One perfect strawberry. With an abundance of garlic chives in the background.
Where are you placing your focus?
We were holding at New Carrollton Station. Ten minutes or so passed before there was an announcement. The first announcement said that there was a “medical condition.” The second, perhaps five minutes later, referred to a “medical emergency” and that we were waiting for medical personnel to arrive. The third announced a “medical situation” and that we were still waiting for “appropriate medical persons” to come, but that we would leave as soon as they arrived. The final announcement let us know that the medical personnel had arrived and that we were about to depart for the next station. That we were leaving immediately upon arrival made it most likely that the person who was sick was leaving the train to go to the emergency room
Sure. I sent a text to the friend scheduled to pick me up on the other end of my trip and wondered how late I would be. Mostly, I took the experience as a reminder to be grateful that I was merely going to be late to visit friends and family (who would be perfectly understanding) and was not suffering from an accident or sudden illness. I spent a few moments in meditation, holding this stranger and those human beings who lives were just shifted by being in relationship to a greater or lesser degree to this stranger. I contemplated how those 15 minutes of waiting may have been of extreme pain and fear.
Siva Nataraja spied doing his wild dance.
As regular readers may have noticed, last Sunday I was inspired to blog about Arjuna’s dilemma on the battlefield in connection with local events. Later that day, I was reminded that this coming Sunday, January 16th, will be the first meeting of the new book club at Willow Street Yoga Center (Takoma Park studio). The book for the first meeting is Ram Dass’s Paths to God, Living the Bhagavad Gita. Perhaps I was thinking about the Gita because in the back of my mind, I knew that the reading was on my to do list. Perhaps, the book club reading was just energetically connected to where my thoughts were already going. Perhaps it was just a coincidence (though I do not much believe in coincidence).
Although the date had crept up on me unawares, I did already have Paths to God on my shelf and began reading it upon getting the reminder about the book club. The book, which is taken from a series of lectures at the then newly opened Naropa University, is rich with stories about Ram Dass’s own spiritual journey, recommendations for a wide range of practices for discovery of our own spirit, and has lots of juicy thought about taking the study of the Bhagavad Gita and other spiritual texts out of our heads and into how we live our lives and embrace the world.
I hope to see many of my local yogi friends at the book club meeting, not just to expand ourselves by reading and discussing this beautiful text, but to deepen our yoga community and practice by being together. I am sure you are welcome, too, to bring your needlework. If you cannot join us this time, do think about adding the book to your list of yoga books to read. Ram Dass is always thought-provoking, inspiring, and delightful to read.
There is a google group for the book club if you want to get updates. I trust that you will be added to the group if you email: willowstreetbookclub@googlegroups.com
I was reading an article in the NY Times about what one can do to “green” a home that led me to this list. There is always something else to learn: unofficial list of energy saving tips.
FYI, PEPCO Energy Services does offer “green” and “wind” electricity. Not perfect, but better than regular PEPCO. I think there are some other alternatives in Maryland. I have not investigated recently in the District, but switched to the “green” electricity a number of years ago.
