Dà shǔ “Major Heat” (the “missing” Sunday post) July 25, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Daoism, Faith, First Nations, Food, Healing Stories, Health, Life, Music, One Hoop, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Suffering, Taoism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tragedy, Yoga.Tags: "Major Heat", 988, Bhagavad Gita, Brigham Young, Chief Seattle, Dà shǔ, Dr. Gill, Efrem Korngold L.Ac. O.M.DS., Harriet Beinfield L.Ac., Intertribal Powwow, Jack Hawley, John Newton, Pie and Beer Day, Pioneer Day, tapas, 大暑
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Stay hydrated, y’all, and “may our hearts be open!”
This is the “missing” post for today, Sunday, July 24th. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“‘Consider purification, tapas, which literally means “to melt,” as in refining ore. The purpose of purification is not pain and penance, but to deliberately refine one’s life, to melt it down and recast it into a higher order of purity and spirituality. The goal is very important; it is not self-punishment but refinement – to shift from human existence into Divinity!
There are three main methods of purification: the refinement of one’s thoughts, words, and deeds – also called the purification, respectively, of one’s instruments of mind, speech, and body. When you modify these three you automatically change for the better.’”
– Krishna speaking to Arjuna (17.14) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
If you’re anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, I don’t have to tell you that it’s hot. Neither do I have to do much to bring your awareness to the heat – the great heat, the major heat. Since I use different calendars, I may talk about different things on this date. However, because it’s almost always really hot this time of year, no matter where you are in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m always aware of the heat – and that shows up in the practice.
For instance, in years past, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar has fallen around this time of year (on the Gregorian calendar). The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and, like other religious calendars, the names of the months (and days) have special significance. In this case, the ninth month is the holy month of Ramadān, which means “scorching heat” or “dryness,” and is one of the “99 Names of Allah (God)” or “99 Attributes of Allah (God).” It is a period of fasting and reflection – which, in the Yoga Philosophy, is a form of tapas (“heat,” “discipline,” and “austerity”). On the other hand, if we want to just stick with a yoga paradigm, Guru Purnima, which is based on the Hindu lunisolar calendar, fell on today’s Gregorian date in 2021. This celebration of teachers is also a celebration of light (in the form of wisdom/teachings) burning away darkness (e.g., ignorance).
I sometimes mention John Newton, the Anglican clergyman known for hymns like “Amazing Grace,” who was born in London on July 24, 1725. Newton’s life was full of hardship and trauma. His mother died just a couple of weeks before he turned seven years old, and then – after a couple of years at boarding school and a couple of years with his father and stepmother – he went to sea with his father. When he was 18 years old, he was pressed into the Royal Navy, but ended up being publicly punished after trying to desert. Eventually, he transferred to a slave ship – but, he didn’t have any better luck there and was himself enslaved by the time he was 20. After three years, he was rescued, but found himself in the middle of a terrible storm. Faced with the very real possibility of his own death, John Newton prayed and made a promise to God: if he survived, he would turn his life around. True to his word, he gave up drinking, gambling, and cursing. Later, he would also give up working within the slave trade and begin serious religious study. He spent years applying to be ordained by several different churches before being ordained and accepted by the Church of England.
“Family worship succeeding, the portion of the Scripture read had in it the following words, ‘By the Grace of God I am what I am,’ –– It was [John Newton’s] custom to make a short familiar exposition on the passage read. After the reading, he paused for some moments and then uttered the following affected words –– –I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient – I am not what I wish to be, I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good –– I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection –– yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge; by the grace of God I am what I am, Let us pray.”
– quoted from passage entitled “Anecdote of Mr. John Newton” by Dr. Gill, in the “Gleanings” section of The Religious Monitor, or, Evangelical Repository (March 1825)
Finally, July 24th is “Pioneer Day” in Utah and it marks the occasion, in 1847, when Brigham Young looked out of the back of a covered wagon and said, “It is enough. This is the Right Place.” Young was the successor of Joseph Smith, the founder of what is now known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and – before he was exiled from Illinois – Young had a vision of a place that these Mormon settlers could call home, a place where they would be free from religious persecution and conflict: “a place on this earth that nobody else wants.” 148 settlers followed Brigham Young west. Most reached the Great Salt Lake Valley, at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, a couple of days ahead of their leader, who was suffering from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
When the story of the Mormon pioneers has been the main focus of the practice, I have mentioned that some people in Salt Lake City spend today celebrating “Pie and Beer Day.” Some do so because they’re not part of the Church and it’s a funny little rhyme. Some do so because they feel this official holiday isn’t as inclusive as it (theoretically) could be. On that same note, there is an Intertribal Powwow on this date that celebrates indigenous culture and the contributions of Native Americans to Utah, as well as highlights the fact that there were, in fact, people who wanted the land. I mention all of this because I consider all of these viewpoints as an opportunity for svādhyāya (“self-study”), which is the niyama (internal “observation”) that directly follows the practice of tapas.
Similarly, I contemplate those religious pioneers that left New York, Illinois, and Missouri earlier (in 1846) and got trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains as they traveled to California. They got trapped and many – like in the case of the tragic Donner party of 18 – did not survive the extreme cold. But, when I talk about Brigham Young and those 148 pioneers, I think about the extreme heat. I have been to the east side of Salt Lake City, to This Is the Place Heritage Park – albeit in the winter; but I imagined what it would be like after traveling months on end and through so much heat. I thought about the religious fervor that carried people through the rocky terrain and I thought about what it might have been like for Brigham Young, sick, feverish, maybe delirious, and (even if he was experiencing chills) surrounded by major heat, great heat.
“The center of most ancient cultures, from China in the second century B.C. to the twentieth-century native America, was the earth. Human welfare was attached to the rains upon the soil, the wind of the heaves and pliable trees embedded in an abundant forest. Chief Seattle, in 1854, summed up this ancient view of how humanity stands in relation to the world” ‘This we know – the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood unites one family. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.'”
– quoted from “Chapter Three – Philosophy in the East: The Doctor As Gardener” in Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac. and Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., O. M. D.
The traditional Chinese calendar, also known as the Agricultural Calendar and the farming calendar, is a lunisolar calendar that is also the basis for many other cultural and religious calendars throughout East Asia. It breaks down into twelve lunar months and twenty-four solar terms. Each day, month, season, and year is based on an astronomical and/or natural phenomena. For instance, days begin and end at midnight; a month begins and ends with the new moon; and the Lunar New Year begins on the second (or third) new moon after the Winter Solstice. Each month of the Lunar Year is associated with an agricultural phenomena as well as with a zodiac animal. On the flip side, the solar year begins with the Winter Solstice and each of the twenty-four terms is based on the sun’s celestial longitude and associated with “pre-climate” and “mid-climate” experiences. (NOTE: This system also includes intercalary or “leap” months during some years.) According to the traditional Chinese calendar, the sixth pair of solar terms are Xiǎo shǔ (小暑, “slight heat”) and Dà shǔ (大暑, “great heat” or “major heat”). This year, the latter started on Friday night and continues through August 7, 2022.
Dà shǔ (大暑, “Great heat” or “Major heat”) is the twelfth solar term and the last part of summer. It is considered the hottest time of the year in most of China and Chinese news media have reported that this year is the hottest “great heat” in recorded history. Agriculturally speaking, it is believed that “crops grow most rapidly, fireflies appear, soil becomes more humid, and heavy thunderstorms arrive” during this solar term. As is true of other religious and cultural observations, people in different regions throughout East Asia have different rituals and traditions related to this time of year. However, one commonality is the focus on how heat affects the mind-body and what people can do to boost their health and longevity. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this time of year is focused on “clearing” heat and excessive dampness and stagnation from the body and “clearing” and nourishing the heart.
“Since everything is connected by the circle, health is understood broadly, defining the whole being within the social and natural order. What is good for nature is good for humanity, what is good for one is good for all, what is good for the mind is good for the body, and so on. To harm a part is to harm the whole. What is bad for the heart is bad for the body, what damages one person damages all people, what injures the earth injures me. Conversely, to restore and preserve the good health of one body and mind is to foster the well-being of the whole, the earth and all life upon it.”
– quoted from “Chapter Three – Philosophy in the East: The Doctor As Gardener” in Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac. and Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., O. M. D.
Like Ayurveda and Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) associates the vitality of the heart with the arms. The heart meridian (YIN) begins at the inside of the armpit and runs along the front inside edge of the arm to the pinky finger. It is paired with the small intestine meridian (YANG), which runs along the back inside edge of the arm, starting with the pinky finger, zigzagging across the shoulder and the up the side of the neck to the outer corner of the eye (just in front of the ear). These meridians are associated with fire, summer, mid-day (which is sometimes the hottest part of the day), red (with a little hint of blue), and joy (when in-balance versus anxiety when out-of-balance). Additionally, this time of year is associated with the “yang within yin” (you can think of it as action within the inaction) – a reminder that each energy type illustrated in the Yin-Yang symbol includes the opposite energy.
A common TCM practice is to “treat winter disease in the summer,” which is really about taking preventative measures against ailments like bronchitis, bronchial asthma, nasal/sinus allergies, and other cold weather ailments – all ailments related to the lungs, the meridians of which (along with large intestines meridian) are also located in the arms. Preventative care may include a customized herbal treatment, acupuncture, and/or a treatment whereby herbal patches are placed on specific meridian points. Being mindful of what we eat and drink is another way people take care of their mind-body vitality. Along with a lot of other traditional (and modern) medicines, TCM practitioners recommend eating light and staying hydrated during extreme heat. Specific to Dà shǔ (大暑, “Great heat” or “Major heat”), people avoid spicy food, oily food, and heavy meals – as well as (extremely) cold meals and raw food. There is also an emphasis on getting enough rest, not overexerting one’s self (say, with strenuous exercise), and not spending a lot of time outside in the heat.
“The key is to achieve balance, which means being flexible, diverse, moderate, and in harmony with your own rhythm and needs. Chinese medicine makes use of acupuncture, herbs, diet, physical exercise, massage, mental discipline, and the modification of life-style habits as forms of therapy to reestablish the rhythmic swing of the Yin-Yang pendulum.”
– quoted from the “Everyday Life” section of “Chapter Four – Cycles of Circles: A Theory of Relativity Yin-Yang” in Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac. and Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., O. M. D.
As I mentioned before, different regions have different traditions and rituals related to Dà shǔ (大暑, “Great heat” or “Major heat”). In Guangdong province, people eat herb jelly, which is made of “divine grass.” Also known as “immortal grass,” this flowering plant is part of the lamiaceae or labiatae family of plants, which includes basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lavender, and perilla, as well as conventionally identified medicinal herbs like catnip, salvia, bee balm, wild dagga, and “Chinese motherwort.” In Taiwan, this is the best time to eat pineapple. In at least one part of the Fujian province, people may make mizao from fermented and pickled rice (often cooked with brown sugar) and consume it to revitalize any energy sapped by the heat. They may also drink warm mutton soup – made from “summer mutton” – and litchis that have been soaked in cold water. In Hunan province, people may eat a spring chicken in order to harness the power of youth.
Finally, in Zhejiang province, one of the highlights of the festival is a “Great Heat Boat,” which is giant boat filled with offerings made in hopes of a good harvest, a good catch, and a happy life. Fishermen carry the boat during a parade that leads to the sea, where the ship is cast off and then set afire. Like many other festivals in China, this one includes firecrackers (to ward off the bad luck) and blessings (to cultivate the good luck).
“Eastern Philosophy is based on the premise that all life occurs within the circle of nature. Things within this matrix are connected and mutually dependent upon each other. Nature is one unified system, the Tao with polar and complementary aspects: Yin and Yang. Nature is in constant motion, following cyclic patterns that describe the process of transformation. When the elements of nature are in balance, life is harmonic and flourishes. When the balance of polar forces is upset, disaster looms.”
– quoted from “Chapter Three – Philosophy in the East: The Doctor As Gardener” in Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine by Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac. and Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., O. M. D.
Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08222021 Fire Thread”]
Extreme heat can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, it can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can call 988 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.
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.)
### H2O ###
Reflecting, III: Questioning, with (and on) the Mind’s Awareness (mostly the music) July 23, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: Christopher Isherwood, gunas, prakiti, purusha, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Swami Prabhavananda, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.10, Yoga Sutra 2.26, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.20-2.21, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
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“Every combination of individuals or forces in this world has to have a purpose for its action or existence; otherwise it would be just a meaningless, functionless collection of objects, brought together haphazardly. And this purpose must be external to itself. A congress or parliament would be just a collection of noisy individuals in a room, if it did not have the purpose of legislating for a community. A house is just a pile of materials until an owner comes to inhabit and enjoy it. So with the mind—that yelling parliament of conflicting interests and desires. It is nothing but a madhouse, until it is ‘called to order.’ It can only become purposive by the external will of the Atman.”
– quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (4:24), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 23rd) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
“But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at once into a mere illustration and fable of this mind. What am I? and What is? asks the human spirit with a curiosity new-kindled, but never to be quenched.”
– quoted from the 1838 “Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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.)
### “intelR insideTM” ###
In Times of Darkness / Just Reach Out July 20, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: avidyā, Carlos Santana, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, klishtaklishta, Mathew 7:3, reproductive rights, Rosemary Kennedy, Santana, Special Olympics
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“Let’s work together
In harmony
Let’s build a better world
No suffering
And in times of darkness
Just reach out
‘Cause there is a promise
It won’t be denied
Let there be light
Let there be joy
Let there be love
And understanding
Let there be peace
Throughout the land.”
– quoted from the song “Let There Be Light” by Carlos Santana (b. 1947)
As I mentioned during yesterday’s practice, some (off the mat) invitations to practice and to turn inward, are stressful, awkward, and horrible. I specifically referenced moments when we (or anyone) is being called out for being racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, Islamophobic, xenophobic, ageist, and/or ableist. So, some might argue that such invitations are always stressful, awkward, and horrible. This is especially true, as I mentioned, when we don’t even recognize that we are blowing the proverbial dog-whistle we inherited from our ancestors.
Yet, as I also mentioned, accepting such invitations creates the opportunity to make real change. The thing I did not explicitly say is that the idea of making “real change” is a euphemism and is itself a kind of dog-whistle. Because, when we talk about making “real change” in a societal sense, we are assuming that everyone understands that we mean “positive” change and that everyone has the same understanding of what “positive” means. Such assumptions, however, are part of our avidyā (“ignorance”), which is an afflicted/dysfunctional thought pattern that leads to suffering.
Because we don’t all see the world – or each other – the same way, we do not recognize the same problems and/or the same solutions to such problems. A perfect example of that is the current issue around choice and abortion – which, let’s be clear, is really an issue about privacy and reproductive rights. Even if you consider yourself “pro-life,” your ideas on this issue are based upon your beliefs about what is private vs public and where that line is drawn when it comes to reproduction.
I am very aware, that just reading such statements pushed some people’s buttons and gotten people hooked. I am also aware that my next statement will push some more buttons and start reeling people in. Because, when you wade into the debate about privacy and reproduction, you also wade into the debate about life outside of the womb. And, more and more, we are seeing that we don’t all see this issue the same way. More and more, the conversations coming up today are the same conversations that Pearl S. Buck started having in 1949 and that the Kennedy family started having in the early 1900’s. When we really look back at those earlier conversations, we start to recognize the dog-whistles, we start to recognize the changes that take us backwards, and we can start considering how we move forward in a way that is more functional (and that makes for a more functional society).
Since Carlos Santana was born today in 1947, and the first Special Olympics Games were held today in 1968, today’s practice is about raising awareness around one of the “-isms” many overlook and about using the hook to get “unhooked.”
Click here to read the 2021 post about Carlos Santana and how his music fits into this practice.
Please join me today (Wednesday, July 20th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07202021 Using the Hook”]
“Like diabetes, deafness, polio or any other misfortune, [intellectual disabilities] can happen in any family. It has happened in the families of the poor and the rich, of governors, senators, Nobel prizewinners, doctors, lawyers, writers, men of genius, presidents of corporations – the President of the United States.”
– quoted from a September 22, 1962 article by Eunice Kennedy Shriver printed in The Saturday Evening Post
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.)
### Is This The Plank In Your Eye? (Cause It’s Definitely The Sawdust In Mine!) ###
Still Getting (Un)Hooked, After All These Years July 19, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Pema Chodron, Philosophy, Suffering, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Alfred Dreyfus, Dreyfus Affair, Emile Zola, J'Accuse!, PRIDE, shenpa
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“Shenpa thrives on the underlying insecurity of living in a world that is always changing.”
– quoted from “How We Get Hooked and How We Get Unhooked” by Pema Chödrön (published by Lion’s Roar, 12/26/2017)
A random short appeared in my YouTube queue. It was only about 60 seconds, from a channel I have never watched nor followed, and I’ll admit that I got “hooked” within a few seconds. Remember, “hook” is one way the American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön translates the Tibetan word shenpa. It can also be translated as “urge, impulse, charge, or attachment.” It is the first sign that someone has pushed your buttons and activated your sympathetic nervous system, which makes you want to fight, flee, or freeze/collapse. While her teachings related to shenpa and the four R’s (which are a way to get unhooked), are often connected to negative button-pushing, we would be mindful to note that the ability to be hooked is ego-related and, therefore, is also connected to positive things.
The lure is the pretty or shiny thing that draws us in so that we can get hooked. There’s nothing wrong in feeling a sense of pride in your work, your appearance, and/or your child. Part of the practice, however, is being mindful of the fact that that pride is a button that can be pushed. And this is where I first got hooked by the short video, because the content creator was highlighting their hard work. That hard work and (let’s call it) artistry was what caught my attention. But, that’s not the point of this post – neither, in some ways, was it the point of the video.
You see, the people in the video had been accused of something. They had been publicly accused, by someone who doesn’t know them, of something that, in some ways, is not inherently a bad thing. Although I personally think that not acknowledging the thing can be detrimental, I also understand that everyone is not in position to see the thing: privilege.
Yes, they had been accused of having privilege. It’s something we all have to a certain degree; however, it is also something that people are starting to understand in a different way than perhaps they understood it in the past. Hence it becoming a point of accusation. To be clear, being accused of having (and using your) privilege is not even close to the same thing as being accused of murder or treason or conspiracy to commit either, it is a hot button. It is something that results in shenpa and, therefore, creates some of the same feelings and reactions. So, it was interesting (but not surprising) that the content creators were quick to defend themselves. It was also interesting that the way they went about defending themselves, ultimately, proved the accusers’ point (to a lot of people). Equally interesting is that, for every person pointing out that their accusers were correct, there was someone vehemently defending the content creator. That’s the thing about public accusations; they lead to public shenpa. They can also lead to public awareness and public action.
Today’s practice highlights public accusations, as well as the resulting public shenpa and public awareness and action. While we can see the parallels to events happening today, these events took place in France in 1898.
As I noted in 2020: “We are living in a time when a lot of people are getting “hooked” by a large number of things. One thing in particular that stands out is people experiencing shenpa because of loud, public, and blunt accusations. The accusations are all related to what in the yoga philosophy would be called avidyā (ignorance) and all four of the other afflicted or dysfunctional thought patterns. The loudest of the accusations comes in the form of one of several words: racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, Islamaphobic, or xenophobic. And, let’s be honest, if someone uses the right “mean” word, they don’t have to do it loudly (or publicly) for the accused to feel the bite of the hook. Furthermore, this shenpa-related reaction is so prevalent right now that we don’t have to turn on the news, read about it, or look online to see someone experiencing this particular form of suffering: all we have to do is look in the mirror.” Click here to read more about shenpa and Émile Zola, who fled France today in 1898.
Please join me today (Tuesday, July 19th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07192020 Compassion & Peace, J’Accuse!”]
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.)
“As they have dared, so shall I dare. Dare to tell the truth, as I have pledged to tell it, in full, since the normal channels of justice have failed to do so. My duty is to speak out; I do not wish to be an accomplice in this travesty. My nights would otherwise be haunted by the spectre of the innocent man, far away, suffering the most horrible of tortures for a crime he did not commit.”
– from “J’Accuse” by Emile Zola, published in L’Aurore on January 13, 1898
### RRRR(R) ###
Reflecting, II: Seeing with the Mind’s Awareness (mostly the music) July 16, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Healing Stories, Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: gunas, Manhattan Project, prakiti, purusha, Tony Kushner, Watergate, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.10, Yoga Sutra 2.26, Yoga Sutra 4.21, Yoga Sutra 4.22, Yoga Sutra 4.23, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.20
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“If you have value as an artist it’s probably going to be in your capacity to let things inside you get past things that are placed there to keep you from telling the truth. The more you see things as clearly and coldly as you can, the more value you’re going to have.”
– Anthony Robert “Tony” Kushner (b. 07/16/1956)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 16th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07112020 An Introduction”]
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
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FTWMI: Introducing….You July 11, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Life, Movies, Philosophy, William Shakespeare, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 8-Limbs, Bob Minzesheimer, Charlotte's Web, Cicero, Diogenes, E. B. White, Jhumpa Lahiri, Minke, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Nikolai Gogol, Pope John II, Rynx, samskāras, Socrates, svadyaya, Teresa Wiltz, The Elements of Style, The Namesake, Ursula Nordstrom, William Strunk Jr., yoga philosophy, yoga practice, Yoga Sutra, Yoga Sutra 2.28
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The following was originally posted in July of 2021. Class details have been updated.
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.)
“Saepe est etiam sub pallĭolo sordĭdo sapientia.
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[English translation: Wisdom often is under a filthy cloak.]”
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– Latin proverb (associated with Socrates, Diogenes, and Cicero)
Imagine, for a moment, that you are meeting someone for the first time. It is also the very first time you’ve seen them – and maybe you are meeting them in a cold place during winter or a rainy place during the rainy season. Either way, you are both wearing overcoats. You’re also both of a certain age, whatever that means to you at this moment. So, you’re meeting not at the beginning of your stories but in the middle, maybe even at the end.
We may not think about it, but this is how we most often meet – in the middle of our stories and without being able to see what’s inside.
We exchange names and, if we know someone else with said name, we start seeing this new person through the layers and layers of previously formed ideas, impressions, and opinions. That’s just the way the mind-body works. If, however, we are each the first person either of us has met with said names, we start forming ideas, impressions, and opinions about a person with said name. That’s just the way the mind-body works.
We may not even be consciously aware of it, but there it is. Our first sense of someone is based on an overcoat, samskaras (mental impressions), whatever is happening in the middle of the story, and a name – that may or may not be their given name (or, under certain circumstances, may or may not be the name by which most people know them). The overcoat in this case is, literally, an article of clothing – and also all the external factors like the samskaras, the name, and anything else we may know or assume based on the situation (like occupation, vocation, race, ethnicity, gender, and age range).
Over time, the overcoat comes off, literally and figuratively. We make more mental impressions, maybe we learn another name, and as we move through the rest of the story we also learn (in a backwards sense) about the beginning of a person’s story: why they are the way they are; think and do the things they think and do. Over time, we go deeper.
“Pleased to meet you
But I’m quick to judge
I hope you drop the grudge
I know I’m not what you want from me”
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– quoted from the song “Pleased to Meet You” by Rynx (featuring Minke)
Every practice is an opportunity to introduce (or reintroduce) you to yourself. Every pose, every sequence, allows you to remove the layers and layers of overcoats until you reach the heart and core of who you are. That’s svādhyāya, “self-study.”
Sometimes, I also use the practice to introduce (or reintroduce) people to different philosophical aspects of the practice – as I did this time last year – and/or to various rituals and traditions. I also use the practice to introduce (or reintroduce) people to some of my favorite people. People like two writers who share a birthday and, obviously, an occupation. Both of these writers just happen to be Pulitzer Prize winners; have ties to The New Yorker magazine; and are mostly recognized by (first) names that are not on their passports and birth certificates.
Remember, their names are part of their overcoats.
Elwyn Brooks White was born July 11, 1899, in Mount Vernon, New York. Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri was born July 11, 1967, in London, England. While very different in some ways, their books prove that anyone can be the hero (or heroine) of a great story; that situations we’ve never personally encountered can be highly relatable when related by a good storyteller; and that fiction (like yoga) can be a great way to process difficult emotions.
“That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”
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– quoted from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
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“Place yourself in the background; do not explain too much; prefer the standard to the offbeat.”
– quoted from “An Approach to style” by E. B. White published in The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
Even though most readers know him by his initials, E. B. White was known to friends and professional colleagues as “Andy.” Ostensibly, the nickname came about because of a tradition at Cornell University whereby students with the last name “White” are renamed after the university’s co-founder Andrew Dickson White.
Jhumpa Lahiri’s birth name is not known to many of her readers – and for a similar reason: her name was also “changed” at school. However, in her case, the change came because her name was unfamiliar (rather than so familiar). Dr. Lahiri’s parents migrated from West Bengal, India to the United Kingdom. When the author was three, the family migrated to Kingston, Rhode Island – where at least one teacher was unfamiliar Bengali names and unwilling to learn how to pronounce them. According to an August 19, 2003, USA Today article by Bob Minzesheimer, “[A kindergarten teacher] said something like ‘That’s kind of a long name’ and decided it was easier to pronounce ‘Jhumpa’” – her nickname.
Remember, names are part of our overcoats. What we call each other makes a difference in how we see and understand each other.
“SOME PIG”
“TERRIFIC”
“RADIANT”
“HUMBLE”
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– quoted from the messages in the web in Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White (illustrated by Garth Williams)
When Charlotte (the spider) comes up with her plan to save Wilbur, she says, “Why, how perfectly simple.” She then goes on to use her experience (as a master weaver) to introduce (and reintroduce) her friend (the pig) in a way that makes him more valuable alive, rather than dead. Her plan is, in fact, perfectly simple: write what you know… and change the overcoat. Even through their details are different, the stories written by both E. B. White and Jhumpa Lahiri are about their own personal experiences… and what happens when we get underneath the outer layers.
E. B. White is remembered as the author of beloved (and sometimes banned) children’s books like Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web, but he started off as a journalist. He also worked for an advertising agency (and in some non-literary jobs) before submitting manuscripts for the then newly-founded The New Yorker. He eventually became a writer and contributing editor for the magazine. It was during his tenure at The New Yorker that he got a blast from his (Cornell University) past when he was asked to update work by one of his former professors.
The Elements of Style (sometimes called White & Strunk’s Elements of Style) was originally composed and self-published by William Strunk Jr. for his English students at Cornell University. It contained what Dr. Strunk Jr. considered the fundamentals: “Seven rules of usage, eleven principles of composition, a few matters of form, and a list of words and expressions commonly misused [and/or misspelled]….” When it was published by Harcourt, Brace & Howe in 1920, it included eight “elementary rules of usage,” ten “elementary principles of composition,” “a few matters of form,” a list of 49 “words and expressions commonly misused,” and a list of 57 “words often misspelled.” In the late 1950’s, Macmillan Publishers commissioned Mr. White to expand and modernize “the little book” (partially based on a 1935 edition by William Strunk Jr. and Edward A. Tenney). Since its 1959 publication, White & Strunk’s Elements of Style has been reprinted three times, illustrated, and served as the inspiration for an opera and a comprehensive history.
Mr. White won a Newberry Award, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal, a Presidential Freedom Award, a Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, a National Medal for Literature, and a L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award. He was also awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for Letters, an award that actually recognized all of his work. In 2004, the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) even established an award in his honor for books that “embodied the universal read aloud standards that were created by [his work].” You might think all of those accolades meant that Mr. White always followed his own advice. But, let’s be real: talking farm animals, airplane-flying mice, and Public Relations specialists who just happen to be spiders wasn’t very standard in 1945 and 1952.
“No, I have never encountered any story plot like Charlotte’s Web. I do not believe that any other writer has ever told about a spider writing words in its web. Perhaps I should ask some of the children’s book ladies who go back even further in time than I do, but I am sure nothing even remotely like this has been written.”
– quoted from a letter addressed to “Andy” (E. B. White), from Ursula Nordstrom, Harper & Row publisher and editor-in-chief, Department of Books for Boys and Girls (dated April 2, 1952, as it appears in Dear Genuis: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom)
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“It used to be clear to me, slopping a pig, that as far as the pig was concerned I could not be counted on, and this, as I say, troubled me. Anyway, the theme of “Charlotte’s Web” is that a pig shall be saved, and I have an idea that somewhere deep inside me there was a wish to that effect.
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As for Charlotte herself, I had never paid much attention to spiders until a few years ago…. Spiders are skilful [sic], amusing and useful, and only in rare instances has anybody ever come to grief because of a spider.”
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“I haven’t told why I wrote the book, but I haven’t told you why I sneeze, either. A book is a sneeze”.
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– quoted from a letter addressed to Ursula Nordstrom, Harper & Row publisher and editor-in-chief (Department of Books for Boys and Girls), from E. B. White (dated September 29, 1952)
The January 1948 issue of The Atlantic contained an essay by E. B. White entitled, “Death of a Pig,” which described the short life and “premature expiration of a pig” – as well as the burial and how the whole community mourned the occasion. In the essay, Mr. White said, “I have written this account in penitence and in grief, as a man who failed to raise his pig, and to explain my deviation from the classic course of so many raised pigs.“ While there is no mention of a spider in the essay – and he doesn’t specifically mention a pig dying in his September 29, 1952 letter to Ursula Nordstrom, his publisher / editor – many believed that the essay wasn’t enough and that he felt the need to write more in order to express his sorrow and regret, to process his feelings about his experiences. On the other hand, it doesn’t take a letter to an editor (or a fan) to see how Jhumpa Lahiri has also used fiction to process personal experiences.
“In Bengali the word for pet name is daknam, meaning, literally, the name by which one is called, by friends, family, and other intimates, at home and in other private, unguarded moments. Pet names are a persistent remnant of childhood, a reminder that life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated. They are a reminder, too, that one is not all things to all people.”
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– quoted from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Despite having conflicted feelings associated with her name and schooling, Jhumpa Lahiri went on to earn a B. A. in English literature from Barnard College of Columbia University and four degrees from Boston University. A few years after completing her doctorial thesis, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies became the seventh collection of short stories (in 82 years) to win the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. (There have now been only nine collections to win the award in over 100 years.) Several years after her award-winning debut, The New Yorker published her short story entitled, “The Namesake.” It was the story of a Bengali boy living in a strange land with a strange name.
The story became a book and then a movie and, in the process, “Jhumpa Lahiri” became a household name.
In addition to winning a Pulitzer Prize, Jhumpa Lahiri’s accolades include a PEN/Hemingway Award, a Frank O’Connor International Story, and the National Humanities Award. She has also been a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction. Her second collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, debuted at number one on The New York Times best seller list – an achievement one book editor associated with her “newfound commercial clout,” but an achievement (I would humbly suggests) actually rests on the beauty and clarity of her storytelling. As one critic put it, “There is nothing accidental about her success; her plots are as elegantly constructed as a fine proof in mathematics.”
Unaccustomed Earth was also named number one by the editors of The New York Times Book Review’s “10 Best Books of 2008.” Perhaps, even more telling is the fact that when the collection won the Frank O’Connor International Story award that same year, there was no shortlist because, as reported by The Guardian on July 4, 2008, “The jurors decided that Unaccustomed Earth was so plainly the best book that they would jump straight from longlist to winner….” The Frank O’Connor award was one of the world’s richest awards for short story collections and normally had a longlist of approximately 60 books and a short list of three or four.
“In so many ways, his family’s life feels like a string of accidents, unforeseen, unintended, one incident begetting another…They were things for which it was impossible to prepare but which one spent a lifetime looking back at, trying to accept, interpret, comprehend. Things that should never have happened, that seemed out of place and wrong, these were what prevailed, what endured, in the end.”
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― quoted from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri is a polyglot who speaks Bengali, English, and Italian. She, undoubtedly, also understands a little bit of Spanish (and maybe Greek). Not only has she written and translated work in (and out) of all three of the languages she speaks, in 2015 she wrote an essay for The New Yorker stating that she was now only writing in Italian. Since 2015, she has published two books in Italian and edited and translated at least two collections of work by Italian writers.
Dr. Lahiri’s love of language is obvious not only in the languages she speaks and writes, but also in the connections that she makes through her writing. Both The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth have ties to two of her literary predecessors: Nikolai Gogol and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Some people might be confused by her success with the “masses,” because she is so clearly erudite. However, above and beyond anything else, what a reader finds in Jhumpa Lahiri’s books are regular, everyday people navigating the spaces between two worlds and two identities – just like she does. (Just like E. B. White’s characters do.)
“Writing was also an escape [for Jhumpa Lahiri]. Growing up brown and ‘foreign’ in a town where white was the predominant theme had its challenges. There was the persistent feeling of other, not American enough, not Indian enough, of constantly straddling fences, stretching identities. She is amused, and slightly annoyed, by Indians who immigrate to the United States and eagerly embrace a Caucasian identity, excitedly reporting to their Indian friends that they’d moved into an all-white neighborhood, where there were no blacks. Thanks to her parents — her mother would often retort to these friends, ‘What do you think you are?’ — she said, ‘I was never into any sort of denial.’”
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– quoted from The Washington Post article entitled, “The Writer Who Began with a Hyphen” by Teresa Wiltz (dated October 8, 2003)
Please join me today (Monday, July 11th) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom. 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.
There is no playlist for the Common Ground practice.
The previously used playlist for this practice is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07112020 An Introduction”]
”His family name was Bashmachkin. It is evident from the name, that it originated in bashmak (shoe); but when, at what time, and in what manner, is not known. His father and grandfather, and even his brother-in-law, and all the Bashmachkins, always wore boots, and only had new heels two or three times a year. His name was Akakii Akakievich. It may strike the reader as rather singular and far-fetched; but he may feel assured that it was by no means far-fetched, and that the circumstances were such that it would have been impossible to give him any other name; and this was how it came about.”
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– quoted from “The Overcoat” (as it appears in The Overcoat & Other Short Stories, Dover Thrift Editions) by Nikolai Gogol (story translation by Isabel F. Hapgood)
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[The 2020 post for July 11th is linked above. Here’s different post related to the naming of things.]
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### “Juliet: ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;” WS ###
Reflecting: Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness (mostly the music) July 9, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: Dr. Gerald Edelman, Dr. Oliver Sacks, gunas, Marcel Proust, prakiti, purusha, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.21, Yoga Sutra 4.22, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.20
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“‘Every act of perception,’ [Dr. Gerald] Edelman writes, ‘is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.’”
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“Many composers, indeed, do not compose initially or entirely at an instrument but in their minds. There is no more extraordinary example of this than Beethoven, who continued to compose (and whose compositions rose to greater and greater heights) years after he had become totally deaf. It is possible that his musical imagery was even intensified by deafness…. There is an analogous phenomenon in those who lose their sight; some people who become blind may have, paradoxically, heightened visually imagery.”
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– quoted from Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks (b. 07/09/1933)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 9th) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”
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– quoted from The Captive, Volume 5 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust (b. 07/10/1871)
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.)
ERRATA (That is also a correction): Corrected the date of Marcel Proust’s birthday.
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Suhrit-prapti with a Bodhisattva* (mostly the music and links) July 6, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Hope, Life, Love, Music, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Wisdom, Yoga.Tags: bodhisattva, Dalai Lama, siddhis, Tenzin Gyatso
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“The whole world naturally seeks peace, and peace is rooted in having a good heart.”
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“I believe we can combine our traditional [Tibetan] understanding of the mind and modern science to show how to cultivate love and compassion and achieve peace of mind. We all want to be happy and fundamental to that is having a good heart.”
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– quoted from the speech to the 8th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet (in Washington, D. C., June 22-23, 2022) by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama
Please join me today (Wednesday, July 6th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07062021 HHDL Big Day”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes the Dalai Lama’s 2021 birthday message. Since it was not available on Spotify, I substituted a prayer.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama turns 87 today! See message link above for his 2021 birthday gift to the world, in which he reaffirmed his commitment to “serving humanity and climate condition.” *Click here to read more about Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, who is considered a bodhisattva (enlightened being) and/or click here to see how his thoughts on suhrit-prapti (“the ability to cultivate a good heart; obtain friends”) fit with the Yoga Philosophy (and a little role playing).
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.)
Errata: An unfortunate typo has been corrected.
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FTWMI: Free to Be You (and Me?) What About Them? July 4, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Books, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Hope, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Yoga.Tags: Abigail Adams, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Fourth of July, Frederick Douglass, freedom, independence, John Adams, July 4th, Martin Luther King Jr, Medgar Evers, Second Continental Congress, Thomas Paine
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Happy 4th, for those who are celebrating!
The following was originally posted today in 2021. Class details have been updated. As there are even more elephants “in the room” than the ones I referenced below, I can’t promise that tonight will be a celebration. It will, however, be an opportunity for contemplation.
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.)
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
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– quoted from “The Declaration of Independence” drafted by the Committee of Five and (eventually) signed by delegates of the Second Continental Congress
In the United States, a lot of people – one might even argue, most people – are celebrating the Fourth of July, Independence Day. They would have taken the day off from work (if it wasn’t already the weekend) and many will have Monday off. Since Covid-19 numbers are going down in most of the country, people are celebrating with picnics, get-togethers, parades, concerts, and – even when they’ve been advised against it – fireworks and gunshots in the air.
That’s how we do it in America. Right?
And, we have the freedom to do that. Right?
Except, such assumptions leave out the millions of Americas working today. Some (like me, as well as musicians and other performers, theatrical technicians, and a handful of pyrotechnics professionals) choose to work today and may even be excited to work today. Others, millions and millions of others, don’t have a choice. They work because they lack the financial freedom and/or they work in order for the rest of us to celebrate, freely.
In that last category are all the essential workers like people in healthcare, first responders, grocery workers, delivery people, and people in various forms of journalism – all the people who have kept us going over the last year-plus. Some of them are also in that penultimate category (just as are some in the first category).
And, since I’m being extra real here, the people who serve(d) in the military and their families sometimes fall in all three categories.
One of the questions I have today is: Do you picture these people when you think of what it means to be American? Do you give thanks for these people when you celebrate your freedom (assuming you feel free)? Has/Does your understanding of freedom, independence, “liberty and justice” for all change when you picture, express gratitude for, and even celebrate some of the people above?
Or, since I snuck it in there, do you think of those people when you say the Pledge of Allegiance?
“…Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?
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“…such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn….”
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– quoted from the “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech by Frederick Douglass (July 5, 1852)
The Fourth of July, as a day of pomp and circumstance, is always slightly ironic to me, because it is simply a publishing date. Granted, it’s not the only publishing date I celebrate. While at least one of the documents I mention over the years is much more inclusive than the Declaration of Independence, it is not widely celebrated in the United States.
I know, I know, there are some people thinking, “Hold up a minute, the Declaration of Independence is inclusive.” To which, I would respond (as anyone familiar with the documents history would respond) that it was, actually, intentionally exclusive. However, it was also designed to be adjusted to, theoretically, become more inclusive – hence the amendments and the ability of the three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial) to add-on. However, the rights, provisions, and promise of this nation still aren’t extended equally to all citizens or to all within the nation’s borders. It’s not a perfect system, nor is it a perfect union.
Although, one could argue that despite – or because of – current events it is still “a more perfect Union.”
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.
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I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
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You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”
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– quoted from a letter John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams, with the heading “Philadelphia July 3d, 1776”
Going back to my reference to essential workers, service people, and all of their families; today’s practice is a celebration, but it is also a reminder. It is a reminder that, just as Medgar Evers said in 1963, “freedom is never free.” It is a reminder, just as Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young sang in 1971, that you can “find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground” – and, sometimes, behind bars (or sitting on the bench).
It is also a reminder that stresses the importance, as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. did during the commencement speech he gave at Oberlin College on June 14, 1965, of “remaining awake through” challenging and changing times. Some people think of pandemic and the events of the last year-plus as a wake-up call.
But, let’s be real. Some people are hitting snooze and going back to normal, I mean sleep. The thing we must remember about the events of 1776 is that when it comes to freedom, independence, “liberty and justice,” we all truly have it… or some of us are ignoring the elephant in the room.
“All I’m saying is simply this: that all mankind is tied together; all life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be – this is the interrelated structure of reality.”
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– quoted from the Oberlin College commencement speech entitled, “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. (June 14, 1965)
Please join me today (Monday, the 4th of July) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom. 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.
There is no playlist for the Common Ground practice.
A playlist for this date is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “4th of July 2020”]
NOTE: This playlist has been remixed since last year. It is still slightly different on each platform, but mostly with regard to the before/after class music. The biggest difference is that the videos from the 2020 blog post do not appear on Spotify.
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“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”
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– quoted from the “Introduction” to Common Sense, signed by the “Author” (Thomas Paine, known as “The Father of the American Revolution”) and dated “Philadelphia, February 14, 1776
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### LET FREEDOM RING (by lifting the bell & ringing it) ###
The Source of the Reflection (mostly the music w/some links) July 2, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: gunas, prakiti, purusha, samskāras, T. K. V. Desikachar, Thurgood Marshall, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.21, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.20
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“The mind can of course influence the perception of an object. This object has an independent existence apart from the source of perception. If we insist on the concept of the mind from moment to moment being the source, the means, and the object of perception, we face problems in comprehending the possibility of one person remembering what he saw in the past, sharing what he has seen, and reconciling the fact that one object seen by one person is not necessarily seen by another or in the same way.”
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— quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 4.21 in The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T. K. V. Desikachar
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 2nd) at 12:00 PM. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
NOTE: The Spotify track has been updated.
“What’s at stake here is more than the rights of my client. It’s the moral commitment stated in our country’s creed.”
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– Thurgood Marshall (b. 7/2/1908), NAACP attorney for plaintiff in Murray v. Pearson, 169 Md. 478, 182 A. 590 (1936)
We could reflect on today as it is related to1776, 1839, or 1908.
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 Joyful Practice 