Happy Pride! Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Third Day Of the Holy Spirit, and/or cultivating peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
“Anne Frank kept a diary from June 12, 1942, to August 1, 1944. Initially, she wrote it strictly for herself. Then, one day in 1944, Gerrit Bolkestein, a member of the Dutch government in exile, announced in a radio broadcast from London that after the war he hoped to collect eyewitness accounts of the suffering of the Dutch people under the German occupation, which could be made available to the public. As an example, he specifically mentioned letters and diaries.
Impressed by this speech, Anne Frank decided that when the war was over she would publish a book based on her diary.”
“The last entry in Anne’s diary is dated August 1, 1944. On August 4, 1944, the eight people hiding in the Secret Annex were arrested. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl, the two secretaries working in the building, found Anne’s diaries strewn all over the floor. Miep Gies tucked them away in a desk drawer for safekeeping. After the war, when it became clear that Anne was dead, she gave the diaries, unread, to Anne’s father, Otto Frank.”
— quoted from the Foreword to The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank (edited by Otto H. Frank & Mirjam Pressler, translated by Susan Massotty)
Diary of a Young Girl was first published today in 1947. CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW for the philosophy-based 2020 post.
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 25th) 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06252022 A Young Girl’s Thoughts”]
NOTE:The opening tracks are slightly different as some music was not available on Spotify. Click on the excerpt title above for the entire “Anne No Nikki” soundtrack.
“The cheerful Anne laughs about it, gives cheeky answers, shrugs her shoulders indifferently, behaves as if she doesn’t care, but, oh dearie me, the quiet Anne’s reactions are just the opposite. If I’m to be quite honest, then I must admit that it does hurt me, that I try terribly hard to change myself, but that I’m always fighting against a more powerful enemy.
A voice sobs within me: ‘There you are, that’s what’s become of you: you’re uncharitable, you look supercilious and peevish, people dislike you and all because you won’t listen to the advice given you by your own better half.’ Oh, I would like to listen, but it doesn’t work; if I’m quiet and serious, everyone thinks it’s a new comedy and then I have to get out of it by turning it into a joke, not to mention my own family, who are sure to think I’m ill, make me swallow pills for headaches and nerves, feel my neck and my head to see whether I’m running a temperature, ask me if I’m constipated and criticize me for being in a bad mood. I can’t keep that up: if I’m watched to that extent, I start by getting snappy, then unhappy, and finally I twist my heart around again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and what I could be, if there weren’t any people living in the world.”
— quoted from the last entry by Anne Frank, written in her diary (“Kitty”) on Tuesday, August 1, 1944
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
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.
Happy Pride! Happy Midsummer! Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing Saint John’s Day, Ivana-Kupala, Day Of the Holy Spirit, and/or cultivating peace, freedom, and wisdom (inside and outside).
This is a post-practice post related to the practice on Monday, June 24th. It includes an excerpt from a related 2020 post and a final note1 about Ivana-Kupala and Day of the Holy Spirit (which was not in the original post). The 2024 prompt question was, “Which do you pick: fire, earth, metal, water, wood, or all of the above?”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).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
“No emotion, any more than a wave, can long retain its own individual form.”
— Abolitionist, suffragist, and minister Henry Ward Beecher (b. 06/24/1813)
Eastern philosophies (and their sister sciences) bring awareness to the fact that everything is a manifestation of energy and, also, that everything is constantly changing. The inhale becomes the exhale; the exhale becomes the inhale. Or, you can look at it as the inhale ends the exhale and the exhale ends the inhale. Either way, the same energy that builds/creates can also destroy.
For example, if we look at the five elements theory (in Taoism)2, every element in nature is an agent that has the ability to create (or generate) another element and, also, to conquer (or overcome) a third element. Earth produces metals which hold water which can be used to grow wood which produces fire which produces the earth. That’s the most common “creative cycle.” There are several ways to flip this around for a controlling/destroying cycle, including: wood depletes/stabilizes the earth; earth controls the flow of water; water extinguishes fire; fire melts metal; and metal cuts wood.
These are things that just natural happen in Nature.
While we are also manifestations of energy, constantly changing, and part of Nature, we have the ability to actively engage change, embrace change, or resist change. We have the ability to build or destroy — using the exact same elements. On a certain level, however, we are limited by our previous experiences — experiences which form our understanding of our current and (on a certain level) our future experiences.
Consider that your previous experiences determine how you understand the examples above and, therefore, how you use them. Did you notice that I referred to them as agents? Did you consider them as materials? As emotions? As energies? As symbols? As all of the above?
More importantly, with regard to this particular practice, did you consider that all of these elements are used in cleansing rituals and traditions around the world? Specifically, they are related to celebrations related to June 24th celebrations of Midsummer’s Day, Saint John’s Day, and Ivana-Kupala.
NOTES:
1aIvanа-Kupala is a Slavic summer holiday that combines the pagan celebration and fertility rituals of Kupala (and midsummer) with Christian observations of the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist. In Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and parts of Ukraine, the 2024 celebrations fell on the evening of June 23rd through June 24th (as opposed to on July 6th and 7th in countries using the Gregorian calendar (e.g., Russia, Belarus, and parts of Ukraine). The name of the holiday is derived from a Slavic name for “John” and the Slavic word for “to bathe.” One of the elemental aspects of the celebrations focuses on the combination of water and fire (specifically, Saint John’s fire).
1bIn some Orthodox Christian traditions using the Julian calendar, June 24, 2024 (on the Gregorian calendar), was the Day Of the Holy Spirit, which is celebrated the day after Pentecost. In parts of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is represented by water and in other parts as fire.
2The five elements theory is found in Chinese Medicine and in Chinese philosophies other than Taoism. However, unlike the four elements theory found in places like ancient Greece, India, Africa, and some First Nations, air/wind is not treated as a separate element.
CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW for the 2020 post about Midsummer’s Day, Saint John’s Day, and how our previous experiences color our current perspective.
“It is not so much what you believe in that matters, as the way in which you believe it and proceed to translate that belief into action.”
— quoted from “Chapter I: The Awakening” in The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Second Eastertide, Counting the Omer, and/or working as a force of peace, freedom, and fulfillment (inside and outside).
“I’m telling an old myth in a new way. Each society takes that myth and retells it in a different way, which relates to the particular environment they live in. The motif is the same. It’s just that it gets localized.”
— George Lucas (b. 05/14/1944) in the Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas & Bill Moyers
Please join me today (Tuesday, May 14th) 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05142022 That Same Force”]
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.
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Second Eastertide, Counting the Omer, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima, the Feast Day of Julian of Norwich, and/or working for peace (inside and outside).
This post-practice post for Monday, May 13th. It includes an excerpt from a 2020 post. The prompt question was, “Would you describe yourself as an optimist or a pessimist?”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).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
“optimism n. hopefulness: the attitude that good things will happen and that people’s wishes or aims will ultimately be fulfilled. Optimists are people who anticipate positive outcomes, whether serendipitously or through perseverance and effort, and who are confident of attaining desired goals. Most individuals lie somewhere on the spectrum between the two polar opposites of pure optimism and pure pessimism but tend to demonstrate sometimes strong, relatively stable or situational tendencies in one direction or the other. See also expectancy-value model. —optimisticadj.”
— quoted from the American Psychological Association’s APA Dictionary of Psychology
Take a moment to consider how your outlook on life (and future events) factors into the way you move through your life and engage future events. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? I tend to describe myself as an optimist — who can be pessimistic about certain things; but there are people who would (credibly) argue that I am a pessimist. Maybe that makes me a realist.
Or maybe, as indicated by the American Psychological Association (APA), I’m just like most people: somewhere in the middle.
It all comes down to perspective and that perspective can change the way we interact with ourselves, with other people, with challenges, with new experiences, and even with our physical and mental health. In 2009, a group of researchers presented a paper (published in May 2010), about the effect of optimism. The abstract of the paper indicated that being (even a little bit) optimistic can be healthy and promote wellness.
“Through employment of specific coping strategies, optimism exerts an indirect influence also on the quality of life. There is evidence that optimistic people present a higher quality of life compared to those with low levels of optimism or even pessimists. Optimism may significantly influence mental and physical well-being by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle as well as by adaptive behaviours and cognitive responses, associated with greater flexibility, problem-solving capacity and a more efficient elaboration of negative information.”
— quoted from “Optimism and Its Impact on Mental and Physical Well-Being” by Ciro Conversano,1,† Alessandro Rotondo,2,† Elena Lensi,1 Olivia Della Vista,1 Francesca Arpone,1 and Mario Antonio Reda1
“1Istituto di Scienze del Comportamento Università degli Studi di Siena 2Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana †These authors contributed equally to the work.”
Obviously, there is a difference between being optimistic (or pessimistic) and being delusional — or, in the case of pessimism, being fatalistic and/or riddled with anxiety. In some cases, however, the difference is a matter of perspective and that perspective brings our awareness to why some people are optimistic and some people are pessimistic. Notice that the source of optimism is not addressed in the APA’s definition of optimism. Many people may point to faith as the source of their optimism — especially this time of year, when there are so many holy obligations and sacred observations (including today’s celebration of Julian of Norwich and the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima). But notice that the APA’s definition doesn’t even include the word “believe” — and, yet, these mental attitudes are all about what our beliefs.
Neuroscientists like Dr. Beau Lotto highlight the fact that our beliefs are at the heart of this discussion. He often directs our attention to our previous experiences and the idea that we not only interpret current events through the filter of past events, we anticipate future events based on our past experiences. To me, his explanation sounds a lot like the concept of samskara (a “mental impression”) and vasana (a literal “dwelling” place of our habits). It also highlights why someone like Julian of Norwich thought she was dying back in 1373 and why, once she recovered, she was able to “shew” her experiences in a positive and loving light.
“Your brain is, at its core, a statistical distribution. Thus, your history of experiences creates a database of useful past perceptions. New information is constantly flowing in, and your brain is constantly integrating it into this statistical distribution that creates your next perception (so in this sense ‘reality’ is just the product of your brain’s ever-evolving database of consequence). As such, your perception is subject to a statistical phenomenon known in probability theory as kurtosis. Kurtosis in essence means that things tend to become increasingly steep in their distribution… that is, skewed in one direction. This applies to ways of seeing everything from currents events to ourselves as we lean ‘skewedly’ toward one interpretation positive or negative.”
— quoted from “Chapter 5. The Frog Who Dreamed of Being a Prince” in Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently by Beau Lotto
Dr. Lotto went on to write, “We’re really talking about math when we say, ‘The optimist sees the glass as half full and the pessimist as half empty,’ though in my view maybe true optimists are just glad to have a drink in the first place!” Julian of Norwich, a 14th century anchoress, fit that definition of a “true optimist.” Her Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Love in 16 Shewings) — which is the oldest surviving book written in English by a woman — refers to giving thanks (through prayer) as a way to truly understand oneself and ones situation. She even gave thanks for her illness! Additionally, one of the most well known quotes from her book can be considered a mantra for optimists (and for those wanting to be more optimistic):
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and (in) all manner of thing(s) shall be well.”
— quoted from Chapters 1 of Revelations of Divine Love (Revelations of Love in 16 Shewings) by Julian of Norwich
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
“Optimists are likely to see the causes of failure or negative experiences as temporary rather than permanent, specific rather than global, and external rather than internal. Such a perspective enables optimists to more easily see the possibility of change.”
— quoted from the Psychology Today webpage entitled, “Optimism” (Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff)
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
Thank you to everyone who Kiss[ed] My Asana!
We surpassed the overall fundraiser goals & one of my personal goals!!! Whether you showed up in a (Zoom) class, used a recording, shared a post or video, liked and/or commented on a post or video, and/or made a donation — you and your efforts are appreciated! Thank you!!!
Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone observing the Second Sunday of Pascha, Counting the Omer, Buddha Jayanti, and/or working for peace (inside and outside).
“I know ten thousand women called Jane and Mary Jane I’ve not seen any two who really were the same (Mirror twins are different, although, their features jibe) And lovers think quite different thoughts While lying side by side”
— quoted from the 4th stanza* of the song (5th & 6th stanzas of the poem) “Human Family” by Maya Angelou (song by Maya Angelou / Shawn Rivera)
This following is a “renewed” and slightly revised post from 2023 (with some additional context from 2020). The first embedded link connects to the original post, entitled “The Force of the Mother.”
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms. No matter how you came to be a mom (or what your kiddos call you), you are a powerful force in the world and represent a powerful Force in the world. The Mother archetype is present in every life story, every healing story, and in every religious and cultural story or myth. In the monomyth (or “Hero’s Journey”), the Mother can represent life, death, and time; nurturing, nourishment, and protection; unconditional love, acceptance, and devotion; as well as unselfishness. The Mother can present as the Matriarch, as Mother Nature/Gaia, as a Fairy Godmother, or as a Divine Mother/Goddess. The Mother can be seen as the Good Mother, the Working Mother (which opens up into a whole host of other archetypes), the Stay-at-Home Mother, the Perfect Mother, the Devoted Mother. the Co-Dependent Mother, the Abusive Mother, the Abandoning Mother, the Critical Mother, or the Hovering/Helicopter Mother.
I used the word “or” for the aforementioned archetypal patterns; because, in many stories, maternal figures are often portrayed as one-dimensional. As if every Mary is the same as every Mary Jane and every Mary Jane the same as every Jane (or Jean). In real life, however, mothers can be more than one thing… simultaneously — and sometimes in ways that may seem contradictory. In real life, mothers are people: they love, they hope, they desire, they fear, they teach, and they fit into so many boxes it doesn’t even make sense to put them into a box… let alone to regulate them to a single day.
And yet, here we are… Mother’s Day in the United States.
“I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother’s day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life. She is entitled to it.”
— quoted from the end of 1876 Sunday school lesson by Ann Reeves Jarvis (words that inspired her daughter Anna Maria Jarvis)
I added that “in the United States,” because for years I willfully ignored the fact that other countries — not to mention a variety of religions — celebrate Mother’s Day at other times during the year and in very different ways than the way the observation has evolved here in the US. While I don’t know if I will ever go back to teaching on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I will continue to offer the 2020 recordings and a philosophy-based alternative recording for those who are on my Sunday mailing list (or who request a recording via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com).
The Mother’s Day playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Mother’s Day 2020”]
“It is time for the preachers, the rabbis, the priests
Pundits and the professors
To believe in the awesome wonder of diversity
It is time for parents to teach young people early on
That in diversity, there is beauty, and there is strength
I note the obvious differences in the human family
Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy
Some declare their lives are lived as true profundity
And others claim they really live the real reality”
— quoted from the 1st & 2nd stanzas* of the song “Human Family” by Maya Angelou (song by Maya Angelou / Shawn Rivera)
Since Mother’s Day 2024 falls on a day when I often focus on the common “threads” between different traditions, I am also sending the Sunday mailing list the practices from May 12, 2020, which feature another heart-centered (and hip-y) sequence inspired by Martha Graham.
The playlist for May 12th is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05122020 Threads, Instructions, & Truths”]
“We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.”
— quoted from the last (repeated) lines of the poem “Human Family” by Maya Angelou
*NOTE: The song “Human Family” contains the original poem written by Maya Angelou, plus additional lyrics by Maya Angelou and music by Shawn Rivera.
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.
May we all be safe and protected / May we all be peaceful and happy / May we all be healthy and strong / May we all appreciate the “accidental goodness” in our lives.
This is the “missing” post for Sunday, January 28th. It includes some previously posted content. In the final notes section, there is a reference to a tragic event.You can request an audio recording of a related practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
“The causality principle asserts that the connection between cause and effect is a necessary one. The synchronicity principle asserts that the terms of a meaningful coincidence are connected by simultaneity and meaning…. Although meaning is an anthropomorphic interpretation it nevertheless forms the indispensable criterion of synchronicity. What that factor which appears to us as ‘meaning’ may be in itself we have no possibility of knowing. As an hypothesis, however, it is not quite so impossible as may appear at first sight. We must remember that the rationalistic attitude of the West is not the only possible one and is not all-embracing, but is in many ways a prejudice and a bias that ought perhaps to be corrected.”
— quoted from “3. Forerunners of the Idea of Synchronicity” in Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle by C. G. Jung
Causality, the principles of cause and effect, is a big aspect of the Yoga Philosophy — and I am, without a doubt, a big fan. I am quick to go down the proverbial rabbit hole to see how things are connected. Of course, everything is connected: we just don’t always see/make/understand the connections. As indicated in Yoga Sūtra 2.20, “The Seer is the pure power of seeing, yet its understanding is through the mind/intellect.” This doesn’t mean that someone who sees/understands something that others don’t is smarter than those others; it simply means that they see things in a different way… a special way.
For much of my life, I have seen things in special ways. My tendency to seek out connections has resulted in me seeing and making connections that other people don’t initially see/make. At some points in my life, others have viewed the way I think as interesting, weird, cute, and/or a sign of being “smart” (or of “thinking too much”). More than one university professor commented that my logic was sound, but that “no one else” — meaning no one with credentials in the Western canon — had come to such a conclusion and therefore….
Perhaps, you have heard the same thing about something that has occurred to you. Suffice it to say, I heard that something I did was “a bit of a stretch” long before I started teaching yoga.
Thankfully, I received some halfway decent marks despite the fact that my content was unexpected. More importantly, I was never forced to conform and, therefore, never got completely stuck in the trap Carl Jung warned us about: the trap created by believing that there is one way (the Western way) to see things. I eventually understood that the workings of our mind/intellect are based on more than brain chemistry. The way we think is also based on all the different things we have experienced; all the different perspectives to which we have been exposed; how open we are to possibilities other than the ones we are seeking; and how aware we are that we are the ones creating the meaning.
“This discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word, which, as I have nothing better to tell you, I shall endeavor to explain to you: you will understand it better by the derivation than the definition. I once read a silly fairy tale, called ‘The Three Princes of Serendip:’ as their Highnesses travelled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of: for instance, one of the them discovered that a mule blind of the right eye had travelled the same road lately, because the grass was eaten only on the left side, where it was worse than on the right….”
— quoted from a letter addressed to Sir Horace Mann, dated January 28, 1754, by Horace Walpole (The Right Honorable The (4th) Earl of Orford, Horatio Walpole)
When Horace Walpole, the Right Honorable Earl of Orford, shared the word and meaning of serendipity, in a letter dated January 28, 1754, he cited the English version of a Persian story (from at least 1302) that had come into the English canon by way of French and Italian translations. Each version of the story is slightly different, but the common elements are (1) a king who sends his sons out into the world to give them the best possible education and (2) the three princes who already have been educated by the best teachers* and tutors in their homeland. As the three princes travelled, they paid attention to all the details around them and — using their knowledge, skills of deduction, and insight (based on “[seeing] things in a special way”) — came to conclusions that were obvious to them but not so obvious to others.
Perhaps the most famous of their adventures is the one cited by the earl, in which the princes described and located a missing camel (or mule). To be clear, the princes were not looking for the animal in question; but, others were looking and those others believed the princes had the animal (or knew where to find it) because the princes knew so much about the animal. They knew it was slightly lame, blind in one eye, missing a tooth and carrying a pregnant woman while bearing honey on one side and butter on the other. They knew all this despite the fact that, at the point in the story when they are accused of stealing the animal, the princes had never seen it! They had only seen evidence of it and made connections that led to certain logical conclusions. While Horace Walpole called the story “a silly fairytale,” others — including Voltaire (in 1747) — recognized the story as containing the cornerstones of deductive reasoning (both psychologically and logically) and of the scientific method.
“Those who are interested in learning more of the fateful history of Zadig must turn to the original; we are dealing with him only as a philosopher, and this brief excerpt suffices for the exemplification of the nature of his conclusions and of the methods by which he arrived at them.”
“[Zadig’s] defence was worse than his offence. It showed that his mode of divination was fraught with danger to magianism in general. Swollen with the pride of human reason, he had ignored the established canons of magian lore; and, trusting to what after all was mere carnal common sense, he professed to lead men to a deeper insight into nature than magian wisdom, with all its lofty antagonism to everything common, had ever reached. What, in fact, lay at the foundation of all Zadig’s argument but the coarse commonplace assumption, upon which every act of our daily lives is based, that we may conclude from an effect to the pre-existence of a cause competent to produce that effect?”
— quoted from the essay “On the Method of Zadig: Retrospective Prophecy as a Function of Science” (1880) in Collected Essays, Volume 4. Science and Hebrew Tradition by T. H. Huxley
Serendipity, like chaos theory, often gets twisted in books, movies, and music. For instance, in the 2001 romantic comedy with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, the couple are actually looking for each other and looking for clues that will lead each to the other. Sure, there are all kinds of coincidences (or cowinkydinks) and near-misses that are described (in the movie) as fate. And, I could see how the situation could be serendipitous.** However, the couple in the movie are more like the villagers looking for the camel (or mule) and less like the the princes. What they experience is more synchronicity (i.e., things happening at the same time) than serendipity.
Just as I am a big fan of causality, I am also a big fan of synchronicity and serendipity. As much as I pay attention to cause-and-effect, I often delight in things that just seem to “randomly” fall into place and things (or people) that show up when I “need” them, but wasn’t looking for them. Granted, there are times when I consider chaos theory and see if I can trace everything back to some little thing that started the domino effect; however, I’m also just open to being pleasantly surprised by “accidental goodness.”
Do you know what I mean? Has that happened to you?
Have you ever read a horoscope or had someone tell you your future and it seemed right on? Have you gone into a practice (or any situation) and been surprised that you got exactly what “wanted” and/or “needed,” sometimes in an unexpected way?
We could say, as Thomas Henry Huxley pointed out in 1880, “In all these cases, it is only the relation to time which alters — the process of divination beyond the limits of possible direct knowledge remains the same.“ However, sometimes there is direct knowledge. Sometimes someone is taking known information and putting it together so that you see/make a connection. Then this becomes similar to the way you can understand what a child makes with their LEGO bricks (the patent for which was filed January 28, 1958, presumably at 1:58 PM). You know what the child makes because they tell you what they are making and your brain fills in the gaps based on the shape. Sometimes, the shape is really obvious — and maybe you have the picture from the LEGO packaging. Other times, your brain really has to work hard to see what the child is seeing.
“If you already understand what I am getting at, you may skip this next paragraph. But just in case, I will clarify: You have a box of Legos [sic] and you build a Lego horse. You then take it apart and put the blocks back in the box. You cannot expect to make a new horse just by shaking the box. How could Lego blocks of their own accord find each other and become a new horse again? No, you have to rebuild the hose, Sophie, And the reason you can do it is that you have a picture in your mind of what the horse looked like. The Lego horse is made from a model which remains unchanged from horse to horse.”
— quoted from the lesson “PLATO’S ACADEMY: The World of Ideas” in the chapter “Plato… a longing to return to the realm of the soul…” of Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
Whether we realize it or not, our lives are put together the way our practice is put together — which is the same way we are instructed to build something with LEGO bricks: from the ground up. Aha! moments, lightbulb moments, epiphanies, and even “happy accidents” are all built on a foundation. We have to be prepared to see the things we see, even when we are not expecting to see them. We have to have the picture — i.e., the possibility — in our minds. We also have to be open to the way the bricks are connected. Ultimately, that’s what I’m really asking:
How open are you to these kinds of things?
My guess — and it’s not much of a stretch — is that your open-ness, or lack thereof, is based on past experiences. I mean, on a certain level, everything is based on past experiences. We do something new and a new neural pathway is created, a new thin veil of saṃskāra (“mental impression”) is lowered over us. We do that same thing again and we start to hardwire that new neural pathway, the veil becomes more opaque. Over time, our behaviors and reactions become so hardwired, that our saṃskāra become vāsanā (“dwelling” place for our habits) and we believe that our habits are innate or instinctive — when, in fact, they are conditioned.
This is true when things seem to randomly and luckily fall into place, as well as when a fortune cookie seems to be spot on. This is also true when we are not so fortunate or blessed; when things don’t seem to easily fall into place or when we don’t “randomly” get what we didn’t know we needed. Furthermore, our physical-mental-emotional response to the so-called “happy accidents” is just as conditioned as our physical-mental-emotional response to things not going our way. We are as much like Pavlov’s dogs as we are like the one-eyed mule (or camel) observed by the Princes of Serendip. To do something other than salivate at the appearance of certain objects and/or to eat on the side of the road we can’t easily “see” is “impossible.”
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.”
— quoted from a 2004 Adidas ad campaign written by Aimee Lehto (with final tag line credited to Boyd Croyner), often attributed to Muhammad Ali
Per chaos theory, little changes in conditioning can change the outcome. Those little changes in conditioning can also change our understanding of a situation and its outcome. They change our “space of possibility.” We start to notice causality and, in the process, start to add to the story — which essentially changes the story. At other times, little changes in conditioning can change our understanding of what is possible and, therefore, what is probable.
All that can change our actions. For instance, consider the comedian Jackie Gleason and how he reacted to Elvis Presley’s first national television*** appearance, on January 28, 1956. No one had seen anything like Elvis before and no one knew how far he would go. So, not surprisingly, Mr. Gleason initially missed certain signs (like how the audience reacted to Elvis) and said, “He can’t last, I tell you flatly, he can’t last.”
To be fair (to Jackie Gleason), there were several reasons why the comedian and producer initially missed the signs. First, “Heartbreak Hotel” had just been released as a single (the day before). Second, Elvis was still relatively unknown on a national level and not many people showed up to see Elvis when he first performed on the weekly program Stage Show. Despite his initially reaction, Jackie Gleason and the other producers of Stage Show scheduled Elvis to perform two shows in January and two shows in February. The future “King of Rock and Roll” performed “Shake Rattle And Roll,” “Flip Flop and Fly,” and “I Got A Woman.” By the time Elvis finished the first show, his schedule was extended to include two more appearances on the Stage Show — thanks, in part, to Jackie Gleason observing the situation, making connections, and coming to certain conclusions.
Ultimately, those are the secrets to serendipity and to practicing serendipity:
Observing causes and conditions, in order to have as much information as possible;
Being open to possibilities (and possible connections);
Letting go of what was; and
Being right here, right now, with present-moment awareness.
“In no very distant future, the method of Zadig, applied to a greater body of facts than the present generation is fortunate enough to handle, will enable the biologist to reconstruct the scheme of life from its beginning, and to speak as confidently of the character of long extinct beings, no trace of which has been preserved, as Zadig did of the queen’s spaniel and the king’s horse.”
— quoted from the essay “On the Method of Zadig: Retrospective Prophecy as a Function of Science” (1880) in Collected Essays, Volume 4. Science and Hebrew Tradition by T. H. Huxley
*NOTE: While most of this practice focused on “happy accidents,” I do reference one tragic accident: the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. On January 28, 1986, all seven crew members were killed, including Christa McAuliffe, who was selected to be the first schoolteacher in space. In the past, when I offered more direct suggestions for personal dedications, I would include a passing reference to family, friends, co-workers, students, and others who remember and were inspired by F. Richard Scobee (Commander), Michael J. Smith (Pilot), Ronald McNair (Mission Specialist), Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist), Judith Resnik (Mission Specialist), Gregory Jarvis (Payload Specialist), and Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist / teacher). This year, I ended the practice with the words of S. Christa McAullife who said, “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. JUST GET ON!” and “Reach for the stars. Reach for it! Push yourself as far as you can.”
**Spoiler Alert (that’s not really spoiling the movie): Theoretically and hypothetically (because this doesn’t happen in the movie), if the couple in Serendipity were seeking something that ended up getting torn apart, and the pieces were used to make a painting/collage that was placed in a museum — without anyone knowing the source of the material for the collage, then them discovering the information they sought could be considered serendipitous because they weren’t looking for a painting/collage.
*** CORRECTION: I sometimes refer to Elvis’s appearance on Stage Show as his first television appearance; however, it was his first time on a nationally broadcasted show. He had previously appeared on a local broadcast, Louisiana Hayride, that aired on KSLA-TV (in Shreveport, La) on March 5, 1955.
### “I’m gonna pick up the pieces” ~ Ed Sheeran###
Many blessing to anyone observing (or getting ready to observe) Lent. Peace and ease — and more listening — to all, throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
“An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.”
— the title of a 1997 essay by Gene Knudsen Hoffman
The following excerpt is from the 2023 revision of a previous post:
“Imagine that, at a very early age, you are exposed to an idea. It doesn’t have to be a big idea, stated and codified in a systematic way. It could just be a simple statement. It could be an idea (or a statement) about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religious and/or political beliefs — it could even be an idea about height or weight or hair texture (or length) or skin and/or eye hue. Or maybe it’s a statement about ability. Either way, the moment that you are exposed to the idea, some part of you questions whether it is true and even considers the validity of the idea/statement based on the source. You may not be conscious of this questioning, but it happens – sometimes quickly, in a blink — and then, as you move forward, other things (and people) either confirm the veracity of the idea or invalidate the idea.
Now, imagine that you grow up with this idea and this idea, whether you feel it is directed at you or at people around you, becomes — on a certain level — the lens through which you view yourself and the world. You may not be conscious of this lens. In fact, in most cases, this bias (whether we view it as positive or negative) is unconscious… subterranean. In the Yoga Philosophy, saṃskāra is a Sanskrit word for mental “impressions,” that can also be defined as “idea, notion, conception.” Saṃskāra are the foundation or roots of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Neurologically speaking, we can think of them as hard-wired pathways that are sometimes such an integral part of us they make habitual responses to certain situations appear instinctual. They are the beginning of the best of us… and also the worst of us.”
NOTE: The linked post contains information about mental health and United States history. It also includes links to a different playlist.
“This can already be seen in the different reception given a new citizen of the world. If the father or someone else asked what ‘it’ was after a successful birth, the answer might be either the satisfied report of a boy, or—with pronounced sympathy for the disappointment— ‘Nothing, a girl,’ or ‘Only a girl.’”
— Bertha Pappenheim (b. 1859) as quoted in The Jewish Woman: New Perspectives, edited by Elizabeth Koultun
Please join me today (Tuesday, February 27th) 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 by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08282021 The Heart’s Wildest Dream”]
“If any man at this day sincerely believes that a proper division of local from federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so, and to enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair argument which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who have less access to history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief that ‘our fathers who framed the Government under which we live’ were of the same opinion — thus substituting falsehood and deception for truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely believes ‘our fathers who framed the Government under which we live,’ used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them to understand that a proper division of local from federal authority or some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the federal territories, he is right to say so. But he should, at the same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his opinion, he understands their principles better than they did themselves; and especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that they ‘understood the question just as well, and even better, than we do now.’”
— quoted from Abraham Lincoln’s address at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, February 27, 1860, (during which he repeatedly quotes a statement made by Senator Stephen Douglas)
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.)
“Happy Spring Festival!” Many blessings to everyone observing (or getting ready to observe) Lent. Peace, freedom, and ease to all throughout this “Season for Nonviolence” and all other seasons!
This is the “missing” post for Saturday, February 17th. It includes some previously posted information (updated for 2024) and links to related posts. You can request a recording of the related practice(s) 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. Donations are tax deductible.
“‘From this story, we learn that unity, solidarity and the active participation of the community is necessary when it comes to facing challenges,’ said [Klang Hokkien Association president Datuk Teh Kim] Teh.”
— quoted from The Star article (about a version of the story where only some hide) entitled “Legend Behind Hokkien New Year emphasizes unity and solidarity” by Grace Chen (2/24/2018)
The eighth day of the Lunar New Year is not a big deal for a lot of people. Sure, it is the day before the Jade Emperor’s birthday, making it New Year’s Eve for the Hokkien people (also known as Hoklo, Banlam, and Minnan people) — and that is a big deal — and there are some people who celebrate the creation (or birth) of millet, an ancient grain and staple in many households. But, for the majority of people who celebrate the Lunar New Year, the eighth day is a bit of a break from all the feasting. There is still, however, a lot of preparation going on: people getting ready for the Jade Emperor’s birthday (which, again, is a really big deal for some communities) and people getting ready for the Lantern Festival which is the culmination of the Spring Festival.
This year, the eighth day of the Lunar New Year was also the eighth night/day of Navaratri, the Hindu celebration of God as a woman. This penultimate manifestation of Durga/Parvati is known as Mahagauri, the mother Goddess who slays the demon-king. Each of the nine manifestations of Durga represent Her at a different point in her life/journey. By the time we get to the eighth manifestation, Parvati is already married — but the demons can only be killed by a virgin. Obviously, she could not go back; she had to go forward in order to prepare herself for battle.
In some versions of her story, she practiced tapas, prayed, and made offerings. At one point, she bathed in the Ganges River, one of the sacred rivers in India, and emerged with the rosy glow of youth. In parts of India, people begin their eighth day by making pūjā or offerings of flowers to celebrate her wisdom, beauty, and ability to bring peace. Then they get ready for the final celebration. As I mentioned before, this particular Navaratri is one of the two lesser celebrated occasions. So, while there are not as many people celebrating at this time of year, there are still a lot of people preparing for the final celebrations.
This year, these eighth days also fell on Saturday, February 17th, which is Ed Sheeran’s birthday, and coincidentally, the first Saturday of Lent (in most Western Christian traditions). Here again, the first Saturday of Lent is not a huge deal — except for the fact that it is a day, just like the aforementioned days, when people are preparing for something more: for a deeper connection with God (whatever that means to them in the moment). That deeper connection to God also, in these cases, creates an opportunity for deeper commune with community and with oneself.
“You give me life (yay, yay) You help me see when I’ve been blind (yay, yay) Even when I’m feeling paralyzed yeah (yay, yay) You help me seek so I can find Happiness on a rainy day Wo ama me ni agye oh Wo ama me ni agye oh Awurade yeah”
— quoted from the English and Twi song “Boa Me” (“Help Me”) by Fuse ODG, featuring Ed Sheeran (written by Edward Christopher Sheeren, Joseph Addison, Mugeez Abdul Rashi, and Nana Richard Abiona)
The Twi/English lyrics can be translated as “You’ve given me a smile oh / You’ve made me so happy oh Lord yeah”
Although the rituals and traditions are different, although the stories are different, everyone is getting ready for something, something deeper. For some people it is a deeper relationship: a deeper relationship with themselves, a deeper relationship with their community, and/or a deeper relationship with God (whatever that means to you at this moment). Just as we can explore the ways people/communities make (and reinforce) spiritual connections, we can examine the ways we (individually) make connections — and the freedom that can come from going a little deeper into some of the causes and conditions that lead us to make (or not make) connections.
For better or for worse, we are creatures of habits. According to the Yoga Philosophy, every experience creates a saṃskāra (“mental impression”) through which we view future experiences. Over time, our layers of saṃskāra become vāsanā (the “dwelling” place for our habits). In other words, new experiences create new neural pathways, which get “hardwired” and become “muscle memory.” This cultivation of habit can be so unconscious that we believe certain things are innate or instinctive — when, in fact, they are conditioned behaviors.
Whether we are consciously aware of it or not, our past experiences — and the past experiences of our elders and ancestors — makes certain situations more probable than others. We can say that there are infinite possibilities in the Universe, but all of that narrows down into our unique experience, where some things are more probable than other things. For instance, if you are born into a family (and country) where education is highly valued, you are more likely to pursue higher education than if you are born into a family where a degree is not prioritized. This is true even if the generations before you were not able to pursue a degree. This does not mean, however, that you absolutely will — or that it is the best option for you. It simply means that the causes and conditions are in place to increase the likelihood of a particular outcome.
Now, if you go to a trade school, college, or university there is a good possibility that you will meet people you have never met before — maybe, even, people who are very different from the people around whom you grew up. In fact, relationships are one of the things people get out of going to school. The thing is, even when/if you continue your education and encounter people unlike the people with whom you previously attended school, your habits are still rooted in those past experiences. And those habits, rooted in past experiences, continually cultivate the opportunity for connections… or disconnections. As we move through the world, our saṃskāra and vāsanā travel with us — and, in some ways, limit us.
Freedom comes from bringing awareness to cause and effect; to how things (and people) are connected; and to the causes and conditions that result in the choices (we believe) we are given. One way we can heighten our awareness is delving into the hips (as the “energetic and symbolic centers of our relationships…”).
“Every relationship you develop, from casual to intimate, helps you become more conscious. No union is without spiritual value.”
— quoted from “Morning Visual Meditation” (Chakra 2) by Caroline Myss
Yoga and Āyurveda, as the come to us from India, are based on an energetic mapping system consisting of nadis (“rivers or channels” of vitality), marmani (“vulnerable/vital points” of intersection), and chakras (”discus or wheels”). Some ancient texts indicate that there are thousands or millions of nadis associated with the body. While the Shiva Samhita outlines a system of 350,000 total nadis — and highlights 14 as “most important,” three as “preeminent,” and one of the preeminent ones as “most important,” many people who practice āsana (i.e., the postures) are only vaguely aware of the chakras, which are the points where the aforementioned preeminent chakras overlap.
The first chakra, which was our January focus, is the Mūlādhāra or Root chakra. The second, the Svādhiṣṭhāna chakra, is energetically and symbolically associated with the hips (including the lower portion of the abdominal cavity) and with the relationships we make outside of our first family, tribe, and/or community of birth. (I think we can also include some relationships we make as adults with people from our first family, tribe, and/or community of birth.) Note that in Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism,* the divine attributes of yesod (“bonding”), hod (“humility”), and netzach (“endurance”) are also associated with this same area of the body.
Please keep in mind, that a ”relationship,” in this context, is not limited to a romantic interaction or even to someone with whom you feel a kind of kinship. It is anyone with whom you interact, which means that it can be related to people you have never met and will never meet. It can be related to people who have different ideas than you; different philosophies, different spiritual and/or religious practices than you; and even different politics than you. It can even be related to people you do not like and/or for whom you have very little respect. And, yet, part of the practice is about figuring out how we can have more respect, more reverence (if you will), more lovingkindness, more compassion, and more joy in every interaction.
“Contrary to what many think or feel, Lent is a time of joy. It is a time when we come back to life. It is a time when we shake off what is bad and dead in us in order to become able to live, to live with all the vastness, all the depth, and all the intensity to which we are called. Unless we understand this quality of joy in Lent, we will make of it a monstrous caricature, a time when in God’s own name we make our life a misery.”
— quoted from “An Introduction to Lent” (dated February 17, 1968) by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Saturday playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Lunar New Year Day 8 2024”]
*NOTE: During the practices, I have been referencing some (but not all) of the different symbolic and energetic associations of each chakra and, therefore, each part of the body. As they relate to Christianity, first chakra is related to baptism and second chakra is related to communion. Notice, again, the connection between foundation in physical and religious life, as well as how people “share or exchange intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level” (which is one way to define communion).
Errata: This post originally misnamed the Svādhiṣṭhāna chakra, which is the second chakra.
May your mind-body-spirit be well, be great, and be in harmony with your thoughts, words, and deeds.
This can be considered a “missing” post for Tuesday, January 9th.Other than the Wednesday (7:15 PM, CST) practice, there are no Zoom practices until Saturday, January 13th.You can request an audio recording of previous practices via a comment below or by emailing myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
“What is an adult? A child blown up by age.”
— quoted from The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir
The following excerpts are from a slightly revised post for January 9, 2021:
“Do you ever take note of yourself? In particular, do you take note of who you are and what you are all about — and how you got in the habit of being you? That last part may seem weird, because you’re thinking that you just are you and that being you is a state, not a habit. However, philosophically speaking, we become who we are — more and more, every day — and, as we become who we are we less and less likely to deviate from a certain pattern of behavior. In other words, who we are in this moment is a habit.
Simone de Beauvoir, born [January 9th] in 1908, was (along with her longtime companion Jean-Paul Sartre) one of the founders of existentialism; the philosophical and literary idea that freedom and the expression of personal freedom should be the foundation of and motivation for everything. Despite the fact that the couple, individually and collectively, sought to define themselves regardless of social conventions, there was a point when de Beauvoir had not considered how her sex and gender (and people’s ideas around her sex and gender) limited her freedom of being. In fact, she specifically told Sartre that she had not experienced any oppression or marginalization because she was a woman. (A comment I always find astonishing since one of the reasons the couple didn’t marry was because she had no dowry and said that made marriage ‘impossible.’)
Sartre basically told de Beauvoir to go deeper, and she did. The result of that deep dive was The Second Sex.”
I noted in 2021 that, “Sometimes Simone de Beauvoir’s behavior was so much ‘like a man’ that had she actually been a man, I might put her in the same category as President Richard Nixon, born [January 9th] in 1913, and not ever focused a class on her contributions. A double standard? In this case, yes.”
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A Joyful Practice 