10-Minute After Work Dinner
Flash-roasted Brussels sprouts and spiced egg broken in butter
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Would the Sky Look Different to You?
The sky was a very pretty mixture of blue and fluffy clouds this morning. The first photo I took did not have the Capitol in the corner because the sky was just a little more lustrous and variegated facing more west than south. Although I chose to allow the Capitol into the photograph, it is fairly clear that I was photographing primarily the sky and not the Capitol.
I see people photographing the Capitol almost every day. What is around it usually is of no moment. The point is, for one reason or another, to document being in the presence of the Capitol. It is only the postcard/calendar/art photographers who care what is going on in the sky for purposes of the overall composition.
I wondered whether readers would think that the scene would be prettier if it had mountains or a stream or a lake instead of a building in it. Would they think the sky unworthy of notice if underneath was a parking lot? How much do we judge something by its surroundings? Are we able to see the beauty of the sky regardless of the scenery in which we are standing?
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Limits and Creativity
For over a week, the WordPress app on my phone has not worked. First it would not let me upload photos. After trying uninstall/reinstall, it would no longer recognize my username/password combination. I know I have that right because I can sign in through the browser. It’s a bit awkward to use the browser on the phone as opposed to the phone format friendly app, but sometimes we need to explore alternative methods and be grateful for skills and creativity, and managing to function in a computer world reminds me of this regularly. For example, every time I sign in at work computer, I first have to engage in a counterintuitive activity before I can get to the password screen. But I think about it in terms of yoga: control, i.e., disciplined and educated practice; alternatives, i.e., if something doesn’t work, try something else; and delete, i.e., let go of what does not serve. Only then can I get started.
Yoga Ideas Best Put Aside
I just received a yoga email advertising classes and workshops that quoted a well-respected teacher as saying not to listen to your mind and to listen only to your heart. I respectfully disagree.
I do believe that if we listen (listening in the deepest and broadest sense) only to our mind, we lose connection with body and emotion, which can lead to ill health and unhappiness. I also believe that individual consciousness is more than mind and includes bodily and emotional awareness as well as brain function and that one of the salutary aspects of yoga practices is to expand our capacity to be aware beyond thought and mere processing of sense perception.
But to listen only to our heart is to be empty-headed, to be without discrimination (viveka), and also presumes that we can process and act on what is in our heart of hearts without using our minds. To dismiss our mind as somehow not being a source for deep listening also defies the tantric yoga notion that all is an essential part of being, of consciousness, of the source of inner bliss (Satcitananda–being, consciousness, bliss). Why would we have minds if we weren’t meant to use them?
Want to be a fully engaged yogi who lives in the world? Go ahead: cultivate, educate, enlighten, and use your mind. Just do it with an open heart and ever expanding sensitivity and awareness of all your being and all that is around you!
