Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Buddhism, First Nations, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Loss, Love, One Hoop, Pain, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Yoga.
Tags: Anne Frank, Committee of Five, ignorance, Mayra Alvear, Medgar Evers, Mildred Loving, Orlando Pulse, Pulse nightclub, truth, Vihari-Lal Mitra, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra 1.15, Yoga Sutra 2.13, Yoga Sutra 2.17, yoga sutra 2.18, yoga sutra 2.23, Yoga Sutra 2.24, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Vasishtha
Happy Pride! Many blessings to all!!
This is the “missing” post for Monday, June 12th. It includes some new and some revised material, plus a link (at the bottom) to a related post (with what might be less triggering content). 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.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“69. The cognition and nescience of the world, are the causes of the bondage and liberation of the soul, and these again are productive of the transmigration and final emancipation of the animal spirit. It is by your indifference to them that you can avoid them both, do therefore as you may best choose for yourself. (Here are three things offered to view, namely, the desire of heaven and liberation, and the absence of all desires.
70. What is lost at its disappearance (as our friends and properties), is neither worth seeking or searching after, nor sorrowing for when it is lost and gone from us. That which is gained of itself in our calm and quiet without any anxiety or assiduity on our part, is truly reckoned to be our best gain. (so says the Moha-Mudgura:—Be content with what offers of itself to thee.”
– quoted from (Book 6) “CHAPTER LXIII. Dream of Jíváta.” of The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (translated from the original Sanskrit by VIHARI-LALA MITRA)
It’s scary to let go of something (or someone) to which you are attached. It’s scary because that attachment – whether it is rooted in pleasure or rooted in pain – is part of how we see and understand the world. It’s part of how we see and understand ourselves. The attachment is what is known. And what is unknown can be frightening.
What if, however, we accept the basic premise of Eastern philosophies, like Yoga and Buddhism? What if we accept that we don’t truly see ourselves (or others) as we are? What if we recognize that our attachments are rooted in ignorance? What happens if we let go of our attachments?
Yoga Sūtra 2.13: sati mūle tadvipāko jātyāyurbhogāḥ
– “As long as the root cause [i.e., the five afflicted thought patterns] persists, karmas must bear fruit, and that fruition determines birth in a particular species, life span, and life experience.”
In June 2020, I posted an entry that detailed some harsh and brutal moments in history. Over the years, I have used softer, warmer titles to invite people into a philosophical conversation about avidyā (“ignorance” or nescience), but the original title has stuck with me. The title was a question that I often ask myself and others: “How Ignorant Are You?”
The title is not the only thing that I remember. It’s not the only thing that has stuck, if you will. I also remember those harsh and brutal moments in history. They don’t get softer and warmer just because I change the title. Reality – when the facts are laid bare – is stark and brutal. A softer lead doesn’t change the Truth.
That is not to say that there is no beauty in this day (throughout history). Nor is it to say that there is no beauty in the practice. However, if we ignore the paths that lead to ignorance, we create more harm. We may also trample over the beauty without seeing it.
It is up to you if you read the rest of this post. However, even if you skip to the end (or the next orange quote), please consider the question. Sit with the question.
For Those Who Missed It: The following is a slightly revised and expanded excerpt from a June 2020 post. Some links and quotes have been added or updated.
Yoga Sūtra 2.3: Avidyāsmitārāgadveşābhiniveśāh kleśāh
– “Ignorance (or lack of knowledge), false sense of self, attachment (rooted in pleasure), aversion (which is attachment rooted in pain), and fear of death or loss are the afflicted thoughts.”
Yoga Sūtra 2.17: draşțŗdŗśyayoh samyogo heyahetuh
– “The union of the seer and the seeable is the cause of pain (that may be avoidable).”
Yoga Sūtra 2.18: prakāśkriyāsthitiśīlam bhūtendriyāmakam bhogāpavargārtham dŗśyam
– “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.”
Prepare yourself for some information that may seem surprisingly harsh and brutal. (Fair warning, some of this may be difficult to read.)
Yesterday (6/11) was the anniversary of formation of the Committee of Five. Consisting of John Adams (Massachusetts), Roger Sherman (Connecticut), Robert Livingston (New York), Benjamin Franklin (Pennsylvania), and Thomas Jefferson (Virginia), the committee was charged, back in 1776, with drafting a document which would be approved by the Second Continental Congress and presented to England as a Declaration of Independence. The committee worked from July 11th until July 5thand, contrary to what many believe, the approved document was signed over the next several months by the various delegates. There was no single day of signing.
Both the fact that people believe there was a single day of signing, as well as the fact that the committee excluded their original language criticizing slavery, is a sign of ignorance. The fact that a declaration of independence stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness….” did not consider that those truths applied to women and people of color is a sign of ignorance – that has led to suffering.
Today (6/12) was the anniversary of the birth of a young girl. Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929, Anne Frank received her diary (“Kitty”) on her 13th birthday. She filled her notebooks with descriptions of the tragic and the hopeful things around her. She died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 14. Her death, as well as the deaths of her family, friends, community, and millions of others is a sign of ignorance.
“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.”
— Anne Frank, written in her diary (“Kitty”) on July 15, 1944
Today was also the anniversary of the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers. Mr. Evers was an African American civil rights activist in Mississippi who worked as the state’s field secretary for the NAACP; worked to overturn segregation; and worked to ensure voters’ rights. He was shot (in the back and clear through the heart) in his front yard by a member of the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens’ Council.
The fact that Mr. Evers had to do the work he did, as well as the fact that he was killed for doing that work, is a sign of ignorance. The fact that two all-white juries failed to convict the person who killed him is also a sign of ignorance. The fact that Medgar Evers and his wife, Myrlie Evers, had to teach their young children (ages: 3, 7, and 9) how to tell the difference between firecrackers and gunshots, as well as how to hide when they heard gunshots, is a sign of ignorance. The fact that many people don’t know about the thousands who marched in protest after Medger Evers was killed is also a sign of ignorance.
“Freedom has never been free… I love my children and I love my wife with all my heart. And I would die, die gladly, if that would make a better life for them.”
– Medger Evers, June 7, 1963 (just days before his death)
Today was also the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia. The court declared that any state laws prohibiting interracial marriage were unconstitutional. The fact that states like Virginia had considered people like Richard Loving (a white man) and his wife Mildred Loving (a black and Indigenous American woman) to be criminals – even sentencing them to prison – is a sign of ignorance. The fact that they faced hate from people in their community is a sign of ignorance.
“I understand it and I believe it.”
– Mildred Loving (in 2003) when asked if she understood she was “putting her name behind the idea that two men or two women should have the right to marry each other”
Today, in 2016, a man walked into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and started shooting. Pulse was a gay nightclub that often held theme nights which attracted a wide variety of people. The club was holding just such a theme night when the man killed 49 people and wounded over 50 others in what was the deadliest (single) incident of violence against LGBTQIA+ in the United States and the second deadliest terrorist attack on U. S. soil since 9/11. Until the Las Vegas shooting in October 2017, it was the deadliest single mass gunman shooting in U. S. history.
The fact that the shooting happened, that people couldn’t just go out for an evening of music and dancing with family and friends, is a sign of ignorance. The fact that a little over a year later there would be another mass shooting is a sign of ignorance. The fact that there have been countless other mass shooting events before and since, is a sign of ignorance.
“There is so much love out there. I want the legacy of these kids to be that. To show the world that [being LGBTQ] is more than a label – these are people that were loved, they were caring, they were human and these hate crimes are just totally uncalled for. Unnecessary. We are here because God created us and he created us all equal – and some people don’t seem to have this kind of vision. I don’t know what kind of world they want to live in.”
– Mayra Alvear, one year after her youngest daughter Amanda was killed in the Pulse Orlando shooting
“Love is what is left when you
let go of all the things you love.”
– quoted from the commentary on Yoga Sūtra 1.15, by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati (“Swami J”)
Even without knowing the fundamentals of Yoga Philosophy, we can see the correlation between dysfunctional/afflicted thoughts and actions and suffering. As indicated in earlier sūtras (see above), the first afflicted thought pattern is the bedrock for all the others: ignorance. The sūtras below go deeper into the nature of ignorance and into how/why we are all ignorant in some ways. Going deeper may help you answer the question, “How ignorant are you?”
Going deeper also creates the opportunity to not be so ignorant and, therefore, to not be the source of so much suffering. Because, you see, we are all the source of some suffering in the world.
Yoga Sūtra 2.23: svasvāmiśaktyoh svarūpopalabdhihetuh samyoga
– “The union (yoga), alliance, or relationship between our power to see (and what we see) is the way to experiencing our own true nature.”
Yoga Sūtra 2.24: tasya heturavidyā
– “The cause of that [union, alliance, or relationship] is ignorance.”
There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.
A 2021 playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06122021 Samyama on a Young Girl’s Birthday”]
NOTE: The opening tracks are slightly different as some music was not available on Spotify.
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Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.
Tags: acupuncture, D-Day, divine play, George Williams, Johan Huizinga, leela, lila, Plato, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Sosthenes, YMCA, yoga, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra, yoga sutra 2.23
“Let us look at the matter thus: May we not conceive each of us living beings to be a puppet of the Gods, either their plaything only, or created with a purpose-which of the two we cannot certainly know? But we do know, that these affections in us are like cords and strings, which pull us different and opposite ways, and to opposite actions; and herein lies the difference between virtue and vice. According to the argument there is one among these cords which every man ought to grasp and never let go, but to pull with it against all the rest; and this is the sacred and golden cord of reason, called by us the common law of the State; there are others which are hard and of iron, but this one is soft because golden; and there are several other kinds. Now we ought always to cooperate with the lead of the best, which is law.” (Book 1)
– from The Laws by Plato
Yoga Sutra 2.23: svasvāmiśaktyoh svarūpopalabdhihetuh samyoga
– “The union (yoga), alliance, or relationship between our power to see (and what we see) is the way to experiencing our own true nature.”
I’m going to acknowledge, right off the bat, that there are other ways to work – or explore or play – with the sutra of the day. I’ll even go so far as to say that if we were encountering this sutra at almost any other time, even on this day in any other year, I would definitely be all about the play. Play is, after all, essential to our growth and is also an element of the Divine. In Hinduism, divine play is lila (or leela) and the concept occurs in non-dualism Indian philosophy (as a way to describe everything in the universe as the outcome of creative play) and in dualism Indian philosophy (as the interaction between God and God’s disciples, in order to understand the nature of the universe). If you are having a hard time telling the difference, do not despair… play around with it a little.
“According to my view, any one who would be good at anything must practise that thing from his youth upwards, both in sport and earnest, in its several branches: for example, he who is to be a good builder, should play at building children’s houses; he who is to be a good husbandman, at tilling the ground; and those who have the care of their education should provide them when young with mimic tools. They should learn beforehand the knowledge which they will afterwards require for their art.” (Book 1)
And what is the right way of living? Are we to live in sports always? If so, in what kind of sports? We ought to live sacrificing, and singing, and dancing, and then a man will be able to propitiate the Gods, and to defend himself against his enemies and conquer them in battle. The type of song or dance by which he will propitiate them has been described, and the paths along which he is to proceed have been cut for him.” (Book 7)
– from The Laws by Plato
“Life must be lived as play, playing certain games, making sacrifices, singing and dancing, and then a man will be able to propitiate the gods, and defend himself against his enemies, and win in the contest.”
– Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga summarizing Plato (in Homo Ludens)
Outside of Indian religion and philosophy, you find a similar concept in the ancient Greek philosophers and in forms of ecstatic dance (which exists in various Christian traditions, as well as in Judaism, the Sufism, various Shamanism, and Santeria). You also find it in sacred text. For example, in First Corinthians 3:18 -19, Saint Paul (and Sosthenes), the people who make up the Christian Church in Corinth (Greece) are instructed, “Let no one deceive himself: If anyone among you thinks himself to be wise in this age, let him become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” (Berean Literal Bible) Some translations state that the “wise” should “become fools.” A little later in the letter, the authors will speak of “put[ting] away childish things” (1st Corinthians 13:11 -12); which many people see as a reference to physical age/maturity – when, in fact, the authors are speaking of spiritual maturity. There is, then, an implication in the text that all wisdom here on Earth is, actually, foolishness and that as long as we only “see” the material world (and ourselves in the material world) there is a need to keep playing. (This dove-tails back to the sutra and to Plato, in that there is a definite purpose to playing.)
“On the contrary, Augustine says (Music. ii, 15): ‘I pray thee, spare thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.’ Now this relaxation of the mind from work consists in playful words or deeds. Therefore it becomes a wise and virtuous man to have recourse to such things at times.”
– from Summa Theologica (2a 2ae, 168 3) by Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas not only points to the need to play, as a way to rest the soul, he also provides very specific guidelines for spiritual. Additionally, in the Second Part of the Second Part of the Summa, when addressing question 168, he cautions against excessive play, as well as “the sin” of too little play. With regard to the guidelines, first and foremost, he says that “[play] should not be sought in indecent or injurious deeds or words” and, ultimately, that “we must be careful, as in all other human actions, to conform ourselves to persons, time, and place, and take due account of other circumstances, so that our fun ‘befit the hour and the man,’ as Tully says (De Offic. i, 29).”
All of this to say that the theme(s) for today beg(s) for a little divine play, as the sutra indicates such interaction helps us to better understand the universe and our place in the universe. Also, in the past, I have played today (mostly at the Y) to celebrate the day the YMCA was founded by George Williams in 1844. I have always endeavored to balance the play with an element of seriousness as today is also the anniversary of D-Day (1944). Add to that everything else that is happening in the world, in my little piece of the world, and in my personal world, and sometimes even I find it hard to play. However, even though I am super late in posting, we are still having class at Noon today.
It is up to you if you play, explore, or work during the 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 6th) at 12:00 PM. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class.
Today’s playlist will be available on YouTube and Spotify. (Links will be available on Zoom and I will update this page, with links, after the class. If you are not feeling particularly playful, you can use the playlists titled “06032020 How Can We See, Dr. Wiesel.”)
Another way, to refresh and restore your body today is with free (outdoor) acupuncture available in Saint Paul today(11 AM – 5 PM, see details here).
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A Joyful Practice 