Sadness (Sukha hara, dukha hara)
Last night I was feeling deeply sad not having Becky with me any more. The first week, I was telling myself how lucky I was to have had her for so long, that she lived a long, happy, well-loved life,… (READ MORE)
What I’ll Be Reading This Session
You may have noticed that I do not say what I will be teaching. In my blogs and classes, when referring to the philosophy that inspires me, I speak of what I will be reading, what I will be contemplating,… (READ MORE)
Louise Bourgeois at the Hirshhorn
The other day, I went to see the Louise Bourgeois retrospective at the Hirshhorn. The works are a combination of exquisite technique and in-your-face, challenging emotions. I had a friend who raged at me once because I had created a… (READ MORE)
Be Careful
what you wish for. Or at least enjoy it when you get it. I’ve been praying for rain. It was supposed to come yesterday afternoon, then last night. And it did not, and I worried about another storm passing to… (READ MORE)
Advaita Vedanta?
A Session of Coincidences (and Shiva Tattva)
Towards the end of a yoga session I start thinking about what would be a good theme for the next. I start by observing what is going on in the world — from the change of seasons, to whether it… (READ MORE)
Moksha
I have a set of cards that I keep on my altar that are designed to be used for contemplation. There are about fifty cards, each of which has a sanskrit word and its meaning. Just as one gets a… (READ MORE)
Plenum or Void?
Ultimate fullness or ultimate emptiness? I think I believe in the former rather than the latter, but is that a distinction without a difference? Certainly not one worth fighting over. Worthy, perhaps, though, of discussion and contemplation.
Shiva-Shakti Tattvas
The shiva-shakti tattvas, the two highest tattvas, are completely subjective. The shiva tattva is, according to the philosophy, the ultimate reality, the pure “I,” undiminished and undifferentiated consciousness. As something purely subjective, it is both everywhere and nowhere, in every… (READ MORE)
Shakti (is everywhere)