Found Exhortation
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Found Objects Around Town
I confess that I needed to turn over to find the answer. I do not feel any call to learn the Bible for my salvation, but given the influence of religions that claim to be informed/derived from this text in this democratic form of government, it seems to be something I need to know better to be an educated citizen.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
- Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Full Moon
The moon had risen in all her glory when I left Willow Street Yoga in Silver Spring (from a talk with Dr. Manoj Chalam about archetypes yesterday evening and headed for the metro home. I thought about how the moon shines fully no matter what is below: a pristine mountain lake, a construction site, a palace garden, a land devastated by one of the Four Horsemen, or the street in front of my house. What I think is the goal of most “spiritual” practice is to find a place where, being able to see the light all the time, one can live with uncertainty and challenge and have a greater capacity to serve from one’s unique place.
- Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
Kashmir Shaivism (and Ecstatic Fatalism)
I have been told more than once that one cannot technically be a true practitioner/believer in the tenets of Kashmir Shaivism without believing in some form of Godhead. As a nontheist who still finds the teachings and practices informative and useful for how best to live, I ask consistently whether that is really true.
I’m sure a purist (religious or academic) would say there’s no anything to the philosophy without being a full believer. But what I think one gets from practices designed to heighten awareness of a divinely connecting universality in the wild diversity of life without a belief that what is universal a priori points to “God” is a recognition that with all that is troubling and difficult and hurtful and evil in this world, the very complexity and outrageousness of being is yet wonderful and inspiring in itself.
In a word, when all else fails, laugh (and create and live) with an ecstatic fatalism.
Painting by Sandra Dooley. Cuba 2014
Do You Know When to Ask for Help?
In yoga class and in daily activities, it is easy to get caught up in trying to do things that are not expanding our capacity, but pushing past it for the sake of some external goal. Sometimes what keeps us from seeking assistance or using a prop (on or off the mat) is some untoward sense of shame that we cannot do it (whatever it is) by ourselves or fear of feeling or seeming weak. This includes not just seeking physical support or assistance, but also asking a question that admits we need help understanding a task or posture.
Sometimes we are right to think that we need to push our boundaries and do something without external support. More common, though, is not having the sensitivity and courage to know and admit when we need help. And fending for ourselves when when we are beyond our capacity and help is available quite often leads to unnecessary suffering.
Learning when and how to ask for help is one of my core yoga practices. What about you?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Your Most Efficacious and Absorbing Practice?
Some of the teachings hold themselves out as truest or best. That may indeed be accurate for the one offering the teaching. But most are not for everyone.
