FTWMI EXCERPT — “Svādyāya III: Being In the Middle” (a post-practice post for Monday) May 19, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Art, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Lorraine Hansberry, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Volunteer, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: chakras, Counting the Omer, Ernö Rubik, Johns Hopkins, Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry, Malcolm X, Manipura, Muladhara, nadis, sefirot, Spike Lee, Svadhisthana, svadyaya, svādhyāya, yesod
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating Counting the Omer and/or observing the fifth week of Pascha.
This is a post-practice excerpt for Monday, May 19th. The 2025 prompt question was, “Are you a puzzle person, a game person, or a person who likes puzzle games?”
You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous 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.
“If you are curious, you’ll find the puzzles around you. If you are determined, you will solve them.”
— Ernö Rubik
In addition to being the day, in 1974, when Ernö Rubik invented the Rubik’s Cube, today is the anniversary of the birth of Johns Hopkins (b. 1795), Malcolm X (b. 1925), and Lorraine Hansberry (b. 1930). The following excerpt is from a 2021 post related to how the things that make people different are also the things we have in common.
CLICK ON THE POST TITLE FOR MORE.
Svādyāya III: Being In the Middle (the “missing” Wednesday post)
“A good puzzle, it’s a fair thing. Nobody is lying. It’s very clear, and the problem depends just on you.”
— Ernö Rubik
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
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 an 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).
Thank you to everyone who Kiss[ed] My Asana!
While you helped me surpass my fundraising goal, the overall fundraiser raised over half of its goal!!
Whether you showed up in a (Zoom) class, used a recording, shared a post or video, liked and/or commented on a post or video, and/or made a donation — you and your efforts are appreciated! Thank you!!!
### CELEBRATE CONNECTIONS ###
FTWMI EXCERPT — “Svādyāya II: Omar’s Strait Road, Comes (and Goes) Through the Same Door” May 18, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Mathematics, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Dean Dillon, George Strait, KISS MY ASANA, Omar Khayyám, svadyaya, svādhyāya, The Rubáiyát, William Brock
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating Counting the Omer, and/or observing the fifth week of Pascha and/or celebrating the Samaritan Woman.
“Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same door where in I went.”
“With them the seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap’d–
“I came like Water, and like Wind I go.”
— XXVII and XXIX from The Rubáiyát by Omar Khayyám
The previously excerpt below is from a 2022 post about how Omar Khayyám (born today in 1048) and George Strait (born today in 1952) share more than a birthday. Click on the title or picture to read more.
Svādyāya II: Omar’s Strait Road, Comes (and Goes) Through the Same Door (a 2-for-1 “renewed” post)
“And there’s a road, a winding road that never ends
Full of curves, lessons learned at every bend
Goin’s rough unlike the straight and narrow
It’s for those, those who go against the grain
Have no fear, dare to dream of a change
Live to march to the beat of a different drummer
And it all might come together
And it all might come unraveled
On the road less traveled”
— quoted from the song “The Road Less Traveled” by George Strait (written by Dean Dillon / William Brock)
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, May 18th) 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 “05182021 Omar’s Strait Road”]
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).
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.)
This is the last day you can click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can still also click here (for one more day) to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
### Let Yourself Go… ###
FTWMI: A Well, Well, Well(ness) [Tuesday] (w/ an excerpt) May 13, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Depression, Donate, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Jane Hirshfield, Julian of Norwich, Karma Yoga, Life, Love, Mantra, Mathematics, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Alessandro Rotondo, American Psychological Association, Beau Lotto, Buddha, Buddha's Birthday, Ciro Conversano, Counting the Omer, Eastertide, Elena Lensi, Francesca Arpone, Julian of Norwich, KISS MY ASANA, Mario Antonio Reda, mental health, Olivia Della Vista, Optimism, Our Lady of Fatima, Pessimism, Psychology Today Staff, samskāras, Vesak, vāsanā, Wesak
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating the Feast Day of Julian of Norwich, Vesak / Buddha Purnima / Buddha Jayanti, Counting the Omer, and/or observing the fourth week of Pascha.
For Those Who Missed It: The following is a slightly edited version of a May 8th post-practice post for Monday and included the prompt question, “Would you describe yourself as an optimist or a pessimist?”
Some links, dated-related context, and class information have been updated and/or added.
“optimism
n. hopefulness: the attitude that good things will happen and that people’s wishes or aims will ultimately be fulfilled. Optimists are people who anticipate positive outcomes, whether serendipitously or through perseverance and effort, and who are confident of attaining desired goals. Most individuals lie somewhere on the spectrum between the two polar opposites of pure optimism and pure pessimism but tend to demonstrate sometimes strong, relatively stable or situational tendencies in one direction or the other. See also expectancy-value model. —optimistic adj.”
— quoted from the American Psychological Association’s APA Dictionary of Psychology
Take a moment to consider how your outlook on life (and future events) factors into the way you move through your life and engage future events. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? I tend to describe myself as an optimist — who can be pessimistic about certain things; but there are people who would (credibly) argue that I am a pessimist. Maybe that makes me a realist.
Or maybe, as indicated by the American Psychological Association (APA), I’m just like most people: somewhere in the middle.
It all comes down to perspective and that perspective can change the way we interact with ourselves, with other people, with challenges, with new experiences, and even with our physical and mental health. In 2009, a group of researchers presented a paper (published in May 2010), about the effect of optimism. The abstract of the paper indicated that being (even a little bit) optimistic can be healthy and promote wellness.
“Through employment of specific coping strategies, optimism exerts an indirect influence also on the quality of life. There is evidence that optimistic people present a higher quality of life compared to those with low levels of optimism or even pessimists. Optimism may significantly influence mental and physical well-being by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as well as by adaptive behaviours and cognitive responses, associated with greater flexibility, problem-solving capacity and a more efficient elaboration of negative information.”
— quoted from “Optimism and Its Impact on Mental and Physical Well-Being” by Ciro Conversano,1,† Alessandro Rotondo,2,† Elena Lensi,1 Olivia Della Vista,1 Francesca Arpone,1 and Mario Antonio Reda1
“1Istituto di Scienze del Comportamento Università degli Studi di Siena
2Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana
†These authors contributed equally to the work.”
Obviously, there is a difference between being optimistic (or pessimistic) and being delusional — or, in the case of pessimism, being fatalistic and/or riddled with anxiety. In some cases, however, the difference is a matter of perspective and that perspective brings our awareness to why some people are optimistic and some people are pessimistic. Notice that the source of optimism is not addressed in the APA’s definition of optimism. Many people may point to faith as the source of their optimism — especially this time of year, when there are so many holy obligations and sacred observations (including today’s celebrations of Julian of Norwich, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fátima, and the Buddha). But, notice that the APA’s definition doesn’t even include the word “believe” — and, yet, these mental attitudes are all about what our beliefs.
Neuroscientists like Dr. Beau Lotto highlight the fact that our beliefs are at the heart of this discussion. He often directs our attention to our previous experiences and the idea that we not only interpret current events through the filter of past events, we anticipate future events based on our past experiences. To me, his explanation sounds a lot like the concept of samskara (a “mental impression”) and vasana (a literal “dwelling” place of our habits). It also highlights why someone like Julian of Norwich thought she was dying back in 1373 and why, once she recovered, she was able to “shew” her experiences in a positive and loving light.
“Your brain is, at its core, a statistical distribution. Thus, your history of experiences creates a database of useful past perceptions. New information is constantly flowing in, and your brain is constantly integrating it into this statistical distribution that creates your next perception (so in this sense ‘reality’ is just the product of your brain’s ever-evolving database of consequence). As such, your perception is subject to a statistical phenomenon known in probability theory as kurtosis. Kurtosis in essence means that things tend to become increasingly steep in their distribution… that is, skewed in one direction. This applies to ways of seeing everything from currents events to ourselves as we lean ‘skewedly’ toward one interpretation positive or negative.”
— quoted from “Chapter 5. The Frog Who Dreamed of Being a Prince” in Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently by Beau Lotto
Dr. Lotto went on to write, “We’re really talking about math when we say, ‘The optimist sees the glass as half full and the pessimist as half empty,’ though in my view maybe true optimists are just glad to have a drink in the first place!” Julian of Norwich, an anchoress and Christian mystic who lived in the 14th and 15th centuries, fit that definition of a “true optimist.” Her Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Love in 16 Shewings) — which is the oldest surviving book written in English by a woman — refers to giving thanks (through prayer) as a way to truly understand oneself and ones situation. She even gave thanks for her illness!
Although she recovered on May 13, 1873, Julian was given last rites on May 8th, and experienced visions which she eventually related in her book. One of the most well known quotes from her book can be considered a mantra for optimists (and for those wanting to be more optimistic):
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and (in) all manner of thing(s) shall be well.”
— quoted from Chapters 1 of Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Love in 16 Shewings) by Julian of Norwich
The feast days for Julian of Norwich are May 8th in Anglican and Lutheran traditions and May 13th in the Roman Catholic tradition.
Today, May 13th is also the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fátima in some Catholic traditions and (as referenced yesterday) celebrations of the Buddha are beginning or continuing in some Asian countries and the diaspora.
Click on the excerpt title below for more about Julian.
A Graceful Saturday & FTWMI: An “All Will Be Well” Wednesday
“Optimists are likely to see the causes of failure or negative experiences as temporary rather than permanent, specific rather than global, and external rather than internal. Such a perspective enables optimists to more easily see the possibility of change.”
— quoted from the Psychology Today webpage entitled, “Optimism” (Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff)
Please join me today (Tuesday, May 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05132020 All Will Be Well Wednesday”]
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).
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.)
You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can also still click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
### BE WELL & BE GREAT ###
A Quick Note About the Moon & EXCERPTS RE: Suffering / the End of Suffering (the post-practice Monday post) May 12, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Meditation, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, arrows, Buddha, Buddha's Birthday, compassion, Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta, Diamond Sutra, Diamond Sutta, First Nations, Flower Moon, Four Noble Truths, full moon, Indigenous Peoples, Jonathan London, Joseph Bruchac, Karuna, KISS MY ASANA, loving-kindness, lovingkindness, Moon, Native, poisoned arrow, second arrow, Siddhartha Gautama, Suffering, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Thomas Locker, Vesak, Wesak
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating Vesak / Buddha Purnima / Buddha Jayanti, Counting the Omer, and/or observing the fourth week of Pascha.
This post-practice compilation for Monday, May 12th features some new content and a collection of excerpts. The 2025 prompt question was, “What is one of the things you do to alleviate suffering (yours &/or others)?”
You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous 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.
“The lodge melted away
and the trees turned green
with new buds
as the birds began to sing.
And where the cold fire
of winter had been
was a circle of white May flowers.
So it happens each spring
when the Budding Moon comes.
All the animals wake
and we follow them
across our wide, beautified beautiful.”
— quoted from “Budding Moon” in Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London, illustrated by Thomas Locker
Full moons (and new moons) are auspicious for many people around the world and have special significance to many indigenous communities. For instance, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, tonight’s full moon is associated with the blossoming of flowers. The names used by various communities can be translated into English as “Flower Moon” by Algonquin and Ojibwe peoples; “Budding Moon”, “Leaf Budding Moon”, “Egg Laying Moon”, and/or “Frog Moon” by Cree communities; “Moon of the Shedding Ponies” by the Oglala Lakota Sioux (in South Dakota); and “Planting Moon” by various Dakota Sioux and Lakota Sioux peoples.
Full moons (and new moons) also have significance within many religious and philosophical communities. For example, in parts of South, Southeast, and East Asia tonight’s full moon is known as Buddha Pūrṇimā (“Buddha Moon”) and highlights celebrations of Siddhartha Gautama / Gautama Buddha. While these celebrations are also known as Vesak, Buddha Day, or Buddha Jayanti — which is the Buddha’s Birthday, not everyone celebrating the Buddha this week celebrates the same thing. In some places, the Buddha’s birthday celebration is also the time when people celebrate his awakening/enlightenment as well as his death at the age of 80. In other places, the celebration of his physical birth and enlightenment (or birth as the “the Awakened One”) are separate celebrations, with the latter also being a celebration of his mahāparinirvāṇa (which is the death or physical passing of someone who is enlightened and, therefore, is free of karma). Finally, there are communities which have three different celebrations.
As I have mentioned before, the celebrations may happen at different times depending on the calendars. This week’s celebrations were held yesterday (Sunday, May 11th) in Cambodia and Thailand; today (Monday, May 12th) Nepal, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Bangladesh today; and tomorrow (May 13th) in Indonesia, Sri Lanka. For some of these countries, Vesak / Buddha Jayanti is a national or public holiday and it may also be a banking holiday. People will go to temple for prayers and meditation and to hear talks on the Buddha’s life and teachings, especially as it relates to Three Jewels (Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha) and the Five Precepts. There will also be alms giving and vegetarians meals. Some people will also pour sweet tea on statues of the Buddha, similar to the ritual observed in parts of Japan in April.
Most of the following is a compilation of excerpts, previously posted in a different context.
NOTE: Some embedded links connect to sites outside of WordPress.
“It’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ there is the living of the holy life. And it’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is the living of the holy life. When there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ and when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is still the birth, there is the aging, there is the death, there is the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, & distress whose destruction I make known right in the here & now.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
“I have heard” that Siddhartha Gautama was a sheltered and privileged prince who lived in India during the 6th Century (~563) BCE. He lived without any awareness of suffering until he was 29 years old and left the palace gates. Upon witnessing suffering, he decided to find an end to suffering and sat under the Bodhi tree, determined to wait there until he awakened to the nature of reality. In some suttas (Pali: “threads”), it says that the Buddha (“the Awakened One”) sat there for an additional seven days.
Eventually, at the age of 35, he started teaching from this enlightened state. Some say that he only ever taught about two things: suffering and the end of suffering. His teachings were codified in the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path. According to the former:
- Suffering exists
- Suffering is caused by attachment, clinging, craving
- There is an end to suffering
- The Noble Eight-fold Path is the way to end suffering
Following the path includes some sitting… and waiting. What is promised at the end of the sitting and waiting is freedom from suffering. In between there are stories… often about sitting and waiting. For example, “I have heard” two parables the Buddha used to differentiate between (physical) pain and (mental) suffering. Both parables also point to the ways in which we can alleviate our own suffering.
In one parable, a man is shot with a poisoned arrow. As the poison enters the man’s bloodstream, he is surrounded by people who can and want to help him, to save his life. The problem is that the man wants to know why he was shot. In fact, before the arrow is removed he wants to know why he was shot, by whom he was shot, and all the minutia about the archer and their life. While the information is being gathered, the poison is moving through the man’s body; the man is dying. In fact, the man will die before he has the answers to all his questions.
In another parable, a man is shot by an arrow (no poison this time) and then, in the very next breath, the man is shot by a second arrow. The Buddha explains that the first arrow is physical pain, and we can’t always escape or avoid that. The second arrow, however, is the mental suffering (or pain) that is caused when “the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught.” How we respond to moments of pain and suffering determines how much more pain and suffering we will endure.
“I see your suffering.
I care about your suffering.
May you be free of suffering.
May the causes and conditions of your suffering end.”
— a variation of karuna (compassion) meditation
Click on the excerpt titles below for related posts about the Buddha and about lovingkindness.
Holy & Divine 2025 (a reboot)
Threads, Instructions, Truth, Practice, To Contemplate
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
“Furthermore, Subhūti, in the practice of compassion and charity a disciple should be detached. That is to say, he should practice compassion and charity without regard to appearances, without regard to form, without regard to sound, smell, taste, touch, or any quality of any kind. Subhūti, this is how the disciple should practice compassion and charity. Why? Because practicing compassion and charity without attachment is the way to reaching the Highest Perfect Wisdom, it is the way to becoming a living Buddha.”
— The Diamond Sutra (4)
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).
You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can still also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
### PEACE & EASE (To You & Yours) ###
May the Fourth Strengthen Your Practice (with EXCERPTS) May 4, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, George Lucas, J. W. Rinzler, Jo Z, KISS MY ASANA, Matthew Latkiewicz, Matthew Sanford, May the 4th, May the Fourth, Star Wars
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May the 4th be with you, especially to anyone who knows what that means, or is Counting the Omer or observing the second week of Pascha and/or celebrating the Myrrh-bearing Women!
Peace and many blessings to everyone!!
“Jo and I discovered that alignment and precision increase mind-body integration regardless of paralysis. The mind is not strictly confined to a neurophysiological connection with the body. If I listen inwardly to my whole experience (both my mind’s and my body’s), my mind can feel my legs.
This is one of those truths that is easy to pass by, like the existence of dinosaurs. But in fact, it should dumbfound us – that, on some level, something as simple as the more precise distribution of gravity can transcend the limits set by a dysfunctional spinal cord. When I move from a slumped position to a more aligned one, my mind becomes more present in my thighs and feet. This happens despite my paralysis. It is simply a matter of learning to listen to a different level of presence, to realizing that the silence within my paralysis is not loss. In fact, it is both awake and alive.”
— Matthew Sanford writing in Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence about his yoga practice (2006)
Bring your awareness to your ethics, your values, and your moral code or compass. You bring those to the mat and they (technically) the beginning of the practice — just like the yamāḥ (external “restraints” or “universal commandments”) and niyamāḥ (“internal observations”).
Now, bring your awareness to your foundation, whatever is touching the mat, touching the floor, touching a prop, even a chair — that’s your asāna (“seat” or pose).
Having a stable or steady, easy, comfortable, or joyful seat or pose allows you to focus on your breath — and that awareness of breath, that extension of breath (which is a Force in and of itself), is prāṇāyāmaḥ.
Right there! Those are the first four limbs of the 8-limb philosophy of Yoga. According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sūtras (and other texts and scriptures), practicing yoga will strengthen your mind-body-spirit and enhance your ability to do certain things that are described as “powers unique to being human.”
There are also siddhis, supernormal “powers” or abilities that, frankly, sound like something out of the Marvel Universe… or, like Jedi Knight Tricks.
Today is May the Fourth, a special day for people who appreciate Star Wars. Click on the excerpt titles below for more.
“Yes, everybody can do it…. It’s just the Jedi who take the time to do it…. Like yoga. If you want to take the time to do it, you can do it; but the ones that really want to do it are the ones who are into that kind of thing. Also like karate. Also another misconception is that Yoda teaches Jedi, but he is like a guru; he doesn’t go out and fight anybody…. Well, he is a teacher, not a real Jedi. Understand that?”
— George Lucas answering questions in a Return of the Jedi story conference, July 13 – 17, 1981 (quoted in The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi by J. W. Rinzler (2013)
NOTE: This practice features poses described by Matthew Latkiewicz. If you are thinking, “This is not the class I’m looking for” or “I have a bad feeling about this,” please note that some of wisdom and information is available in pre-recorded practices from other dates.
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, May the 4th) 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 “May the 4th Be With You 2021”]
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).
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.)
You can still click here to Kiss My Asana Now! (Or, you can still also click here to join my team and get people to kiss [your] asana!)
### AUM ###
Hope… from Suffering (mostly the music & blessings) April 23, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Baha'i, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Riḍván, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Bright Wednesday, Bright Week, Counting the Omer, Eastertide, jónsi, KISS MY ASANA, Octave of Easter, Riḍván, Sarah Kendzior, sigur rós
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“Happy Riḍván!” to those getting ready to celebrate “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating/observing Eastertide / the Octave of Easter / Bright Week!
Peace and many blessings to everyone!! Happy Poetry Month!!
“People ask me how I find hope. I answer that I don’t believe in hope, and I don’t believe in hopelessness. I believe in compassion and pragmatism, in doing what is right for its own sake. Hope can be lethal when you are fighting an autocracy because hope is inextricable from time. An enduring strategy of autocrats is to simply run out the clock.”
— quoted from Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior
Please join me today (Wednesday, April 23rd) 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 “04232023 The Language of Hope”]
NOTE: Since this playlist is not specific to any aforementioned holiday, feel free to email or message me for a different playlist.
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).
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.)
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!)
### ( 
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Looking Up… & Down (w/excerpts) April 22, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 9-Day Challenge, Baha'i, Changing Perspectives, Donate, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Life, Loss, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Riḍván, Suffering, Volunteer, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Bright Tuesday, Counting the Omer, Earth Day, Easter Tuesday, Eastertide, KISS MY ASANA, Octave of Easter, Pope Francis, Rachel Carson, Riḍván, Ridvan
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“Happy Riḍván!” to those getting ready to celebrate “the Most Great Festival.” Many blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating/observing Eastertide / the Octave of Easter / Bright Week!
Peace and many blessings to everyone!! Happy Poetry Month!!
“In these troubled times it is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility. There is modern truth to the ancient wisdom of the psalmist: `I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.’”
— quoted from Rachel Carson’s original submission to “Words to Live By” for This Week Magazine (1951)
Today is Earth Day. It is also the third day of Riḍván (“the Most Great Festival” in the Bahá’i Faith); Easter Tuesday or Bright Tuesday (in Western and Orthodox Christian communities); and “one week and two days” (for people who are Counting the Omer).
Additionally, Roman Catholics around the world have started praying a novena in memory of Pope Francis, who encouraged us to “keep looking up”. Today, I encourage you to look up… and down… and all around you.
Notice what you notice. Notice how you the world affects you and how you affect the world. Notice how just noticing is the beginning of change.
“We often make do with looking at the ground: it’s enough to have our health, a little money and a bit of entertainment. I wonder if we still know how to look up at the sky. Do we know how to dream, to long for God, to expect the newness he brings, or do we let ourselves be swept along by life, like dry branches before the wind? The Magi were not content with just getting by, with keeping afloat. They understood that to truly live, we need a lofty goal and we need to keep looking up.”
— quoted from “Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord,” Papal Mass, Homily of Pope Francis (Vatican Basilica, Saturday, 6, January 2018)
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT EARTH DAY!
CLICK HERE and scroll down to the “ENTERING THE GARDEN” section for information about Riḍván.
Please join me today (Tuesday, April 22nd) 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 “04222020 Earth Day”]
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).
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.)
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!)
### Remember: See the forest and the trees. ###
Waiting for Transcendence/Change (mostly the music & blessings) April 19, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Passover, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Counting the Omer, Guy Johnston, Hilary Tann, Lent / Great Lent, Passover, Pesach, R. S. Thomas, Riḍván, Ridvan
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“Chag Sameach!” to everyone celebrating Passover and/or Counting the Omer! Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating and/or observing Lent & Great Lent during Great / Passion / Holy Week! “Happy Riḍván!” to those getting ready to celebrate “the Most Great Festival.”
“Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.”
— quoted from the poem “Kneeling” by R. S. Thomas, with accompanying music composed by Hilary Tann, featuring Guy Johnston
Please join me today (Saturday, April 19th) 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 “04082023 Transcendence on a Holy Sat, redux”]
An alternate (instrumental only) playlist is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04192020 Noticing Things”] NOTE: These are double playlists. You can start with Track #1, Track #11, or Track #12
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).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
### ###
A Few Notes About Holy Events & Reaching a Higher Plane (the “missing” Sunday post for 4/13) April 13, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Karma Yoga, Kumbh Mela, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Loss, Love, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Passover, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, Baisakhi, Bihu, Bill Conti, bodhisattva, Counting the Omer, Dharma Singh Khalsa M. D., Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa, Four Questions, Great Week, Holy Week, KISS MY ASANA, Lent / Great Lent, Ma Nishtana, Palm Sunday, Pana Sankranti, Passion, Passion Week, Passover, Pi Mai, Pohela Boishakh, Puthandu, Sikhism, Songkran, Suffering, Theravada Buddhism, Vaisakhi, Vishu
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“Chag Sameach!” to everyone celebrating Passover and/or Counting the Omer! “Happy Songkran!” / “Happy New Year!” and/or “Happy Vaisakhi!” to all who are celebrating! Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone celebrating and/or observing Lent & Great Lent during Great / Passion / Holy Week!
This is a “missing” (and back-dated) compilation post for Sunday, April 13th, which was Palm Sunday in the Orthodox & Western Christian traditions, as well as the beginning of Passover / Pesach. My apologies for not posting earlier. This post contains new and “renewed” content, plus some excerpts. NOTE: The excerpts often include references to other holidays/events. You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous 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.
“All you have to do is open up a little bit and then you’ll be experiencing a part of that person’s soul. It’s just there – in the presence of a beautiful painting, a creation, something created by someone else. This is insight into not who they are physically, but who they are on this other plane. So, what makes it magical, always, is to hear music performed live.”
— Bill Conti
People practice yoga for a lot of different reasons; but those reasons usually come down to opening up in some way. The opening up can happen on a lot of different levels: physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and even spiritual and/or religious levels. In addition to opening up, we start coming together — sometimes in surprising ways — and we start noticing the things we have in common. So, more opening up. Part of this opening up is about learning about ourselves and part of it is about learning about the world (and the other people in the world). Finally, there is an element of the practice that is about the Divine and about opening up to a higher plane.
Bill Conti, who was born April 13, 1942, has said similar things about music. Sometimes I have a playlist completely dedicated to the Italian-American composer and conductor known for soaring scores that inspire (underscore) the indomitable human spirit. However, this year, his music highlights the fact that there is just….
SO MUCH THAT IS HOLY
Every year, I say that May 1st is one of the hardest working days of the year, because so many people use that day to celebrate so many things. That being said, this year, April 13th may be one of the most revered days of the year as it coincided with several religious or philosophical observations: Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Christian and Western Christian traditions, the beginning of Passover (which started at sunset on Saturday, April 12th) in the Jewish tradition, Songkran or Pi Mai in the Thai or Laos communities, and Vaisakhi in the Sikh communities and some Hindu traditions. Even though some of these observations are connected and share history, they don’t always stack up like this since different traditions and cultures base their holy days on different calendars. However, the super pink moon always shines over the world in a way that is uniquely auspicious.
I am always up for a good auspicious story, one that is simultaneously inspiring and enlightening. The question is: How do we honor so much in the short amount of time that is a 65-minute class? That’s an especially tricky challenge when some of these are not even remotely connected on paper. The answer, of course, is to find the common denominator.
When considering different people’s experiences with the divine — or even what is best in mankind — we start with what is universal to the human experience: doubt and fear, passion/suffering, faith, and change. Everything changes and, in moments of great suffering — in moments when we doubt and fear ourselves and those around us — it is important to have faith in the fact that things will change. That faith can, sometimes, bring hope — and the power of hope is another common denominator.
That combination of faith and hope can not only bring people together, it can also help us reach a higher plane.
“When the audience and the performers become one, it is almost nearly divine, where this oneness can actually meet in some, not physical place, but in some spiritual place, in the middle, not the performers performing, not the audience receiving, but all of a sudden that contact is made and it becomes wonderful.”
— Bill Conti
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT BILL CONTI.
Reaching for a Higher Plane
MEET MS. BANNING: 2019 Kiss My Asana Offering #13
SO MUCH SUFFERING… & SO MUCH HOPE
“What makes this night different from all [other] nights?
1) On all nights we need not dip even once, on this night we do so twice?
2) On all nights we eat chametz or matzah, and on this night only matzah?
3) On all nights we eat any kind of vegetables, and on this night maror?
4) On all nights we eat sitting upright or reclining, and on this night we all recline?”
— The Four Questions (“Ma Nishtana”)
While “How is this practice different from all the other practices?” a question you can ask before any practice, I ask it this time of year because it sounds a lot like “The Four Questions” traditionally asked by the youngest person at a Passover Seder.
Click on the excerpt title below for the more about the questions, the seder, the story of Passover, and a little about the 49-day observation of Counting the Omer.
Suffering & Hope (the “missing” Tuesday compilation)
PASSION = SUFFERING
Passion (noun): 1. [mass noun] strong and barely controllable emotion; 1.2 intense sexual love; 1.3 [in singular] an intense desire or enthusiasm for something; 2. (the Passion) The suffering and death of Jesus.
Origin: Middle English: from Old French; from late Latin passio(n-), from Latin pati- “suffer”
— quoted from Oxford Dictionaries
As noted (in the Saturday post, as well as the posts excerpted above and below), Jesus was a Jewish teacher or rabbi, who returned home to Jerusalem for Passover. The Gospel According to Saint John (12:1) is the only New Testament gospel that specifically refers to Passover as a reference point for the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life. However, all four of the canonical gospels mention preparation for the festival, feast, or first day (depending on the translation) of “Unleavened Bread” and describe a jubilant and memorable moment where Jesus rode into town on a donkey (a symbol of peace) and was greeted by people who honored him by laying down palm fronds (and possibly coats) to cover his path.
In Christian communities, Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent / Great Lent and marks Christians’ final preparation for Easter. Since people in different religious traditions use different calendars, Great Lent (in the Orthodox traditions) and Lent (in the Western traditions) do not overlap with each other. Neither do they always directly overlap with modern observations of Passover as they do this year. However, divine love, suffering, and hope/desire for the end of suffering connect all of these observations.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT PALM SUNDAY TRADITIONS.
PASSION & PEACE: 2019 Kiss My Asana Offering #14
NEW HOPES (& OLD SUFFERING)
Passover and Lent / Great Lent have ties to harvest festivals and new beginnings. However, even as people remember those ancient harvest festivals, there are people are currently celebrating their own harvest festivals and new beginnings. For instance, Songkran / Songkran Festival (the traditional Thai New Year) and Pi Mai (the Lao New Year) are (usually) three-day festivals that started on Sunday, April 13th this year. While Thailand has officially celebrated a secular new year (according to the Gregorian calendar) since 1940, Songkran is a national holiday. Pi Mai is also a government holiday.
Like all new year (and new season) celebrations, Songkran is a liminal time marking the transition between “what is no longer and what is not yet.” In fact, the name is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “to move”, “movement”, or “astrological passage”, and marks the transition of the sun from one zodiac phase to another. Technically, this movement happens repeatedly throughout a year and marks the change from one month to the next on the solar calendar. However, the transition between Pieces and Aries is considered the Maha Songkran (“Great Movement”), which marks the new year. In Laos, the second day is considered “the day of no year” and the new year actually begins on the third day of the celebration.
These celebrations coincide or overlap with other new year’s celebrations in Southeast and South Asia, including Puthandu (the Tamil New Year, April 14, 2025); the Hindu festival Vishu (April 14, 2025); Bihu in the Indian state of Assam (April 14, 2025); Pohela Boishakh (the Bengali New Year, celebrated on April 14th in Bangladesh and April 15th in various parts of India); Pana Sankranti for the Odia people in India; and a plethora of other celebrations in China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Many of these celebrations are also tied to the Theravada Buddhist calendar.
Songkran also coincides with Vaisakhi (or Baisakhi), which is a spring harvest festival in Punjab and Northern India. Vaisakhi is also a solar new year and is a particularly auspicious time for the Sikh community. In addition to commemorating the creation of the Khalsa order (the Sikh community) by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism (on April 13, 1699), it also commemorates the beginning of the unified Sikh political state when Ranjit Singh was proclaimed as Maharaja of the Sikh Empire (on April 12, 1801). That declaration was intentionally set to coincide around Vaisakhi as people recognized the power of coming together on such an auspicious occasion.
The significance of this date is also one of the reasons people gathered together during a Vaisakhi celebration in Amritsar, on April 13, 1919, to protest the British government’s Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919 (also known as the Rowlatt Act) and the arrest of two members of the satyagraha movement, Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Satyapal (Dr. Satya Pal). Tragically, British Indian Army officer Reginald Dyer ordered British soldiers block the entrance of the Jallianwala Bagh (a historic garden with only one entrance/exit) and fire into the nonviolent crowd. Hundreds, possible thousands (depending on the estimates), were killed and over 1,200 others were injured in what is remembered as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre or the Amritsar massacre.
“I wash myself
In sacred waters
In order to please You.
But if it doesn’t please You,
What is bathing for?
I see,
The vastness of Your wondrous creation.
But without taking action,
How can I merge with Thee?”
— quoted from Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul by Guru Nanak (Translated by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa)
While the rituals, traditions, and related stories may be different, there are several common elements in Songkran, Pi Mai, and Vaisakhi celebrations. For instance, water is a prominent feature in these celebrations, which include ritual cleansing and bathing — sometimes in the form of a water fight or, for Hindu communities celebrating Vaisakhi, ritual bathing in one of the sacred rivers. Vaisakhi celebrations can also include gurudwara (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ) — an assembly place where everyone is welcomed into “the door of the guru” — as well as processions, kirtans, flag raisings, and alms giving. Sand mounds (sometimes decorated with flowers); processions; and various forms of alms giving are also part of Songkran and Pi Mai celebrations. In Luang Prabang, the capital of Luang Prabang Province in north-central Laos, there is a Miss Pi Mai Lao (Miss Lao New Year) beauty pageant. In both Thailand and Laos, the water may be perfumed. People celebrating in Laos may also spray each other with shaving or whipping cream.
One of the stories related to Songkran is the story of someone born with a deep well of compassion and the desire to see the end of suffering. A bodhisattva (bodistva) is someone on the path to Buddhahood either because of their birth, their practice, or from a spontaneous impulse (that is then joined with practice). In this case, the compassionate person is part of a poor family in a very (materially) rich community. While the community is financially prosperous, it is lacking in many areas. There was a lot of corruption, greed, and sin. People lacked compassion for those who were less fortunate and there was a lack of respect (for elders and for spiritual/religious traditions), as well as improper use of food and medicine. Faith in the dhamma (Buddhist “teaching” or “law”) had been replaced with faith in the dhamma as a business — not unlike the situation described on Passion / Holy / Great Monday.
According to one version of the story, Indra (the ruler of Heaven) looked down at the world out of balance and basically declared that people couldn’t have nice things if they didn’t have compassion and faith. Therefore, there was no longer rain in the proper time, food became scarce, the sun became too hot, and garbage built up in the streets — which, of course, brought disease… and more suffering.
The bodhisattva encouraged people to pray to Mother Earth, in the form of the Golden Tara, who told them they had to follow the dhamma. She also gave them a divine piece of fertile land, divine seeds, a song for rain, and a pots of divine powder in various colors. The people made a paste from the powder, to cool their skin, and then got to work sowing the seeds and singing the songs. Once they had an adequate harvest, they washed the paste off, and washed the feet of their elders. They also served their elders, cared for the less fortunate, and committed to practicing the dhamma.
“Within my own
Awareness
Are jewels, gems,
And rubies,
From listening to the teachings
Of the Divine Teacher
Even once.
All souls come
From the Hand of One Giver.
May I never, ever,
Forget Him.”
— quoted from Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul by Guru Nanak (Translated by Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa)
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
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).
Click here for the first 2025 Kiss My Asana post!
NOTE: Ek Ong Kaar Kaur Khalsa’s translation of Japji Sahib: The Song of the Soul can be found in The End of Kharma: 40 Days to Perfect Peace, Tranquility, and Joy by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M. D.
### ELEVATE & PRAY FOR PEACE ###
Holy & Divine 2025 (a reboot) April 8, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Fitness, Gratitude, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma Yoga, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Vairagya, Vipassana, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 8 Limbs of Yoga Philosophy, 988, Amacha, arrows, Barbara Kingsolver, Buddha, Buddha's Birthday, Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta, Diamond Sutra, Elephant Journal, Flower Festival, Four Noble Truths, Japan, Lent / Great Lent, Matt Caron, Metta, Noble Eightfold Path, parables, phyllodulcin, poisoned arrow, second arrow, Siddhartha, Siddhartha Gautama, Suffering, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Vesak, Wesak, Yoga Sutra 1.30-1.31, Yoga Sutra 1.32, Yoga Sutra 1.33-1.40, Yoga Sutra 1.5, Yoga Sutra 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutra 2.2-2.9, Yoga Sutra 2.3
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Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to those celebrating the Buddha’s birthday and the Flower Festival (in Japan) and/or observing Lent & Great Lent!
This “missing” post for Tuesday, April 8th features new and previously posted content, as well as some excerpts. Some embedded links will direct you to sites outside of this blog. My apologies for not posting before the Noon practice. You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous 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.
“A hundred different paths may lighten the world’s load of suffering. Giving up meat is one path; giving up bananas is another. The more we know about our food system, the more we are called into complex choices. It seems facile to declare one single forbidden fruit, when humans live under so many different kinds of trees.”
— quoted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Born April 8, 1955, in Annapolis, Maryland, Barbara Kingsolver is the award-winning author of novels, essays, and poetry, as well as one of the co-founders of the rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders. Her fiction and nonfiction reflect her experiences living in rural Kentucky, the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Indiana, Arizona, and Appalachia (where she currently resides). The author of novels like The Bean Trees (1988), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), The Lacuna (2009), and Demon Copperhead (2022) — and nonfiction like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007), about her family attempting to eat locally — has won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2023), a National Humanities Award (2000), the Women’s Prize for Fiction (in 2010 & 2023), and has had every one of her book’s listed on the New York Times Best Seller List since 1993.
While we can say that she writes about the the things that are important to her, including the opioid crisis in the United States, “social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments”, we can also just say that she really only writes about two things: suffering and the end of suffering.
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 2.3: Avidyāmitārāgadveşābhiniveśāh kleśāh
— “Ignorance (or lack of knowledge), false sense of identity, attachment (rooted in pleasure), aversion (attachment rooted in pain), and fear of death or loss are the afflictions.”
If we look back over the previous nine days/nights and the stories associated with Navaratri, we see instances of suffering (in the form of “demons”) and the end of suffering (in the form of the goddesses being victorious in the battles and challenges). If we look back at the the civil rights movements I have mentioned over the last couple of months, we again see suffering (in the form of oppression) and the end of suffering (in the form of people being granted the civil rights). In fact, if we look back at the whole of humanity, we see this same theme play out again and again and again. We also see that every major religion and philosophy, as well as all medical sciences, have the same two ends of a common thread: people suffer and people want their suffering to end.
In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali outlined how the mind works and how to work the mind. The mind, he explained, has a tendency to wander, move around, and get caught up in those fluctuations. Those fluctuations are either afflicted or not afflicted — meaning some thoughts bring us pain/suffering and others alleviate or don’t cause pain/suffering. He also described nine obstacles, which lead to five conditions (or states of suffering) (YS 1.30-1.31); five dysfunctional/afflicted thought patterns that lead to suffering (YS 2.2-2.9); and specifically pointed to meditation as a way to overcome the suffering (YS 1.32 and YS 2.10-2.11).
Throughout the first two chapters of the text, he gave specific examples about how to overcome the afflicted thoughts; how to alleviate the suffering they cause; and how to overcome the obstacles and painful states of suffering. His recommendation: Various forms of meditation — various forms of sitting and breathing with awareness (āsana and prāṇāyāma).
One meditation technique Patanjali suggested is offering loving-kindness/friendliness to those who are happy, compassion to those who are sad, happiness to those who are virtuous, and indifference to those who are non-virtuous. (YS 1.33) It is similar to a metta meditation, which is actually a great way to start this practice. Another is simply focusing on the breath. (YS 1.34)
Knowing, however, that everyone can’t just drop into a deep seated meditation, Patanjali also offered physical techniques to prepare the mind-body for meditation. Although, Patanjali did not describe any specific āsanas or “seats” — just how to use them (and perfect them) — those physical techniques are our physical practice.
I personally find the yoga philosophy particularly practical, especially when practiced with the physical component. But then again, I tell my own stories and live in a different time and place than Patanjali and Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who would become the enlightened one.
“Prince Gautama, who had become Buddha, saw one of his followers meditating under a tree at the edge of the Ganges River. Upon inquiring why he was meditating, his follower stated he was attempting to become so enlightened he could cross the river unaided. Buddha gave him a few pennies and said: ‘Why don’t you seek passage with that boatman. It is much easier.’”
— a Buddhist “joke”, quoted from Matt Caron and from Elephant Journal
Historically speaking, Patanjali was in India compiling the Yoga Sūtras, which outline the 8-Limbed Yoga Philosophy as a way to alleviate current suffering and prevent future suffering, during the Buddha’s lifetime. “I have heard” that Siddhartha Gautama was aware of the Yoga Philosophy, and probably practiced it — but that doesn’t mean he was aware of the yoga sūtras (Sanskrit: “union threads”), simply that he was aware of the lifestyle and the codes of that lifestyle. Perhaps he even had a physical practice.
It is easy to believe that he found the practice helpful when, at 29 years old, he left the palace gates and saw suffering for the first time. In theory, this explains some of the parallels between yoga and Buddhism. It may also help explain why there are so many lists in Buddhism and why the Buddha taught in stories/parables. However, he did not share my sentiment that the yoga philosophy was practical (and accessible).
Remember, different time; different place.
“Furthermore, Subhūti, in the practice of compassion and charity a disciple should be detached. That is to say, he should practice compassion and charity without regard to appearances, without regard to form, without regard to sound, smell, taste, touch, or any quality of any kind. Subhuti, this is how the disciple should practice compassion and charity. Why? Because practicing compassion and charity without attachment is the way to reaching the Highest Perfect Wisdom, it is the way to becoming a living Buddha.”
— The Diamond Sutra (4)
Unfortunately, the caste system in 6th Century India (~563 BCE) prevented some people from practicing Yoga. So, the story goes that the prince sat under the Bodhi tree and was determined to wait there until he awakened to the nature of reality. In some suttas (Pali: “threads”), it says that the Buddha (“the Awakened One”) sat there for an additional seven days. Eventually, at the age of 35, he started teaching from this enlightened state. Some say that he only ever taught about two things: suffering and the end of suffering.
His teachings, which (again) run parallel to those of Patanjali, were codified in the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path. According to the former:
- Suffering exists
- Suffering is caused by attachment, clinging, craving
- There is an end to suffering
- The Noble Eight-fold Path is the way to end suffering
Following these paths includes some sitting… and waiting. What is promised at the end of the sitting and waiting is freedom from suffering. What we find in the middle is hope.
And, also, a celebration: the Buddha’s Birthday.
“By this name it shall be revered and studied and observed. What does this name mean? It means that when the Buddha named it, he did not have in mind any definite or arbitrary conception, and so named it. This Sutra is hard and sharp, like a diamond that will cut away all arbitrary conceptions and bring one to the other shore of Enlightenment.”
— The Diamond Sutra (13)
People celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday in different ways and at different times (depending on which calendar they are using). Some people celebrate the birth of Prince Siddhartha. Others celebrate the enlightenment or awakening of the Buddha. Some people celebrate both. While many of these celebrations occur in May (or even June, during a leap year) one of the birthday celebrations occurs in Japan on April 8th. While it is not a national holiday, it has been a major celebration for some Buddhist people (in Japan) since 1873.
Also known as Kanbutsu-e (Japanese: 灌仏会) or Hanamatsuri (Japanese: 花祭り) “the Flower Festival”, it is a day when some temples hold special ceremonies involving a Chinese tradition of bathing small Buddha statues with Amacha (甘茶) “sweet” “tea”, made from fermented hydrangea leaves, as if they were bathing a newborn baby. The tea is caffeine free, but the leaves contain phyllodulcin, which is “400–800 times sweeter than table sugar [and] 2 times sweeter than saccharin.”
People will also sit and breath — and perhaps contemplate and meditate on the teachings and parables of the Buddha.
“It’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ there is the living of the holy life. And it’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is the living of the holy life. When there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ and when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is still the birth, there is the aging, there is the death, there is the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, & distress whose destruction I make known right in the here & now.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
The following is excerpted directly from a 2020 post:
“‘I have heard’ two parables the Buddha used to differentiate between (physical) pain and (mental) suffering. Both parables also point to the ways in which we can alleviate our own suffering.
In one parable, a man is shot with a poisoned arrow. As the poison enters the man’s bloodstream, he is surrounded by people who can and want to help him, to save his life. The problem is that the man wants to know why he was shot. In fact, before the arrow is removed he wants to know why he was shot, by whom he was shot, and all the minutia about the archer and their life. While the information is being gathered, the poison is moving through the man’s body; the man is dying. In fact, the man will die before he has the answers to all his questions.
In another parable, a man is shot by an arrow (no poison this time) and then, in the very next breath, the man is shot by a second arrow. The Buddha explains that the first arrow is physical pain, and we can’t always escape or avoid that. The second arrow, however, is the mental suffering (or pain) that is caused when “the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught.” How we respond to moments of pain and suffering determines how much more pain and suffering we will endure.”
“And what is declared by me? ‘This is stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the origination of stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the cessation of stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress,’ is declared by me. And why are they declared by me? Because they are connected with the goal, are fundamental to the holy life. They lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, calming, direct knowledge, self-awakening, Unbinding. That’s why they are declared by me.
“So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undeclared by me as undeclared, and what is declared by me as declared.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
Click on the excerpt title below and scroll down to “So Much Suffering,” if you are interested in the ways the Buddha and Moses had parallel life experiences and journeys to freedom.
Remember Rachel’s Challenge, Especially When You’re Suffering (the “missing” Wednesday post)
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07142020 Compassion & Peace for Pema”]
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).
A Joyful Practice 