Signs Around Town–Non-Verbal (Happy Valentine’s Day)
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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What Does It Mean to Be a Grown-up? (and Householder Yoga)
My friend Dan posted a blog entry earlier this week talking about getting distracted by a rainbow. He wrote that he was sure that other “grownups” did not get distracted by the rainbow. As I was observing the way people were commuting this afternoon, grimly looking down, hurrying along, texting and phoning, and apparently completely disconnected to the beauty around them, I thought of Dan’s blog. I thought not seeing the sky or turning away from its beauty is not being fully “grown up.”
Part of my friendship with you, Dan, is sharing the wonder of looking at rainbows. It is the “distraction” perhaps that is the invitation, at least in my own practice, for more skill. In seeking to live the life of a “householder yogin,” I am trying to be the grownup who always sees the rainbow and takes time to see it, but has the skill to illuminate even the most mundane of daily activities with the wonder of seeing the rainbow.
Durga Yantra
Last night at dinner a friend noticed my necklace and asked about it.
“My friend Eleanor Drabo, who is at Eastern Market on the weekends, and is a wonderful artist and jewelry designer, made it for me,” I told her.
“Did you draw the image?” she asked.
“I asked for the basic design,” I explained, “it’s the central part of the yantra for the Goddess Durga. She’s the Goddess who had to slay the demon the the male gods made so powerful they couldn’t get rid of the demon themselves. I had it made of scrap gold–broken jewelry I’d found over the years at yard sales, a couple of unstylish single earrings that might have been a grandmother’s, and the custom ring from my former marriage.”
“That sounds like a story for your blog,” she suggested, “such a transformation.”
“It could be.”
Untitled Too
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Signs Around Town (What Do Words Lead Us to See?)
Does “black” here refer to the artist who stenciled the letters, to the brickmaker, to the bricklayer; was it painted by someone who is color-blind or who was showing that for one who is red-green color-blind the word “black” would not be visible; or is the painting intentionally asking us what we see when we see the word for a color painted using a different color than that pointed to by the word?
This is such a wonderful demonstration of how words can confuse our understanding of the world as much as they can communicate. I think much attempt to put into words spiritual and mystical thought and experience suffers from this multiple muddling of meaning.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
