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Jupiter and Venus at Dawn
It’s a lovely meditation on perspective–seeing two planets so far apart seem so close to each other and also so much closer to us than usual.
I think some of the sense of surprise is because most of our two-dimensional depictions for explaining the planets show Earth between Venus (the near planet allegorically associated with love and connection) and distant Jupiter (the weighty one, the guru planet).
How could I be facing, the two together, as if they are far closer to each other than each to me, and nothing else visible but clouds at the eastern horizon and a setting half moon to the west?
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
And all the triads.
- Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
After the Exhileration, Work
We all (or at least most of those who would be reading this blog) have heard the Buddhist-inspired saying: before enlightenment, the laundry. After enlightenment, the laundry. The question is whether after the moments of enlightenment can we infuse doing the laundry with more joy, acceptance, and peace. A young adult acquaintance asked me the other day whether I was readjusting ok. I did not know to what he was referring, and he had to explain that he was asking how I was doing on my return from my India trip. “It was just a vacation–albeit an extraordinary one,” I replied. “Life continues.”
“The good experiences just slip away like dry sand through my fingers,” he made a motion of letting something slip away.
“When you practice and when you get older, it will be easier to bring the temporary, good experiences into your life without feeling they are lost when you have moved onto the next thing,” I said with hope that would actually be true for him, he seemed so bereft.
The yoga teaches us neither to be out searching for the highs nor actively avoiding the lows; the dance of grasping and avoiding is what makes us suffer. That does not mean that the highs, the times of wild abandoned joy, the experiences of utter fulfillment, of exquisite understanding are of no value. What brings joy is a thing of wonder and an opportunity to deepen our ability to love and be generous. They are only a problem if we ruin our time by vainly clinging to or trying to repeat the sensation. As our practice (and our understanding of a life well-lived and loved) matures, we understand that there is no readjusting in the return to the day to day. We welcome what we have had, try to remember what we have learned, including how much joy and delight we are able to drink in, and approach each day as another opportunity to seek and share connection.
Breakfast Greens from the Garden
Beet greens, ruby chard, green chard, kale, spring onion, parsley, oregano, tarragon.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Limits and Creativity
For over a week, the WordPress app on my phone has not worked. First it would not let me upload photos. After trying uninstall/reinstall, it would no longer recognize my username/password combination. I know I have that right because I can sign in through the browser. It’s a bit awkward to use the browser on the phone as opposed to the phone format friendly app, but sometimes we need to explore alternative methods and be grateful for skills and creativity, and managing to function in a computer world reminds me of this regularly. For example, every time I sign in at work computer, I first have to engage in a counterintuitive activity before I can get to the password screen. But I think about it in terms of yoga: control, i.e., disciplined and educated practice; alternatives, i.e., if something doesn’t work, try something else; and delete, i.e., let go of what does not serve. Only then can I get started.
