“You Seem Pretty Mellow,”
said the guy who is doing the exterior painting and repairs to me this morning, after we were talking about what needed to be done with the stairs, and we talked a little to the downstairs resident who was on… (READ MORE)
The Four Gates of Speech
One of the offerings in John Friend’s Anusara Teacher Training Manual, is the “four gates of speech,” which I believe comes from Buddhist practice. The four gates are: 1. Is it truthful? 2. Is it necessary to say? 3. Is… (READ MORE)
Great Swan
I found a used copy of Lex Hixon’s Great Swan–Meetings with Ramakrishna, last week that I am reading with delight. Lex Hixon has rendered the teachings from the seminal and extraordinary voice of Ramakrishna very accessible. It also provides in… (READ MORE)
The Virtues of Romaine Lettuce (and embracing our place in the web of being)
This year, along with a mesclun mix, arugula, mache, and the tender green and red leaf lettuces, I planted several heads of romaine. It is not my favorite lettuce for salad; I have become spoiled by having baby arugula, spinach,… (READ MORE)
Happy May Day (and radical affirmation)
It feels wonderfully auspicious to me that my Spring classes at Willow Street are starting on May Day. It is Beltane–the true end of winter and the beginning of the effulgence of the time of growth and light. It is… (READ MORE)
The Four Agreements
Several years ago, I was introduced to Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements in a yoga book group. I come back to them periodically. I am not usually one for self-help books, but I think the agreements are a wonderful… (READ MORE)
The Nyaya of the Cat and the Bunny
A nyaya is literally a recursion, something which leads back to an essential principle. In my recent studies of meditation, we have been taught various nyayas that help to explicate the experience of meditation and the whys and benefits of… (READ MORE)
More Interesting Reading
about religion and yoga — what’s the same, what’s different, what’s important. Thanks to Dan for bringing the Boston Globe article to my attention.
When was the last time you noticed a “Hare Krishna?”
Yesterday morning, before I read the article in the Washington Post I discussed in yesterday’s post, a memory of an acquaintance from Quaker youth camp entered my seated meditation. I had not thought about C in at least 30 years. … (READ MORE)
“Taking Back” Yoga
I read today a piece in the Washington Post about Hindus needing to “take back” yoga. I read the article and the comments with great interest because it has been a matter of much discussion with those in my meditation… (READ MORE)