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  • Viveka and the Carbon Fund

    ByElizabeth

    Viveka means discrimination.  Being able to recognize the meaning of what we do and what are the potential consequences of our actions is an important aspect of our yoga practice and our lives.  Living discriminately does not mean that we reject what is pleasurable.  Rather, it means that we recognize the consequences to ourselves and other beings when we partake of the fruits of the earth and the labors of others or choose one activity over another.  We think about whether it makes sense and then, once having decided, we fully engage and enjoy and don’t beat ourselves up after the fact.  If we think we made the wrong decision, we choose differently the next time.

    How does viveka relate to the Carbon Fund?  The Carbon Fund’s motto is “reduce what you can, offset what you can’t.”  I replace “can’t” in this phrase with “choose not to,” as what we think we must have (in this society generally) does not necessarily correlate with what we actually need to survive.  Otherwise, all we’re doing is throwing a little money as a superficial balm without thinking through with discrimination.

    When I think about what I can reduce, and what I choose not to in terms of my carbon footprint and my overall lifestyle, I am struck by the irony that my biggest carbon footprint after heating and cooling my house is plane trips to John Friend yoga trainings.  It would be disingenuous to think that I can’t not go to Santa Fe next week.  I do not think, however, it makes sense to shrink our lives to the point that we are not engaged in society and that we do not relish the opportunities we have, just to feel good about diminishing our impact on the environment.

    Studying and practicing Anusara yoga all around the country, getting to know the wider kula and establishing a greater sense of connection while deepening my knowledge and experience of the practice continues to be wonderful and joyous for me.  So I choose to go, and I anticipate having a great time next weekand bringing back great things to share with all of you.  And I’ve gone to Carbon Fund’s website and offset my trip and then some.  And I think about other ways to reduce what I can.

    E

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    Robin Redbreasts (and the importance of sequencing in time and space)

    ByElizabeth

    I am working from home today.  I looked out of my window and saw a flurry of birds going from one roof to another.  There were the usual starlings, but among them were five robin redbreasts.  They definitely do not belong here this time of year.  Instead of getting the usual song in my heart from the first sighting of the robin redbreast of spring, I am filled with concern.  What are they doing here?  Will they survive?  How can they get worms out of the frozen ground?  Have they been confused by the warming pattern over the last several years?

    I know that the robins are out of place here this time of year from a combination of learning and observing over the years what is supposed to be their season in this part of the world.  So too with many things that at one time a place, a practice, a relationship will serve and another will take us away from what is optimal.  As with yoga practice, we learn for ourselves and what is around us, what is optimal when and where, by a combination of study and practice.

    There were also a few gulls. We see those around town sometimes because of the tidal basin, but not usually here in my back alley.  Is there some kind of special bird conference going on that I was privileged to witness?

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    Darshan or Puja?

    ByElizabeth

    The other day I was telling one of my regulars that I’d described the group house practice as starting with receiving darshan — receiving sacred knowledge, sitting in the presence of the divine embodied in a great being — from Uma and Sully, who wait downstairs for the students to arrive and expect a petting before everyone goes upstairs to practice.

    ” Is it darshan or puja [performance of ritual worship]?” my student asked.  The two are intertwined.  We naturally offer our gratitude and worship for those in whom we recognize the divine and from whom we learn to know the sacred.

    What would our lives be like if we treated all our encounters and relationships as both darshan and puja, if we came to each person and being open to receiving a glimpse of the divine and the knowledge the divine imparts and approached each encounter as an opportunity to make puja, to formally act with reverence?  The cats certainly expect it.

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    State of the (Inner) Garden

    ByElizabeth

    One of the practical applications of meditating–of the yoga practice of looking within–is to be able to find beauty when things are ugly or challenging or enervating, etc.

    Knowing how to find that beauty may not change what comes at us, but it can change our outlook and approach.

    I am easier with the freezing rain knowing that I have invited an orchid to rebloom.

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