Thought-Provoking Blog Post on Debate
Thanks to Professor Douglas Brooks for this thought-provoking piece on debate and yoga.
thoughts on how we fit into the web of community, family and society
Thanks to Professor Douglas Brooks for this thought-provoking piece on debate and yoga.
As I was noticing the decorations going up around the neighborhood about witches, ghosts, vampires, and ghouls, I found myself reflecting that as in the cultures that brought us Halloween, Indian folk tales are replete with stories of yogis who are practitioners of black magic. Even Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras, warns that the practices (sadhana) must be for the purpose of uniting with spirit and not for attachment to the idea of developing supernatural powers.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
To be a tantrica does not mean wild and indifferent sensual indulgence. On the contrary, it means fully engaging in all of life. A tantric life is one in which everything one does–work, family, relationship, consumption, citizenship–is steadily and progressively more informed by the teachings of yoga and infused with the fruits of the practices. A key aspect of participating fully in the life of a householder in a democracy is to educate oneself about politics and to participate. Please vote. Here’s a short video from the ACLU that you might want to watch and pass along to your friends and family.
A number of years ago I had a conversation with a cherished friend and co-worker who is no longer in this body. I was explaining to her the yoga practice of samtosha (contentment), which is one of the five niyamas that make up the second limb of the eight-limbed path of yoga set forth in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. My friend said it felt like a great revelation to think of contentment as a practice. She had thought of it as a state you were either lucky enough to have — or not.
Many states or characteristics or attitudes that we tend to think of as only being innate characteristics or good fortune can be cultivated.
Wearing an exhortation on a t-shirt might not necessarily be my style, but I do agree kindness is worthy of cultivation when it does not happen spontaneously.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Have you ever noticed just how ineffective and indeed counter-productive is the exhortation to “cheer up?” Being told to cheer up, be happy, etc, when one is feeling sad or out of sorts can just make one feel worse.
The exhortations that work are those that remind us of that for which we are grateful or that which we love, and those the remind us of or call us to the practices the result of which is to alleviate suffering.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I pulled no longer productive summer plants and planted lettuce, spinach, chard, and arugula. The birds have been eating my seeds, so I got seedlings at Eastern Market yesterday morning. I have planted some more seeds, but wanted back up. The grape tomato is still prolific, alone among the tomatoes. The cucumbers are completely past, making room for chard and turnips. It is time to make the last batches of pesto with the basil and parsley. Another blossom has come and not quite gone on the night-blooming cereus.