Statuary Around Town
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- Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
About Money and Leisure and the Spiritual Quest (and the 99 percent)
Spiritual pursuit is, in a great sense, a luxury. Without enough time and money for leisure, when and how would we explore spirit? But where else would we find solace if not in spirit when we are suffering from deprivation?
This question becomes even more pointed when we consider it in terms of the curatorial note (Rubin Museum) below. Those who can afford to commission art to further their own spiritual ideals (including prayers for wealth and family) may not be the one percent, but most surely are the ten percent, or any money would all be for food and shelter at the survival level. I would certainly rather see money spent on making art than war, but what about food, education, and shelter for more in society in a way that nourishes the environment? Such a complicated web of questions about individual and collective desire and responsibility in our relationship to each other and the earth past and present when we think of having wealth sufficiently focused to allow individuals to use it to seek religious boons for themselves in the material world.
I say this as one who loves and makes art and engages in spiritual exploration with vacation time and budget, who regularly wonders if that is really for the good of others and not just another way of enjoying what life has to offer the fortunate.
What do you think?
Photo is of exhibit notes at the Rubin Museum in NYC.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Signs Around Town (and Some Thoughts on Community)
I found on first and second and even third reading this declaration a little confusing. It may be that something was lost in translation (from the Bulgarian–a completely unknown language to me).
It does not say that to each his own is freedom, but that we should have freedom AND to each his own.
I think this means that true freedom is not everyone getting his or her own. Rather, out of freedom, we choose the binds of community and sometimes elect to forego complete individualism so that we can maximize the fulfillment of each individual as a member of the community.
To each his own as the only governing principle does not permit anything other than suspicious and antagonistice relationship. Honoring that everyone wants to be recognized as a free individual but that getting the benefit and support of community requires freely choosing to submit, commit, and work to a relationship in which maximum individuality thrives but the community of individuals is greater than any of its individual members–that’s a great and worthy dance.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Jai Chandra
This morning, when the timer went off, I was so deep into a train of thought, it took me a moment to realize I had been sitting to meditate. It’s a practice.
Crescent moon at sunrise Sometimes Just a Single Flower
Sometimes, things seem dry. It is hard to imagine what we want truly flourishing. There is always, if we soften to witness, a single flowering that shows us it is worth continuing.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Chickpea and Vegetable Masala With Brown Basmati Rice, Garlic Chives, and Radish Sprouts
Pantry items, aging long-keeping vegetables, new things from the garden. Inspired by the title of a recipe in today’s Washington Post.
