Graffiti Around Town


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.
Refining how and to what we say “yes” and “no” in the world is one of the purposes of the yoga practices. The dedicated yogin seeks ever-growing discernment (viveka) of his or her own limits for the purpose of living ever more expansively and in fact more freely than is possible for those who fight against or ignore limits.
If we stick up or hold onto fences and defenses where they are not needed, we miss the opportunity to connect. Conversely, if we fail to honor the extraordinary combination of limits that makes us our exquisitely individual self and shapes our embodied connection to the world around us, we will be less free in ourselves and in the world and with each other, which leads to suffering.