Urban Wildlife
Similar Posts
330 Million Gods (Mas o Menos)
In which I encounter some more of the 330 million gods (mas o menos).
(Notes: (1) Hindu philosophy speaks of 330 million gods, i.e. a bigger number than we can actually get our minds around, one for every person, giving room for a complete diversity of belief. While I don’t believe in “God,” I have no problem with the idea of 330 million gods, none more exclusive or correct than any other, with no permission to use of the concept of “God” as justification for murder, physical harm, repression, or suppression of expression because of societal or family of origin privileging any particular belief. (2) “Maya,” which in Sanskrit not Spanish, literally means to measure, is the tattva that is the bridge between the universal and the manifest. The “universal” is immeasurable; what we think of as manifest is always measured in space and time. The distinction between how the tantrikas and other yoga philosophies interpret the concept of maya is for your own research or another day. (3) The number 108 refers to Shiva.)
Found Exhortation?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Each One, Reach One
I went with a friend from volunteering at the youth garden yesterday morning to join with others to heighten awareness of the potential impact on the fabric of our fragile democracy of what the current Supreme Court decides in Moore v Harper, which was being argued.
We got to talking to one of the fellow demonstrators. I had pictures of N (for more from N, see @blacklivesmattermemorialfence), from a previous demonstration relevant to voting rights earlier in the year. After we confirmed the connection, N asked me if I was a lawyer for the government; it turns out N also remembered that I had given directions and ended up walking a few blocks together to the gathering near the Capitol for the one year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.
We all talked about impact and whether it makes a difference if we only inspire a few people. I shared a story about one of the very few comments saying I had inspired being more politically active and outspoken in the yoga context. Maybe, I conjectured, it doesn’t matter if we only reach one person, because we don’t know who is that person and how they will be moved. N plans to make a t-shirt that says, “each one, reach one.”
To whom will you reach out? What moves you?
Monuments to the 330 Million Gods
Later today I will be boarding a plane to India with the intention of witnessing edifices, art, monuments, and practices inspired, created, and perpetuated in the name of god(s). We are flying together out of JFK airport. I came early to NY to see my family, though I ended up seeing only my older sister instead of the whole family as originally planned. My Dad was supposed to have had hip replacement surgery last week, but it was postponed because he had a bad cold–please hold him in the light as he gets ready for surgery.
Looking out my window last night at the gorgeous view, I wondered how many of those involved in the design, engineering, and building of the Empire State Building thought of it as an inspiration of or tribute to god.
I have yet to see a so-called proof of “god” that does not make a leap of reasoning unsupported by logic, and I cannot think of anything further from the recognition of universal spirit and worthiness in all beings than killing, oppression, perpetuation of social inequalities, and forcing conformity in the name of god. I have, though, time and again experienced awe and delight to the very depths of my being witnessing the outrageously and extraordinarily beautiful and innovative outpourings of human creativity in the name of our multifarious beliefs in some god or gods. What wildly interesting creatures we are–all of us.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
