FTWMI: Simmering, simmering… boiling, boiling over (a revised note with excerpts) May 31, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Life, Mantra, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, Afterfeast of the Ascension, America, Black Wall Street, Counting the Omer, Dr. Robert Hudspeth, Greenwood District, John Townsend Trowbridge, Karen Barrow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Sturman, Tulsa, Walt Whitman
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone Counting the Omer, and/or celebrating the Afterfeast of the Ascension.
For Those Who Missed It: The following is a revised version of a note and excerpts originally posted in 2023. Extra quotes, class information, links, and some formatting have been added/updated.
“I was simmering, simmering, simmering. Emerson brought me to a boil.”
— Walt Whitman (b. 05/31/1819) as quoted in a February 1902 article by John Townsend Trowbridge, published in The Atlantic Monthly
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Walt Whitman (b. 1819) and the anniversary of the beginning of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the destruction of Black Wall Street. While I generally focus on the former on the 31st and the latter on the 1st, both bring to mind an analogy I often use in association with Whitman and with America: a pot on an open flame.
As I described in a 2020 post, “There are times when we have so much churning inside of our minds and our bodies that it can make us physically ill. It churns and churns, until it spills over. Or, another analogy is to think of all of that emotion as water inside of a pot on top of an open flame: it’s “simmering, simmering, simmering…” until it boils over. When we are children, we are taught to be mindful of the hot stove and the pot that sits on top. We watch our elders; placing various ingredients inside, stirring, churning, adjusting the flames – even tasting along the way, sometimes even letting us taste a little. We watch and learn that we can make something delicious, or potent medicine, or poison, or paint and dye. We watch and learn that if we don’t pay close attention we will make a big, unusable, inedible mess. We watch and learn that if we are not careful, we can hurt ourselves or others.”
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE.
The Bard of Democracy (and of getting better air in our lungs)
“Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs.”
— Walt Whitman writing about the new game, baseball, in the Brooklyn Eagle (07/23/1846)
The Difference A Day Made I (a “missing” post, that is also very timely)
“What is it then between us?
What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
Whatever it is, it avails not—distance avails not, and place avails not,”
— quoted from the 5th stanza of the poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman
Please join me today (Saturday, May 31st) 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 “05312020 Walt Whitman”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes recordings of some of the poems, as part of the before/after class mix. These tracks are not included on Spotify. Both versions have a 2022 addition.
“In Kenya, people walk out of yoga class feeling great, just like they do in New York. The one difference I loved, however, was that the children who took the classes always broke out into a spontaneous song or dance right in the middle of class. Then they would go back to the yoga postures.”
“Visiting the Kenyan [women’s] prison brought me unexpected joy. The inmates, some of whom are H.I.V.-positive, told me that yoga has become a rare source of happiness in their daily lives.”
— Robert Sturman talking about documenting the work of Africa Yoga Project (quoted from the New York Times interview “Yoga in Africa” by Karen Barrow)
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 KELSON OF THE CREATION IS LOVE” (WW) ###
FTWMI: It’s Not About What We’re Saying… (a short post with links & an excerpt) *CORRECTED* May 25, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, Japa-Ajapa, Karma, Karma Yoga, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Twin Cities, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Aaron Lindsey, chakras, Counting the Omer, Eastertide, George Floyd, India.Arie, KISS MY ASANA, mantra, Ralph Waldo Emerson, United States, Veterans, Yoga Sutras 3.15-3.16
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Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone Counting the Omer, and/or observing the fifth week of Pascha and/or the Blind Man.
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024.
Some date-related information has been updated and an extra sentence was added.
“Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. A lady of my acquaintance said, ‘I don’t care so much for what they say as I do for what makes them say it.’”
— quoted from the essay “Social Aims” in Letters and Social Aims by Ralph Waldo Emerson (b. 1803)
[On Friday, May 24, 2024], a group of United States veterans reportedly spent part of their Memorial Day weekend in Greensboro, North Carolina with the intention of asking people at the Republican National Convention to honor the basic principles of the “republic, for which it stands” and they were (reportedly) escorted out of the area. Even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is about that and the about the idea of still serving even after one’s official service is over — and about how people react to that.
Four Five years ago today, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is about that and the about the importance of treating someone you perceive as being different from you with respect — and about how we seem to keep forgetting that.
Two hundred, twenty-two twenty-one years ago today, Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. I often say that I am blown away by the fact that his words are still relevant to our present circumstances. Even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is about that.
And, even if I don’t talk about it, this practice is also about what you are feeling in this present moment.
The excerpt below is from a 2021 post. Click on the title for the entire post.
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, May 25h) 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 “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
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.)
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!!!
### “Continue to breathe / In honor of your brother / That’s what your heart is for” ~ India.Arie (Aaron Lindsey / India.arie Simpson) ###
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 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).
### LOKAH SAMASTHAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU ###
A Quick Note & Excerpts About Adventures and Music plus FTWMI: A Good Time for [More] “Craic” (a reboot) [a 2-for-1 post-practice Monday post] March 21, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Baha'i, Bhakti, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Kirtan, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: 988, asana, bhakti yoga, compassion, craic, dialogue, gaelic, Hothouse Flowers, Irish, Kirtan, Leo Barnes, music, Nāda yoga, Rick Rubin, Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick’s Day, Season for Nonviolence, Wren, Yoda, yoga
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. Many blessings also to all, and especially to those who were celebrating and/or observing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, and/or Lent!
“Nowruz Mubarak!” Happy New Year to those who are celebrating and Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox to those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Peace, ease, dialogue, and compassion to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
Pardon me while I catch up. The following is a 2-for-1 post-practice post for Monday, March 10th and Monday, March 17th. It includes some new content, excerpts, and a repost (For Those Who Missed It). There is also a bonus link to a music-related post for March 21st.
The 2025 prompt question for 3/10 was, “Who is someone to whom you can talk (about anything) and who is someone to whom you can listen?” (NOTE: It can be the same person/people.)
The 2025 prompt question for 3/17 was, “Conas a tá tu? (How are you doing?)”
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.
“There are answers in the music
And there are answers in the words
And if we stopped talking in circles
We might get closer to the earth”
— quoted from the song “Be Good” by Hothouse Flowers (written by Liam Tadg O’maonlai, Fiachna Seosamh O’braonain, Peter Mary O’toole, Jeremiah Michael August Fehily, Leo Barnes)
There are some people who believe music has no place in (their) yoga practice. Others practice Nāda (“sound” or “voiced”) yoga, which involves silent, internal vibrations as well as mantra and music. Then there’s kirtan (“narrating, reciting, telling, describing”), which is a form of Bhakti yoga (“union [through] devotion or love”) that incorporates chanting with music. If we pay attention to what it says in the Bhagavad Gita (which I do), then all these paths are valid and valued.
Personally, I like to practice in a lot of different ways and often find myself somewhere in the middle of these different ways to practice. In other words, I like silence… and I like a good playlist.
When I am teaching, more often than not, I am using music. Sometimes, in fact, I will build a whole practice around music — or, more specifically, the messages/answers in the music. Sometimes, I will even be inspired by the messenger(s). When I teach practices without music — for instance, if we are outside or I am teaching the Monday night class affiliated with Common Ground Meditation Center — I have to ask an important question: Does this practice (or theme) work without the music?
If the answer is no; then, I need a different focus. When the answer is yes, as it was for the last two Mondays, we just go a little deeper.
3/10 — ADVENTURES AND MUSIC
“Some ideas may resonate,
others may not.
A few may awaken an inner knowing
you forgot you had.
Use what’s helpful.
Let go of the rest.
Each of these moments
is an invitation
to further inquiry:
looking deeper,
zooming out, or in.
Opening possibilities
for a new way of being.”
— quoted from the prelude to The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
In 2024, I wondered, “What would happen if every practice — and, really, everything we did — started with the reminder above (which comes courtesy of a person who has been meditating for almost fifty years)?”
In 2025, when the “Season for Nonviolence” principle of the day (for March 10th) was “dialogue”, I focused on how different conversations would be if we all followed the aforementioned advice of Rick Rubin, who was born March 10, 1963.
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLE BELOW FOR MORE.
3/17 — “CRAIC” AND MUSIC
For Those Who Missed It: “Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig. (Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.)”The following was originally posted in 2024.
Take a moment to notice how you feel on the inside, knowing that how you feel on the inside affects how you move on the outside. Of course, how you move on the outside is going to affect how you feel on the inside. This is especially true today, especially in the United States, when a lot of people celebrate feeling “Irish on the inside.” Like Valentine’s Day — and, even Saint Stephen’s Day, on a certain level — Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated more as a cultural holiday than it is celebrated as a feast day.
The way Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated is particularly interesting when you consider three coincidences about that the fifth century (or late fourth century) priest. First, when he was sent to Ireland to minister to Christians who were there and to convert those still practicing the Celtic religions, he chose to co-opt — um, I mean, incorporate — the Irish culture into Catholicism. So, he was all about the heritage… but in a problematic way. Second, Saint Patrick was never canonized — which means that one of the most famous saints was (technically speaking) a saint in name only. While he has a feast day in several traditions, including in the Roman Catholic tradition, I find it fitting that he is remembered as a Saint because people felt like was a saint.
Finally, most of what we know about Saint Patrick comes from exaggerated stories, legends, like the one about how he ran all the snakes out of Ireland — and what would Saint Patrick’s Day be without “me good yarn?”
If you read the title of this post correctly, you know that I think Saint Patrick’s Day is a good time to have “a good time.” In keeping with the feeling, there will be music, dancing, and a story. The Irish tale I like to tell today isn’t about Saint Patrick (in fact it is most often associated with a different saint); but, it can be seen as an allegory. It is also fun to tell with the poses — because, y’all, there are a lot of bird poses in yoga!
CLICK ON THE EXCERPT BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT THOSE BIRD POSES.
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
The “DJ Double R” playlist (which includes some Kirtan) is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Songs for the DJ’s Adventure”]
The Saint Patrick’s Day playlist is also available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “03172021 The Wren Cycle”]
Click here for a short music-related post for March 21st.
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).
### 🍀🍀🍀 ###
FTWMI: A Little Salt March 12, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in 19-Day Fast, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Donate, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Faith, Food, Gandhi, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma Yoga, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Mantra, Men, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Volunteer, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: 988, A. R. Rahman, Ahimsa, Andrew Jackson, Civil Rights, Gospel According to Matthew, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jesus, Kamala Nehru, Khatija Rahman, Martha Nussbaum, Martin Luther King Jr, Mohandas Gandhi, niyamas, Raheema Rahman, Ray Cassin, salt, Salt Satyagraha, salt tax, satya, satyagraha, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Shriman Narayan, Sunil Khilnani, tapas, Theodore Roosevelt, U2, Valji Govindji Desai, yamas
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“Ramaḍān Mubarak, Blessed Ramaḍān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramaḍān. Many blessings also to all, and especially to those celebrating and/or observing the Baháʼí 19-Day Fast, Great Lent, and/or Lent!
Peace, ease, and openness to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024 (and includes some content posted prior to that).
“‘…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 [previously], 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. It would also be one of the first times that women were actively involved in a protest in India. Kamala Nehru, the young wife of the man who would eventually become India’s first Prime Minister, was one of those women. She was also an advocate for women being involved in the movement and in politics. (So, it is not surprising that her daughter and grandson also became prime ministers.)
Over 60,000 Indians (including Gandhi) would be jailed before it was all said and done. But, when Gandhi began the march he was only accompanied by 78 men devoted to truth (satya).
“Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian Movement ‘Satyagraha’ , that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase ‘passive resistance’ in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word ‘Satyagraha’ itself or some other equivalent English phrase.”
— quoted from “12. THE ADVENT OF SATYAGRAHA” in Satyagraha in South Africa by M. K. Gandhi (as published in THE SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI, VOLUME TWO, translated from the Gujarati by Valji Govindji Desai; General Editor Shriman Narayan)
Even though thousands would join the movement, the 78 men who started the march with Gandhi (and many who would join in along the way) were people who practiced a dedication to ahimsa (non-violence/non-harming) and satya (truth) — the first two yamas (external restraints or universal commandments) of the 8-Limb Philosophy of Yoga. Since Gandhi once said, “God is Truth” and another time said “Truth is God,” there was also a commitment to recognizing a day-to-day awareness of a higher purpose, meaning in life, and supreme consciousness. This is one way to look at bramacharya, yet another yama.
Along with the business and logistics of the campaign, people participating in the march had to sleep outside, often wore a single white garment, and were dependent on villagers along the way to provide food and water for them to wash up. This means they also practiced asteya (non-stealing), aparagraha (non-attachment), saucha (cleanliness), santosha (contentment), and tapas (discipline/austerity). Furthermore, they chanted and sang devotionals to keep their spirits up; which can also be a way of practicing isvarapranidhana (releasing one’s efforts back to the source).
All told, the satyagrahis actively practiced all five (5) of the yamas (external restraints/universal commandments) and four (4) of the five (5) niyamas (internal observations) which make up the ethical component of the philosophy of yoga. One could even argue that, since people had to consider their feelings on the subject and make the decision to join the movement, they were also practicing svadyaya (self-study), which is the niyama I did not include above. Either way you break it down, Gandhi and the first 78 men set the tone for the movement. They were steeped in a way of life and a way of thinking that enabled them to respond rather than to react and to work towards change without being attached to the results.
Jawaharlal Nehru — who would go on to become India’s first Prime Minister — was one of the people who initially scoffed at Mahatma Gandhi’s idea to focus on salt. But, he and his wife participated in the movement. They saw the powerful effect of the movement firsthand. In fact, he indicated that the important legacy of the Salt Satyagraha was how it changed the mindset of the Indian populace.
“Of course these movements exercised tremendous pressure on the British Government and shook the government machinery. But the real importance, to my mind, lay in the effect they had on our own people, and especially the village masses. Poverty and a long period of autocratic rule, with its inevitable atmosphere of fear and coercion, had thoroughly demoralised and degraded them…. Non-cooperation dragged them out of this mire and gave them self-respect and self-reliance; they developed the habit of cooperative action; they acted courageously and did not submit so easily to unjust oppression; their outlook widened and they began to think a little in terms of India as a whole….”
— quoted from a letter addressed to Lord Lothian [Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian], dated Badenweiler, January 17, 1936, by Jawaharlal Nehru (published in A Bunch of Old Letters: Being mostly written to Jawaharlal Nehru and some written by him, selected and edited by Jawaharlal Nehru, with an introduction by Sunil Khilnani
Several American leaders, including two former presidents (Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt) have been quoted as saying that one can tell if a person is worth their salt (or not worth their salt) by their willingness to stand up for what is right and/or to put themselves at risk on behalf of a great cause. Fast forward to the United States in the 1960’s and we find another example of people engaging in a satyagraha. Once again, people gained agency through a faith-driven, grassroots movement.
Fast forward to today and we see lots of grassroots efforts and lots of agency being given to the populace. Some of these more modern movements may be based on the concept of non-violence; but, unfortunately, they are not always firmly-grounded in the practice.
“Such a universal force [Satyagraha] necessarily makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe. The force to be so applied can never be physical. There is in it no room for violence. The only force of universal application can, therefore, be that of ahimsa or love. In other words it is soul force.
Love does not burn others, it burns itself.”
— quoted from “Some Rules of Satyagraha” by M. K. Gandhi, printed in Young India, Vol. XII, Ahmedabad: February 27, 1930
(NOTE: The general explanation and rules were followed by a section of rules of conduct for various situations, including for “an Individual” and for “a Prisoner.”)
“Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men.”
— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (11/17/1957)
Please join me today (Wednesday, March 12th) 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 “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)
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.)
2024 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. ###
This Night of Grace 2025 (mostly the music) February 26, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Bhakti, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Kirtan, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Tantra, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: Ayyám-i-Há, Festival of Ayyám-i-Há, Generosity, intercalary days days, Maha Shivaratri, Mahashivratri, Mahā Kumbha Mēlā, Sadhguru, Shiva
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“Happy Mahashivratri,” to all who are celebrating! Many blessings to everyone, and especially those celebrating the Festival of Ayyám-i-Há, Carnival, and Maha Kumbh Mela!
Peace, ease, and generosity to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“A genuine success will happen only when there is Grace. I want you to do a simple process as a part of this Mahashivratri. Three things…This night, let it not be just one night of exuberance. Let this, in some way, work as a turning point for you to move towards your own Awakening.”
“… every one of you can strive to become a wonderful human being and nobody can deny that to you. So, I want you to do a simple process as a part of this Mahashivratri: Write down three things. Write down three things when you go home, whatever you think makes a human being into a wonderful human being – just three things – and make it a reality in your life.”
— Sadhguru, founder of Isha Foundation
Please join me today (Wednesday, February 26th) 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 “Maha Shivaratri 2023”]
NOTE: The before/after music is slightly different on YouTube and Spotify.
I sometimes just loop this track and practice, but it does not appear to be available on 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).
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.)
### Shiva Shiva Shambhu ###
Auspicious, Holy, & New (the “missing” Wednesday post) January 29, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Books, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Kumbh Mela, Life, Mantra, Music, Mysticism, New Year, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, amrita, Carnival, Gupta Navaratri, Jon Timothy Veazey, Kim Jeblick, Kumbh Mela, Kumbha Mēlā, Lunar New Year, Magha Navaratri, Maha Kumbh Mela, Mahā Kumbha Mēlā, Raghubir Singh, Sam Hui, Spring Festival, Walela, Yasmin Williams, Year of the Snake, Yoga Sutra 1.1, Yoga Sutra 2.1
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“Happy (Lunar) New Year!” and/or “Happy Carnival!” to those who are already celebrating! Many blessings to everyone, and especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela and/or preparing for Magha Gupta Navaratri.
May we all be safe and protected / May we all be peaceful and happy / May we all be healthy and strong!
This “missing” post for Wednesday, January 29th. It is a compilation post featuring some new and a little bit of previously posted content. 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.
ATHA — now, at this auspicious moment; implying the transition to this practice and pursuit, after prior preparation; implying a blessing at this moment of transition
YOGA — of yoga, union; literally, to yoke, from the root yuj, which means to join or to integrate; same as the absorption in samadhi
About fifteen years ago, Kim Jeblick made a couple of comments during a Dharma Yoga workshop that really stuck with me. One of the things she said was that the first words in a Sanskrit text are the most important; everything else comes from those first words.
It makes sense, then, that the very first words in the very first Yoga Sūtra are atha and yoga. It makes sense that, right off the bat, we are grounded in the present moment — with awareness of what has come before — and focused on coming together. It also makes sense that the beginning is auspicious, meaning, “conducive to success; favorable.” Ideally, every beginning is auspicious; but, what makes a moment “characterized by success”?
What are the signs that everything is aligned?
Many people look at a change in season and/or the position or phase of the moon (and/or the planets) as a sign of good fortune. Full moons and new moons are seen as particularly powerful. In fact, the new moon on Wednesday (January 29th) is seen as particularly auspicious by multiple cultures around the world. It marks the middle of two holy times and the beginning of two other sacred times — one of which is a new year.
“财神到 财神到
Caishen dao caishen dao [The god of wealth has come! The god of wealth has come!]
好心得好报
Hao xinde hao bao [Good news]
财神话 财神话
Caishenhua caishenhua [Myth of money, myth of money]
揾钱依正路
wen qian yi zhenglu [if you follow the right path]”
— quoted from the song “Cai Shen Dao” [“The God of Wealth Has Come!” by Sam Hui, lyrics in Hanzi [Chinese characters], pīnyīn [“spelled sounds”], and English
Today is the beginning of the Lunar New Year. The Chinese lunisolar calendar designates this year is the year of the (wood) Snake — which means it is a time to shed things that no longer serve us, the way a snake sheds it’s skin. While many East and Southeast Asian cultures celebrate at the same time — and while there are some similarities to celebrations held at other times of the year — each culture has different rituals and traditions that connect people with their extended families, ancestors, and heritage.
In parts of China and the diaspora, the beginning of the New Year is also the beginning of the Spring Festival, a fifteen day celebration that culminates with the Lantern Festival. Even though each day of the Lunar New Year has a special significance, each region has different stories and traditions related to that significance. For example, according to one Chinese creation story, different animals are celebrated depending on when they were created; thus, today is the birthday of all chickens. Others are celebrating the birthday of the water god and, therefore, will not wash their hair or their clothes on the first two days of the new year. Some Buddhist people celebrate the birth of Maitreya Buddha on the first day of the lunar new year and spend New Year’s Day, as well as several days leading up to the first day, chanting, praying, and/or meditating (depending on their beliefs). People will also light candles and make offerings at the temple before their feasting begins.
Even though there are some differences between regions and cultures in celebrations of the Lunar New Year, there are some common elements. The Lunar New Year celebrations generally include extended family coming together; the welcoming of ancestors and (in some households) the welcoming of household deities (like the water god); red clothes, red decorations, and red envelopes; fireworks, parades, and loud noises, a bit of feasting, and (of course), the wish, prayer, blessing, or shout for prosperity: “Cai Shen Dao! [The God of Wealth has come! in Mandarin]”
In 2025, the Spring Festival celebrations begin in the middle of Carnival season, which started on January 6th, and is the lead up to Mardi Gras (on March 4th), which is the raucous celebration before Lent for Western Christians.
Wednesday is also the eve of Navaratri (which means “nine nights” in Sanskrit) and is a celebration of divine feminine energy — specifically of Durga, the divine mother, in various manifestations. Navaratri occurs four times on the Hindu calendar. The one that begins on Thursday, Magha Navaratri, is one of the celebrations referred to as Gupta Navaratri meaning it is “hidden/secret” — not because no one knows about it, but because it is not as obvious as the bigger celebrations.
It is also not nearly as big as another great Hindu festival taking place at this same time.
MAHĀ — Great, mighty, powerful, lofty, noble.
KUMBH — Pitcher, jar, pot
MĒLĀ — Assembly, unite, join, meet, move together, junction
Today (Wednesday) is also one of the holiest and most auspicious days during the holiest of times in some Hindu traditions. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Maha Kumbh Mela (Mahā Kumbha Mēlā, in Sanskrit) is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, attracting hundreds of millions of people to one of four (4) locations for ceremonial or ritual bathing in sacred rivers. The multi-week gatherings coincide with the partial or full revolution of Jupiter and are considered particularly significant every 6, 12, and 144 years — with many believing that 2025 is a 144-year event. Additionally, there are six days that are considered particularly auspicious. (In 2025, those dates are January 13th, 14th, and 29th, plus February 3rd, 12th, and 26th). With this year (and Wednesday’s date) being considered so extraordinarily auspicious, hundreds of millions of people have been attending the Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela. Unfortunately, on Wednesday morning, the conflux of people resulted in the death of at least 30 people and the injury of at least 60 more people.
The pilgrimages take place in Prayagraj (at the Ganges-Yamuna-Sarasvati rivers confluence), Haridwar (at the Ganges River), Nashik-Trimbak (at the Godavari River), and Ujjain (at the Shipra River). There are smaller melas or fairs/festivals (on a 6-year cycle) at some of these locations and there are similar, smaller, gatherings in other regions. For instance, in Tamil Nadu there is a Magha Mela held in Kumbakonam (at the Mahamaham tank, near Kaveri River) every 12 years and, in 2022, there was also one in Bansberia (at Hooghly River) for the first time in 700 years.
“Finally, those who had waited began to move, making a formidable river of faith. Into Ganga’s liquid arms wave after wave of pilgrims ran, splashed and fell. To keep their spirits up they filled the air with the cries of ‘Ganga Mai ki Jai! (Victory to Mother Ganga!)’ There was thunder and lightning. It looked as though the Ganga was being joined by a fourth stream: the devout.”
— quoted from “3 Kumbha Mela: The Great Gathering” in The Ganges by Raghubir Singh
The primary maha, or “great”, kumbh melas only happen every 12 years at each location. Although there is a special rotation schedule — based on the alignment of Jupiter, the Sun, and the Moon, there has been an ongoing dispute between two of the locations, resulting in a Kumbh Mela taking place in two different locations in the same year or one year apart. Ironically, the story behind the gatherings also involves a dispute.
According to the legends, there was a disagreement between a short-tempered sage (Durvasa) and Indra (noted in this context as King of Heaven). The sage cursed all the devas (“bright or divine beings”), who lost their vitality, health, immortality, and prosperity. This curse meant that the devas found themselves on the losing end of battles against the power-hungry asuras. The only solution, the devas, were told, was a diplomatic agreement where the devas and asuras worked together to churn the primordial “Ocean of Milk” in order to obtain the nectar of immortality.
Long story short, the opposing sides agreed to work together. They threw herbs into the Ocean of Milk and moved Mount Mandara to the middle of the primordial ocean (as a churning rod); Vasuki (the half-snake, half human king) agreed to be the churning rod; and each side grabbed hold of their end of the snake. They quickly realized they needed more stability — because they mountain was sinking — and so Vishnu (an avatar of God) became Kurma, the tortoise whose shell gave them the necessary stability. It was still a long and laborious process; but, eventually, things started bubbling up. There was a poison, which Shive drank to save everyone, thereby developing a blue throat. Then more stuff bubbled up. While the descriptions of what came up varies depending on the source, they include:
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Chandra, the moon,
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parijata (night-blooming jasmine, which is sometimes called the “tree of sorrow”)
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the four-tusked elephant Airavata, Indra’s mount,
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Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty,
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Madira, the goddess of wine, who became Varuni, the wife of Varuna,
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Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree,
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the apsaras (celestial dancers),
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the celestial horse Uccaihshravas,
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Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, who became Vishnu’s wife,
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Panchajanya, Vishnu’s conch,
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Vishnu’s mace and magic bow, and
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various gems.
Finally, the last two treasures to bubble up were Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, holding the pot of amrita (nectar of “immortality”).
Of course, once they had the elixir of immortality, the two sides started another dispute. Again, I’m leaving out (and condensing) some bits and fast forwarding to the moment when the sacred rivers were created: either when the asuras stole the jug of nectar — or when Vishnu (in disguise) stole it back — and the kumbh cracked, dripping bits of amrita onto the Earth. Another popular version of the story indicates that the sacred rivers where formed when the jug split into four pieces. Yet another indicates that the kumbh was set down, four times, while the traveler rested during the long journey home. Keep in mind that the festivals themselves pre-date the (written) versions of these stories.
People believe that bathing in sacred rivers, especially at the appointed times, will cleanse them of their sins and past mistakes and prepare them for better days ahead. Others believe it will heal what ails them. Finally, some believe that by bathing in the sacred waters they can achieve moksha (ultimate “immortality”). These beliefs are very similar to water-based beliefs held in other religious traditions.
“The first to bathe are the sadhus. Thousands march in procession to the confluence…. Many were naked, their hair matted and their bodies smeared with ashes from burnt cowdung. These nagas (literally, ‘nakeds’) were an eerie sight in the January mist.”
“At each Kumbha, those aspiring to be nagas are initiated. The applicant can be from any caste or creed, but he should have lived nine years in the first degree of initiation as a brachmachari [sic] (one who has renounced earthly pleasures) and he should have fasted for twenty-four hours and then bathed in the Ganga during the Kumbha. Rituals are then performed in tents.”
— quoted from “3 Kumbha Mela: The Great Gathering” in The Ganges by Raghubir Singh
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Lunar New Year Day 1 & Kumbh Mela 16 2025”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes the video below that I serendipitously came across a couple of days ago. The Spotify playlist has an extra chant since the video is not available on that platform.
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).
### “Go and pray upon a mountain / Go and pray beside the ocean / And you’ll wash your spirit clean” ~ Walela (Jon Timothy Veazey) ###
EXCERPT: “What You Will See” January 5, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Changing Perspectives, Christmas, Faith, Healing Stories, Mantra, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, William Shakespeare, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 12 Days of Christmas, 988, Epiphanytide, New Year, Theophany, Twelfth Night, Twelvetide, William Shakespeare, Yoga Sutra 1.28, Yoga Sutras 1.32-1.39
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“Happy New Year!” to everyone. “Merry Christmastide/Twelvetide!” to anyone observing.
May you be safe and protected / May you be peaceful and happy / May you be healthy and strong!
“If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.”
— Fabian (a servant for the Countess Olivia) in Act III, scene iv of Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare
Click on the excerpt title below for more.
FTWMI: What You Will See
Please join me for a 65-minute for a (virtual or in-person) yoga practice today (Sunday, January 5th) at 2:30 PM. You must be registered and confirmed to attend in person. 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 “01052021 and Twelfth Night” or “01052021 aka Twelfth Night”]
“I’ll do my best”
— Viola (a twin in disguise) in Act I, scene iv of Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare
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.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
A Joyful Practice 