Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Gandhi, Healing Stories, Hope, Karma, Lent / Great Lent, Life, Love, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Ramadan, Religion, Suffering, Wisdom, Women, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: Ahimsa, Eastertide, Islam, KISS MY ASANA, Laylat al-Qadr, Mohandas Gandhi, nasheeds, Octave of Easter, Ramadan, Ramadān, Reba McEntire, Salt Satyagraha, satya, satyagraha, Shriman Narayan, Valji Govindji Desai, Yusuf Islam
“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open.) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Great Lent or Eastertide / the Octave of Easter!
This is the “missing” post for Saturday, April 6th. My apologies for not posting the music before the practice on Zoom. You can request an audio recording of a related practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
“The eternal source of love
Was implanted
In every part of existence
The desire for another
Though night and day
Outwardly appears enemies
Yet both serve one purpose
Each seeking the other”
— quoted from the poem “Whispers from a Spiritual Garden” by Yusuf Islam
At the end of the day, we all desire an end to our suffering. However, since our experiences and circumstances are different, we articulate our desires in different ways. We cry, we sing, we wish, we hope, we pray, we contemplate — and, at some point, we have to do… something.
What we do and how we do it is also based on our experiences and circumstances. Some people give peace (and people) a chance. Some people choose war — and a twisted concept of power that prevents them from recognizing a power so great it is referenced in every major religion and spiritual philosophy: Divine or Universal Love.
“Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian Movement ‘Satyagraha’ , that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up the use of the phrase ‘passive resistance’ in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word ‘Satyagraha’ itself or some other equivalent English phrase.”
— quoted from “12. THE ADVENT OF SATYAGRAHA” in Satyagraha in South Africa by M. K. Gandhi (as published in THE SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI, VOLUME TWO, translated from the Gujarati by Valji Govindji Desai; General Editor Shriman Narayan)
In 1930, facing the suffering caused by unjust laws, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi decided salt would be the focus of a direct action, non-violent mass protest. The protest movement became known as the Salt Satyagraha and today (April 6th) is the anniversary of Gandhi, in Dandi, breaking the law.
This also happens to be one of the final days of Ramadān — and the beginning of the month when the Saturday classes will be heart(chakra)-focused.*
Click on the links below for more information and insight.
A Little Salt (the “missing” Tuesday post)
First Friday Night Special #42: An Invitation to “Planting & Transforming” (a post-practice post with an excerpt and links)
A Night of Great Power & Great Peace (a “renewed” post)
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04062024 Satyagraha & Ramadan”]
Some quick notes about the music: First, my playlists for the final days of Ramadān are not halal (“permissible”) in all Islamic traditions, because of the orchestrations. They do, however, feature musicians who are Muslim (with a few exceptions).
Reba McEntire is one of the notable exceptions — notable, because in previous years she was the only female soloist and the only non-Muslim singer on the playlists. While this year’s playlists include several Muslim women as musicians and composers, “Pray for Peace” is still highlighted because it was re-released during the month of Ramadān in 2014 — but not just randomly in the month, the song was released in the last ten days of the month (during the holiest part of the month)!
Some songs on the playlist are Nasheeds (meaning they are religiously moral songs) that, in some traditions, are meant to be sung without instrumentation or only with percussion. I have, however, included orchestrated versions of these songs, because this seems to have worked best in an in-studio setting. I mean no disrespect by this choice. As far as I know, percussion or voice only recordings of the Nasheeds are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music — which is always a suitable option.
Finally, the YouTube version currently includes some additional before/after music.
*HOLIDAY NOTE: I did not reference the biblical stories related to the Octave of Easter or Great Lent.
###
DID YOU KNOW, IT’S ALMOST TIME TO
KISS MY ASANA?
(April 13th – 19th)
###
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Bhakti, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Life, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Philosophy, Ramadan, Religion, Wisdom, Yoga.
Tags: Eastertide, faith, Jane Goodall, Laylat al-Qadr, nasheeds, Octave of Easter, Ramadan, Ramadān, Reba McEntire, Season for Nonviolence, Season of Non-violence, Seven Sleepers, Washington Irving
“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open.) Many blessings to all, and especially to those observing Great Lent or Eastertide / the Octave of Easter, today and throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and during all other seasons!
“You know, I think the most important thing is for people to understand that every day we live on this planet we make some impact. And we can choose. So we should ask questions: This thing we are buying, did it harm the environment when it was made? Was it cruel to animals; like factory farmed meat, eggs, milk? Is it cheap because of unfair wages or slave labor?
If everybody asks those questions, and it might cost a little bit more to buy ethically produced products, but then you value it more and we waste less.”
— Dame Jane Goodall, quoted from a Today interview on her 90th birthday
Here’s a little excerpt from my 2019 post on this date:
“Upon hearing that the short story author Washington Irving was born April 3, 1783, some might suppose that today’s peak pose will be Savasana. Such an assumption, however, would mean that ‘some’ are making the same error as Rip Van Winkle.” [Note: Jane Goodall is also celebrating a birthday today. She was born in 1934.]
Please join me today (Wednesday, April 3rd) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “04032024 Transcendence, remix”]
Some quick notes about the music: First, I remixed this playlist because we are approaching final days of Ramadān, when I usually use music featuring musicians who are Muslim (with a few exceptions). This is not the same as those playlists, but those are coming.
Second, there are some songs on the playlist that are Nasheeds (meaning they are religiously moral songs) that, in some traditions, are meant to be sung without instrumentation or only with percussion. I have, however, included orchestrated versions of these songs, because this seems to have worked best in an in-studio setting. I mean no disrespect by this choice. As far as I know, percussion or voice only recordings of the Nasheeds are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music.
One of the notable exceptions — notable, because she is the only female soloist and the only non-Muslim singer on my Ramadān playlists — is Reba McEntire. While this playlist is a little different, her song “Pray for Peace” is on the playlist because she re-released it during the month of Ramadān in 2014 — but not just randomly in the month, the song was released in the last ten days of the month!
One more musical note can be found at the bottom of this 2023 post.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
### 
###
A Joyful Practice 