On This Boxing Day
On this Boxing Day, day after another Christmas with no tree on which to perch, the Christmas tree top angel, looking more like a fairy godmother, found a dance with Shiva Nataraja and his cohort.

Contemplations on readings and yoga philosophy.
On this Boxing Day, day after another Christmas with no tree on which to perch, the Christmas tree top angel, looking more like a fairy godmother, found a dance with Shiva Nataraja and his cohort.

I wonder whether this mural, which has been here since before I moved to DC in the mid-80s, will survive the massive construction projects going on around it. If not, will I wish I had photographed it more? I’ve appreciated it well.

I’m finding reentry more challenging than I first thought. I thought it might be helpful to remind myself of my travels–and that I travel to come home with more capacity to participate as much and best I can. The Garden of Endurance was at the Madhuban retreat center where I spent most of the trip.

There were lots of images of Hanuman around where we were in the hills. I come home after this long break–far enough away and for a long enough time to be able to gain perspective–and think, given that I have dedicated most of my career to public service, about how the myth of Hanuman may inform my ongoing contemplation at this time in my life and in this socio-political climate of how I can best contribute and participate.
Hanuman is the faithful servant; I think that one aspect of his story is that in being true to Rama, he is being true to dharma, to law and culture. In loving and protecting Sita, he is recognizing nature. Only when he is acting in service to them and others can he access his true powers (siddhis).