Tempting Side Trips Not Taken
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Feeding the Demons (Bali Dana)
On the last morning of the trip, when we were standing next to the bus (how blessed we were to have a well-driven, air-conditioned bus to take us through southern India; I was most grateful and conscious of its protective bubble) getting ready to head north for Chennai, I noticed that there were limes under the wheels of the bus. I was standing next to Douglas Brooks, the leader of the trip. “Why are there limes under the wheels?” I asked. “To feed the demons,” he replied, “so that they do not feed on you. We make offering (bali dana) for auspicious memories and a safe trip home.” The offering to the demons, bali dana, recognizes, I think, that we cannot eradicate demons. We can feed them, though, avert their gaze with our offering to something they find more desirable and delicious than feeding on us.
On our last day of riding the bus, we were witness to the aftermath of a cyclone that downed trees and shut down power and tore roofs off of houses and rutted roads (thanks to all who noticed that I was in that part of the world and sent emails inquiring about our safety). When it hit, we were far enough south that all we got was a little rain. We flew out long enough after it showed, that it did not impact our flight, which went perfectly smoothly. I do not know whether putting limes under the wheels of the bus made any difference to the external flow of our trip. I do know, though, that I cannot kill off my demons; they are an essential part of me and my history. Shifting the gaze of my demons and shifting my own gaze at my demons, though, is another matter entirely. When we can turn our gaze (drishti) to the auspicious, even when looking through the eyes of our demons, that is when we can truly see what is best in things and better be able to respond with true embrace to whatever life hands us.
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc)
How Not to Wreck Your Body
The New York Times just published a lengthy article on “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.” The response of one of my fellow certified Anusara yoga instructors was “duh!” This conversation greets me as I am about to offer a free gentle and therapeutic yoga class at Willow Street Yoga to invite new and continuing students to discover the power of the Anusara alignment principles to heal and transform challenges of embodiment. If I were not highly confident in the power of Anusara yoga to heal when practiced mindfully, I might be worried that the article would keep away potential students. Instead, I welcome the “news” as a way to broaden the invitation to discovery.
As I have blogged about before, at an intensive, John Friend once compared advanced asana to digitalis–depending on dosage and circumstances of the individual digitalis is at once the deadliest plant in the garden and one of the most powerful medications to heal the heart. We don’t read much about digitalis in the news, but we are constantly bombarded with contradictory news flashes about the health risks and benefits of lots of things — coffee, red wine, vitamins, running, anything that has been either held out as either a cure all or an evil that is ubiquitously practiced or imbibed. Why? I think it is because we in this society are hungry for panaceas, for effortless solutions, for the latest thing, for something to save us from emptiness and ill health, without actually having to work at it. It is newsworthy that yoga bears risks precisely because we (the general societal we) wanted it to be a perfect solution without actually requiring any change how we live the rest of our lives (including diet, exercise, relationship to others) and to bring to yoga the mindfulness, determination, and steadiness that it requires to bring the peace, harmony, and healing it offers.
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Happy New Year
This pilgrimage is shortly coming to a close. I do not know what it will bring nor what I will bring home (I actually wrote this entry on December 16th). What I do know is that I will be eager to share all the learning and visions and use them to seek more peace and joy, fairness and health, love and compassion. May your most heartfelt, true wishes be realized in the new year.
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A Letter from Tamil Nadu
The attached photo of devotees at a kumkum-reddened shrine to Hanuman is just a taste of the extraordinary things I have been privileged to experience and witness in this journey. I think that there as many reasons to go on a pilgrimage and as many experiences of it as there are people. For both the challenges and the wonders, I have been given a chance to feel and shift and explore myself at the deepest levels.
As you know, I had planned to take a mini-sabbatical from posting photos and writing while I was on the trip. I was faced with an opportunity, though, from a lesson in both non-attachment and gratitude that opened up this opportunity to share.
On our first full day in Madurai, we went to see the famous Meenakshi temple. The experience at this temple was different from that we had in other temples for two significant reasons. The first was that the inner sanctum was rigidly restricted only to Hindus. Ironically, this correspondingly led to a permission to take photographs within the temple (usually forbidden) because we who are allowed only in the other parts of the temple are viewed more like tourists than worshippers.
Right before we went to the temple, my camera reported that the battery was exhausted; intermittent power the night before must have prevented my getting it properly charged. I took out my Blackberry as a second best alternative. It had somehow turned itself on and depleted the charge looking for a radio signal even though I had turned off both the phone and Internet connections. I couldn’t imagine making it through the rest of day without being able to take another photograph, and it appeared that I had no choice other than to call in what I have learned from yoga practice about non-attachment. (Yes, I recognize that for even the most avid of amateur photographers, this was not a big loss).
As grace would have it, though, a fellow enthusiastic photographer on the trip hearing of my predicament understood completely. He had three cameras and his fiancee also had one. He handed me the extra camera and showed me the basics. The next day, he uploaded the photos I had shot onto my IPad, giving me a lesson in technology, along with the loan of the camera. I may have avoided having to practice non-attachment for this minor moment of potential disappointment, but I was definitely gifted with a big opportunity to practice gratitude. Having been the recipient of this gift, I wanted to share a little with you.
I look forward to sharing more images and stories when I return, especially with all of my students when winter classes resume in January.
Devotees of Hanuman -
Merry Christmas!
If I have done this correctly, it is Christmas day (Boxing day for those of you who are email subscribers). If all is on schedule, I am basking in warmth (though possibly with lots of rain) witnessing ritual that in form is another world than Christmas in the cold United States. At another level, it is all one–a deep and heartfelt yearning for and an offering of love. Whatever your beliefs, whatever you are doing on this day, and however you might practice or worship, if at all, I wish you all much love, peace, and joy.
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Computer Sabbatical (and Happy Holidays)
I am planning to be unwired for the next couple of weeks, though if there is an opportunity for a wireless connection or to use hotel internet, I may check emails. I will be in touch when I go back on-line. In the meantime, this is to wish you the best of holidays.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Monuments to the 330 Million Gods
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.
