Oh the Amazing Light With the Solstice Approaching
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Contemplating Ganesha and Yoga As Skill in Action
Ganesha is only at the most surface level literally the remover of obstacles.
Rather, in exchange for a lot of dedicated practice, Ganesha is the one who helps us how to leverage or elide the obstacles.
These obstacles are ones that Ganesha, being a playful deity type of character, just might have put in our way in the first place, so we could learn, so we can more skillfully and compassionately approach the next obstacle, and so on and so on.
Sunset
Lucky to have a place to stand and see the sky while still being at home. With icy sidewalks and the pandemic raging, it seems a beautiful time to go inward.
Full of Awe
The storm is an awesome, awe-full, awe-inspiring reminder that ultimately we are not in charge.
Sadhana
The chant this evening was “no war, yes, peace.” It is not enough, if things are going to change, just to say what we don’t want. We need to offer and work towards alternatives.
United States Capitol, January 9, 2020
Bearing Witness
It was raining and that was the smallest of discomforts compared to the suffering being funded by our government.
I do not have the courage to refuse to pay taxes. I am willing, however, to give away enough of that portion of my retirement savings that has undeniably been bloated by a war economy to offset most of my tax liability.
New Spinach (and Udyamo Bhairava)
The fifth sutra in Abhinavagupta’s Siva Sutras, is “udyamo bhairava” — the great upsurge of consciousness. When we are open and aware, we can witness this upsurge, the very pulsing of life energy in all that is in and around us, from the springing up of thought in our minds to the burgeoning of spring. The more we practice and live attentively, the more we will see the joy in this upwelling.
When I go out into the garden on the early spring days to see what needs to be cut back, what is volunteering, and what is coming up from fall plantings, I approach with great openness. When we plant in the fall, we do not know with any certainty what kind of winter we will have. Although the long-range forecast was for colder than normal with precipitation near normal (which translates into more than average snow), who could have expected three mammoth snow storms?
I plant with hope and some expectation, but am ready for the loss of some perennials, the failure of some seeds to germinate, and the unexpected pleasure of experiments working or welcome volunteers. This steady planting without specific expectation, with openness to discovery, with joy and attention to the miraculousness of what rises up in the spring, is a very tangible example of what I read in the yoga philosophy. It is how I, I believe, we most optimally would approach asana and meditation, as well as all aspects of our daily being.
Below: new spinach coming up in a container from seeds I planted around Thanksgiving from an expiring packet.
