Pujas Around Town
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An Interface with India We Don’t Think About Much
Beautiful manhole covers.
- Art and Culture | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Miscellaneous (blog matters, etc)
New Page About Books
It should come as no surprise to those who have taken my classes or have been reading this blog with some regularity, that an incredibly important source of inspiration is my library. At the suggestion of my fabulous web designer, who is currently in graduate school for library sciences, I have gone live with a library page. Given the nature of a blog; everything I have read is really part of its bibliography; this is the much edited version. I am using Library Thing, which is a fascinating space for book nerds in the electronic universe. I hope that you will enjoy this opportunity to expand the dialogue about books in our lives, our studies, and our practices.
Winter Reading on the Tattvas (the elements)
I am returning to a contemplation of teachings about the tattvas (the 36 elements in Kashir Shaivism; in Vedanta only 25). Each time I go back to study, practice, and contemplate the tattvas, a new understanding arises about how I am in the world and how I might want to shift my alignment to be better able to serve, for want of a better word, the good. The tattvas provide a way of understanding the structure of consciousness [Consciousness], from the most metaphysical, universal elements to the most diverse, individual, physical elements and the relationship between the two. Practicing asana with the Anusara principles of alignment at the same time as reading these teachings has, for me, helped bridge the space between the intuitive and concrete understandings of being in the world. The point of trying to understand these extraordinary philosophical ideas is not for the sake of acquiring academic learning, but rather is an invitation to use the joyous experience of wrestling intellectually, intuitively, and physically to illuminate understanding, as a way to dwell more consistently in the heart.
Reading Sources:
Kashmir Shaivism, The Secret Supreme, Swami Lakshmanjoo, ed. John Huges, Universal Shaiva Fellowship (2003)
Kashmir Shaivism, J.C. Chatterji (SUNY Press, 1986)
The Triadic Heart of Siva, Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega (SUNY Press 1989)
Two Tangible Things You Can Do in Response to the Earthquake in Haiti
Donate to support the peacekeeping efforts of the American Friends Service Committee (or other organization of your choice).
Write to your elected official about granting temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants. The Friends Committee on National Legislation has made it easy to take action.
Rose Garden
New York Botanical Garden May 27, 2012
