Question of the Week (On random thoughts of Wittgenstein arising while reading Abhinavagupta).
Is a mystical logician the same as a logical mystic?
Great Inspiration
Saw this as an email signature from an email on a list serve I follow and had to share: To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation… (READ MORE)
Samtosha (and the “Founding Fathers”)
I am subbing Fusion Flow tonight up at Willow Street. Natalie, for whom – am subbing, has been teaching the yamas and niyamas this session. She asked me to cover “samtosha” tonight. In contemplating this principle of practice again (it… (READ MORE)
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… (READ MORE)
Sauca (Another Perspective)
My friend and Willow Street colleague Natalie Miller taught a lovely class on Monday night, using sauca as her theme. She said that she had recently read a book that described the yamas as things we do to be better… (READ MORE)
Heard on the Elevator (and intention for change)
The elevator I rode to my fifth floor office this morning was very full. Several of the people in the elevator were wearing visitor badges. As I walked on, I heard a woman say to a colleague, “…if you get… (READ MORE)
Gardening When It’s Not Quite Time (and Sauca)
The first of Patanjali’s niyamas (part of the ethical precepts that are precursors to the practice of asana, pranayama, and meditation) is sauca — purity or cleanliness. The practice of sauca includes in it a literal exhortation to be physically… (READ MORE)
What Does It Mean to Be a Grown-up? (and Householder Yoga)
My friend Dan posted a blog entry earlier this week talking about getting distracted by a rainbow. He wrote that he was sure that other “grownups” did not get distracted by the rainbow. As I was observing the way people… (READ MORE)
The Breath Leads the Way (and Atha Yoga Anusasanam)
I was reminded the other day of a principle of reading the great Hindu philosophical work: all of the meaning of the text can be understood from not only the first sutra, but the first word. The first sutra of… (READ MORE)
Full Moon
The moon had risen in all her glory when I left Willow Street Yoga in Silver Spring (from a talk with Dr. Manoj Chalam about archetypes yesterday evening and headed for the metro home. I thought about how the moon… (READ MORE)