Peace and many blessings to everyone and especially to those celebrating the Buddha’s birthday and the Flower Festival (in Japan) and/or observing Lent & Great Lent!
This “missing” post for Tuesday, April 8th features new and previously posted content, as well as some excerpts. Some embedded links will direct you to sites outside of this blog. My apologies for not posting before the Noon practice. You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous 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.
“A hundred different paths may lighten the world’s load of suffering. Giving up meat is one path; giving up bananas is another. The more we know about our food system, the more we are called into complex choices. It seems facile to declare one single forbidden fruit, when humans live under so many different kinds of trees.”
— quoted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Born April 8, 1955, in Annapolis, Maryland, Barbara Kingsolver is the award-winning author of novels, essays, and poetry, as well as one of the co-founders of the rock band the Rock Bottom Remainders. Her fiction and nonfiction reflect her experiences living in rural Kentucky, the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Indiana, Arizona, and Appalachia (where she currently resides). The author of novels like The Bean Trees (1988), The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Prodigal Summer (2000), The Lacuna (2009), and Demon Copperhead (2022) — and nonfiction like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (2007), about her family attempting to eat locally — has won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (2023), a National Humanities Award (2000), the Women’s Prize for Fiction (in 2010 & 2023), and has had every one of her book’s listed on the New York Times Best Seller List since 1993.
While we can say that she writes about the the things that are important to her, including the opioid crisis in the United States, “social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments”, we can also just say that she really only writes about two things: suffering and the end of suffering.
— “Ignorance (or lack of knowledge), false sense of identity, attachment (rooted in pleasure), aversion (attachment rooted in pain), and fear of death or loss are the afflictions.”
If we look back over the previous nine days/nights and the stories associated with Navaratri, we see instances of suffering (in the form of “demons”) and the end of suffering (in the form of the goddesses being victorious in the battles and challenges). If we look back at the the civil rights movements I have mentioned over the last couple of months, we again see suffering (in the form of oppression) and the end of suffering (in the form of people being granted the civil rights). In fact, if we look back at the whole of humanity, we see this same theme play out again and again and again. We also see that every major religion and philosophy, as well as all medical sciences, have the same two ends of a common thread: people suffer and people want their suffering to end.
In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali outlined how the mind works and how to work the mind. The mind, he explained, has a tendency to wander, move around, and get caught up in those fluctuations. Those fluctuations are either afflicted or not afflicted — meaning some thoughts bring us pain/suffering and others alleviate or don’t cause pain/suffering. He also described nine obstacles, which lead to five conditions (or states of suffering) (YS 1.30-1.31); five dysfunctional/afflicted thought patterns that lead to suffering (YS 2.2-2.9); and specifically pointed to meditation as a way to overcome the suffering (YS 1.32 and YS 2.10-2.11).
Throughout the first two chapters of the text, he gave specific examples about how to overcome the afflicted thoughts; how to alleviate the suffering they cause; and how to overcome the obstacles and painful states of suffering. His recommendation: Various forms of meditation — various forms of sitting and breathing with awareness (āsana and prāṇāyāma).
One meditation technique Patanjali suggested is offering loving-kindness/friendliness to those who are happy, compassion to those who are sad, happiness to those who are virtuous, and indifference to those who are non-virtuous. (YS 1.33) It is similar to a metta meditation, which is actually a great way to start this practice. Another is simply focusing on the breath. (YS 1.34)
Knowing, however, that everyone can’t just drop into a deep seated meditation, Patanjali also offered physical techniques to prepare the mind-body for meditation. Although, Patanjali did not describe any specific āsanas or “seats” — just how to use them (and perfect them) — those physical techniques are our physical practice.
I personally find the yoga philosophy particularly practical, especially when practiced with the physical component. But then again, I tell my own stories and live in a different time and place than Patanjali and Siddhartha Gautama, the prince who would become the enlightened one.
“Prince Gautama, who had become Buddha, saw one of his followers meditating under a tree at the edge of the Ganges River. Upon inquiring why he was meditating, his follower stated he was attempting to become so enlightened he could cross the river unaided. Buddha gave him a few pennies and said: ‘Why don’t you seek passage with that boatman. It is much easier.’”
— a Buddhist “joke”, quoted from Matt Caron and from Elephant Journal
Historically speaking, Patanjali was in India compiling the Yoga Sūtras, which outline the 8-Limbed Yoga Philosophy as a way to alleviate current suffering and prevent future suffering, during the Buddha’s lifetime. “I have heard” that Siddhartha Gautama was aware of the Yoga Philosophy, and probably practiced it — but that doesn’t mean he was aware of the yoga sūtras (Sanskrit: “union threads”), simply that he was aware of the lifestyle and the codes of that lifestyle. Perhaps he even had a physical practice.
It is easy to believe that he found the practice helpful when, at 29 years old, he left the palace gates and saw suffering for the first time. In theory, this explains some of the parallels between yoga and Buddhism. It may also help explain why there are so many lists in Buddhism and why the Buddha taught in stories/parables. However, he did not share my sentiment that the yoga philosophy was practical (and accessible).
Remember, different time; different place.
“Furthermore, Subhūti, in the practice of compassion and charity a disciple should be detached. That is to say, he should practice compassion and charity without regard to appearances, without regard to form, without regard to sound, smell, taste, touch, or any quality of any kind. Subhuti, this is how the disciple should practice compassion and charity. Why? Because practicing compassion and charity without attachment is the way to reaching the Highest Perfect Wisdom, it is the way to becoming a living Buddha.”
— The Diamond Sutra (4)
Unfortunately, the caste system in 6th Century India (~563 BCE) prevented some people from practicing Yoga. So, the story goes that the prince sat under the Bodhi tree and was determined to wait there until he awakened to the nature of reality. In some suttas (Pali: “threads”), it says that the Buddha (“the Awakened One”) sat there for an additional seven days. Eventually, at the age of 35, 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, which (again) run parallel to those of Patanjali, 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 these paths includes some sitting… and waiting. What is promised at the end of the sitting and waiting is freedom from suffering. What we find in the middle is hope.
And, also, a celebration: the Buddha’s Birthday.
“By this name it shall be revered and studied and observed. What does this name mean? It means that when the Buddha named it, he did not have in mind any definite or arbitrary conception, and so named it. This Sutra is hard and sharp, like a diamond that will cut away all arbitrary conceptions and bring one to the other shore of Enlightenment.”
— The Diamond Sutra (13)
People celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday in different ways and at different times (depending on which calendar they are using). Some people celebrate the birth of Prince Siddhartha. Others celebrate the enlightenment or awakening of the Buddha. Some people celebrate both. While many of these celebrations occur in May (or even June, during a leap year) one of the birthday celebrations occurs in Japan on April 8th. While it is not a national holiday, it has been a major celebration for some Buddhist people (in Japan) since 1873.
Also known as Kanbutsu-e (Japanese: 灌仏会) or Hanamatsuri (Japanese: 花祭り) “the Flower Festival”, it is a day when some temples hold special ceremonies involving a Chinese tradition of bathing small Buddha statues with Amacha (甘茶) “sweet” “tea”, made from fermented hydrangea leaves, as if they were bathing a newborn baby. The tea is caffeine free, but the leaves contain phyllodulcin, which is “400–800 times sweeter than table sugar [and] 2 times sweeter than saccharin.”
People will also sit and breath — and perhaps contemplate and meditate on the teachings and parables of the Buddha.
“It’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ there is the living of the holy life. And it’s not the case that when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is the living of the holy life. When there is the view, ‘The soul & the body are the same,’ and when there is the view, ‘The soul is one thing and the body another,’ there is still the birth, there is the aging, there is the death, there is the sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, & distress whose destruction I make known right in the here & now.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
The following is excerpted directly from a 2020 post:
“‘I have heard’ two parables the Buddha used to differentiate between (physical) pain and (mental) suffering. Both parables also point to the ways in which we can alleviate our own suffering.
In one parable, a man is shot with a poisoned arrow. As the poison enters the man’s bloodstream, he is surrounded by people who can and want to help him, to save his life. The problem is that the man wants to know why he was shot. In fact, before the arrow is removed he wants to know why he was shot, by whom he was shot, and all the minutia about the archer and their life. While the information is being gathered, the poison is moving through the man’s body; the man is dying. In fact, the man will die before he has the answers to all his questions.
In another parable, a man is shot by an arrow (no poison this time) and then, in the very next breath, the man is shot by a second arrow. The Buddha explains that the first arrow is physical pain, and we can’t always escape or avoid that. The second arrow, however, is the mental suffering (or pain) that is caused when “the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught.” How we respond to moments of pain and suffering determines how much more pain and suffering we will endure.”
“And what is declared by me? ‘This is stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the origination of stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the cessation of stress,’ is declared by me. ‘This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress,’ is declared by me. And why are they declared by me? Because they are connected with the goal, are fundamental to the holy life. They lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, calming, direct knowledge, self-awakening, Unbinding. That’s why they are declared by me.
“So, Malunkyaputta, remember what is undeclared by me as undeclared, and what is declared by me as declared.”
— quoted from Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions Malunkya (translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
Click on the excerpt title below and scroll down to “So Much Suffering,” if you are interested in the ways the Buddha and Moses had parallel life experiences and journeys to freedom.
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.
Be brilliant! Keep your loving-kindnessstrong and long lasting. Manyblessings to everyone and especiallyto anyone observing the Second Eastertide,Counting the Omer, and/or workingas a force of peace,freedom, and fulfillment (inside and outside).
“As we saw in sutra 2.18 , each of us has the capacity to shine and make the world around us shine. However, most of this capacity has become dormant. Shaking off this dormancy and reclaiming our inherent effulgence is tapas. It has nothing in common with the religious concept of austerity.”
— commentary on Yoga Sutra 2:43 in The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
— “The objective world (what is seen), consisted of a combination of elements and senses, and having a nature of illumination, activity, and stability, has two purposes: fulfillment and freedom.
According to Indian Philosophies, like Yoga and Sāmkhya, we humans are capable of extraordinary things. Some siddhis (“abilities”) are so out of the ordinary they seem like Marvel Universe powers or Jedi Knight Tricks. Then, there are six described in the Sāmkhya Karika as “powers unique to being human.” Even if we just stick to those six — which can seem mundane on the surface, using those powers can create, heal, and transform everything and everyone around us.
Unfortunately, according to these same philosophies, we are disempowered by cittavŗtti (“fluctuations of the mind”) and avidyā (“ignorance”). This disempowerment can lead to really obvious signs and ailments, like those listed in the Yoga Sūtras 1.30 – 1.31, as well as in the inability to access the siddhis which are part of “true nature.” Even more tragic is the fact that (a) most people don’t realize these powers are inside of them and all around them and (b) that people are often looking for power in the wrong places.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna warned Arjuna — again and again — about thinking there is only one way to be devoted and only one way to serve. Chapter 18 even outlines the personalities, dispositions, and responsibilities of Seers, Leaders, Providers, and Servers. There is even detailed descriptions about how each role serves the larger community. But, you know who is missing — or, at least not explicitly described?
Someone with a rainbow afro or a cowboy hat, a red nose, a tie-dye shirt, overalls, and a “Nobody for President” button. In other words, a person that must be embraced with conscious “phun.”
“This may seem odd, but that is not my fault.”
— quoted from “25 – Nietzsche” in (Book 3, Modern Philosophy) of History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (3rd Earl Russell, OM FRS)
— B. B. King to a “random” person lying on the stage before his set-up (at the Texas International Pop Festival, 09/01/1969)
Born Hugh Nanton Romney on May 15, 1936, the official clown of the Grateful Dead is not related to the political Romney family. However, as an activist for peace and a hippie (not to mention a self-proclaimed “flower geezer”) he has had a hand in politics and even organized a presidential campaign.
Romney and his wife, Jahanara “Jah” Romney, co-founded Hog Farm, America’s longest running hippie commune, in the 1960’s. They first made it onto the world’s radar when volunteers from Hog Farm provided security for the 1st Woodstock Rock Festival (August 15 – 18, 1969). The Hog Farm volunteers called themselves the “Please Force” — as in, “Please don’t do that, please do this instead.” While providing similar service at the Texas International Pop Festival (09/01/1969), Romney met B. B. King,* who gave him the name “Wavy Gravy.”
Wavy Gravy, co-founded the Phurst Church of Phun, a secret society of comics and clowns dedicated to ending the Vietnam War, because he thought activists dressed as clowns would be less likely to be arrested. In 1980, he ran a “Nobody for President” campaign that included a November 4th rally across from the White House. The campaign “staff” of Yippies (from the Youth International Party) and anarchists mostly promoted the “none of the above” option on the ballot. However, the campaign was known for slogans like “Nobody’s Perfect;”“Nobody Keeps All Promises;”“Nobody Should Have That Much Power;” and “Who’s in Washington right now working to make the world a safer place? Nobody!” He also proclaimed that “Nobody makes apple pie better than Mom. And Nobody will love you when you’re down and out.”
“Keep your sense of humor, my friend; if you don’t have a sense of humor it just isn’t funny anymore.”
— Wavy Gravy
In 1975, Wavy Gravy and Jah founded Camp Winnarainbow, which is a “socially minded, justice focused organization” dedicated to “[doing] something good for a change.” Part of the Hog Farm community, Camp Winnarainbow offers some Adult Camps; 3-year Teen Leadership Programs (for ages 15, 16, and 17); Residential Camps (for ages 7 – 17); and scholarships (some of which used to be funded by proceeds of Ben and Jerry’s “Wavy Gravy” ice cream). While they had to cancel some programming in 2020 (for the first time in 45 years), Camp Winnarainbow was able to move some programs online and safely continue some of their outdoor programming. The programs are committed to “Big Fun” as well as equity, inclusion, and interdependence — not only in theory, but also in practice. Some of the graduates of the Teen Leadership Programs are preparing to take on leadership roles at for future camps and programming.
In 1978, Wavy Gravy and Jahanara Romney joined Dr. Larry Brilliant, Dr. Girija Brilliant, Dr. Nicole Grasset, Ram Dass, and Dr. G. Venkataswamy in co-founding the Seva Foundation. The Brilliants’ had successfully helped eradicate smallpox and were looking for a new initiative. Knowing that over a billion people live with unaddressed vision impairments; that hundreds of millions of underserved people need ongoing eye care; and that 90% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured, the Seva Foundation grew out of the belief that restoring sight is one of the most effective ways to relieve suffering and reduce poverty. The global non-profit eye organization works with local communities around the world to train local eye-care providers and develop self-sustaining programs that preserve and restore sight.
“If you don’t change, you’re dead, so I try to keep changing.”
— Wavy Gravy
The Seva Foundation’s name comes from the Indian concept of “self-less service.” The organization provides critical eye care to underserved communities (especially women, children, and indigenous populations) and has provided surgeries, eyeglasses, medicine, and other eye care services to over 44 million people in over 20 countries — including Tibet, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sub-Sahara Africa, and the United States. One of their highlighted programs is Guatemala Brillando (“Brighter Guatemala”), which “is poised to establish five new hospitals and 30 vision centers bringing primary eye care to rural and other areas that are currently underserved. Seva will develop sustainable programs which create jobs for local women and men to help them provide critical services to their home communities.”
Annual benefits for Camp Winnarainbow and the Seva Foundation include some of the same musicians that appeared at the Woodstock Festivals: the Grateful Dead, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, Elvis Costello, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Sly and the Family Stone — and, of course, the Woodstock Festivals Master of Ceremonies, Wavy Gravy.
“We’re kind of a family — a huge, expanded family. And we can do any number of things, because each one of us is going to do a different thing. But mostly we’re just going to try and be groovy, and (uh) spread that grooviness to everybody.”
— Wavy Gravy being interviewed at the John F. Kennedy airport in August 1969 (about Hog Farm’s participation at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair)
Please join metoday (Wednesday, May 15th)at4:30 PM or 7:15 PMfor a yogapractice onZoom.You can use the link from the “Class Schedules”calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra(at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05152022 Still (Not) Clowning Around”]
“We are all the same person trying to shake hands with our self.”
— Wavy Gravy
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!!!
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.
“18. The object of experience is composed of the three gunas – the principles of illumination (satywa), activity (rajas) and inertia (tamas). From these, the whole universe has evolved, together with the instruments of knowledge – such as the mind, senses, etc. – and the objects perceived – such as the physical elements. The universe exists in order that the experiencer may experience it, and thus become liberated.”
“…. For the Truth lies hidden everywhere, within every experience and in every object of the universe. Everything that happens to us, no matter how seemingly trivial, throughout the day, offers some tiny clue which could lead us toward wider spiritual knowledge and eventual liberation.”
– quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (2:18), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, September 17th) at 12:00 PM. 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06032020 How Can We See, Dr. Wiesel”]
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.)
[This is a “missing” post for Saturday, September 10th. 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.
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.
in my lifetime leads back to this: the fires and the black river of loss whose other side
is salvation, whose meaning none of us will ever know.”
– quoted from the poem “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver
Earlier this year, during a practice for the Lunar New Year’s birthday celebration for all humans, I got to ask some of my dharma/yoga buddies what it means to be human. People had great answers: it means we’re part of a community; it means experiencing the dichotomy of being compassionate but also holding grudges; it means we’re imperfect; it means messiness. That last one tied back into a point someone made at the beginning: we make things up.
Yes, well….
As someone who makes things up and loves reading and experiencing things that other humans make up, I have to admit that our penchant for making things up also makes things complicated, messy, and it leads to suffering. The world, as it turns out, is really simple. Each of us is a microcosm of the families and groups to which we belong, which are themselves microcosms of the macrocosm that is the world. So, as we learn in the Yoga Sūtras, if we really pay attention to ourselves – focus, concentrate, meditate on different aspects ourselves – we can learn more about ourselves and also more about the world.
“The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings.”
– Martin Buber
So we embrace ourselves and, along the way, we learn to embrace to others. Although it is really that simple, I can already hear someone sputtering, “But, but, what about…?”
Yes, sure, as I’ve already acknowledged, life can be complicated and messy; but we make it that way. And despite all the nuances, which I have mentioned before, all the great religious and philosophical teachings say the same things: Love yourself and love all others.Sure, different religions, philosophies, and cultures have different ways of phrasing that. For instance, we could substitute the word “respect” for “love” and maintain the same intention.
Likewise, all the philosophies, religions, and cultures have different ways of explaining how the Universe works. Ultimately, however, all those different ways can be summed up with love/respect and the Laws of Motion. So, Robert Fulghum’s idea that “all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten” is not as hyperbolic as some might think. That’s why I sometimes say that there’s a Garth Brooks song for every situation. It’s also why I have said that everything you need to know about this practice (or about life) can be learned from a Mary Oliver poem.
“You do not have to be good You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”
– quoted from the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver
Born today in 1935, Mary Oliver grew up loving the outdoors, reading and writing poetry. She went to college, because that’s what girls from good families in Ohio did in the 50’s, but then she dropped out and made her way to Edna St. Vincent Millay’s 800-acre estate in Austerliz, New York. She met Vincent’s sister and husband and decided to stay. Eventually, she fell in love with another woman that came to visit, Molly Malone Cook, and eventually they moved to Massachusetts together.
Mary Oliver wrote and published and wrote and published and did the things one does when they love the woods and all that is natural in the world. In fact, she once said “I’ve always wanted to write poems and nothing else. There were times over the years when life was not easy, but if you’re working a few hours a day and you’ve got a good book to read, and you can go outside to the beach and dig for clams, you’re okay.” Then, in 1983, after publishing several collections, she won the Pulitzer Prize for American Primitive. Suddenly, everyone wanted more of and from Mary Oliver. She once said she couldn’t remember doing any readings before the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry announcement was made, but then, suddenly, people were calling for her to do readings and book promotions.
“Today is a day like any other: twenty-four hours, a
little sunshine, a little rain.
Listen, says ambition, nervously shifting her weight from
one boot to another – why don’t you get going?
For there I am, in the mossy shadows, under the trees.
And too tell the truth I don’t want to let go of the wrists
of idleness, I don’t want to sell my life for money,
I don’t even want to come in out of the rain.”
– quoted from the poem “Black Oaks” by Mary Oliver
Molly Malone Cook, her love and life partner, was also Mary Oliver’s official photographer, literary agent, and the person most editors and miscellaneous strangers would talk to when the called the Oliver-Cook household. Cook would not only answer the phone, she would go to (what I consider) hilarious extremes to convince whomever was on the phone that the next voice they heard was that of Mary Oliver – even though it was still Molly Malone Cook.
Now I’m not suggesting people go around pretending to be people they are not – even when they have permission to do so – but, there is a lesson in that story. Consider how much lovelier and simpler the world would be if we all accepted each other as we are; supported the ones we love as they are; allowed others in the world to get what they wanted/needed from us without compromising our own wants/needs, and let go of all the rest.
Simply stated: Consider how much lovelier and simpler the world would be if we love/respected each other, helped each other out, and let go of all the rest.
“To live in this world
you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it
against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.”
– quoted from the poem “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver
I am woefully behind in my Saturday posts and so I apologize to anyone who was following along with our Saturday study of the Yoga Sūtras. Especially considering that I am just jumping back in with this one and, on a certain level, it is missing context and continuity. That said, I have to smirk at myself when I think about how attached I’ve gotten to posting these. Especially since I was not blogging as much when we started this study in January of 2019 and, therefore, I didn’t provide a post for all of those original practices. In other words, there’s already a gap and context and continuity and yet… We keep figuring it out and moving forward.
Not just on Saturdays, but on any other day that I teach, there is the possibility that someone new will enter the practice. Maybe they are new to yoga; maybe they are new to me; or maybe they have been physically practicing for a long time and are just new to the philosophy. Also, as I have to continuously remind myself, life happens and even people who are “Saturday regulars” sometimes miss a practice. Finally, people don’t absorb and remember things the same way. All of which means that I always need to include a little context and continuity. I just don’t always have to repeat everything I’ve ever said and every lesson ever explored chapter and verse. It’s not that complicated. Like everything else, it can be quite simple. It can be quite simple, because you already know everything you need to know.
“One day you finally
Knew what you had to do, and
began”
– quoted from the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver
Right at the beginning of the sūtras, specifically in Yoga Sūtras 1.3-1.4, Patanjali defined the practice by explaining what comes from the practice. It is a promise, of sorts. As we move through the practice – which is just like the hero’s journey – we find ourselves faced with obstacles (and their accompanying ailments), trials and tribulations, challenges and triumphs. We encounter some people who seem to magically assist us along the way; some people we need to forgive and some who need to forgive us; and we experience great loves and great loss. All along the way, there are temptations and boons – which can sometimes be one and the same. In fact, after detailed explanations about the benefits of the practice and warnings about what happens when we get too attached – even to the rewards and benefits – Patanjali reveals that the biggest boon of all awaits us… if we don’t get distracted.
That biggest boon is megah samadhih, which is sometimes translated as “a cloud of virtue” or “a cloud of clarity.” Along with that cloud comes the end of ignorance and, therefore, the end of suffering. Additionally, there is infinite knowledge or wisdom. This could all be interpreted as having every bit of knowledge that has ever existed suddenly rushing into you or raining down on you. But, honestly, it’s not that overwhelming or complicated. Simply stated, with clarity comes pure understanding of how everything is connected and how everything works.
– “[The one] who remains undistracted even when he is in possession of all the psychic powers, achieves, as the result of perfect discernment, that samadhi which is called the ‘cloud of virtue’.”
[Alternate translation: “When there is no longer any interest even in omniscience, that discernment allows the samadhi, which brings an abundance of virtues like a rain cloud brings rain.”]
Yoga Sūtra 4.30: tatah kleśakarmanivŗttih
– “Thence comes cessation of ignorance, the cause of suffering, and freedom from the power of karma.”
– “Then, by the removal of those veils of imperfection, there comes the experience of the infinite, and the realization that there is almost nothing to be known.”
[Alternate translation: “Then the whole universe, with all its objects of sense-knowledge, becomes as nothing in comparison to that infinite knowledge which is free from all obstructions and impurities.”]
It is important to note that this shower of clarity, knowledge, and wisdom is not a case of Dunning-Kruger Effect (i.e., someone thinking they are an expert on something about which they know very little). Instead, one is aware of what they don’t know and there is a true understanding of the Universe (and everything in the Universe) as described in Yoga Sūtras 2.18 – 2.19. This is truly understanding – through direct experience – how everything is “composed of elements and senses and having the inherent properties of illumination, action, and stability” and, furthermore, recognizing that everything has a purpose. It is recognizing the simplicity (and simple beauty) of the Universe.
Having that clarity of mind is not confusing or conflating a drop of water with the whole ocean, but rather recognizing that the drop and the ocean share qualities, traits, and properties. It’s recognizing that these qualities, traits, and properties are consistent whether the item is flowing freely, frozen, or boiling and then evaporating. It is understanding that it’s all water (H2O) and then also understanding that other elements have similar states of manifestation. Finally, it is understanding how that plays out inside of us and all around us. (Especially, in the case of water, when we note that our physical forms are mostly water.)
“To man in his ordinary sense-consciousness, the universe seems full of secrets. There seems so infinitely much to be discovered and known. Every object is an invitation to study. He is overcome by a sense of his own ignorance. But, to the illumined yogi, the universe does not seem at all mysterious. It is said that, if you know clay, you know the nature of everything that is made of clay. So, if you know the Atman, you know the nature of everything in the universe. Then, all the painstaking researches of science seem like efforts of a child to empty the ocean with a spoon.”
– commentary quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (4:31), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
(NOTE: A child gets a lot of delight from that spoon and ocean combination. As we journey through life, we too can take delight at what we have at hand – especially since that spoon can be rinsed off and used for dessert. Stay curious and enjoy the best parts of your life!)
Saturday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
“When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into
my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made my life something
particular, and real.”
– quoted from the poem “When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, September 10th) at 12:00 PM. 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.
Saturday’s playlist is on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
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.)
“I think a lot of people [have misunderstood] a little bit of what I was arguing and have overstated the argument in ways that I had… I had not anticipated. … And also, people have felt that that number is hard and fast and in truth it’s a kind of – it’s supposed to, it symbolizes the fact that the amount of time necessary to develop innate abilities is longer than you think. So, it’s – it’s a metaphor for the extent of committment that’s necessary in cognitively complex fields.”
– Malcolm Gladwell (b. 09/03/1963) talking about the 10,000 hours / 10 years idea to HeavyCheff and CliffCentral reps at BCX Disrupt Summit
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, September 3rd) at 12:00 PM. 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
“Only through the realization of great goals a person reveals his strong character.”
– Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (b. 08/27/1770)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, August 27th) at 12:00 PM. 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
“The courage to be is the courage to affirm one’s own reasonable nature over against what is accidental in us. It is obvious that reason in this sense points to the person in his center and includes all mental functions. Reasoning as a limited cognitive function, detached from the personal center, never could create courage. One cannot remove anxiety by arguing it away. This is not a recent psychoanalytical discovery; the Stoics, when glorifying reason, knew it as well. They knew that anxiety can be overcome only through the power of universal reason which prevails in the wise man over desires and fears. Stoic courage presupposes the surrender of the personal center to the Logos of being; it is participation in the divine power of reason, transcending the realm of passions and anxieties. The courage to be is the courage to affirm our own rational nature, in spite of everything in us that conflicts with its union with the rational nature of being-itself.
What conflicts with the courage of wisdom is desires and fears.”
– quoted from “Chapter 1. Being and Courage – Courage and Wisdom: The Stoics” in The Courage To Be by Paul Tillich (b. 08/20/1886)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, August 20th) at 12:00 PM. 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “01312021 Merton’s Mystical Day”]
“There is a saying by Sri Ramakrishna that one needs to continue fanning oneself on hot days, but that it becomes unnecessary when the spring breeze blows. When a man attains illumination, the breeze of grace is continually felt and the fanning (the constant practice of [discernment] is no longer needed.”
– quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (4:25 – 4.28), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
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.)
“Hitchcock’s example of the MacGuffin emphasizes its impossible status: not only is the object that one [never has], but one cannot even isolate it as an idea. It remains necessarily empty, and yet functions as an engine for the Hitchcockian narrative. The emptiness of the MacGuffin as an object permits spectators to locate their satisfaction in the striving that it unleashes rather than identifying satisfaction with the discovery of its secret.”
– quoted from “The Empty Object” in “27. Hitchcock’s Ethics of Suspense: Psychoanalysis and the Devaluation of the Object” by Todd McGowan (as published in A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Thomas Leitch and Leland Poague)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, August 13th) at 12:00 PM. 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.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.)
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A Joyful Practice 