Yes, I Knew Him (and the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra)
Filed Under Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice, Community and Family, Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc), Gardening, Quaker | Leave a Comment
When my students arrived at William Penn House last night for class, I said, “yes, I knew him; they are both my co-workers.” I didn’t need to say anything else. All of them read the Washington Post and know that I work for the Department of Labor in the area of pension benefits. I said that I was shaken by the news, and I would offer the best practice I could. At my invitation, we worked on grounding, being heavy in the best meaning of heavy so that we would feel the stability to rise and to stay graceful and open as we practiced some challenging standing poses and backbends, leading to a modified version of natarajasana (dancing in the cosmic fire).
One co-worker is dead (either suicide or murder in his jail cell) after having severely injured another. Yes, we all worked in the same office for three years when I first started at the Department in 1991 and episodically have worked on common projects for almost 22 years, most recently just three weeks ago. Had it been a fatal accident or a heart attack, a few dozen of us would have been at the funeral and spoken of what we liked about him. It wouldn’t have been the horrified questioning ourselves and each other of what possibly could have gone so terribly, shockingly wrong. The grieving and sense of loss are no less present and real, though, for the recoiling from his last acts and the salacious and rapacious local media coverage.
Quaker practice has me holding those affected in the light–he and his family and she and hers, and our co-workers. On hearing yesterday that he had died in jail, I was moved to chant the maha mrityunjaya mantra. I was taught that chanting this mantra every day for 30 days can help a spirit cross-over. What is spirit and to where it might be crossing was not really explained because how could it be? But I do think chanting with such an intention can be a useful tool to help focus one’s own emotional process and healing in connection with a death.
For some background on the mantra, you might want to start with this overview with useful links published by the Himalayan Institute (be advised that though citing to the YI because of the breadth of coverage, to get to the basic details, I needed to ignore the cheesy graphics and the use of the term “Lord” before Shiva in the linked article on what the author says are appropriate uses of the mantra).
My co-worker gave me this oakleaf hydrangea about 10-12 years ago; his brother had pulled an extra seedling that was an offshoot from a larger plant in his yard. It did not start thriving until two seasons ago when I moved it to a different corner of my front garden.
Signs Around Town
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It may be true that power that gives power over corrupts, but being empowered is liberating. The yoga, when practiced as part of an ethical life, is empowering. But beware those who claim that “enlightenment” frees one from behaving with integrity.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Found Exhortation
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The artist who penned this exhortation here was highly unlikely to have intended it to have anything to do with “udyamo bhairava“–roughly, the upsurging of capitol “C” Consciousness. Siva Sutras I.5.
But if one were in the mood, one (not an academic, though), might suggest that the exhortation to rise up to one’s fullest potential, to refuse to be shackled by the oppressiveness of certain socioeconomic circumstances (I leave what those might be to your experience, knowledge, and education), as an example of one of the infinitude of ways Consciousness likes to upsurge itself towards itself.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Found Exhortation (and Sauca?)
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Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
In Between the In Between
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Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Found Exhortation
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By all means, wish. But then contemplate, evaluate, explore, and act. For as we know, merely wishing won’t make it so and many of our wishes are not what we really want when we think about the work to effectuate and the consequences of realizing them.
What do you truly wish for? For what are you truly willing to focus your energy and attention?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Sometimes, the Concern is Not the Risk Warned Of, But the Making of the Warning
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For example, I am not concerned with the risk of being filled up by Satan (that’s Satan with a capital “S”) because of practicing yoga. But I am deeply concerned that the people quoted as making such warnings are seeking or are in positions of power. Thanks to my friend D. for sending me the link to this article.
Thoughts on Attribution and Lineage
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What do we mean, exactly, when we say a thing is “by” someone? Yes, we are attributing the thing’s creation to that someone. But how is something just by us when it is based on all the input and teachings to which we have been exposed or immersed? How do we give credit when it is due? How do we honor and acknowledge what has influenced us? When is attribution called for?
The yoga sages speak of the parampara, the lineage of teachings. For some the lineage is just that: a linear chain passed on from one generation of teachings to the next, and the attribution is clear. Those in such lineages or who would lead one of their own making often teach that one should pick one path (one style of yoga/meditation) and stick with that form or teacher to succeed (with the mythic goal of enlightenment).
From my unattained perspective, I question who is to say how “enlightenment,” assuming it is indeed something that can be achieved, would or could or should be attained by anyone else? Practice tips for enhancing the experience of human embodiment (is that not the real path?) are nice, though.
I do not know the Elizabeth who drew on the sidewalk. She is quite possibly about the age I would have been when I first read (not saw the movie) Mary Poppins and dreamed of entering another world through a chalk drawing on the sidewalk.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Late Spring Greetings–Making Time and Space (Web Version of E-Newsletter)
Filed Under Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice, Community and Family, Food for the Body, Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc), Gardening, Miscellaneous (blog matters, etc) | Leave a Comment
Dear Friends,
I hope you are thriving to the greatest extent possible under your current circumstances in this outrageous Spring and weathering (pun intended) the wild fluctuations between apparent late winter and seemingly already mid-summer. My garden has been uncertain at several moments, but partly due to careful attention at strategic points and partly out of love and luck, it is thriving–providing lots of herbs and greens and promising lots of tomatoes and peppers and beans.
I write this letter a bit later than might have been desirable, as the summer session at Willow Street has already started, and my partial sabbatical from yoga teaching evidently has begun. In practical terms of time and space this is the first time in almost eight years that I am not working weekends (first Saturdays and then Friday evenings) and commuting out to Takoma Park from Capitol Hill to teach.
It took much contemplation to come to this partial sabbatical. Being a part of the Willow Street Community has been and continues to be important to me, and I have learned an incredible amount from the opportunity Suzie Hurley, and Joe and Natalie Miller, gave me to share my enthusiasm for the practices and the teachings with the fabulous variety of people who come to Willow Street as students. It was an honor and a continuing source of inspiration and focus to be able to study with so many fine fellow teachers over the years. And change can be hard for me. It also is hard to let go of something that has been profoundly important.
For my optimal health and well being, though, there just was not enough time for me to work full time and go where my heart is currently leading and also continue to teach on Friday nights or Saturday mornings. I had to make a shift or start fraying around the edges, becoming less happy with everything. Better to make some space to breath and feel and think without pressure. Freeing my weekends fully will give me some of the space and time that I need at this crossroad in my life. I am moving, I hope, towards a phase where there is more emphasis on nurturing self and relationship more deeply and exploring other creative pursuits with more seriousness. To be able to work intelligently and with good will as a civil servant at this time and to continue to engage in our society that is in so much upheaval, leads me, for my abiding health and expansion, to the garden and the cat and my own practice and the growing and very special relationship that began on the trip to India (no value judgment implied by the order). It also will be lots easier for me to study; going to a weekend workshop will no longer require my getting a substitute to cover my absence–expect to see me as a fellow student at the Friday nights of weekend workshops at Willow Street. New ideas and opportunities for teaching will likely come, but not for the moment.
I continue to lead the all levels yoga practice at William Penn House on Tuesday nights where you will be warmly welcomed by the regulars whatever your age or ability level and will be sure to enjoy the fruits of my new and varied explorations in yoga and other practices, while still keeping to the fundamental structure of class influenced by Anusara methodology. Please join us. A portion of each student’s payment supports the work of William Penn House. While there is a suggested amount, if funds are a challenge, just pay what you can.
Feel free to e-mail me if you are a more experienced practitioner who is interested in the Wednesday night practice or if you are interested in arranging private sessions or semi-private practices with your own small group.
I look forward to seeing those of you who are local on a Tuesday night or at a workshop around town or in the neighborhood and also continuing to share photos and contemplations on this latest phase of my yogic (yes, I know that isn’t a real word) on the blog.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
Signs Around Town (Temporary)
Filed Under Art and Culture, Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice, Food for the Body, Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Leave a Comment
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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