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“Bah Humbug!” & Other SAD Sayings (just the music) December 19, 2020

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Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, December 19th) at 12:00 PM. As I mentioned last week, this practice will be āsana-light. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. 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.

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

### 🎶 ###

The Light’s Side (the very late “missing” post) December 17, 2020

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[“Happy Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May you shine bright!]

[This is the post for Wednesday, December 16th. You can request an audio recording of Wednesday’s 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.)]

“‘Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.’

‘But how shall we prove anything?’

‘We never shall. We never can expect to prove anything upon such a point. It is a difference of opinion which does not admit of proof. We each begin probably with a little bias towards our own sex, and upon that bias build every circumstance in favour of it which has occurred within our own circle….’”

– quoted from a conversation between Anne Elliot (27, unmarried) and Captain Harville (a married friend of Anne’s 31-year old suitor) in Persuasion by Jane Austen

“In my life I have found two things of priceless worth – learning and loving. Nothing else – not fame, not power, not achievement for its own sake – can possible have the same lasting value. For when your life is over, if you can say ‘I have learned’ and ‘I have loved,’ you will also be able to say ‘I have been happy.”

– quoted from Rama II: The Sequel to Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee

Given the details of their lives, it’s not surprising that Jane Austen and Arthur C. Clarke wrote in very different genres. In fact, most people wouldn’t automatically think of them in the same context – despite the fact that they were both British authors born on the same day (albeit 142 years and 124 miles hours apart). On the surface, they might seem to have little in common…. But what happens when you look beneath the surface?

Born today (Dec. 16th) in 1775 (in Steventon, Hampshire, England), Ms. Austen is one of the most well known (and most popular) 19th century authors. Her novels – like Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion (one of 2 finished novels published after her death), Emma, and the unfinished Sanditon focused on life and love – and how the two worked, or not, in time/place where both were dependent on finances. I think of her novels as the epitome of “parlour” books: full of manners, expectations, flirtations, innuendo, and social commentary. Even outside of her (appropriately titled) first novel, there is constantly internal and external conflict between “Sense” (defined as good judgment, wisdom, and prudence) and “Sensibility” (defined as sensitivity, sympathy, and emotionality). The conflict is internal and external, because not only do characters struggle with the expectations others have of them, they also struggle with their expectations of themselves.

“‘Mama, the more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!’”

– Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Arthur C. Clarke (CBE), born today in 1917 (in Minehead, Somerset, UK) was best known for science fiction and futurist novels, like 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact, he was considered one of the “Big Three” (along with Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov). In addition to writing novels, Mr. Clarke wrote short stories; essays; and hosted the television series “Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World.” He was also an undersea explorer and inventor who was knighted as a Commander of the British Empire and received Sri Lanka’s highest civil honor, Sri Lankabhimanya. Again, on the surface Mr. Clarke’s novels seem to have very little income with Ms. Austen’s novels – except that his science fiction work also revolves around social interactions and expectations. His characters also struggle with the expectations of their inner and outer worlds. Strip away the futurist elements and aliens and you are still reading about people dealing with “pride” and “prejudice.”

My point is: You can take the same set of details and tell (what appears to be) very different stories. True, the location; time; gender, age, race – and even species – of the characters makes things different. Ultimately, however, the difference is in the perspective of the storyteller.

“A good sequence is like a good story. There is a beginning (an introduction), the middle (the heart of the story), and the end (the conclusion).

 

– Maty Ezraty

Just as you can take a single story and change it up by changing the perspective, you can change your engagement of a pose or a sequence by considering it from the “point of view” of different parts of your mind-body.

Virabhadrasana I (“Hero Friend” or Warrior I) is a great example of different parts of a story being told by different parts of the body. First, there is how we embody the pose based on what we call it and how we understand the name. Second, The pose looks and feels very different to the feet than to the hands – and yet, the hands depend on the feet to support the pose. Similarly, the pose feels free different to the Achilles of the back foot versus the front foot, and different still from the hip and thigh of the back leg versus the front. A slight change in the position of the arms reinforces the fact that there is some spinal extension (and heart opening) happening in the pose. Similarly, folding forward into “Humble Warrior” brings awareness back into the lower body – especially if you can maintain that sense of heart opening. Since different parts of your body experience the pose in different ways, and thus tell “a different story,” one part of the body may realize there is a problem with stability and/or flexibility before that problem registers in other parts of the body.

Notice that in the above example I stuck to “big,” obvious parts of the body. But, go deeper for a moment. Consider the perspective of those “attendant” or supporting body parts. How does Virabhadrasana feel to the abductor digiti minimi and abductor hallucis (not to mention the flexor digitorum brevis) when they spread the toes of your back foot versus the toes of the front foot? How do the two parts of the illiopsoas feel (on each side) as you rise up, bend forward, and then bend back again? How does the piriformis feel as you hold the pose versus when you transition – and how does it feel when the back foot is turned more out than in (especially when you transition)?

Plenty of writers have “retold” a story from the perspective of a different major character (than the original work). Consider for a minute, however, what happens when the story is told from the point of view of a significant – but “minor” character. For instance, what happens when the story of Chanukah, and the miracle of light/oil is told from the perspective of the light (or the oil). After all, the light is/was always there. There is no part of the story that does not involve light and/or the need for light to vanquish the darkness.

Light exists before (and after) the Maccabees, who are considered the heroes of the story. In the Hebrew Bible (and the Christian Old Testament) Light exists even before the sun and the moon. Very early on in the story of Exodus, G-d tells Moses to tell the people of Abraham to keep the candles lit…. And so they do, through all the dark and challenging times. It is a priority in the caves as it is when they rededicate the temple.

“Chanukah” means dedication and the dedication happens with the lighting of the candles. Furthermore, the only mitvah (“commandment” or “duty”) during Chanukah is to light the candles. When it is safe to do so, the lights should be placed so they can be seen by those passing on the street. Light is given a place of honor because it represents all of the best aspects of humankind and all of the best aspects of faith.

Of course, during Chanukah, the eight candles representing the miracle are lit by a single candle. It is a candle physically set apart from the others – a worker, an attendant, a caretaker: the Shamash. When you are the source of the miracle, how do you tell the story?

“When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

– “Clarke’s Three Laws,” quoted from “Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination” published in Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible by Arthur C. Clarke

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

### THAT’S MY STORY (and I’m sticking to it)! ###

The Light’s Side (but it’s just the music) December 16, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
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[“Happy Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May you shine bright!]

Please join me today (Wednesday, December 16th) 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.

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.)

###

Tempo por vi Brili! “Time for you to Shine!” (a still timely post) December 15, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Chanukah, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Mysticism, One Hoop, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Super Heroes, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
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You can request an audio recording of Tuesday’s practices 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.)

“Estas la 5a tago kaj 6a nokto de ukanuko – kaj mi deziras al vi pacon en Esperanto.”

 

– “It’s the 5th day and 6th night of Chanukah – and I’m wishing you peace in Esperanto.”

During the 8 days and nights of Chanukah, I have the opportunity to tell the story of the miracle of light / oil from several different perspectives. Still, when I think about the story as it relates to a conflict of cultures, I very rarely spend a lot of time thinking about how different history would be if all of the Greek rulers had been as “tolerant” as Alexander the Great – or, for that matter, if all rulers and communities throughout history were even more tolerant.

Remember, when Alexander the Great ruled (336 – 323 BCE), Jews in his kingdom had a hard time, a difficult life; but they could still observe their faith and practice their rituals and traditions. The culture of the Jewish people was very different from the Greeks and, as I mention at various times throughout the year, if you are looking at someone’s culture from the outside, and don’t understand the foundation that’s underneath, rituals and traditions seem strange. For that matter, if you get far enough away from the meaning behind your own rituals and traditions, things can seem strange. So, the Greeks under Alexander the Great thought the Jewish people were strange – and made life hard for those they considered strange.

Life was easier for the Hellenic Jews, those who spoke and appeared more Greek and/or paid more attention to the outside rather than the inside (as focus on the exterior body was a prime consideration for the ancient Greeks). Those who eschewed all things Greek, and maintained their language and culture, would find themselves bullied and (if they had a business) they would find their business was not as lucrative as their Hellenic Jewish neighbor. People had to weigh the (social) cost of staying true to their beliefs and values versus the (spiritual) cost of betraying their faith.

“(1) Rabbi [Judah HaNassi] would say: Which is the right path for man to choose for himself? Whatever is harmonious for the one who does it, and harmonious for mankind.

 

Be as careful with a minor mitzvah as with a major one, for you do not know the rewards of the mitzvot. Consider the cost of a mitzvah against its rewards, and the rewards of a transgression against its cost….

 

(3) Be careful with the government, for they befriend a person only for their own needs. They appear to be friends when it is beneficial to them, but they do not stand by a person at the time of his distress.”

 

– quoted from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) (2:1 & 2:3)

 

Living as a marginalized minority was/is no fun, but it could, and did, get worse – and the story of Chanukah is partially about keeping the faith and overcoming the “worse.” It is not, however, an isolated incident. In fact, throughout history, it seems as if the Jewish people are constantly subjected to the “worse” (and constantly having to overcome it). They are not the only population to hold this unfortunate distinction; however, they are notable in part because they could “pass” for members of the dominant society if they wanted to – or were compelled to do so.

Antiochus IV thought he could compel people to change by making it a crime to follow and observe the tenets of the Jewish faith. He basically said that if people didn’t give up their culture and faith – basically who they were as a people – they would face death.

Now, Antiochus’ stance seems wildly illogical and ignorant to me. He was the ruler of the dominant culture. Why would he care if people didn’t work for one day out of the week? Why would he care if people wore their hair in a different way from him or studied text he couldn’t read? Why would he care if people worshiped something/someone they couldn’t see instead of him and his idols?

Oh, yes, I see, Antiochus was on a power trip. I could say that his power trip was fueled by that first level of avidyā, ignorance about the true nature of things – including his own self. However, I don’t have to go that deep; because a big part of Antiochus’ ignorance came from not understanding the culture that was different from his own. And part of the reason he made life difficult for others is because he didn’t follow the Golden Rule.

“Tio, kio malamas vin, ne faru al via ulo. Tio estas la tuta Torao; la resto estas la klarigo. Nun iru studi.”

 

 

“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation. Now go and study.”

 

– quoted from the story of Hillel the Elder “[teaching] the meaning of the whole Torah while standing on one foot,” in Esperanto and in English  

 

Born to day in 1859, in a part of the Russian Empire that is now Poland, Dr. L. L. Zamenhof was a Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist and polyglot. He was born into a Lithuanian-Jewish family that spoke Russian and Yiddish, but his father taught German and French – so he learned those languages, as well as Polish, at a young age. Eventually, he would also master German; have a good understanding of Latin, Hebrew, French, and Belarusian; and basic knowledge of Greek, English, Italian, Lithuanian, and Aramaic. At some point, he also studied Volapük, a constructed language created by Johann Martin Schleyer (a German Catholic priest).

The diverse population in his hometown and his love of language exposed Dr. Zamenhof to different cultures and also to the schisms (and wars) that developed between cultures. He imagined what the world would be like without conflict, especially conflict that arose from misunderstandings that he saw were the result of miscommunication. He thought that if people could more easily understand each other they would have a better chance at avoiding or resolving conflict. In 1873, while he was still a schoolboy, the future eye doctor started developing Esperanto, a constructed language that he called “Lingvo internacia” (“international language”).

Dr. Zamenhof continued his work even as he studied medicine and began working as a doctor. Eventually, he self-published his work (with a little help from his then future father-in-law) under the pseudonym “Doktoro Esperanto” or Doctor Hopeful. He continued to write and translate grammar books in various languages, including Esperanto, and also to look for solutions to oppression and nationalism. He explored various religions and social movements – he even wrote about humanitarianism or humanism (“homaranismo” in Esperanto), based on the teachings of Hillel the Elder. But, he kept coming back to the concept of language as a unifier.

Promoting the language and the idea behind the language would be Dr. Zamenhof’s legacy – a legacy that lived on through his wife (Klara) and their children. Even though the Zamenhof children, as adults, were killed during the Holocaust, along with millions of others, the language lived on. There are currently at least a thousand native speakers of Esperanto, worldwide, and millions who have some working knowledge of the language.

Ni ne estas tiel naivaj, kiel pensas pri ni kelkaj personoj; ni ne kredas, ke neŭtrala fundamento faros el la homoj anĝelojn; ni scias tre bone, ke la homoj malbonaj ankaŭ poste restos malbonaj; sed ni kredas, ke komunikiĝado kaj konatiĝado sur neŭtrala fundamento forigos almenaŭ la grandan amason de tiuj bestaĵoj kaj krimoj, kiuj estas kaŭzataj ne de malbona volo, sed simple de sinnekonado kaj de devigata sinaltrudado.”

 

“We are not as naive as some people think of us; we do not believe that a neutral foundation will make men angels; we know very well that bad people will stay bad even later; but we believe that communication and acquaintance based on a neutral basis will remove at least the great mass of those beasts and crimes which are caused not by ill will, but simply by [misunderstandings and forced coercion.]”

 

– quoted from a speech by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof to the Second World Congress of Esperanto, August 27, 1906

 

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

 

 

### pacon / peace ###

Tempo por vi Brili! “Time for you to Shine!” (just the music) December 15, 2020

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“Estas la 5a tago kaj 6a nokto de ukanuko – kaj mi deziras al vi pacon en Esperanto.”

“It’s the 5th day and 6th night of Chanukah – and I’m wishing you peace in Esperanto.” Because it’s also L. L. Zamenhof’s birthday (b. 1859).

Please join me today (Tuesday, December 15th) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where we will see how the practice “evolves.” Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. 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.

Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

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.)

### pacon / peace ###

Send Light December 14, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
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[“Happy Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May your lights shine bright!]

“I wanna listen to the song that made me breathe
Gonna listen to the music that I need”

 

– quoted from “Music That I Need” by Hothouse Flowers

On more than one occasion, I have been told that music is not part of yoga or meditation. Such conversations can easily devolve (or evolve, depending on your perspective) into a conversation about culture, politics, and dogma. I’ve even been on the wrong side of these conversations. One thing I keep in mind, however is that the yoga-related conversations almost always start as conversations about āsana and involve people who may be unfamiliar with mantra, bhakti yoga, kirtan, and/or nāda yoga.

Mantras are sacred sounds, words, and/or phrases repeated to achieve a particular effect. In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali specifically refers to the use of mantra as one “tool” to achieve a clear mind. Repeating (and repeating) the mantra transforms the sounds into a chant or song – I would say, “without the music,” but the words actually become their own music. While mantras are associated with Indian philosophy and religion, there are hymns, prayers, and words from cultures all over the world that also count as mantras – and they are used in the same way. Bhakti is a Sanskrit word for “attachment” or devotional love and it is one of the forms of worship mentioned in sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gītā (“The Song of the Lord”). Kirtan is the Sanskrit word for “telling” a story and combines mantra with music to form a type of bhakti (or devotional) union. Finally, nāda yoga is literally union through sound and is a system of practice that utilizes vibrations in order to unblock and/or balance the energy inside and all around one.

Given that music (and the messages within the music) has been part of the fabric of my existence since my childhood, no one should be surprised when music informs my practice – even practices without a playlist playing in the background. Take today, for instance. On the surface, it is a simple practice incorporating lojong (Tibetan Buddhist “mind training” techniques) aphorisms or statements. The very first (of 59) aphorisms states, “First, train in the preliminaries.” In the commentary, Pema Chödrön explains that the four (4) preliminaries are reminders: to “maintain an awareness of the preciousness of human life; be aware of the reality that life ends…; recall that whatever you do, whether virtuous or not has a result…; and contemplate that as long as you are too focused on self-importance and too caught up in thinking about how you are good or bad, you will suffer.” This is a foundation on which one builds the rest of the practice.

“(10) Begin the sequence of sending and taking with yourself.”

 

(16) Whatever you meet unexpectedly, join in meditation.”

 

(49) Always meditate on whatever provokes resentment”

 

– from Always Maintain A Joyful Mind: And Other Lojong Teachings on Awaking Compassion and Fearlessness by Pema Chödrön

Just as the āsanas (“seats” or poses) prepare one for more breath awareness and, in turn, a deep, seated mediation; practicing lojong prepares one for tonglen (“giving and taking” or “sending and receiving”) meditation. Since today is the fourth day of Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, it also makes sense to incorporate a little light work into the practice.

Simple, right? Sounds like the quintessential yoga practice hosted by a Buddhist meditation center. Picking up on yesterday’s reference to alignment (and the fact that B. K. S. Iyengar was born today in 1918), it also makes sense that the practice will be classic… and simple. I can even explain that one of the first ways I learned tonglen it involved the visualization of darkness being vanquished by the light. However, no matter how true all of that is, it leaves out a step. It leaves out the music.

There are a lot of songs that pop up on my light-related playlists this time of year – and several of them invoke the image of being a light in the world and (physically) inspiring others to shine. However, I recently came across two songs that very specifically speak to the idea of actively shining in order to alleviate the suffering of others. The first song is one I’m saving for a little later. (I know, I know, 2020 has been a cautionary tale about holding things back, but I don’t think the end of the video is appropriate for Chanukah.) On the flip side, the second song was sent to me this weekend by the dearest of people (LM) and the more I listened, the more I recognized it as a “tonglen song” – in that it is a giving and receiving song, a song of compassion and empathy.

“I am sending you Light, To heal you, To hold you
I am sending you Light, To hold you in Love”

 

– quoted from “Sending You Light” by Melanie DeMore

Please join me on the virtual mat today (Monday, December 14th) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom.

This is a 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice that, in the spirit of generosity (dana), is freely given and freely received. 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.

If you are able to support the center and its teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” my other practices, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)

There is no playlist for the Common Ground practices, BUT….

 

… here is Melanie DeMore “Sending You Light”

### THANK YOU IN ADVANCE (FOR SENDING LIGHT) ###

Double the Light (the very late “missing” post) December 14, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Bhakti, Books, Changing Perspectives, Chanukah, Dharma, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Men, Mysticism, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.
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[“Happy  Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May your lights shine bright!]


[This extremely delayed posting is from Sunday the 13th. You can request an audio recording of Sunday’s 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.)]

Yoga Sutra 1.36: viśokā vā jyotişmatī

– “Or [fixing the mind] on the inner state free of sorrow and infused with light, anchors the mind in stability and tranquility.”

How does one keep the faith? This is a question we can ask at any time, but it becomes a particularly significant question when we are faced with doubt or fear. Or darkness. We all have moments of doubt, of fear, of darkness. Those moments can come from the inside and also from the outside, from things that are going on all around us. Those are the times, I think, when it is good to remember the words of Yoga Sūtra 1:36 which instructs us to focus on our inner light. However, even if you are not familiar with this thread, every culture and every spiritual (and religious) tradition has a story that serves as a similar reminder – and, during the darkest times of the year – people in the Northern Hemisphere bring out these stories, re-tell them, and celebrate them.

There are some aspects of light celebration in Samhain, the pagan holiday marking summer’s end. But, in truth, this year’s celebrations of light started with Diwali, the 5-day Indian festival of lights. Next up is Chanukah, which started at sunset on Thursday (the 25th of Kislev). This year, the 8-day festival of light in the Jewish tradition overlaps the (Western Christian) Feast Day of Saint Lucia (also known as Saint Lucy’s Day) on December 13th – so we get double the light.

“And God said, ‘Light will be,’ and light was.”

– Transliteration of the Hebrew from Bereishit – Genesis (1:3), most commonly translated as “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

“Chanukah” means “dedication” and the holiday is a commemoration of Maccabees restoring the temple in Jerusalem after centuries of religious persecution (and a battle that was in and of itself a miracle). Before the battle, however, the Maccabees spent about a year hiding in caves and studying Torah. They would have been very clear on the importance of lighting the candles on the menorah in order to establish the sanctity of the temple. After all, it is commanded in the Bible. The only problem was that the temple had been desecrated and almost every vial of olive oil previously sealed by the high priest had been contaminated. I say “almost every vial,” because (miraculously) there was one still sealed vial of oil. Not enough, they thought, to last all the days and nights (8 in total) required to make and to bless more oil – but just enough to show their faith and their intention, to show where (and how) they stood in the world.

When people celebrate Chanukah, they light 8 candles in honor of the 8 days and 8 nights during which there was, miraculously, light when people were expecting darkness. Except in extenuating circumstances, when it is not safe to do so, people are instructed to place their hanukia (a special menorah for the occasion) in a window that can be seen from the street – so that anyone walking past will be reminded of the miracle that started with faith.

“The world that we live in, so much cold and strife
One little light to warm another life
Fill the darkest night with the brightest light
Cause it’s time for you to shine
A little dedication, a small illumination
Just one person to change a whole nation
Let me see the light”

– quoted from “Shine” by the Maccabeats

Saint Lucy’s Day is also a day centered around faith, persecution, and the miracles that come from someone doing what they can in the midst of so much “can’t.” It is mostly celebrated in Scandinavian countries and Italy, as well as places like the Twin Cities where there is a large Scandinavian population, as well as a strong Catholic, Lutheran, and/or Anglican presence. The day honors a 4th century virgin-martyr who would bring food and drink to Christians hiding from religious persecution. Lucy herself was persecuted, and that part of the story is a little gory – although, notably, full of miracles. However, being chosen to wear her symbols and to represent Saint Lucy or her court (including the “star boys”) is an honor not because of what was done to her, but because of her faith led her to alleviate the suffering of others.

In 4th century Syracuse (Roman Empire), the best places to hide were in the Roman catacombs, the very epitome of darkness on every level. So that her hands were free to carry the food and drink, Lucy (whose Latin name, Lucia, shares a root with the Latin word for “light”) would wear a wreath of candles around her head. Being the source of her own light, while carrying a feast, required her to stand and move very carefully, very deliberately, and very intentionally – almost as if she was in Tādāsana (“Mountain Pose”).

When we practice āsanas (“seats” or poses), a significant amount of energy and awareness goes into how we sit (or stand). This deliberation and intention allows us to pay attention to our breath (which is a symbol of our spirit and life force) and also to extend and direct our breath (and therefore our spirit and life force). In a sense, we are careful about how we stand specifically so that we can be intentional about how we use our energy. Another way to think of this is that how we move and hold our body, as well as how we breathe and pay attention to our breath, allows us to very intentionally, deliberately, and mindfully start to focus on our inner light. When we focus-concentrate-meditate on our inner light, it appears to get brighter. In fact, over time, our inner light begins to shine out into the world – but, first we have to be able to see it.

“O St Lucy, preserve the light of my eyes so that I may see the beauties of creation, the glow of the sun, the colour of the flowers and the smile of children.

Preserve also the eyes of my soul, the faith, through which I can know my God, understand His teachings, recognize His love for me and never miss the road that leads me to where you, St Lucy, can be found in the company of the angels and saints.”

– quoted from A Novena Prayer to St Lucy, Protector of the Eyes

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

“‘Remember, dear friend, that I am subtly inherent in everything, everything in the universe! I am the all-illuminating light of the sun, the light in the moon, the brilliance in the fire – all light is Mine. I am even the consciousness of light, and indeed, I am the consciousness of the entire cosmos.’”

– The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners (15:12) by Jack Hawley

### 2x MORE LIGHT, 4x LESS DARKNESS ###

Double the Light (just the music) December 13, 2020

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Please join me today (Sunday, December 13th) at 2:30 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where we will see how the practice “evolves.” Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. 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.

Sunday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.

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.)

### More Light, Less Darkness ###

Transcendental December 12, 2020

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[“Happy  Chanukah!” to anyone celebrating! May your lights shine bright!]

 

“‘I’m absolutely removed from the world at such times,’ he said. ‘The hours go by without my knowing it. Sitting there I’m wandering in countries I can see every detail of – I’m playing a role in the story I’m reading. I actually feel I’m the characters – I live and breathe with them.’

‘I know!’ she said. ‘I feel the same!’

‘Have you ever had the experience,’ Léon went on, ‘of running across in a book some vague idea you’ve had, some image that you realize has been lurking all the time in the back of your mind and now seems to express absolutely your most subtle feelings?’

‘Indeed I have,’ she answered.”

 

– quoted from Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners by Gustave Flaubert (b. 12/12/1821)

We’ve all been there, yes, so absorbed into something (or someone) that it seems everything outside of you and it (or them) ceases to exist. There is no outside, nor inside, time. There is no need or desire to eat or drink or sleep – there doesn’t even seem to be a need to breathe. Then we “wake up” from the moment to find our body a little stiff (from holding the same position for such a long time), our bladder is full, and our stomach is empty. We may find ourselves yawning and stretching, just as we would after (or before) a long sleep. However, we may (depending on the object of our focus) find ourselves oddly refreshed – even ready to dive back in. It only depends on where we put our energy and whether that point of focus feeds us or depletes us.

If you can remember one such moment – a positive moment – and how you felt during that moment, do you remember the feeling of breathing? Do you remember the quality of breath? Do you remember your awareness of your breath?

Odds are that unless you think of a moment when you were engaged in mediation and/or some form of prāņāyāma, you might not specifically remember your breath or your breath awareness. Therefore, it may not occur to you that your breath was almost suspended, almost transcended… that there may have been moments where the individual parts of the breath merged into one long continuous experience.

Yoga Sūtra 2.49: tasminsati śvāsapraśvāsayorgativicchedah prāņāyāmahah

 

– “Prāņāyāma, which is expanding the life force by controlling the movement of the inhalation and exhalation, can be practiced after completely mastering [the seat or pose].”

 

Yoga Sūtra 2.50: bāhyābhyantarastambhavŗttirdeśakālasasamkhyābhih paridŗşţo dīrghasūkşmah

 

– “The breath may be stopped externally, internally, or checked in mid-motion, and regulated according to place, time and a fixed number of moments, so that the [pause] is either protracted or brief.”

One of the classic metaphors for breathing and the experience of bringing awareness to the breath is to image being on the edge of the shore: the tide washes over you as you inhale and again as you exhale. In this example, you are aware of the movement of the tide and also aware of the small moments of transition between the flow in and the ebb out.

But, let’s say you are like one of shells or sticks or bits of sand that is being moved by the water. You may or may not be aware that you are moving out to sea. You can, however, still feel the movement of the tide; it’s mesmerizing, hypnotic. You ride the waves.

Now, let’s say you can safely drift down to the floor of the ocean. Beneath the waves, even at the bottom of a pool, there is a moment – whether you are holding your breath for a bit, snorkeling, or deep sea diving – when you are so completely absorbed by the movement you can no longer distinguish the ebb from the flow from the slight pauses in between. Everything is suspended. Everything is transcended.

Since today is the second day of Chanukah, we can consider this same experience with light waves. If you are in a completely dark room – or in a boat out to sea in the middle of the night – you can see the source of light. You can step into it or out it and notice the edges of light and darkness. If you are on the boat, you can observe the lighthouse lamp shining on you and then beside you and you can mark the time between the light and the darkness. However, if you are brightly lit room, somehow void of darkness (or somehow safely sitting inside of the lighthouse lamp), you cannot see the source of the light and you have no way to distinguish it anything – including, possibly, yourself.

You become the light. The light becomes you. Everything is transcended.

Yoga Sūtra 2.51: bāhyābhyantaravişayākşepī caturthah

 

– The fourth [prāņāyāma] goes beyond, or transcends, the internal and external objects.

Today’s yoga sūtra points to this same transcendental experience happening with the breath. It is an experience that can happen naturally and there are also prāņāyāma practices to help cultivate the experience. It is not, however, an experience that can be forced. In fact, trying to force the experience not only defeats the purpose of the practice it can be detrimental to the health of the person practicing.

As I have mentioned in passing before, different styles and traditions may use the same name for a slightly (or sometimes completely) different practice. One example of that with regard to prāņāyāma is the fourth of the seven previously posted practices: Nadi shodhana prāņāyāma.

Alternate energy channel or alternate nasal breathing is a practice that involves controlling and switching breath between nostrils. There are different ways to achieve this switch. Sometimes it can be done with a turn of the head. Most times, however, when someone is practicing nadi shodhana prāņāyāma they are placing their hands in a particular mudra in order to open and close each nostril.

Please note that the information below is not intended to teach or guide someone through the practice. This is merely an introduction into how different traditions practice this type of prāņāyāma, which should initially be practiced with a teacher.

I was original taught nadi shodhana prāņāyāma in the same way it appears in Light On Yoga by B. K. S. Iyengar – which is that after a preliminary breathing practice, one exhales out of the right nostril and inhales through the same (right) nostril before switching to the left and repeating on the other side. The second exhale on the right marks the end of the first cycle and the beginning of the second cycle. It is typically practiced for 8 – 12 cycles and I was initially taught that this was one of the practices that should be done separate from the practice of āsana (“seat” or pose).

Later, I was instructed in a short variation that could be done at the beginning of the practice and also variations where (a) the index and middle fingers of the manipulating hand were placed up (touching the third eye) instead of bent down into the palm and (b) there was a different amount of pressure applied to the nostrils. Years and years after my first practices, I would learn of traditions whereby the first exhale is on the left, and while the first inhale is on the right, the second exhale is (again) on the left. This sequence is repeated three times in order to complete one cycle. Then, after three normal breaths (through both nostrils), the sequence is repeated on the opposite sides.

Again, the details above are intended to be informational, not instructional.

“… success in chaturtha pranayama depends on our ability to become aware of our breath and the subtle force of prana that propels it. Those with a body free of toxins and a mind free of roaming tendencies will find it easy to become aware of the flow of prana shakti in their body;. But most of us commit ourselves to yoga sadhana only after we have disrupted the natural ecology of our body and thrown our mind into turmoil. A sluggish body and a dense mind are not fit to practice yoga. And yet this is where most of us begin. Thus even though chaturtha pranayama is not dependent on what we gain from the three pranayamas described in the previous sutra, they have an important role to play in preparing many of us for practicing it.”

 

– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.51 from The Practice of the Yoga Sūtra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD

Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, December 12th) at 12:00 PM. As I mentioned last week, this practice will be āsana-light (and there won’t be a lot of the story until tomorrow).

You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of Saturday’s 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.)

Today’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Chanukah (Day 2) 2020”]

 

 

### 4 7 8 (just another one) ##

What’s On the Inside III: The Lady Wore Blue… Navy Blue (a post for a lady pirate, or admiral) December 10, 2020

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
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[My apologies for the delayed posting. You can request an audio recording of Wednesday’s 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.)]

“I like to think of mathematicians as forming a nation of our own without distinctions of geographical origin, race, creed, sex, age or even time… all dedicated to the most beautiful of the arts and sciences.”

– Julia Hall Bowman Robinson, PhD (b. 12/08/1919)

Before I went to bed late Monday night (also known as early Tuesday morning to the rest of the people in my time zone), I read about Dr. Julia Hall Bowman Robinson for the first time. Even though she had to miss school at an early age (after contracting scarlet) and received a “below average” score on an IQ test, she started college at the age of 16 and then (despite having some interruptions in her schooling due to her father’s suicide) went on to receive her PhD in mathematics. Born on December 8, 1919, she was known for her work in computability theory and computational complexity, especially as it relates to decision problems. While researching game theory at the RAND Corporation in the late 1940’s, she coined the phrase “traveling salesman problem” and once attributed her success to stubbornness – a trait she said was common among mathematicians. For a half of a nanosecond I thought about changing my December 8th class plans so I could celebrate two extraordinary female mathematicians in a row. (An idea she might have preferred I not do.) The only problem was that, since I hadn’t known about Dr. Bowman Robinson before, I didn’t have the time to “translate” all the mathematics relevant to her into standard American English.

There may be a lot of things that stick out for you in the paragraph above. But let’s focus on the fact that there’s at least one more amazing female mathematician who celebrated a birthday this week and that because of that woman I (just barely) know a thing or two about nanoseconds and can explain the little bit I know in pretty basic English.

Born today in 1906, United States Navy Rear Admiral Grace Brewster Murray Hopper was known as “Amazing Grace,” “the Queen of Code,” “the Queen of Software,” and “Grandma COBOL;” all because of her work in mathematics and computer programming. As a child, she was so curious about how things worked that she started taking apart all the clocks in the house (until her mother stopped her). Her application to Vassar College was rejected when she was 16 years old, but she reapplied and was admitted at 17. She would complete her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics before heading to Yale University, where she earned her master’s and PhD, and then returning to Vassar as a professor.

“[Grace Hopper] said, ‘The most important thing I’ve accomplished, other than building the compiler, is training young people. They come to me, you know, and say, “Do you think we can do this?” I say, “Try it.” And I back ’em up. They need that. I keep track of them as they get older and I stir ’em up at intervals so they don’t forget to take chances.’”

– quoted from “Grace Hopper: The Admiral in Command of Knowledge” by Jan Adkins, published in  30 People Who Changed the World: Fascinating bite-sized essays from award winning writers – Intriguing People Through the Ages: From Imhotep to Malala Yousafzai (Got a Minute?), Edited by Jean Haddon

Then World War II broke out and Grace Hopper wanted to follow in the footsteps of her great-grandfather, United States Navy Admiral Alexander Wilson Russell, who had served during the Civil War. This was a dream she would not have been able to pursue were it not for the war; however, there was a problem – three problems, actually. According to the Navy, she was too old (34); her height-to-weight ratio was too low (by 15 lbs); and, additionally, she was told that her position as a mathematician and mathematics professor was already considered service. Not to be defeated, she took a leave of absence from Vassar; received an exemption for her low weight; and joined the United States Navy Reserves as a member of the Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES). She graduated at the top of her Naval Reserve Midshipman’s School training class and started working on the IBM’s Mark I computer programming staff at Harvard University, under the leadership of Howard Aiken (the conceptual designer of the Mark I).

Working on the Mark I was the first time Grace Hopper worked with (or on) computers. She was commanded to write the computer’s operating manual almost as soon as she walked in the door.

At the end of the war, she asked to be transferred to the regular Navy, but was again denied because of her age (38). Undaunted, the then Lieutenant Hopper stayed on at Harvard (as part of the Navy contract) despite being offered a full professorship at Vassar. In 1949, she started working at Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, where she started promoting the idea of a computer programming language using English words. People gave her all kinds of reasons as to why her idea was bad, one being that “computers didn’t understand English;” another being that “anyone will be able to write programs!” Everyone’s “no” became a reason to persist. Her perseverance resulted in the development of Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL), which is still used mainframe applications used by business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments.

“Humans are allergic to change. They love to say, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’ I try to fight that. That’s why I have a clock on my wall that runs counter-clockwise.”

– quoted from “The Wit and Wisdom of Grace Hopper” by Philip Schieber (published in The OCLC Newsletter, March/April 1987, No. 167)

Always a curious teacher, Grace Hopper spent her life figuring out how things worked; why they didn’t work; and how to explain multilayered mathematical and computer concepts to students, business people, and military personnel (often generals and admirals) without mathematical and computer knowledge. When she worked on the Mark I, she instructed the team to literally cut and paste (or “patch”) sections of tape containing code they had previously used to solve problems onto new programs. Once, when working on the Mark II, her team discovered that a moth stuck in the relay was preventing the computer from running. They taped the moth to their log book, which you can see at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Even though engineers had used the term “bug” for many years, it (and the term “debugging”) became mostly associated with computers and programming after the Mark II incident.

She emphasized the importance of having language to describe every aspect of a process – including the problem – and said, “We must state relationships, not procedures.” To explain why satellite communication took so long, Admiral Hopper used 11.8-inch (30-cm) pieces of wire to visually illustrate “the maximum distance electricity could travel in a billionth of a second” – in other words the distance light travels in a “nanosecond.” Then she would explain that that timing was the maximum speed in a vacuum, but that the telecommunication signals would travel slower in the actual wire. (Think about a Tesla moving from 0-60 on a short entrance ramp versus the amount of time it takes a Dodge Ram Truck, or a Model T Ford, to travel the same distance or reach the same speed.) She also used the wires to explain why smaller computers worked faster than big mainframes, and would contrast the “nanoseconds” with a 984-foot (300-meter) coil that symbolized a microsecond and small packet of black pepper in which the individual grains of pepper represented picoseconds.

“Manipulating symbols was fine for mathematicians but it was no good for data processors who were not symbol manipulators…. It’s much easier for most people to write an English statement than it is to use symbols. So I decided data processors ought to be able to write their programs in English, and the computers would translate them into machine code.”

– Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

When practicing (and teaching) yoga, I am often faced with a similar language situation. How do we process and translate the sensation, which is information, being communicated by our mind-body? How do we gain conscious awareness of proprioception – how our mind finds our body in space so we can, for instance, move around without constantly bumping into stuff? Also, how do we correctly process interoception – internal sensation related to our nervous system – so we know, for instance, the difference between our mind’s perception of external danger, the threat of embarrassment, excited anticipation, and/or sexual attraction? How do we know when it is time to stop doing something? When do we know we need more? Learning to understand the way our mind-body communicates is like learning a second (or third) language and it requires practice; but, it also requires someone who can translate or, at the very least, put things into context. Grace Hopper spent her whole life, putting things into context.

“I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he looked at it and looked at me and said, ‘What are you?’”

– Rear Admiral Grace Hopper on being the oldest active-duty officer in the U.S. military, in an interview on 60 Minutes

If I’m counting correctly, Admiral Grace Hopper retired three times – at the age of 60, then returning at 61; again around age 65, returning at 66; and, finally, at almost 80 years old. In fact, when she finally, finally retired at the age of 79 (plus 8 months, and five days) she was the oldest active-duty commissioned officer – and her retirement ceremony was on board “Old Ironsides,” the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned ship (at the time, 188 years, nine months and 23 days). Even after she retired, she kept teaching, kept consulting, kept serving… and kept wearing her full dress uniform – even though it was against U. S. Department of Defense policy, because Admiral Grace Hopper was OG all the way! And she knew that what she said and how she said it was as important as how she looked saying it, and what she represented.

“Sometimes there are people who appear to be all ‘Navy’ but when you reach inside, you find a ‘Pirate’ dying to be released. One such person was Grace Hopper….

Meeting her was a very special treat for me: She was one of my heroes…. When I met her, she was at first very polite and nothing more. When I brought up the subject of software, she got this twinkle in her eye. I realized I was talking to a very bright and creative person….

It was a great reminder that in searching for talent, you mustn’t be put off by first impressions but must probe to find the real person, sometimes discovering a pirate where you least expected.”

– quoted from The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation by Jay Elliott, Former Senior Vice President of Apple, with William L. Simon

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify

“60 Minutes Rewind”

“There’s something you learn in your first boot-camp, or training camp: If they put you down somewhere with nothing to do, go to sleep — you don’t know when you’ll get any more.”

– Rear Admiral Grace Hopper on Late Night with David Letterman (1986)

### HELLO, WORLD! ###