Still Bending the Arc, in 2026 (the “missing” compilation post for Saturday) September 19, 2026

Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Bhakti, Books, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Kirtan, Life, Mantra, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.
Tags: 4859, A. R. Rahman, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ganesha, Helena Marwood, High Holidays, Jarek Garliński, Khatija Rahman, Kirtan, Lyra Kadesh, Michael Schudrich, Modak, Norman Davies, Raheema Rahman, Righteous Among Nations, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sacred Couplets, Secret Polish Army, Shabbat Shuva, Ten Days of Atonement, Ten Days of Awe, the Commemoration of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae (Chonae), Theodore Parker, Thirukkural, Tikkun Olam, Tomasz Serafiński, U2, Unetaneh Tokef, Witold Pilecki
add a comment

“Chag sameach!” to those observing the High Holidays (as well as Shabbat Shuva). “Many blessings,” to everyone and especially those celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi and/or the Commemoration of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Colossae (Chonae)!

This “missing” compilation post for Saturday, September 19^th, includes the slightly revised beginning of a 2023 post and a series of excerpts. Some dated-related information, links, and formatting have been added/updated. 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.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

“When marching along the gray road towards the tannery in a column raising clouds of dust, one saw the beautiful red light of the dawn shining on the white flowers in the orchards and on the trees by the roadside, or on the return journey we would encounter young couples out walking, breathing in the beauty of springtime, or women peacefully pushing their children in prams — then the thought uncomfortably bouncing around one’s brain would arise . . . swirling around, stubbornly seeking some solution to the insoluble question: Were we all . . . people?”

— quoted from The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery by Captain Witold Pilecki (Auschwitz Prisoner No. 4859), translated from Pilecki’s original 1945 Auschwitz Report by Jarek Garliński (with an Introduction by Norman Davies & a Forward by Michael Schudrich (Foreword)

It is all too easy to focus on our differences, but what happens when we focus on our similarities? What happens when we focus — or just take a moment to notice — the things we have in common? I think good things happen. I think it makes us more fully human and, possibly, more appreciative of what it means to human. This is why it always feels particularly auspicious when two or more completely different groups of people (from vastly different communities, faiths, and cultures) are celebrating and/or observing sacred times at the same time. It feels particularly notable (to me) when these “holy” times are the same length of time. Take right now, for instance, when two very different 10-day celebrations/observations are overlapping around the world.

Today is the eighth day of the High Holidays (and of the new year) according to the Hebrew calendar and, according to the Hindu calendar, today is the sixth day of Ganesh Chaturthi, the festival celebrating the birthday of Ganesha. I referred to these as “very different” — and it is true that the rituals, traditions, and faiths are different. However, underlying both holidays is something very human: a desire for new beginnings and less obstacles. Additionally, both observations require people to do something in preparation for the better days. Whether it is making an offering and/or offering (or asking for) forgiveness, these auspicious times require people to act. So, there is prayer, there is reflection, there is prayer, and there is a dissolution (or dissolving) or something.

In both cases there is also something sweet.

“Within Ganesha’s tradition, two materials are paramount: Modak and Durva grass.

These twin offerings embody the poles of a disciplined, joyful life. Modak, a crafted, cooked sweet, represents height—refinement, skill, sweetness earned by effort. Durva, a raw, resilient weed, represents depth—humility, endurance, and the patient coolness of Earth. Destiny is mastered by holding both capacities: the ability to create nuanced joy and the capacity to survive heat and hardship. Ganesha is Modakapriya—Lover of Joy—yet he is crowned by grass; the pairing is deliberate. It trains the devotee to be complete.”

— quoted from “Chapter 17 — Offerings of Power: Modak and Durva” in The Ganesha Protocol: Ritual Practice for Clarity and New Beginnings by Lyra Kadesh (edited by Helena Marwood)

Click on the links above or the excerpt titles below for more.

Get Ready… To Pace Yourself (a compilation of notes & excerpts)

New Years / New Habits (a post-practice compilation for Monday)

“… it is [usually] steamed, a union of water and fire, yielding firmness without brittleness. That firmness is discipline, the ethical frame and ego structure needed to navigate the world cleanly. Inside rests the puran—dark, lush sweetness— an anatomy lesson for the inner life. The teaching reverses a common mistake: many are soft and reactive outwardly, yet hard and resentful within. Modak urges the opposite—outer steadiness and inner tenderness. Keep the shape; offer sweetness.”

— quoted from the “The Modak: The Geometry of Joy” section of “Chapter 17 — Offerings of Power: Modak and Durva” in The Ganesha Protocol: Ritual Practice for Clarity and New Beginnings by Lyra Kadesh (edited by Helena Marwood)

Each time we repeat the 2026 sankalpa during the Saturday practices, we only say the word “actions” once. However, each part of the vow includes actions: “I trust”; “to align”; “release” all involve us to actively engage and do something. Even the concept of having “abilities” implies action.

An important part of the High Holidays, Ganesha Chaturthi, and a new season (which is also starting this weekend), is the idea that we can all do something little that makes a difference. Some, however, do big things that make a difference.

Click on the link above or the excerpt title below (and scroll down) for a description of Tikkun Olam.

Do You Want a Perfect Tuesday or a Good Tuesday? (the “missing” Tuesday compilation post)

“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice.”

— quoted from an 1853 sermon by abolitionist and Unitarian minister Theodore Parker

For Those Who Missed It: The following is the 2023 excerpt (revised from a 2020 post).

Click here if you want to read the entire post, which is also a tribute to “The Notorious R. B. G.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).

Calvary Captain Witold Pilecki (also known as Tomasz Serafiński) made such a big sacrifice and such a difference in the world that some believe he should be recognized by Yad Vashem (The World Holocaust Remembrance Center) as “Righteous Among Nations”. Today in 1940, he allowed himself to be captured by the Nazis. He did this in order to report the truth about what was going on in concentration camps like Auschwitz.

Captain Pilecki, served as an officer in the Polish Army during the Polish-Soviet War (1919 – 1920) and during World War II. As part of the Resistance to Nazi Occupied Poland, he co-founded the Secret Polish Army (along with Lieutenant Colonel Jan Henryk “Darwicz” Włodarkiewicz and Lieutenant Colonel Władysław “Stefan” Surmacki ), which eventually became part of the Home Army. When Germany invaded Poland at the end of 1939, very little was known about the concentration camps, but Captain Pilecki had a plan. His idea, which was approved by his Polish Army superiors, was to come out of hiding during a Warsaw roundup in order to be arrested and shipped to Auschwitz, where he could organize the resistance and report on the situation from the inside.

“I’ve been trying to live my life so that in the hour of my death I would rather feel joy, than fear.”

— Witold Pilecki’s statement to the judge after his sentencing, May 15, 1948

He was given a false identity card and was arrested on September 19, 1940. Arrested along with him were 2,000 civilians, including journalist and historian Władysław Bartoszewski (who was designated “Righteous Among Nations” in 1965). After being detained for two days, “Tomasz Serafiński” was assigned number 4859, and shipped to Auschwitz, where he documented the difference between the way the Nazis treated Jewish people versus non-Jewish people. He also documented the escalating move towards genocide.

During his two and a half years at Auschwitz, Witold Pilecki formed Union of Military Organizations (ZOW), a resistance organization within the camp, which set up intelligence networks; distributed extra food, clothing, and medical supplies; boosted morale; and prepared for a possible Home Army coup. At one point, ZOW was even able to construct and use a secret radio receiver and help at least 4 Polish men escape (with one of Captain Witold’s reports).

“Witold’s Report” (also known as “Pilecki’s Report”) was information that was regularly smuggled through the Polish resistance to London and even to the British government. It provided the outside world with the first “official” documentation of the Nazi’s atrocities. For much of the war, however, the reports of genocide were considered too unbelievable.  As the Nazi’s plans became more and more obvious, and as his calls for the Allies to bomb the camps were denied, Captain Pilecki realized he was running out of time. He was receiving news from the outside that the Allies supported the idea of a prisoner insurrection — which he too had suggested at one time. However, by 1943, the people inside the camp were too weakened to mount an attack. He thought could be more convincing in person, so he put a new plan into action.

After he escaped in April 1943, Captain Pilecki wrote “Report W”, outlining the conditions of the camps, as well as details about the gas chambers, the selection process, the crematoria, and the sterilization experiments. His report was signed by other escapees and included the names of ZOW members. He continued to work and organize the resistance, while also expanding “Report W”. He participated in the Warsaw Uprising and was reassigned to Italy, but eventually returned to Communist-controlled Poland. In May of 1947, he was arrested by the Communist government and tortured, but he would not reveal other members of the resistance. He was eventually “tried” and executed. His most comprehensive version of the “W Report” (from 1945) was published in 2012, as The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery, and his life has been the subject of a number of books, songs, and articles.

“Who will be calm and who will be tormented?
Who will become poor and who will get rich?
Who will be made humble and who will be raised up?
But teshuvah and tefillah and tzedakah [return and prayer and righteous acts]
deflect the evil of the decree.”

— quoted from the poem “Unetaneh Tokef” (“Let Us Speak of the Awesomeness”)

Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “High Holidays: Bending the Arc Still, in 2026”]

NOTE: The YouTube playlist contains extra videos of some of the songs featured during the practice.

“Even when a man takes revenge on others who hate him, in spite of him not hating them initially, the pain caused by his vengeance will bring him inevitable sorrow.” (313)

“When a man inflicts pain upon others in the forenoon, it will come upon him unsought in the afternoon.” (319)

— quoted from the English translation of the Tamil lyrics of the song “Ahimsa” by U2 and A. R. Rahman, featuring Khatija and Raheema Rahman (translation from IntegralYoga.org)

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHY I WANT YOU TO KISS SANDRA’S ASANA!

If you are struggling, 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 an app, which I have not researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or need a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

You’re Invited to Bend… & To Take The Deepest Breath You’ve Taken — On Retreat!

September 25 — 27, 2026

LIMITED SPACE FOR HOTEL DISCOUNTS!

### MAY YOUR NAME BE WRITTEN & SEALED IN THE BOOK OF LIFE  / MAY YOU HAVE FEW OBSTACLES AHEAD ###