the following day, March 9th, would become known as “Turnaround (or Turnback) Tuesday” – when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led Civil Rights activists to the middle of the bridge for a moment of prayer. After the second march, three white Unitarian Universalist ministers, Reverends Clark Olsen, Orloff Miller, and James Reeb were attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan, and Reverend James Reeb was killed.
Two days after Reverend Reeb was murdered, on Thursday, March 11th, students staged the first sit-in at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW. Six Black students and six white students entered the White House during regular visitor hours and sat down near the Library and Vermeil Room about 45 minutes before the White House was closed to visitors. Soon after they arrived, President Lyndon B. Johnson was notified of their presence and, around the same time, the Chief of the White House Police told them they would need to move or be arrested for unlawful entry. The students stated their position and most refused to leave.
The last few minutes of tours were cancelled and, about two hours after they arrived, the student protestors were moved to East Garden Room. Aware of the sensitivity of the situation, President Johnson waited several hours before instructing white and Black police officers (in street clothes) to remove the students to different police stations and charge them with “illegal entry.” As the president left and then, later, as the police officers removed the remaining 10 students, more protestors gathered at Lafayette Park. For days, Civil Rights activists would hold protest rallies and vigils in full view of the White House – and there is no doubt that the president was watching. In fact, on Monday, March 15, 1965, he told the world that he was watching and some of what he thought about what was happening all over the country.
“Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.
In our time we have come to live with moments of great crisis. Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues; issues of war and peace, issues of prosperity and depression. But rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself. Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, our welfare or our security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved nation.
The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue. And should we defeat every enemy, should we double our wealth and conquer the stars, and still be unequal to this issue, then we will have failed as a people and as a nation.
For with a country as with a person, ‘What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
In an effort to unify the country, President Johnson unequivocally said, “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem. And we are met here tonight as Americans to solve that problem.” Yet, he knew he had to do more than point out what should have been obvious. He knew he had to break it down and spell it out. He also knew that the conflict in the country was a reflection of conflict in the capital and that some people did not want him to weigh in on the issue at all.
Some congressional leaders did not think it was appropriate for President Johnson to order Congress to pass legislation. Sure, President Abraham Lincoln did it (in person) with regards to the issue of slavery and President; President Dwight D. Eisenhower did it (in writing) with regard to funding the interstate highway system; and, on a certain level, presidents did it all the time. However, the president’s job is to approve or veto legislation passed by Congress and then to ensure the enforcement of said laws – and some people saw (and see) that in very limited terms. In 1965, Speaker of the House John McCormack thought it was important for the president to speak, publicly and unequivocally about the issue of civil rights and, so, President Johnson prepared to do so. Several people were initially tasked with writing the speech, but none of those people (or their speeches) were approved by the president. In fact, he was reportedly quite upset that his favorite speechwriter, Richard “Dick” Goodwin, wasn’t initially given the task.
On the morning of March 15, 1965, however, Dick Goodwin arrived at the White House to the news that he had a few hours to draft (and then revise) a speech that the president would deliver that same evening to the joint sessions of Congress. Mr. Goodwin drew from his own experiences of facing racism, in the form of anti-Semitism, and President Johnson made sure that his experiences as a teacher of young Mexican-American in Texas was included. The President and his aides reviewed the first draft and offered revisions. Bill Moyers and Harry McPherson suggested revisions that the president did not appreciate. Lady Bird Johnson made a note in her diary that the president, Mr. Goodwin, and the staff worked on the speech all the way up until 7 o’clock PM. The speech was at 9, which meant only half of the speech was loaded into the teleprompter. President Johnson had to read the last half of the speech from a notebook.
“This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every American heart, North and South: ‘All men are created equal’—‘government by consent of the governed’—‘give me liberty or give me death.’ Those are not just clever words. Those are not just empty theories. In their name Americans have fought and died for two centuries, and tonight around the world they stand there as guardians of our liberty, risking their lives.
Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a man’s possessions; it cannot be found in his power, or in his position. It rests on his right to be treated as a man equal in opportunity to all others. It says that he shall share in freedom, choose his leaders, educate his children, and provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as a human being.
To apply any other test–to deny a man his hopes because of his color or race, his religion or the place of his birth–is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American freedom.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
As a former teacher, and as a Southerner, President Johnson knew that some people might not understand the challenges and obstacles faced by African Americans. So he pointed out the importance of the right to vote and then said, “Every device of which human ingenuity is capable has been used to deny this right.” Then, he laid out the “systematic and ingenious discrimination” in explicit detail – pointing out that “[The] fact is that the only way to pass these barriers is to show a white skin.” – and stated that he was going to send a law to Congress (that Wednesday) “designed to eliminate illegal barriers to the right to vote.” He even spelled out line items he intended to be included.
Of course, being from the South, LBJ was very clear about the kind of reaction his words would bring up from his kinsmen. So, he spoke directly to people who would end up on the wrong side of history, people who believed that states rights’ include the right to disenfranchise American citizens and people legally within the country’s borders and/or to dehumanize anyone (regardless of the status of their citizenship).
“To those who seek to avoid action by their national government in their own communities; who seek to maintain purely local control over elections, the answer is simple:
Open your polling places to all your people.
Allow men and women to register and vote whatever the color of their skin.
Extend the rights of citizenship to every citizen of this land.
There is no constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution is plain.
There is no moral issue. It is wrong to deny any of our fellow Americans the right to vote.
There is no issue of states rights or national rights. There is only the struggle for human rights.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
“This time, on this issue, there must be no delay, no hesitation and no compromise with out purpose.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
“But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of the American Negro to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life.
Their cause must be our cause too. it is not just Negroes, but it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.
[pause]
And we shall overcome.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
While the speech is official known as “The American Promise” speech, four words forever changed the way people remember the speech: “And we shall overcome.”
When President Lyndon B. Johnson uttered what was essential the battle cry of the Civil Rights Movement, people were shocked. First there was silence; then there was cheering and applause. There were also tears and, at least from the Southern contingent, there were curses. Remember, though, that people all over the country (and all of the world) were watching – and were equally stunned. It was one thing for a president to indicate he supported the citizens he represented. It was another thing all together for a president to so closely align himself with a cause.
Some of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, including Dr. King and John Lewis, were at the home of Sullivan Jackson, the only Black dentist in Selma, Alabama. When they heard what followed President Johnson’s dramatic pause, they couldn’t believe it. Dr. King reportedly wept; knowing that LBJ’s words were a sign of things to come. The president had previously told the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement that they had to be patient; but, with this speech he made it clear (at least publicly) that the time for patience was over. It was time to get to work and solidify change.
Which brings me to the questions I asked at the beginning of today’s practice: Where does change begin? In particular, where does societal change begin? There are two obvious answers. Some people – mostly politicians – say that change begins with policy and legislation. But, time and time again, history has shown us that people break unjust laws and protest against inhuman policies. The other answer is that change begins in the hearts and minds of the people within the society. So, President Johnson appealed to the hearts and the minds of the people in the United States.
“As a man whose roots go deeply into Southern soil I know how agonizing racial feelings are. I know how difficult it is to reshape the attitudes and the structure of society.
But a century has passed, more than a hundred years, since the Negro was freed. And he is not fully free tonight.”
“A century has passed, more than a hundred years, since equality was promised. And yet the Negro is not equal.
A century has passed since the day of promise. And the promise is still unkept.
The time of justice has now come. I tell you I believe sincerely that no force can hold it back. It is right in the eyes of man and God that it should come. And when it does, I think that day will brighten the lives of every American.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
President Johnson spoke longer than planned or expected. He pointed out that all of the time, energy, and resources dedicated to “maintain the barriers of hatred and terror” could be put to better use; that not doing so actually hurt white children and families in poverty-stricken areas. He made the effort to put people in different situations on equal footing, noting that poverty, disease, and ignorance were the true enemies. Then, for anyone who missed it, he said, “And these enemies too, poverty, disease, and ignorance, we shall overcome.”
By the time he finished speaking, even some of the people who disagreed with him understood the need and urgency for change. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be a bipartisan bill that passed both houses of Congress and that the president would sign into law on August 6, 1965. But, there was a lot more that happened between March and August. For instance, two days later, on Wednesday, March 17th – the same day President Johnson planned to submit a bill to Congress – Judge Frank Minis Johnson (no known relation to the president) issued a judgement in Williams v. Wallace, 240 F. Supp. 100 (M.D. Ala. 1965).
On that relatively peaceful Monday, March 8th (as I described it before), plaintiffs Reverend Hosea Williams, John Lewis and Amelia Boynton, (“on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated”) were joined by the United States (s plaintiff-intervenor) in a suit filed against George C. Wallace, as Governor of the State of Alabama; Al Lingo, as Director of Public Safety for the State of Alabama; and James G. Clark, as Sheriff of Dallas County, Alabama, Defendants. The case was in direct response to violence of March 7, 1965 and was an appeal to the courts on the grounds of the First Amendment. Judge Johnson, who served as a judge for the U. S. District Court of the Middle District of Alabama from October 1955 until June 1979, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. A few days later, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a press release stating that he was ordering the Alabama National Guard to supervise and protect the protestors planning to march from Selma to Montgomery.
“The law is clear that the right to petition one’s government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups. Indeed, where, as here, minorities have been harassed, coerced and intimidated, group association may be the only realistic way of exercising such rights.”
“This Court recognizes, of course, that government authorities have the duty and responsibility of keeping their streets and highways open and available for their regular uses. Government authorities are authorized to impose regulations in order to assure the safety and convenience of the people in the use of public streets and highways provided these regulations are reasonable and designed to accomplish that end.”
“As has been demonstrated above, the law in this country constitutionally guarantees that a citizen or group of citizens may assemble and petition their government, or their governmental authorities, for redress of their grievances even by mass demonstrations as long as the exercise of these rights is peaceful. These rights may also be exercised by marching, even along public highways, as long as it is done in an orderly and peaceful manner; and these rights to assemble, demonstrate and march are not to be abridged by arrest or other interference so long as the rights are asserted within the limits of not unreasonably interfering with the exercise of the rights by other citizens to use the sidewalks, streets and highways, and where the protestors and demonstrators are conducting their activities in such a manner as not to deprive the other citizenry of their police protection.”
– quoted from Williams v. Wallace, 240 F. Supp. 100 (M.D. Ala. 1965), March 17, 1965. Order March 19, 1965.
Four days after Judge Johnson’s ruling, on March 21, 1965, approximately 8,000 people gathered at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama, and began the march that would take them across the Edmund Pettus Bridge; through counties where there were no Black people registered to vote (even though the population was overwhelmingly Black); and all the way up to (but not on) the steps of the capital in Montgomery, Alabama. By the time the movement reached the City of St. Jude, on March 24th, approximately 25,000 people were participating in the protest. While most of the marchers were African American (and Protestant Christian), like Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, there were some notable exceptions. There were white Americans like Richard Quinn (from the Twin Cities); Asian Americans and Latino Americans; Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos; Rabbis Maurice Davis and Abraham Joshua Heschel; and several Catholic nuns, including some from the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People (now known as Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament [SBS]). The Dutch priest Henri Nouwen joined the march on the the 24th.
There were also celebrities that joined at various points along the way. Harry Belafonte; Tony Bennett; Frankie Laine; Peter, Paul, & Mary; Sammy Davis Jr.; Joan Baez; Nina Simone; and the Chad Mitchell Trio all performed on the evening of Wednesday, March 24th, during the Stars of Freedom rally. The next morning, on March 24th, approximately 25,000 people marched from St. Jude to the capital in Montgomery. Once, there, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “How Long? Not Long” speech in front of (but not on) the steps of the capital.
While the national guard ensured the safety of the participants during the days of the march, this moment of nonviolent protest also ended in violence. Viola Fauver Liuzzo (née Gregg) was a white mother of five, from Detroit, who participated in the march and then volunteered to drive other protestors to the airport. During one of those shuttle trips, Mrs. Liuzzo was shot and killed by members of the Klan. Later, her character would be assassinated by the FBI, in an effort to distract from the fact that one of the four people involved in her murder was an FBI informant.
“Let none of us look with proudful righteousness on the trouble in another section, or on the problems of our neighbors. There is no part of America where the promise of equality has been fully kept. In Buffalo as well as in Birmingham, in Philadelphia as well as in Selma, Americans are struggling for the fruits of freedom.
This is one nation. What happens in Selma or in Cincinnati is a matter of legitimate concern to every American. But let each of us look within our own hearts and our own communities, and let each of us out our shoulder to the wheel to root out injustice wherever it exists.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03152022 The Overcome Promise”]
“In Selma as elsewhere we seek and pray for peace. We seek order. We seek unity. But we will not accept the peace of suppressed rights, or the order imposed by fear, or the unity that stifles protest. For peace cannot be purchased at the cost of liberty.
In Selma tonight, as in every city, we are working for just and peaceful settlement.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
### Some Day ###
Keeping the Overcome Promise (mostly the music) March 15, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Civil Rights, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Goodwin, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Voting Rights Act
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Peace and blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
“This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose still sound in every American heart, North and South: ‘All men are created equal’—‘government by consent of the governed’—‘give me liberty or give me death.’ Well, those are not just clever words, or those are not just empty theories. In their name Americans have fought and died for two centuries, and tonight around the world they stand there as guardians of our liberty, risking their lives.
Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man. This dignity cannot be found in a man’s possessions; it cannot be found in his power, or in his position. It really rests on his right to be treated as a man equal in opportunity to all others. It says that he shall share in freedom, he shall choose his leaders, educate his children, and provide for his family according to his ability and his merits as a human being.
To apply any other test–to deny a man his hopes because of his color or race, his religion or the place of his birth–is not only to do injustice, it is to deny America and to dishonor the dead who gave their lives for American freedom.”
– quoted from “Special Message to the Congress on Voting Rights and the American Promise,” original draft by Richard Goodwin; delivered by President Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
Please join me today (Wednesday, March 15th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03152022 The Overcome Promise”]
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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A Joyful Practice 