Cause + Effect = Momentum (mostly the music) August 6, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: gunas, prakiti, purusha, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.18, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutra 4.25, Yoga Sutra 4.26, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.22, Yoga Sutras 2.20-2.21, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
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“Then the mind is inclined….”
– quoted from Yoga Sūtra 4.26
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, August 6th) 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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Coming To The End of The Questions (mostly the music) July 30, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: gunas, prakiti, purusha, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Swami Jnaneshvara, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.18, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutra 4.25, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.10-2.11, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.22, Yoga Sutras 2.20-2.21, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
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“But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at once into a mere illustration and fable of this mind. What am I? and What is? asks the human spirit with a curiosity new-kindled, but never to be quenched.”
– quoted from the 1838 “Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“All of the questions of life eventually boil down to only a few, such as: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? After the yogi has explored the many currents and cross currents of the gross and subtle mind, there comes the realization of the separateness from all of these levels and pure consciousness. It is then, that all of these questions cease. It is not a case that they are analytically answered in logical words. Rather, the questions are resolved; they simply evaporate in understanding.”
– quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 4.25 by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati (as posted on SwamiJ.com)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 30th) 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 “10202020 Pratyahara”]
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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Reflecting, III: Questioning, with (and on) the Mind’s Awareness (mostly the music) July 23, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: Christopher Isherwood, gunas, prakiti, purusha, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Swami Prabhavananda, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.10, Yoga Sutra 2.26, Yoga Sutra 4.24, Yoga Sutras 1.3-1.4, Yoga Sutras 2.20-2.21, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.23
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“Every combination of individuals or forces in this world has to have a purpose for its action or existence; otherwise it would be just a meaningless, functionless collection of objects, brought together haphazardly. And this purpose must be external to itself. A congress or parliament would be just a collection of noisy individuals in a room, if it did not have the purpose of legislating for a community. A house is just a pile of materials until an owner comes to inhabit and enjoy it. So with the mind—that yelling parliament of conflicting interests and desires. It is nothing but a madhouse, until it is ‘called to order.’ It can only become purposive by the external will of the Atman.”
– quoted from How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali (4:24), translated and with commentary by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 23rd) 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 “05252022 Pratyahara II”]
“But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at once into a mere illustration and fable of this mind. What am I? and What is? asks the human spirit with a curiosity new-kindled, but never to be quenched.”
– quoted from the 1838 “Divinity School Address” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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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Reflecting: Awareness of the Mind’s Awareness (mostly the music) July 9, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: Dr. Gerald Edelman, Dr. Oliver Sacks, gunas, Marcel Proust, prakiti, purusha, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.21, Yoga Sutra 4.22, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.20
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“‘Every act of perception,’ [Dr. Gerald] Edelman writes, ‘is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.’”
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“Many composers, indeed, do not compose initially or entirely at an instrument but in their minds. There is no more extraordinary example of this than Beethoven, who continued to compose (and whose compositions rose to greater and greater heights) years after he had become totally deaf. It is possible that his musical imagery was even intensified by deafness…. There is an analogous phenomenon in those who lose their sight; some people who become blind may have, paradoxically, heightened visually imagery.”
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– quoted from Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Dr. Oliver Sacks (b. 07/09/1933)
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 9th) 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.
“We are able to find everything in our memory, which is like a dispensary or chemical laboratory in which chance steers our hand sometimes to a soothing drug and sometimes to a dangerous poison.”
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– quoted from The Captive, Volume 5 of Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time) by Marcel Proust (b. 07/10/1871)
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.)
ERRATA (That is also a correction): Corrected the date of Marcel Proust’s birthday.
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The Source of the Reflection (mostly the music w/some links) July 2, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: gunas, prakiti, purusha, samskāras, T. K. V. Desikachar, Thurgood Marshall, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.21, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-4.20
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“The mind can of course influence the perception of an object. This object has an independent existence apart from the source of perception. If we insist on the concept of the mind from moment to moment being the source, the means, and the object of perception, we face problems in comprehending the possibility of one person remembering what he saw in the past, sharing what he has seen, and reconciling the fact that one object seen by one person is not necessarily seen by another or in the same way.”
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— quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 4.21 in The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T. K. V. Desikachar
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, July 2nd) 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 “07012020 Caesar Rodney’s Ride”]
NOTE: The Spotify track has been updated.
“What’s at stake here is more than the rights of my client. It’s the moral commitment stated in our country’s creed.”
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– Thurgood Marshall (b. 7/2/1908), NAACP attorney for plaintiff in Murray v. Pearson, 169 Md. 478, 182 A. 590 (1936)
We could reflect on today as it is related to1776, 1839, or 1908.
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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Think of All the Things that Make the Mind Think (mostly the music w/some links) June 25, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: Anne Frank, gunas, prakiti, purusha, samskāras, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.18, Yoga Sutra 4.19, Yoga Sutra 4.20, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-17
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“It’s difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery, and death. I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that this cruelty too shall end, and that peace & tranquility will return once again.”
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— Anne Frank, written in her diary (“Kitty”) on July 15, 1944
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 25th) 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.
NOTE: The opening tracks are slightly different as some music was not available on Spotify.
Anne Frank’s diary (“Kitty”) was published today in 1947. It is a collection of her thoughts as well as a chronicle of some of her final days. You can see a date-related post here and another theme-related post here.
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God…. As long as [the simple beauty of Nature] exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
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— Anne Frank, written in her diary (“Kitty”) on Wednesday, February 23, 1944
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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Think of All the Things that Make the Mind (just the music) June 18, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Changing Perspectives, Music, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: gunas, prakiti, purusha, samskāras, vasanas, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 4.18, Yoga Sutra 4.19, Yoga Sutras 2.17-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.14, Yoga Sutras 4.15-17
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Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 18th) 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 on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09042021 Experiencing the Mind”]
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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* (mostly the Saturday music and links) June 4, 2022
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Meditation, Music, Philosophy, Shavuot, Wisdom, Women, Yoga.Tags: awareness, freedom, gunas, T. K. V. Desikachar, throat chakra, will and determination, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 4.17, Yoga Sutras 1.5-1.11, Yoga Sutras 2.18-2.20, Yoga Sutras 4.1-4.17
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Many blessings to all and especially to those celebrating Shavuot!
This is just a note related to the Saturday, June 4th practice (since I didn’t post the music beforehand). At some point I hope to catch back up on the “missing” Saturday posts, but it may be a while. My apologies for the delay. You can request an audio recording of the Saturday practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“The object must exist. It must be observable and it must motivate the observer and stimulate a desire to see it.”
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– commentary on Yoga Sūtra 4.17 from The Heart of Yoga: Developing A Personal Practice by T. K. V. Desikachar
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06042022 Having A Say”]
NOTE: The YouTube playlist includes speeches that are not available on Spotify. If you are using a recording of Saturday’s practice, please note that I remixed the playlist after the Zoom practice, but it should still time out appropriately.
Click here to read my 2020 post about two significant anniversaries related to June 4th and you can consider how your experiences affect your perceptions.
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### Be nobly noble. ###
Seeing Those Who’ve Reached Their Aim (mostly the music) August 14, 2021
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Music, Yoga.Tags: Ernest Thayer, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Yoga Sutra 1.37, Yoga Sutra 1.39, Yoga Sutra 2.44, Yoga Sutra 3.31, Yoga Sutra 3.32, Yoga Sutra 3.33
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“Oh! somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout;”
– quoted from the poem “Casey at the Bat” (lines 49 – 51) by Ernest Thayer (b. 8/14/1863)
“Self-study enables us to see and live in the company of bright beings – rishis and siddhas – who are inherently imbued with brilliance. Here “brilliance” refers to the transforming power of their intrinsic luminosity. In the presence of this radiance, we not only see these luminous beings but we also being to sense and eventually experience our own inherent radiance. Each time we come in touch with these bright beings, our consciousness is elevated to a new height. Their presence fills our consciousness with ever-greater purity, thus destroying the veil that hides our buddhi sattva, the essence of our inner intelligence. We comprehend reality as it is.”
– quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.44 from The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Please join me for a 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, August 14th) 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.
If you are using an Apple device/browser and the calendar is no longer loading, please email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com at least 20 minutes before the practice you would like to attend.
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “Sidd Finch #21 4/1/2020”]
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.)
REMINDER: Tomorrow’s ZOOM practice is cancelled. If you are on Sunday’s mailing list, you will receive a previously recorded practice.
A Joyful Practice 