Similar Posts

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    New Computer (and the benefits of practice)

    ByElizabeth

    My friend D the other week had been talking about how much longer every thing takes to get done in a new city and home (he just moved across country).  I was thinking about that as I work to get up to speed on the replacement computer that came into my house yesterday afternoon.  I can tell there is lots of extra functionality, but at first, I am slower than I was with my old computer (at least five generations old) because I need to learn some new commands and navigation tools, as well as recreate my old bookmarks and remembered passwords, etc.

    To be able to cope with life, we need to be willing to go out and explore, try new things, to be willing to have the time and struggle to learn enough to feel comfortable with a new place or technique.  To mature gracefully, we need to sometimes stay with the old (whatever choices led us there) and continue to refine so that we can go deeper and deeper into knowledge of what we have chosen.

    Sometimes we have a real choice, sometimes we have no choice, sometimes we have an apparent choice, but only one sensible one.  One of the beauties of steady yoga practice is that it prepares us both for the new and for repetition.  It truly shows us the beauty and delight of revisiting, reexploring, and ever deepening our understanding of the complexities of what appears simple.  It also cultivates the fortitude and openness to start anew when necessary.

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    Sharp Knives

    ByElizabeth

    This week, after having let it go for far too long long, I had my cooking knives professionally sharpened.

    How often should I be getting them sharpened, I asked the expert. It depends was the response, along with the question how much time I used the knives. Professional chefs get them done every couple of weeks. I would need something less, but for the knives I use most often, more frequently than I have been doing.

    Then I was offered this: a knife needs to be sharpened when it takes unnecessary effort to cut something with it.

    Same guidance applies, I think, to living in balance. When work/activities are taking more and unnecessary effort than usual, it’s a sign we are run down and need some maintenance.

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    Found Exhortation (with Commentary)

    ByElizabeth

    This bumper sticker (on an enormous black SUV with suburban plates) is likely intended to have only a message about the current wars in which the US is engaged. I wholeheartedly support the sentiment at that level.

    What if we took it at other levels? What if we applied it to spiritual-religious practices? We could interpret this as suggesting that we honor the great teachers who have gone before us, invite religious observance and spiritual practice to heal ourselves and others, and dissolve notions of differences among religions and spiritual practices as bases for conflict. How many wars between countries or civil wars would end if saw unity while still honoring difference in this regard?

    Perhaps most cogent for the yogi: what if we thought of the exhortation in terms of our own personal practice? It would be an invocation to honor our ancestors, heal the wounds of our family and upbringing (samskaras), and release inner conflict. This is, I think the point of practicing (whatever the style of practice) so that true peace can abound.

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

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