On the Origins of Origins November 24, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Life, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Butler Act, Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, John T. Scopes, Oxford debate 1860
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“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
– from On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin
The idea of evolution didn’t start with Charles Darwin. No, even the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) referenced earlier ideas (that predated him) and contemplated an internal purpose (related to survival). Aristotle believed that this “internal purposiveness” existed in all living beings and could be passed down through generations. So, if the idea existed before Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (or, more completely, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) was published today in 1859, why did Darwin’s work create such an uproar?
To get to the origins of Origins – or at least the controversy, chaos, and uproar around it, let’s go back to 1852, when Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, and sociologist used the German term “entwicklungsgeschichte” (“development history”), which had previously been used in relation to embryos and single cell organisms, to explain cosmic and biological changes in societies. Spencer would later write an essay coining the phrase “theory of evolution” – in relation to Darwin’s work, but in the same year (1852) that Spencer wrote about cultures having “development history” he also wrote an essay called “The Philosophy of Style” in which he promoted writing “to so present ideas that they may be apprehended with the least possible mental effort.” In other words, Spencer advocated writing to make the meaning plain and accessible.
I can’t say for sure how much Darwin himself was influenced by Spencer, but it is very clear that Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species for non-specialists. In other words, he wrote it for the masses. And, as it was easily understood (and written by a then esteemed scientist), it became wildly discussed – in the parlors and in the public.
The first big public debate occurred on June 30, 1860 during the British Science Association’s annual meeting at Oxford University. Another big, public spectacle – the so-called “Scopes Monkey Trial – started July 10, 1925, in Dayton, Tennessee (USA) after substitute teacher John Thomas Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee’s “Butler Act” by teaching evolution during a high school biology class. Tennessee teachers were required, by law, to not teach evolution or deny Intelligent Design (ID) – even though the required text book had a chapter on evolution. By most accounts, Scopes skipped the chapter, but still provided an opportunity to challenge the Act.
While Tennessee’s “Butler Act” was rescinded September 1, 1967, there have been similar legal and pedagogical debates in the United States as recently as 2005 and 2007 (hello, Kansas – where evolution is still officially “an unproven theory”).
“It has often and confidently been asserted, that man’s origin can never be known: but ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.”
– from The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin (pub. 1871)
Please join me today (Tuesday, November 24th) 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. [Look for the “Hays Code” playlist dated March 31.]
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.)
“We will now discuss in a little more detail the struggle for existence…. I should premise that I use the term Struggle for Existence in a large and metaphorical sense, including dependence of one being on another, and including (which is more important) not only the life of the individual, but success in leaving progeny.”
– from On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin (pub. 1859)
### THIS IS WHERE WE BEGIN ###
One Mou’ Time November 23, 2020
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“‘People who eat too much or too little or who sleep too much or too little will not succeed in meditation. Eat only food that does not heat up the body or excite the mind. When you balance and regulate your habits of eating, sleeping, working, and playing, then meditation dissolves sorrow and destroys mental pain.’”
– Krishna speaking to Arjuna (6.16 – 6.17) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
Consider the human body. It is designed to change. It grows, expands, shrinks, and processes a variety of materials – using what is useful and discarding what is not. The human body has ways of healing itself; this is a proven and accepted fact, as is the fact that certain things can help the healing process – while certain things might help… if they don’t kill us first. When you look back through the history of the human race, and take into consideration all the different cultures and climates, you will find that every culture, in every climate, has had some kind of understanding about the way the mind-body works and some kind of medicine to help sustain, retain, and repair/enhance the vitality of the mind-body. In traditional and indigenous medicines, the proof was in the fact that people survived. In the modern world, however, research and empirical evidence (above and beyond survival) become critical and it’s not enough to know that something works; modern scientists want to know why something works.
Three things always stick out to me when I compare different types of medicine. First, I am struck by how much health care practitioners don’t know. This is not a criticism or intended as an insult, this is just fact – even modern scientists don’t know everything there is to know about the mind-body. Researchers are constantly discovering new ways that our mind-bodies work and don’t work; new organs; new treatments; new ailments; and they are continuously “discovering” the benefits of traditional and indigenous medicines.
“Normally, the body of an unenlightened person is like a dead wood, covered with a blanket of unawareness. For most people, the internal awareness is almost zero, unless there is pain in the body. Ordinarily human awareness keeps itself fully busy with the external environment.”
– quoted from OM Sutra: The Pathway to Enlightenment by Amit Ray and Banani Ray
The second thing that always sticks out to me is that the systems with which I’m familiar all involve an energetic mapping of the mind-body and its organs. The mapping systems are not the same, but there are similarities. For instance, in “Western” science (or modern science) the operation of the body relies on electrical signals transmitted to and from the brain traveling along neural pathways and through the central nervous system’s network of nerves connected to the spinal cord (in the center of the body) and the peripheral nervous system’s network of “unprotected” nerves and ganglia (bundles of cells).
As I am keeping this simple, let’s just say that there are 30 nerve-related segments of the spine, divided into four sections, that connect to every part of the body and that the peripheral nervous system is divided into two parts – the autonomic nervous systems (which is further divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic) and the somatic nervous systems. Also, important to note is the fact that some ganglia are bundled along the outside of the spine (hence why I refer to them as “unprotected”). Additionally, there are, of course, some reflex movements which can occur independent of the brain, but these still require connection to the spinal cord.
“Enormous activities are going on in our body; in our brain, in our heart, in our digestive system and in every cell of the body. Few people are aware of their physical beings. Body is the starting point in the spiritual journey.
The dynamic play of the energy of pure consciousness is taking place in each cell of our body, in every moment. The subtle vibrations and the movement of the energies in the body are the doorways to realize the Divine union.”
– quoted from OM Sutra: The Pathway to Enlightenment by Amit Ray and Banani Ray
In Eastern sciences, like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Āyurveda, there are also energetic mapping systems. The former, for instance, involves meridians that it is believed are located in the deep tissue and fascia or connective tissue. Yin Yoga, which is based on TCM, focuses on 12 primary meridians connected to 12 organs. Unlike an early British doctor I once read about (who believed the meridian system was based on traditional doctors not knowing where organs were located) the TCM focus isn’t on the organs as much as it is on balancing the flow of energy to and from the organs. Particular attention is paid to the joints and various points along the meridians as this is where energy can become blocked, stagnate, or overactive – and these are also the points/places where the energy can be accessed. TCM meridians are paired with each other, specific organs, emotions, time of day, seasons, colors, minerals, elements, and types of energy – and there is a pair that runs down the central part of the body.
One of my favorite meridians is the Kidney meridian as Kidney energy is related to overall vitality and starts with K1, which is sometimes referred to as “the Well Spring of Life” or “Gushing Spring.” Along with Urinary Bladder meridian, Kidney meridian regulates the flow of water in the body and, as we are mostly water, it becomes critical to not only physical health but also mental clarity and emotional well-being.
In Āyurveda, Yoga’s sister science, the energy of the body is mapped along nādis (which I was taught means “rivers” or “channels” but can also be translated as “nerves” or “tubes”). Similar to the (pressure) points along the TCM meridians, there are marma points (marmāni) described in Āyurveda; however, most people in the West are more familiar with the idea of chakras (energy “wheels”). Marma literally means “a point that can kill” and they are the points where flesh, veins, arteries, tendons, bones, and joints come together. In other words, they are the points of life. In all, there are 107 marmāni (11 in each limb, 12 on the front of the torso, 14 on the back and 27 on the head and neck), with the mind being the 108th marma. There are at least 10 methods to promote good health and well-being by stimulating marmāni, including various types of massage, binding, and application of oil, paste, and/or various temperatures. Additionally, meditation and breathing practices can be applied.
Ancient Indian texts reference thousands of nādis throughout the body – and many of them intersect. For instance, some sources say that there are a 108 nādis that intersect at the heart chakra. (Others say 101.) Normally, however, when people (especially in the West) talk about these energy channels, they are referencing the three primary nādis that overlap at the center of the body (right around the same area as the spinal column), creating a spiral shape often compared to the double helix shape of DNA and/or the caduceus symbol associated with the medical arts.
Like the TCM meridians, the primary nādis are paired with specific types of energy (i.e., “Ida” being lunar, cool, feminine, left, yin energy; “Pingala” being solar, warm, masculine, right, yang energy; and “Sushumna” being non-dual, divine energy). They not only overlap in the same general area as the spine, some people have associated the location of those overlapping points – the chakras – with the basal ganglia (which are bundled along the spine). Like the TCM meridian pairing referenced above, chakras are also paired with emotions, colors, minerals, and elements. They are associated with parts of the body, functions of the body, and various aspects of our lives.
“If you believe you are a body, then you are consenting to the belief that you are your ego, which is the root of all your suffering. Bodies age and get sick. They experience aches and pains and have many limitations. Bodies are confined in time and space and, if all that weren’t proof enough, bodies eventually die.
If you believe you are a body, then you believe you’re a temporary being that is weak and subject to age, illness and death. Of course, yoga teaches us that we are not the body, but this is a difficult case to make when it feels so real to be in this body. It’s hard to say, ‘The body is an illusion,’ when your head hurts or your stomach is upset.”
– quoted from Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main
The third thing that always sticks with me is how traditional and indigenous sciences always seem to treat the whole being, while – up until recently – Western science focused on a single aspect of the body. Not even the mind-body… just a single part of the body, or a single part of the mind. What we find again and again, however, is that disconnecting the mind from the body leads to more discomfort, more dis-ease, and eventually death. Separating each part of the body from itself creates imbalance, which must be addressed in the rest of the mind-body.
The Sanskrit word yoga means “union” and the practice (physically, mentally, and energetically) is a way to address the whole mind-body and cultivate balance in the whole mind-body. It is a philosophy, not a medical science as we think of it today, but definitely a science of being. Dr. Amit Ray calls it a “science of well-being, science of youthfulness, science of integrating body, mind and soul.” As such a science it can be applied and paired with traditional, indigenous, and/or modern medicine to promote overall well-being.
“When we are aware about our body’s sensations, we can release physical pain, tensions or stress through slow movements.”
– quoted from Yoga The Science of Well-Being by Amit Ray
Tonight (Monday the 23rd) I taught my last (scheduled) Movember class of 2020. I choose poses B. K. S. Iyengar identified as being good for Kidney health and sequenced the vinyāsa practice with an awareness of the Kidney and Bladder meridians in TCM. You can request an audio recording of Monday’s practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
(Practice Note: There’s no music on Monday nights so the content sync up with the Movember playlists, but it will still make sense if you decide to use music from one of the earlier practices.)
The 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice, in the spirit of generosity (“dana”), is freely given and freely received. 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.)
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
“I want to be present and really in my body, grounded and open minded and open hearted, no matter what the conflict or the crisis is. And if I am numbing myself with food and with alcohol, I can’t then know that my emotional response is going to be authentic, is going to be in truth. My guess is that it is going to be reactive.”
– quoted from Revolution of the Soul: Awaken to Love Through Raw Truth, Radical Healing, and Conscious Action by Seane Corn
### SLÁINTE ###
This Room, This Music, This Light, This Darkness: This Dance November 22, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Dharma, Hope, Life, Loss, Peace, Philosophy, Texas, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: Bridget Carpenter, Dealey Plaza, Jacqueline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Stephen King
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“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why. Not until the future eats the present, anyway. We know when it’s too late.”
– quoted from 11/22/63 by Stephen King
Life changes in a moment…in a heartbeat, in a breath. Sometimes we don’t even notice the change until it is coupled with a bunch of other changes. Every once in a while, however, something makes us pause, stop in our tracks, breathe, reflect. Sometimes we pause because of something breathtakingly beautiful. Other times, our breath is taken by something heartbreakingly tragic.
Today in 1963 was a Friday, and a little girl missed her first sleepover. Had she been any other 5-year old girl, nobody would have cared or even noticed, but the reason this little girl missed her first sleepover is the same reason high school, college, and professional football games were cancelled or postponed. It was the same reason people all over the world were glued to the radios and televisions. Today in 1963, a wife lost her husband; three children (that five-year old girl, her almost three-year old brother, and her yet to be born brother) lost their father; and the whole world paused, stopped, as a Nation lost – and then gained – a leader meant to usher in a new era of civil rights and environmental conservation.
Today in 1963, at 12:30 PM (Central Standard Time), President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade drove down Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Governor of Texas John Connally – who was riding in the motorcade with his wife Nellie, President Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and two members of the United States Secret Service – was seriously wounded. A bystander was also injured by a ricochet.
“We did not ask for this room or this music. We were invited in. Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces to the light. Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty. We have been given pain to be astounded by joy. We have been given life to deny death. We did not ask for this room or this music. But because we are here, let us dance.”
– a poem by Stephen King and Bridget Carpenter, featured in the miniseries 11.22.63
President Kennedy was not a perfect man, but he remains a key figure in American history and, for many, a symbol of democracy and “American” ideals. He was the first Catholic president; the youngest person to be elected president; and the sixteenth U. S. Senator to serve as president – one of three people who moved directly from the Senate floor to the Oval Office. He was also the fourth sitting United States President to be assassinated (by gunshot, although one could argue that Presidents James Garfield and William McKinley could have survived with better medical attention). Many people saw President Kennedy’s assassination as a moment when Americans lost their (collective) innocence and many felt his death as a personal loss, as if they had lost a member of their family or a dear friend.
Whichever way you see it (or him), President Kennedy’s death was the middle and the beginning of a cascade of events that, arguably, changed history. It also started the domino effect on conspiracy theories that persist to this day. Many people have wondered what would have happened if he had not been assassinated. As he was beginning to campaign for a second term, people have theorized what the country would have been like if he had run and won – or even had an opportunity to deliver either of the speeches he had written for events scheduled on November 22, 1963.
“For this country is moving and it must not stop. It cannot stop. For this is a time for courage and a time for challenge. Neither conformity nor complacency will do. Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom.
So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause–united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future – and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance.”
– quoted from a speech President John F. Kennedy had planned to deliver to the Texas Democratic State Committee in Austin, Texas, in the evening, on November 22, 1963
Historians and political scientists have likewise contemplated what would have happened to the country if his brother Bobby, who served as Attorney General and as a U. S. Senator, and/or Martin Luther King, Jr. had not been assassinated. After considerably research, Stephen King wrote a novel about a man who goes back in time with the intention of preventing JFK’s assassination. Of course, as is always the case when dealing with chaos theory, things are not as simple as changing one thing and moving forward.
There is always an inner ripple and an outer ripple; there is always a sticky domino; there is always a butterfly – and, in the case of 11/22/63 (which was turned into the television miniseries 11.22.63), history pushes back. We may not like how life unfolds, collapses, and converges, but we must sometimes consider the words of Namagiriamma Krishnamacharya, who said, “Maybe this situation has happened for a reason. A reason that will unfold later.”
“My friends and fellow citizens: I cite these facts and figures to make it clear that America today is stronger than ever before. Our adversaries have not abandoned their ambitions, our dangers have not diminished, our vigilance cannot be relaxed. But now we have the military, the scientific, and the economic strength to do whatever must be done for the preservation and promotion of freedom.
That strength will never be used in pursuit of aggressive ambitions – it will always be used in pursuit of peace. It will never be used to promote provocations – it will always be used to promote the peaceful settlement of disputes.
We in this country, in this generation, are – by destiny rather than choice – the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of ‘peace on earth, good will toward men.’ That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: ‘except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.’”
– quoted from a speech President John F. Kennedy had planned to deliver at the Trade Mart in Dallas, Texas, in the afternoon, on November 22, 1963
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, November 22nd) at 2:30 PM. I am in the process of updating the links from the “Class Schedules” calendar; however, the Meeting IDs in the calendar are the same and are correct. PLEASE NOTE: Zoom 5.0 is in effect. If you have not upgraded, you will need to give yourself extra time to log into Zoom. You can always request an audio recording of this practice (or any practice) via email or a comment below.
Today’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.)
“Dear Mr. President
Thank you for walking yesterday – behind Jack. You did not have to do that – I am sure many people forbid you take such a risk – but you did it anyway.
Thank you for your letters to my children. What those letters will mean to them letter – you can imagine. The touching thing is, they have always loved you so much, they were most moved to have a letter from you now….
But you were Jack’s right arm – I always thought the greatest act of a gentlemen that I had seen on this earth – was how you – the Majority Leader when he came to the Senate as just another little freshman who looked up to you and took orders from you, could then serve as Vice President to a man who had served under you and been taught by you….
But of course [Jack’s ship pictures] are there only waiting for you to ask for them if the walls look too bare. I thought you would want to put things from Texas in it – I pictured some gleaming longhorns – I hope you put them somewhere –
It mustn’t be very much help to you your first day in office – to hear children on the lawn at recess. It is just one more example of your kindness that you let them stay – I promise – they will soon be gone –
Thank you Mr. President
Respectfully
Jackie”
– excerpts from a short letter to President Lyndon B. Johnson, written by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, dated “November 26 Tuesday” (the day after JFK’s funeral)
“All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today.
The greatest leader of our time has been struck down by the foulest deed of our time. Today, John Fitzgerald Kennedy lives on in the immortal words and works that he left behind. He lives on in the mind and memories of mankind. He lives on in the hearts of his countrymen. No words are sad enough to express our sense of loss. No words are strong enough to express our determination to continue the forward thrust of America that he began….
We will carry on the fight against poverty, and misery, and disease, and ignorance, in other lands and in our own. We will serve all the nation, not one section or one sector, or one group, but all Americans.
These are the United States: A united people with a united purpose.”
– quoted from the “Let Us Continue” speech delivered to Congress and the public by President Lyndon B. Johnson, November 27, 1963
### “Life turns on a dime” again and again (11/22/63, SK) ###
My apologies for missing some blog weirdness November 18, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.2 comments
Please note that as I was rushing to post today I missed the fact that some names were truncated and some of the post was missing. The original post has now been corrected (as far as I can tell). The changes will appear automatically if you are on WordPress, but if you are an email subscriber don’t quote (or forward) the email.
Peace to you and yours, Myra
“The Most Intense Part of Your Day” November 17, 2020
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“Let us first teach little children to breathe, to vibrate, to feel, and to become one with the general harmony and movement of nature. Let us first produce a beautiful human being, a dancing child. [Friedrich] Nietzsche has said that he cannot believe in a god that cannot dance. He has also said, ‘Let that day be considered lost on which we have not danced.’ But he did not mean the execution of pirouettes. He meant the exaltation of life in movement.”
– Isadora Duncan (b. 05/26/1877)
According to Indian mythology, Shiva created the world with a dance. Some say it was a dance with 108 steps or poses (others say there were over 8 million). Can you imagine? People have and it always seems quite intense.
Paul B, one of my first yoga teachers, said that our yoga practice should be the “most intense” part of our day. Some people hearing that or reading that might find that really appealing, “Ooo, I want that kind of practice!” Others may be immediately turned off – for the exact same reason others get turned on. But, the practices with Paul B might not be what either group expects. In fact, his classes were the reason I always wanted to go deeper.
Take at face value, surface value, the statement seems to indicate a need for a physically vigorous or strenuous practice. But, what if that’s not what you need? The physical practice of yoga (haţha yoga, regardless of the style or tradition) was originally taught as an individual practice. Yes, it’s true that people might have practiced in a group. However, each person practiced in a way that was appropriate for their body with the awareness that the physical practice was preparing the body for deep seated meditation.
Yoga Sūtra 2.46: sthirasukham āsanam
– “Cultivate a steady [or stable], easy [comfortable or joyful] seat [or pose].”
Yoga Sūtra 2.47: prayatnaśaithilyānantasamāpattibhyām
– “[The way to perfect the seat or pose] is by relaxing [or loosening] effort and by merging with the infinite.”
Yoga Sūtra 2.48: tato dvandvānabhighātāh
– “From that (perfected posture) comes lack of injury (or suffering) caused by the pairs of opposites.”
Patanjali’s instructions for the third limb of the Yoga Philosophy, āsana (“seat” or pose), in some ways relies on the foundation of the first two limbs, the ethical limbs of yama (external “restraints” or universal commandments) and niyama (internal “observations”) – which require, nay demand, that we turn inward. To truly practice āsana there has to be an awareness of what the body needs and what is appropriate for the body. There also needs to be breath, and the awareness of breath, which is practiced with prāņāyāma (the fourth limb). One could argue that if you are not truly aware of your life force, you are not extending it (the other aspect of the fourth limb) and, therefore, you are not actually practicing yoga.
Classic texts like the Haţha Yoga Pradīpikā (15th century) describe 84 “seats” – and they are, in fact, mostly sitting on your sits bones poses – but not all the texts from the 10th through the 17th centuries list the same 84 (although, there is some general consensus). Light On Yoga (Yoga Dipika) was first published in 1966 and lists over 200 variations. Others will tell you there are thousands, millions even – especially when you consider different variations of a similar pose to actually be different poses. So, perhaps there are 84, perhaps there are 2 or 200, perhaps there are over 8 million, or several billion. Who can know? Ultimately, it’s not what you practice; it’s how you practice.
Over the years, Paul B’s words have echoed in my brain; but I don’t take them at face value. I recognize that sometimes I need an intensely physical (and vigorous) practice and sometimes I need an intensely relaxing practice. Sometimes I need something that is mentally intense – not so much in that I’m constantly thinking, but in that it engages my mind – and sometimes I need something intensely energetic and/or spiritual. Sometimes I need all of the above. My guess is that if you practice regularly you will discover the same truth: your yoga practice must be the most intense part of your day.
“Stability and comfort go hand in hand, allowing us to remain relaxed during the peak moments of the posture.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.47 from The Practice of the Yoga Sūtra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Please join me today (Tuesday, November 17th) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where we will do what we do. 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. [Look for “10202020 Pratyahara”]
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.)
“We are living in a body imbued with vast potential, and yet our mental faculty is so dull and dense that we are only dimly aware of its internal dynamics.
We have become disconnected from our body’s intrinsic intelligence. This dims our recognition of our inherent beauty, charm, vigor and vitality, and healing power, and eventually blocks their flow completely. As a result, our ability to be happy with what we are and what we have, our ability to embrace all and exclude none, our ability to cultivate and retain a robust and energetic body, and our ability to heal ourselves and each other plummet. This disconnection also disrupts the incessant flow of information among the body’s various systems and organs, and so they begin to function chaotically. This is how we become unhealthy and succumb to disease.”
– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.46 from The Practice of the Yoga Sūtra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
### JUST SITTING & BREATHING ###
There Was A Light November 14, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.add a comment
[“Happy Diwali!” to anyone celebrating! May you be healthy, wealthy, and wise!]
“oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt”
[Conscious, subconscious, unconscious mind, and every plane of existence, we meditate on the (adorable) Light, that it may inspire us, enlighten us, and remove our obstacles.]
– “Gāyatrī Mantra” from the Rig Veda (from Mandala 3.62.10)
During the darkest times of the year, people all over the world celebrate light. In each culture’s stories and traditions, light overcoming darkness is a metaphor for good overcoming evil; life overcoming death, wisdom overcoming fear; love overcoming hate; hope overcoming despair, and knowledge overcoming ignorance. This year, the celebrations kick off with Diwali, the Indian festival of lights.
Diwali is a five-day celebration which takes its name from Deepavali, which are rows and rows of lamps. It is a lunar calendar based holiday observed throughout India, parts of Southeast Asia, and the diaspora by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Newar Buddhists. Each day has different rituals and customs, which may vary between religious, cultural, and regional traditions. But, the common threads are the (clay) lamps and other great displays of light; pujas (“offerings”); feasts and sweets; epic tales of heroes and heroines prevailing; and a focus on relationships and also on wealth.
Today (the third day) is the biggest day: Diwali! It is a day that is normally marked by people getting together, feasting and celebrating. It is a day of new beginnings. It is a day, once again, when 2020 and the pandemic require people to figure new ways to honor old customs. People, once again, are finding their way through the darkness and into the light.
“A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
– quoted from “Tryst with Destiny” address to the Constituent Assembly of India in New Dehli, August 14 – 15, 1947, by Jawaharlal Nehru
This year, the primary day of Diwali coincides with India’s Children’s Day (Bal Diwas), which is observed every year on the anniversary of the birth of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s First Prime Minister. Prime Minister Nehru was born today in 1889 and was a prominent figure in India’s independence movement. He was known as “Pandit Nehru,” because of his Kashmiri Pandit heritage, and had such an affinity for the children of his country (and they for him) that Indian kids called him Chacha Nehru (Hindi for “Uncle Nehru”). He advocated for the rights, care, and education of children – who are the light of the world.
So, in honor of all these convergences, here‘s a quick lesson about light… and the laws of motion: light moves and light bends, just like us.
Want a little bit more? OK. Think about Newton’s first law of motion (also known as the law of inertia), what happens if the object in motion is a wave of light? Just like anything else, it will keep moving until it meets with resistance. Then what? Does it stop? Not really. Instead of stopping, light bends.
Well, technically speaking, light waves do more than just “bend.” It also bounces, or changes direction; which is what happens when it hits a reflective surface and it skips (over and around things).
Refraction is the most common term used when light bends and it applies to the change in direction that takes place when light waves (or other kinds of waves) move from one type of surface to another. Typically these surfaces would be transparent – so, think of how a straw in a half full (or half empty) glass of water appears above and below the water line. The optical illusion that makes the straw appear disjointed is refraction caused by the difference in density between the air (in the top of the glass) and the water (at the bottom). Optical fibers, glass lenses, and crystals or prisms are the types of objects used to create refraction. In fact, “correcting” someone’s vision with eyeglasses or contacts is a practical implementation of refraction. Dispersion is a special type of refraction that occurs when different wavelengths are refracted different amounts; which is how we get rainbows. Finally, diffusion is a softening effect created from dispersion.
On the flip side, diffraction occurs when light “bends” around or through something. For instance, if there is a wall with a partially open window and light is shining on one side of the wall, that light can be seen through the glass of the window and through the part of the window that’s opened.
Sometimes, when we move through the physical practice, I will suggest visualizing the breath as light. Of course, to really focus, concentrate, meditate on your breath as light, you have to understand how light works. In other words, what happens to the light when you bend forward, back, and side to side? Does it reflect (bounce)? Does it refract (bend) – and if it does, is there dispersion or diffusion? Where does it diffract (or skip)? Finally, where does it seem like the light ends, because it’s completely blocked (and did you block it on purpose)?
Yoga Sūtra 2.46: sthirasukham āsanam
– “Cultivate a steady [or stable], easy [comfortable or joyful] seat [or pose].”
Yoga Sūtra 2.47: prayatnaśaithilyānantasamāpattibhyām
– “[The way to perfect the seat or pose] is by relaxing [or loosening] effort and by merging with the infinite.”
Jumping off from last week, this week’s sūtra takes us a little deeper into the practice of āsana. It explains that while we need effort to get into the pose, once we are there, mastery (or perfection) comes from “effortless effort” and the ability to focus the mind on something that does not end – like light. While some translations specifically reference “effortless effort” (that concept that pops up again and again in Taoism and Buddhism), other translations refer to “special stress-free effort.” If you’ve practiced with me, you’ve heard me refer to that “balance between effort and relaxation.” Maybe you’ve thought you need to have as many parts of your body relaxed as you have engaged. Well, yes, and no…. Ultimately, you want everything simultaneously engaged and relaxed. However you describe it, you want to find that state where you are creating inertia.
I know, I know, “creating inertia” sounds a little weird if you take it out of context. But, if you think about it in terms of basic physics and the laws of motion, you are finding Friedrich Nietzsche’s definition of happiness: cultivating a state whereby you continuously stay in motion (and/or stay still) by overcoming resistance.
When you engage your muscles, by contracting (or shortening/tightening) them, there is resistance. When you “stretch” or lengthen the muscles, which is another form of engagement, there will ultimately be resistance – unless you can relax into the pose. Once you can relax in a pose, you eliminate fatigue and “our ability to be happy with what we are and what we have, our ability to embrace all and exclude none, our ability to cultivate and retain a robust and energetic body, and our ability to heal ourselves and each other” rises. Once you can relax into a pose, the only resistance you meet is the ground and gravity – both of which you can use to go deeper. (Which, in this case, is softer.)
“Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And [Arnold Joseph] Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junk heap of destruction.”
– quoted from “Loving Your Enemies” sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (11/17/1957)
“Oh, my friends, it may be that Western civilization will end up destroyed on the highway of history because we failed to dim our lights with the great light of love at the right time.”
– quoted from “Loving Your Enemies” sermon at Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel at Howard University by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (11/10/1957)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, November 14th) at 12:00 PM. 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 “Diwali (Day 3) 2020”]
“There is an indefinable mysterious Power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen Power which makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses. But it is possible to reason out the existence of God to a limited extent….
And is this Power benevolent or malevolent? I see it as purely benevolent. For I can see, that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme Good.”
– quoted from Young India issue dated 11-10-1928, by Mahatma Gandhi
