“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent and/or the 19-Day Fast. May we cultivate peaceful possibilities throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This is the “missing” post for Tuesday, March 12th. It is a compilation post, which includes some previously posted content. You can request an audio recording of a related practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
“‘…the book I’ve been working on for about 10 years, and that I’m in the midst of trying to finish now, is about that; about how we can have a culture that cultivates the spirit of individual dissent.
‘I think it can be done. It can be done by having public examples of that. Gandhi, when he was on the salt march, had everyone singing the song of Rabindranath Tagore, which goes, “Walk alone, walk alone …” Now there’s some paradox in that, with a million people on the march! But he was cultivating the thought that each individual has dignity, and the dignity consists partly in the willingness to stand up to authority.’
Gandhi’s leadership of a march protesting about the salt tax imposed by India’s British colonial administrators is a vivid example of the kind of civic formation [Martha] Nussbaum is talking about. But she has homelier examples, too.”
— quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald article “Interview: Martha Nussbaum – As attitudes harden towards religion, the American philosopher turns her attention to the nurturing of faith, freedom and respect for difference.” by Ray Cassin (pub. September 1, 2012)
In the mid-1880s, the British East India Company (and then the British government) enacted a series of salt taxes, which made it illegal to produce or possess salt without paying a tax. By 1930, that tax represented 8.2% of the British Raj tax revenue. Even if you lived in a coastal town like Dandi, you had to pay the tax, or suffer the consequences. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi decided salt would be the focus of a direct action, non-violent mass protest.
As I mentioned last month, some people laughed when Gandhi decided salt would be the focus of his satyagraha. People who are world leaders today scoffed back then, because they didn’t get it and they didn’t have his insight and vision. However, Gandhi wasn’t the first radical leader to emphasize the importance of salt. Jesus did it, in the Gospel According to Matthew (5:13 – 14), when he referred to his disciples as “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” In both cases, the teacher whose name would become synonymous with a worldwide religious movement indicated that there was a purpose, a usefulness, to the disciples and their roles (as salt and as light). I think it’s important to remember that Jesus was speaking to fishermen, farmers, and shepherds — people who were intimately familiar with the importance of salt (and light). They knew that (different kinds of) salt can be used for flavoring, preservation, fertilization, cleansing, and destroying, and that it could be offered as a sacrifice. They knew, as Gandhi would later point out, that people in hot, tropical climates needed salt for almost everything — including healing.
Gandhi’s “audience” was different. He was living in a time of industrialization and the beginnings of these modern times in which we find ourselves. He knew that people laughed and scoffed, because they didn’t completely understand the usefulness and vitalness of salt. He understood that some people took salt for granted. Even within the pages of Young India (which he used to educate and inform people), he debated with experts about the benefits and risks of salt consumption. He also knew that some people — inside and outside of British-ruled India — just didn’t get the inhumanity of charging people a tax for something that they could obtain (literally) outside their front door; something that was part of the very fiber of their being.
Remember, the human body is 60 – 75% water… and most of that water is saturated with salt.
“Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life. It is the only condiment of the poor. Cattle cannot live without salt. Salt is a necessary article in many manufactures. it is also a rich manure.
There is no article like salt, outside water, by taxing which the State can reach even the starving millions, the sick, the maimed and the utterly helpless. The salt tax constitutes the most inhuman poll tax that the ingenuity of man can devise.”
— quoted from a letter by M. K. Gandhi, printed in Young India, Vol. XII, Ahmedabad: February 27, 1930
From Wednesday, March 12th until Saturday, April 5th, 1930, Gandhi walked over 240 miles (390 kilometers) so that he could reach the sea shore in Dandi in order to break an unjust law. He woke up in Dandi, on Sunday, April 6th, prayed and illegal made salt at 8:30 AM. The satyagraha against the salt tax would continue for almost a year. It would, ultimately, be one of the inspirations for Civil Rights Movement in the United States and would be one of the first times that women were actively involved in a protest in India. Kamala Nehru, the young wife of the man who would eventually become India’s first Prime Minister, was one of those women. She was also an advocate for women being involved in the movement and in politics. (So, it is not surprising that her daughter and grandson also became prime ministers.)
Over 60,000 Indians (including Gandhi) would be jailed before it was all said and done. But, when Gandhi began the march he was only accompanied by 78 men devoted to truth (satya).
“Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian Movement ‘Satyagraha’ , that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase ‘passive resistance’ in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word ‘Satyagraha’ itself or some other equivalent English phrase.”
— quoted from “12. THE ADVENT OF SATYAGRAHA” in Satyagraha in South Africa by M. K. Gandhi (as published in THE SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI, VOLUME TWO, translated from the Gujarati by Valji Govindji Desai; General Editor Shriman Narayan)
Even though thousands would join the movement, the 78 men who started the march with Gandhi (and many who would join in along the way) were people who practiced a dedication to ahimsa (non-violence/non-harming) and satya (truth) — the first two yamas (external restraints or universal commandments) of the 8-Limb Philosophy of Yoga. Since Gandhi once said, “God is Truth” and another time said “Truth is God,” there was also a commitment to recognizing a day-to-day awareness of a higher purpose, meaning in life, and supreme consciousness. This is one way to look at bramacharya, yet another yama.
Along with the business and logistics of the campaign, people participating in the march had to sleep outside, often wore a single white garment, and were dependent on villagers along the way to provide food and water for them to wash up. This means they also practiced asteya (non-stealing), aparagraha (non-attachment), saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), and tapas (discipline/austerity). Furthermore, they chanted and sang devotionals to keep their spirits up; which can also be a way of practicing isvarapranidhana (releasing one’s efforts back to the source).
Jawaharlal Nehru — who would go on to become India’s first Prime Minister — was one of the people who initially scoffed at Mahatma Gandhi’s idea to focus on salt. But, he and his wife participated in the movement. They saw the powerful effect of the movement firsthand. In fact, he indicated that the important legacy of the Salt Satyagraha was how it changed the mindset of the Indian populace.
“Of course these movements exercised tremendous pressure on the British Government and shook the government machinery. But the real importance, to my mind, lay in the effect they had on our own people, and especially the village masses. Poverty and a long period of autocratic rule, with its inevitable atmosphere of fear and coercion, had thoroughly demoralised and degraded them…. Non-cooperation dragged them out of this mire and gave them self-respect and self-reliance; they developed the habit of cooperative action; they acted courageously and did not submit so easily to unjust oppression; their outlook widened and they began to think a little in terms of India as a whole….”
— quoted from a letter addressed to Lord Lothian [Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian], dated Badenweiler, January 17, 1936, by Jawaharlal Nehru (published in A Bunch of Old Letters: Being mostly written to Jawaharlal Nehru and some written by him, selected and edited by Jawaharlal Nehru, with an introduction by Sunil Khilnani
Several American leaders, including two former presidents (Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt) have been quoted as saying that one can tell if a person is worth their salt (or not worth their salt) by their willingness to stand up for what is right and/or to put themselves at risk on behalf of a great cause. Fast forward to the United States in the 1960’s and we find another example of people engaging in a satyagraha. Once again, people gained agency through a faith-driven, grassroots movement.
Fast forward to today and we see lots of grassroots efforts and lots of agency being given to the populace. Some of these more modern movements may be based on the concept of non-violence; but, unfortunately, they are not always firmly-grounded in the practice.
“Such a universal force [Satyagraha] necessarily makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe. The force to be so applied can never be physical. There is in it no room for violence. The only force of universal application can, therefore, be that of ahimsa or love. In other words it is soul force.
Love does not burn others, it burns itself.”
— quoted from “Some Rules of Satyagraha” by M. K. Gandhi, printed in Young India, Vol. XII, Ahmedabad: February 27, 1930
(NOTE: The general explanation and rules were followed by a section of rules of conduct for various situations, including for “an Individual” and for “a Prisoner.”)
“Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men.”
— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (11/17/1957)
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04062021 Salt Satyagraha”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes extra videos of featured songs.
“Even when a man takes revenge on others who hate him, in spite of him not hating them initially, the pain caused by his vengeance will bring him inevitable sorrow.” (313)
“When a man inflicts pain upon others in the forenoon, it will come upon him unsought in the afternoon.” (319)
— quoted from the English translation of the Tamil lyrics in the song “Ahimsa” by U2 and A. R. Rahman, featuring Khatija and Raheema Rahman (translation from IntegralYoga.org)
CORRECTION: I have previously misspoken the time when Gandhi broke the salt tax law. 8:30 AM, local time, appears to be the correct time.
### Be we are all accountable for our own thoughts, words, and deeds. ###
“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent and/or the 19-Day Fast. May we cultivate peaceful possibilities throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“‘I think it can be done. It can be done by having public examples of that. Gandhi, when he was on the salt march, had everyone singing the song of Rabindranath Tagore, which goes, “Walk alone, walk alone …” Now there’s some paradox in that, with a million people on the march! But he was cultivating the thought that each individual has dignity, and the dignity consists partly in the willingness to stand up to authority.’
Gandhi’s leadership of a march protesting about the salt tax imposed by India’s British colonial administrators is a vivid example of the kind of civic formation [Martha] Nussbaum is talking about. But she has homelier examples, too.”
— quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald article “Interview: Martha Nussbaum – As attitudes harden towards religion, the American philosopher turns her attention to the nurturing of faith, freedom and respect for difference.” by Ray Cassin (pub. September 1, 2012)
Please join me today (Tuesday, March 12th) 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 “04062021 Salt Satyagraha”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes extra videos of featured songs.
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.)
“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent and/or the 19-Day Fast. May we be open to peaceful possibilities throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This is a post–practice note for Monday, March 11th.The post references racism, war, and famine (although these are not explicitly mentioned during the practice). You can request an audio recording of either practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
“[JOSEPH] ASAGAI: Then isn’t there something wrong in a house – in a world – where all dreams, good or bad, must depend on the death of a man?”
— quoted from Act III, Scene One of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
When there is conflict, particularly conflict related to religion and/or ethnicity and race (not to mention any number of other immutable traits), we sometimes forget that we do not live in a binary universe. There are not just people of color and white people in the United States. There are not just Jewish people and Muslim people in the Middle East. There are not just Christians and non-Christians in the world. Neither are there just two groups in any conflict. But, there is one thing we all are: People.
We are all people who deserve a little sugar in our bowl, metaphorically as well as physically. We will get to the physical; but, let’s start with the metaphorical.
“I want a little sugar in my bowl I want a little sweetness down in my soul I could stand some lovin’, oh so bad Feel so funny, I feel so sad
I want a little steam on my clothes”
— quoted from the song “I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl” by Nina Simone
Metaphorically speaking, what is the little bit of sweetness you want in the bowl that is your life?
Above and beyond having the basic necessities in life — food, water, shelter, and the ability to rest — your experiences and the experiences of those around you determines how you visualize and conceive of that sweetness. For example, Lorraine Hansberry’s childhood experiences became A Raisin in the Sun, which premiered on Broadway, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, today in 1959. Named after a line from the Langston Hughes poem “Harlem,” the award-winning play is about a family whose American dream is to live in a nice, safe neighborhood without facing racism and hostilities.
We live in a different time than the Hansberrys lived and each of us may have experiences that lead us to desire something that appears very different — on the outside. Ultimately, however, all of our sweet dreams boil down to the same things: We all want peace, safety, contentment, freedom, and love (e.g., that sense of belonging/being part of something more than ourselves).
Many people seek that sweetness through their spiritual and/or religious practice. As I have mentioned over the last few weeks, this is the time of year when many religious communities around the world are observing and/or are about to observe their holiest times. People within some Western Christian communities are entering the fourth week of Lent; people in the Baháʼí Faith community are in the second week of the 19–Day Fast; and the holy month of Ramadān has just begun. Furthermore, Great Lent (in the Orthodox Christian communities) begins next week, more communities will soon celebrate a new year and a new season, Passover is next month, and there are even more celebrations in between.
“‘Yet others abstain from food and practice sacrifice by spiritualizing their vital energy – that is, by figuratively pouring their own vital life force into the Cosmic Life Force. The whole point of all these various methods of sacrifice (worship) is to develop a certain mental attitude. Those who live with a truly worshipful attitude, whose whole lives are offered up for improvement of the world, incur no sin (no karmic debt).
‘This world is not for the person who performs no sacrifice, no worship. But those who actually live their lives as an offering partake of the nectar of God. Through selflessness they reach the Divine.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (4.30 – 31) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
For some people, fasting during a sacred time is one of the pillars or foundations of faith and an important element of worship. The same is true for giving something up and donating to charity. From the outside, it may just look like a luxury to be able to do these things. To someone on the inside of a tradition, these activities can be necessities of faith. Yet, as I have mentioned repeatedly over the last few weeks, since fasting is not meant to be abusive and/or a form of punishment, each major religion has exclusions based on age and physical–mental conditions. Just as there were people who were not able to fast because of COVID, there are people who have not been able to fully observe Lent, the 19–Day Fast, Great Lent, Passover, the holy month of Ramadān, and a host of other religious traditions and rituals because of war and famine.
I am specifically mentioning famine, because it sometimes gets overlooked and because it is something that is so unnecessary. I do not mean to imply that war and disease are necessary or that they are easily avoidable. But, famine is a different story.
Famine is a different story because there is enough food in the world. In fact, there is enough food to feed 1.5x the current world population.
Just think about that for a moment.
We could break that down as food for everyone on the plant plus 2.5 – 3 billion people who don’t exist. Or, we could break that down as having enough food for 2.5 – 3 billion people to go back for a second helping. Just to put all that into perspective: The largest countries in the world are still under 2 billion people. And yet, people are experiencing famine.
Take a moment to give thanks for what you have. Then, consider how you can help someone else have that metaphorical sweetness in the bowl that is their life.
Spoiler Alert: While what you can do is not necessarily about money, it is always about power. You have the power.
“[JOSEPH] ASAGAI: You wanted to be God – ?
BENEATHA [YOUNGER]: No – I wanted to cure. It used to be so important to me. I wanted to cure. I used to care. I mean about people and how their bodies hurt –
[JOSEPH] ASAGAI: And you’ve stopped caring – ?”
— quoted from Act III, Scene One of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The playlist used for the 2023 practice is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05192021 Being in The Middle”]
NOTE: The before/after music includes different artists performing Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” (with an intro I don’t think I had ever heard): on YouTube it’s Jennifer Hudson; on Spotify it’s Aretha Franklin.
“To Mama: in gratitude for the dream”
— quoted from the dedication of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
“MAMA [YOUNGER]: Crazy ’bout his children! God knows there was plenty wrong with Walter Younger hard-headed, mean, kind of wild with women – plenty wrong with him. But he sure loved his children. Always wanted them to have something be something. That’s where Brother gets all these notions, I reckon. Big Walter used to say, he’d get right wet in the eyes sometimes, lean his head back with the water standing in his eyes and say, ‘Seem like God didn’t see fit to give the black man nothing but dreams – but He did give us children to make them dreams seem worth while.’”
— quoted from Act I, Scene One of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
### Respect your dreams and the dreams of the children around you. ###
May you breathe deeply and savor the richness of doing something amazing for the first time!
Pardon me while I catch up. This is the “missing” post for Sunday, January 14th (which fell during Makar Sankranti in 2024). This post and practice pick up where the Saturday the 13thpost and practice left off. It contains some passing references to the American Civil War and World War II.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.
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.
“I dwell in Possibility – A fairer House than Prose – More numerous of Windows – Superior – for Doors –”
— quoted from the poem “I dwell in Possibility (466)” by Emily Dickinson
Take a moment to consider the very first time you thought, said, did, and/or experienced someone else thinking, saying, and/or doing something. That very first time was (and is) special for a number of reasons — not the least of which being that it created a neural pathway (if we’re using the terminology of Western science) and a saṃskāra (“mental impressions”), if we’re using the terminology of Yoga and Āyurveda (as they come to us from India). When that thought, word, deed, and/or experience is experienced, the neural pathway starts becoming hardwired and connected to other experiences. Repeating a thought, word, deed, and/or experience also creates another mental impression which, over time, could become vāsanā (“dwelling places” of our habits). Even though the terminology is different, the end result is the same: We view life through the lens/veils of previous experiences and, at some point, we establish a status quo that is directly (or indirectly) connected to the first time we did something. The more we do new things — i.e., experience more “firsts” we have — the more we cultivate a foundation for more possibilities.
This may seem really obvious — especially when you first think about it. However, take a moment to consider that “firsts” happen in every moment of every day (even when they are not all happening to us). If we dig deep enough, we could find a “first” that happened today… in any given year. We might even find multiple “firsts.”
Consider what happens, when a “first” is experienced by most of the world? Consider what happens when when we go a little deeper into something simply because it was a “first” — because that is what we typically do on January 14th. We go a little deeper into three “firsts” that include several other “firsts” — some of which were out of this world or, at the very least, above the earth.
FLYING HIGH
“At the concluding press conference on 24 January 1943, Roosevelt stated that General Ulysses S. Grant had been known as ‘Unconditional Surrender’ Grant, and that the Allies were also demanding unconditional surrender from the Germans and Japanese (but not the Italians) in the present struggle. It is often argued that this insistence led the Germans and Japanese to fight more fanatically than would otherwise have been the case, although it cannot be proven. What is plainly untrue, however, is that the policy merely sprang fully formed from Roosevelt’s mind without any consultation with [George C.] Marshall or Churchill.”
— quoted from “12 The Casablanca Conference: ‘We go bald-headed for Husky’ January 1943” in Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses who Led the West to Victory in World War II by Andrew Roberts
On Thursday, January 14, 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first sitting United States president to travel by airplane and the first to visit Africa. This was during World War II when the president and his advisors flew from Miami to Casablanca, French Morocco (now known as Morocco) in order to meet with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his advisors. They were meeting to discuss how the Allied forces would proceed in the War. Sultan Muhammad V, as well as French Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, also attended parts of The Casablanca Conference (sometimes called the Anfa Conference, since it was hosted at the Anfa Hotel). Although Joseph Stalin did not attend the conference at all and the other leaders did not attend the parts related to military strategy, one of the most critical things to come out of the conference was the Casablanca Declaration, a unified Allied statement calling for the “unconditional surrender” of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The ways in which the call for unconditional surrender was announced — as well as the ways in which people understood the announcement — may have had some unintended consequences. Some historians have theorized that the announcements resulted in the war being extended (because some people in the Axis countries got their backs up and/or felt their backs were against the wall) and that this led to the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some have also speculated about how Europe might have been divided had the explanation been different and/or had Joseph Stalin been included in the conference. Another crucial and unfortunate element of the conference was anti-Semitic rhetoric expressed by many of the leaders, including President Roosevelt. Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, the then 14-year-old son of Sultan Muhammad V, grew up to become Hassan II, King of Morocco, whose reign was marked by authoritarianism, and human rights and civil rights abuses. One can only wonder what Hassan II’s reign would have been like had he not been exposed to such rhetoric by the most influential leaders of their time.
“Roosevelt loved the sea, but his ability to draw on the past to put the present into perspective allowed him to see the potentialities of naval and air power working in conjunction as Admiral [Harry E.] Yarnell had suggested. Soon, Roosevelt demonstrated his appreciation of air power as a military and naval defensive weapon.”
— quoted from “VI. The Wings of Democracy” in The Wings of Democracy: The Influence of Air Power on the Roosevelt Administration, 1933–1941 by Jeffrey S. Underwood
FDR’s historic 1943 flight was the beginning of several other presidential-aeronautic “firsts.” That first fight, as well as the return flight, were aboard the “Dixie Clipper,” a Boeing Model 314 long-range Clipper initially operated by Pan Am. The then-President Roosevelt was on board this luxurious flying boat, en route between Trinidad and Miami, when he turned 61 — making him the first sitting U. S. president to celebrate a birthday in an airplane, thousands of feet above the earth.
Some of this may be considered trivial. Consider the fact, however, that the president’s trip promoted the creation of the Douglas VC-54C Skymaster, the first U. S. presidential aircraft. Officially referred to as “the Flying White House,” the specially modified luxury aircraft was nicknamed “Sacred Cow,” because of the security features and designation. It featured modifications that produced increased fuel capacity; an unpressurized cabin with an executive conference room; rectangular bulletproof windows; a private bathroom; a fold down bed hidden behind the sofa; and an electric refrigerator. Although slower and less luxurious than its successor (Air Force One), the Sacred Cow did include a battery-powered elevator to accommodate the President Roosevelt’s wheelchair.
Alas, FDR would only fly on the new plane when he attended the Yalta Conference in February 1945. On the flip side, President Harry S. Truman used the plane quite a bit — including when he attended the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945. His frequent flying led then-President Truman to sign the National Security Act of 1947, which restructured the U. S. military in a variety of ways, including: creating a Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency. The 1947 act, which the president signed on board the Sacred Cow, clarified the responsibilities of the Department of the Army (formerly the Department of War), the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the newly formed Department of the Air Force — making the Sacred Cow the “birthplace” of the United States Air Force.
Retired in 1961, the first plane officially produced specifically for presidential travel was moved to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (in Dayton, Ohio) in 1983 and has been on display since 1993.
SINGING HIGH
“To your arms someday I’ll return to stay till then I will remember too Every bright star we made wishes upon Love me always, promise always Oh, you’ll remember too
I’ll remember you”
— quoted from the song “I’ll remember you” by Elvis Presley, written by Lee Kuiokalani
At 12:30 AM (local time) on Sunday, January 14, 1973, Elvis Presley started performing his “Aloha from Hawai’i” concert. It was not the first time the “King of Rock and Roll” had performed in Hawai’i. In addition to filming three (3) movies on the islands (and selling tickets to the dress rehearsal for the January 14th show), he performed concerts in 1957 (before he served in the U. S. Army) and in 1961 (after he was discharged from the army). Several of these were benefit concerts, as was this notable first in 1973. So, those things weren’t new elements. Neither was this the first time he and the TCB Band (“Taking Care of Business Band”) had recorded a concert live with an orchestra and/or used Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” as their into music. Although, this time, that particular song selection did underscore the fact that this 1973 concert was the “first” by a single performer* to be broadcast live, via satellite.
People in 40 countries (mostly in Asia and Oceana) watched the broadcast in real time and people in Europe watched it with a slightly delay (and a little editing). Most people in the United States, however, were not able to watch the concert until April 4th (due to the Super Bowl broadcast and the fact that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer documentary Elvis On Tour was playing on the mainland). Wearing an iconic white jumpsuit with rhinestones in patriotic designs, Elvis sang his classics and Kui Lee’s “I’ll Remember You.” He also announced that the proceeds from the pay-what-you-will concert were being donated to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.
Kuiokalani Lee was a Chinese-born American singer-songwriter who served in the United States Coast Guard and penned popular hits by Don Ho during the Hawai’ian Renaissance. Diagnosed with cancer in 1965, he performed (as Kui Lee) until his death in 1966 (at the age of 34). He was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement award by the Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts and inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame. Donations from Elvis’s “Aloha from Hawai’i, live via Satellite” concert totaled $75,000 (which would be almost $514,700 in 2024) for cancer research.
The songs performed for the audience at Honolulu International Center, plus some that Elvis recorded before the concert, were included on the live album and the U. S. broadcast. Four (out of five) additional songs recorded (directly) after the live concert were included in the U. S. special, but were not initially included on the live album. In fact, the five songs recorded after the concert were not issued on any album until the posthumous release of Mahalo From Elvis (in 1978) and were not available as part of the “live” album until it was reissued as a CD in 1998. Additionally, people listening to the album, and/or watching the April 1973 broadcast, did not hear the announcement about the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.
Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite, the live album, was originally released as a two-disc set in quadraphonic sound. Although most people did not listen to the album as it was initially released — because the technology was not in place for people to truly appreciate the “surround sound” — and RCA quickly re-issued the album in standard stereophonic version, it was the first album formatted in such a way to top the Billboard album chart.
LANDING HIGH
“If you want to lift a hundred pounds, you don’t expect to succeed the first time. You start with a lighter weight and work up little by little. You actually fail to lift a hundred pounds, every day, until the day you succeed. But it is in the days when you are exerting yourself that growth is occurring.”
— quoted from the “Notes and References [related to Chapter 6. Brain Lock Unlocked — Using Plasticity to Stop Worries, Obsessions, Compulsions, and Bad Habits]” in The Brain the Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, M.D.
Every “first” has a back story. We may think, say, and even believe that something happened overnight, but the reality is that there’s always an idea and/or an innovation that precedes the next idea and innovation. For example, the president’s first flight and the king’s first concert broadcast via satellite required an idea and technology — a backstory, if you will — that started firmly on terra firma. The backstory for this final “first” also starts on the ground… with people looking up… in the mid to late 17th century.
Giovanni Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini, was an Italian-French mathematician, astronomer, and engineer (born June 8, 1625) who experienced a lot of significant “firsts” in his lifetime. His contributions to science include determining the rotation periods of Jupiter and Mars; discovering four moons of Saturn, the reason one of those moons varies in brightness, and the Cassini Division (between the two outermost rings of Saturn); and beginning (towards the end of his life) what would become the first topographic map of France. He also published his observations regarding the topography of Mars. However, he was not the first to discover the surface markings on Mars — that distinction belongs to Christiaan Huygens (born April 14, 1629), a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who was also a Dutch nobleman.
In addition to being the first Western scientist to observe the markings on Mars, Christiaan Huygens is considered a significant part of the Scientific Revolution. He discovered the largest of Saturn’s moons; was the first to describe Saturn’s rings as “a thin, flat, ring, nowhere touching [Saturn;]” and developed a system for calculating relative sizes and stellar distances within (and of) the solar system. He also advanced the designs of telescopes; identified and codified laws and/or formulas of elastic collision, centrifugal force, and the wave theory of light; and invented the pendulum clock.
“Cassini is a mission of firsts. Time and time again it has continued to surprise us. Astounding observations. It has changed our thinking irrevocably.”
— Jim Green, NASA Planetary Science Division Director, quoted from the video “Cassini’s First Dive Between Saturn and Its Rings” posted on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology site
Since Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens contributed so much to Western scientists’ understanding of Saturn, it is not surprising that a major mission to Saturn bears their names. Known as Cassini–Huygens, the mission to study Saturn and its system was a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). It brought together teams from 27 different countries and featured NASA’s Cassini space probe and ESA’s Huygens lander. The probe, launched on October 15, 1997, was the fourth to visit Saturn. It collected data en route and (on July 1, 2004) became the first to enter Saturn’s orbit. The lander separated from the probe on December 4, 2004, and landed on Saturn’s largest moon (Titan) on January 14, 2005 — becoming the first successful landing in the outer solar system and the first lunar landing on a moon other than Earth’s moon.
The Huygens lander transmitted data, via the probe, for about 90 minutes after landing. The overall Cassini–Huygens mission (also known simply as Cassini) was extended twice; with the first extension known as the Cassini Equinox Mission and the second known as the Cassini Solstice Mission. The extensions allowed the probe to continue collecting data (from Saturn’s orbit) until September 15, 2017, when it entered Saturn’s (upper) atmosphere. The data collected during the nineteen years and eleven months of observation is still being analyzed and will foster better understanding of Saturn, our solar system, and life in (and beyond) our solar system. It will also provide the foundation for the next round of cosmic “firsts.”
“… Don protested. ‘But that’s theoretically impossible— isn’t it?’
Dr. Jefferson brushed it aside. ‘Everything is theoretically impossible, until it’s done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen. Studied any mathematical philosophy, Don? Familiar with infinite universe sheafs and open-ended postulate systems?’
‘Uh, I’m afraid not, sir.’
‘Simple idea and very tempting. The notion that everything is possible—and I mean everything—and everything has happened. Everything.’”
— quoted from “II: ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel,Upharsin’” in Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein
*NOTE: The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) coordinated national broadcasters, performing artists, and other participants from fourteen different countries for a live variety show that was broadcast via satellite to 24 countries on Sunday, June 25, 1967. The “other participants” included fishermen, construction workers, and other laborers selected by individual countries.
Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent and/or the 19-Day Fast during the “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“Much of one’s spiritual discipline must therefore focus on taming wayward senses and being ever vigilant against the treacherousness of the senses. The refinement of an individual or a society is measured by the yardstick of how well greed and desires are controlled.
The Illumined Ones subdue their senses and hold them in check by keeping their minds ever intent on achieving the overarching goal of union with God. They get in the habit of substituting divine thoughts for attractions of the senses.”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (2.60 – 61) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
Please join me today (Wednesday, March 6th) 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 “09132020 What Is Inside, II”]
“But when you can move about in a world that surrounds you with sense attractions, and yet be free of either attachment or aversion to them, tranquility comes and sits in your heart — and you are absorbed in the peace and wisdom of the Self within. Serenity, Arjuna, is the point at which all sorrow ends!”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (2.64 – 65) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
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.)
Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent and/or the 19-Day Fast, on World Hearing Day and throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“Let us be practical and ask the question. How do we love our enemies?
First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. It is impossible even to begin the act of loving one’s enemies without the prior acceptance of the necessity, over and over again, of forgiving those who inflict evil and injury upon us. It is also necessary to realize that the forgiving act must always be initiated by the person who has been wronged, the victim of some great hurt, the recipient of some tortuous injustice, the absorber of some terrible act of oppression. The wrongdoer may request forgiveness. He may come to himself, and, like the prodigal son, move up some dusty road, his heart palpitating with the desire for forgiveness. But only the injured neighbor, the loving father back home, can really pour out the warm waters of forgiveness.”
— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Christmas 1957)
“Again we hear people saying, ‘I will forgive you but I won’t have anything to do with you.’ There again, one hasn’t forgiven if he will not have anything to do with the person or the group that he is supposedly forgiving because forgiveness means reconciliation. Forgiveness means the development of a new relationship. And I submit to you that the first way that one can go about loving his enemy neighbor is to develop the capacity to forgive.
The second thing is this. In order to love the enemy neighbor we must recognize that the negative deed of the enemy does not represent all that the individual is. His evil deed does not represent his whole being. If we look at ourselves hard enough, and if we look at all men hard enough, we see a strange dichotomy, a disturbing schizophrenia. We are divided against ourselves, split up so to speak. There is something within all of us which causes us to cry out with Ovid the Latin poet, ‘I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do.’”*
— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon delivered at the Detroit Council of Churches’ Noon Lenten Services by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (circa March 7, 1961)
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, March 3rd) 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 “03052022 Your I-ness”]
“Third we must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding. At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate.
Let us move now from the practical how to the theoretical why: Why should we love our enemies? The first reason is fairly obvious. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Christmas 1957)
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.)
Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Lent, St. David’s Day, and/or the 19-Day Fast during this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This is the post-practice post for tonight’s “First Friday Night Special.” You can request an audio recording of tonight’s Restorative Yoga 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.
“Brothers and sisters, Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed, and do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I on the third day of the week on the first of March shall go the way of my fathers. Farewell in the Lord.”
— based on “62. The Assembly of Mourners” in Rhygyvarch’s Life of St. David (circa later 11th century)
I want you to do a little thing, just a little thing: relax you jaw.
You might have to move it around first and/or open it wide first; but, then, soften the lower portion of your face.
Now, take a deep breath in and, as your exhale, relax your shoulders. I know, I know, that’s a second (and a third) thing; but, still just a little thing.
If you do one more little thing — like, say, relaxing your fingers — you may start to notice how little things can make a big difference.
For many people, this time of year is when they do something that is a little different from the things they do throughout the rest of the year. Maybe they just do a little Spring cleaning. Maybe, as many people are doing right now, they give up something for Lent and/or they observe the Baháʼí Faith 19-Day Fast. Maybe, as many people will soon be doing, they fast during Great Lent, Passover, or the holy month of Ramaḍān. Maybe, as many people will soon be doing, they fast and celebrate during Maha Shivaratri.
Each of those examples requires time, effort, and patience. Furthermore, from the outside, doing any of these things requires something that can look like a little inconvenience and/or an imposition. However, in each of the participating communities, these rituals and traditions are a big deal. There is a material and a symbolic aspect of each example, which means that doing little things can lead to big benefits.
The March First Friday Night Special features a Restorative Yoga practice. It is accessible and open to all.
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03032023 Liminal & Lofty Redux”]
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice).
Many blessings to all,and especially to those observing Lent, Ayyám-i-Há,and/or Rare Disease Dayduring this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This is theabridged version ofa 2023 postrelated to February 29th(which was original posted with information from yesterday’s post). Some context and links (including a video) have been added/updated. There’s no practice today; however, you can request an audio recording of a previous 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.)
“That’s the thing about a rare disease. You fight for a diagnosis for years ― on average, according to Global Genes, it takes seeing 7.3 physicians and trying for 4.8 years before getting an accurate rare disease diagnosis ― and then, even once you know, you must continue being a detective as you try to piece together the clues as to how the illness might progress. You become an expert in a disease you wish you’d never heard of.
As a parent, you also quickly morph into a nurse, therapist, chief operating officer, educational advocate, cheerleader and warrior. You feel alone, because by definition, your child’s diagnosis is exceptional. And yet, 1 in 10 Americans and 300 million people globally are living with a rare disease.
You find community not just in other people who share the specific diagnosis your family is facing, but in those struggling with any rare diagnosis. It doesn’t matter what the exact symptoms or disease trajectory are. What matters is the shared understanding that your dreams as a parent have forever shifted.”
— quoted from the (February 28, 2022*) Huffington Post article entitled “My Daughter’s Rare Disease Was A Mystery For Years. Here’s How We Finally Got A Diagnosis.” by Jessica Fein
In addition to being (what I would consider) a “liminal day,” February 28th can also be a “rare” day. Typically, when we think of a “rare” day on the Gregorian and Julian calendars, we think of February 29th, Leap Day, which is rare because it only happens every four years.** Leap day is the perfect day for Rare Disease Day, which is observed on February 28th during non-leap years like 2023. Observations on this alternate date, coincide with the anniversary of the United States House of Representatives passing the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 on February 28, 1982. The act went into effect on January 4, 1983, and it facilitated the development of “orphan drugs” (i.e., drugs for rare diseases and disorders). Japan and the European Union enacted similar acts in 1993 and 2000, respectively. Prior to the act being passed in the U. S., less than 40 drugs had been approved as treatments for rare diseases and disorders (in the whole history of the United States). In the three decades after the act went into affect, almost ten times as many drugs had been approved.
Why the difference? Why did it take an act of Congress?
Unfortunately for those who face life-threatening and life-changing diseases, research is primarily driven by pharmaceutical companies, which are mostly driven by profits — and there’s just not a lot of profit in rare diseases.
“That referral led us to the geneticist, who ended up delivering the information that changed our lives.
‘Dalia tested positive for a genetic mutation that’s associated with myoclonic epilepsy with ragged red fibers, or MERRF syndrome ― an extremely rare form of mitochondrial disease,’ the doctor said.”
— quoted from the (February 28, 2022*) Huffington Post article entitled “My Daughter’s Rare Disease Was A Mystery For Years. Here’s How We Finally Got A Diagnosis.” by Jessica Fein
Approximately 300 million people are living with a rare disease. That doesn’t sound very rare when you add in their family, friends, and caregivers. But, here’s the thing: those 300 million people are not living with the same disease. They are not even living with the same two or three diseases. In the medical community, a “rare disease” is typically defined as a disease that affects fewer than 1 in 2,000 people. That means it can affect one or two people, or several hundred around the world. In the United States, Huntington’s disease; myoclonus; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – also known as motor neuron disease (MND); Tourette syndrome; muscular dystrophy; Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS); Prader-Willi syndrome; and Usher syndrome are all considered rare diseases or rare disorders. Sickle cell anemia is also considered a rare disease; even though it affects approximately 100,000 people in the United States. Autosomal systemic lupus erythematosus, which is characterized by the presence of (the more common) systemic lupus erythematosus symptoms in two or more members of a single family, is also considered a rare disease.
Approximately 72 — 80% of rare diseases are known to be genetic. About 70% begin in childhood. Tragically, thirty percent of children diagnosis with a rare disease will not reach age 5. While some people have diseases that are degenerative, some people “outgrow” their disease. Another challenge, for people suffering from rare diseases and disorders, is that sometimes people can be suffering with “invisible” ailments — meaning that others perceive them as healthy. All of these differences in symptoms and situations makes it really hard to receive diagnosis and treatment — especially since healthcare practitioners (particularly here in the West) are taught to “lookfor horses, notzebras.” Unfortunately, rare diseases are really colorful zebras. They require patients and their family and friends to take on all the roles normally distributed between professionals.
Recently, another couple of layers have been added to the already complicated story of rare diseases. For a variety of really disturbing reasons — that I want to believe come from a lack of awareness and knowledge — people have started co-opting orphan drugs and using them for non-life threatening issues. In some cases, they are being used for purely cosmetic purposes without any regard for the people whose lives actually depend on the medication. (NOTE: This is also happening with treatments for “common diseases,” with equally devastating effects; however, those common diseases get more publicity, because they make up a larger share of the market.) On the flip side, COVID seems to have created a situation where some rare diseases are becoming more common — which means, as twisted as sounds, that some people are feeling more hopefully, because more research and development is being done with regard to their ailment.
Again, it all comes down to awareness, education, perspective, compassion, and empathy. Which is the whole point of Rare Disease Day.
Established in 2008, by the European Organization for Rare Diseases, Rare Disease Day is a day dedicated to “raising awareness and generating change for the 300 million people worldwide living with a rare disease, their families and [caregivers].” The 2023 theme “ShareYourColours” is an invitation to share your story. Whether you have a rare disease or whether you love and/or care for someone with a rare disease, sharing your story can be a way to raise awareness, stop the ignorance, and end stigma.
If you are not dealing with a rare disease, be open to hearing other people’s stories. As rare as they are, I have known someone dealing with almost all of the rare diseases and disorders that I used as examples (above). Or, I should say, I’ve known that I knew them, because they shared their stories. Listening, as Bruce Kramer pointed out, opens us “… a little bit more.”
“To be open is to embrace your own great big messy humanity, to cry in sadness but not despair, to recognize presence in the emptiness of the bitter moment of truth, to be afraid but not fearful. Dis ease presents the choice of being open or closed, and opening to her lessons, her gifts, her challenges, is not easy. But dis ease clarifies vision, bringing sight to the blindness of what you thought you knew about living, light to the darkness of cynicism that life’s grief piled upon itself can foster. I know ALS is a horror, yet when fully embraced, it has taught me, it has revealed to me pure unsullied, uncontaminated, unbelievable love.
In my heart of hearts, I know that love never dies.”
— quoted from “25. Faith, Part IV: What’s Love Got To Do with It?” in We Know How This Ends: Living while Dying by Bruce H. Kramer with Cathy Wurzer
The 2023 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06142020 World Blood Donor Day”]
NOTE: Not all rare diseases are blood-based, but the playlist contains a blood-borne subliminal message.
*NOTE: A follow-up article by Jessica Fein was also published by Huffington Post [on] February 28, 2023.
**NOTE:According to the Julian calendar, Leap Year is every four years.On the Gregorian calendar, which is used by most people who will come across this post, it’s not that simple.
“A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4 and is not a century year (multiple of 100) or if it is divisible by 400. For example, 1900 is not a leap year; 2000 is.”
— quoted from “2 — The Gregorian Calendar, 2.1: Structure” in Calendrical Calculations by Nachum Dershowitz, Edward Reingold
Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Ayyám-i-Há and/or Lent during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
The following excerpt is the beginning of a 2023 post. Class details, a little extra context, and a quote have been updated/added.
“Through the years I’ve written and taught extensively about ‘liminal time,’ that pregnant pause between what is no longer and what is not yet. Although liminal time is a known stage in all rites of passage, most people have never heard of it. Whether we’re talking about a pandemic, a war, a refugee crisis, or even a man or womanhood ritual, a graduation, or a new job far away from family and friends, the stages (though not the intensity) of a rite of passage are the same.”
— quoted from “Running the Gauntlet of the Unknown” by Joan Borysenko, PhD (posted at joanborysenko.com, April 1, 2020)
Technically speaking, every day is a “liminal day” — a transitional or threshold day, a doorway in between moments; like the pauses in between the inhale and the exhale. However, Dr. Joan Borysenko talks about “liminal time” in a very specific context, one that fits into the paradigm of The Hero’s Journey. It is a time of ritual; the threshold between the known and the unknown; and — maybe most importantly — it is a moment time-stamped by grief, sandwiched between separation and return. All of this is why I consider the days of this week, and many of the days in the coming weeks, to be “liminal days.”
But this is not just a Myra-thing. These days are specifically designated by various traditions as in-between times. Not “regular” or “ordinary” days, but days when there is a heightened awareness of what’s to come and the need to be ready for what’s to come. On the Baháʼí Faith calendar, February 26th — March 1st are literally in-between days: they are intercalary days between the penultimate month of the year and the final month (which is the month of the 19-Day Fast).
For Those Who Are Not Familiar: The Baháʼí Faith is a monotheistic faith that believes in the oneness of God and religion, as well as the oneness and nobility of humanity. The community believes that, historically, there has been a “progressive revelation of religious truth” which has been shared with the world through the voices of the prophets or Divine Messengers, known as “Manifestations of God” (which include “Braham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and, in more recent times, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh”). People within the faith are taught to honor the value of different religious and philosophical traditions as well as the value of education, especially in science (which is viewed by some faiths as being contrary to religion). The Baháʼí calendar consists of 19 months, each with 19 days, and each month (and day) is named after an attribute of God. To maintain the integrity of the calendar, there are 4 – 5 intercalary days just before the final month.
The four to five intercalary days on the Baháʼí Faith calendar are named for the “essence of God” and known as Ayyám-i-Há or Days of Ha. During the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há, people may exchange small gifts, donate to charity, and participate in activities that cultivate unity.
While the customs and beliefs are different within these different traditions, people all over the world are actually preparing for some of the holiest times of their year: Christians observe Lent and Great Lent to get ready for Easter; the Baháʼí community observes the 19-Day Fast as they prepare for a new year — and these Springtime rituals contain very similar elements to each other and to Passover and Yom Kippur (in the Jewish tradition) and to the holy month of Ramaḍān (in the Muslim tradition). All of these rituals contain elements of the Yoga Philosophy’s niyamās (internal “observations”). They also fall under the rubric that Patanjali called kriyā yoga (“union in action”), which is a combination of the final three: tapas (“heat, discipline, austerity” and the practices that cultivate them), svādhyāya (“self-study”), and īśvarapraņidhāna (“trustful surrender to higher reality”). They involve fasting, prayers, reflection, self-study undertaken within a sacred context, and letting something go.
That last part is where the grief kicks in — because, whether you give something up for the Lenten season or you change your daily routine to accommodate a holy observation, the mind-body will experience some level of loss with some manifestation of grief. It will not be the same intensity of loss we experience when we lose a job or when we lose a loved one. Neither will it be the same level of grief.
However, no matter the intensity of the loss and/or grief, we have to figure out a way to move forward, into a new season of life — and while each person has an individual experience, they have it in community.
“The adoption of a new calendar in each dispensation is a symbol of the power of Divine Revelation to reshape human perception of material, social, and spiritual reality. Through it, sacred moments are distinguished, humanity’s place in time and space reimagined, and the rhythm of life recast.”
— quoted from the letter addressed “To the Bahá’ís of the World” from The Universal House of Justice, dated 10 July 2014
Please join me today (Wednesday, February 28th) 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 “02282021 Lofty and Rare Days”]
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.)
Many blessing to anyone observing (or getting ready to observe) Lent. Peace and ease — and more listening — to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.”
— the title of a 1997 essay by Gene Knudsen Hoffman
The following excerpt is from the 2023 revision of a previous post:
“Imagine that, at a very early age, you are exposed to an idea. It doesn’t have to be a big idea, stated and codified in a systematic way. It could just be a simple statement. It could be an idea (or a statement) about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religious and/or political beliefs — it could even be an idea about height or weight or hair texture (or length) or skin and/or eye hue. Or maybe it’s a statement about ability. Either way, the moment that you are exposed to the idea, some part of you questions whether it is true and even considers the validity of the idea/statement based on the source. You may not be conscious of this questioning, but it happens – sometimes quickly, in a blink — and then, as you move forward, other things (and people) either confirm the veracity of the idea or invalidate the idea.
Now, imagine that you grow up with this idea and this idea, whether you feel it is directed at you or at people around you, becomes — on a certain level — the lens through which you view yourself and the world. You may not be conscious of this lens. In fact, in most cases, this bias (whether we view it as positive or negative) is unconscious… subterranean. In the Yoga Philosophy, saṃskāra is a Sanskrit word for mental “impressions,” that can also be defined as “idea, notion, conception.” Saṃskāra are the foundation or roots of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Neurologically speaking, we can think of them as hard-wired pathways that are sometimes such an integral part of us they make habitual responses to certain situations appear instinctual. They are the beginning of the best of us… and also the worst of us.”
NOTE: The linked post contains information about mental health and United States history. It also includes links to a different playlist.
“This can already be seen in the different reception given a new citizen of the world. If the father or someone else asked what ‘it’ was after a successful birth, the answer might be either the satisfied report of a boy, or—with pronounced sympathy for the disappointment— ‘Nothing, a girl,’ or ‘Only a girl.’”
— Bertha Pappenheim (b. 1859) as quoted in The Jewish Woman: New Perspectives, edited by Elizabeth Koultun
Please join me today (Tuesday, February 27th) 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 “08282021 The Heart’s Wildest Dream”]
“If any man at this day sincerely believes that a proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that ‘our fathers who framed the Government under which we live’ were of the same opinion — thus substituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely believes ‘our fathers who framed the Government under which we live,’ used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of local from federal authority or some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he understands their principles better than they did themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that they ‘understood the question just as well, and even better, than we do now.’”
— quoted from Abraham Lincoln’s address at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, February 27, 1860, (during which he repeatedly quotes a statement made by Senator Stephen Douglas)
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
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A Joyful Practice 