Similar Posts

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    More Ephemera

    ByElizabeth

    Spring flowers are not much more ephemeral than are we from the perspective of infinity (or even geological time). I think one of the central aims of yoga philosophy is to make some sense of the need for recognition of our own place and worthiness, while still acknowledging our undeniable individual smallness in the vast web of being. In that light, it seeks to offer us awareness of some idea of ourselves that is infinite and not just our distinct finitude.

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

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    If It Weren’t for Columbus

    ByElizabeth

    I would not be walking through Lincoln Park past a sculpture of Lincoln emancipating the slaves. There might not have been any slaves to emancipate. My great grand parents might not have made the trip from Eastern Europe to Ellis Island, which might never had been a portal for millions of human beings to arrive by ship from Europe. What an extraordinary web of existence. What do I think is my purpose and what is my part/purpose in the great web–the part I can never have the vision to know because I am inevitably bound by the perspective of my embodiment?

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    Rudra (and fierce indignation)

    ByElizabeth

    Ruda, who is both the ancestor of Shiva and another name for Shiva, is known as the howler.  Rudra is wild and fierce.  Rudra rages.  I heard Paul Muller-Ortega recently describe Rudra.  He said Rudra rages, but offered that there are lots of things against which to rage, such as injustice and inflicted suffering.

    The idea of Shiva/Rudra raging has filled my contemplations for the last week.  The questions that arise for me is “what is divinely inspired rage?” “When is fierceness or rage serving to expand love and compassion rather than just destroying the self or others?”

    When are rage and destruction necessary to optimize the flow of energy?  I think of Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi.  I think of a surgeon removing a tumor.  When I think of the ongoing war in Iraq; the newest reports of torture; the potential that corporate interests, ignorance, and bigotry may completely undermine this country’s coming to agreement on providing basic health care for all, I think that living a quiet life is not fully engaging a life of the spirit.  How do I find a place of non-attached, but fierce action?  How do I find Rudra and not get distracted by personal desires for outcome (and personal desires for simple peace and quiet)?  When should I howl, to whom should I howl, and what?

    This rage, this fierceness, must come from a grounding in the heart with the discrimination of study and practice.  If I cannot find it myself, can I at least support those with the courage and wisdom to be directly engaged?

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    Garden of Endurance

    ByElizabeth

    I’m finding reentry more challenging than I first thought. I thought it might be helpful to remind myself of my travels–and that I travel to come home with more capacity to participate as much and best I can. The Garden of Endurance was at the Madhuban retreat center where I spent most of the trip.

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