The Hardest Working Day, the Way the Words Work, & More Sides of the Story (2 “missing” Saturday posts) May 15, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Life, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Swami Vivekananda, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.
Tags: Beltane, Feast Day of Saint Joseph the Worker, Haymarket affair, India.Arie, International Workers' Day, Labour Day, Law Day, Loyalty Day, May Day, Paul Avrich, Yoga Sutra 3.17, Yoga Sutra 3.18
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Many blessings, also, to those who are Counting the Omer (and, also, to those who are not).

[This is a post related to Saturday, May 1^st and Saturday, May 8^th(making it a preview for Saturday, May 15^th). You can request an audio recording of these practices 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.]

“These ideas have to be understood in Dhyana, or meditation. We hear a sound. First, there is the external vibration; second, the nerve motion that carries it to the mind; third, the reaction from the mind, along with which flashes the knowledge of the object which was the external cause of these different changes from the ethereal vibrations to the mental reactions. These three are called in Yoga, Shabda (sound), Artha (meaning), and Jnâna (knowledge). In the language of physics and physiology they are called the ethereal vibration, the motion in the nerve and brain, and the mental reaction. Now these, though distinct processes, have become mixed up in such a fashion as to become quite indistinct. In fact, we cannot now perceive any of these, we only perceive their combined effect, what we call the external object. Every act of perception includes these three, and there is no reason why we should not be able to distinguish them.

When, by the previous preparations, it becomes strong and controlled, and has the power of finer perception, the mind should be employed in meditation. This meditation must begin with gross objects and slowly rise to finer and finer, until it becomes objectless. The mind should first be employed in perceiving the external causes of sensations, then the internal motions, and then its own reaction. When it has succeeded in perceiving the external causes of sensations by themselves, the mind will acquire the power of perceiving all fine material existences, all fine bodies and forms. When it can succeed in perceiving the motions inside by themselves, it will gain the control of all mental waves, in itself or in others, even before they have translated themselves into physical energy; and when he will be able to perceive the mental reaction by itself, the Yogi will acquire the knowledge of everything, as every sensible object, and every thought is the result of this reaction. Then will he have seen the very foundations of his mind, and it will be under his perfect control.”

– quoted from “Chapter VII: Dhyana and Samadhi” in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 1, Raja-Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

According to the Sāmkhya Karika, possibly written around the same time as the Yoga Sutras, humans have six special siddhis (“powers”) that are unique to being human. One of those six is shabda, which means “word.” It is the power to create a sound (or a combination of sounds); assign meaning to the sound(s), by associating the sound(s) to ideas; and then to not only remember the sound and meaning, but also to share the sounds and meanings. Additionally, this power includes the ability to create a visual depiction of the sound(s).

I love words and the way they work. So, it’s no surprise that I am particularly fond of this power; however, I also find it a really interesting power because shabda requires context and, on a certain level, that requires us to use another of the siddhis that are unique to being human – Adhyayana, the power to “study, analyze, and comprehend.” For instance, if I say “May Day” without context, you have to guess at my meaning – and your guess is going to depend on your overall knowledge, which is going to partially depend on your culture. If I don’t provide context, then you provide the context (based on your knowledge and culture, as well as the situation) – which may or may not be the intended context.

Context and your understanding of the context is key, because there’s a big difference between me saying, “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” and me saying, “It’s May Day! It’s May Day! It’s May Day!” Of course, if we’re on Zoom and our connection is breaking up then what your hear may pretty much be the same thing. So, knowledge of the situation kicks in. Is one of us on a boat in a storm? Is one of us on an airplane? Could I be talking about someone on a boat or on an airplane (and you just missed the first part of the conversation)? Or is it, as it was a couple of Saturdays ago, May 1^st… also known as May Day?

I often refer to May 1^st as “the hardest working on the calendar,” because it seems like everyone wants a piece of it. There are so many different things that happen on this day. People in the Northern Hemisphere celebrate May Day, a celebration of Spring – which is a descendant of Beltane, a Gaelic and pagan holiday to mark the beginning of “pastoral” summer. It’s also International Workers’ Day (and very close to the May 4^th anniversary of the Haymarket affair). In the United States it is both Law Day and Loyalty Day. Finally, it is the Feast Day of Saint Joseph the Worker within the Roman Catholic tradition.

To really appreciate how busy this day can be, though, keep in mind that I haven’t mentioned any of the religious movable feasts that overlap May 1^st; that my list pretty much focuses on the Northern Hemisphere (even though there are celebrations, like Samhain, happening in the Southern Hemisphere at the same time); that I’ve completely overlooked big historical anniversaries (like the United Kingdom of Great Britain being formed in 1707); and that I haven’t mentioned any of the really lovely people I know who were born on May 1^st! To understand how some of these observations came into existence, we need a little context of two of the aforementioned: Beltane and International Workers’ Day.

“Early in the morning
It’s the dawn of a new day
New hopes new dreams new ways
I open up my heart and
I’m gonna do my part and
Make this a positively beautiful day”

– quoted from the song “Beautiful Day” by India. Arie

As I referenced above, Beltane is a Gaelic and pagan holiday with origins in the Northern Hemisphere, specifically in places like Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. It is one of four major seasonal holidays (along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Lughnasa) with roots connected to Gaelic mythology about the aos sí (the supernatural people of the “mounds” (sídhe), which in Gaelic is pronounced like “she”). To honor the “wee folk” or “fae” – and to keep them from perpetuating mischief against simple mortals – people offer feasts, music, and much merriment.

Since it falls midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, Beltane is sometimes called “first of summer” (Cétshamain). It is a pastoral occasion because it is the time when people would move their cattle out into summer fields. In fact, a common ritual in Celtic traditions is to move cattle (and people) around or through (or even over) big bonfires during these times when it is believed that the veil between worlds is thin. This ritual is in part to make sure that there are no (disguised) evil spirits occupying the herd and in part to protect the herd from said evil spirits. In the early days, the fire’s people kept burning in their homes would be extinguished and then re-lit using the flames of the Beltane bonfires. Additionally, people would decorate their homes with May flowers that evoked the color and feeling of the fire.

Of course, fire is not the only element considered holy and cleansing in Celtic traditions. Water is also a focus during Beltane as some people would visit holy wells and walk around them in the same way the sun would move around them (east to west). They would pray as they walked and sometimes even wash with the well water. Another water related practice would be for people (especially virgin maidens) to roll around in the morning dew on Beltane. They might also wash their face in the dew and save a little bit of the dew to use in their beauty regime throughout the year.

Notice how this very brief description of Beltane rituals and traditions overlaps the modern day celebrations of Spring known as May Day – when people are feasting outside, dancing around May poles, and crowing “maidens” as the May Queen. Modern May Day celebrations are also connected to the early Roman celebration Floralia, a celebration of Flora (the Roman goddess of flowers). In places like Greece, there is also a connection to Maia, a Greek and Roman goddess of fertility. A more in-depth overview of Beltane and Floralia would highlight how (and why) these pagan rituals and traditions overlap Christian observations of Easter and also why there are so many feast days related to the Virgin Mary during May. But, I’ll save that for another day; because…

It’s also International Workers’ Day. Sometimes called “Labour Day” (or simply “May Day”), it is a celebration of labourers and the working class. It was a date designated by the Marxist International Socialist Congress when they met in Paris on July 14, 1889 (the one-hundred year anniversary of the storming of the Bastille). It was a date chosen for a worldwide demonstration in support of an 8-hour workday, because it had been previously chosen by the American Federation (in 1886) for a similar demonstration in the United States – a demonstration that is remembered today as the Haymarket affair (also known as the “Haymarket riot” and the “Haymarket massacre”).

“There was an instance of silence. Then from beneath Spies’s hood came the words: ‘The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.’”

– quoted from “Chapter 23 – The Scaffold” in The Haymarket Tragedy by Paul Avrich

That 1886 demonstration started as peaceful rallies around the country, on Saturday, May 1^st. However, as peaceful as the rallies were, people’s passions were high. Thousands of those protesting were also on strike – and, in places like Chicago, Illinois, thousands had been on strikes for months. By May, strikebreakers were being protected by the police and, on May 3^rd, two to six striking workers (depending on the source) were killed. Local anarchists organized a rally at Haymarket for the following morning. Thousands showed up for the rally. Again, it was peaceful… so, it was so peaceful that the Mayor (Carter Harrison, Sr.) left and went home after listening to one of the speeches.

Then the police showed up, and someone threw “a dynamite bomb” at the police line; killing 34-year old Patrolman Mathias J. Degan (who had just barely completed 16 months on the police force). Office Degan (Badge #648), who was a widower and father of one, would be the first of eight* officers to die as a result of the explosion. Approximately 70 other officers were injured. At least four civilians died; countless others were injured; and hundreds were arrested. Eight of the organizers were put on trial and – although there was no evidence that any of the eight threw the bomb, and only speculation that any of them had helped make it – they were convicted of conspiracy. (One was sentenced to 15 years in prison; seven were sentenced to death, although only four were hanged as Governor Richard J. Oglesby changed two of the sentences to life in prison and one person took his own life. By 1893, some perceptions about the Haymarket defendants had changed and Governor John Peter Altgeid not only pardoned the surviving anarchists, he also criticized the trial.)

Going back a bit, remember that this socialist-driven labor movement happened during the “Long Depression” (which followed the Civil War) and would be followed by the “First Red Scare” – which was partially the result of hyper-nationalism related to World War I and partially related to Russia’s October Revolution and Russian Revolution. However, while it is easy to just point at the Russian cause-and-effect in this situation, it is worth noting that some of the reaction to the Haymarket affair was also rooted in xenophobia and nationalism: five of the eight defendants were German-born immigrants; one was an American-born citizen of German descent; one was a British-born immigrant; and the final one was an American-born citizen of British descent. (Governor Altgeid, who issued the pardons, was a German-born immigrant.)

When you start putting all the pieces together, it becomes easier to answer the questions, “Who would object to an International Workers’ Day?” and “Why would someone want to co-opt International Workers’ Day?”

“(a) DESIGNATION.—May 1 is Law Day, U.S.A.

(b) PURPOSE.—Law Day, U.S.A., is a special day of celebration by the people of the United States—

(1) in appreciation of their liberties and the reaffirmation of their loyalty to the United States and of their rededication to the ideals of equality and justice under law in their relations with each other and with other countries; and

(2) for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life.

(c) PROCLAMATION.—The President is requested to issue a proclamation—

(1) calling on all public officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Law Day, U.S.A.; and

(2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Law Day, U.S.A., with appropriate ceremonies and in other appropriate ways, through public entities and private organizations and in schools and other suitable places.”

– quoted from Title 36, Section 113 of the United States Code

“(a) DESIGNATION.—May 1 is Loyalty Day.

(b) PURPOSE.—Loyalty Day is a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.

(c) PROCLAMATION.—The President is requested to issue a proclamation—

(1) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Loyalty Day; and

(2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Loyalty Day with appropriate ceremonies in schools and other suitable places.

– quoted from Title 36, Section 115 of the United States Code

First observed in 1921, Loyalty Day was originally called “Americanization Day.” It was recognized by the United States Congress (and President Dwight D. Eisenhower) in 1955 and became an official reoccurring holiday in July of 1958. It was also in 1958 that President Eisenhower asked Congress to move Child Health Day to the first Monday in October so that it would not ever conflict with Loyalty Day. He did not, however, seem have the same issue with Law Day – as he had previously proclaimed May 1^st as Law Day in February of 1958.

Law Day is not a public holiday and, in fact, is only observed by some of the law associations. On the flip side, Loyalty Day is a holiday – albeit one about which many people in the modern United States may not have ever heard. Pandemics and natural disasters notwithstanding, Loyalty Day parades have been held in parts of Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin since the 1950’s.

It was also in 1955 that Pope Pius XII designated May 1^st as the Feast Day of Saint Joseph the Worker. This was the second feast day associated with the adopted (or foster) father of Jesus in the Roman Catholic tradition. (Additionally, there are two more days that celebrate Joseph, one in the Western Christian tradition and one in the Eastern Christian tradition.) Unlike President Eisenhower, Pope Pius XII didn’t try to completely circumvent the ideals of the labour movement. Then again, the Roman Catholic Church has a pretty consistent track record when it comes to “co-opting” earlier traditions and this feast day fits that tradition.

Pope Pius XII wanted Catholics to turn their focus from the socialist movement and towards the “holiness of human labor” as epitomized by Joseph – who raised Jesus (at God’s behest), taught Jesus a trade, and (as a carpenter) emphasized the creative nature of the Divine. Joseph is also the patron saint of workers and so Pope Pius XII (and subsequent popes) could use the day to stress the ideals of a holy worker and, as Pope John Paul II said, “to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work, to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and to help to guide [social] changes so as to ensure authentic progress by man and society.”

Now, given all that context, and understanding that there’s even more going on during any given May 1^st, we find that we can understand each other’s words a little better. But, what happens if you don’t have any of this context? What happens if you have a completely different understanding of May Day – even as May 1^st? How could you possible understand what I’m saying when you hear, “May Day! May Day! May Day!”?

Well, as it turns out, Patanjali has a sūtra for that.

Yoga Sūtra 3.17: śabdārtha-pratyayānām itaretarādhyāsāt samskara tat-pravibhāga-samyamāt sarva-bhūta-ruta-jñānam

– “By making Samyama on the sound of a word, one’s perception and knowledge of its meaning, and one’s reaction to it – three things which are normally confused – one obtains understanding of all sounds uttered by all living beings [i.e., all languages of humans and animals].”

Remember that every word is simply a sound or combination of sounds with an associated meaning, which is context. When we hear a sound without an associated context it has no meaning. But similar sounds can be different words, and the same word can have multiple meanings; which means that sometimes a sound brings to mind a generic context or meaning and/or multiple meanings. Finally, there is the concept of the thing to which the word is being associated. This is why, based on earlier sutras, I often say that when we first sit down to practice “single-pointed focus” it is actually multi-pointed focus. We focus on the light of a candle, but also simultaneously we bring into awareness our understanding of the concept of all candles, the specific candle, and the concept of light and this specific light – to say nothing of the fact that we are also aware of the process of focusing and also aware of ourselves in the process of focusing.

Another classic example of how this all works is a stick, which may be a piece of word and/or it may be a pencil. The words “stick” and “pencil” can be applied to the generic concepts of a small, thin piece of wood (with or without a pigmented core) that is used for drawing or writing and also can be applied to a specific piece of wood. Simultaneously, the words could apply to a mechanical pencil (not made out of wood) – even when communicating with another species (like a dog). The same is true of the words “palo” and “lápiz” (in Spanish) or “peann luaidhe” and “bata” (in Irish Gaelic) or “peansail” and “bata” (in Scottish Gaelic).

In science fiction, like in the Star Trek franchise, people use a universal translator to understand beings who speak different languages. In the sutras, however, Patanjali indicates that our brains are universal translators. The human body is capable of making an incredible amount of sounds – even the sounds of animals and inanimate objects like musical instruments. The fact that human beings are capable of making the sounds – that can be remembered, shared, and assigned meaning – means that other human beings are also capable of understanding, remembering, and sharing these same sounds. While there are situations that make it challenging and/or physically impossible to speak and/or hear, most of the things/languages any given person doesn’t understand results from lack of familiarity, awareness, and attention.

Many languages have similar etymology (i.e., historical roots) and therefore have words with sounds and meanings that are similar enough for a native speaker of one language to pick up the meaning of words in a language they have never spoken. Here, again, context matters and is helpful in discernment. Context also goes a long way in understanding new languages should one decide to study them, which requires applying samyama (focus-concentration-meditation). Of course, if you are an American with limited (or no) exposure to African languages like Xhosa, Zulu, Dahalo, Gciriku and Yei – or an Australian language like Damin – you might think this is an exception to the above rule. However, if you have a working mouth, tongue, teeth, and lips, you have all the parts needed to articulate the clicks found in the aforementioned languages – you simply need the knowledge and practice to make the sounds and additional samayama to learn the words and their associated meanings. Hence, with a little focus-concentration-meditation, you could understand someone saying, “ikhandlela” or “ipensile” and “intonga.”

Of course, given the fact that this present moment is the culmination of all of our previous moments – and that last sentence is the culmination of all the previous sentences and moments; you may not need to study Xhosa to understand those last three words (at least in printed form). All you have to do is focus-concentrate-meditate on what you’ve already learned.

If you do that – if you’re able to do that – you’re really using your siddhis… and if you keep practicing accordingly, you may find that the past, the present, and the future are clearly revealed.

Because everything is connected to everything (and everyone) else, the ultimate understanding comes from an understanding of how things are connected. Our connections in this present moment are the result of the previous moments and, therefore, if we really focus-concentrate-meditate, we can start to see how we got here (wherever and whatever “here” may be).

Yoga Sūtra 3.18: samskāra-sākşat-karaņāt pūrva-jāti-jñānam

– “By making Samyama on previous mental impressions (samskaras), one obtains knowledge of past lives.”

Sometimes it has hard for me to completely wrap my head around the dynamics of cause-and-effect, specifically karma, as it relates to past lives and reincarnation. I tend to focus on the here and now, i.e., how the way I’m living now and what I think, say, and do today results in tomorrow. I will even look at patterns in my overall behavior and consider what I can learn from reoccurring experiences. Sometimes, when I think, say, or do something that is definitely (and definitively) afflicted/dysfunctional, I’ll even joke around and say that that specific action is the reason I won’t be enlightened in this lifetime. Overall, however, I mostly focus on cause-and-effect as it relates to this current life experience.

And, there is definitely, merit to looking at the patterns in one’s current life – just as there is a definite opportunity to learn from the karma of this present existence. In fact, in doing so we often find ourselves remembering things we had forgotten. After all, there are tons of memories stored in our mind-body, just waiting to be released by a movement, a pose, a song, a word, a picture, or even a madeleine or cookie.

Memories may pop-up as fully formed concepts or they may be completely out of context. You may hear me talking about specific people in a certain situation and it reminds you of something you previously experienced. You may meet someone with a certain name and get a funny feeling – only to realize later that their name (and/or their behavior) reminded you of someone else. Sometimes, we pause and think, “I wonder why that just came up for me.” Other times, we just brush the “random” thought or sensation away without careful consideration.

Similarly, we may experience a thought or sensation without context and without a specific attached memory. It is like a sound without meaning – we can easily ignore it and think it means nothing. However, looking at that mental impression through the paradigm of reincarnation, we may find that the meaning is in a previous lifetime.

Of course the early yogis, just like the Buddha, advised against getting too caught up – or too attached – to what happened in the past. After all, even if we remember all the details, we can’t change what happened in the past. There is no siddhi for that! We can, however, learn from the past, make amends for past transgressions, anticipate future moments (because we live our life in patterns), and plan how we want to move forward. We can (and must) also remember that right here, right now, we are making new samskāras, new mental impressions, and planting new (karmic) seeds that will become our future moments… maybe even our future lifetimes.

“Each experience that we have, comes in the form of a wave in the Chitta, and this subsides and becomes finer and finer, but is never lost. It remains there in minute form, and if we can bring this wave up again, it becomes memory. So, if the Yogi can make a Samyama on these past impressions in the mind, he will begin to remember all his past lives.”

– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 3.18 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

The playlist for Saturday, May 1^st is available on YouTube and Spotify.

The playlist for Saturday, May 8^th is also available on YouTube and Spotify.

*NOTE: The eight officers who died were Patrolman Mathias Degan, Patrolman John Barrett, Patrolman George Miller, Patrolman Timothy Flavin, Patrolman Thomas Redden, Patrolman Nels Hansen, Patrolman Michael Sheehan, and Patrolman Timothy Sullivan (who is not always included in the count since he “succumbed to his wounds two years later, on June 13, 1888”).

The eight anarchists who were convicted of conspiracy were:

August Spies, editor of the German-language Arbeiter-Zeitung (Workers’ Newspaper), who had just finished speaking and was not in a position to throw the bomb (executed on November 11, 1887);

Samuel Fielden, a Methodist pastor who was not one of the organizers, and who (along with Spies) was one of the speakers at the rally and not in a position to throw the bomb (originally sentenced to death, his sentence was changed to life on November 10, 1887 and he was pardoned on June 26, 1893. He is the only defendant not buried at Maymarket Martyrs’ Monument at Forest Home Cemetary);

Albert Parsons, a former Confederate soldier turned abolitionists – who wasn’t even at Haymarket Square when the bomb was thrown (executed on November 11, 1887);

Adolph Fischer, a typesetter for Arbeiter-Zeitung – who, like Parsons, was not onsite during the explosion (executed on November 11, 1887);

Michael Schwab, editorial assistant at Arbeiter-Zeitung, who was speaking at a completely different rally during the explosion (originally sentenced to death, his sentence was changed to life on November 10, 1887 and he was pardoned on June 26, 1893); and

George Engel – who was not at Haymarket Square on the 4^th, but was a known anarchist (executed on November 11, 1887)

Louis Lingg – who was not at Haymarket Square on the 4^th, but was accused of making bombs (sentenced to death, but committed suicide in 1887, on the eve of his execution);

Oscar Neebe, office manager of Arbeiter-Zeitung – who was not at Haymarket Square and stated that he was not even aware of the bombing until the next day (sentenced to 15 years, he was pardoned on June 26, 1893).

### WORDED (that’s the whole story) ###

The Philosophy of Picking Locks (& Other Things Related to Internal Movement) April 26, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 7-Day Challenge, Baha'i, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Confessions, Depression, Donate, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Loss, Love, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Riḍván, Suffering, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.
Tags: ASMR, Beno Gutenberg, Carol Burnett, Charles Richter, Henry Spall, KISS MY ASANA, Lock Picking Lawyer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, maya, Mind Body Solutions, prāņāyāma, Rainer Maria Rilke, Susan Elizabeth Hough, Yoga Sutras 2.46-2.49
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the month of Ramadan. “Happy Ridván!” to those celebrating the “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings, also, to those who are celebrating Chaitra Purnima (Tithi) / Hanuman Jayanti (and the Pink Super Moon), as well as those who are Counting the Omer.

[You can request an audio recording of today’s 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center 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.]

“‘My main point today is that usually one gets what one expects, but very rarely in the way one expected it.’”

– quoted from a draft of Charles Richter’s 1970 retirement speech, as printed in the Appendix of Richter’s Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man by Susan Elizabeth Hough

Over the last month (or so) I have developed a new guilty pleasure: watching the Lock Picking Lawyer’s YouTube videos. To be completely transparent, I will admit that I have known people who spent their down time at work picking locks from the “lost and found” (or locks that someone on staff had to break, because the owner locked themselves out). I will also admit that I found it an odd and eyebrow raising hobby – especially when they did it in full view of the very people who relied on locks for security. However, my previous opinions haven’t stopped me from getting hooked by these videos, starting with the first one I watched (which I will link at the end of this post).

The first video was the Lock Picking Lawyer’s annual April 1^st video, which is slightly different from his regular offering (in that it is a joke); but still contains some of the same elements that are, frankly speaking, compelling and addictive. First, the videos are witty, logical, informative, and low-key ASMR. (ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and is used to describe content that provides a calming experience for the brain and spine; what some people call a “brain massage.”) Second, the videos are philosophical on several different levels and reinforce some critical elements of our physical practice of yoga.

“Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.”

– Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher

Born in Vienna, Austria today in 1889, Dr. Ludwig Wittgenstein was part of one of the richest families in Europe and (although he was the youngest of nine) he inherited his father’s fortune at the age of 24. Many people associate great wealth with great ease and comfort, but none of that wealth prevented Dr. Wittgenstein from suffering severe depression, contemplating suicide, or losing three of his brothers to mental health issues. He made anonymous donations to artists and writers (including Rainer Maria Rilke). Then he gave his entire fortune to his brothers and sisters. Throughout his lifetime, he worked in several different areas in an attempt to find some ease to his suffering, but he ultimately said that philosophy saved him and was “the only work that gave me real satisfaction.” His work in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of the mind, and the philosophy of language is recognized as some of the most important works of philosophy of the twentieth century.

As I have previously mentioned (specifically in last year’s blog post on this date), “The word philosophy comes to us from Greek, by way of Latin, Old French, and Middle English, from a word that means “love of wisdom.” It is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, thought, reality, and existence. It provides a way to think about and understand the world, the universe, and everything. As stated in Wikipedia, it “is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.” The most basic question being, “Why?” which spirals out as:

Who/What are you?
Why do you exist?
Where does the world come from? / Why does the world exist?

The philosophy of yoga addresses all of these questions, and the follow-up questions (like, “Why do we/I/other people do the things we/I/they do?” and “How do I find balance in my life/relationships/pose?”). Yoga addresses philosophical questions even when someone only practices the physical practice, because, ultimately, the physical practice is a container in which we can consider these questions.”

And, one of the questions that we address – especially through the physical practice – is the question of security/stability and comfort/ease. Many commentaries on Patanjali’s Yoga Sūtras (in particular, commentary related to YS 2.46 – 49) point out that “stability and comfort go hand in hand.” We see this on and off the mat. There is a bit of a dichotomy, however, between what we think will bring us security/stability and comfort/ease versus what actually gives us those feelings. We could, for instance, have all the wealth of Ludwig Wittgenstein and, just as he did, suffer greatly.

One way people with stuff suffer is when they don’t feel their stuff is secure. For instance, consider the uncomfortable feeling some people have when they think they have forgotten to lock their front door after leaving home. Since the emotional (fear) response is connected to the perception of a threat, the feeling that they may have left the door unlocked is similar to returning home and finding the door wide open. Although the latter may, understandably, be more intense and acute – and combined with the fear that someone with nefarious intentions is inside – both sensations can be eliminated if we are secure in the knowledge that the door is locked (maybe because we checked before we left) and that the door is closed and locked upon our return.

What becomes very clear after a watching a few of the videos from the Locking Picking Lawyer is that in most cases locks are “easily” picked. On one level, they provide a deterrent, but – more importantly – they are manifested maya (“illusion”). And, philosophically speaking, because they can be opened by someone you may not want to open them, the lock and the closed door only give us the illusion of security – and that illusion (or perception) is what gives us the feeling of ease/comfort.

One of the things I appreciate about the Locking Picking Lawyer’s content is that while he readily “picks” apart the illusion, he also provides information that can make us better consumers. In being better informed – about the reality of locks – we make better decisions and, also, may experience more stable comfort and ease. Remember, in the Eastern philosophies, like Yoga and Buddhism, suffering comes from attachment and the end of suffering comes from the practice of non-attachment. No one wants someone to steal or mess with their stuff – that’s why people lock their stuff up! However, letting go of the illusion of the lock (and key or combination) can alleviate some suffering. Not only can letting alleviate mental and emotional suffering, it can be one of the keys to unlocking physical suffering.

“The human body is the best picture of the human soul.”

– Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher

I don’t know much about the Locking Picking Lawyer (other than the obvious and the fact that he’s married to Mrs. Lock Picking Lawyer, who apparently has no interest in picking locks). However, I definitely appreciate that his videos (unintentionally) reinforce the following critical elements which are directly applicable to our physical practice of yoga:

You need the right tools.
You can access almost anything with the right skills/knowledge.
You have to start with stability (i.e., secure what you’re accessing the way you would access it “in the wild”).
It’s important to access the core.
Take your time and go by the numbers / step by step.
It’s important to listen (and pay attention to what’s “clicking” and “binding”).
More knowledge comes from the inside than the outside.
Sometimes you have to turn things around.
Never underestimate the power of a good wiggle/jiggle.
It’s important to have a sense of humor.

Also, as an aside, you can do something again to show it wasn’t a fluke.

“The most remarkable feature about the magnitude scale was that it worked at all and that it could be extended on a worldwide basis. It was originally envisaged as a rather rough-and-ready procedure by which we could grade earthquakes. We would have been happy if we could have assigned just three categories, large, medium, and small; the point is, we wanted to avoid personal judgments. It actually turned out to be quite a finely tuned scale.”

– quoted from the Earthquake Information Bulletin (January- February 1980, Volume 12, Number 1) article, “Charles F. Richter – An Interview” by Henry Spall, U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. (regarding the scale Mr. Richter developed with Beno Gutenberg)

With regard to those last two bullet points, today is also the anniversary of the births of the seismologist and physicist Charles Richter (b. 1900, Overpeck, Ohio) and the award-winning Carol Burnett (b. 1933, San Antonio, Texas). Mr. Richter, along with Beno Gutenberg, developed the Richter Magnitude Scale in 1935. Prior to their creation, shock measurement was based on The Mercalli intensity scale, which was developed by the Italian priest Giuseppe Mercalli and used Roman numerals (I to XII) to rate shocks based on how buildings and people were affected. The Richter-Gutenberg collaboration was designed to measure displacement in a non-subjective manner. The idea of using “magnitude” came from Mr. Richter’s interest in astronomy. (There’s a good possibility that if he were alive today he would spend some part of this evening and the next checking out the “Super” Pink Moon.) In addition to being remembered for his knowledge and ingenuity, Charles Richter is remembered as being a little prickly on the outside, but warm on the inside and for having a sense of humor – although he didn’t often laugh at himself.

Maybe Carol Burnett, one of the funniest people on the face of the Earth, could have helped Charles Richter laugh at the fact that a man who wasn’t planning to become a seismologist became synonymous with seismology. She has won 6 Primetime Emmy Awards (out of 23 nominations); 7 Golden Globe Awards (out of 18 nominations); 3 Tony Awards; and 3 Grammy Awards. An actress, comedian, singer, and writer, she has also received everything from 2 Peabody Awards to a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Life Achievement Award; a Presidential Medal of Freedom; and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She was even awarded the very first Golden Globes Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement Award (for Television) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But, before all of that, she endured a lot of suffering as a child because of the instability of her first family – specifically her parents, who were alcoholics. Then she suffered as an adult when her oldest child suffered from drug addiction (and then died of pneumonia at the age of 39).

A natural born performer, even before she “went into show business,” Carol Burnett sang, created characters, and developed the imagination that would lead her to a career that has spanned 7 decades. One of the things that “saved” her from a life of complete misery and insecurity was her grandmother Mabel – who not only raised her when her parents moved to Hollywood, but also regularly took her to the movies. As a secret “I love you” to her grandmother, Ms. Burnett would tug on her left ear at the end of every episode of The Carol Burnett Show.

“The first time someone said, ‘What are your measurements?’ I answered, ’37, 24, 38 – but not necessarily in that order.’”

– Carol Burnett, comedian

There is no playlist for the Common Ground practice.

Unlock Your Generosity & Kiss My Asana!!

Yes, yes, it’s that time again! The 8^th Annual Kiss My Asana yogathon benefits Mind Body Solutions, which was founded by Matthew Sanford to help those who have experienced trauma, loss, and disability find new ways to live by integrating both mind and body. Known for their adaptive yoga classes, MBS provides “traditional yoga” classes, workshops, and outreach programs. They also train yoga teachers and offer highly specialized training for health care professionals. This year’s yogathon is only a week long! Seven days, starting yesterday (Saturday), to do yoga, share yoga, and help others. By participating in the Kiss My Asana yogathon you join a global movement, but in a personal way. In other words, you practice yoga… for 7 days. And you can start today!!

The yogathon raises resources and awareness. So, my goal this year is to post some extended prāņāyāma practices and to raise $400 for Mind Body Solutions. You can do yoga starting today. You can share yoga be inviting a friend to one of my classes or by forwarding one of the blog posts. You can help others by donating or, if you are not able to donate, come to class Saturday – Wednesday (or request a class you can do on your own) and practice the story poses on Thursday and Friday so that I can make a donation on your behalf.

You can add 5 minutes of yoga (or meditation) to your day; you can learn something new about your practice; or even teach a pose to someone close to you – or even to one of your Master Teachers/Precious Jewels. You can also add an extra wiggle to your day.

Lock Picking Lawyer Challenges Mrs. Lock Picking Lawyer

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can 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.

Revised 04/26/2023

### “That’s All I Have for You Today.” ~LPL ###

Seeing All the Sides of the Story (the “missing” Saturday post) April 25, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Music, Philosophy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Floyd C. Watkins, John T. Hiers, KISS MY ASANA, Library of Congress, Mary Louise Weeks, Mary Peterson, Matthew Sanford, Mind Body Solutions, Robert Penn Warren, Rodrigo Souza, Yoga Sutra 3.16, yogathon
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[This is the “missing” post is related to Saturday, April 24^th. You can request a substitute audio recording 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.]

“Everybody knows a hundred stories, you know, a thousand stories – the question is: Why does this story pick on you? Why this story and not that story? My guess is now this: the story or poem you find to write is the story or poem that has some meaning that you haven’t solved in it, that you haven’t quite laid hands on. So your writing—it is a way of understanding it, what its meaning, the potential meaning, is. And the story that you understand perfectly, you don’t write. You know what the meaning is; there’s nothing there to nag your mind about it. A story that’s one for you is the one you have to work to understand.”

– quoted from “A Conversation” (with John Baker, 1989) in Talking with Robert Penn Warren, edited by Floyd C. Watkins, John T. Hiers, and Mary Louise Weeks

Established April 24, 1800, the Library of Congress houses over 168 million items, in over 460 languages. These materials, housed in four buildings, as well as online, include millions of books and printed materials, recordings, photographs, maps, sheet music, manuscripts, “incunabula,” rare books, legal items, and other items designated as non-classified or special. While the Library of Congress was opened to the public in 1897 and is the de facto library of the United States and “the library of last resort” for all US citizens, the general public cannot randomly and at will check out books from the Library of Congress. However, if you find your way into its stacks – virtually or in real life, you will find stories by a number of authors, artists, composers, and cartographers who share the library’s birthday, including Anthony Trollope (b. 1815), Carl Spitteler (b. 1845), Robert Penn Warren (b. 1905), Sue Grafton (b. 1940), Eric Bogosian (b. 1953), and Kelly Clarkson (b. 1982. You will also find within those annals, the stores of those same authors, artists, composers, and cartographers.

Take Robert Penn Warren, for instance. A Southern Gentleman, if ever there was a Southern Gentleman, Robert Penn Warren was born in Guthrie, Kentucky, close to the Tennessee-Kentucky border. He spent his high school and undergraduate years in Tennessee, where he was a member of the poetry group known as “The Fugitives.” Some members of that group, including Mr. Warren, formed a group known as the “Southern Agrarians” (as well as the “Twelve Southerners” and a variety of other combinations of the same), which produced a “pro-Southern agrarian” collection of essays called I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition (1930). Robert Penn Warren’s contribution to the “manifesto” was “The Briar Patch” – a pro-segregation essay that was considered so “progressive” by some of the others in the group that it was almost excluded from the collection.

Now, right about here is the point where someone who knows that I’m Black and from the South might wonder why exactly I would highlight, even seem to celebrate, a man (albeit a poet) whose views are so antithetical to my own. I would wonder too, if that were the whole story. But it’s not, it’s not even close.

And, if you know anything about me, you know I’m going to suggest going deeper. Getting more of the story and, as Patanjali suggests, really focusing-concentrating-meditating on the various ways the story (and the subject of the story) changes in terms of form, time, and condition, allows us to see cause-and-effect at work/play.

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.”

After graduating summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University, Robert Penn Warren earned a Masters at the University of California, Berkeley; studied at Yale University for a bit; and obtaining a B. Litt as a Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford in England. He even received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts which allowed him to study in Italy while the country was under the control of Benito Mussolini.

He held all the national poet titles designated by the Library of Congress: serving as “Consultant in Poetry” 1944 – 1945 and then “Poet Laureate Consultant” 1986 – 1987. He won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (for All the King’s Men, perhaps his best known work) and both the 1958 and 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry – making him the only person to win a Pulitzer in both Poetry and “Fiction.” (Last week, I slightly erroneously, identified Thornton Wilder as a winner a Pulitzer in both Drama and “Fiction;” however the latter prize was technically known as the “Pulitzer Prize for the Novel” when Mr. Wilder won it.) He also won the National Book Award for Poetry (for the collection that won the 1958 Pulitzer); was selected by the National Endowment of the Humanities to give the “Jefferson Lecture” in 1974; and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980, a MacArthur Fellow in 1981, and the National Medal of Arts in 1987.

And that’s not only a small portion of his accolades; it’s only part of his story….

As if devoting a whole novel to a “controversial,” “radical” politician with “progressive” ideology wasn’t enough, Robert Penn Warren’s essay “Divided South Searches Its Soul” was published in the July 9, 1956 issue of Life magazine and an expanded version of the essay became the booklet Segregation: The Inner Conflict in the South. He would write another Life essay, in 1961, that became a book entitled The Legacy of the Civil War. As if his words alone were not enough to walk back his previous words, Mr. Warren started sharing his (very Southern and very prominent) platform with Black Civil Rights activists through a series of interviews published as Who Speaks for the Negro? (1965).

“The asking and the answering which history provides may help us to understand, even to frame, the logic of experience to which we shall submit. History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.”

– quoted from The Legacy of the Civil War by Robert Penn Warren

Before publishing the collection, Robert Penn Warren traveled around the country and recorded interviews with leaders like United States Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (the first African-American elected to Congress from New York); Whitney Young (of the National Urban League); Dr. Kenneth Clark (the husband half of the husband-wife team of psychologists whose work was cited in the landmark Supreme Court trial “Brown v. Board of Education”); Bayard Rustin (one of the organizers of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”); the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and Malcolm X. He also interviewed authors like James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison; as well as (then) students like Ezell A. Blair, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, Lucy Thornton, Jean Wheeler, and Ruth Turner; and additional college students at Jackson State University and Tougaloo College (both of which are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in Mississippi, although the latter is private and Christian-affiliated).

For a variety of reasons, about some of which we can only speculate, a lot of interviews were conducted but not included in the book. These include interviews with educator Septima Poinsetta Clark (who became known as “the Queen Mother” and “Grandmother” of the Civil Rights movement); the businessman Vernon Jordan; Gloria Richardson (one of the five women who were recognized as Civil Rights leaders – but not allowed to speak – during the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”); and Andrew Young (who would go on to serve in the United States Congress, as well as the 14^th U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the 55^th Mayor of Atlanta).

The published collection (which was reissued in 2014), additional correspondence and notes, and copies of the recordings – which include interviews that were not published in the book – can be found at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History (“The Nunn Center”) at the University of Kentucky, at the Yale University Library archives, and (naturally) at the Library of Congress. Additionally, the Nunn Center provides digital (and searchable) archives and there is also a digital exhibit hosted by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities and the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries at Vanderbilt University.

Just to be clear, neither Robert Penn Warren nor those he interviewed seemed to (as far as I can tell) steer clear of controversial subjects – including violence with the Civil Rights Movement; social/cultural versus public/political segregation; cultural assimilation; the difference between the North and the South, as well as the difference between the different classes in the United States and the importance of history, education, and wealth in the United States. Mr. Warren has been quoted as stating, “The individual is an embodiment of external circumstances, so that a personal story is a social story.” In keeping with this idea, he not only asked people to define what it meant to be “a Negro;” he also asked their opinions about the works of people like W. E. B. Dubois, the Swedish economist and sociologist Dr. Gunnar Myrdal, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. Additionally, he asked people to share their thoughts on abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and John Brown – not to mention Confederate heroes like Robert E. Lee.

“‘It is easy,’ I said, ‘I can change that picture of the world he carries around in his head.’

‘How?’

‘I can give him a history lesson.’

‘A history lesson?’

‘Yes, I am a student of history, don’t you remember? And what we students of history always learn is that the human being is a very complicated contraption and that they are not good or bad but are good-and-bad and the good comes out of the bad and the bad out of the good, and the devil take the hindmost.’”

– (Jack and Anne) quoted from All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

“Everybody knows a thousand stories. But only one cocklebur catches in your fur and that subject is your question. You live with that question. You may not even know what that question is. It hangs around a long time. I’ve carried a novel as long as twenty years, and some poems longer than that.”

– Robert Penn Warren quoted from a 1981 interview

Let’s Share Some Kiss My Asana Stories!!

Last year during Kiss My Asana, I shared a few people’s yoga stories; however, to kick off the 8^th Annual Kiss My Asana yogathon, Mind Body Solutions, shared bits of stories (see links below) from people who directly benefit from the yoga practices offered by MBS.

This annual yogathon benefits Mind Body Solutions, which was founded by Matthew Sanford to help those who have experienced trauma, loss, and disability find new ways to live by integrating both mind and body. Known for their adaptive yoga classes, MBS provides “traditional yoga” classes, workshops, and outreach programs. They also train yoga teachers and offer highly specialized training for health care professionals. This year’s yogathon is only a week long! Seven days, starting yesterday (Saturday), to do yoga, share yoga, and help others. By participating in the Kiss My Asana yogathon you join a global movement, but in a personal way. In other words, you practice yoga… for 7 days. And you can start today!!

A little bit of Rodrigo Souza’s story…

A little bit about Mary Peterson’s story…

“[B]

Tell me a story.

In this century, and moment, of mania,
Tell me a story.

Make it a story of great distances, and starlight.

The name of the story will be Time,
But you must not pronounce its name.

Tell me a story of deep delight.”

– quoted from the poem “Tell Me a Story” by Robert Penn Warren

### YES, YES, TELL ME A STORY! ###

Shy & Fearless, Take 2 April 25, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Life, Loss, Music, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.
Tags: Apollo Theater, Ella Fitzgerald, fearless, fearless play, liner notes, Taylor Swift, Thich Nhat Hanh, Wookiefoot, yoga, yoga philosophy
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the month of Ramadan. “Happy Ridván!” to those celebrating the “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings, also, to those who are Counting the Omer.

“To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. Fearless is falling madly in love again, even though you’ve been hurt before. Fearless is walking into your freshman year of high school at fifteen. Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again … even though every time you’ve tried before, you’ve lost. It’s fearless to have faith that someday things will change.”

– quoted from the liner notes for the album Fearless by Taylor Swift

Everyone from Taylor Swift (who I quote one more time, below) to South African President Nelson Mandela have stated that “being fearless is not the absence of fear.” So, what is it if it’s not being with “less” fear?

Turns out everyone from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to Ashley Graham and Thich Nhat Hanh agree that the most important part of “being fearless” is being – and, in some cases, doing, moving, playing.

“This is based on a true story. While hiking in the hills of Rishikesh in India, we encountered a holy man who approached with light in his eyes and love in his heart… just beaming with inspiration. He spoke as if he were channeling the divinity ever present in that wonderful country and spoke these words… “Light of sun in the sky sends the message: Be Fearless and Play!” We were fascinated and inspired by his simple but insightful words.”

– quoted from the liner notes for the song “Be Fearless and Play” by Wookiefoot

Despite some really divine encounters with a couple of people affiliated with the band/circus/non-profit/adventure that is Wookiefoot, I had never heard the song (or the album) “Be Fearless and Play” before today. However, the inspiration and the lyrics definitely fit in with my overall philosophy on being fearless – that is to say, it always involves a certain amount of “play.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am not encouraging recklessness. Instead, I am encouraging a little improvisation. See, when I think of being fearless, I think of improve – comedy; yes, yes! And also, mostly, jazz. I think about the kind of play that involves knowing the rules in order to break (or at least bend) the rules. I think about scat. I think about “mak[ing] the moves up as [you] go.” I think about facing the obstacle that is your own self and knowing that today is not a good day for self defeat. I think about people like Ella Fitzgerald.

[A portion of this post was part of my 2020 Kiss My Asana offering, which is directly tied to our Saturday sūtra exploration.]

Born today (April 25^th) in 1917, Fitzgerald would eventually become a bandleader known as the First Lady of Jazz, Mama of Jazz, Lady Ella, and the Queen of Jazz. She would be championed by musicians like Benny Carter and Chick Webb (who gave her one of her big shots); composers like Ira Gershwin (who once said, “I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them”); and celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra (both of whom challenged segregation laws and racial bias, in their own ways, on Ella’s behalf). She would be heralded by universities and heads of state, awarded the National Medal of Arts (by President Ronald Reagan in 1987), and presented France’s Commander of Arts and Letters award in 1990.

On November 21, 1934, however, when she stood on the stage at the Apollo, Ella Fitzgerald was just a shy, reserved, self-conscious 17-year old orphan with a reportedly disheveled appearance. She hadn’t become a legendary scat artist, hadn’t recorded a single song (let alone over 200 albums) and hadn’t performed at Carnegie Hall once (let along 26 times). In fact, the woman who would eventually be known for her ability to mimic any horn in the orchestra wasn’t even planning to sing!

“They were the dancingest sisters around.”

– Ella Fitzgerald describing Ruth and Louise Edwards (known as the Edwards Sisters)

Yes, you read that right: Ella Fitzgerald didn’t enter the Apollo’s Amateur Night as a singer. She intended to dance. The problem was the main event concluded with the Edwards Sisters, a crowd favorite. Seeing the Edwards Sisters’ tap dancing bring the house down – and knowing the critical (and vocal) reputation of the Apollo audience – young Ella froze, and asked herself some variation of those aforementioned questions.

“Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience. I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life.”

– Ella Fitzgerald on how it felt after she sang one of her mother’s favorite songs at the Apollo

It’s a weird dichotomy to think of Ella Fitzgerald as both shy and fearless; yet, that is exactly who and what she was. Out of context it sounds odd. When you know more of her story, however, it is inspiring and encouraging. After all, every one of us can make the decision to climb on, to celebrate, and to persevere. All we need is to recognize what is already inside of us, what has gotten us this far. At the same time, what has gotten us this far is also what might have us giving up and turning back….

In that moment of questioning, young Ella’s consciousness, her awareness of herself and her awareness of what she could do, merged with all the possible outcomes and in that moment there was fear of failing on the stage and also, as a teenager already taking care of herself in the world, there was the fear of failing in life. So, there was suffering – and, in this case, (mental) suffering that could also lead to (physical) pain. In that same moment, she also recognized a way to succeed and to alleviate (or avoid) some of her suffering.

“We are very afraid of being powerless. But we have the power to look deeply at our fears, and then fear cannot control us. We can transform our fear. Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.”

– quoted from Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh

Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, April 25th) at 2:30 PM, for an experience. 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 “04252020 Ella’s Shy & Fearless Day”]

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.)

“Be Fearless and Play
You could live for tomorrow and still live here in today

When i would play when i was a child
I swore that i would never forget no
I will never forget no!

Be Fearless and Play
This is one thing that no one can ever take away”

– quoted from the song “Be Fearless and Play” by Wookiefoot

…& don’t forget to fearlessly Kiss My Asana!!

Updated 2023.

### YOU’VE GOT THIS ###

An Auspicious and Holy Time April 21, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Baha'i, Books, Faith, Healing Stories, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Meditation, Mysticism, One Hoop, Peace, Ramadan, Religion, Riḍván.
Tags: Chaitra Navaratri, Counting the Omer, Goswami Tulsidas, Marcus J Freed, Rama Navami, Spring, Tom Robbins, Tony Vigorito
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the month of Ramadan. “Happy Ridván!” to those celebrating the “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings, also, to those celebrating Rama Navami / Chaitra Navaratri and those who are Counting the Omer.

“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, April 21, 2021, at least five different communities around the world are observing rituals related to renewal. This is the penultimate week of Great Lent for people within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition; this is the second week of the month of Ramadān in Islām; for people within the Jewish community who are Counting the Omer, this afternoon/evening marks the end of the 24^th Day and the beginning of the 25^th Day; this is the second day of the Festival of Ridván for the Bahá’I; and this is the ninth day and final night of Chaitra Navaratri – which is also Rama Navami – in the Hindu community. 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.

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. Another difference in the way the season is observed is that in the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions Sundays are considered “Feast Days” and excluded from the count, while during “Great Lent” Sundays are included.

The holy month of Ramadān is another observation within an Abrahamic religion and it also involves a different calendar than the others – so the overlap in holy times is not always the same. 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 the ritual 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.

Within the Jewish community, there are people who started observing the sacred ritual of Counting the Omer on the second day of Passover. This is a period of 49 days, a total of 7 weeks, leading up to Shavuot (also known as the “Festival of Weeks”) – which itself is a commemoration of the Jewish people receiving the Torah. Commonly associated with Jewish mysticism (Kabbalism), the practice of Counting the Omer involves 7 of the 10 attributes of the Divine that are found on the Tree of Life. Each day is associated with a different attribute, as is each week – which means that for 49 days people are focusing-concentrating-meditating on the interrelation of two attributes.

This week the overall focus is Netzach, (“endurance” or “sustainability”) which is associated with the right hip and leg. Netzach can also be associated with “flow” in that it is the drive that keeps us flowing and going. Like a good majority of religious observations, sunset marks the beginning of a new day – which means at least one of my classes overlaps Days 24 and 25: endurance in balance (or compassion) and endurance in endurance.

“Every hero begins their mission by trying to avoid it…. We do the same in many areas of our life, and the focus of Netzach-Endurance is healing this spiritual-emotional character-flaw to achieve more in our life.”

– quoted from The Kabbalah Sutras: 49 Steps to Enlightenment by Marcus J. Freed

Of course, there are other lenses through which we can view attributes of the Divine. If you look at a Bahá’i calendar, for instance, you will notice that each of the 19 months is named for an attribute (or name) of God – as each day. People within the Bahá’i Faith are currently in the second month of the year, which is particularly notable because it is the month of Ridván, “The Most Great Festival.”

Exactly one month after the Vernal Equinox, which also marks the beginning of the Bahá’i New Year, the twelve-day festival of Ridván honors the time that the founder of the Bahá’i Faith, Bahá’u’lláh spent in the original garden of Ridván prior to being exiled to Constantinople. The Arabic word ridván means “paradise” and I indicated “the original garden,” because in addition to the garden outside of Baghdad, where the great spiritual leader (considered a manifestation of the Divine) prepared for his exile, there is a second garden with the same name in Israel, which Bahá’u’lláh visited after years of exile.

The festival is a time of a sacred time of prayer, reflection, and celebration. It begins two hours after sunset to commemorate the actual time in 1863 when Bahá’u’lláh entered the Najíbíyyih Garden with his family and secretary and began to receive the visitors who wanted to wish him well before his departure. It was during this time, in the space he called “paradise,” that Bahá’u’lláh declared himself as the most recent manifestation of God; that all religious wars were repealed; that there would not be another manifestation of the God for another 1,000 years; and that the names of God (or attributes of the divine) are manifested in all things. To honor the fact that he made these announcements, the Universal House of Justice issues an annual Ridván message. There are also elections held during this time. The first day (yesterday), the ninth day, and the twelfth day are considered the most holy of days.

In Hinduism, the fall celebration of Navaratri is a celebration of divine feminine energy, specifically of Durga, the divine mother, in various manifestations. There are three other celebrations, also referred to as Navaratri (which means “nine nights” in Sanskrit) including this spring celebration, which is also considered by some to be the Indian New Year. In some regions of India, the spring celebration of Chaitra Navaratri, culminates on the final day with Rama Navami – a celebration of the birth of Lord Rama. Many people mark this occasion by telling stories of Rama, including reciting parts of the epic poem the Rāmāyana and partaking in various forms of bhakti (“devotional”) yoga like kirtan. Some people will wash and clothe miniature statues of a baby Rama, before placing the baby in the cradle. Many will also fast and engage in spiritual reflection on this special day that is, in some regions, an optional government and bank holiday.

“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

Please join me today (Wednesday, April 21st) 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. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. 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.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, playlists, 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). If you don’t mind me knowing your donation amount you can also donate to me directly. Donations to Common Ground are tax deductible; class purchases and donations directly to me are not necessarily deductible.)

### AUM ###

Accepting Rachel’s Challenge April 20, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Love, Movies, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Columbine High School, Craig Scott, Mark Pettit, Rachel Joy Scott, Rachel's Challenge, Thornton Wilder
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[“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the month of Ramadan. Many blessings, also, to those celebrating Chaitra Navaratri and Ridván.]

WARNING: This post specifically references a horrific and tragic event from 1999. You can skip most of these references by jumping from the first highlighted quote to the second highlighted quote.

“Compassion is the greatest form of love that humans have to offer. According to Webster’s Dictionary, compassion means a feeling of sympathy for another person’s misfortune. My definition is forgiving, loving, helping, leading, and showing mercy for others. I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”

– quoted from the essay “My Ethics, My Codes of Life” by Rachel Joy Scott (written in period 5)

Back in 2018, as one of my Kiss My Asana yogathon offerings, I referenced a lot – well, some – of the people who tragically lost their lives throughout history on April 19^th and 20^th. One of the people I mentioned was Rachel Joy Scott – the first person shot at Columbine High School today in 1999. In some ways, it is hard to believe that 22 years have passed since that mass shooting that some people thought would change everything. It’s equally hard to believe that there are adults – people who can serve in the armed forces, legally vote, and in some cases legally drink alcohol in the United States – who were not even born when 2 high school seniors killed 12 people and injured 24 others before taking their own lives. It’s mind-boggling to me that (based on recent events and data compiled by The New Yorker and Trace in 2019) there have been over 200 mass shootings in the United States since today in 1999. Those shootings have affected thousands upon thousands of lives. Furthermore, it is astounding that what was (at the time) the fifth deadliest shooting in the United States (after World War II) “is now not even in the top ten.”

I’m not going to spend my time here (or in class) talking about my opinion about gun control and/or the 2^nd Amendment. Nor am I going to spend a lot of time stating the obvious fact that, as the statistics and the lives lost clearly attest, we have a problem – because, let’s be honest, we have a lot of problems right now. What I am going to focus on today is Rachel’s Challenge. Not the program (although I will mention that) so much as the idea(l).

“I am sure that my codes of life may be very different from yours, but how do you know that trust, compassion, and beauty will not make this world a better place to be in and this life a better one to live? My codes may seem like a fantasy that can never be reached, but test them for yourself, and see the kind of effect they have in the lives of people around you. You just may start a chain reaction.”

– quoted from the essay “My Ethics, My Codes of Life” by Rachel Joy Scott (written in period 5)

Somewhere on her person, perhaps in her backpack, 17-year old Rachel Joy Scott had a notebook. It was one of several notebooks that turned up after Rachel’s death. Some of the notebooks were full of thoughts, poetry, and art she was just sharing with herself. Some of the notebooks, however, were a form of communication between her and her “big brother” Mark Pettit. They would each write in the notebooks and then swap them during small groups at church.

The notebooks became a way for Rachel’s family to tell her story and also a way to spread her message about the importance of compassion. They, along with the stories other people shared about their encounters with Rachel, led her family to start Rachel’s Challenge, a non-profit that creates “programs that promote a positive climate in K-12 schools.” They also have comprehensive programs for colleges and businesses.

On the foundation’s website, the Rachel’s Challenge mission is stated as “Making schools safer, more connected places where bullying and violence are replaced with kindness and respect; and where learning and teaching are awakened to their fullest.” They also indicate that when the program is fully implemented, “partner schools achieve statistically significant gains in community engagement, faculty/student relationships, leadership potential, and school climate; along with reductions in bullying, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use.”

“ANTROBUS: …. Oh, I’ve never forgotten for long at a time that living is struggle. I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for — whether it’s a field, or a home, or a country. All I ask is the chance to build new worlds and God has always given us that second chance, and has given us [opening the book] voices to guide us; and the memory of our mistakes to warn us. Maggie, you and I must remember in peace time all those resolves that were clear to us in the days of war. Maggie, we’ve come a long ways. We’ve learned. We’re learning. And the steps of our journey are marked for us here.”

– quoted from The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder

I did not know Rachel Joy Scott or Cassie Bernall (17), Steven Curnow (14), Corey DePooter (17), Kelly Fleming (16), Matthew Kechter (16), Daniel Mauser (15), Daniel Rohrbough (15), Isaiah Shoels (18), John Tomlin (16), Lauren Townsend (18), Kyle Velasquez (16), William “Dave” Sanders (47), nor (to my knowledge) do I know anyone else that was at Littleton, Colorado, today in 1999. I did not know the two seniors that wrecked so much havoc (and whose names I am choosing not to post, even though their families also suffered greatly.) I am not affiliated with the foundation Rachel’s family started and neither have I gone through their program. However, I believe in the message and I believe in the idea(l).

I have seen the chain reaction that starts with compassion and kindness – just as I have seen the chain reaction that begins with a lack of empathy and a lack of equanimity. In that essay she wrote in period 5, Rachel talked about first, second, and third impressions and how they don’t always give you a full picture of someone. She wrote, “Did you ever ask them what their goal in life is, what kind of past they came from, did they experience love, did they experience hurt, did you look into their soul and not just at their appearance?” We are, right here and right now, experiencing the chain reactions that occur when we don’t really see each other and when we don’t recognize the fact that we are all connected. We are – right here and right now – about to set off a new chain reaction.

Quick, ask yourself: What is motivating you and what do you expect to come out of your actions?

“One of the big things we’re focused on is how you see yourself. Each and every one of us in this room has a great capacity to do great things.”

– Craig Scott speaking to a small group of students during a Rachel’s Challenge event

“I challenge students to choose positive influences. Rachel wanted to make a positive difference. So, she surrounded herself with the right influences that helped her be a powerful, positive person.”

– Craig Scott speaking in a 2018 TODAY feature story

Please join me today (Tuesday, April 20^th) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

“She was a real girl, who had real struggles, and – just was in the pursuit to, you know, pretty much just show compassion and love to anybody who needed it. You know: Whatever religion, whatever race, whatever class – any of that stuff. I mean, it did not matter to Rachel…. She saw my heart.”

– Mark Pettit, talking about the movie I’m Not Ashamed, a 2016 film based on their journals

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can 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.

### “BE NICE…. SMILE.” ###

Dwelling in Possibilities April 14, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: A. R. Rahman, Counting of the Omer, Emily Dickinson, Khatija Rahman, Raheema Rahman, U2
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the month of Ramadan. Many blessings, also, to those celebrating Chaitra Navaratri.

“I dwell in Possibility –

A fairer House than Prose –

More numerous of Windows –

Superior – for Doors –“

– quoted from the poem “I dwell in Possibility (466)” by Emily Dickinson

Introduced in 1996, National Poetry Month is a celebration of poetry organized by the Academy of American Poets. Each year, I offer a class focused on poetry (in motion). If you are interested in reading more about some of the poets that I reference (in April and throughout the year), you can check out my 2018 Kiss My Asana offerings – starting with the blog post from April 1, 2018.

“Even when a man takes revenge on others who hate him, in spite of him not hating them initially, the pain caused by his vengeance will bring him inevitable sorrow.” (313)

“When a man inflicts pain upon others in the forenoon, it will come upon him unsought in the afternoon.” (319)

– quoted from the English translation of the Thirukkural (Sacred Couplets) “Aesthetic Virtue” heading “1.3.8. Not Doing Evil” sampled as the Tamil lyrics of the song “Ahimsa” by U2 and A. R. Rahman, featuring Khatija and Raheema Rahman (translation from IntegralYoga.org)

Please join me today (Wednesday, April 14^th) 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. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. 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.

DON’T FORGET! Next month’s “First Friday Night Special” will be May the 7th, which this year falls during the month of Ramadan, in the Muslim tradition. In the Jewish tradition, it is “forty-one days, which is five weeks and six days of the Omer” and a time when people will be focused on “Bonding in Bonding.” [If you received a class recording this week, you can obviously see that I got my months mixed up; however we will still consider what holds something together. Time and additional details will be posted on the “Class Schedules” calendar soon!

### PEACE IN, PEACE OUT ###

How One Does Their Duty April 7, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Healing Stories, Life, Music, Philosophy, Poetry, William Wordsworth, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr., Joseph Robinette Biden, Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, William Wordsworth
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“Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he

That every man in arms should wish to

be?”

– quoted from the poem “Character of the Happy Warrior” by William Wordsworth

It’s unlikely that you’ve heard someone referred to as “America’s Lord Nelson.” Unless, of course, the person being referenced was a member of the peerage whose name was Nelson. However, several modern politicians – including Minnesota’s own Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (the 38^th Vice President of the United States) and Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. (the 47^th Vice President and 46^th President of the United States) – have been called “the Happy Warrior;” because their personal constitutions fit the poem “The Character of the Happy Warrior” by William Wordsworth. Wordsworth, born today in 1770, wrote the poem to eulogize (& idolize) Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB – whose views on slavery are currently under much scrutiny and debate.

“Whose high endeavors are an inward light

That makes the path before him always bright;”

– quoted from the poem “Character of the Happy Warrior” by William Wordsworth

Please join me today (Wednesday, April 7^th) 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. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. 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.

You can find my 2019 post related to The Happy Warrior practice here.

DON’T FORGET! Next month’s “First Friday Night Special” will be May the 7th, which this year falls during the month of Ramadan, in the Muslim tradition. In the Jewish tradition, it is “forty-one days, which is five weeks and six days of the Omer” and a time when people will be focused on “Bonding in Bonding.” [If you received a class recording this week, you can obviously see that I got my months mixed up; however we will still consider what holds something together. Time and additional details will be posted on the “Class Schedules” calendar soon!

### 🎶 ###

Liminal, Lofty, & Rare Days – I & Redux (a “missing” post for multiple days) March 4, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Bhakti, Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Helen Keller, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Passover, Peace, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga, Yom Kippur.
Tags: Abdu’l-Bahā, Abdul-Baha, Anne Sullivan, Baháʼí, Feast Day of Saint Katherine, Great Lent, Jack Hawley, James Kubicki, kriya yoga, kriyā yoga, Mrs. Corinne True, niyamas, Saint David's Day
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[This post is related to Sunday, February 28^th; Monday, March 1^st; and Wednesday, March 2^nd. You can request an audio recording of any of the practices via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes. *** DON’T FORGET THERE’S A “FIRST FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL ON FRIDAY (MARCH 5^th)! ***]

“‘There are yet others whose way of worship is to offer up wealth and possessions. Still others offer up self-denial, suffering, and austerities (purifications). Others take clerical or monastic vows, offering up knowledge of the scriptures. Some others make their meditation itself an offering.

‘Some offer up prana, the mysterious vital energy force within them. They do this through control of the breath, literally stopping their inhaling and exhaling.

‘Yet others abstain from food and practice sacrifice by spiritualizing their vital energy – that is, by figuratively pouring their own vital life force into the Cosmic Life Force. The whole point of all these various methods of sacrifice (worship) is to develop a certain mental attitude. Those who live with a truly worshipful attitude, whose whole lives are offered up for improvement of the world, incur no sin (no karmic debt).’”

– Krishna speaking to Arjuna (4.28 – 30) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley

Much of this week has been devoted towards sacrifice and nourishment – specifically, nourishment that comes from sacrifice. I realize that, in the base case, most of us do not think of nourishment and sacrifice in the same heartbeat. Perhaps, if you are a parent without a lot of means, you have to sacrifice (go without) so that your child(ren) can eat and be nourished. But, in most other cases, “sacrifice” and “nourishment” seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. And they are… if we are only talking about the body. If, however, we are talking about the mind-body and the spirit within, then sacrifice and nourishment can sometimes go hand-in-hand. As we give up something, let go of our attachment, we bring awareness to how we are using our time, energy, and resources. We also bring awareness to the difference between need and desire. Finally, we find ourselves facing our greatest need/desire: the longing for belonging.

The desire to be (and feel) connected to something more than our (individual) self crosses cultural, socio-economic, and geographical boundaries. It crosses the barrier that is sometimes erected by language and age, religion and philosophy. It is, it seems, as much a part of being human as breathing… or eating. So, it might seem ironic that one of the ways in which people “feed” that need/desire is to go without, to give something up. Yet, all of the major religions and philosophies have some ritualistic tradition that involves fasting and/or abstaining from certain behavior for a predetermined period of time. For certain Christians, that period is Lent (which is currently being observed by some within Western Christianity and will, in a couple of weeks, be observed by those within the Eastern/Orthodox communities). The Baha’i community started their own observation, the 19-Day Fast, at sunset on Sunday (February 28^th).

I call these “liminal days;” because even though all days are transitional and threshold days on a certain level, these days are specifically designated by various traditions are in-between times. Not “regular” or “ordinary” days, but days when there is a heightened awareness of what’s to come and the need to be ready for what’s to come. While the customs and beliefs are different within these different traditions, people all over the world are actually preparing: Christians observe Lent to get ready for Easter; the Baháʼí community observes the fast as they prepare for a new year.

“The second wisdom is this: Fasting is the cause of awakening man. The heart becomes tender and the spirituality of man increases. This is produced by the fact that man’s thoughts will be confined to the commemoration of God, and through this awakening and stimulation surely ideal advancements follow.

Third wisdom: Fasting is of two kinds, material and spiritual. The material fasting is abstaining from food and drink, that is, from the appetites of the body. But spiritual, ideal, fasting is this, that man abstain from selfish passions, from negligence and from satanic animal traits. Therefore is a token of the spiritual fast.”

– quoted from article entitled “The Divine Wisdom in Fasting – From Table Talks by Abdul-Baha” by Mrs. Corinne True, printed in Star of the West, Vol. IV (No. 18), dated Mulk 1, 69 (February 7, 1914)

For those who are not familiar: The Baháʼí Faith is a monotheistic faith that believes in the oneness of God and religion, as well as the oneness and nobility of humanity. The community believes that, historically, there has been a “progressive revelation of religious truth” which has been shared with the world through the voices of the prophets or Divine Messengers, known as “Manifestations of God” (which include “Braham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and, in more recent times, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh”). People within the faith are taught to honor the value of different religious and philosophical traditions as well as the value of education, especially in science (which is viewed by some faiths as being contrary to religion). The Baháʼí calendar consists of 19 months, each with 19 days, and each month (and day) is named after an attribute of God. To maintain the integrity of the calendar, there are 4 – 5 intercalary days just before the final month.

The final month, which started on Sunday at sunset, is known as “‘Alá’” (“loftiness”). We often think of “lofty” as meaning something in a high or elevated position, a noble goal. When speaking of textiles, it is also something that is thick and resilient. Consider for a moment, that even those who are guided by a different calendar are spending this time focused on a higher, deeper, more resilient and lasting connection with the Divine (whatever that means to you at this moment).

Similar to Passover and Yom Kippur (in the Jewish tradition) and the month of Ramadan (in the Muslim tradition), the Lenten season and the 19-Day Fast contain elements of the Yoga Philosophy’s niyamās (internal “observations”) and also fall under the rubric that Patanjali calls kriyā yoga (“union in action”), which is a combination of the final three: tapas (“heat, discipline, austerity” and the practices that cultivate them), svādhyāya (“self-study”), and īśvarapraņidhāna (“trustful surrender to higher reality”).

“For this material fast is an outer token of the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self, taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God.”

– quoted from Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahā (page 70)

On a purely physical level, fasting and/or abstaining from certain indulgences provide physical detoxification. When the elimination is done in order to achieve a higher, loftier, goal (than just physical detoxification), one can also experience mental (and sometimes emotional) detoxification. Mind-body purification is the practice of śaucāt (“cleanliness”), which is the first niyamā. A pure mind-body begins to cultivate non-attachment and a sense of peace, ease, and “contentment” – which is santoşā, the second niyamā.

In Chapter 17 of the Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord), which focuses on “The Path of Threefold Faith,” Krishna defines tapas (the third niyamā) as “to melt” and states, “‘The purpose of purification is no pain and penance, but to deliberately refine one’s life, to melt it down and recast in it into a higher order of purity and spirituality.’” Practices that cultivate this melting/refining experience are not easy. In fact, in most cases they can be detrimental when engaged without community, for the wrong purpose(s), and/or under the guidance of someone who is more focused on pain, punishment, and penance than on transcendence. In fact, the Gita specifically (and emphatically) reinforces the fact that these practices are not intended to be a form of self-punishment. They are not abusive – which is why every major religion has exclusions based on age and physical-mental conditions.

The fact that these practices/rituals are not intended to be abusive does not mean that they are not hard. In fact, they can be brutal challenging – which is part of the reason why (when practiced in community) people feel bonded by the experience. These challenging situations are also a great opportunity for self-study, which is the fourth niyamā. Svādhyāya is not only observing your reactions and responses to challenging situations, but also taking note of your reactions and responses to sacred text or – in the physical practice – how your body is moving (or not moving) through the poses.

Another element of self-study involves contemplating how one would react if they were in certain historical and/or biblical situations. For instance, the 40 days of Lent are meant to mirror the 40 days of prayer and fasting that Jesus experienced in preparation of the final betrayal, temptation, crucifixion, and resurrection. In sharing the wisdom of fasting, the Baháʼí teach about Moses and Jesus fasting for 40 days (and how those practices became Passover, Lent, and the month of Ramadan) and how “the Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh]” fasted when focused on receiving the teachings. To receive the teachings, each of the divine messengers or prophets had to completely and trustfully surrender to the Divine, which is īśvarapraņidhāna, the final niyamā.

“The word ‘lent’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lenten meaning ‘spring.’ In the spring people prepare the soil and plant seeds. In Lent, Christians do something similar, but in a spiritual way. Through fasting we clear the soil of our hearts, asking God to purify them and rid them of the weeds of sin. We prepare our hearts to receive the seeds of God’s Word, both scripture and the words God speaks to our hearts during prayer. We spend more time in prayer as we prepare for Easter, Christianity’s greatest feast.

The word ‘lent’ is also the past tense of the verb ‘to loan.’ During Lent we have the opportunity to realize that our lives are not our own. They are on loan to us from God. Saint Paul writes, ‘Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body’ (1 Cor 6:19 – 20).”

– quoted from “March 1” in 2016 edition of A Year of Daily Offerings by James Kubicki S. J.

It would be nice if, once committed to the path, there was no hesitation or doubt and no attachments/aversions that lead to suffering. However, even when we look at the lives of people who have who whole-heartedly committed to a spiritual path, we find that the challenges of the path can try even the souls of saints, prophets, and mystics. Consider, for instance, the story of Saint David, whose feast day was Monday (March 1^st), and how his adherence to the path he chose wasn’t well-received by some of his followers.

Saint David was a 6^th century Welsh archbishop whose recorded death date is March 1, 589. As he is the patron saint of Wales, as well as of vegetarians and poets, Saint David’s Day (March 1^st) is a big deal in Wales. People dress up in traditional clothing; wear leeks and daffodils; and (traditionally) children participate in concerts and festivals.

Saint David was known for his pilgrimages, his strict adherence to disciplined discipleship, and his miracles. He was a descendent Welsh (Celtic) royalty and, some say, that his mother was King Arthur’s niece. He founded at least 13 monasteries and was known to enforce a strict code of conduct among his brethren that included hard physical labor, regular prayers, a minimalist vegetarian diet, and great charitable works. Furthermore, the monks were required to practice such a severe form of non-attachment that they could not even refer to the Bible as “my book.”

Saint David is known, in Welsh as “Dewi Ddyfrwr” (“David the Water Drinker”), because of stories that he mostly consumed water and the occasional bits of bread, vegetables, leeks, and herbs – sometimes even standing in a cold lake and reciting Scripture. One of the miracles attributed to Saint David is that he survived his bread being poisoned by his brethren (who were tired of his challenging regime). Legend has it that the bread was split between the bishop, a dog, and a raven – the latter two dying wretchedly and almost instantaneously.

It is said that springs of water often appeared during important moments in Saint David’s life and that he was followed by a dove. It is also said that he raised a youth from the dead and cured the blindness of his teacher, Paulinus. However, the most well-known miracle associated with Saint David is that while he was giving a sermon at Synod of Llanddwei Brefi, people complained that they could not see or hear him. Instantly, the story goes, the ground rose up – so that all could see and hear him – and that a dove landed on his shoulder. I’m not sure what he said during that sermon “on the mount”, but some of the words from his final Sunday sermon (in 589) are well-known and a portion have become a well-utilized saying in Welsh, a reminder of what is important: “Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd.” “Do the little things in life.”

“Brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I on the third day of the week on the first of March shall go the way of my fathers. Farewell in the Lord.”

– based on “62. The Assembly of Mourners” in Rhygyvarch’s Life of St. David (circa later 11^th century)

On the other side of the coin there is Saint Katherine (Drexel) whose feast day is (Wednesday) March 3^rd. Saint Katherine was an heiress who, along with her two sisters, inherited several millions when her father and step-mother died. That’s several million USD, even after $1.5 million USD was subtracted for charitable donations stipulated in their father’s will (which also ensured that the sisters maintained control of their own finances. In 1887, several years after they became multi-millionaires, the sisters received a private audience with Pope Leo XIII, who suggested that Katherine become a missionary. She ultimately decided to take holy vows (which she did in 1891) and, joined by 13 other women, she founded Blessed Sacrament, a religious congregation for women and specifically serving Indigenous and African-American people. She died March 3, 1955 – after dedicating her time, energy, and all of her considerable resources to the Church – and eventually became the second U S. citizen to be canonized, and the first saint actually born a United States citizen.

“At her canonization in 2000, Saint John Paul II said, ‘From her parents [Blessed Katherine Drexel] learned that her family’s possessions were not for them alone but were meant to be shared with the less fortunate. She began to devote her fortune to missionary and educational work among the poorest members of society. Later, she understood that more was needed. With great courage and confidence in God’s grace, she chose to give not just her fortune but her whole life totally to the Lord.’”

– quoted from “March 3” in 2016 edition of A Year of Daily Offerings by James Kubicki S. J.

The playlist for Sunday and Wednesday is available on YouTube and Spotify.

There is no playlist for the (Monday) Common Ground practice.

A Little Serendipitous Footnote, or Rabbit Hole: I mentioned above that one of Saint David’s miracles was to heal the sight of his blind teacher. I recently learned that Saint Katherine (a native of Philadelphia, PA) died in 1955 and was beatified in 1988 after the Vatican concluded that her intercession resulted in a boy (Robert Gutherman of Bensalem, PA) being cured of deafness in 1974. She was canonized in 2000 after the Vatican announced that a young girl (Amy Wall of Bucks County, PA) had been cured of her deafness after her 7-year old brother (Jack, who believed in miracles) insisted that the family prayer to “Mother Drexel.”

Remember, Saint Katherine’s Feast Day is March 3^rd – which is also the anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell (b. 1847), whose interest in hearing and speech and all things acoustic stemmed from his mother’s deafness. “Aleck” (as friends and family called him) co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company on his birthday in 1885. Within a couple of years, he would suggest that a couple contact the Perkins Institution to find a teacher for their young daughter, who had lost her hearing and sight after a severe illness when she was a baby. The couple did as suggested… and the teacher, Anne Sullivan (the “Miracle Worker”), started working with the young girl, Helen Keller, on March 3, 1887!

“Doubtless the work of the past few months does seem like a triumphal march to him; but then people seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved.”

– quoted from a letter written by Anne Sullivan, dated October 30, 1887

### BELIEVE IN THE LITTLE THINGS ###

Uncovering Layers to Reveal Truth (the “missing” Saturday post) March 2, 2021

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Anna O, Bertha Pappenheim, Cooper Union, Dr. Irvin Yalom, Elizabeth KOULTON, Elizabeth Loentz, Glückel of Hamelnl, Jesse William Weik, Josef Breuer, Malchut, Noah Brooks, psychoanalysis, psychology, samskaras, Samyama, Sigmund Freud, slavery, Stephen Douglas, Virginia Satir, William H. Herndon, Yoga Sutras 3.4-3.6
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Many blessings to those observing Lent or the 19-Day Fast!

[This is the post for Saturday, February 27th. You can request an audio recording of Saturday’s practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

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

“This can already be seen in the different reception given a new citizen of the world. If the father or someone else asked what ‘it’ was after a successful birth, the answer might be either the satisfied report of a boy, or—with pronounced sympathy for the disappointment— ‘Nothing, a girl,’ or ‘Only a girl.’”

– Bertha Pappenheim as quoted in The Jewish Woman: New Perspectives, edited by Elizabeth Koultun

Imagine that, at a very early age, you are exposed to an idea. It doesn’t have to be a big idea, stated and codified in a systematic way. It could just be a statement. It could just be an idea (or a statement) about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religious and/or political beliefs – it could even be an idea about height or weight or hair texture (or length) or skin and/or eye hue. In the moment that you are exposed to the idea, some part of you questions whether it is true and even considers the validity of the idea/statement based on the source. You may not be conscious of this questioning, but it happens – sometimes quickly, in a blink – and then, as you move forward, other things (and people) either confirm the veracity or the idea or invalidate the idea.

Now, imagine that you grow up with this idea and this idea, whether you feel it is directed at you or at people around you, becomes – on a certain level – the lens through which you view yourself and the world. You may not be conscious of this lens. In fact, in most cases, this bias (whether we view it as positive or negative) is unconscious… subterranean. In the Yoga Philosophy, samskaras are mental impressions and they are the foundation or roots of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Neurologically speaking, we can think of them as hard-wired pathways that are such an integral part of us they make habitual responses to certain situations appear instinctual. They are the beginning of the best of us… and also the worst of us.

“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)

We all know that if we want to get to the root of a problem, we have to start at the surface – or start with what we can see – and dig deep. This is obvious, but it’s not easy. It’s not easy because, even knowing this very basic principle about where things begin, we can easily get distracted by fruit flies, rotting trunks, fungi, and beings throwing things at us from the tree limbs because we have worn out our welcome. We can just as easily get caught up in the beauty of the blossoms and the promise of a swing. We can also get defeated by all the work/effort that it takes to get to the bottom of things.

However, being distracted (or defeated) doesn’t change the fact that to get to the bottom of something, we have to literally get to the bottom of something. It also doesn’t change the fact that if we want to grow or build something, that has a chance of withstanding the changing of the times, we have to build from the ground up. Nor does it change the fact the fact that when we run into a problem – as we build a life, a business, and/or a home – we may not have to tear everything down and start over from scratch; but we do have to trace back from the top to the bottom.

This very basic principle is the reason why existential therapists, like Virginia Satir and Irvin Yalom said that the “presenting issue,” “surface problem,” and/or life’s “givens” were not the problem; rather, people’s problems are how they deal or cope with various elements in their lives. This is commonly understood today, but in the 1950’s and 1960’s these still groundbreaking theories. While modern psychotherapists (and even corporate change management specialists) continue to build on the efforts of those aforementioned therapists from the mid-1900’s, the roots of their work can be found in the work of Drs. Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer and in the life and work of Bertha Pappenheim.

She would ultimately become a feminist, education organizer, activist, writer, and translator – whose work and life often appeared in newspapers. She would translate Mary Wollstonecraft’s The Vindication of the Rights of Women; the Western Yiddish memoirs of her own ancestor, Glückel of Hamelnl; the “Women’s Talmud; and other Old Yiddish texts (written for and/or by women) into German. She also founded organizations like Jüdischer Frauenbund (JFB, the Jewish Women’s Association); served as the first president of JFB and a board member of Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (BDF, Federation of German Women’s Associations), when JFB joined the national organization; and also as director of an orphanage for Jewish girls that was run by Israelitischer Frauenverein (Israelite Women’s Association). She even appeared onstage as her ancestor in a play (that she produced) based on her Glückel’s memoirs. But before she made a name for herself through her efforts to improve the conditions and the world around her – especially the living and working conditions of the women and girls around her, Bertha Pappenheim was known to the psychoanalysis world as “Anna O” or “Only A Girl,” because of the work she did to improve her internal conditions.

“Other details of Glückel’s life story doubtless also held great appeal for Pappenheim. As a survivor of mental illness and the inventor of the ‘talking cure,’ Pappenheim may also have been intrigued by Glückel’s disclosure that she started her memoirs as a sort of ‘writing cure’ to ward off ‘melancholy thoughts’ in the sleepless nights after her husband’s death.”

– quoted from Let Me Continue to Speak the Truth: Bertha Pappenheim as Author and Activist by Elizabeth Loentz

Born in Vienna on February 27, 1859, Bertha Pappenheim was the third daughter born into a wealthy and prestigious Jewish family, with Orthodox roots, and she was born knowing that her family and her community prized sons over daughters, boys over girls. She was raised as was appropriate for her station in life – learning needlepoint and multiple languages and attending a Roman Catholic girls’ school while observing Jewish holidays. At the same time, she had to deal with the understandable emotions that came from knowing that one of her older sisters died in adolescence (before Pappenheim was born) and then experiencing the death of the second sister in adolescence (when Pappenheim was eight). Then there was the normal stress that occurred when her family moved into a primarily improvised neighborhood (when she was eleven); the expected jealousy she felt when her younger brother went to high school (even though she had to leave school at sixteen, despite her curious mind, because of the whole being a girl thing); and then that whole being “just a girl” thing that loomed like a specter over many of her experiences.

Notice, I use words like “understandable,” “normal,” and “expected” to describe Pappenheim’s emotions, but the reality is that her emotions were not recognized, acknowledged, nor honored as valid. In fact, as was common for the time and her station in life, her experiences were largely ignored… until there was a problem. Her “problems” initially presented themselves as physical and mental ailments: “a nervous cough, partial paralysis, severe neuralgia, anorexia, impaired sight and hearing, hydrophobia, frightening hallucinations, an alternation between two distinct states of consciousness, violent outbursts, and the inability to speak German, her native tongue.”

The presenting ailments started when her father became ill, when she was twenty-one, and worsened after her father died. She was diagnosed with “hysteria,” because… well, that was the most common diagnosis given to women at the time regardless of symptoms. As I mentioned on the anniversary of Freud’s birth, Breuer didn’t try to cure or “correct” the patient he would call Anna O. Instead, he started her under a new therapy he was trying out: he hypnotized her and encouraged her to talk in order to reveal the underlying causes of her symptoms. Pappenheim called it her “talking cure” or “chimney sweeping” and reported that it alleviated her symptoms. In theory (Breuer’s theory), it helped her get to the root of her problems.

“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”)

Breuer’s “theory” became Freud’s “therapy.” But, take a moment to notice that these ideas about how the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind interact and manifest in our mind-body can actually be found in ancient texts like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and even the Ashtavakra Gita – texts on systems and processing “therapies” that predate the births of everyone mentioned above! Patanjali even described obstacles and ailments which match up with Bertha Pappenheim’s symptoms. (Also interesting to note is the fact that modern medical scientists and historians, after reviewing her case, have diagnosed Pappenheim with everything from “complex partial seizures exacerbated by drug dependence” to tuberculosis meningitis to temporal lobe epilepsy.) More important, even, than Pappenheim’s diagnosis is what she was able to achieve once she was able to get to (and address) the root of her problems.

In describing the methods of his therapy in The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud wrote, “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” The entire system of the 8-Limbed Philosophy of Yoga is sometimes called “Rāja Yoga” (literally “king union” or “chief union”), which is understood as royal union. Given her background, Bertha Pappenheim might have equated it with the sefirot (or divine attribute) of Malchut, which is Queenship or Kingship on the Tree of Life and denotes mastery. While the system as a whole is full of tools for introspection, the ultimate tools are the last three limbs (dhāranā, dhyāna, samādhi) which combine to form the most powerful tool: Samyama, which is like a laser beam or a drill that lets you see beneath the surface.

Yoga Sūtra 3.4: trayam-ekatra samyama

– “Samyama is [the practice or integration of] the three together.”

Yoga Sūtra 3.5: taj-jayāt prajñālokah

– Through the mastery or achievement of Samyama comes higher consciousness or the light of knowledge.

Yoga Sūtra 3.6: tasya bhūmişu viniyogah

– It is to be applied or practiced in stages.

This week’s sūtras are not only instruction or guidance, but also a warning from Patanjali. In short, no matter how excited or anxious we may get about the powers and abilities that can be achieved through the practice, it is best not to rush the practice or skip steps. Perhaps Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood summarized it best in their commentary when they wrote, “It is no use attempting meditation before we have mastered concentration. It is no use trying to concentrate upon subtle objects until we are able to concentrate on gross ones. Any attempt to take a short cut to knowledge of this kind is exceedingly dangerous.”

The dangers are relatively obvious when we are dealing with certain poses. For instance, we would be ill advised to a Sideways Floor Bow (Pārśva Dhanurāsana) if we have never practiced a regular Floor Bow (Dhanurāsana) – how would we even get into the pose?? And, it would not be very beneficial to attempt Floor Bow if a backbend like Locust (śalabhāsana) is not accessible. While we can easily see that in the physical example, it can be a little harder to see when it comes to concepts and ideas. For instance, when we see something wrong in the world and we can see the root of the problem, we may be in such a rush for other people to see what we see that we skip the steps that allow them to get it. Just as there is great power in the process, there is great power in being able to walk someone through the process.

“It only remains to say that his speech was devoid of all rhetorical imagery, with a marked suppression of the pyrotechnics of stump oratory. It was constructed with a view to the accuracy of statement, simplicity of language, and unity of thought. In some respects like a lawyer’s brief, it was logical, temperate in tone, powerful – irresistibly driving conviction home to men’s reasons and their souls.”

– quoted from Herndon’s Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life (Volume 3) by William H. Herndon and Jesse William Weik

On February 27, 1860, the future President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. The address essentially walked people towards the roots of the problem of slavery and the opposition to ending slavery in the United States. He started with the Declaration of Independence and the “intention” of the Founding Fathers and then elucidated on the differences between Republican and Democratic views at that time. It was one of his longest speeches and one that required a great deal of research. Many historians agree the Cooper Union address solidified Lincoln’s selection as the Republican nominee for President and, possibly, clinched his win. It was even printed in the newspapers and distributed as part of his campaign. (William Herndon, Lincoln’s law partner at the time, stated that while it may not have actually taken campaign workers three weeks to fact check the speech – since most of the facts came from single set of sources – the fact checking was no small endeavor.)

Lincoln’s Cooper Union address has been described as “stunningly effective” and one of the “most convincing political arguments ever made in [New York] City. It did not, however, convince everyone; perhaps, in part, because while he went towards the roots, he didn’t really get to the bottom of the problem. The bottom of the problem being that, while the Founding Fathers recognized the problems and inhumanity of slavery, they compromised on the issue in order to gain the political leverage they needed to unanimously declare independence from Great Britain. Lincoln was also willing to compromise in a similar fashion; however, he was very adamant in his belief that the original compromise was enacted with an understanding that slavery would end on its own (as a natural evolution of the country’s development) and/or that the there were means available for the Federal Government to step in and make the change that was needed for the country to adhere to its founding principles.

“If any man at this day sincerely believes that a proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that ‘our fathers who framed the Government under which we live’ were of the same opinion – thus substituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely believes ‘our fathers who framed the Government under which we live,’ used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of local from federal authority or some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he understands their principles better than they did themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that they ‘understood the question just as well, and even better, than we do now.’”

– quoted from Abraham Lincoln’s address at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, February 27. 1860 (during which he repeatedly quotes a statement by Senator Stephen Douglas)

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05062020 What Dreams May Come”]

“This is the testimony of one who was present on that historic occasion: ‘When Lincoln rose to speak, I was greatly disappointed. He was tall, tall, – oh, how tall, and so angular and awkward that I had, for an instant, a feeling of pity for so ungainly a man. His clothes were black and ill-fitting, badly wrinkled – as if they had been jammed carelessly into a trunk. His bushy head, with the stiff black hair thrown back, was balanced on a long and lean head-stalk, and when he raised his hands in an opening gesture, I noticed that they were very large. He began in a low tone of voice – as if he were used to speaking out-doors, and was afraid of speaking too loud…. But pretty soon he began to get into his subject; he straightened up, made regular and graceful gestures; his face lighted up as with an inward fire; the whole man was transfigured. I forgot his clothes, his personal appearance, and his individual peculiarities. Presently, forgetting myself, I was on my feet like the rest, yelling…. When he reached the climax, the thunders of applause were terrific. It was a great speech. When I came out of the hall, my face was glowing with excitement and my frame all a-quiver, a friend with his eyes aglow, asked me what I thought of Abe Lincoln, the rail-splitter. I said: “He’s the greatest man since St. Paul.” And I think so yet.’”

– quoted from Abraham Lincoln and the Downfall American Slavery by Noah Brooks (published 1888)

MAKE SURE YOU’VE SAVED THE DATE! This Friday (March 5^th) is the next “First Friday Night Special! Join me (7:15 PM – 8:20 PM, CST) to “give something up” / “let someone go.” Additional details are posted on the “Class Schedules” calendar!

### “The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.” ~ SF, maybe ###

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A Joyful Practice

The Hardest Working Day, the Way the Words Work, & More Sides of the Story (2 “missing” Saturday posts) May 15, 2021

– quoted from “Chapter VII: Dhyana and Samadhi” in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 1, Raja-Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

“Early in the morningIt’s the dawn of a new dayNew hopes new dreams new waysI open up my heart andI’m gonna do my part andMake this a positively beautiful day”

– quoted from the song “Beautiful Day” by India. Arie

“There was an instance of silence. Then from beneath Spies’s hood came the words: ‘The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.’”

– quoted from “Chapter 23 – The Scaffold” in The Haymarket Tragedy by Paul Avrich

“(a) DESIGNATION.—May 1 is Law Day, U.S.A.

(b) PURPOSE.—Law Day, U.S.A., is a special day of celebration by the people of the United States—

(1) in appreciation of their liberties and the reaffirmation of their loyalty to the United States and of their rededication to the ideals of equality and justice under law in their relations with each other and with other countries; and

(2) for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life.

(c) PROCLAMATION.—The President is requested to issue a proclamation—

(1) calling on all public officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Law Day, U.S.A.; and

(2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Law Day, U.S.A., with appropriate ceremonies and in other appropriate ways, through public entities and private organizations and in schools and other suitable places.”

– quoted from Title 36, Section 113 of the United States Code

“(a) DESIGNATION.—May 1 is Loyalty Day.

(b) PURPOSE.—Loyalty Day is a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.

(c) PROCLAMATION.—The President is requested to issue a proclamation—

(1) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Loyalty Day; and

(2) inviting the people of the United States to observe Loyalty Day with appropriate ceremonies in schools and other suitable places.

– quoted from Title 36, Section 115 of the United States Code

Yoga Sūtra 3.17: śabdārtha-pratyayānām itaretarādhyāsāt samskara tat-pravibhāga-samyamāt sarva-bhūta-ruta-jñānam

– “By making Samyama on the sound of a word, one’s perception and knowledge of its meaning, and one’s reaction to it – three things which are normally confused – one obtains understanding of all sounds uttered by all living beings [i.e., all languages of humans and animals].”

Yoga Sūtra 3.18: samskāra-sākşat-karaņāt pūrva-jāti-jñānam

– “By making Samyama on previous mental impressions (samskaras), one obtains knowledge of past lives.”

– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 3.18 from Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

### WORDED (that’s the whole story) ###

The Philosophy of Picking Locks (& Other Things Related to Internal Movement) April 26, 2021

“‘My main point today is that usually one gets what one expects, but very rarely in the way one expected it.’”

– quoted from a draft of Charles Richter’s 1970 retirement speech, as printed in the Appendix of Richter’s Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man by Susan Elizabeth Hough

“Philosophy is like trying to open a safe with a combination lock: each little adjustment of the dials seems to achieve nothing, only when everything is in place does the door open.”

– Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher

“The human body is the best picture of the human soul.”

– Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher

– quoted from the Earthquake Information Bulletin (January- February 1980, Volume 12, Number 1) article, “Charles F. Richter – An Interview” by Henry Spall, U. S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va. (regarding the scale Mr. Richter developed with Beno Gutenberg)

“The first time someone said, ‘What are your measurements?’ I answered, ’37, 24, 38 – but not necessarily in that order.’”

– Carol Burnett, comedian

Unlock Your Generosity & Kiss My Asana!!

### “That’s All I Have for You Today.” ~LPL ###

Seeing All the Sides of the Story (the “missing” Saturday post) April 25, 2021

– quoted from “A Conversation” (with John Baker, 1989) in Talking with Robert Penn Warren, edited by Floyd C. Watkins, John T. Hiers, and Mary Louise Weeks

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.”

– quoted from The Legacy of the Civil War by Robert Penn Warren

“‘It is easy,’ I said, ‘I can change that picture of the world he carries around in his head.’

‘How?’

‘I can give him a history lesson.’

‘A history lesson?’

– (Jack and Anne) quoted from All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren

– Robert Penn Warren quoted from a 1981 interview

Let’s Share Some Kiss My Asana Stories!!

“[B]

Tell me a story.

In this century, and moment, of mania,Tell me a story.

Make it a story of great distances, and starlight.

The name of the story will be Time,But you must not pronounce its name.

Tell me a story of deep delight.”

– quoted from the poem “Tell Me a Story” by Robert Penn Warren

### YES, YES, TELL ME A STORY! ###

Shy & Fearless, Take 2 April 25, 2021

– quoted from the liner notes for the album Fearless by Taylor Swift

– quoted from the liner notes for the song “Be Fearless and Play” by Wookiefoot

“They were the dancingest sisters around.”

– Ella Fitzgerald describing Ruth and Louise Edwards (known as the Edwards Sisters)

“Once up there, I felt the acceptance and love from my audience. I knew I wanted to sing before people the rest of my life.”

– Ella Fitzgerald on how it felt after she sang one of her mother’s favorite songs at the Apollo

– quoted from Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh

“Be Fearless and PlayYou could live for tomorrow and still live here in today

When i would play when i was a childI swore that i would never forget noI will never forget no!

Be Fearless and PlayThis is one thing that no one can ever take away”

– quoted from the song “Be Fearless and Play” by Wookiefoot

…& don’t forget to fearlessly Kiss My Asana!!

### YOU’VE GOT THIS ###

An Auspicious and Holy Time April 21, 2021

– 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)

“Every hero begins their mission by trying to avoid it…. We do the same in many areas of our life, and the focus of Netzach-Endurance is healing this spiritual-emotional character-flaw to achieve more in our life.”

– quoted from The Kabbalah Sutras: 49 Steps to Enlightenment by Marcus J. Freed

“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

### AUM ###

“Early in the morning
It’s the dawn of a new day
New hopes new dreams new ways
I open up my heart and
I’m gonna do my part and
Make this a positively beautiful day”

In this century, and moment, of mania,
Tell me a story.

The name of the story will be Time,
But you must not pronounce its name.

“Be Fearless and Play
You could live for tomorrow and still live here in today

When i would play when i was a child
I swore that i would never forget no
I will never forget no!

Be Fearless and Play
This is one thing that no one can ever take away”