Reflections on the Figure of a Father (a prologue) June 18, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Life, Love, Men, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Suffering, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Dad's Big Day, Father's Day, Jason Momoa, P!nk, Vihari-Lal Mitra, Yoga Vasishtha
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Happy Pride! Happy Dads’ Day!! Many blessing to all!!!
“15. You see a man in two ways, the one with his body and the other in his representation in a picture or statues, of these the former kind is more frail than the latter; because the embodied man is beset by troubles and diseases in his fading and mouldering, decaying and dying body, whereby the other is not. (The frame of the living man, is frailer than his dead resemblance).”
– quoted from (Book 6) “CHAPTER XXIX. Pantheism. Description of the World as Full with the Supreme Soul.” of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (translated from the original Sanskrit by VIHARI-LALA MITRA)
June 18th is a day when I often focus on “defining moments.” For some people, one of the most defining moment of their lives is when they decide to be a parent. To be clear, I’m not talking about the moment they starting trying to conceive or even the moment they discover the conception – although, for some, the moments are one and the same. No, here, I am specifically talking about the moment a person decides they are going to do the work required to be the best parent they can be. As indicated by the quote above, today, I am also specifically talking about “a man.”
We can see (i.e., understand) Yoga Vasishtha 29.15 as referring to men-folk and also to human beings in general. The concept holds true, either way. The statement also holds true if we tweak the language a bit and recognize that “You can see a father in two ways….” There is the the frail, embodied being that begets a child and then there is the representation, the father-figure: the ones we call dad, pa, da, papa, daddy, pappi, paw-paw, gran-daddy, pepaw, uncle-pappy, hey, and any number of names I haven’t listed (including father, if your family is formal like that).
This is not a perfect metaphor, because a picture or a statue does little in the way of active action. Art can, however, leave an impression. It can touch our souls and leave an impression in our hearts and mind. A picture or a statue can even influence the way we see ourselves and the world and, therefore, the way we interact with ourselves and the world. In fact, leaving an impression is one of the intentions of the artist, the creator – and that’s really where I’m going with this idea:
A good parent is someone who intentional (and sometimes unintentionally) leaves a positive impression that influences the way we see ourselves and the world and, therefore, the way we interact with ourselves and the world.
So, as I have said before – and will say again and again, this so-called “Fathers’ Day” is not a fertility celebration. It is a celebration of the ones we call dad, pa, da, papa, daddy, pappi, paw-paw, gran-daddy, pepaw, uncle-pappy, hey, and any number of names I haven’t listed (including father, if your family is formal like that). It is a celebration of those who do the work to raise us up. It is a celebration of those who do the care and the feeding. It is a celebration of the ones whose influence “…lasts for ages with its undiminished beauty.” (YV 29.16)
Click here for the 2020 blog post about Dad’s Day (a.k.a Father’s Day) when it coincided with a bunch of different observations, including International Yoga Day – which falls on the anniversary of the birth of the T. K. V. Desikachar (b. 06/21/1938). NOTE: I have not yet updated the post to reflect the fact that there were religious observations in the Middle Ages that celebrated mothers and maternal figures.
Click here for the slightly more personal 2022 blog post about Dad’s Day (a.k.a Father’s Day) when it coincided with Juneteenth.
There is no class today, but I will be back on schedule (and on Zoom) tomorrow. If you are on my Sunday recording list, I have sent you a copy of the 2020 Dad’s Day practice and a copy of the philosophical 90-minute practice from June 18, 2022. If you want to be added to my Sunday list (or any other list), please email me or comment below.
The “Dad’s Big Day” playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
The playlist for June 18, 2022, practice is also available on on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09042021 Experiencing the Mind”]
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.
Errata: The original posting incorrectly referenced the “Father of Modern Yoga,” which is how T. K. V. Desikachar’s father is often remembered.
### CELEBRATE THE PATTERN ###
Grace & Friendship (mostly the music and an excerpt) June 17, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Love, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: shastra kripa, Soweto uprising, Statue of Liberty, Vihari-Lal Mitra, Yoga Vasishtha
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone!!!
“61. It is owing to the presence of the soul, that the mind developes [sic] itself in the form of the body and all its members; as it is the presence of the light, that makes the room display its contained objects to sight. (The soul is the light of the mind—nous the container of infinite ideas).
62. Think now Ráma, on the relation between the ever unconnected soul and mind, to resemble the irrelation subsisting between the dis-connected earth and sky, and betwixt light and darkness and betwixt the intellect and gross bodies.
63. Those that are ignorant of the soul, view the quiet mind as such, after its motion and fluctuation are stopped by the restraint of respiration—Pránáyáma. (This is the doctrine of the Sánkhya and Buddhist, that view the becalmed and quiescent mind as the soul).
64. But the soul is self-luminous and ever lasting, omnipresent and super-eminent, while the mind is deceptive and egoism. It is situated in the heart with too much of its pride and vanity.
65. You are in reality the all-knowing soul, and not the ignorant and deluded mind; therefore drive afar your delusive mind from the seat of the soul, as they can never meet nor agree together.
66. Ráma! the mind has also like a demon, taken possession of the empty house of the body, and has like an evil spirit, silenced and overpowered upon the intangible soul in it.
67. Whatever thou art, remain but quiet in thyself, by driving away the demon of thy mind from thee; because it robs thee of thy best treasure of patience, and loads all kinds of evils upon thee. (i.e. the impatient mind is the source of all evil).
68. The man that is seized by the voracious yaksha of his own mind, has no change of his release from his grasp, either by the lessons of the sástras or by the advice of his friends, relatives and preceptors. (Greediness devours the greedy that desire to glut all things).
69. The man who has appeased the demon of his mind, is capable of being released from its clutches, by means of the dictates of sástras, and the admonitions of his friends, as it is possible to liberate a deer from a shallow quagmire.”
– quoted from (Book 6) “CHAPTER XXIX. Pantheism. Description of the World as Full with the Supreme Soul.” of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (translated from the original Sanskrit by VIHARI-LALA MITRA)
Here’s an excerpt from today’s date-related 2020 post:
“If you look back, you will note that all of the ways I mentioned about friendship involve at least one of the five afflicted or dysfunctional thought patterns; thought patterns that create suffering – and all of those afflicted thought patterns are born out of ignorance. That is not to say that friendship is ignorant. In fact, it is easy to argue that friendship, community, and belonging are wise. There is a definite reason why the Buddha described sangha (“community”) as one of the three jewels. But, when we look at how we become friends with someone, it is almost always based on the outside. How we stay friends, however, is based on the inside.
Granted, sometimes we stay friends with someone, because of that final afflicted thought pattern: fear of loss or death.”
Click here to read the entire 2020 post about the power of friendship (with reference to the Soweto uprising and the Statue of Liberty).
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 17th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06172020 The Lady’s Power”]
NOTE: The playlist starts with instrumental music. If your Spotify is on shuffle, you will want your music volume low at the beginning of the practice.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
### MO’ METTĀ, LESS BLUES (UNLESS YOU’RE SINGING) ###
The Power of Giving & Sharing (the “missing” Wednesday post) June 14, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Donate, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Super Heroes, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: © National center for blood transfusion (NCBT) Rwanda, Dana, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, Dr. Karl Landsteiner, Dr. Linus Pauling, Kristin Houser, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, samkhya, siddhis, Sāṃkhya Karika, Sāmkhya Karika, WHO, World Blood Donor Day, World Health Organization, Yoga Sutra 2.24
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Happy Pride! Many blessing to everyone on World Blood Donor Day!!!
This is the “missing” post for Wednesday, June 14th. It includes updated statistics (compared to the related linked posts). Some links at the end of the post connect outside of this blog. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“I found that [Karl] Landsteiner and I had a much different approach to science: Landsteiner would ask, ‘What do these experimental observations force us to believe about the nature of the world?’ and I would ask, ‘What is the most simple, general and intellectually satisfying picture of the world that encompasses these observations and is not incompatible with them?’”
– quoted from “Fifty Years of Progress in Structural Chemistry and Molecular Biology.” By Dr. Linus Pauling (published in Daedalus, 99, 1005. 1970)
In addition to the typical philosophical questions, this week has been full of very practical questions: “Are you keeping your foundation in mind?” “What do you have a hard time wrapping your brain around (i.e., understanding)?” In other words, “How ignorant are you?” “What ails you?” “How do you cope with what ails you?” “Does the way you cope alleviate suffering or create more suffering?” And, rooted within each of those questions is one more: “Are you willing to alleviate your suffering and/or the suffering of another?”
Honestly, that last question is really just asking if you’re willing to be a hero(ine)?
Heroes and heroines have come up again and again over the last few weeks. Sometimes the reference was inferred; other times it was quite explicit. Either way, the idea that one person could do something to help – even save – themselves and/or another person comes up over and over again. And, yes, I will admit that I have a certain bias towards the idea. I definitely appreciate the fact that many of the heroes and heroines you find in so many cultural stories (not to mention in the stories of certain superheroes) are ordinary people who do extra-ordinary things. Sure, sometimes they are given superpowers, but what is more relevant is the power(s) they cultivate.
“The last category of our innate siddhis is dana, “the ability to give.” We have both the wisdom and the courage to share what lawfully belongs to us with others. We are designed to experience the joy of giving. This joy is the architect of human civilization, characterized by self-sacrifice and selflessness.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.24 from The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
According to the Yoga Sūtras, when we eliminate suffering and the roots of suffering, we gain awareness of our true nature. We also gain access to the power and vitality of our true nature. In the Sāṃkhya Karika, that power and vitality includes six siddhis (“powers” or abilities) which are described as “powers unique to being human.” Everyone has these powers, but not everyone appreciates and cultivates them. Take for example, what happens when we harness the power of duḥkha-vighātaḥ-trayaḥ (the ability to “eliminate three-fold sorrow,” i.e., physical, mental, and spiritual sorrow) and combine it with the power of dana (“generosity,” i.e., the ability to give to another).
We all have something that legally belongs to us that we could give to another. We also have something that most of us can give away without ever missing. I’m not talking about a material possession – although some of us may have material things that we could give away and not miss. No, here, I am specifically talking about something that is the very essence of our life. Consider how powerful it is to literally give our lifeblood. We have the ability to do that thanks to Dr. Karl Landsteiner, the “Father of Transfusion Medicine,” who was born today in 1868.
Click here to read more about the significance of Dr. Karl Landsteiner’s work.
In honor of Dr. Landsteiner’s birthday, today is World Blood Donor Day. (Coincidentally, it falls just the day before the anniversary of Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys’s 1667 surgery on a 15-year old boy, using sheep’s blood.) Established in 2005, by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Blood Donor Day is a celebration of and an expression of gratitude for the millions of donors worldwide. It is also an opportunity to raise awareness for the universal need for safe blood and blood products. This year, the host country is Algeria (through its National Blood Transfusion Service) and the theme is “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”
“[The 2023 World Blood Donor Day theme] focuses on patients requiring life-long transfusion support and underlines the role every single person can play, by giving the valuable gift of blood or plasma. It also highlights the importance of giving blood or plasma regularly to create a safe and sustainable supply of blood and blood products that can be always available, all over the world, so that all patients in need can receive timely treatment.”
– quoted from the World Health Organization’s 2023 World Blood Donor Day site
According to WHO, 42% of the world’s blood supply is collected in high income countries, which are home to only 16% of the world’s population. Additionally, as of 2018, only 79 countries have the majority (90%) of their blood supplied by voluntary, unpaid donors. Some of those countries also supply blood transfusions free of charge. Meanwhile, 54 countries depend on family and paid donors. When it comes to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMP), less than half of the reporting countries (56 out of 171) produce PDMP through the fractionation (i.e., separation) of plasma collected in the reporting countries. A little over 53% of reporting countries (91 out of 171) import all PDMP. The remaining 14% either reported no usage or did not report any data.
Just as the demographics of people who donate is different, how different countries use blood varies. For example, in low income countries, more than half (54%) of blood transfusions are give to children under 5 years old. On the flip side, the majority of people receiving transfusions in high income countries (76%) are over the age of 60.
Go deeper and you will find that even in countries that can depend on voluntary donations, certain parts of the country experience shortages which can only be alleviated by a mobilized network. In fact, one of the goals of World Blood Donor Day is to “mobilize support at national, regional, and global levels among governments and development partners to invest in, strengthen and sustain national blood programmes.” That mobilized network can include electronic cold chain monitoring systems and drones – both of which can be found in Rwanda and in Ukraine.
“Rwanda’s policy since 1985 is that blood must be donated by unpaid volunteers and provided to patients in need free-of-charge. Donors around Rwanda are eager to help.
‘I always am happy to save a life of someone, even someone I don’t know, because in our (Rwandan) culture, we believe that to be human is to do good things to someone without being remunerated,’ said Euphrasie Uwase Maneno, a blood donor.”
– quoted from the 12 June 2019 World Health Organization report “Drones take Rwanda’s national blood service to new heights” by © National center for blood transfusion (NCBT) Rwanda
Wednesday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06142020 World Blood Donor Day”]
“[Canadian drone manufacturer Draganfly’s] medical drones, meanwhile, are equipped with temperature-controlled payload boxes that can be used to transport up to 35 pounds of blood, insulin, vaccines, and other supplies. They can fly for 40 minutes on a single charge.”
– quoted from the Freethink article “Medical drones to transport blood being rushed to Ukraine” by Kristin Houser (dated March 31, 2022)
### WHAT QUESTION(S) ARE YOU ASKING? ###
The Power of Giving & Sharing (just the music) June 14, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music.Tags: Dr. Karl Landsteiner, World Blood Donor Day
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Happy Pride! Many blessing to everyone on World Blood Donor Day!!!
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 14th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06142020 World Blood Donor 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.)
### 
###
How Do You Deal with Your Answers?* June 13, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Life, Loss, Meditation, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Vairagya, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: ataraxia, Dr. Irvin Yalom, Dr. Louis Hoffman, existentialism, Flight from Death, Franciscus van den Eden, klishtaklishta, klişţāklişţāh, Philosophy, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 2.13, Yoga Sutras 2.3-2.4
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone!!!
“I am using the term [existential] in a very simple, straightforward way; simply to refer to existence. [As an adjective] Existential Psychotherapy means simply, a therapy focused on concerns emerging from the nature of existence.”
– Dr. Irvin Yalom, speaking at a 2009 Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference
Existential therapists, like Dr. Irvin Yalom (who turns 92 today), are concerned with the same questions as existential philosophers: Who are we? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? You know, those easy questions. The therapists, however, may be more concerned (than the philosophers) about how we answer the questions. Or, we could say, they are concerned with the actions that come our answers.
Born today in 1931, Dr. Irvin Yalom is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford and an author of fiction and non-fiction that deals with the mental and emotional workings of the mind (and heart). He pioneered existentialist psychotherapy and was featured in the 2003 documentary Flight from Death, which explores how people deal with what Patanjali highlighted as the fifth afflicted thought pattern: fear of loss/death. (YS 2.3)
Dr. Yalom’s therapy and research are based on his belief that “we are here, through random events; that we are here alone…. that we are responsible for carving out own life pattern, our own meaning… we have no predestined fate, most of all it means that we are finite… we all have to face inevitable death.” Like Virginia Satir and Dr. M. Scott Peck, he focuses not so much on a “presenting” issue/problem as on how we deal with our issues and problems. He outlined four givens: Isolation, Mortality, Meaninglessness, and Freedom (which comes with responsibility). According to Dr. Yalom we deal with inner conflict around the four “givens” and our responses are either functional or dysfunctional. Dr. Louis Hoffman added a fifth “given” to this idea: we have an emotional, embodied experience.
In the Yoga Philosophy, what Dr. Yalom calls “functional or dysfunctional” is described as klişțāklişțāh (“afflicted and not afflicted”). Philosophically, we can see the correlation between our dysfunctional or afflicted thoughts and actions and our suffering (and/or the suffering of others). Of course, this takes us right back to the root or bedrock of our suffering: the first afflicted thought pattern, ignorance.
Yoga Sūtra 1.5: vŗttayah pañcatayyah klişțāklişțāh
– “The tendencies that cause the mind to fluctuate (or rotate) are fivefold, and are either afflicting or non-afflicting.”
Yoga Sūtra 2.4: avidyā kṣetramuttareṣāṃ prasuptatanuvicchinnodārāṇām
– “Ignorance is the ground for the remaining afflictions, whether they are dormant, attenuated, disjointed, or active.”
Yoga Sūtra 2.13: sati mūle tadvipāko jātyāyurbhogāḥ
– “As long as the root cause [i.e., the five afflicted thought patterns] persists, karmas must bear fruit, and that fruition determines birth in a particular species, life span, and life experience.”
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 13th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Today’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06132020 Yalom’s Big Day”]
“‘Lads, your needs are few, they are easily attained, and any necessary suffering can be easily tolerated. Don’t complicate your life with such trivial goals as riches and fame: they are the enemy of ataraxia. Fame, for example, consists of the opinions of others and requires that we must live our life as others wish. To achieve and maintain fame, we must like what others like and shun whatever it is that they shun. Hence, a life of fame or a life in politics? Flee from it. And wealth? Avoid it! It is a trap. The more we acquire the more we crave, and the deeper our sadness when our yearning is not satisfied. Lads, listen to me: If you crave happiness, do not waste your life struggling for that which you really do not need.’”
– the fictionalized Franciscus van den Enden speaking to his students in The Spinoza Problem: A Novel by Dr. Irvin D. Yalom
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.)
*Some quotes were added after the initial posting.
### HOW ARE YOU COPING? ###
Starting with the Foundation (a prelude) June 11, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, First Nations, Healing Stories, Life, Meditation, Men, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: asana, Benjamin Franklin, Committee of Five, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, John Adams, Lee Resolution, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, William Butler Yeats, yoga, Yoga Sutra 1.32, Yoga Sutras 1.30-1.32, Yoga Sutras 2.46-2.50
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone!!
Yoga Sūtra 1.32: tat pratiṣedhārtham eka tattvābhyāsaḥ
– “To prevent or deal with these nine obstacles and their four consequences, the recommendation is to make the mind one-pointed, training it how to focus on a single truth, principle, or object.”
On and off the mat, we start with the foundation. We build from the ground up. This is standard operating procedure whether we are building an asana; building a life for ourselves; building a relationship; building an edifice; building an organization or a business; and/or building a country. We may have an idea(l) in mind and our desire may be to build from the concept (i.e., that may be what motivates us to build); however, to make the dream come true – to make the idea(l) a reality – we need awareness and material/matter.
That’s the practice. On and off the mat (or cushion), we bring awareness to the foundation and then establish a foundation that allows us to bring awareness to our awareness… or to any number things which can be our point of focus. In mindfulness-based practices, like Yoga and Buddhist meditation, we are very intentional, very deliberate about this method of building. In fact, Patanjali outlined this practice in the Yoga Sūtras. (YS 2.46-50) More detailed instructions (on building asanas) can be found in texts like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Shastras, like Yoga Vasistha, and many modern texts also include details on building a practice. And, we can extrapolate from there – taking the practice off of the mat/cushion and into the world.
On a certain level, reality forces us to build from the ground up. However, there is a difference between just doing it and being deliberate and intentional about it. There is also a difference between deliberately and intentionally building from the ground up and starting [everything] with the foundation in mind. For example, in a seated (or moving) meditation practice, when you loose the “thread,” you go back to the beginning – back to the foundation.
Are you still “sitting” in a way that balances effort and relaxation? If the answer is no, adjust. If the answer is yes, bring awareness to the parts of the breath. Notice when (and what) distracts you. Remind yourself that you are “sitting” and breathing. That’s the practice.
Off the mat/cushion, there is a tendency to forget about the foundation once we really get going. No, I’m not ignoring the fact that this also happens in yoga practices where there is a lot of movement and momentum. What I would like to point out, however, is that part of a practice like vinyasa is being mindful of the pace. Being mindful of the pace requires noticing when you are not breathing deeply; when you are moving faster than your breath; and/or when you are “flowing,” but not “placing things in a special way” (which is the literal meaning of vinyasa). Also, over time, not being mindful of the foundation may lead to injuries and/or obstacles to the practice. (YS 1.30-31)
Off the mat/cushion, the tendency to forget about the foundation also has consequences. People get hurt – on a lot of different levels. And, also, obstacles arise that prevent the fulfilment of the original idea(l). What I mean by that is: Sometimes we end up with a final product that looks nothing like the intention. And, sometimes, things fall apart because the center (which is the foundation) could not hold… was not designed to hold without attention/awareness.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;”
– quoted from the poem “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats
Today in 1776, the Committee of Five started discussing and drafting a document which would be approved by the Second Continental Congress and presented to England as a Declaration of Independence. Representatives John Adams (Massachusetts), Roger Sherman (Connecticut), Robert Livingston (New York), Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania), and Thomas Jefferson (Virginia), worked until July 5th building what became the foundation of the United States of America.
The final document was approved on July 2nd, printed on July 4th, and signed by the delegates of the Second Continental Congress over the course of several months. It contains some of the best and most quoted language associated with democracy and freedom. It is considered, by some, to be the best language regarding an ideal government. Yet, the original language is interesting – as is the language of the final draft. First, the committee originally included language criticizing English people, slavery, and the British slave trade. Ultimately, they decided to exclude the language about slavery, because they thought including it would cost them votes. Another interesting point (of exclusion) is that the words didn’t exactly mean what they said. The words “all men” was not, in fact, applied to all men (let alone all humans).
A portion of the following is an excerpt from a July 2020 post.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
– from “The Declaration of Independence” drafted by the Committee of Five and (eventually) signed by delegates of the Second Continental Congress
The Declaration of Independence was the formal announcement and explanation of the “Lee Resolution” (aka “The Resolution for Independence).” Its second sentence is often referenced as “one of the best-known sentences in the English language” and is possibly the most quoted sentence in American history. It provided justification for revolution and the building blocks for a new nation. It was, however, not completely true. While we may want to delude ourselves into thinking the founding fathers meant all humans when they signed off on the declaration – or even all males – the “all men” was very specific in that it meant “white men only.” And, if we are being honest, there was also a religious subtext which further restricted who would be granted the subsequently mentioned Rights. (Yes, yes, we can go around and around about religious freedom, but there was a definite assumption within the text that “all men,” see above, believed in one God – even if they had slightly different ways of worshiping said God.)
The Second Continental Congress approved the resolution and the declaration unanimously, but it was never a sure thing. There was debate with the Committee of Five as to how to present their argument to the other delegates in a way that would sway things in their favor. Remember, everyone on the committee and every one of the delegates was, at the time, a subject of the Crown – meaning they were citizens of the British Commonwealth – and what they were proposing was straight-up treason. They knew this would be evidence of treason. Furthermore, they knew that they were placing their family, friends, and neighbors at great risk. They also thought freedom, liberty, and independence were worth the risk.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States can be seen as the cornerstone of our democracy or the two visible sides of that cornerstone. Included within the Constitution is the governments ability to propose, ratify, and implement amendments. One could argue that providing such a proviso was the 1787 Constitutional Convention’s way of strengthening the foundation and of making sure future leaders (and their descendants) kept the foundation in mind.
“It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error. But nature has not given to everyone a talent for that purpose; and among those to whom such a talent is given, there is often a want of disposition or of courage to do it.”
– quoted from the “Preface” (addressed “To the Ministers and Preachers of all Denominations of Religion.”) of “Part III” in The Age Of Reason by Thomas Paine
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, June 11th) at 2:30 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
Errata: The sūtra quoted at the beginning of this post was originally identified with the wrong chapter number.
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.)
### OM FREEDOM AUM ###
The Grace of Knowing [Where the Wild Things Are] (mostly the music and a “wild” excerpt) June 10, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Christopher Walken, Hero's Journey, Joseph Campbell, Maurice Sendak, monomyth, Shastra, shastra kripa, Vihari-Lal Mitra, Wayman Tisdale, Yoga Vasishtha
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to all!!
“24. Take the purport of my discourse in such manner, as to leave out what is unintelligible, and lay hold on its substance; as the swan separates and sucks the milk which is mixed with water.
25. Ponder upon it repeatedly, and consider it well in thy mind, and go on in this way to conduct yourself in life (viz by suppression of your desires, weakening the mind, restraining the breathing, and acquiring of knowledge).
26. By going on in this manner, you are sure to evade all dangers; or else you must fall ere long like the heavy elephant, in some pitfall of the Vindhya mountain. (Pitfalls are the only means of catching elephants).
27. If you do not receive my words with attention, and act accordingly, you are sure to fall into the pit like a blind man left to go alone in the dark; and to be blown away like a lighted lamp, exposed in the open air.”
– quoted from (Book 6) “CHAPTER I. Description of the evening and Breaking of the Assembly.” of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (translated from the original Sanskrit by VIHARI-LALA MITRA)
Here’s an excerpt from today’s date-related 2020 post:
“How do we keep from becoming, to paraphrase Joseph Campbell, a screaming paranoid person? How do we face trauma, loss, and disability with a smile on our face, as Wayman Tisdale did? Maybe we have to go all the way back to the womb to figure out why some people survive the challenging circumstances they face in life. Maybe we have to go back even farther than that to see why some people just inherently know how to stay connected to their ‘inside stuff’ even when life throws them one curve ball after another fast ball. Whatever the reason some people rebound and some people don’t (or don’t as easily as others), trying to figure out that reason has fascinated people since the beginning of time.
Children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, born today in 1928, in Brooklyn, New York, once said, ‘I only have one subject. The question I am obsessed with is: How do children survive?’”
Here, here be the wild things! Click here to continue reading this 2020 post.
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 10th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Since music soothes the wild beasts, the goblins, and the cooks, Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06102020 Here Be The Wild Things”]
NOTE: YouTube is the original playlist and includes the video below.
My all time favorite rendition!
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’LL EAT YOU UP!”• “I LOVE YOU!” ###
FTWMI: Ode to a Poem about Poets, Born Today (mostly the music and links) June 7, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Poetry, Yoga.Tags: Gwendolyn Brooks, Louise Erdrich, Nikki Giovanni, Prince Rogers Nelson
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to you all!!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was previously posted in 2022. Class details have been updated.
Years ago…
I wrote a poem –
dedicated to / inspired by poets
poets born today [in 1917, 1954, 1943, and 1958].
Then I re-posted it.
This is not THAT POEM.
©MKR 2022
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 7th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06072020 Birthday of Poets”]
(NOTE: The interlude music is different between the playlists. YouTube is the original. The “poem” linked here and above includes a video not on either playlist.)
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
### ###
FTWMI: What Makes Us Do What We Do (Where We Do It) June 6, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Dharma, Faith, Fitness, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Life, Men, Music, One Hoop, Religion, Yoga.Tags: 1 Corinthians, D-Day, divine play, George Williams, Laurence Binyon, Plato, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ralph Waldo Emerson, World War II, YMCA, yoga, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra
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Happy Pride! Many blessings to all.
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2021. Class details and one quoted have been updated or added. WARNING: This post references war. A link to a philosophical variation of this theme, one related to divine play, is linked at the end the of this post.
“Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. A lady of my acquaintance said, ‘I don’t care so much for what they say as I do for what makes them say it.’”
– quoted from 1875 essay “Social Aims” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
What do you believe? It seems like such a simple question – especially since it’s not “In what” or “In whom” do you believe? But simple questions can be the trickiest. Because if you believe something – really, truly, believe with your whole heart and every fiber of your being – than your actions will reflect your beliefs. Right? Everything will be in alignment. Right?
Only, we humans tend to be a little more complicated than that. So, maybe the next thing to consider isn’t whether your every thought, word, and deed perfectly reflects what you believe. Maybe the next thing to consider is whether or not you are willing to put all of your efforts – all of your thoughts, words, and deeds – on the line, in support of a campaign (or an organization…or a country…) in which you believe. What would you do for freedom, for country, for God (what every that means to you at this moment)?
Prior to going to London in 1841, George Williams was a young draper from the countryside (Dulverton, Somerset, England to be exact) who had attended school in Tiverton, Devon and apprenticed at a shop in Bridgewater (also in Somerset). He was not a man of the world. But he had a sense of self and described himself as a “careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow.” For all that, when he arrived in London for a job, he was way out of his depth. He saw London as a dirty place, a place of temptation, a kind of hell on Earth. (Keep in mind; I have heard that he couldn’t tell the difference between schoolgirls in uniform and prostitutes if they were standing on a street corner.)
“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
– 1 Corinthians 9:25 – 27 (NLT)
Motivated to overcome the unhealthy living and working conditions and inspired by Muscular Christianity, a mid-19th century philosophical movement based on the idea that one’s mind-body and actions should glorify God, Sir Williams gathered together 11 other drapers to create a place for healthy and moral activities and for, as he said, “the improving of the spiritual conditioning of young men engaged in drapery, embroidery, and other trades.” They gathered together today, June 6th in 1844, to create what one of the drapers, Christopher W. Smith, suggested they call the “Young Men’s Christian Association” [YMCA].
The ideas behind the YMCA expanded and, by the early 1850’s, there were YMCA meetings and branches throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Jean-Henri Dunant (who would later co-win the first Noble Peace Prize for founding the International Committee of the Red Cross) was the founder of the Swiss branch of the YMCA, Secretary of the YMCA Geneva, and the person who spearheaded the idea for a YMCA World Conference. At that first conference, in August 1855, 99 delegates from nine countries adopted the Paris Basis, which included an international mission and motto. That motto came from John 17:21, “That they all may be one.”
“Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.”
– quoted from the June 6, 1944, printed “Order of the Day” (issued to 175,000 troops by Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force) and the subsequent speech by United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Commander of Operation Overlord
Exactly a hundred years (to the date) after the founding of the YMCA, a World War II battle began on the beaches of Normandy, France. At least 156,000 Allied troops put their lives on the line in the effort to liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany. Today is the anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 6, 1944 until August 30th. Codenamed “Operation Overlord,” the military campaign was a coordinated amphibious and airborne effort on five beaches by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Norway.
The original plan was for troops to land on June 5th, on beaches codenamed Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha, and Utah. However, bad weather delayed the start – and created tactical issues. Some troops were not able to land when and where they were scheduled to land – in one case, at Juno, infantry made it to shore ahead of their supporting armoury – resulting in many casualties. The Allied forces met their heaviest resistance, and possibly the highest casualties, on Omaha Beach, but by the end of the day, the Allies had invaded Nazi-controlled territory.
The campaign that started today, in 1944, moved across the Normandy countryside, engaging over 2 million Allied troops. By the end of August, Paris had been liberated, Germany was forced out of northwestern France, and Allied forces were prepared to join their Soviet allies in the continued effort to rid the world of fascism and end what we now know was the Holocaust.
But, of course, there was a cost. An estimated 226,386 Allied troops died in the campaign, with the Axis powers losing somewhere between 288,000 – 530,000 troops. An estimated 25,000 to 39,000 civilians died (between the pre-invasion bombing and the actual bombing).
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
– from “Ode of Remembrance” taken from “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon
When we remember those who were lost today and throughout the war – as well as when we remember those who survived, but were left with permanent scars, inside and out – we must remember that even during times of war, even when there is a draft, people put their lives on the line for a lot of different reasons. People put all of their efforts – all of their thoughts, words, and deeds – on the line, in support of a campaign (or an organization…or a country…) because of something in which they believe. Maybe, like those who engaged in the Muscular Christianity movement of the mid-19th century, it’s a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, manliness, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. Maybe it’s a belief in freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Maybe it’s a belief in life.
We can’t always know why someone thinks what they think, says what they say, or does what they do. We can, however, give some thought to how our thoughts, words, and deeds reflect our deepest beliefs.
“And what is the right way of living? Are we to live in sports always? If so, in what kind of sports? We ought to live sacrificing, and singing, and dancing, and then a man will be able to propitiate the Gods, and to defend himself against his enemies and conquer them in battle. The type of song or dance by which he will propitiate them has been described, and the paths along which he is to proceed have been cut for him.” (Book 7)
– quoted from The Laws by Plato
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 6th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06062020 D-Day & YMCA]
Click here for a more philosophical (and slightly playful) variation on this theme and date.
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.)
### PEACE TO & FROM EVERYTHING & EVERYONE WE ENCOUNTER ###
The Journey Continues… (a “long lost” Sunday post) June 5, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Shavuot, Suffering, Super Heroes, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Bill Moyers, Counting the Omer, George Lucas, Gina Sharpe, Harold Bloom, Joseph Campbell, Judith Suzanne Davidson Moyers, monomyth, Moses, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Shavuot, Star Wars
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This is the “long lost” post related to Sunday, June 5, 2022. It is the third post related to Bill Moyers (and the second one being posted for the first time). Links for the 2021 post are embedded below. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“Joseph Campbell said that all the great myths, the primitive myths, the great stories, have to be regenerated if they’re going to have any impact…. Are you conscious of doing that?”
– Bill Moyers, quoted from the transcript of “The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas”
Let’s talk about heroes, heroines, and great adventures. I love them! I can’t say I was a huge fan of The NeverEnding Story, but I did appreciate the idea and, when I was a kid, I always got a kick out of “choose your own adventure” books. I also loved Star Wars, Star Trek, Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, and almost any series of books with reoccurring characters who went places I had never gone, had experiences I never had, and met people I had never met. Part of what I loved was that I recognized the places, the experiences, and the people. How could I not? After all, they were all the same – just using different names, and dressed up in different clothes and faces.
I don’t remember exactly when I first heard about Joseph Campbell or Harold Bloom, but their works around literature, mythology, and anthropology (as it intersects literature and mythology) seem to be like long shadows towards the end of the day. They’re always there, you just can’t always see them. Towards the end of college, I took a publishing course and one of the people in my small group ended up working at a major publishing house. A few months later, he sent me a big box full of books. Joseph Campbell’s A Hero with a Thousand Faces was one of those books. I knew about it, but had never read it.
If you watch movies, read comics and/or books, or just like listening to someone weave a good adventure, odds are you fall into one or more of the following categories: (1) you love heroes because you’re always looking for someone to save you; (2) you love adventure and fancy yourself as someone who could save yourself or someone else – given the right means and opportunity; and/or (3) you love the life lessons found within a good story. After all, every good story comes with at least one life lesson. That’s one of the boons of living vicariously through a fictional or historical character.
“LUCAS: I guess it’s more specific in Buddhism, but it is a notion that’s been around before that. When I wrote the first Star Wars, I had to come up with a whole cosmology: What do people believe in? I had to do something that was relevant, something that imitated a belief system that has been around for thousands of years, and that most people on the planet, one way or another, have some kind of connection to. I didn’t want to invent a religion. I wanted to try to explain in a different way [than] the religions that have already existed. I wanted to express it all.
MOYERS: You’re creating a new myth?
LUCAS: I’m telling an old myth in a new way. Each society takes that myth and retells it in a different way, which relates to the particular environment they live in. The motif is the same. It’s just that it gets localized. As it turns out, I’m localizing it for the planet. I guess I’m localizing it for the end of the millennium more than I am for any particular place.”
– quoted from the Time Magazine article “Of Myth and Men” by Bill Moyers; George Lucas (published April 18, 1999; based on “The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas”)
Born on June 5, 1934, in Hugo, Oklahoma (and primarily raised in Marshall, Texas), Bill Moyers is more than a journalist who has spent a lot of time talking to and about heroes. He is even more than a journalist who has also spent a lot of time talking to and about people who create heroes. But, he has done all of that… and more.
In addition to being an ordained minister, he served as the 13th White House Press Secretary (working with both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson). Along with his wife, Judith Suzanne Davidson Moyers, he has produced a variety of programming, including Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (filmed on George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, in 1988); The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas (also filmed at Skywalker Ranch, in 1999); Faith and Reason; and Healing and the Mind. He has also produced and facilitated conversations about a wide range of topics, including evil, racism, prayer, democracy, poetry, art, and the experiences of U. S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. His many books include Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country, A World of Ideas : Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our Future, A World of Ideas II: Public Opinions from Private Citizens, The Language of Life (which is a conversation with poets), Genesis: A Living Conversation, and the book based on the series Healing and the Mind.
More often than not, when I lead a practice on Bill Moyers’s birthday, it centers around Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and references superheroes from comic books and movies. My intention is to highlight how we are all the hero(ine) of our own story – and, additionally, how we can also be someone else’s hero. Sometimes, I even reference a specific historical and/or religious figure. Someone like Moses.
I mentioned Moses, specifically, because sunset on Saturday (June 4, 2022) marked the beginning of Shavuot. Known in English as the “Festival of Weeks,” Shavuot is the anniversary, the celebration, and the commemoration of the Jewish people receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. It occurs on the 50th day after the 2nd night of Passover – making it a moveable feast – and is the culmination of the counting of the weeks, which is observed by the Counting of the Omer. Since the 49 days of counting make up a spiritual journey of preparation, Shavuot marks the end of one journey and the beginning of a new journey. Or, you could think of it more specifically as the beginning of a new time.
Technically speaking, the Hero’s Journey is always about moving into a new time, a new era, or a new season of life. It’s about coming out of an old season, shedding the old skin, and moving forward with that “Ultimate Boon” – that life lesson that serves the heroine and their community. While I often compare Moses’ hero journey to the hero journey of the Buddha (or Jesus), the parallels do not stop with the beginning of their lives and their “calling” to alleviate the suffering of the people in their community. In fact, an additional parallel is found in what some might consider the end of the journey: a path (i.e., a set of instructions or commandments), which can be seen as their own calling/journey.
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”
– quoted from A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell
Every adventure begins in the “Ordinary World.” It’s not a perfect world; it’s just the everyday, mundane world. If everything and everyone were perfect, there would not be a “Call to Adventure.” But there is a call. In real life, individual people have things they are called to do and then there is a philosophical call issued to everyone who is exposed to systems like the the Noble Eightfold Path (in Buddhism); the 8-Limbs of the Yoga Philosophy (as codified in Patanjali’s Yoga Sūtras); the various paths of yoga (as described in the Bhagavad Gita); and/or the teachings in the Torah, the Christian New Testament, and/or the Qur’ān.
Of course, in the monomyth, the hero or heroine initially refuses the call. The “Refusal of Call” happens everyday in modern times and in biblical history – and for the same reasons. It is a refusal to give up the status quo. It is the rejection of a new way of living. Think of Moses (and Joshua) returning from the Mount to find that the newly freed Hebrew people are actively breaking their newly established covenant. According to Shemot – Exodus (32:1), the people were motivated by fear – specifically, fear of the unknown and fear of loss. If we go deep inside ourselves, we may find that similar fears cause each of us to stray from our chosen path. In Buddhism, all clinging leads to suffering. In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali described five types of attachment that lead to suffering. The final type, described in Yoga Sūtra 2.9, is fear of loss/death – and getting beyond that is part of the practice and, also, another practice from another year.
“GEORGE LUCAS: What happens is that no matter how you do it, when you sit down to write something all other influences you’ve had in your life come into play. The things that you like, the things that you’ve seen, the things — the observations you’ve made. That’s ultimately what you work with when you’re writing. And you — you are influenced by the things that you like. Designs that you like, characters you like, moments that you remember, that you were moved by. It’s — it’s like trying to compose a — a symphony in a way.”
– George Lucas responding to a question Bill Moyers asked about the creative process, quoted from the transcript of “The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas”
In some ways, every mindfulness-based practice is like sitting down to write: things come up and all of those things, in the moment, become part of the practice. In fact, one of the lojong (“mind-training”) aphorisms in Tibetan Buddhism is “Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join with meditation.” (16) Additionally, the theme is that “localizing” that George Lucas referenced when talking about how Star Wars fit into the rubric. The theme details, the poses and sequences, even the duration of the practice are simply the unique details of the moment. But, every practice is the same journey.
For every mindfulness-based practice, our breath is the “Supernatural Aid” that facilitates our transition from the external to the internal and then back again. Every practice takes us deeper into our own belly – which can also be that metaphorical “Belly of the Whale.” While they may not all be physically challenging, the practice is a “Road of Trials” with the opportunity to experience the deep love and acceptance of the “Goddess” and the “Atonement of the Father.” There is always the “Temptation” to stay in Śavāsana (“Seat of the Corpse” or Dead Man’s Pose); to give up mid-way through the practice; or to just not show up. There is also the temptation to do more simply because it is suggested.
Finally, every practice has that final Śavāsana-moment – and, even if we are not actually in Śavāsana, that moment symbolizes the death of the practice: an “Apostasis.” All the preparation, all the getting ready leads to a moment of meditation that, ultimately, brings an understanding of every plane of existence and freedom from suffering: that’s the “Ultimate Boon” – that is what allows someone to be “Master of Two Worlds.
That mastery or stewardship leads to the ultimate freedom: “Freedom to Live.” The final stage of the journey is partially defined as the freedom to live “in the moment, neither anticipating the future, nor regretting the past” – which is also one of the goals of Eastern philosophies like Yoga and Buddhism, to be fully present in the moment.
“…really pay attention to what’s happening internally…. Meditation is learning how to get so still, and so calm, tranquil, through the directing of the attention, to this present moment, that we begin to see really deeply…. And so we go more and more and more deeply into the nature of things, and when that happens, and reactivity ceases, then responsiveness arises.”
– Gina Sharpe, Suffering and the End of Suffering
The playlist for this practice is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06052022 Hero(ine)’s Journey”]
A Joyful Practice 