Today in Rock and Roll (the Wednesday post) May 24, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Poetry, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Bob Dylan, Counting the Omer, Dechen Shak-Dagsay, Nat Hentoff, Powerball®, Regula Curti, Tina Turner, Uvalde Texas
2 comments
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
“‘Anything I can sing,’ he observes, ‘I call a song. Anything I can’t sing, I call a poem. Anything I can’t sing or anything that’s too long to be a poem, I call a novel. But my novels don’t have the usual story lines. They’re about my feelings at a certain place at a certain time.’”
– quoted from the liner notes by Nat Hentoff (from Bob Dylan’s album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan)
This is a footnote with links. If it were longer (and written by him), Robert Allen Zimmerman (born today in 1941) might call this a novel; because, it’s about how today feels weird to me.
First, it’s kind of a weird day in rock and roll. Tina Turner, the legendary Queen of Rock and Roll, just passed away today at the age of 83. Meanwhile, Bob Dylan, the rock and roll poet, turned 82 today. Yes, there are other things that make today weird – even sad and tragic, when you consider that it is the first anniversary of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. However, in the middle of all the sadness, tragedy, and even confusion (over why certain things aren’t changing in a way that makes us all safer), there are some joyful memories and some persistent reminders.
The memories include ones of my mom taking me to see Tina Turner’s Private Dancer tour (in 1985). It was my very first rock and roll concert. Another such memory is finding the mantras and chants that Tina Turner recorded after she started practicing Buddhism. Listening to those mantras and chants, I remember that the human spirit is divine, beautiful, and able to persevere. I find different, but equally persistent, reminders in the poetry – and music – of Bob Dylan, who is quoted in the liner notes for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan as saying, “The most important thing I know I learned from Woody Guthrie…. I’m my own person. I’ve got basic common rights-whether I’m here in this country or any other place. I’ll never finish saying everything I feel, but I’ll be doing my part to make some sense out of the way we’re living, and not living, now. All I’m doing is saying what’s on my mind the best way I know how. And whatever else you say about me, everything I do and sing and write comes out of me.”
I think the same philosophy applies to Tina Turner.
Sometimes, I compare Bob Dylan and his career to winning the lottery with that elusive Powerball® of talent, drive, and other people’s perceptions. My comparison is not meant to take anything away from his talent and hard work. Quite the opposite. It’s just meant to highlight that sometimes people have things working in their favor. On the flip side, Tina Turner had the talent and the drive, but that last piece – other people’s perceptions (not to mention her own at certain times in her life) – worked against her. If you look at her life, where she started and the abuse that she endured early on, you’ll find there were a lot of things working against her. Yet, she survived. She thrived. She succeeded.
Tina Turner became one the best-selling recording artists of all time; won 12 Grammy Awards (including three Grammy Hall of Fame awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award); was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two times (in 1991 and 2021) and became the first woman and the first Black artist to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. She appeared in movies and had a movie and a musical based on her life. Her accolades also include being a recipient of the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors.
She survived. She thrived. She succeeded. More importantly, she continued making beauty in the world.
“Nothing last forever.
No one lives forever.
The flower that fades and dies.
Winter passes and spring comes.
Embrace the cycle of life that is the greatest love.
Go beyond fear.
Go beyond fear.
Beyond fear takes you into the place where love grows.
When you refuse to follow the impulses of fear, anger, and revenge.
Beyond means to feel yourself.
Start every day singing like the birds.
Singing takes you beyond.
Beyond.
Beyond.
Beyond.”
– excerpted from “Beyond: Spiritual Message By Tina Turner” on the album Beyond: Buddhist and Christian Prayers by Tina Turner, Dechen Shak-Dagsay & Regula Curti
Please join me today (Wednesday, May 24th) 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 “05242022 Bob’s Poems”]
NOTE: I did not have a chance to create a new playlist inspired by both Bob and Tina; however, here is the message quoted above.
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.)
### REST IN POWER, QUEEN! ###
(FTWMI) Svādyāya V: If You Change Just One Thing About Your… May 23, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, One Hoop, Philosophy, Science, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: chaos, chaos theory, Edward Norton Lorenz, Ray Bradbury, samskāras, Yoga Sutra 3.15, Yoga Sutra 3.16
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2021. Class details and some links have been updated or added. One critical typo has been corrected.
“Lest I appear frivolous in even posing the title question, let alone suggesting that it might have an affirmative answer, let me try to place it in proper perspective by offering two propositions.
1. If a single flap of a butterfly’s wings can be instrumental in generating a tornado, so also can all the previous and subsequent flaps of its wings, as can the flaps of the wings of millions of other butterflies, not to mention the activities of innumerable more powerful creatures, including our own species.
2. If the flap of a butterfly’s wings can be instrumental in generating a tornado, it can equally well be instrumental in preventing a tornado.
More generally, I am proposing that over the years minuscule disturbances neither increase nor decrease the frequency of occurrence of various weather events such as tornados; the most that they may do is to modify the sequence in which these events occur.”
– from initially untitled speech given by Edward Norton Lorenz at the 139th meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington, D.C, on December 29, 1972
Yoga Sūtra 3.15: karma-anyatvam pariņāmah-anyatve hetuh
– “Change in the sequence of the characteristics is the cause for the different appearances of results, consequences, or effects.”
Pick a life, a personal history – maybe one of the one’s I briefly profiled over the last week, maybe your own, or someone else’s you know – and notice where the story begins. More specifically, notice where you begin to tell the story – and how things develop/evolve from there. Consider that your understanding of the story and the sequence of events, your understanding of the person and their motivation, and whether any of it makes sense may change if you start at a different place. Consider, too, that if you change something along the way, like leave out challenges the person had as a child – or the fact that someone had no children, or their children had no children – then the story (and your understanding) also changes to a certain degree. Consider where (and when) someone first experiences stability in life and what happens if that stability and sense of control doesn’t happen until late in life. What you change may seem random and inconsequential, it may seem like rounding up the smallest fraction of a number, but take a moment to consider what happened when a certain scientist did that: the results were pure chaos.
Born May 23, 1917, Edward Norton Lorenz was born into a New England family that loved science and logic. His maternal grandfather (Lewis M. Norton) was the professor at the Massachusetts of Technology (MIT) who developed the first four-year undergraduate program in chemical engineering (1888). His father (Edward Henry Lorenz) majored in mechanical engineering (at MIT) and his mother (Grace Peloubet Norton Lorenz, who was born the year before her father introduced his program) loved games – especially chess. In addition to installing and cultivating a love of numbers in Dr. Lorenz, his family also gave him a great appreciation for nature and the outdoors. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree (also in mathematics) from Harvard, it made sense for Dr. Lorenz to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. So, after working as a weather forecaster in the United States Army Air Corps (during World War II), he went to MIT to earn both a masters and a doctoral degree in meteorology; and then became a professor at MIT.
In the 1950’s, Edward Norton Lorenz began to doubt that the accepted method of forecasting weather, based on linear statistical models, was appropriate and/or logical since the method did not reflect the outcome. In 1961, while use a simple digital computer (as opposed to a human “computer”) to simulate weather patterns based on 12 different variables, like temperature and wind speed, he decided to re-run some calculations. Only, in the interest of time, he started in the middle of the story – and ended up with a completely different outcome. When he went through the process to find the “error,” he discovered that while the computer calculated up to six decimal points, the printout rounded up to three decimal points. Ergo, instead of entering something like 0.354148, he had entered (from the printout) 0.354 – and while the difference seems minuscule at first glance, it becomes compounded over time. If you know what you’re looking at, you can see a very definite pattern emerge. However, if you don’t recognize the “Lorenz attractor” at work, then chaos just looks random.
Yoga Sūtra 3.16: pariņāmah-traya-samyamāt-atīta-anāgata-jñānam
– “By making Samyama on the three sorts of changes comes the knowledge of past and future.”
People often associate chaos theory – the premise that “small changes in initial conditions could result in vast differences in the initial outcomes” – with the “butterfly effect” and science fiction / fantasy stories like Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder.” However, as evident by Bradbury’s short story (which was published on June 28, 1952) the overall idea behind chaos theory existed before the scientific discovery made popular by Dr. Lorenz. In fact, it dates back at least as far as 1800. Additionally, it was Dr. Philip Merilees, session chair for the 139th meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington, D.C, on December 29, 1972, that lifted certain ideas from Dr. Lorenz’s initially untitled speech in order to create the memorable title: “Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” That title carried the idea beyond mathematics, physics, computer science, and meteorology and into the social sciences, even into the hearts and minds of people all over the world (who sometimes don’t really understand – or even know – the actual theory).
While fiction writers and readers often get caught up in the fantasy of what happens if we go back in time and accidentally (or intentionally) alter the time-space continuum, remember that Edward Norton Lorenz was looking forward. He was forecasting. So, while we it is interesting and there is some merit to looking back and considering cause-and-effect as it relates to someone’s personal story, there is also fascinating merit to considering what may happen going forward. In other words, we can use the idea of chaos theory to “forecast” situations and possible reactions/responses in someone’s life based on their previous circumstances and reactions/responses. Dr. Lorenz addresses this very idea in The Essence of Chaos where he emphatically argued for believing in free will.
“Before proceeding further, we need to consider the question of free will of human beings, and perhaps of other animate creatures. Most of us presumably believe that the manner in which we will respond to a given set of circumstances has not been predetermined, and that we are free to make a choice. For the sake of argument, let us assume that such an opinion is correct. Our behavior is then a form of randomness in the broader sense; more than one thing is possible next.”
“We must wholeheartedly believe in free will. If free will is a reality, we shall have made the correct choice. If it is not, we shall have still not made an incorrect choice, because we shall not have made a choice at all, not have a free will to do so.”
– quoted from The Essence of Chaos (1993) by Edward Norton Lorenz
I see two problems in Dr. Lorenz’s argument. First, he compares “free will” with “predestination” – as if the two are completely and utterly diametrically opposed and incompatible, which they are as he proposes them (but are not necessarily, philosophically speaking). Second, he outlines a “chaos” model illustrating the quantifiable predictable interaction between the weather, the wind, a tree, and a maple leaf that falls off of the tree (for any number of reasons); but equates human behavior to the flipping of a coin or the shuffling of cards – in other words, a “random” model that does not consider the part that previous behavior, causes, and conditions plays in future decisions.
Eastern philosophies (like Yoga), as well as current events, indicates that we are conditioned to “respond to a given set of circumstances” based on our previous circumstances and our understanding of those circumstances (i.e., our samskaras, layers of mental impressions). In other words, our circumstances and behavior may not be predestined, but they are sometimes predisposed. They can be predisposed because we may not be aware of the multitude of choices available in any given situation. In other words, we may believe we have “no choice” (i.e., no free will) in certain situations and/or believe that we only have “two bad choices. Additionally, even people who see themselves and/or are seen as having a lot of options (and resources) can, in fact, have very narrow views of themselves and the world – based on their samskaras and previous experiences. These narrow viewpoints can lead them to believe that everyone has the same advantages and experiences as them and, therefore, has the same choices – choices they may see as right or wrong.
Therefore (as I stated last year), while I wholeheartedly believe in free will and agree with Dr. Lorenz’s basic premise and overall idealization of free will, I think our behavior might be better described as a form of “random chaos” – in that there are multiple outcomes, but those outcomes are limited by our ability to see the choices within a given situation and the possible outcomes… and our ability to see clearly is limited by the situation and by our previous experiences.
This brings us back to the instructions given to the time travelers in Ray Bradbury’s short story: “‘Stay on the Path. Don’t go off it. I repeat. Don’t go off. For any reason! If you fall off, there’s a penalty.’”
Rather than looking at a time traveling scenario where we go back in time, however, imagine what happens if we look forward. What happens if we consider how our actions today become the circumstances of tomorrow? What happens if we (metaphorically speaking) “get off the path” we’re on in order to create a better future? Whether we are intentional and mindful or not, the steps we take make an impact. So, in what little, subtle, ways can we use our thoughts, words, and deeds to (even our relationships) to create the world – the harvest, the balanced population, and even the social temperament – that we want for ourselves and future generations?
“‘A little error here would multiply in sixty million years, all out of proportion. Of course maybe our theory is wrong. Maybe Time can’t be changed by us. Or maybe it can be changed only in little subtle ways. A dead mouse here makes an insect imbalance there, a population disproportion later, a bad harvest further on, a depression, mass starvation, and finally, a change in social temperament in far-flung countries. Something much more subtle, like that. Perhaps only a soft breath, a whisper, a hair, pollen on the air, such a slight, slight change that unless you looked close you wouldn’t see it. Who knows? Who really can say he knows? We don’t know. We’re guessing. But until we do know for certain…we’re being careful. ’”
– quoted from “A Sound of Thunder” (June 28, 1952) by Ray Bradbury
You can find my “chaotic” blog post from 2020 here. You will notice, that it’s “vastly” different.
Please join me today (Tuesday, May 23rd) 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 “07112020 An Introduction”]
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.)
### May only your “shuffle” be pseudorandom. ###
The Hardest Part (a mini Monday post with links) May 22, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Love, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Counting the Omer, M. Scott Peck, Sherlock Holmes, Sigmund Freud, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.* It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”
– quoted from “I: DISCIPLINE, Problems and Pain” in The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck, M. D.
*Dr. Peck noted that he was essentially paraphrasing the first of the Four Noble Truths from Buddhism.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (b. 1859) and Dr. M. Scott Peck (b. 1936) had several things in common. In addition to sharing a birthday (today, May 22nd), enduring suffering during their early schooling, and earning medical degrees, they also both had a penchant for paying attention, bringing awareness to awareness. Additionally, they both used their attention to detail in ways that benefited the world.
Yes, they did it in different ways – one used fictional characters who became larger than life and one used case studies of his own life and the real life characters in his practice – and, yet, they both encouraged a habit that we also cultivate in yoga, a habit that might be the hardest part of the practice.
What is “elementary” and “difficult” at the same time? Taking a look at yourself, on and off the mat.
“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
– Sherlock Holmes
Click here to read the 2021 post about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. M. Scott Peck.
Please join me for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Monday, May 22nd) at 5:30 PM. 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.
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
A 2021 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for ”05222021 Take A Look At Yourself”]
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). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
### “Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” ~ Dr. Sigmund Freud ###
[The Difference Between] The Fools and the Angels (mostly the music) May 21, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Alexander Pope, Clara Barton, Counting the Omer, Elizabeth Brown Pryor, Yoga Sutra 2.18-2.21, Yoga Sutra 4.15
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
“ ’Tis with our judgments as our watches, none
Go just alike, yet each believes his own.”
– quoted from “An Essay on Criticism” by Alexander Pope (b. 1688, O. S.)
Yoga Sūtra 4.15: vastusāmye cittabhedāttayorvibhaktaḥ panthāḥ
– “Although the same objects may be perceived by different minds, they are perceived in different ways, because those minds manifested differently.”
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, May 21st) 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 “05212022 The Fools and the Angels”]
“‘I will remain here while anyone remains and do whatever comes to my hand, [Clara Barton, b. 1881] declared stoutly. I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it….’”
– quoted from Clara Barton, Professional Angel by Elizabeth Brown Pryor
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.)
### 
###
“LUCK” & Grace (mostly the music) May 20, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Music, One Hoop, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Counting the Omer, Fausto Bongelli, Keith Jarrett, Tomasz Trzcinkinski, Vihari-Lal Mitra, Yoga Vasishtha
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
“6. Ignorance produces greater ignorance, and brings on unconsciousness as its effect: so knowledge leads on to higher knowledge, and produces self-consciousness as its result. (Good tends to best, and bad to the worst. Better tends to best, and worse to the worst).
7. The creeping plant of ignorance, has the passion for its leaves, and the desires for its odours; and it is continually shaking and shuffling with the leafy garment on its body.”
“23. It grows and dies and grows again, and being cut down it springs out anon; so there is no end of it. (It is hard to extirpate ignorance at once).”
“26. All distinctions of different objects, are dissolved in the crucible of the reasoning mind; but they remain undissolved in their crude forms in the minds of the ignorant, who are employed in differentiating the various natures of men and brutes, and of terrene and aquatic animals.
27. They distinguish the one as the nether world, and the other as the upper sky; and make distinctions between the solar and lunar planets, and the fixed starry bodies. (But there are no ups and downs, nor any thing as fixed in infinite vacuity).
28. Here there is light, and there is darkness on the other side, and this is empty space and that is the solid ground; these are the sástras and these are the Vedas, are distinctions unknown to the wise.
29. It is the same spirit that flies upward in the bodies of birds, or remains above in the form of gods; the same spirit remains fixed in the forms of fixed rocks or moves in continued motion with the flying winds.
30. Sometimes it resides in the infernal regions, and at others it dwells in the heavens above; sometimes it is exalted to the dignity of gods, and some where it remains in the state of mean insects and worms.”
“32. Whatever appears as great and glorious, and all that is seen as mean and ignoble in their form, from the biggest and bright sun down to the most contemptible grass and straw; are all pervaded by the universal spirit: it is ignorance that dwells upon the external forms; but knowledge that looks into the inner soul, obtains its sight up the present state.”
– quoted from (Book 6) “CHAPTER VIII. Allegory of the Spreading Arbour of Ignorance.” of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (translated from the original Sanskrit by VIHARI-LALA MITRA)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, May 20th) 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 “0123-24/2022 Doing: Lessons in…”]
NOTE: If it is accessible to you, please consider using the Spotify playlist as it contains the original music (referenced in the original practice). Even better, if you already have the album!
The original Keith Jarrett recording is not available on YouTube (in the US) without a “Premium” membership and, after listening to several different “interpretations” – which do not / cannot include the vocalizations – I decided the Fausto Bongelli sounded the closest to the original. Sadly, one movement is missing and so I used a recording by Tomasz Trzcinkinski, who was the first person to record the music using the transcription. There are also now transcriptions for other instruments – which I didn’t sample, even though I think some of them would be lovely. There are also “covers” using electronic instruments, which I’m considering a hard pass (even if it seems contradictory to the original theme), out of respect for the composer.
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.)
### ###
FTWMI: “Being…” – Lessons in Svādyāya (an expanded and “renewed” post) May 17, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Changing Perspectives, Confessions, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Suffering, Texas, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Brown v Board, chitilin' circuit, Club Supreme, desegregation, Dowling Street, Linda Brown, Linda Carol Brown, Perception, perspective, Plessy v Ferguson, Rabbi Noah Weinberg, SCOTUS, segregation, Supreme Court, The Sportsman, Thurgood Marshall, union, yoga
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
For Those Who Missed It: The following expanded and “renewed” post related to May 17, 2022, includes material from the 2020 post. A link for the 2021 post is embedded towards the end of the post. I have updated class details and some language referencing dates.
BEING GRATEFUL
“Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.”
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
“If you’re not happy with what you have, you’ll never be happy with what you get.”
– Rabbi Noah Weinberg
Yesterday, [the practice included] a philosophical reminder that life is precious and, some would argue, mathematically rare. It’s a simple idea that most people can agree upon (even when we can’t agree on when life begins – or ends). That’s why we have all those pithy statements life “life is a gift,” “this moment is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present (in English),” and – one of my personal favorites – “your presence in this present moment is also a gift.”
Here’s the thing about gifts though: When we receive them, we give thanks. Even when we don’t like or want the gift and even when we would prefer something else, we say thank you. When we really, truly, appreciate the gift, we might go into great detail about how much we appreciate the gift, why it is perfect for us, and/or how it will make our life better. We may even find ourselves giving thanks long after we have received the gift. In fact, every time we use it and/or think of it, we might express a bit of gratitude. And all of that gratitude is inextricably connected to our happiness and well-being.
What happens, however, if we are simultaneously receiving our blessings in one hand and having them taken away from the other hand? What happens if we are struggling to hold on to our blessings? What happens, if something was passed down to us and we not only took it for granted, we never really gave thanks?
I’ll tell you what happens. We struggle. We fear. We despair. We may even feel hopeless. In those moments, we may not think of expressing gratitude. Or, we may think giving thanks is too hard given our present challenges. And, sure, yes, it may be hard. But, it’s not impossible. In fact, I would argue that it is essential. It is essential that we give thanks for the rights and the blessings that have been given to us. It is essential that we express gratitude for the people (adults and children) who fought and struggled to get us where we are today. To do that, however, to really appreciate what was done for us, we have to know our history.
We also have to get/understand our history – something, I’ll admit, was sometimes beyond me. Even though I’m Brown. Considering I didn’t always get it, I shouldn’t be surprised that others (still) don’t get it.
BEING BROWN
The following was originally posted in 2020. You can practice svādyāya (“self-study”) with this post, by putting yourself in my shoes or the shoes of some of the other people mentioned. You can also practice svādyāya by noticing what resonates with you, what parallels your own experience, and what feels odd to you.
“I stopped explaining myself when I realized other people only understand from their level of perception.”
– Anonymous
“…we lived in an integrated neighborhood and I had all of these playmates of different nationalities…. I just couldn’t understand what was happening because I was so sure that I was going to go to school with Mona and Guinevere, Wanda, and all of my playmates.”
– Linda Brown, quoted in a “Black/White and Brown” produced by KTWU Channel 11 (May 3, 2004)
For a long time, most of my life, I didn’t get it. How could I get it, as odd as it is to understand, it was outside of my experience.
I am related to some of the smartest people I know – and I know a lot of really smart people. My father has a PhD and taught doctors, his mother was a school teacher, my maternal great-grandmother and both grandmothers taught Sunday school, and my mother worked with doctors and lawyers – so I didn’t get why they made such a big deal about my grades or my education. I appreciated it when my parents arranged things so I could enroll in special programming (like “Research and Development”), but sometimes I kind of took it for granted. Going to a private school, for instance, was just what my brothers and I did sometimes. Granted, one of my brothers ended up in private school after my parents were informed he would be bused to a “Black school” as part of a desegregation plan in the 80’s (which I thought was beyond silly, but I didn’t spend too much time thinking about why the plan existed (in the mid-80’s!!!). I didn’t get it; it was outside of my experience.
My maternal grandfather owned bars in Houston, like the Sportsman, and supper clubs, like The Club Supreme, which was part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit” (venues owned and operated by and for African-American audiences during segregation). I grew up hearing about the great talents he booked and about people like Sammy Davis, Jr., Harry Belafonte, and the Supremes stopping by the house for dinner. Sometimes I would walk into Club Supreme, look down the dark and dusty ballroom to the stage at the back and imagine what it was like in its heyday. When I walked next door to the Sportsman, owners/editors of newspapers, bankers, and business owners seemed to not only know my name, but also my GPA. Sometimes I thought it was weird – especially when they would tell me they were holding a job for me when I graduated from college – but mostly I just thought part of being a grandfather was being proud of your grandchildren; I figured he must talk about me to his customers because that’s what grandfathers did. I didn’t get it; it was outside of my experience.
“I was kind of afraid at first. I didn’t talk about it very much, I guess, because I was afraid it would get back to someone who would make trouble.”
– Linda Brown, age 17, in a 1961 New York Times interview
In May 2004, I finally started to get it. It was the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and as people were celebrating, remembering, and producing documentaries, I was doing the math. In doing the math, I finally really understood that Black people not being able to go to the school of their choice wasn’t part of some distant history lesson. It was part of living history – it was part of my family history. The teachers, administrators, farmers, businessmen and businesswomen, police officers, doctors, nurses, insurance agents, authors, truckers, military personnel, farmers, and preachers in my family successfully did what they did – not because they had the economic and educational advantages that they gave me, but in spite of not having what I took for granted. My parents grew up in the South, in the shadow of Brown v Board, in a state where the Attorney General actively worked to keep school segregation legal despite the U. S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling. The people who worked behind the bar and sat on the barstools at my grandfather’s clubs knew me not because my Paw-Paw was some random grandfather proud of his random grandchildren, but because they all understood what I did not: my brothers, cousins, and I were symbols of progress and change. We were proof that the world – or at least our little corner of the world – was getting better, more equitable and more just.
When my grandfather died, people seemed to come out the woodwork. I kind of expected the elders. What I didn’t expect were the people my age, people who wanted to remember and celebrate a businessman in the community who had financially supported the education of young people in the community. They came to celebrate and remember, because they got it.
“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody – a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns – bent down and helped us pick up our boots.”
– Supreme Court Justice (and former NAACP chief counsel) Thurgood Marshall referencing his SCOTUS successor in a Newsweek interview (dated October 28, 1991)
Linda Brown, the student at the center of Brown v Board, was actually part of three school segregation related lawsuits: the one SCOTUS ruled on today in 1954; Brown II in 1955; and a case filed by the adult Linda Brown in 1978 (Brown III), which was re-opened and appealed through the late 80’s / early 90’s. The first case, officially filed as “Oliver Brown, et al v Board of Education of Topeka, et al,” was a class action lawsuit filed by Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP’s chief counsel, for thirteen parents on behalf of 20 school-aged children. However, the case itself was a test case and symbolic of several cases across the country. The case in Kansas was selected by the NAACP as the pilot case, because it was considered more Midwestern than Southern, the Brown’s neighborhood was desegregated (but the local school was not), and Oliver Brown was selected as the named plaintiff because he was a man. (The idea being that a male plaintiff might be considered more seriously by the courts and the ruling might carry more national weight if inequality could be proven outside of the South.)
While the unanimous 1954 ruling is celebrated as a landmark victory, it was more symbolic than anything else. The Supreme Court first ruled that there was no such thing as “separate, but equal” – at least not as schools existed at that time. Then, in 1955, SCOTUS ordered states to desegregate “with all deliberate speed” – but, here again there was no timetable and the interpretation of the very poetic phrase was left not to the NAACP or the plaintiffs, but to the states.
“It’s disheartening that we are still fighting. But we are dealing with human beings. As long as we are, there will always be those who feel the races should be separate.”
– Linda Brown, in a 1994 New York Times article (around 40th anniversary)
Look around today and you will see the legacy of Brown v Board. There is some positive, some signs of progress; there is also some negative. Were Linda Brown still alive today, she could easily file another lawsuit…on behalf of her grandchildren or even her great-grandchildren. Part of the legacy of Brown v Board is living in the shadow of the Plessy v Ferguson concept of “separate but equal.” We can say it’s the shadow that makes us appreciate the light; but, at some point we need more light.
“I didn’t understand what was happening then, but it was clear that Brown versus Board of Education was a necessary victory. It might have been a little flame, but it served to set off a mighty flame. To me, the impact of Brown is best seen in the increasing numbers of black professionals today. These are the people that, after 1954, were able to have some degree of choice. This surely made a difference in their aspirations and their achievements.”
– Linda Brown, in a April 29, 2004 speech (marking the 50th anniversary) at Chautauqua Institution
SVĀDYĀYA I: BEING LINDA
In 2021 and 2022, I started May 17th practice with a visualization exercise inspired by one that Shelly Graf (Associate Director of Common Ground Meditation Center) offered in 2021. As I explained in [the 2021] post (and in the practice), the exercises we offered are different, except in the fact that they provide an opportunity for svādyāya (“self-study”). My version of the exercise may land different (now that you have the background), but if you have another few moments, please check out the 2021 post to read about the visualization and related insights.
Please join me today (Wednesday, May 17th) 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 “05172020 Brown”]
“When they won, it set a lasting legal precedent. [Linda] Brown was attending an integrated junior high school by then, and she later recalled the initial desegregation of local elementary schools going smoothly. But over the course of her life, she saw the reality of school integration fall short, locally and nationally.”
– quoted from the 2018 Chalkbeat article entitled “In her own words: Remembering Linda Brown, who was at the center of America’s school segregation battles” by Sarah Darville (posted May 27, 2018)
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.
### NAMASTE ###
Love/Respect & FTWMI: The JOyG of Being (the “missing” Tuesday post) May 9, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Loss, Love, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Shavuot, Suffering, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: Bob P, Counting the Omer, Dr. L. L. Zamenhof, Hillel the Elder, Hod, José Ortega y Gasset, Jose Ortega y Gasset, L. L. Zamenhof, Lag B'Omer, Lag LaOmer, Netzach, Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Shammai, Royal Wood, Talmud, William Davidson, Yevamot, yoga sutra 2.18, Yoga Sutra 2.19
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer (Lag B’Omer or Lag LaOmer)!
This is a “missing” post for Tuesday, May 9th. 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).
For just a few more days you can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“Tio, kio malamas vin, ne faru al via ulo. Tio estas la tuta Torao; la resto estas la klarigo. Nun iru studi.”
“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation. Now go and study.”
– quoted from the story of Hillel the Elder “[teaching] the meaning of the whole Torah while standing on one foot,” translated into Esperanto and English by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof
It is not the point of the story – and, in some ways it doesn’t matter – however, today I am wondering “Which foot?”
According to the Talmud a potential convert to Judaism went to two famous rabbis of the 1st century and asked to be taught the whole Torah while standing on one foot.* Rabbi Shammai insulted the man and threw him out. Rabbi Hillel (the Elder) taught a lesson about respect, which some commentators say is also love.
Respect/love that’s the important part of the story. However, today, I am also wondering about which foot. Because, which foot determines which leg and which hip bear the weight of the lesson – and which leg and hip, represents the (symbolic) foundation of the teaching.
“Yes, how my love this moment here is ripe for us
Yes, you and I so brave against the years
If nothing’s left to live we must find a way
There’s reason yet to live
There’s something left to give
We must find a way
There is so much to give”
– quoted from “When Nothing’s Left” by Royal Wood
As I often mention this time of year, Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) indicates that the Tree of Life has ten sefirot (“emanations,” attributes, or manifestations) of the Divine – seven of which are associated with the body. For instance, the right leg/thigh is associated with the fourth attribute, Netzach, meaning “endurance,” “sustainability,” “victory,” and “persistence.” Meanwhile, the left leg/thigh is associated with Hod, which can be defined as “humility,” “gratitude,” “splendor,” and “glory.” I often reference this in relation to the Counting of the Omer, a 7-week period of prayer and reflection which begins on the second night of Passover. Each night, for 49 days, people count the days of the Omer and reflect on a combination of two of the sefirot.
We’re heading towards the end of the fifth week; and so, the focus is on how each attribute – lovingkindness, strength, balance, endurance, humility, bonding, and stewardship – shows up in relation to Hod. Sunset on Monday marked the beginning of Lag B’Omer (or Lag LaOmer) – Day 33 of (or in) the Omer, which is Hod She’b’Hod. The 33rd day has an extra special significance and is treated differently from the other days. The reason it’s different is related to hope – gained, lost, and regained – and, also, to that first lesson regarding respect/love.
“They said by way of example that Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students in an area of land that stretched from Gevat to Antipatris in Judea, and they all died in one period of time, because they did not treat each other with respect.”
– quoted from Yevamot 62b:9 in The Koren Talmud Bavli Noé (Vol. 14 Yevamot 1), with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz and English from The William Davidson digital edition
I often refer to Counting the Omer as a preparation ritual, similar to other observations and celebrations that fit within the rubric of kriya yoga. What I don’t often mention is that the beginning of the 7 weeks is also a period of mourning related to Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students and the lost hope that their deaths represent. Obviously, so many people being lost at once would be devastating and heartbreaking. However, the communal hopelessness is also related to the fact that the 24,000 were preparing for the return of the Temple.
Yet, somehow, despite focusing on the scholarly aspects of their faith, they got it wrong.
How? How could so many students of Torah not respect/love one another properly? How could so many students of one of the greatest rabbis not understand a foundational element of their teaching? According to some commentary, they did not love those that had different opinions and perspectives. Rather than learning from one another, they believed they could only respect/love those who shared the same views. So the were struck down by a plague.
Some scholars say the plague that killed them was an actual disease (as it is indicated in the text); others say it was a metaphor for war against the Roman Empire. Either way, Lag B’Omer (or Lag LaOmer) is the anniversary of the day when the plague ended – or when a revolt led by Simon Bar Kokhba achieved a victory against the Roman Empire. It is also the anniversary of the death one of the students from Rabbi Akiva’s second cohort: Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, whose life is celebrated as a symbol of hope for the future.
All the activities people put on hold during the period of mourning, resume on the 33rd Day of the Omer. Additionally, some people will make a pilgrimage to sacred sites. In some communities, people build bonfires to symbolize the ways in which people marked the beginning of the holidays and the sabbath in medieval times and the fires Bar Kokhba’s soldiers would have used to communicate. (Similarly, children may use toy boy and arrows to reenact the revolt.) Bonfires and torches are also symbolic of the mystical fire that surrounded Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai as he shared his wisdom of the Torah on his last day. Finally, the fires symbolize the light of the Torah and the return of that light to the Jewish people.
They are a reminder that Rabbi Akiva didn’t give up – even when all were lost and he hit the proverbial wall.
“And the world was desolate of Torah until Rabbi Akiva came to our Rabbis in the South and taught his Torah to them. This second group of disciples consisted of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua. And these are the very ones who upheld the study of Torah at that time. Although Rabbi Akiva’s earlier students did not survive, his later disciples were able to transmit the Torah to future generations.”
– quoted from Yevamot 62b:10 in The Koren Talmud Bavli Noé (Vol. 14 Yevamot 1), with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz and English from The William Davidson digital edition
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2020. One quote was moved. Additionally, the first and third paragraphs have been slightly revised.
“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that it is possible to make of humanity is that which splits it into two classes of creatures: those who make great demands on themselves, piling up difficulties and duties; and those who demand nothing special of themselves, but for whom to live is to be every moment what they already are, without imposing on themselves any effort towards perfection; mere buoys that float on the waves.”
― from The Revolt of the Masses by José Ortega y Gasset
My friend Bob P once told me this joke: “There are two kinds of people in a kayak, the people that just fell out and the people who are about to fall out.” I find his joke is a pretty apropos metaphor for that feeling of “hitting the wall” during [the] pandemic; if you haven’t hit the wall, you’re about to hit the wall. The same can be said for some of life’s greatest heartaches. While it might seem trite to suggest that you can tell a lot about a person by how they get over/under/around/through the wall, it doesn’t change the fact that [what we’ve been through and are going through] is all part of our circumstances and, to paraphrase José Ortega y Gasset, we are (in part) our circumstances.
Born in Spain, today (May 9th) in 1883, Ortega y Gasset was an existential philosopher and writer, as well as a bit of an activist/social reformer, who believed that life was simultaneously fate and freedom, but that freedom could only be experienced within a given fate. In other words, we must play the hand we’re dealt – but, and this is key, we decide what game we’re playing with the hand we’re dealt. In fact, Ortega y Gasset encouraged actively deciding and creating a “project of life” and, in doing so, create meaning not only for one’s self, but also for others.
Yoga Sūtra 2.18: prakāśkriyāsthitiśīlam bhūtendriyāmakam bhogāpavargārtham dŗśyam
– “The objective world (what is seen), consisted of a combination of elements and senses, and having a nature of illumination, activity, and stability, has two purposes: fulfillment and freedom.
Yoga Sūtra 2.19: viśeşāviśeşalingamātrālingāni guņaparvāņi
– The “gunas” fall into four categories: specific/identifiable, unspecific/unidentifiable, barely describable (by signs), and absolutely indescribable (because it is beyond reference)
It may seem strange, even counterintuitive to some, to draw parallels between the work of 20th century existential philosophers and psychologists (or psychoanalysts) and the work of the ancient yogis (and medieval rabbis). Yet, remember, Patanjali, Vyasa, and the authors of the sacred texts like the Upanishads were explaining their life experiences – just like modern day existentialists – and codifying their life philosophies. When you get right down to it, all of this comes down to an understanding of the nature of things and the nature of ourselves. So, once again, we are back to the same two questions: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?”
José Ortega y Gasset was a strong proponent of creating one’s world and being an active creator rather than a passive receiver. The second section/chapter of the yoga sutras (“The Foundation on Practice”) begins by focusing on how we are creating our world and our experiences in the world – sometimes unconsciously.
“Life cannot wait until the sciences may have explained the universe scientifically. We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its coerciveness: it is always urgent, “here and now” without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point-blank. And culture, which is but its interpretation, cannot wait any more than can life itself.”
– from Misión de la Universidad (Mission of the University) by José Ortega y Gasset
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05009020 JOyG”]
*NOTE: In most translations of the Talmud, it clearly states that the gentile was the one standing on one foot during the lesson.
### ### “YO SOY YO Y MI CIRCUMSTANCIA” ### ###
Love/Respect & FTWMI: The JOyG of Being (mostly the music) May 9, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Volunteer, Women, Yoga.Tags: Counting the Omer, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Lag B'Omer, Lag LaOmer, Royal Wood
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer (Lag B’Omer or Lag LaOmer)!
“Yes, how my love this moment here is ripe for us
Yes, you and I so brave against the years
If nothing’s left to live we must find a way
There’s reason yet to live
There’s something left to give
We must find a way
There is so much to give”
– from “When Nothing’s Left” by Royal Wood
Please join me today (Tuesday, May 9th) 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 “05009020 JOyG”]
Yes! You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (And, you can also still click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
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.)
### ###
Never the Time and the Place (the “missing” Sunday post) May 7, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Donate, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Love, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Suffering, Texas, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Johannes Brahms, John Suchet, KISS MY ASANA, Modest Tchaikovsky, Modeste Tchaikovsky, Nadezhda Filaretovna “N. F.” von Meck, Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, Robert Browning, Robert Greenberg, Swan Lake, Vladimir “Bob” Davydov
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
This is a “missing” post for Sunday, May 7th. Warning: It alludes to certain current events. 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).
This week you can also click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“…You see, my dear friend, I am made up of contradictions, and I have reached a very mature age without resting upon anything positive, without having calmed my restless spirit either by religion or philosophy. Undoubtedly I should have gone mad but for music. Music is indeed the most beautiful of all Heaven’s gifts to humanity wandering in the darkness. Alone it calms, enlightens, and stills our souls. It is not the straw to which the drowning man clings; but a true friend, refuge, and comforter, for whose sake life is worth living.”
– quoted from 1877 letter from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to Nadezhda Filaretovna “N. F.” von Meck (who financially supported the composer for 13-years), as published in The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky by Modeste Tchaikovsky
How are you feeling today? And, what are you feeling today?
Perhaps you are feeling one thing very passionately. Perhaps, like me today, you are feeling several very strong emotions. Either way, I would encourage you to take a moment to breathe into what you’re feeling and to acknowledge what you’re feeling, every time you inhale, every time you exhale. That is the practice.
So, today, I am breathing into my gratitude for my practice and for the opportunity to breathe and move (even when I may not move as much as easily as I would like). I am breathing into my gratitude that some people were safe and well enough to join me on Zoom, or use the recording of a practice, and/or read (or listen) to this blog post. However, I am also feeling angry, frustrated, worried, fearful, heartbroken, and emotionally exhausted – because of things that are happening in the world, in my country, in my home state, and in my hometown – and I am breathing into all of that, too. Because that is the practice.
One of the beautiful things about the practice is that it allows for and provides a container in which we can process all of our emotions and sensations – even when they seem contradictory. It is a time and a place where we can pause and set our burdens aside for a moment – not with the intention to ignore what we must do in the world; but, instead, as a way to go deeper into ourselves and into what can be done.
“I am now wholly occupied with the new work … and it is hard for me to tear myself away from it. I believe it comes into being as the best of my works. I must finish it as soon as possible, for I have to wind up a lot of affairs and I must soon go to London. I told you that I had completed a Symphony which suddenly displeased me, and I tore it up. Now I have composed a new symphony which I certainly shall not tear up.”
– quoted from an 1893 letter from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to his brother Modest, as published in Tchaikovsky: The Man Revealed by John Suchet
According to the Gregorian calendar, today (May 7th) is the anniversary of the birth of both Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany – which would have marked time with the Gregorian calendar when the composer was born in 1833. However, Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, Russian Empire – which would have been using the Julian calendar in 1840, making April 25th the composer’s “official” birth date. Both composers created music that could be considered “the most beautiful of all Heaven’s gifts to humanity wandering in the darkness.” Yet, I have a long history with Tchaikovsky and tend to lean into his music.
So, today is a day when I would normally play some rather festive ballet music – and pair it with what might be considered hopeful and inspiring poetry by Robert Browning, who was born in Camberwell, London, England today in 1840. But, I did not start off today feeling hopeful or inspired. Neither did I initially feel like proclaiming, “Rejoice we are allied” – because we are not.
We are not yet allied.
I mean, maybe we are together in our hearts. Maybe our spirits are one. Maybe we are of the same mind, in the privacy of our own minds. Out in the world, however, we are not presenting a united front against evil, violence, oppression, and tyranny. We are not yet joining the energy of youth with the wisdom of old age and working together to bring about peace. We can not trust the opening lines from Robert Browning’s poem “RABBI BEN EZRA,” because we are constantly reminded that we may not have the time that the poet promised.
“Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!’”
– quoted from the poem “RABBI BEN EZRA” by Robert Browning
I’ll be honest, it kind of irks me that some really amazing lines of poetry sound like things shouted by my master teachers and precious jewels, people that push my buttons. I get especially annoyed by people who respond to calls for change by saying that it’s not the time or the place to discuss changes that need to be made. Unfortunately, in the United States, we can no longer ask, “When is the time and when is the place?” because horrific tragedies just keep happening. Even before we reached the point where we are today, the unstated answer to the question was, “It’s never the time and it’s never the place.” And now we have politicians that straight up say that they’ll discuss gun reform in our dreams.
So, let’s go there.
“Never the time and the place
And the loved one all together!
This path—how soft to pace!
This May—what magic weather!
Where is the loved one’s face?
In a dream that loved one’s face meets mine,
But the house is narrow, the place is bleak
Where, outside, rain and wind combine
With a furtive ear, if I strive to speak,
With a hostile eye at my flushing cheek,
With a malice that marks each word, each sign!
O enemy sly and serpentine,
Uncoil thee from the waking man!
Do I hold the Past
Thus firm and fast
Yet doubt if the Future hold I can?
This path so soft to pace shall lead
Thro’ the magic of May to herself indeed!
Or narrow if needs the house must be,
Outside are the storms and strangers: we
Oh, close, safe, warm sleep I and she,—
I and she!”
– quoted from the poem “Never the Time and the Place” by Robert Browning
Now I know, I know, that at the end of the poem, the poet decides to go back to sleep and back to the love that is in his dreams. In real life, however, Robert Browning’s poetry (and his dreams) led to him meeting, falling in love, and marrying the poet Elizabeth Barrett. Their lives were not perfect. They had to overcome challenges, illness, and hardships; but, they were together “safe, warm.” Furthermore, since I was talking about dreams and Sigmund Freud yesterday, I can’t help but think of the knowledge that is found in dreams and the work that is needed to make those dreams come true.
Which brings me back Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – whose music has been used (in Russia) as a signal that things need to change.
Even though I feel like we need change (and that a younger generation may bring it), I’m not broadcasting “Danse des petits cygnes” (“Dance of the little swans”) today as a shibboleth or coded message encouraging people to overthrow the government. I don’t think the answer to our violence problems is more violence. Instead, I feel more like playing Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74,” which comes with it’s own conspiracy backstory and a little bit of wisdom.
Click here if you want to know more about one of the conspiracies.
Tchaikovsky composed “Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74” at the very end of his life. He called it the “Passionate Symphony” (in Russian). However, he died nine days after the piece premiered (in October 1893) and, therefore, could not correct the French translator who later called the piece “Pathétique” – which means to “invoking pity” or, in English, can also mean “miserably inadequate.”
Pity is a tricky emotion, because it implies that whatever or whomever inspires (or invokes) the pity is somehow beneath the person who is feeling the emotion. It is not the same as empathy or sympathy – which I think we need more of in the world – and it is not the same as compassion (again, which could be useful right now). Pity allows us to “feel sorry for [the ones suffering]” and then to go on about our business. Tchaikovsky, however, was not producing pity. He was feeling, passionately, and creating something amazing, beneficial, and hopeful out of those emotions.
He was drawing everyone in the world in and saying, “life is worth living.”
“If this symphony is misunderstood, and torn to shreds, I shall think it quite normal, and not at all surprising. It will not be the first time. But I myself absolutely believe it to be the best and especially the most sincere of all my works. I love it as I have never loved any single one of my other musical creations.”
– quoted from an 1893 letter from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to his nephew Vladimir “Bob” Davydov as posted in “Music History Monday: His Own Requiem?” by Robert Greenberg
Pick your music. The second option is “balletic” and “Christmas-y.”
The playlist used today is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “10282020 Feeling Pathétique?”]
The playlist I have typically used is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05072022 Rejoice We Are Allied”]
Yes! You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (And, you can also still click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
“Rejoice we are allied
To That which doth provide
And not partake, effect and not receive!
A spark disturbs our clod;
Nearer we hold of God
Who gives, than of His tribes that take, I must believe.”
– quoted from the poem “RABBI BEN EZRA” by Robert Browning
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You can also call the TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
### This is the season…. ###
Grace & FTWMI: What Dreams May Come (on May 6th) May 6, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: Anna O, Bertha Pappenheim, Carl Jung, dream interpretation, dreams, Electra, Josef Breuer, KISS MY ASANA, Oedipus, psychoanalysis, rabbits, Shastra, shastra kripa, Sigmund Freud, US movie, yoga, Yoga Sutra 1.10, Yoga Sutra 1.38
add a comment
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone Counting the Omer!
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
– possibly Sigmund Freud, as quoted in his New York Times obituary (09/24/1939)
Last week’s explanation of different traditions having different understandings of the meaning of shastra, might have induced fever dreams. However, the essence of the different meanings – as it relates to our practice and the concept of “grace of shastra” – is the same: Shastra is a collection of knowledge or laws of nature that are true, that have “always been and will always be” true, and that can be communicated directly. Some of the difference in meanings comes from how the knowledge or rules of nature are communicated – and to whom. Because, for some, the knowledge can only be communicated directly from the Divine to someone who has done the work to reach a certain state of enlightenment and/or awareness.
Of course, a teacher can then communicate the truth to others; however, those others must also do the work in order to truly understand the knowledge or precepts. Today, let’s consider one of the ways in which someone could initially and directly receive the truth. (Warning: Yoga Sūtra 1.10 is a bit of a caveat.)
Yoga Sūtra 1.38: svapna nidrā jñānālambanaṁ
– “Or by meditating on the knowledge gained from dreams and sleep, one acquires stability of mind.”
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted on May 6, 2020. Other than moving the very first quote (above), I have added a link and updated the class details, but the content is the same.
“The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises.”
– Sigmund Freud, as quoted in his New York Times obituary (09/24/1939)
“The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.”
– from The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Let’s talk about our dreams. During this pandemic, some people have mentioned having particularly wild dreams – even when they weren’t sick. People have also talked about either remembering or not remembering their dreams, but in the opposite way than what is normal for them. I recently dreamed there was a brown rabbit sitting at the foot of my bed. It wasn’t doing anything; just hopped up and sat there for a bit. Not touching me, or biting me – not even really looking at me or wiggling its nose – just sitting there.
Prior to seeing the movie US, a dream like that would have had me running to search for Freud’s take on the symbolism of rabbits. Rather than going down that particular (and surprising) rabbit hole, let’s just stick with the work and the history.
Born today (May 6th) in 1856, Dr. Sigmund Freud was a neurologist who studied researched cerebral paralysis or cerebral palsy, as it is known today. In an attempt to better understand the workings of the brain, Freud collaborated with Dr. Josef Breuer, a physician who utilized a type of hypnosis very different from what Freud had previously studied. Breuer’s work, especially with a patient referred to as “Anna O,” laid the foundation for psychoanalysis – the development of which would lead to Freud’s legacy as the “Father of Psychoanalysis” and dream interpretation.
“…here we have another limitation to the effectiveness of analysis; after all, analysis does not set out to make pathological reaction impossible, but to give the patient’s ego freedom to decide one way or the other.”
– from The Ego and the Id by Sigmund Freud
“Psychoanalysis in the hands of the physician is what confession is in the hands of the Catholic priest. It depends on its user and its use, whether it becomes a beneficial tool or a two-edged sword.”
– Bertha Pappenheim (also known as “Anna O”)
Bertha Pappenheim (a.k.a. “Anna O” and “Only A Girl”) was a Jewish Austrian feminist, education organizer, and writer who was born into a wealthy and prestigious family. She was highly educated, cultured, and spoke multiple languages. She was immersed in a variety of cultures throughout her childhood. In her twenties, around the same time that her father became ill, she started experiencing a variety of physical and mental ailments. The ailments became worse after her father’s death. Breuer initially diagnosed her with hysteria (a pretty common diagnosis for women at that time, regardless of how they presented) and started her on a new type of hypnosis therapy. Rather than trying to cure or “correct” her, however, Breuer placed “Anna O” under hypnosis and encouraged her to talk in order to reveal the underlying causes of her symptoms. Breuer believed that the underlying causes were childhood traumas, suppressed memories, and suppressed thoughts. “Anna O’ referred to this therapy as her “talking cure” and it did in fact alleviate some of her symptoms and reduce the intensity of others. (NOTE: She discontinued her therapy with Breuer after accusing him of getting her pregnant; an accusation that is either not mentioned in either of their biographies or dismissed as a symptom of her illness. Later in life, as an educator, Pappenheim would not allow girls in her care to utilize the therapy that had become commonplace.)
By the time Freud (who never met Bertha Pappenheim) started collaborating with Breuer, he had pretty much given up on the possibility of hypnosis being a consistently viable treatment for his patients. Breuer’s method, however, was different and so Freud began to encourage his patients to speak freely about whatever came up in whatever manner it came up. He referred to this stream of consciousness as “free association” and eventually concluded that dreams were the key to the subconscious and repressed memories. His clinical experience evolved into the development of psychoanalysis.
“Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity.”
– Sigmund Freud
Keep in mind that during the bulk of this work on a new form of treatment, Freud himself was experiencing symptoms that, had he been a woman, would have led to a diagnosis of hysteria. Naturally, he started using his new treatment on himself and ultimately codified a system of symbols and dream interpretation that supported his theories about sexual development and its correlation to maturity; an understanding of “wish fulfillment” and the desires of the ego and super ego; his seduction theory, which explained certain neurosis as the result of repressed sexual trauma and abuse; and postulation of the Oedipus Complex, which he said manifested as “castration anxiety” in men and “penis envy” in women. (NOTE: Freud firmly dismissed Dr. Carl Jung’s discussions of an “Electra complex,” positing that there was one issue experienced by different genders in different ways, as opposed to multiple issues which could be experienced by any gender.)
As I started reading Freud at a tender age, I could go on like this all night… especially since the history is just as interesting as the clinical concepts. But, at some point I need to go to sleep – perchance to dream. And if you ask me if you’re in my dreams, the answer may surprise you. (Or not: after all, a little over half of small business professionals dream about work and the vast majority who dream of work, put those dreams into action when the wake. Keep that in mind next time you think I dreamed up a sequence.)
“Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.”
– from The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
If you’re curious about what I might “dream up” next, please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, May 6th) 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 “05062020 What Dreams May Come”]
Yes! You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (And, you can also still click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
A Joyful Practice 