| | | | |

“What Is It?”

ByElizabeth

As I squatted on the brick sidewalk to take this photo during my lunch time walk, a nice-looking older man stopped and asked “what is it?” He was quite tall and standing at an angle that would not have showed the shape as well as from where I was positioned.

“Stand on this side; what do you see?” I asked. He looked from my perspective. “A leaf,” he said with a quizzical expression, wondering why a dessicated bit of English ivy would have captured my attention sufficiently for me to take a photograph.

“Look again,” I suggested. “Can you see anything else?”

“Ah,” he said with delighted recognition: “it’s a heart.”

“Yes. I see them and other interesting shapes in all sorts of things–litter, blackened chewing gum, the pavement itself.”

“Everything has more than one form,” he rejoined. “You are blessed.”

And thus we went our separate ways, having brightened our day with this small connection. If he lives in the neighborhood, no doubt we will recognize each other enough from this encounter, at least to smile and say hello.

Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

Similar Posts

  • | |

    Good News for Solar In DC

    ByElizabeth

    I received this email last night that I wanted to share.  If you own a house in the District and haven’t gone solar, think about it.  If you rent, write your landlord.  If you live in another jurisdiction, work with like-minded citizens and work for alternative sources of energy.  FYI, since my solar panels were active, my highest electricity bill was $20 (and for the past two months, the meter has run backwards).

    Here’s the full text of the email (with a link on how to get involved at the bottom):

    Today, thanks to your hard work the Distributed Generation Act of 2011 (19-10) passed the DC Council.   The vote was unanimous!!!  We only await the Mayor’s signature for the bill to become law.  Although, there may be a lag of up to a year for SREC prices on the spot market to recover–we expect the bill to create a strong vibrant solar market in DC for the next DECADE!! In response to the expected improvement in market conditions SOLSYSTEMS announced today the availability of an upfront SREC payment through its installer partners of $1,200/kw installed.  This means for example, that you could get $4,800 up front for a 4kw system!

    Many many people worked on the bill! Many of you showed up to testify! More than a thousand of you signed the petition in support of the legislation. http://signon.org/sign/build-dc-solar-dont-let?source=s.em.cr&r_by=118605    Many of you sent emails or made phone calls. Many of you showed up to deliver our petition to each of the Council Member’s offices. Many of you turned out to create a field of sunflowers–in the Council Chamber during the first reading of the bill! A special shout out to MDVSEIA that worked hand and hand with us throughout the process!

    It is important that the DC Council understand that this bill has very strong, and broad support from across the city. We want them to feel good about passing this bill and feel good about passing similar legislation in the future.  This bill will create the market mechanism to allow homeowners, churches, community organizations, businesses and government buildings to go solar! While there is much left to do to make solar affordable and accessible to every DC resident—this bill is a very important step.

    PLEASE write to the DC council today and THANK them for their support!    dccouncil@dccouncil.us    A quick email, a quick thanks! Thank them for leading DC toward a solar future.

    Anya Schoolman
    President
    DC Solar United Neighborhoods

    Thinking of Going Solar? Want to Get More Involved ? Become a DC Sun Member– Join the Discussion at

    http://sites.google.com/site/dcsolarunitedneighborhoods/

  • |

    Mahabhutas (the great elements)

    ByElizabeth

    The mahabhutas are the grossest, most physical of the 36 tattvas described in Kashmir Shaivism.  They are:  prithivi — earth or solidity; ap (or jala) — water or liquidity,  agni (or tejas) — fire or formativity; vayu — air;  akasha — space.  When we practice asana, we can focus our practice on discovering one of the elements in our bodies and how we move.  As we get more skillful, we can choose which element seems out of balance and emphasize one or the other to bring ourselves more into balance.  This week, for example, I have noticed that my mind has been scattered and distracted because of all of the excitement of the Inauguration.  After being blown about by the cold and the wind and all the excitement, I had gotten to airy (which is my tendency anyway).  It is a good time, therefore, to explore prithivi (earth) in my practice.  By emphasizing a strong foundation coupled with the Anusara principle of muscular energy, I can literally bring myself to a more solid, stable, and grounded state.

    We can work with the tattvas as described above, to realign our energies so that our physical and mental state is more balanced.  We can also explore the more concrete tattvas as we embody them to understand better how they are manifestations of the subtler tattvas — the tattvas that the great yogis who have described them would call more real and we dwelling in our bodies and minds might think of as observably less real.  Where we can best appreciate and experience the relationship between the gross and the subtle elements is in meditation, and our asana practice can help lead us there.

    Look forward this week to working with the earth element in your bodies and minds, practicing strong standing poses and shaping your physical and energetic bodies like clay.  Use your earth nature to sculpt the art of your intention.

    For suggested readings see my earlier post on the tattvas.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.