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Accepting Rachel’s Challenge & Entering the Garden (a Saturday post-practice compilation) **UPDATED** April 20, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Baha'i, Bhakti, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Loss, Love, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Riḍván, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
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“Happy Riḍván!” to those celebrating “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone observing Great Lent! Happy National Poetry Month!

This is a post-practice post for Saturday, April 20th is a compilation post (with a coda). It features some new information and some content previously posted in a slightly different context about religious observations and also about an anti-bullying non-profit. NOTE: Some embedded links will take you outside of the blog. Some links and date-related information have been updated. **2026 UPDATE: Two links (in dark green) will take you to my recent post about 1999.** You can request an audio recording of a related practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!) 

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

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

SOME NOTES ON SUFFERING:

“[Bridge: P!nk, Khalid & Both]
Hope floats away
If you could spend a day in my shoes
Your mind would change
If you knew what I’ve gone through
We want the same (Yeah, we do)
Maybe then you’d understand
How it hurts to be human, oh”

— quoted from the song “Hurts 2B Human” by P!nk, featuring Khalid

A lot of weeks are devoted to the subject of suffering, on and off the mat. Sure, we all have friends that are suffering this week — and then there’s all the general suffering in the world. Because there is, and has always been, a lot of suffering in the world; there is, and has always been, a desire for the end of suffering. There is, and has always been, people actively seeking an end to suffering. That’s why there are so many paths, practices, and methods that — on some level — promise an end to suffering. That’s why there are so many really great books, poems, movies, plays, and songs about suffering and how people deal with suffering.

Suffering, it turns out, is interesting and inspiring.

One of the things I find interesting about humans and suffering is how often we tie our salvation to something more than ourselves and our own agency. What’s particularly interesting to me is that when we look at religious traditions (and philosophical traditions that are sometimes culturally religious), the teachings very specifically connect the end of suffering to our own agency and something more than ourselves… something divine, or Divine.

“[Chorus]
What if you were told that today
Was the last day of your life
Did you live it right?
Love is a gift you give away
And it reignites
Don’t wait, don’t let it pass you by
(don’t let it pass you by)”

— quoted from the song “The Fight” by Taboo

Over the last few weeks (and in the upcoming weeks), all of the Abrahamic religious traditions — and at least one tradition with ties to the Abrahamic religions — have been engaged in sacred celebrations and rituals that are tied to suffering and the end of suffering. These observations include Lent and Easter in the Western Christian communities; Great Lent and the upcoming Easter in Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions; the holy month of Ramadān in Islām; a celebration of the Buddha’s birthday (in some Japanese traditions); and Chaitra Navaratri and Rama Navami in Hindu communities. Even Purim in the Jewish tradition and Holi in the Hindu tradition have a connection to stories about suffering and the alleviation of suffering.

Additionally, Jewish communities around the world will begin Passover on Monday night this year (and begin Counting the Omer on Tuesday night); some communities with celebrate Hanuman Jayanti this week; and, a couple of hours before sunset last night (Friday, the 19th ), the Bahá’í community began it’s most auspicious time: Riḍván

ENTERING THE GARDEN:

“A determination to be outward looking in the process of community building had already become an established aspect of culture in many, many places; it has now blossomed, in a rising number of communities, into a sense of real responsibility for the spiritual and material progress of larger and larger groups within society, well beyond the membership of the Bahá’í community itself. The efforts of the friends to build communities, to engage in social action, and to contribute to the prevalent discourses of society have cohered into one global enterprise, bound together by a common framework for action, focused on helping humanity to establish its affairs on a foundation of spiritual principles.”

— quoted from the Riḍván 2022 message from the Universal House of Justice “To the Bahá’is of the World”

Friday night marked the beginning of the twelve-day festival of Ridván, “the Most Great Festival” in the Baháʼí Faith.  As I mentioned last month, 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 Bahá’í calendar begins around the Vernal (Spring) Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and has 19 months with 19 days — each named for one of the 19 names/manifestations/attributes of God. For example, “Splendor” and “Glory” are the English translations for Bahá and Jalál, the first two months (and days) of this solar calendar. There are also 4 or 5 intercalary days that occur just before the final month and which are considered “transcendent” in nature. The calendar is partially tied to the Gregorian calendar, in that days on each calendar always correspond with each other; however, the Bahá’í calendar is very much focused around its own historical liturgy. Hence, why 2024-2025 is the year 181 BE (Bahá’í  Era).

The twelve-day festival of Ridván, one of the holiest times within the Bahá’í community, is celebrated during the second month and begins exactly one Gregorian-month after the new year. This “Most Great Festival” in the Baháʼí Faith honors the time that the founder of the Bahá’i Faith, Bahá’u’lláh, waited 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 sacred time of prayer, reflection, and celebration. This year’s celebrations began two hours before sunset on Friday — with the specific timing meant to commemorate the actual time, in 1863, when Bahá’u’lláh entered the Najíbíyyih Garden with his three sons and his 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. They also hold elections held during this time. The first day (April 20th, this year), the ninth day (Sunday the 28th), and the twelfth day (Wednesday, May 1st) are considered the most holy of days. The ninth day is auspicious because it is the day the rest of Bahá’u’lláh’s family joined him in the garden and it is also the beginning of the third month, Jamál (“Beauty”).

“Across the Bahá’í world there is an increased depth of understanding about what is required to further extend the process of community building and effect profound social transformation. But with every passing day, we see too the condition of the world grow more desperate, its divisions more severe. The escalating tensions within societies and between nations affect peoples and places in a myriad ways.

This demands from every conscientious soul a response. We are all too aware that the community of the Greatest Name cannot expect to be unaffected by the travails of society. Yet, though it is affected by these travails, it is not confused by them; it is saddened by humanity’s sufferings, but not paralysed by them. Heartfelt concern must prompt sustained effort to build communities that offer hope in place of despair, unity in place of conflict.”

— quoted from the Riḍván 2024 message from the Universal House of Justice “To the Bahá’is of the World”

In the list (above) of overlapping observations, I did not include Earth Day (which is Monday), because it is not a religious holiday, per se. However, it is still connected to suffering on this planet, a desire to end that suffering, and the realization that the path to that freedom from suffering must come from a global community acting together… which would be divine.

Because everyone uses different calendars, this conflux doesn’t happen the same way every year. Yes, there is usually an overlap between Passover and at least one Holy Week; however, some years are different. Some years, these sacred times overlap tragic anniversaries related to April 19th and 20th. When that happens, there’s more suffering and more awareness of the different ways we could/can/might end suffering — in ourselves and in the world around us.

There’s just one problem. Actually, there are several problems.

One, we don’t always pay attention to the right part of the stories. You know, the part where we have to practice what we preach, act in ways that are congruent to our beliefs, and — like Hanuman (or Nahshon) — take giant leaps (or wade in the water) in order to help and/or save others. Two, we sometimes forget that we are community; that while it may hurt 2b human, we have each other and we (can) have each other’s backs. We forget how breaking bread with someone (whether it be on Spy Wednesday, Easter Wednesday, or a Purim banquet) can reveal the true nature of things. Finally, we all too often lash out at others when we are suffering.

Sometimes we lash out like Pharaoh (in the story of Passover) — and our hardened hearts result in everyone being plagued with more and more suffering. Other times we are like Judas (in the Passion story) — and we lash out in ways that seem small, inconsequential, and petty; but have magnificent consequences. Then there are times when someone gives us a plan to alleviate the suffering in our own heart and mind — as Krishna’s mother gave him (in the Holi story). Other times, our personal suffering is like that of Jesus’s followers who, once their suffering is alleviated by a striking realization, go on to share the good so that others may also find relief from their suffering.

All the stories told during these holy observations and celebrations are reminders that we are in community — even when we are not in a religious community. While there are bullies and bad guys in these stories, there are also reminders that any one of us can make a good (meaningful) difference. We can be Moses or Aaron or Miriam or Nahshon. We can be any of the disciples or Marys or Martha or Joanna. We can be like Hanuman. We can be like Mahagauri. We can be like Baháʼu’lláh, in that we bring communities together even as we are being separated.

Finally, we can be like Rachel Joy Scott whose legacy is a challenge. It’s not a religious challenge, it’s an existential challenge. It’s a challenge that could not only change your life, it could change the lives of those around you.

ACCEPTING RACHEL’S CHALLENGE:

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.

CLICK HERE if you are interested in the 2022 post which features more philosophy. 

“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 19th and 20th. One of the people I mentioned was Rachel Joy Scott — the first person shot at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. In some ways, it is hard to believe that 22 25 years have passed since that mass shooting. Remember 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 in early 2021 and data compiled by The New Yorker and Trace in 2019) there have had been over 200 mass shootings in the United States since April 20, 1999. (As of April 2022, there have had been over 300 mass shootings in schools since this week in 1999. As I post this in April 2024, there have been over 400 mass shootings in schools since this week in 1999.) Those shootings have affected hundreds of 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 2nd 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 that 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 in 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

𝄌

“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

In the past, when I’ve talked about Rachel’s Challenge, I’ve used a fairly non-religious playlist. In 2022, however, the overlapping holidays inspired me to remix the playlist to acknowledge the holy times. I wanted music that would reflect the different traditions and the different stories, while also reflecting Rachel Joy Scott’s ethics and codes of life. I also wanted something that was inspiring and hopeful, like the young woman herself. In 2024, I remixed the playlist again to feature musicians from the Bahá’í community whose messages really get to the heart of the matter.

As I was remixing [the 2022 playlist], I came across “Godbone” by (one of my favorite composers) Bear McCreary. In the the television series See and in games like “King of Dragon Pass,” “godbone” is a term used for metal and/or concrete. I’m not 100% positive about the etymology of the term, but it reminded me of the Lunar New Year story about the Kitchen God and how the fireplace poker came into existence. It also made me think about Krishna’s explanation of tapas — which can be defined as heat, discipline and austerity, as well as the practices that cultivate heat, discipline, and austerity.

Whenever I reference tapas, which is one of the niyamas (“internal observations” in the Yoga Philosophy), I mention that it can be applied physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and spiritually. It can also be applied religiously. In fact, fasting during the holy month of Ramadān or the Bahá’í 19-Day Fast; giving something up for Lent and Great Lent; and giving up leavened bread during Passover are some of the examples I use throughout the year. Those same traditions also incorporate the the final two internal observations — svādhyāya (“self-study”) and Īśvarapraṇidhāna (“surrendering to [a higher power]”) — which combine with tapas to form kriya yoga (“yoga in action,” or an ongoing process moving towards union with Divine). (YS 2.1) These sacred rituals are all about refining the (c)ore of who we are.

“‘Consider purification, tapas, which literally means “to melt,” as in refining ore. The purpose of purification is not pain and penance, but to deliberately refine one’s life, to melt it down and recast it into a higher order of purity and spirituality. The goal is very important; it is not self-punishment but refinement — to shift from human existence into Divinity!

There are three main methods of purification: the refinement of one’s thoughts, words, and deeds — also called the purification, respectively, of one’s instruments of mind, speech, and body. When you modify these three you automatically change for the better.’”

— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (17.14) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04202024 Rachel’s Challenge, Ridvan remix”]

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

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

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

### I DARE YOU TO LOVE & BE NICE ###

DID YOU KNOW #5: Keep Calm & Kiss My Asana (A Kiss My Asana offering) April 19, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 7-Day Challenge, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Love, One Hoop, Philosophy, Twin Cities, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.
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“Happy Riḍván!” to those celebrating “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone observing Great Lent! Happy National Poetry Month!

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

— Leo F. Buscaglia, PhD

Dr. Buscaglia’s observations really speak to the very foundation of Mind Body Solutions and the Kiss My Asana yogathon. I’ll get to what that means in an upcoming post; but, first, I want to touch on “the power of touch.” It is often, as “Dr. Love” pointed out, underestimated in our general society. Sure, there are times — like when people are touch-deprived — that we appreciate that power. Other times, however, people can take it for granted.

You know who doesn’t take the power of touch for granted? People who study with Matthew Sanford. It doesn’t matter if it is an adaptive yoga practice or a traditional/Iyengar practice, touch is utilized as much — if not more — than any prop. The video below is just a little taste of how a little touch can be beneficial in your practice.

NOTE: To get the full effect, watch the video on YouTube.

The video above is part of my 2024 offering for the 11th annual Kiss My Asana yogathon, which benefits Mind Body Solutions (MBS). I am super excited to dedicate this week (April 13th — 19th) to raising awareness and resources for MBS’ life-affirming work “to help people live better in the body they have.” You can help by joining me as we practice with purpose, by sharing this page, and/or by making a donation that creates opportunities for more people to practice yoga.

Each year, in addition to hosting my fundraising page and making my own personal donation, I offer a blog post and/or a YouTube post — sometimes even a whole practice. This year, I wanted to highlight elements of the practice that we may overlook or take for granted. I also wanted to underscore that participating in the Kiss My Asana yogathon is just a tangible way to do what we do in every practice: set an intention and dedicate the merits of the practice to someone other than ourselves. Finally, I wanted to offer something that reflects my inspirations; something that “begins in delight and ends in wisdom;” and something that was short, fun, and full of insight (or, maybe it’s just randomly useful information) — something that I think of as the video equivalent of a villanelle (check out that last link for details).

You can click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!) 

If you’re interested in my previous KMA offerings, check out the following (some links only take you to the beginning of a series and/or to YouTube):

Check out this 2023 class post to find out one of the reasons why Mind Body Solutions is so important to me!

If you subscribe to my YouTube channel, you can be notified as soon as the videos are posted.

### I WOULD BE SO TOUCHED IF YOU KISS MY ASANA! ###

Auspicious & Holy [Love] Stories (mostly the blessings and music) April 17, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Bhakti, Books, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Kirtan, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
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Many blessings to all and especially to those observing Chaitra Navaratri, Rama Navami, and/or Great Lent! Happy National Poetry Month!

“STAGE MANAGER…. How do such things begin?”

— quoted from Act II of Our Town by Thornton Wilder

Please join me today (Wednesday, April 17th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04212021 So Much Holy, II”]

It’s Time to Kiss My Asana!

My first offerings for the 11th annual Kiss My Asana yogathon, which benefits Mind Body Solutions (MBS), are already posted. You can check out the first blog post here (and to check out previous offerings).

Click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!) 

“STAGE MANAGER….. – Now there are some things we all know but we don’t take’m out and look at’m very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always letting go of that fact. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.”

— quoted from Act III of Our Town by Thornton Wilder

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). Or, you can scroll back up and Kiss My Asana! Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

### I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO KISS MY ASANA! ###

Ramadān & Gandhi in Dandi (the “missing” Saturday post — that is mostly notes, links, and music) April 7, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Gandhi, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open.) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Great Lent or Eastertide / the Octave of Easter!

This is the “missing” post for Saturday, April 6th. My apologies for not posting the music before the practice on Zoom. You can request an audio recording of a related 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.

“The eternal source of love
Was implanted
In every part of existence
The desire for another

Though night and day
Outwardly appears enemies
Yet both serve one purpose
Each seeking the other”

— quoted from the poem “Whispers from a Spiritual Garden” by Yusuf Islam

At the end of the day, we all desire an end to our suffering. However, since our experiences and circumstances are different, we articulate our desires in different ways. We cry, we sing, we wish, we hope, we pray, we contemplate — and, at some point, we have to do… something.

What we do and how we do it is also based on our experiences and circumstances. Some people give peace (and people) a chance. Some people choose war — and a twisted concept of power that prevents them from recognizing a power so great it is referenced in every major religion and spiritual philosophy: Divine or Universal Love.

“Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian Movement ‘Satyagraha’ , that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase ‘passive resistance’ in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word ‘Satyagraha’ itself or some other equivalent English phrase.”

— quoted from “12. THE ADVENT OF SATYAGRAHA” in Satyagraha in South Africa by M. K. Gandhi (as published in THE SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI, VOLUME TWO, translated from the Gujarati by Valji Govindji Desai; General Editor Shriman Narayan)

In 1930, facing the suffering caused by unjust laws, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi decided salt would be the focus of a direct action, non-violent mass protest. The protest movement became known as the Salt Satyagraha and today (April 6th) is the anniversary of Gandhi, in Dandi, breaking the law.

This also happens to be one of the final days of Ramadān — and the beginning of the month when the Saturday classes will be heart(chakra)-focused.*

Click on the links below for more information and insight.

A Little Salt (the “missing” Tuesday post)

First Friday Night Special #42: An Invitation to “Planting & Transforming” (a post-practice post with an excerpt and links)

A Night of Great Power & Great Peace (a “renewed” post)

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04062024 Satyagraha & Ramadan”]

Some quick notes about the music: First, my playlists for the final days of Ramadān are not halal (“permissible”) in all Islamic traditions, because of the orchestrations. They do, however, feature musicians who are Muslim (with a few exceptions).

Reba McEntire is one of the notable exceptions — notable, because in previous years she was the only female soloist and the only non-Muslim singer on the playlists. While this year’s playlists include several Muslim women as musicians and composers, “Pray for Peace” is still highlighted because it was re-released during the month of Ramadān in 2014 — but not just randomly in the month, the song was released in the last ten days of the month (during the holiest part of the month)!

Some songs on the playlist are Nasheeds (meaning they are religiously moral songs) that, in some traditions, are meant to be sung without instrumentation or only with percussion. I have, however, included orchestrated versions of these songs, because this seems to have worked best in an in-studio setting. I mean no disrespect by this choice. As far as I know, percussion or voice only recordings of the Nasheeds are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music — which is always a suitable option.

Finally, the YouTube version currently includes some additional before/after music.

*HOLIDAY NOTE: I did not reference the biblical stories related to the Octave of Easter or Great Lent.

###
DID YOU KNOW, IT’S ALMOST TIME TO
KISS MY ASANA?
(April 13th – 19th)
###

Waiting… on a Saturday (mostly the blessings & music) March 30, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.
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Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open.) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Passion Saturday / Holy Saturday or Great Lent on National Doctors’ Day and throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and during all other seasons!

“This year however, we are experiencing, more than ever, the great silence of Holy Saturday.  We can imagine ourselves in the position of the women on that day.  They, like us, had before their eyes the drama of suffering, of an unexpected tragedy that happened all too suddenly.  They had seen death and it weighed on their hearts.  Pain was mixed with fear: would they suffer the same fate as the Master?  Then too there was fear about the future and all that would need to be rebuilt.  A painful memory, a hope cut short.  For them, as for us, it was the darkest hour.

Yet in this situation the women did not allow themselves to be paralyzed.  They did not give in to the gloom of sorrow and regret, they did not morosely close in on themselves, or flee from reality. They were doing something simple yet extraordinary: preparing at home the spices to anoint the body of Jesus.  They did not stop loving; in the darkness of their hearts, they lit a flame of mercy.  Our Lady spent that Saturday, the day that would be dedicated to her, in prayer and hope.  She responded to sorrow with trust in the Lord.  Unbeknownst to these women, they were making preparations, in the darkness of that Sabbath, for ‘the dawn of the first day of the week’, the day that would change history.  Jesus, like a seed buried in the ground, was about to make new life blossom in the world; and these women, by prayer and love, were helping to make that hope flower.  How many people, in these sad days, have done and are still doing what those women did, sowing seeds of hope!  With small gestures of care, affection and prayer.”

— Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis, Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday, 11 April 2020

Please join me today (Saturday, March 30th) at 12:00 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06052021 The Last Appointment”]

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

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The Role(s) One Plays (mostly the music & blessings) March 27, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Lent / Great Lent, Love, Music, One Hoop, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Yoga.
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open.) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Passion Week / Holy Week on Spy Wednesday or Great Lent, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and during all other seasons!

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.”

— Jaques quoted from Act II, Scene vii, of As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Please join me today (Wednesday, March 27th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Spy Wednesday 2022”]

“Every person is unique and yet also like every other person. Our visible, external appearance is different from everyone else’s, of course, that is all well and good, but there is also something inside each and every one of us which belongs to that person alone—which is that person alone. We might call this their spirit, or their soul. Or else we can decide not to label it at all in words, just leave it alone.

But while we are all unlike one another, we’re alike too. People from every part of the world are fundamentally similar, no matter what language we speak, what skin color we have, what hair color we have.”

— quoted from “Art is Peace” the 2024 World Theatre Day message by Jon Fosse (translated from Norwegian by Damion Searls) 

Click here for the 2024 World Theatre Day celebration.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

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Take Another Look at Your Talents & Your Light (mostly the music and blessings) March 26, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Robert Frost, Tennessee Williams, Wisdom, Yoga.
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open.) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Passion Tuesday / Holy Tuesday or Great Lent throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and during all other seasons!

“Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.”

— quoted from the poem “The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost (b. 1874)

“We have not long to love.
Light does not stay.
The tender things are those
we fold away.”

— quoted from the poem “We Have Not Long to Love” by Tennessee Williams (b. 1911)

Please join me today (Tuesday, March 26th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Passion Tuesday April 7, 2020” or “04072020 Passion Tuesday.”]

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.)

### 🎶 ###

EXCERPT (with links): “… some Powerball® thoughts” March 19, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, New Year, One Hoop, Poetry, Ramadan, Twin Cities, Writing, Yoga.
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Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox (tonight)! Happy New Year, to those who are getting ready for the new year! “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, Lent, Great Lent, and/or the 19-Day Fast throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!

“When Bob Dylan‘s self-titled debut LP hit shelves on March 19th, 1962, it didn’t sound anything like the popular music of the time. It was the height of ‘The Twist’ dance craze, and 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart had the word ‘twist’ in the title, including ‘Dear Lady Twist’ by Gary U.S. Bonds, ‘Twistin’ The Night Away’ by Sam Cooke, ‘Hey, Let’s Twist’ by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, ‘Twistin’ Postman’ by the Marvelettes and ‘Alvin Twist’ by the Chipmunks.”

— quoted from the 2012 Rolling Stone article “50 Years Ago Today: Bob Dylan Released His Debut Album – Album was recorded in six hours for $402” by Andy Greene

The following is an excerpt from a 2023 post:

“[Bob Dylan’s debut studio album, Bob Dylan,] was recorded on November 20th and 22nd of 1961. In addition to the two original Dylan songs (‘Talkin’ New York’ and ‘Song to Woody’), there were eleven covers or traditional folk songs (including Negro spirituals). While Bob Dylan did arrange some of the folk songs, there’s one arrangement that he famously, uhmm… ‘borrowed’ (without permission) from folk singer Dave Van Ronk. Exactly a month after recording the album, Bob Dylan had an informal recording session in a Minneapolis, Minnesota hotel room with Bonnie Beecher and Tony Glover. Those bootleg recordings may or may not have been distributed out of someone’s trunk; but, they were the equivalent of modern-day artists streaming their music. They got people excited about Bob Dylan as a musician and may be considered a better glimpse (than the studio album) of what was to come from the artist.

The bootleg recordings did not, however, drum up enough attention to really sell Bob Dylan. The album has never been super popular (chart wise) in the US or the UK. Neither did it, initially, receive a lot of critical recognition or attention. Part of the lack of interest, at the time it was released, may have been because it sounded nothing like what was popular at the time….

In addition to ‘Peppermint Twist,’ also by Joey Dee and the Starlighters, which spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the airwaves at the time were filled with doowop artists like Gene Chandler; crooners like Ray Charles and Neil Sedaka; women like Connie Francis, Shelley Fabares, and Little Eva; Motown girl bands like The Shirelles; and boy bands like the Beach Boys and The Tokens (whose number one song at the beginning of 1962, ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ is its own ‘lottery’ cautionary tale). Of course, there was folk music; however, as Andy Greene pointed out, ‘To most of America, the Kingston Trio were the embodiment of folk music…. but [Dylan] sounded nothing like the Kingston Trio.’ Then there was Elvis Presley… and some 1962 reviewers did compare Dylan — as well as his voice and his style — to Elvis Presley.

Which is weird to me.”

CLICK HERE for the entire post about how Bob Dylan hit the metaphorical lottery (and why I think it was weird that some people compared him to Elvis). 

“I walked down there and ended up
In one of them coffee-houses on the block
I get on the stage to sing and play
Man there said, ‘Come back some other day
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here’”

— quoted from the song “Talkin’ New York” by Bob Dylan

Please join me today (Tuesday, March 19th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05242022 Bob’s Poems”]

CLICK HERE for a preview of the events related to tonight and tomorrow.

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.)

### “How does it feel?” ~Bob Dylan ###

EXCERPT: “The Grace of Kindness & God’s Silence” (a post-practice Monday note) March 18, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Books, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, Great Lent, and/or the 19-Day Fast throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!

This is a post–practice note for Monday, March 18th. You can request an audio recording of either practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

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

“I am here to learn
to bear
the beams of love,
what else

              Bells
through the leaves, I am here to endure the

bells tolling
underground”

— quoted from the poem “Introduction” in God’s Silence by Franz Wright

The following (updated) excerpt is from a 2023 post:

Born in Vienna, today in 1953, Franz Wright spent portions of his childhood in Washington (state), California, and the Midwestern United States (in particular, Minnesota). In addition to sharing similar poetic themes, he and his father, James Wright, are the only parent and child to win a Pulitzer Prize in the same category. The elder Wright suffered from depression, bipolar disorders, and alcoholism and focused on the emotional suffering he saw around him, especially that suffering experienced by the disenfranchised in America. The younger Wright wrote about isolation, loneliness, longing, insomnia, and death intersecting with kindness, love, faith, hope, and peace. Four years ago today, I thought it oddly and serendipitously appropriate that my first virtual offering focused on Franz Wright’s work.

Four years later, I find his words still ring true and, oddly, still fit our current circumstances.

“What is the meaning of kindness?
Speak and listen to others, from now on,
as if they had recently died.
At the core the seen and unseen worlds are one.”

— “Solution” by Franz Wright

CLICK HERE for the entire 2023 post about Franz Wright, kindness, and challenging times.

NOTE: The 2023 post includes references to mental health and features embedded links to other sites.

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

### BREATHE IN LOVE, BREATHE OUT KINDNESS ###

A Little Salt (the “missing” Tuesday post) March 12, 2024

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith, Food, Gandhi, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma Yoga, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Mantra, Men, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.
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“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent and/or the 19-Day Fast. May we cultivate peaceful possibilities throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!

This is the “missing” post for Tuesday, March 12th. It is a compilation post, which includes some previously posted content. You can request an audio recording of a related 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.

“‘…the book I’ve been working on for about 10 years, and that I’m in the midst of trying to finish now, is about that; about how we can have a culture that cultivates the spirit of individual dissent.

‘I think it can be done. It can be done by having public examples of that. Gandhi, when he was on the salt march, had everyone singing the song of Rabindranath Tagore, which goes, “Walk alone, walk alone …” Now there’s some paradox in that, with a million people on the march! But he was cultivating the thought that each individual has dignity, and the dignity consists partly in the willingness to stand up to authority.’

Gandhi’s leadership of a march protesting about the salt tax imposed by India’s British colonial administrators is a vivid example of the kind of civic formation [Martha] Nussbaum is talking about. But she has homelier examples, too.”

— quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald article “Interview: Martha Nussbaum – As attitudes harden towards religion, the American philosopher turns her attention to the nurturing of faith, freedom and respect for difference.” by Ray Cassin (pub. September 1, 2012)

In the mid-1880s, the British East India Company (and then the British government) enacted a series of salt taxes, which made it illegal to produce or possess salt without paying a tax. By 1930, that tax represented 8.2% of the British Raj tax revenue. Even if you lived in a coastal town like Dandi, you had to pay the tax, or suffer the consequences. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi decided salt would be the focus of a direct action, non-violent mass protest.

As I mentioned last month, some people laughed when Gandhi decided salt would be the focus of his  satyagraha. People who are world leaders today scoffed back then, because they didn’t get it and they didn’t have his insight and vision. However, Gandhi wasn’t the first radical leader to emphasize the importance of salt. Jesus did it, in the Gospel According to Matthew (5:13 – 14), when he referred to his disciples as “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” In both cases, the teacher whose name would become synonymous with a worldwide religious movement indicated that there was a purpose, a usefulness, to the disciples and their roles (as salt and as light). I think it’s important to remember that Jesus was speaking to fishermen, farmers, and shepherds — people who were intimately familiar with the importance of salt (and light). They knew that (different kinds of) salt can be used for flavoring, preservation, fertilization, cleansing, and destroying, and that it could be offered as a sacrifice. They knew, as Gandhi would later point out, that people in hot, tropical climates needed salt for almost everything — including healing.

Gandhi’s “audience” was different. He was living in a time of industrialization and the beginnings of these modern times in which we find ourselves. He knew that people laughed and scoffed, because they didn’t completely understand the usefulness and vitalness of salt. He understood that some people took salt for granted. Even within the pages of Young India (which he used to educate and inform people), he debated with experts about the benefits and risks of salt consumption. He also knew that some people — inside and outside of British-ruled India — just didn’t get the inhumanity of charging people a tax for something that they could obtain (literally) outside their front door; something that was part of the very fiber of their being.

Remember, the human body is 60 – 75% water… and most of that water is saturated with salt.

“Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life. It is the only condiment of the poor. Cattle cannot live without salt. Salt is a necessary article in many manufactures. it is also a rich manure.

There is no article like salt, outside water, by taxing which the State can reach even the starving millions, the sick, the maimed and the utterly helpless. The salt tax constitutes the most inhuman poll tax that the ingenuity of man can devise.”

— quoted from a letter by M. K. Gandhi, printed in Young India, Vol. XII, Ahmedabad: February 27, 1930

From Wednesday, March 12th until Saturday, April 5th, 1930, Gandhi walked over 240 miles (390 kilometers) so that he could reach the sea shore in Dandi in order to break an unjust law. He woke up in Dandi, on Sunday, April 6th, prayed and illegal made salt at 8:30 AM. The satyagraha against the salt tax would continue for almost a year. It would, ultimately, be one of the inspirations for Civil Rights Movement in the United States and would be one of the first times that women were actively involved in a protest in India. Kamala Nehru, the young wife of the man who would eventually become India’s first Prime Minister, was one of those women. She was also an advocate for women being involved in the movement and in politics. (So, it is not surprising that her daughter and grandson also became prime ministers.)

Over 60,000 Indians (including Gandhi) would be jailed before it was all said and done. But, when Gandhi began the march he was only accompanied by 78 men devoted to truth (satya).

“Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian Movement ‘Satyagraha’ , that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase ‘passive resistance’ in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word ‘Satyagraha’ itself or some other equivalent English phrase.”

— quoted from “12. THE ADVENT OF SATYAGRAHA” in Satyagraha in South Africa by M. K. Gandhi (as published in THE SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI, VOLUME TWO, translated from the Gujarati by Valji Govindji Desai; General Editor Shriman Narayan) 

Even though thousands would join the movement, the 78 men who started the march with Gandhi (and many who would join in along the way) were people who practiced a dedication to ahimsa (non-violence/non-harming) and satya (truth) — the first two yamas (external restraints or universal commandments) of the 8-Limb Philosophy of Yoga. Since Gandhi once said, “God is Truth” and another time said “Truth is God,” there was also a commitment to recognizing a day-to-day awareness of a higher purpose, meaning in life, and supreme consciousness. This is one way to look at bramacharya, yet another yama.

Along with the business and logistics of the campaign, people participating in the march had to sleep outside, often wore a single white garment, and were dependent on villagers along the way to provide food and water for them to wash up. This means they also practiced asteya (non-stealing), aparagraha (non-attachment), saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), and tapas (discipline/austerity). Furthermore, they chanted and sang devotionals to keep their spirits up; which can also be a way of practicing isvarapranidhana (releasing one’s efforts back to the source).

All told, the satyagrahis actively practiced all five (5) of the yamas (external restraints/universal commandments) and four (4) of the five (5) niyamas (internal observations) which make up the ethical component of the philosophy of yoga. One could even argue that, since people had to consider their feelings on the subject and make the decision to join the movement, they were also practicing svadyaya (self-study), which is the niyama I did not include above. Either way you break it down, Gandhi and the first 78 men set the tone for the movement. They were steeped in a way of life and a way of thinking that enabled them to respond rather than to react and to work towards change without being attached to the results.

Jawaharlal Nehru — who would go on to become India’s first Prime Minister — was one of the people who initially scoffed at Mahatma Gandhi’s idea to focus on salt. But, he and his wife participated in the movement. They saw the powerful effect of the movement firsthand. In fact, he indicated that the important legacy of the Salt Satyagraha was how it changed the mindset of the Indian populace.

“Of course these movements exercised tremendous pressure on the British Government and shook the government machinery. But the real importance, to my mind, lay in the effect they had on our own people, and especially the village masses. Poverty and a long period of autocratic rule, with its inevitable atmosphere of fear and coercion, had thoroughly demoralised and degraded them…. Non-cooperation dragged them out of this mire and gave them self-respect and self-reliance; they developed the habit of cooperative action; they acted courageously and did not submit so easily to unjust oppression; their outlook widened and they began to think a little in terms of India as a whole….”

— quoted from a letter addressed to Lord Lothian [Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian], dated Badenweiler, January 17, 1936, by Jawaharlal Nehru (published in A Bunch of Old Letters: Being mostly written to Jawaharlal Nehru and some written by him, selected and edited by Jawaharlal Nehru, with an introduction by Sunil Khilnani

Several American leaders, including two former presidents (Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt) have been quoted as saying that one can tell if a person is worth their salt (or not worth their salt) by their willingness to stand up for what is right and/or to put themselves at risk on behalf of a great cause. Fast forward to the United States in the 1960’s and we find another example of people engaging in a satyagraha. Once again, people gained agency through a faith-driven, grassroots movement.

Fast forward to today and we see lots of grassroots efforts and lots of agency being given to the populace. Some of these more modern movements may be based on the concept of non-violence; but, unfortunately, they are not always firmly-grounded in the practice.

“Such a universal force [Satyagraha] necessarily makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe. The force to be so applied can never be physical. There is in it no room for violence. The only force of universal application can, therefore, be that of ahimsa or love. In other words it is soul force.

Love does not burn others, it burns itself.”

— quoted from “Some Rules of Satyagraha” by M. K. Gandhi, printed in Young India, Vol. XII, Ahmedabad: February 27, 1930 

(NOTE: The general explanation and rules were followed by a section of rules of conduct for various situations, including for “an Individual” and for “a Prisoner.”)

“Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men.”

— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (11/17/1957)

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04062021 Salt Satyagraha”]

NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes extra videos of featured songs.

“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 Tamil lyrics in the song “Ahimsa” by U2 and A. R. Rahman, featuring Khatija and Raheema Rahman (translation from IntegralYoga.org)

CORRECTION: I have previously misspoken the time when Gandhi broke the salt tax law. 8:30 AM, local time, appears to be the correct time.

### Be we are all accountable for our own thoughts, words, and deeds. ###