Honor your ancestors–both of blood and of teaching lineage (parampara). Yes, it is a critical element of the yoga practice, regardless of whether one practices in the guru tradition (I do not–more on that in coming weeks, I think).
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
After my morning practice, while I was riding on the bus to Georgetown yesterday to volunteer at the Lantern, the sutra “madyama vikasha cittananda labah,” Pratyabijna Hrdayam, 17, started resonating in the forefront of my consciousness. Swami Shantananda in The Splendor of Recognition, translates this sutra as “[t]he bliss of Consciousness is attained through the expansion of the center.” What an elegant reminder of the true purpose of practice and the essential basis for the alignment principle of “stabilize the periphery; move from the core” about which I wrote yesterday.
When we practice, we seek to go inward to discover that of our true nature that is light-filled and joyous. We do so not just to stay in that place still and inert, but so that we can then extend out into every thought and action from a place of illuminated, blissful wisdom. It will not change the fact of difficulties, challenges, strains, etc, but when we stabilize the outside, remember to go inward, and find the inner space of stillness and light, then when we move back outward into the world, we will be better able to respond in the highest.
When we choose a tantric path, we choose to experience pleasure as an expression of spirit, rather than seeking to transcend such experience as would one who is on the classical renunciatory yoga path. The choice to remain engaged, to honor mind and body as divine, comes with great responsibility.
When we choose engagement, we choose to experience the divine reality not just of pleasure, but also of pain. The true tantric path does not turn a blind eye to ugliness and suffering. Just taking the pleasure without recognizing its opposite is not authentic practice. If the pleasure of the sunrise is “real,” then the garbage on the beach is just as real.
Recognizing the reality of ugliness and pain as part of the play of the real does not mean, though, that it should diminish our joy in the beautiful and in the dance of the play of opposites of life.
Rather, it is our delight in and engagement with beauty that invites us to serve as best we can to alleviate suffering, to try and clean up the garbage where we can. In other words, as we recognize that ugliness and destruction are part of the play (lila), we seek to be heart-full rather than heart-broken when we witness the suffering from violence to others or our living planet. If we let our hearts break, we become blind to the beauty. Like those who only see what brings pleasure, those who only see the painful are also not experiencing all of the real.
As I head back to the world inside the Beltway, I bring the deepened and replenished sense of beauty and the dance that I always get from collective study and practice. I will try to share the privilege of having this experience by doing my best to clean up what garbage I can, while still dancing and loving in the light.
As remembrances and articles of 9/11 start to proliferate in anticipation of the tenth anniversary, I thought I would share this work of art that has become part of my work neighborhood. Change comes from all action, and even the most horrific things can bring small joys in unexpected ways.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
On Wednesday, reluctant to turn on the heat despite the cold, I turned on the oven instead. I already had muffins and bread from the previous weekend in the freezer, so I decided to make granola. I first made granola at Quaker youth camp in the 1970s in upstate New York. It was tasty, but loaded with honey and fat, and we made it in such vast quantities that it was years before it occurred to me I could just make the same amount that would be in a cereal box for myself. If you have never done it, or suffer from the same inhibitions I’d suffered from, give yourself a treat and make your own.
Take a few cups of multigrain flakes (or just oat flakes). Throw in any or all of the following: shredded coconut, chopped nuts, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seed nuts. If you have them in the house, add a handful of wheat germ and/or flax seed meal, a little salt (makes it taste sweeter) and spices if you like (e.g. cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg). Stir in enough of any of the following liquid sweeteners (my favorit is brown rice syrup because it gives the best clumping with the smallest amount), honey, maple syrup, agave, fruit juice concentrate (thaw first) and a little vegetable or nut oil (my favorite is walnut), that the mixture is a pleasing combination of coated flakes and small clusters. (The more sweetener you use and the stickier the sweetener, the bigger the clumps).
Spread mixture on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 325-350F. Let the mixture get golden, but not brown (or to taste). Turn and respread mixture once at about the 12-15 minute mark.
When you take the mixture out of the oven, stir in dried fruit of your choice (raisins, currents, dried blueberries or cranberries; dice larger fruits such as dried apricots or apples).
Use combinations of nuts, spices, sweeteners, and fruits that make sense: apple, walnut, maple syrup; brazil nut, coconut, pineapple juice concentrate, nutmeg; cranberry, raisin, walnut. You get the idea. If you like peanuts, blend some peanut butter in with the sweetener and oil before mixing it with the grains.
Why is this recipe not exact? Because it does not need to be exact to come out delicious. Because breakfast cereal is best if it is the way you like it and not the way someone else likes it. (Just like doing your own asana practice at home).
If you have never done it before and are afraid of picking your own proportions and oven temperature, find a couple of recipes on the internet or in a cookbook and then use the recipes as a basis for experimenting.
For muesli, leave out the sweetener and the oil, omit the baking, add the fruit to the flake and nut mixture and then prepare as you like your muesli (soaked or not soaked, with yoghurt or with milk, etc).
