Found Notes Around Town
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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In the late afternoon, after it did not really rain again in this pocket of the DMV, I went out in the garden to get fresh herbs and greens to go with tomatoes picked earlier in the day. This was what the clouds were doing. I was called to pause and, with awe and appreciation, observe.
- Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Found Exhortation (and Tapas)
What does it mean to excel, to do well? I think there is no excelling in yoga, at least not the way we conventionally think of excelling in school or career or sports. But to practice in a way that is more than casual, there must be ardor–tapas.
Tapas is often translated as fire, and the texts are full of stories of outrageous physical exertions done to prove the tapas of the practitioners looking for boons from the gods.
There is a fiery aspect to tapas, but I question whether it must necessarily be burning from physical exertion, though that is a path that calls out to many.
The fire of tapas could be thought of as doing what it takes to manifest the will to know something deeply enough to be able to experience the fluency and grace and delight of expertise. It could be the ardor to show up in a disciplined and committed way for hours and days and years of practice, always still wanting deeper, fuller knowing.
Remembrance and Recognition
On this anniversary of my Grandmother Rose’s leaving her body and her daughter, my mother, entering hers, on this Armistice day though none in my lineage were warriors, I made in remembrance and recognition of my ancestors, this mala with a locket (still empty of pictures) that my grandmother bought at the Brooklyn Museum’s shop in the early 1970s–
Rudraksha Seed – auspiciousness and oneness
Iolite – connecting with angels
Laboradorite – perfection and protection
Amethyst – gentle, tranquil, soothing healing
Pyrite – fierce creativity, ingenuity
