Art and Culture | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Hrdaya
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Untitled (and Jnanam Bandaha)
For me “untitled” as the “title” of a work of art means that the image speaks for itself and that to name it would be to bind the viewer from access to a “pure” and open response of his/her own.
In the yoga philosophy much is made of the fact that any attempt to describe mystical (for want of a better word) experience already veils or distorts the experience and that which has been experienced.
Sometimes, then, I show what I cannot say in words, recognizing that the camera, too, alters and separates the viewed and the viewer.
Jnanam bandaha, by the way, is the second sutra in the Siva Sutras and means roughly, knowledge is bondage. Later in the text, we are also told that knowledge alone liberates. It is a delicious paradox for contemplation.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Signs/Found Objects Around Town (and Svatantriya)
Was Janice Joplin right after all? Personally, I don’t think that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose and nor does tantric yoga philosophy.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc)
Go Out and Take a Walk, Please
Perhaps it is too simple a remedy. We’ve been convinced by the great advertising machine of capitalism to want our treatments to cost something, to be something to complain about, to be an instant fix. Wouldn’t it be better just to take a little time every day for our health and good cheer? Here’s to taking a walk in whatever the weather (almost).
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Body | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Gardening | Meditation
Found Exhortation
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Community and Family | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
“Remember Thich Nhat Hanh”
My boss with whom I’ve worked for over 20 years and who has an unfortunate tendency to get agitated (gentle understatement here) at the workplace has just discovered Thich Nhat Hanh. My boss was intrigued by Thich Nhat Hanh’s suggestion that when you find yourself getting angry, “don’t.” Knowing that he is still going to have to take action in response to the things that tick him off (and, as I would add, that not getting angry is distinct from disengaging, failing to act, or being apathetic), my boss still invited us to say to him when we see him getting worked up, “remember Thich Nhat Hanh.” I liked that. I like that he recognizes a need to change and grow and is starting to take steps after years of appearing not to be aware of the impact of his tendencies on himself and his co-workers.
One of the best ways I know to shift our reactiveness is to develop a steady meditation practice. If you don’t already have one, I invite you to begin to develop a daily meditation practice, which could include conscious breathing or visualizations. If your practice is only sporadic, notice how much better it is when your meditation is part of your daily routine.
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Found Exhortation (and Ananda)
We are unlikely to find bliss (ananda) if we spend our lives paralyzed by fear and stuck in our limitations. On the other hand, if we blast through life heedless of our limitations, we will be a menace to ourselves and others.
When we cultivate impeccable awareness of how we are in time and space at each moment, then with the safety that such awareness brings, we will be most able to engage in the joyous possibilities of life.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation | Photos
Drive Home
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Art and Culture | Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
Quote of the Day
“The problem with belief systems is that they ultimately limit possibilities.” Arthur Kilmurray at Body Balance Yoga, Annapolis, Maryland.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
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Asana, Pranayama, and Yoga Practice | Food for the Body | Food for the Mind (Yoga Philosophy, etc) | Meditation
Found Exhortation (and Samskaras)
Over the years, our minds and emotional selves get clogged with junk unless we do something to clear things out and to avoid repeating old negative patterns (in yoga–samskaras).
Our bodies, too, get clogged with junk energies that take us off-balance and ultimately manifest as illness unless we take care to eat well, exercise, sleep regularly, and avoid undue stress.
A home filled with junk has its own samskaras and can prevent us from dissolving and liberating those of mind, body, and spirit.
Do meditate, live a healthy life, and surround yourselves with only that which cultivates a more beautiful and generous life. You will likely be happier for it.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.