Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Bright Friday (as I post this), Counting the Omer, and/or working for peace (inside and outside).
This is the “missing” post for Tuesday, May 8th, which was World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day and White Lotus Day. There are several passing references to war and situations related to wars. 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.
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).
“‘Arjuna, I will now enumerate the marks of the devotee I most dearly love. I love the one who harbors no ill will toward any living being, who returns love for hatred, who is friendly and compassionate toward all. I love the devotee who is beyond “I” and “mine,” unperturbed by pain and not elated by pleasure, who possesses firm faith, is forgiving, ever contented and ever meditating on Me.
“‘I love the peaceful devotee who is neither a source of agitation in the world nor agitated by the world. I love those who are free of fear, envy, and other annoyances that the world brings, who accept the knocks that come their way as blessings in disguise.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (12.13 – 14 and 12.15) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
Just like other emotions, energies, and manifestations of the Divine, Love is something that can be felt, but not touched. It can manifest in a lot of different ways and we can express it in a lot of different ways, but we can’t actually hold it in our hands or in our arms. What we can do is hold each other and, in doing so, express a symbol of our love.
Symbols come up a lot in the physical practices of yoga for several reasons. First, many poses are named after things which hold meaning either through their stories and/or through our association with the idea behind the object. For example, when we think of a pose inspired by Virabhadra as a “Hero-Friend Pose” and/or a “Warrior Pose,” we can consider the qualities that make someone a hero-friend and/or a warrior. We could also think of the story of Daksha, Sati, Shiva, and Virabhadra as a cautionary tale about how our actions affect others and how we channel strong emotions (like anger and grief).
The practice can also be symbolic when we view the mind-body through an energetic lens, like the ones offered by the chakra system (as it comes to us from Āyurveda), the meridian system (as it comes to us from Traditional Chinese Medicine), Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), and other indigenous systems. In all three of the cited examples, each part of the mind-body can be energetically and symbolically related to a plethora of things, including: different colors, different elements, different minerals, (the energy of) different organs, and different emotions.
Love is often associated with one or both arms. In fact, in Kabbalah, chesed (“loving-kindness”) is associated with the right arm and is the primary focus of the first week when people start Counting the Omer on the second night of Passover. I mentioned last week that chesed is also the focus of the first day of each week and that the second week and second day of each week highlights gevurah (“strength” and “discipline”), which is associated with the left arm. Tuesday at sunset marked the beginning of the third week which brings awareness to tiferet (“balance,”“compassion,” “beauty,” “harmony,” and “justice”) and is associated with the torso. Coincidentally, this week’s Wednesday classes overlapped the end of Day 15 and the beginning of Day 16, as well as two celebrations that highlight the beauty that happens when we balance loving-kindness and strength, with compassion, discipline, and (to a certain extent) justice.
“‘I love devotees whose attitudes are the same toward friend or foe, who are indifferent to honor or ignominy, heat or cold, praise or criticism — who not only control their talking but are silent within.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (12.18) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
Wednesday (May 8th) was World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, which falls on the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Henri Dunant, who was born in Geneva, Switzerland in 1828. Also known as Henri (or Henry), Mr. Dunant grew up in a prestigious, religious family that emphasized the importance of balancing faith and good works. His father, Jean-Jacques Dunant, worked with orphans and parolees while his mother, Antoinette Dunant-Colladon, was devoted to people who were poor and people who were ill. By the age of 18, young Henri was involved in the Muscular Christianity movement. He founded a Bible-study and service group called the Thursday Association and the Swiss branch of the Young Men’s Christian Association [YMCA]. He also served as the Secretary of the YMCA Geneva; spearheaded the idea for a YMCA World Conference; and attended the first conference, in August 1855, when 99 delegates from nine countries adopted the Paris Basis, which included an international mission and motto. That motto came from John 17:21, “That they all may be one.”
Around the same time that he was working with the newly-formed YMCA, the philanthropist turned his energy towards international business. He worked for a company doing trade in French-occupied Algeria, Tunisia, and Sicily and wrote a book about his travels, Notice sur la Régence de Tunis (An Account of the Regency in Tunis), which was published in 1858. The fact that one of it’s chapters was also published as as it’s own work — L’Esclavage chez les musulmans et aux États-Unis d’Amérique (Slavery among the Mohammedans and in the United States of America) — indicates that even as he traveled and focused on business, he kept his eye on the needs of the world. This ability to be compassionate and devoted to the needs of others became even more evident in late June of 1859, when he traveled to northern Italy to petition Napoleon III for land and water rights needed by a company he had started.
At the time, the French emperor was engaged in the the Second Italian War of Independence, which was part of the Italian Risorgimento (the unification of Italy), and had achieved a victory in the Battle of Solferino and San Martino. The battle, which took place on June 24, 1859, pitted the Franco-Sardinian alliance (i.e., the allied French army and the Piedmont-Sardinian army) against the Austrian army, with all the combatants being led by their respective monarchs. Over 12,000 soldiers (including officers) were killed; almost 30,000 were injured’ and a little over 12,000 would eventually be designated as missing. Henry Dunant arrived in the northern town right after the battle and was horrified at what he witnessed: Almost no one was caring for the wounded, burying the dead, or searching for the missing.
“The moral sense of the importance of human life; the humane desire to lighten a little of the torments of all these poor wretches, or restore their shattered courage; the furious and relentless activity which a man summons up at such moments: all these combine to create a kind of energy which gives one a positive craving to relieve as many as one can. There is no more grieving at the multiple scenes of this fearful and solemn tragedy. There is indifference even…. There is something akin to cold calculation, in the face of horrors yet more ghastly than those here described, and which the pen absolutely declines to set down.
But then you feel sometimes that your heart is suddenly breaking—it is as if you were stricken all at once with a sense of bitter and irresistible sadness, because of some simple incident, some isolated happening, some small unexpected detail which strikes closer to the soul, seizing on our sympathies and shaking all the most sensitive fibres of our being.”
— quoted from A Memory of Solferino by Henry Dunant (English version, American Red Cross)
Even without the very detailed and descriptive passages in the book, we can do a little svādyāya (“self-study”) and put ourselves in the shoes of anyone who has witnessed the horrors of war. We can imagine the fear, the grief, and a host of other emotions. Maybe we can even the imagine the feeling of being overwhelmed that many in Solferino experienced that day. But, how many of us would have been able to channel all of that emotion — all of that energy — and do what Jean-Henri Dunant did? How many of us would have mobilized the civilians to do what needed to be done — and to do it regardless of nationality? How many of us would have purchased the supplies needed to not only care for the wounded, but to also shelter them in temporary hospitals? How many of us would have successfully negotiated the release of Austrian doctors being held as prisoners of war?
To be fair, a better way of phrasing those questions would be: “How many of us could…?”
In some ways, Jean-Henri Dunant was uniquely qualified to do what he did and to inspire one of the women (in Castiglione delle Stiviere) to use the phrase “Tutti fratelli” (“All are brothers”) in relation to their humanitarian efforts. All of his previous experiences prepared Mr. Dunant for what he did in Solferino. It also enabled him to write about his experiences in his book, A Memory of Solferino. Published in 1862, A Memory of Solferino recounted the battle (which he did not witness), the aftermath, the recovery process, and a plan. That plan kicked off the the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and led to the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), as well as to the Geneva Conventions.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is the world’s largest humanitarian network and is made up of the following three parts:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which “provides assistance and protection to victims of war and armed violence, and promotes respect of and adherence to international humanitarian law.”
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which “carries out relief operations to assist victims of disasters, in combination with work to strengthen the capacities of its member National Societies,”
The 191 member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which include over 16 million volunteers providing “first-line disaster response services, as auxiliaries to the national authorities in their countries.”
“Would it not be possible, in time of peace and quiet, to form relief societies for the purpose of having care given to the wounded in wartime by zealous, devoted and thoroughly qualified volunteers?”
— quoted from A Memory of Solferino by Henry Dunant (English version, American Red Cross)
Henry Dunant grew up under different variations of the Flag of Switzerland (a white cross on a red background). According to historians like Joseph McMillan, the Red Cross flag was meant to be a colour-reverse version of that flag (a red cross on a white background) and “was selected in recognition of the pioneering work of Swiss citizens in establishing internationally recognized standards for the protection of wounded combatants and military medical facilities.” It was approved in Geneva in 1863, and extended to naval ensigns during the 1899 Geneva Convention at the Hague.
However, there was some controversy about the Red Cross flag; because, the symbol which brought comfort to Christians did not feel neutral to others. The objection to the Red Cross as a universal and neutral symbol led to the establishment of the Red Crescent, which was first use during the Russo-Turkish War — also known as 93 Harbi, or “War of ’93,” (1876 – 1877 / 1293) — and officially approved in 1929. It is officially described as a colour-reverse version of the Ottoman Empire flag.
It is possible that a Red Lion and Sun flag was also used during the War of ’93 since the red lion and sun have historical significance in Iran (and ancient Persia) and was used as some part of Iran’s national flag up until the 1979 revolution. The Red Lion and Sun Society of Iran was established in 1922 and admitted to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1923. Although it is not as prevalent as the other three ICRC-sanctioned symbols, the Red Lion and Sun flag was introduced at Geneva (as early as 1864) and is an approved symbol of the ICRC.
Although they are not officially described as being religious in nature, there is no getting around the fact that the aforementioned symbols have religious significance to people around the world. As a result of those connotations, various countries and organizations around the world have advocated for a more neutral symbol or for a symbol with significance to their culture. For example, the State of Israel has advocated for a Red Star of David and China has advocated for a Red Swastika. The Nazis used a “hooked cross” and, in doing so, appropriated the shape of the swastika, which is an ancient symbol in India, and East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Africa and parts of the Americas, and is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. While a Red Star of David is used in Israel and a Red Swastika Society1 was formed in China (in 1922), neither symbol is recognized by the ICRC. Instead, a Red Crystal was proposed in 1992, and officially adopted by the Geneva Conventions as Protocol III in 2005. In Israel the Red Crystal is often used in tandem with the Red Star of David.
“On certain special occasions, as, for example, when princes of the military art belonging to different nationalities meet at Cologne or Châlons, would it not be desirable that they should take advantage of this sort of congress to formulate some international principle, sanctioned by a Convention inviolate in character, which, once agreed upon and ratified, might constitute the basis for societies for the relief of the wounded in the different European countries? It is the more important to reach an agreement and concert measures in advance….”
— quoted from A Memory of Solferino by Henry Dunant (English version, American Red Cross)
In addition to the aforementioned observations (and to being Bright Wednesday in the Orthodox Christian tradition and the Feast Day of Julian of Norwich in Anglican and Lutheran traditions2), Wednesday, May 8th, was also White Lotus Day which is an annual celebration held on the anniversary of the death of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (née Hahn von Rottenstern). The Russian–born American mystic known as Madame Blavatsky or HPB was an author and co-founder of the Theosophical Society. While much of her background is sketchy (as in dubious) and while she and the Theosophical Society (before and after her death) engaged in some highly questionable behavior, she was an influential part of the Spirituality movement and in the popularity of eastern philosophies in the East and the West. Her books inspired people like Thomas Edison, Major General Abner Doubleday (of the Union Army), the poet William Butler Yeats, Leo Tolstoy, the social reformer and activist Annie Besant, a young Indian lawyer named Mohandas Gandhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first prime minister). A list of her critics — which can be just as long and impressive as one consisting of admirers — includes Arthur Lillie, John Nevil Maskelyne, Robert Todd Carroll, James Randi, and Dr. Carl Jung.
During the pandemic of 1889 – 1890, HPB contracted the flu and died on May 8, 1891. In her will, she asked that her friends and family spend the anniversary of her death reading The Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold and The Bhagavad Gita. People also meditated on the symbol of the lotus, which some people said grew in abundance in 1892. The lotus is a beautiful and fragrant flower that is rooted in the mud, but blossoms above the water. Used by a variety of cultures and organizations around the world as a symbol for spiritual growth, it’s seeds can lay dormant for at least a millennium and are said to contain a miniature image of the ultimate flower.
In many ways, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is very much like a lotus flower: something beautiful that grew out of the muck, the mud, and the mire of war. Also, remember that it all started because Jean-Henri Dunant need water rights for his company.
“‘Also very dear to Me are those generally content with life and unattached to things of the world, even to home. I love those whose sole concern in life is to love Me. Indeed, these and all the others I mentioned are very, very dear to Me.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (12.19) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
Henry Dunant never received the water rights he was originally seeking (and he and his company eventually went bankrupt); but, he created a legacy that continues to this day. He extended the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to include aide during natural disasters, advocated for worldwide access to literature (via an international library) and peaceful resolutions to international conflicts (including proposing a two-state plan for Israel and Palestine and plans for hostage negotiations and conflict arbitration). In 1901, he received the very first Nobel Peace Prize.
Despite the fact that he received monetary prizes like the the Nobel Peace Prize and several other awards, Mr. Dunant spent the last thirty-five years of his life impoverished and in a slightly isolated hospice room. Per his request, there was no fanfare after his death — “no funeral ceremony, no mourners, no cortege” — and he bequeathed the majority of the prize monies to “those who had cared for him in the village hospital, [to] endow a «free bed» that was to be available to the sick among the poorest people in the village, and… to philanthropic enterprises in Norway and Switzerland.”
Even in death, Jean-Henri Dunant was focused on life and healing.
“Healing, a simple act of kindness brings such meaning A smile can change a life lets start believing And feeling, let’s start healing
Hearts in the hand of another heart and in God’s hand are all hearts An eye takes care of another eye and from God’s eye nothing hides [Something about Him is hidden]. Seek only to give and you’ll receive [Strive to give… and you will receive and be given]. So, heal and you will be healed
OUTRO (x2, from Arabic translation):
A heart is in the hands of another heart and in the hand of God’s. Every heart is an eye that takes care of an eye, and the eyes of God take care of a kind word of charity. Your smile for your brother is charity. Every favor is charity. Oh God, heal with a cure that leaves no disease.”
— quoted from song “Healing” by Sami Yusuf
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and (in) all manner of thing(s) shall be well.”
— quoted from Chapter 27 Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Love in 16 Shewings) by Julian of Norwich
NOTES:
1 While the Red Swastika Society is not affiliated with the ICRC and has been partially suppressed by the communist government, it is still active as a charitable organization in parts of China and the diaspora.
2 Julian of Norwich was an anchoress and Christian mystic who lived in the 14th and 15th century. Although she recovered, she was given last rites on May 8, 1373, and experienced visions which she eventually related in her book, Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Love in 16 Shewings). Her feast days are May 8th in Anglican and Lutheran traditions and May 13th in the Roman Catholic tradition.
In [“Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad] al-Bājūrī’s account the burda—the daytime garment of the Prophet Muḥammad turned, via the operation of dream, into the nighttime blanket that miraculously heals his stricken charge—comes to ‘be’ the poem that [Imam al-Busiri of Egypt] composes as a prayer for his cure by metonymic association with that cure. Yet it also gains that title—as al-Bājūrī goes on to note—by association with yet another burda: the mantle bestowed by the Prophet on the poet Ka’b ibn Zuhayr for eulogizing him at the end of his ode ‘Bānat Suʿād’ (Suʿād Appeared), which earned that work the epithet al-Burda. This last burda is less the sign of cure than the sign of recognition: recognition of a poet’s allegiance, through literature, to a new religiopolitical order.”
— quoted the “Reawakening to the Self in the Arms of the Other” section of “2. The Dismantling I: Al-ʿAṭṭār’s Antihistory of the French in Egypt, 1798–1799” in Disarming Words: Empire and Seductions of the Translation of Egypt by Shaden M. Tageldin
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Bright Wednesday, Counting the Omer, and/or working for peace (inside and outside) on World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day and White Lotus Day.
Please join me today (Wednesday, May 8th) 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.
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).
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone observing Great Lent on Great Friday and/or Counting the Omer.
This is the “missing” post for the “First Friday Night Special” on May 3rd.You can request an audio recording of this Restorative Yoga practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
“The brain—like life—does not search to live, but to not die.”
— quoted from the “Acknowledgements” in Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently by Beau Lotto
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain and the nervous system to change and grow. We can see this at work when we look at how neural pathways, samskara (a “mental impression”), and vasana (a literal “dwelling” place) create habits and a “space of possibility.” However, those same elements that create change can cause us to resist change and to hold on to things.
The paradoxical way the mind-body works makes sense when you consider that (a) known and controlled quantities have been the key to our survival since the beginning of recorded history; (b) the unknown (and uncontrolled) can be uncomfortable and scary, and (c) since everything around us is changing — i.e., potentially becoming unknown and uncontrolled — we have to change in order to survive.
But we don’t have to like it. And free will means that we can resist it.
“‘Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.’ — Ann Landers”
— quoted from “Day 11 / MARATHON MAN: ENDURANCE IN DISCIPLINE נצח שבע גבורה” in The Kabbalah Sutras: 49 Steps to Enlightenment by Marcus J. Freed
Since change happens / shift happens, our inability to shift and change can be a detriment. Consider that all the major philosophies point to some form of attachment as the cause of suffering. Additionally, all the major philosophies — and religions, for that matter — offer a solution to that suffering: Letting Go.
It’s always about letting go. Even when it is phrased as “letting go and letting God,” we are advised to do our best, recognize what is out of our control, and then engage some form of “trustful surrender.” Trustful surrender is a critical part of why people are observing Great Friday today (which would be the equivalent of Good Friday in Western Christianity) and it is so crucial to the Yoga Philosophy that Patanjali stated it in two different sūtras and it is reiterated in the Bhagavad Gita. (YS 1.23 & YS 2.45, BG 2.48 & BG 6.30)
In the aforementioned cases, there is some awareness of the Divine — something more than one’s self — and that requires a certain amount of faith. However, Eastern philosophies diverge from the religions when they also recommend letting go of the path that leads to freedom.
In the Tao Te Ching, in some of the Buddha’s sutras, and in the Yoga Sūtras, there are warnings about holding on too tightly to anything — even the practice. In the Tao, it says, “This is a path of letting go so there will be room to live.” (TTC 9) In the Diamond Sutra, the Buddha explained that the words were simply words or “‘a figure of speech’” meant to be used as a tool to “‘bring one to the other shore of Enlightenment.’” (DS 13) Even one of the lojong (“mind training”) statements in Tibetan Buddhism, advises us to “Self-liberate even the antidote.” (9)
Finally, in Yoga Sūtras 1.14 – 1.15, Patanjali specifically indicated that the longer one practices the Yoga Philosophy, the more one is inclined to practice and the less one is inclined to crave, desire, and form attachments that lead to suffering. That last part is hopeful, but does not change the fact that it is challenging to balance the practice of non-attachment with the discipline needed to practice over a long period of time, without interruption, and with passion, devotion, and reverence — which is the definition of abhyāsa. In the commentary for Yoga Sūtras 1.12 – 1.16, Swami J highlights this balancing act with an illustration of a scale, above which abhyāsa (a dedicated and devoted “practice”) and vairāgya (“non-attachment”) are described as “two of the most important foundation principles of Yoga.”
Again, it is helpful (and hopeful) to know that abhyāsa and vairāgya can balance each other out; however, some times we need to look at things in a different way. Sometimes, we need to do it differently.
“Do it differently So it won’t come out the same Step up, be strong, Get yourself out of pain.”
— quoted from the poem “DIFFERENTLY” by Donna Garrett
Doing things differently — when the thing you are doing seems to be working — can seem just as counterintuitive as letting go of the path that leads to freedom. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense: When you reach your destination, you get off the road on which you traveled. This does not mean that your journey in life is over; nor does it mean that you won’t use other tools. It is simply acknowledging that what you needed at one point in your journey may not serve you — or may not serve you in the same way — during the next part of your journey.
You can think of using a different paradigm as being similar to someone getting a new set of prescription eye glasses, using a different set of sunglasses to watch the eclipse, or using a phone or a microscope to enhance something you can no longer (or never could) see with the naked eye. The way we practice is simply a tool to bring things into focus. For this month’s First Friday Night Special, we used our bodies and “attributes of the Divine” to consider where we are holding on to discomfort, dis ease, and things that no longer serve us — or maybe never served us.
“This path accepts that developing an ego is an essential element in human growth. But it also suggests that this development might be a stage of human development rather than its end product.”
— quoted from the commentary for “Chapter 9” in A Path and a Practice: Using Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching as a Guide to an Awakened Spiritual Life by William Martin
The Bahá’í Faith and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) highlight different aspects of the Divine on a daily basis.
The following practice-related breakdown is based on content posted on a different date and time. Details and links have been updated accordingly.
As I previously mentioned, the Bahá’í calendar has 19 months with 19 days — each named for one of the 19 names/manifestations/attributes of God. There are 4 or 5 intercalary days that occur just before the final month and these days are considered “transcendent” in nature. (The days of the week also follow this nomenclature.) This calendar starts around the Vernal (Spring) Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere with the month of Bahá, which can be translated into English as “Splendor,” and we are currently in the third month, Jamál (“Beauty”). Since each day begins and ends at sunset, this First Friday Night Special overlapped the end of Istiqlál (“Independence”) and the beginning of Jalál (“Glory”), in Central Standard Time.
Splendor, beauty, independence, and glory also show up as manifestations of the Divine in Jewish mysticism. According to Kabbalah, the Tree of Life has ten sefirot (“eminations,” attributes, or manifestations) of the Divine. On the second night of Passover, some people within the Jewish community begin the ritual of Counting the Omer — which involves prayer and reflection around 7 of the 10 sefirot. People count every day for 7 weeks (for a total of 49 days, plus a 50th day as commanded). Each day and week is associated with a different aspect of the Divine — which means that, on any given day, people are focusing+concentrating+meditating on how two aspects of the Divine interact and manifest in their lives.
Since days on the Hebrew calendar also begin and end at sunset, this First Friday Night Special overlapped the end Day 10 and the beginning of the Day 11 — both of which occur in the week devoted to the second sefirah: Gevurah. This second attribute can be defined as “strength” and “discipline.” Before sunset on Friday (Day 10), the focus was Tiferet She’b’Gevurah — with Tiferet meaning “balance,”“compassion,” “beauty,” “harmony,” and “justice” (which is also an attribute on the Bahá’í calendar). After sunset (Day 11), the focus became Netzach She’b’Gevurah — with Netzach meaning “endurance,” “sustainability,” “victory,” and “persistence.”
Additionally, the seven highlighted sefirot can also be associated with with different parts of the body. Gevurah is associated with the left arm; Tiferet is associated with the upper abdominal cavity (solar plexus) and torso; and Netzach is associated with the right hip in thigh. As teachers like Marcus J. Freed and Sandra Razieli* point out, we can explore different aspects of Divine interaction (and interrelationship) by exploring the different ways parts of our bodies interact. For this practice we referenced all seven attributes and parts of the body; considered how they are connected, and addressed how those connections can serve us.
“Developing a cocoon is a natural and essential part of being a caterpillar. But the time comes when the cocoon softens, wears out, and opens up. What if this is the case for all our opinions, possessions, and even for our ego? What if, when the cocoon of ego opens, instead of the feared abyss we find a butterfly?”
— quoted from the commentary for “Chapter 9” in A Path and a Practice: Using Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching as a Guide to an Awakened Spiritual Life by William Martin
The May First Friday Night Special features a Restorative Yoga practice. It is accessible and open to all.
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice).
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05032024 Balancing Holding On & Letting Go”]
The playlist tracks are slightly different in length and duration; however, the overall content is the same.
Many blessings to everyone, and especially to anyone observing Great Lent on Great Friday and/or Counting the Omer.
“‘Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.’ — Ann Landers”
— quoted from “Day 11 / MARATHON MAN: ENDURANCE IN DISCIPLINE נצח שבע גבורה” in The Kabbalah Sutras: 49 Steps to Enlightenment by Marcus J. Freed
Please join me tonight (Friday, May 3, 2024), 7:15 PM – 8:20 PM (CST) for “The Beautiful Balancing Act of Holding On & Letting Go” 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.
This Restorative Yoga practice is accessible and open to all.
Prop wise, this is a kitchen sink practice. You can practice without props or you can use “studio” and/or “householder” props. Example of “Studio” props: 1 – 2 blankets, 2 – 3 blocks, a bolster, a strap, and an eye pillow. Example of “Householder” props: 1 – 2 blankets or bath towels, 2 – 3 books (similar in size), 2 standard pillows (or 1 body pillow), a belt/tie/sash, and a face towel.
You may want extra layers (as your body may cool down during this practice).
Friday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05032024 Balancing Holding On & Letting Go”]
NOTE: The playlist tracks are slightly different in length and duration.
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).
“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating/observing Eastertide / the Octave of Easter!
“I know I’m waiting Waiting for something Something to happen to me But this waiting comes with Trials and challenges Nothing in life is free”
“My Lord, show me right from wrong Give me light, make me strong I know the road is long Make me strong”
– quoted from the song “Make Me Strong” by Sami Yusuf
There’s a lot in my head and heart today, a lot I want to share. But, it’s a lot. So, I’m going to ask you to wait a moment and, while you’re waiting, I’m going to ask you to send me some strength… as I send you some strength.
All over the world, people come together. Sometimes physically; sometimes virtually; sometimes spiritual; and sometimes religiously. It happens a lot when Nature cooperates – and/or when people work together to overcome natural (and man-made) disasters. It also happens this time of year, because so many communities are engaged in holy obligations, observations, and celebrations. I’ve talked about such things quite a bit recently and, this week, I again focus on a holy time – this time on the holy month of Ramadān.*
However, in addition to using this time (wisely) to share information that can bring us all closer together; I also want to use today to bring awareness to how powerful we all are (and can be) when we come together. Because, there is so much power in what we do when we come together – even virtually. There is power in coming together and waiting together. What is especially powerful is what we do, in community, when we come together and wait together. People have known about this power for eons upon eons. We see it in rituals and traditions around the world: in people coming together, as a community, during different sacred times throughout the year.
What is funny (ironic) to me is how, despite years of proof, Western science is only recently figuring out and acknowledging this power.
“But if we remove the theology—views about the nature of God, the creation of the universe, and the like—from the day-to-day practice of religious faith, the animosity in the debate evaporates. What we’re left with is a series of rituals, customs, and sentiments that are themselves the results of experiments of sorts. Over thousands of years, these experiments, carried out in the messy thick of life as opposed to sterile labs, have led to the design of what we might call spiritual technologies—tools and processes meant to sooth, move, convince, or otherwise tweak the mind. And studying these technologies has revealed that certain parts of religious practices, even when removed from a spiritual context, are able to influence people’s minds in the measurable ways psychologists often seek.”
– quoted from the (09/14/2021) Wired article entitled, “Psychologists Are Learning What Religion Has Known for Years: Social scientists are researching what humans can do to improve their quality of life. Their findings echo what religious practices perfected centuries ago.” by David DeSteno
In Yoga Sūtra 2.1, Patanjali described a spiritual technology that he called it kriyā yoga: a cleansing ritual consisting of tapas (“heat”, “discipline”, and “austerity”, as well as the practices that build heat, discipline, and austerity); svādyāya (“self-study” – which is reflection); and īshvarapraņidhāna (“trustful surrender to the Divine”). I often note that rituals made up of these exact three elements exist outside of yoga – and include observing a silent retreat (Buddhism), giving up leavened bread during Passover (Judaism), fasting for Yom Kippur (Judaism), fasting during Lent (Christianity), observing the 19-Day Fast (Bahá’í), and fasting during the holy month of Ramadān, which is ending this week.
More often than not, I contemplate and talk about the power of these rituals, of community, and of waiting in a positive way. For example, this month I have talked about the kindness in the waiting; I have referenced strength cultivated while waiting; and I have focused on the positive “destinations” we are looking forward to arriving/experiencing. I have not focused (much) on the fact that there is so much trauma that many of us are waiting for the next negative.
Yes, we can be (and are) excited about visiting new places; reconnecting with friends and family; starting new jobs and new relationships; having babies and seeing those babies hit new milestones (like taking first steps and graduating, which can be their first steps into adulthood); and hitting our own milestones. However, if we’re being honest, we are simultaneously waiting for those positives and, also, waiting for the next mass shooting, the next random shooting, the next assault, the next insult, the next ban, and the next law that keeps people from accessing “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Let’s be honest: We’re all waiting for the next trauma.
But, what are doing while we’re waiting?
“Take a moment to break your mind free of any distraction that causes your heart to be shackled in anxiety or pain. Remove from yourself any feeling of emptiness or remorse that comes from having to put on a face that is not your own to gain acceptance from a society that won’t take you as you are. Let your thoughts move away from those who can’t look beyond the color of your skin, the texture of your hair, the accent that you speak with, or anything else that makes you beautiful. Don’t chase after words that are unfamiliar to you but seek and speak with words that are sincerely your own. Be with those who give you hope and courage, who help you to be bold in your prayer. Forget the judgments and harshness of any who have lead you to believe that you cannot ask of your Creator for whatever your heart wishes. Don’t inhibit yourself in anyway. God is Most Generous and Most Merciful, and we all are entitled to benefit from that generosity and mercy. You are going to stand in front of the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, One who looks for a reason to accept from you, not push you away.”
– quoted from a 2012 “Ramadān Reflection” (Day 26) for Huffington Post by Imam Khalid Latif
Given that the Western science community has only recently started to catch up with the religious and spiritual communities, I should not be surprised that so many of us have taken spiritual, energetic, and psychological power for granted. Some of us scoff at people who talk about “thoughts and prayers” every time there is a shooting in the United States. But what are we doing? That is an important question: What are we doing?
I am asking that question in the context of each individual person’s civic duty, moral duty, and physical/material duty – and I am also asking in the context of energy, emotion, and spirit. Because, here’s the thing, the bottom line: Thoughts and prayers can create resistance; thoughts and prayers can create obstacles. Thoughts and prayers can create despair.
I know, I know, that’s not the way it’s “supposed” to work. Except it is.
It is supposed to work exactly like that. It is the way it has always worked. That’s one of the reasons the stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius** wrote, “Our actions may be impeded… but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting…. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
So, maybe those of us who want change need to take another look at thoughts and prayers. Maybe we all need to look at what it is for which we are praying/hoping/wishing/thinking and how that praying/hoping/wishing/thinking creates the energy, emotion, and spirit needed for people to engage their minds and bodies. Maybe we need to look at how all of that can create more energy towards the positive, instead of continually experiencing how it contributes to the negative.
We need to start believing in change for the better. And, while we’re waiting, we need to start doing the things that enable us to create that better – and we need to come do it in community.
“The Creation Equation states that when the intensity of desire, or shakti (Is), plus the intensity of the energy you direct toward achieving it, or vayu (Iv), is greater than the intensity of resistance, or karma (Ik), it equals attainment of your desire, or prapti (P). Thus, the formula looks something like this:
Is + Iv > Ik = P.”
– quoted from “Chapter 11. The Formula For Fulfilling Your Desires” in The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom by Rod Stryker
UMMAH [Arabic] – Community, refers to a group of people who share common religious beliefs, often used as a synonym for “ummat al-Islām” (“the Islāmic Community”). Also appears in the Qur’ān as “Ummah Wāhida” (“One Nation”).
SHA’B [Arabic] – A Nation or Community which share common ancestry and geography (but not necessarily culture, language, or beliefs).
DHIMMĪ [Arabic] – Protected Person, historically used in reference to non-Muslims living within an Islamic state and conveys certain legal rights related to life, property, and religious freedom.
Please join me today (Tuesday, April 18th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.[Look for “Ramadan 2023”]
Two quick notes about the music: First, while the most of the musicians featured on the playlists during these final days of Ramadān are Muslim there are some exceptions. One of the notable exceptions – notable, because she is the only female soloist and the only non-Muslim singer on the list – is Reba McEntire. 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! 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 each song are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music.
I remixed the playlist because I wanted to include some new songs. One of these songs is on the playlist three (3) times and was inspired by “the stories in In Baghdad Dreaming Of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming Of Baghdad by Rumi and by The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.” The song is moving in English (and as an instrumental, which is how it shows up during the practice), but it is next level in Arabic. Let’s go. Better yet, let’s make the whole world feel like home.
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.)
**NOTE: The Marcus Aurelius statement is from Book 5 of Meditations. The translation above appears in the preface of The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumphs by Ryan Holiday.
“Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!) Many blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating/observing Eastertide / the Octave of Easter!
“I know I’m waiting Waiting for something Something to happen to me But this waiting comes with Trials and challenges Nothing in life is free”
“My Lord, show me right from wrong Give me light, make me strong I know the road is long Make me strong”
– quoted from the song “Make Me Strong” by Sami Yusuf
Please join me today (Tuesday, April 18th) at 12:00 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.[Look for “Ramadan 2023”]
Two quick notes about the music: First, while the most of the musicians featured on the playlists during these final days of Ramadān are Muslim there are some exceptions. One of the notable exceptions – notable, because she is the only female soloist and the only non-Muslim singer on the list – is Reba McEntire. 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! 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 each song are available (if you want to build your own playlist). Alternatively, you can practice without the music.
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.)
Blessings to anyone Counting the Omer or celebrating Easter and Eastertide / the Octave of Easter! “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the holy month of Ramadān. (Keep your eyes open!)
This is the “missing” and slightly revised post for Saturday, April 8th, which was the 2023 Saturday before Easter in Western Christian traditions and Lazarus Saturday in the Orthodox Christian traditions, as well as Passover and the holy month of Ramadān. This is also an Easter post. NOTE: There are references to death and dying.You can request an audio recording of this Saturday practice and/or the Easter practice from 2020 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.
“Still; all that close throng Of spirits waiting, as I, For the message. Prompt me, God; But not yet. When I speak, Though it be you who speak Through me, something is lost. The meaning is in the waiting.”
– quoted from the poem “Kneeling” by R. S. Thomas, with accompanying music composed by Hilary Tann, featuring Guy Johnston
April marks the beginning of our Saturday exploration of the second of the four graces found in Indian philosophy, particularly in the Himalayan tradition of the Yoga Philosophy. We started with “Grace of God” (or Divine Grace) and we plan to end the year with Grace of Self. The second and third graces (Grace of Scripture and Grace of Guru) are often flipped and, in some ways, this practice connects the two. Mostly, however, this is about shastra kripa. In another practice (and post), I will get into why some traditions do not translate shastra as “scripture” and also why those tradition do not consider the scriptures I reference below as shastras. However, some do and, ultimately, the practice is about what we find inside the stories.
Pay close attention and you will find there is a lot of waiting – so much waiting – in the stories that people commemorate during Passover; the Saturday of Holy Week (which is the Saturday before Easter); Lazarus Saturday (which is the Saturday before Palm Sunday); and during the holy month of Ramadān. In 2023, all of those observations overlapped each other and overlapped some celebrations of the Buddha’s birthday – and there is significant waiting in the story of the Buddha. It is almost like there is something important about waiting. It is almost like there is something holy, something Divine, about waiting.
Waiting is something we all do at some point in our day-to-day lives – and it can be challenging. Whether we are waiting our turn or waiting for something for which we desire, we can get fidgety and impatient on the best days. We can be especially fidgety and impatient if we feel like nothing is happening or that something is not happening fast enough. But something is always happening; we just need to bring awareness to the moment.
This is where the waiting in yoga and meditation comes in handy: We can bring awareness to how we wait.
For instance, we may notice that we are so keen to do something that we start doing things that don’t actually serve us. We may even do things that are detrimental, because we don’t have the strength to wait. (And don’t doubt for a minute, that waiting, patiently, requires a certain kind of strength.) Additionally, we may notice that we are in the habit of saying, “I can’t wait,” when what we really mean is “I can hardly wait.” At first, the difference can seem like a matter of semantics, but then we notice that the mind-body is taking cues from our conscious awareness and that changing our inner dialogue (as well as what we verbalize to others) changes the way we show up in the moment. Over time, we may find that there can be kindness in waiting. We may notice that waiting sometimes gives us an opportunity to get ready for what’s ahead.
In fact, if you pay close attention, you will find that there is something important about what people do while they wait – especially in the sacred stories commemorated (this year) on April 8th.
“First and foremost, we believe creation of the world, G-d created a world in which he wanted the human being to actually be able to do something – that is to say, to exercise free will, to be like G-d, meaning to be a creator, not to be lab rats…. He wants us to have a relationship with Him. But to have a relationship with G-d requires that I have an exercise of my free will…. Free will means an environment in which not necessarily do I always have pleasure when I make the right decisions and not necessarily does someone always suffer when they make the wrong decision. Free will is having real power to create stuff. Free will is having real power to alleviate suffering.”
– Rabbi Mordechai Becher, in vlog explaining one of several reasons why suffering exists
While some people celebrate the birthday of the Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Gautama Buddha, on different days in May, some celebrate on April 8th. I have heard that Siddhartha Gautama sat under the Bodhi tree and was determined to wait there until he awakened to the nature of reality. In some suttas, it says that the Buddha (“the Awakened One”) sat there for an additional seven days. Eventually, he started teaching from this enlightened state. Some say that he only ever taught about two things: suffering and the end of suffering. His teachings were codified in the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path. According to the former:
Suffering exists
Suffering is caused by attachment, clinging, craving
There is an end to suffering
The Noble Eight-fold Path is the way to end suffering
Following the path includes some sitting… and waiting. What is promised at the end of the sitting and waiting is freedom from suffering.
Towards the end of the holy month of Ramadān, people in the Muslim community seek the holiest of nights, Laylat al-Qadr (translated as “Night of Power,” “Night of Destiny,” “Night of Value,” Night of Measure,” Night of Decree” or “Night of Honour”), which is commemorated as the anniversary of the revelations of the Qur’ān. As they seek (and wait) they pray. This pattern of people waiting for revelations (and freedom) shows up again and again in the other Abrahamic traditions.
For example, the story of Passover (which is summarized below), is the story of the Jewish people waiting to be free. Part of the story is also about waiting to be passed over during the 10th and final plague. Remember, that during most of the waiting, the Jewish people had to continue living their lives as enslaved people in Egypt. They had to suffer the indignities and hardships of slaver – and, also, the first nine plagues. They had to wait, with faith. Then, on that final night they had to wait and believe. They had to believe enough to celebrate freedom that had not been given. One the second night of Passover, some people begin Counting the Omer.
The sacred ritual of Counting the Omer is a period of 49 days, a total of 7 weeks, leading up to Shavuot or Shavuos (also known as the “Festival of Weeks”) – which itself is a commemoration of the Jewish people receiving the Torah. Commonly associated with Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah), the practice of Counting the Omer involves 7 of the 10 attributes of the Divine that are found on the Tree of Life. Each day is associated with a different attribute, as is each week – which means that for 49 days people are focusing-concentrating-meditating on the interrelation of two attributes. Since each attribute is associated with a different part of the body, and some people combine a physical component, it’s a ritual exercise wrapped in a mystical meditation disguised as a 49-day perspective changing challenge.
In some ways, Counting the Omer is a period of waiting. However, it is not the only time, in Jewish tradition, when people are praying and reflecting while they wait. Nor is it the only time when 7 is a factor. In fact, one of the notably periods of waiting occurs after someone dies and their loved ones are “sitting shiva.” The Hebrew word shiva ( שִׁבְעָה ) comes from shiv’ah ( שבעה ), which means “seven,” and it is a seven-day period of mourning. The rituals, traditions, and prayers associated with Shiva formalize the grieving process and also provide a container for people to express compassion. It can also be a way to express hope.
“As spring is nature’s season of hope, so Easter is the Church’s season of hope. Hope is an active virtue. It’s more than wishful thinking….. My hope in the Resurrection is not an idle hope like wishing for good weather but an active hope. It requires something on my part – work. Salvation is a gift from God for which I hope, but Saint Paul told the Philippians to ‘work out your salvation with fear and trembling’ (2:12). My hope in the resurrection and eternal life in heaven requires work on my part.”
– quoted from A Year of Daily Offerings by Rev. James Kubicki
In the Gospel According to John (11:1 – 45), Jesus received the news that Lazarus was sick, but then waited (until he died) before traveling to Bethany. The text is very clear that Lazarus had been dead (or dead and buried) for four days. Historically speaking, and given that there are seven-day periods of mourning depicted in the Torah, Mary and Martha (and all of their friends) would have been “sitting shiva” when Jesus and the disciples arrived in Bethany. To be clear, they were waiting for Jesus and then they were waiting for the end of the mourning period.
While Lazarus Saturday is not always highlighted in Western Christian traditions the way it is in Orthodox Christian traditions, there are several parts of the story that are critical. First, Jesus waited (and knew when Lazarus died). Second, the description of how Lazarus was buried – in a cave with a stone in front – matches the descriptions of how Jesus was buried. Third, Jesus asks the sisters if they believe in him (and ask for verbal confirmation) – which was the whole reason he waited. Finally, it is notable that news of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead reached Jerusalem before Jesus arrived home for Passover.
Why did the news travel faster than Jesus? According to the Gospel, it is because he waited… in the desert – and that period of waiting in the desert is commemorated by people who observe Lent and Great Lent. However, those are not the only periods of waiting in the Christian liturgy. Remember, after his crucifixion and death, Jesus was buried, much like Lazarus – and his mother, Mary, and his followers waited.
“This year however, we are experiencing, more than ever, the great silence of Holy Saturday. We can imagine ourselves in the position of the women on that day. They, like us, had before their eyes the drama of suffering, of an unexpected tragedy that happened all too suddenly. They had seen death and it weighed on their hearts. Pain was mixed with fear: would they suffer the same fate as the Master? Then too there was fear about the future and all that would need to be rebuilt. A painful memory, a hope cut short. For them, as for us, it was the darkest hour.
Yet in this situation the women did not allow themselves to be paralyzed. They did not give in to the gloom of sorrow and regret, they did not morosely close in on themselves, or flee from reality. They were doing something simple yet extraordinary: preparing at home the spices to anoint the body of Jesus. They did not stop loving; in the darkness of their hearts, they lit a flame of mercy. Our Lady spent that Saturday, the day that would be dedicated to her, in prayer and hope. She responded to sorrow with trust in the Lord. Unbeknownst to these women, they were making preparations, in the darkness of that Sabbath, for “the dawn of the first day of the week”, the day that would change history. Jesus, like a seed buried in the ground, was about to make new life blossom in the world; and these women, by prayer and love, were helping to make that hope flower. How many people, in these sad days, have done and are still doing what those women did, sowing seeds of hope! With small gestures of care, affection and prayer.”
– Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis, Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday, 11 April 2020
The following was originally posted in April 2020 and revised in April 2022 (in the “Down the Rabbit Hole” section). Some information was posted during Passover and holy week this year, but I am posting it here, For Those Who Missed It. This version has been slightly revised.
Whenever I think about Easter, the waiting that happened on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, and the moment when the rock was rolled away to reveal the empty tomb, I think of one thing: Wigner’s friend taking care of that quantum mechanics Cat.
For those of you not familiar with physicist Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment (or paradox), it goes like this: The (imaginary) cat is closed up in a box with an unstable radioactive element that has a 50-50 chance of killing the cat before the box is opened. According to quantum mechanics, there is a moment when the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. This is called superposition and it could be considered the scientific equivalent of non-duality. When the box is opened, revealing the state of the cat, the superposition collapses into a single reality. (There is also the possibility that opening the box changes the percentage, but that’s a whole different tunnel.)
Physicist Eugene Wigner took things a bit farther by adding a friend. According to the Wigner’s thought experiment, instead of doing the experiment, the scientist leaves it all in the hands of a friend and waits for a report. Now, there is the superposition inside of the box and there is a separate superposition inside the lab, which means the wave (or superposition) collapses into a single reality when the box is opened (creating reality as the friend knows it) and collapses again when the (imaginary) friend reports to the scientist (establishing the original scientist’s reality). Let’s not even get into what happens if the friend opens the box and leaves the lab without reporting back to the original scientist, but has a certain expectation – i.e., understanding of reality – about what the scientist will find in the lab. Through it all, the cat exists (and ceases to exist) within its own reality. It never experiences the superposition others experience. It just is.
That state of being, existing, takes us back to Passover, and eventually to the Resurrection of Jesus.
“And He said, ‘For I will be with you, and this is the sign for you that it was I Who sent you. When you take the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’”
– quoted from Shemot – Exodus (3:12)
“God said to Moses, ‘Ehyeh asher ehyeh (I will be what I will be),’ and He said, ‘So shall you say to the children of Israel, “Ehyeh (I will be) has sent me to you.’””
– quoted from Shemot – Exodus (3:14)
In the Exodus story, while the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt, G-d commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand the Jews be released. Moses had an interesting backstory and was, in some ways, the perfect person to be the (human) hero of the story. However, he was humble to the point of lacking confidence and ended up asking his brother Aaron to come along on the mission. When their show of power didn’t convince Pharaoh of the authority of G-d, everyone was subject to nine plagues: blood, frogs, lice, wild beasts in the streets, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, and day(s) of darkness. Remember it was not only Pharaoh and the Egyptians who suffered. The Jews, who were already suffering the hardship of slavery, also had to endure the additional hardships. On the evening of the tenth plague, the death of the first born male child, the Jewish families were told to smear lambs blood on their doors – so their households will be passed over. They were also commanded to celebrate and give thanks for their freedom – even though they are still slaves.
Yes, it is a little mind boggling, but what passes as the first Passover Seder happened in Egypt and during a time of slavery. Considering Pharaoh had changed his mind before, they had no way of knowing (with any certainty) that they would be freed immediately after the tenth plague. See where this is going? In that moment, the Jewish people are simultaneously free and not free.
Furthermore, Rabbi David Fohrman, quoting Shlomo Yitzchaki, the medieval French rabbi known as Rashi, points out that when G-d initial spoke to Moses and Moses asked for G-d’s identity, Moses was told three times that the One who spoke was the One who would always be with Moses and the Jewish people. Regardless of what they experience, Rashi explained, G-d will be with them. This is the very definition of compassion, which literally means “to suffer with.”
“‘Whenever goodness and “dharma” (right action) weaken and evil grows stronger, I make Myself a body. I do this to uplift and transform society, reestablish the balance of goodness over wickedness, explain the sublime plan and purpose of life, and serve as the model for others to follow. I come age after age in times of spiritual and moral crisis for this purpose.’”
– Krishna speaking to Arjuna (4.7 – 8) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
Jesus was (during his time), and future Christians are, kind of in the same boat. In the last week of his life, he was betrayed, crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected – and he simultaneously was not. However, most of that is semantics. What is critical is the dead/buried, and resurrected part. In those moments, even right after the tomb was opened and there was some confusion about what had happened, Jesus was essentially the quantum physics Cat – and Christians, as well as non-believers, were either the original scientist or the friend.
Yet, when everything is said and done (stay with me here), this is all head stuff. What people observe, commemorate, and/or celebrate in modern times, isn’t really about the head. Faith never is. It’s all about the heart. It’s all about love. Specifically, in these examples, it all comes back to G-d’s love expressed as compassion.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
– quoted from The Gospel According to John (3:16, NIV)
The playlist for Saturday (4/8/2023) is available on YouTube and Spotify.
“Nine days and nine nights of blessings and happiness if you are celebrating Chaitra Navaratri!” “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who is observing the holy month of Ramadān. Blessings to anyone observing Lent or Great Lent! Many blessings to all during this “Season for Non-violence” and all other seasons!
This is the “missing” post for Sunday, March 26th. It is also a revised (and expanded) from 2019, with an itty bit from 2020– so, literally another look. Some links in the post connect to sites outside of the blog. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment belowor (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.
– quoted from the poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost
“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. The world thirsts after sympathy, compassion, love.”
– quoted from the play Camino Real by Tennessee Williams (The first sentence is also the epitaph on his grave.)
There are people in the world who will say you haven’t read poetry until you read Robert Frost, and Southerners in the world who will say you haven’t seen a play until you’ve seen Tennessee Williams. Born 37 years and over 2,000 miles apart, these two literary icons shared a birthday (3/26) and way with words. Although, some would say they used their words in different ways.
Born in 1874, in San Francisco, California, Robert Frost wrote about things like “a snowy evening,” “mending a wall,” and “the road not taken” – although, in the latter case, people often mistake it for “the road less traveled.” His poems are often as much about perspective as they are about the way we tell a story (and the fact that the way we tell a story can change the story). They also illustrate how the stories we tell (ourselves and the world) are not always about the truth so much as they about what we understand about the world and ourselves.
Born in 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi, Tennessee Williams wrote about emotionally volatile people in the South and from the South. He wrote about characters and circumstances that reflected the emotional turmoil he saw and felt inside himself and all around him. Then, so that the emotional states of the the people and situations could not be ignored (or missed) he reinforced them with the use of props, sound effects, and blocking. In other words, he used the physical to embody the emotional and energetic – and, in doing so, drew the audience into the hearts of the characters.
Even though their mediums and subjects were different, they both wrote in a way that can make you pause, look again…and again. Once or thrice you may even wonder how many ways you can see/interpret/understand what has been said, and how it applies to your life. A good story, regardless of the medium, will make you do that: consider how it applies to your life.
“Something we were withholding made us weak Until we found out that it was ourselves We were withholding from our land of living, And forthwith found salvation in surrender.”
– quoted from the poem “The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost
Every once in a while (as I did last Wednesday and again on Sunday), I mention Maty Ezraty, who was a teacher of teachers and who said that every yoga practice should be like a good story. One of my takeaways from that suggestion has always been that, each part of the mind-body-spirit is like a character in a story. Just like each character has a different purpose and a different point of view, each pose/sequence can give each part of our bodies and minds an opportunity to tell their story. Another takeaway is that everything is leading to and from the heart of the story.
So, let’s start with the hearts.
“What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.”
– quoted from the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams
Yes, I said, “hearts” – plural. Swami Rama from the Himalayan tradition said that we have three hearts: a physical heart, which for most of us is on the left side; an emotional heart on the opposite side, which for most of us is on the right; and an energetic heart that connects the two. That energetic heart, which some consider a spiritual heart, connects our hearts with all the other hearts around us. Additionally, in yoga and other Eastern healing arts, energy for the heart flows through the arms.
The heart chakra, in yoga (as it comes to us from India) is symbolically and energetically associated with the upper torso, shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers. In Yin Yoga, which is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, the heart median has three branches, one of which runs down the inner arms into the pinky fingers. According to the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, there are 10 Divine attributes (from the Tree of Life) through which G-d is revealed to the world – and 7 of these can be found in the body. Love/loving-kindness (chesed in Hebrew) is associated with the right arm and is balanced by strength (gevurah in Hebrew), which is associated with the left arm.
Just as people contemplate the Divine attributes when they are counting the Omer in some Jewish traditions, people in Buddhist traditions contemplate the Divine abodes (brahmavihārāḥ in Sanskrit), which are heart practices: loving-kindness or benevolence (mettā); compassion (karuṇā); empathetic joy (muditā); and equanimity (upekkhā). In some Indian philosophies (like Yoga), the ability to cultivate a good heart/make friends (suhrit-prapati) and generosity (dana) can also be considered heart practices. On (and off) the mat, we can contemplate these same emotional and energetic aspects of ourselves by bringing awareness to our arms and how we use our arms… to reach out, to embrace, to extend ourselves.
We may notice – as we move through our practice or through our day – how we are expressing our heart or how we are withholding our heart. But, there’s always the possibility that we don’t notice. We may not notice when we are off the mat, because we are distracted. We may not notice on the mat, because we are focused on other parts of the mind-body. This is why it’s important to notice how we move and why we move the way we move – because it all tells a story.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,”
– quoted from the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
There are hundreds of poses and hundreds, thousands – maybe even millions – of ways to move into and out of pose. And each one of those ways gives us another way of looking at the story. The tricky thing is that sometimes we keep coming back to the story the same way. But, what happens if we came at things a different way? What happens if we let a different part of our mind-body-spirit take the lead? What happens if our circumstances and understanding of the world changes? What happens if our understanding of ourselves changes?
Sometimes, the practice can be like a favorite story that we read again and again – or re-read, years after the initial reading – and we suddenly see everything from a different perspective. In fact, one of the things I like about the practice is the opportunity to revisit themes and/or sequences and suddenly discover something completely different. It’s also one of the things I love about reading (and watching) great works of art.
“We have to use a spell to make them balance: “Stay where you are until our backs are turned!” We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of out-door game, One on a side. It comes to little more: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.” Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: “Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence.”
– quoted from the poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost
Parighāsana (Gate Pose) stretches the pelvic area and hamstrings, while also engaging the sides of the torso and abdomen eccentrically (up side) and concentrically (down side). According to B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, the pose “keeps the abdominal muscles and organs in condition and the skin around the abdomen will not sag but remain healthy. The sideways spinal movement will help persons suffering from stiff backs.” I find that it is a great way to get into the hips and the legs. Another aspect of the pose is what happens to the heart area – not only physically, but emotionally.
Parighāsana offers us the opportunity to open up the shoulders (physically) and open the gates on all sides of the heart (emotionally and energetically). It also offers some interesting insight into how we sometimes engage the different aspects of our heart. For instances, when I cue and describe the pose in a practice, many people have a tendency to lift the bottom hand up to meet the top hand – rather than extending the upper body down towards the lower hand. To be fair, many people do not have the strength and flexibility to kneel on one leg, stretch out the other leg, and then bend sideways until the top hand lowers down. But, what is interesting is how people deal with the resistance. Initially, they lift the bottom hand up – because it’s easy (and obvious). When I point out that it’s the top hand that needs to reach down, many people will fold in on themselves; essentially closing down and hiding the heart to make the connection. However, the “goal” is to open the gate and to stay open in the process.
“Lonely . . . When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.”
– Don Quixote in the Prologue to Camino Real by Tennessee Williams
We all build walls around our hearts. Sometimes we do it for protection, because we have perceived an actual threat. Other times, we build walls, because of fear associated with a perceived threat. That perceived threat might turn out to be an actual threat, but it could also simply be a possibility (or a misperception). Of course, we can also get in the habit of building walls – because it’s what others have done before us, what we’ve been taught, and/or because we have experienced harm in the past. But, even castle walls have gates and drawbridges, a way in and a way out.
When we really pay attention to the ways we engage our heart, on and off the mat, we may find it challenging to open the gate. We may find that we take the easy route – especially when there’s a little awkward balancing, as there is in parighāsana – and/or we may find that we are compromising ourselves (and our hearts) in order to make a connection. One suggestion I make, during the physical practice, is to bend the lifted elbow (so the hand is behind the head) and then use the whole body to rotate the elbow up. This changes the focus and reinforces the idea that we are opening the heart and the side-body. I often sequence a modified side plank after the “Gate Pose,” as a reminder that there can be more than one way to open a gate.
Take a moment to consider a time when you compromised yourself in order to make a connection. How could you have refocused your awareness, energy, and resources in order to reinforce what was important? Could you have made the connection (or a similar connection) in a different way?
“It should be of the pleasure of a poem itself to tell how it can. The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom. The figure is the same as for love. No one can really hold that the ecstasy should be static and stand still in one place. It begins in delight, it inclines to the impulse, it assumes direction with the first line laid down, it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life–not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion.”
– quoted from the essay “The Figure a Poem Makes” by Robert Frost (which served as an introduction to his Collected Poems beginning with the 1939 edition)
Two of my favorite lines from Robert Frost speak of wisdom and delight, and the gift that comes from giving our whole selves. Every time I step on a yoga mat, I experience the wisdom and the delight. I also experience a plethora of gifts. One of those gifts is how the practice affects the mind. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams has Brick acknowledging that he is an alcoholic, but not seeming to want to give up his drinking because, “It’s like a switch, clickin’ off in my head. Turns the hot light off and the cool one on, and all of a sudden there’s peace.” But then, as his father points out to him, there is the morning.
One of the gifts of yoga is that it brings peace without the hangover. It can flip the switch. Another thing to consider is that the practice has a way of opening the heart so we can get to the violets.
“To me, its meaning is simple. The hard, the cold, the oppressive will—at long last—be broken apart by a force that is beautiful, natural, colorful, alive.”
Many blessings to all, and especially to those celebrating or observing Holy Week or Great Lent! “Ramadān Mubarak, Blessed Ramadān!” to anyone who was observing the holy month of Ramadān.
This is the “missing” post for Wednesday, April 13th, which focuses on the Wednesday of Holy Week or Passion Week and highlights elements of Maundy Thursday.You can request an audio recording of any of these practices via a comment belowor (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.
“When the audience and the performers become one, it is almost nearly divine, where this oneness can actually meet in some, not physical place, but in some spiritual place, in the middle, not the performers performing, not the audience receiving, but all of a sudden that contact is made and it becomes wonderful.”
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– Bill Conti (b. 04/13/1942)
Throughout the year, I tell people stories. The stories are an opportunity to do a little svādhyāya (“self-study”) and there are certain stories that I tell every year. They’re all great stories, divine and sublime stories. They’re overlapping stories that weave concentric circles which also overlap our lives and they’ve been told generation after generation. Some are easily recognizable as true stories and some are only believed by a few (million people). So, if you join a practice, on any given day, you may hear a story with which you are very familiar. Or, you may hear a story for the first time. You may also, on any given day, hear a familiar story told in a new way.
The thing to remember is that in any good story – and definitely any great story – there’s going to be conflict and drama. There’s going to be challenges and suffering (or passion). Since I’m very Chekhovian in my literary inclinations, everything and every one has a purpose – which means there’s always going to be a villain. The proverbial “bad guy” may not always be a guy. It may not even be a person. There is some element, however, that you could point to and vilify.
The thing I want you to remember, when you hear (or read) today’s story, is that just as there is no story without the hero, there is also no story without the villain. It is not my intention to glorify the “bad guy” or bad behavior. Neither is it my intention to put the “villain” on the same level as the “hero”… except in one area. It’s an important area… and it’s the area that almost always gets me in a little hot water.
A small portion of the following was excerpted from a related 2020 post.
“For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”
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– Shemot – Exodus 30:19 – 30:21 (NIV)
In the Eastern philosophies (like yoga) and religions (like Judaism) arms and hands are recognized as extensions of the heart. They are how we reach out to others, embrace others, embrace ourselves, and even embrace a moment. We use our hands and arms to build the world around us. We also use our hands and arms to love one another, or not, and to defend or support what we love (or not). Two of the aspects of the Divine (found on the Tree of Life) are love (chesed) and strength (gevurah). Furthermore, Jewish mysticism identifies these elements of the Divine as being embodied by the right and left arms, respectively. It is no accident then, nor is it only an element of good hygiene, that hands are washed before handling sacred food. In fact, in the Hasidic tradition, “Water represents the healing power of wisdom. Water flows downward, carrying its essential simplicity to each thing. It brings them together as a single living, growing whole. We pour water over our hands as an expression of wisdom pouring downward passing through our heart and from there to our interaction with the world around us.”
Of the 613 commandments within the Jewish tradition, at least 21 – 27 are directly related to the observation of Passover, the Seder, the Counting of the Omer (which begins on the second night of Passover), and Shavuot (which begins at the end of the Counting of the Omer). The Last Supper (or suppers, depending on who you ask) is acknowledged as Jesus’ last meal and the source of the Eucharist or Holy Communion in Christian faiths. While the one of the four Canonical Gospels (John) places Passover after Jesus’s death, the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) present The Last Supper as a Passover Seder. Therefore, it would make sense that Jesus – recognized as a rabbi, a teacher, long before he was considered by some to be the Messiah – would make sure everyone washed their hands, twice during the Seder. It’s part of the Law, part of the Commandments. What is interesting is that before the Seder, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. This is one of the events commemorated by some Christians on Maundy Thursday.
But, before we get to Thursday, we have to get over the hump that is Wednesday.
“[[Jesus]] answered and said to them, ‘I’m not laughing at you. You’re not doing this because you want to, but because through this your God [will be] praised.’”
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– quoted from The Gospel of Judas, translated by Mark M. Mattison
The Wednesday of Holy Week, Passion Week, or Great Week is also known as Spy Wednesday. A spy is a person inside a group, organization, or country who collects information so that others can attack, ambush, or otherwise ensnare the group, organization, country and/or the leaders therein. In the Passion story, Judas Iscariot is the spy and the event that led him to betray his rabbi and friend is related in all four canonical gospels.
In the Gospel According to Luke (7:36 – 50), Jesus was having what might be described as a luxurious dinner (because he was “reclining”) when a woman who had a sinful past washed his feet with her tears and hair. Then, she poured expensive oil from an expensive alabaster jar onto his feet. This incident took place in the home of a Pharisee named Simon and the woman is not identified by name. In the Gospel According to Matthew (26:6 – 13) and the Gospel According to Mark (14:3 – 9) the incident – or a similar incident – took place in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper and the oil is poured over his head (but there there is no mention of tears and hair). Here, again, the woman is not identified; however, all three synoptic gospels indicate that the woman “came,” which could be interpreted as meaning that she did not live in the home.
The indicated timelines, as well as the different locations, also lead some to believe that these may be different events. Some traditions identify the woman (or women) as Mary Magdalene – and that misrepresentation never ends well – but the Gospel According to John (12:1 – 8) is the only account that identifies the woman as someone named Mary. According to John, “Mary” poured the oil on Jesus’ feet and then wiped his feet with her hair. The account does not, however, indicate that she “came” to the home, leading many to believe that she was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
Either way you look at it, the woman’s actions really pushed the buttons of some of the disciples. Judas, in particular, was particularly incensed by the money. He was the one who held the purse strings – sometimes, too tightly and too personally – and felt that the cost of the oil and the jar could have gone to the poor (or, into his own pockets). He was so upset that he decided to betray Jesus. [Insert villain music here.]
“Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.”
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– The Gospel According to Matthew (26:14 – 15, NIV)
When it comes to Judas’ betrayal there are also different accounts. Most people are familiar with the idea that Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver. In the Gospel According to Mark (14:11), the chief priests promised to pay Judas and this is often referenced as a few pieces of silver. In two accounts, however, Satan possessed Judas. Yes, that’s right, in the Gospel According to Luke (22:4) and the Gospel According to John (13:27), the devil made him do it. Or, you could look at the devil as a euphemism for his own anger, jealousy, and hubris. It’s also important, I think, to note that in a few places – including at least one gnostic gospel, Judas betrayed Jesus because Jesus told him (Judas) to do so. Which, if you look at it that way, means God gave both men a purpose.
Regardless of why he did it, Judas’ betrayal means that for generation after generation his name is mud. His reputation is smeared. One action made him the ultimate villain, the devil incarnate, and… one of the reasons we have the story. Remember, there is no Easter without the Resurrection. There’s is no Resurrection without the Crucifixion and the Passion. There is no Crucifixion and Passion (or Suffering) without the betrayal. And there is no betrayal without Judas of Iscariot. Again, I’m not saying that he is equal to Jesus. What I am pointing out is that they are both an important part of the story and they are both “sacrificed” because – according to the teachings – “God so loved the world….”
Very few people talk about what happened to Judas and the money after the betrayal, even though the Gospel According to Matthew (27:1 – 10) and The Acts of the Apostles (1:16 – 18) give explicit, albeit slightly different, details. Additionally, there is some difference in notation about when Judas left the last supper or if he even attended. Either way, it was at the Last Supper – which some accounts depict as the Passover Seder – that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. When Simon Peter objected, Jesus told him three particularly noteworthy things; things that remind us that none of this is about the money.
“’Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.’”
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– The Gospel According to John (13:12 – 15, KJV)
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“’If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.’”
– The Gospel According to John (13:8, KJV)
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“’A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’”
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– The Gospel According to John (13:34 – 35, KJV)
The word “Maundy” comes to us, by way of Middle English and Old French, from a Latin word that means “command, order.” While it may be associated with the ritual of washing the feet of a saint, showing hospitality, or preparing a body for burial, the command or order associated with this Thursday before Easter is that “new command.” It is a command repeatedly reiterated in the Gospel According to John (15:12 and 15:17). It is also a sentiment that is echoed in one of the last things Jesus said on the cross, when he connected his own mother with one of his disciples as if they are mother and son. It is a lesson Jesus taught again and again. Yet, it is a lesson all too often forgotten; even though it is the whole point of the story.
“‘A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”‘”
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– The Gospel According to Matthew (22:39, NLT)
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Spy Wednesday 2022”]
Yes, Bill Conti turned 80 this Wednesday and if you are a fan, like me, you can absolutely consider it sacrilegious that there’s no Bill Conti on the Spy Wednesday playlist. If you’re interested in the composer, click here to check out a 2019 post or click here for the 2021 post, which (hint, hint) includes a Bill Conti playlist you can use for the practice.
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A Joyful Practice 