Thursday, April 21, 2011

poem-of-the-day :: Please Call Me by My True Names -Thich Nhat Hanh

Please Call Me by My True Names
Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

1989

-Thich Nhat Hanh


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

word-of-the-day :: savvy

Main Entry: 1sav·vy
Pronunciation: 'sa-vE
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): sav·vied; sav·vy·ing
Etymology: alteration of sabi know (in English-based creoles and pidgins), from Portuguese sabe he knows, from saber to know, from Latin sapere to be wise -- more at SAGE
Date: 1785
:UNDERSTAND

merriam-webster.com 

quote-of-the-day :: It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task. -Robert Kennedy

It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to the task.
-Robert Kennedy

Sunday, April 17, 2011

quote-of-the-day ::: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate...-Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.  -Marianne Williamson

Friday, April 15, 2011

image-of-the-day :: form follows function

The Transversus abdominis, Rectus abdominis, and Pyramidalis.

thought-for-the-day :: I am the decisive element....-Goethe

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.  It is my personal approach that creates the climate.  It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess tremendous power to make a life miserable or joyous.  I can be a tool of torture, or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de–escalated, and a person humanized or dehumanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.  If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

-Goethe 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Walking in Beauty :: Excerpt from the Navajo Night Way Ceremony

In beauty, may I walk.
All day long, may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
Beautifully I will possess again.
Beautifully birds…
Beautifully joyful birds…
On the trail marked with pollen, may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet, may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.
With beauty, may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty,
lively, may I walk.
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty,
living again, may I walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
- Excerpt from the Navajo Night Way Ceremony

Monday, April 11, 2011

Tao :: The Lake Above, The Lake Below


  58. Tui / The Joyous, Lake




above TUI
THE JOYOUS, LAKE


below TUI
THE JOYOUS, LAKE
This hexagram, like sun, is one of the eight formed by doubling of a trigram. 
The trigram Tui denotes the youngest daughter; it is symbolized by the 
smiling lake, and its attribute is joyousness. Contrary to appearances, it is not 
the yielding quality of the top line that accounts for joy here. The attribute of 
the yielding or dark principle is not joy but melancholy. However, joy is 
indicated by the fact that there are two strong lines within, expressing 
themselves through the medium of gentleness.

  True joy, therefore, rests on firmness and strength within, manifesting itself 
outwardly as yielding and gentle.


 THE JUDGMENT THE IMAGE


 THE JOYOUS. Success.
 Perseverance is favorable.

The joyous mood is infectious and therefore brings success. But joy must be 
based on steadfastness if it is not to degenerate into uncontrolled mirth. 
Truth and strength must dwell in the heart, while gentleness reveals itself in 
social intercourse. In this way one assumes the right attitude toward God and 
man and achieves something. Under certain conditions, intimidation 
without gentleness may achieve something momentarily, but not for all 
time. When, on the other hand, the hearts of men are won by friendliness, 
they are led to take all hardships upon themselves willingly, and if need be 
will not shun death itself, so great is the power of joy over men.


 


 Lakes resting one on the other:
 The image of THE JOYOUS.
 Thus the superior man joins with his friends
 For discussion and practice.

A lake evaporates upward and thus gradually dries up; but when two lakes 
are joined they do not dry up so readily, for one replenishes the other. It is 
the same in the field of knowledge. Knowledge should be a refreshing and 
vitalizing force. It becomes so only through stimulating intercourse with 
congenial friends with whom one holds discussion and practices application 
of the truths of life. In this way learning becomes many-sided and takes on a 
cheerful lightness, whereas there is always something ponderous and one-
sided about the learning of the self-taught.


 
Moving
Lines
This
Hexagram
This Hexagram
+ Moving Lines
6 -- x -- 6
5 ---o--- 9
4 ---o--- 9
3 --   -- 8
2 ---o--- 9
1 ------- 7


58. Tui / The Joyous, Lake


27. I / Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment)
  Present Potential


THE LINES


 Nine at the beginning means:
 Contented joyousness. Good fortune.

A quiet, wordless, self-contained joy, desiring nothing from without and 
resting content with everything, remains free of all egotistic likes and dislikes. 
In this freedom lies good fortune, because it harbors the quiet security of a 
heart fortified within itself.


 Nine in the second place means:
 Sincere joyousness. Good fortune.
 Remorse disappears.

We often find ourselves associating with inferior people in whose company 
we are tempted by pleasures that are inappropriate for the superior man. To 
participate in such pleasures would certainly bring remorse, for a superior 
man can find no real satisfaction in low pleasures. When, recognizing this, a 
man does not permit his will to swerve, so that he does not find such ways 
agreeable, not even dubious companions will venture to proffer any base 
pleasures, because he would not enjoy them. Thus every cause for regret is 
removed.


 Six in the third place means:
 Coming joyousness. Misfortune.

True joy must spring from within. But if one is empty within and wholly 
given over to the world, idle pleasures come streaming in from without. 
This is what many people welcome as diversion. Those who lack inner 
stability and therefore need amusement, will always find opportunity of 
indulgence. They attract external pleasures by the emptiness of their natures. 
Thus they lose themselves more and more, which of course has bad results.


 Nine in the fourth place means:
 Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace.
 After ridding himself of mistakes a man has joy.

Often a man finds himself weighing the choice between various kinds of 
pleasures, and so long as he has not decided which kind he will choose, the 
higher or the lower, he has no inner peace. Only when he clearly recognizes 
that passion brings suffering, can he make up his mind to turn away from the 
lower pleasures and to strive for the higher. Once this decision is sealed, he 
finds true joy and peace, and inner conflict is overcome.


 Nine in the fifth place means:
 Sincerity toward disintegrating influences is dangerous.

Dangerous elements approach even the far best of men. If a man permits 
himself to have anything to do with them, their disintegrating influence acts 
slowly but surely, and inevitable brings dangers in its train. But if he 
recognizes the situation and can comprehend the danger, he knows how to 
protect himself and remains unharmed.


 Six at the top means:
 Seductive joyousness.

A vain nature invites diverting pleasures and must suffer accordingly (cf. the 
six in the third place). If a man is unstable within, the pleasures of the world 
that he does not shun have so powerful an influence that he is swept along by 
them. Here it is no longer a question of danger, of good fortune or 
misfortune. He has given up direction of his own life, and what becomes of 
him depends upon chance and external influences.

quote-of-the-day ::: He who grasps loses. - Tao de Ching

DIY / 'auto' (self) repair :: Iliopsoas ;) - the body metaphor

foam roller exercises and text quoted from the body window for the iliopsoas:

"Meditate on the Meaning of (the Iliopsoas Muscle) in Your Life" aka

The body metaphor 

(See Developing Intuition by Using Your Body ) for the action of this muscle, is about moving forward in life, or taking steps forward or the fear of moving forward. It involves big, powerful steps and is about support and maintenance of the body’s posture. The iliopsoas is deep inside the hip and lower back. Chronic tension in these muscles are due to issues deep in the core of your being, deep in your soul. When you do these foam roller exercises for the iliopsoas, meditate on what this muscle area may represent in your life.The iliopsoas muscle is that muscle group with which I personally have the most issues. As I create my second life and move towards my new passion, I want to power myself forward too hard. So my hips and lower back are constantly aching. This is especially true on the right side. Since the left-brain controls the right side of the body, it is my left brain that is trying to power me forward too fast. The left-brain is the thinking, detail-oriented part of the brain, or the ‘masculine’ brain. (If you want to learn more about left-brain vs right brain functioning go to Improving Your Body Balance is Improving Your Life Balance ).
I have to constantly remind myself while doing my foam roller exercises for the iliopsoas muscle, to slow down. I meditate on balance, and going with the flow of life, as I work this muscle".

as quoted from the body window

-m 

sanskritization of the west :: yoga :: योग

sanskritization of the west :: yoga :: योग

 योग -Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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Contents

[hide]

[edit] Sanskrit

[edit] Etymology

From the verbal root √yuj (to yoke), from Proto-Indo-European *yewg- (to yoke, harness, join), whence also Proto-Indo-European noun *yugóm that gave Sanskrit युग (yugá).

[edit] Noun

योग (yóga) m.
  1. the act of yoking, joining, attaching, harnessing, putting to (of horses)  [quotations ▼]
    • RV 10.39.12c
      आ तेन यातं मनसो जवीयसा रथं यं वां रभवश्चक्रुरश्विना |
      यस्य योगे दुहिता जायते दिव उभे अहनीसुदिने विवस्वतः ||
      ā tena yātaṃ manaso javīyasā rathaṃ yaṃ vāṃ ṛbhavaścakruraśvinā |
      yasya yoghe duhitā jāyate diva ubhe ahanīsudine vivasvataḥ ||
      Come on that Chariot which the Rbhus wrought for you, the Chariot, Asvins, that is speedier than thought,
      At harnessing whereof Heaven's Daughter springs to birth, and from Vivasvan come auspicious Night and Day.
  2. a yoke, team, vehicle, conveyance
  3. employment, use, application, performance
  4. equipping or arraying (of an army)
  5. fixing (of an arrow on the bow-string)
  6. putting on (of armour)
  7. a remedy, cure
  8. a means, expedient, device, way, manner, method
  9. a supernatural means, charm, incantation, magical art
  10. a trick, stratagem, fraud, deceit (compare yoga-nanda)
  11. undertaking, business, work
  12. acquisition, gain, profit, wealth, property
  13. occasion, opportunity
  14. any junction, union, combination, contact with (+instrumental with or without सह (sahá), or compound)
    योगम् (yogam) √ito agree, consent, acquiesce in anything

  15. mixing of various materials, mixture

  16. partaking of, possessing (instrumental or compound)


  17. connection, relation (योगात् (yogāt), योगेन (yógena) and योगतस् (yóga-tas) at the end of a compound: in consequence of, on account of, by reason of, according to, through)




  18. putting together, arrangement, disposition, regular succession




  19. fitting together, fitness, propriety, suitability
    योगेन (yógena) and योगतस् (yóga-tas)suitably, fitly, duly, in the right manner




  20. exertion, endeavour, zeal, diligence, industry, care, attention  [quotations ▼]
    पूर्णेन योगेन (pūrṇena yogena)with all one's powers, with overflowing zeal



  21. yoga: application or concentration of the thoughts, abstract contemplation, meditation, (especially) self-concentration, abstract meditation and mental abstraction practised as a system




  22. any simple act or rite conducive to yoga or abstract meditation




  23. Yoga personified (as the son of Dharma and Kriya)




  24. a follower of the yoga system




  25. (in samkhya) the union of soul with matter (one of the 10 मूलिकअर्था (mūlika-arthā)s or radical facts)




  26. (with पाशुपत (pāśupata)s) the union of the individual soul with the universal soul




  27. (with पाञ्चरात्र (pāñcarātra)s) devotion, pious seeking after God




  28. (with जैन (jaina)s) contact or mixing with the outer world




  29. (astronomy) conjunction, lucky conjuncture




  30. (astronomy) a constellation, fasterism (these, with the moon, are called चान्द्रयोगाः (cāndra-yogāḥ) and are 13 in number; without the moon they are called खयोगाः (kha-yogāḥ), or नाभसयोगाः (nābhasa-yogāḥ))




  31. (astronomy) the leading or principal star of a lunar asterism




  32. (astronomy) name of a variable division of time (during which the joint motion in longitude of the sun and moon amounts to 13 degrees 20 minutes; there are 27 such yogas beginning with विष्कम्भ (viṣkambha) and ending with वैधृति (vaidhṛti))




  33. (arithmetic) addition, sum, total




  34. (grammar) the connection of words together, syntactical dependence of a word, construction (at the end of a compound = dependent on, ruled by)




  35. (grammar) a combined or concentrated grammatical rule or aphorism




  36. the connection of a word with its root, original or etymological meaning (as opposed to रूढि (rūḍhi))




  37. a violator of confidence, spy




  38. name of a scholiast or commentator on the परमार्थसार (paramārthasāra)


[edit] Declension

[edit] References

  • Sir Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898, page 0856

 

May Śiva bless those who take delight in the language of the gods ::


Shiva-Samhita :: innumerable cups full of water...

As innumerable cups full of water, many reflections of the sun are seen, but the sun is the same; similarly individuals, like cups, are unumerable, but spirit, like the sun, is one" - The Shiva-samhita 1.35 II.42-43

Light on Yoga :: There are many different paths...

There are many different paths (margas)
by which a man travels to his Maker.

The active man finds realization
through Karma Marga, in which
a man realises his own divinity
through work and duty. The emotional man
finds it through Bhakti Marga,
where there is realisation
through devotion to and love of a personal God.
The intellectual man pursues Jnana Marga,
where realisation comes through knowledge.
The meditative or reflective man
follows Yoga Marga, and realises
his own divinity through
control of the mind.

Light on yoga, p.22

Sunday, April 10, 2011

reviewing your story-of-the-day :: simplify

If we could discard knowledge and wisdom
Then people would profit a hundredfold;
If we could discard duty and justice
Then harmonious relationships would form;
If we could discard artifice and profit
Then waste and theft would disappear.

Yet such remedies treat only symptoms
And so they are inadequate.

People need personal remedies:
Reveal your naked self and embrace your original nature;
Bind your self-interest and control your ambition;
Forget your habits and simplify your affairs.

tao te ching - 19

Friday, April 8, 2011

2nd poem-of-the-day :: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked... - Kahlil Gibran

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

poem-of-the-day :: Thirst - Mary Oliver

Thirst
By Mary Oliver
Another morning and I wake up with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord, I
was never  a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the
hour and the bell; grant me, in your
mercy, a little more time. Love for the
earth and love for you are having such a
long conversation in my heart. Who
knows what will finally happen or
where I will be sent, yet already I have
given a great many things away, expect-
ing to be told to pack nothing, except the
prayers which, with this thirst, I am
slowly learning.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Excerpt from the poem-of-the-day :: Let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure... (Self-Knowledge) - Kahlil Gibran

Self-Knowledge (from The Prophet), by Kahlil Gibran
And a man said, Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.
And he answered saying:
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.
You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.
The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;
And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;
And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.
For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

quote-of-the-day :: Celebrate what you want to see more of. ~ Thomas J. Peters


Celebrate what you want to see more of.
~Thomas J. Peters

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Heart Sutra - Mahaprajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra

from The Chant Room at Dzogchen Center:


Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep prajna paramita,
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming all suffering and distress.

Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form.
Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form.
Sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness are also like this.

Shariputra, all things are marked by emptiness -
not born, not destroyed,
not stained, not pure,
without gain, without loss.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, thought, impulse, consciousness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought.
No realm of sight to no realm of thought.
No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance to no old age and death and also no ending of old age and death.
No suffering, and also no source of suffering, no annihilation, no path.
No wisdom, also no attainment.
Having nothing to attain, Bodhisattvas live prajna paramita with no hindrance in the mind.
No hindrance, thus no fear.
Far beyond delusive thinking, they attain complete Nirvana.
All Buddhas past, present and future live prajna paramita and thus attain anuttara samyak sambodhi.

Therefore, know that prajna paramita is the great mantra, the wisdom mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra, which completely removes all suffering. This is truth, not deception. Therefore set forth the prajna paramita mantra, set forth this mantra and say:

GATÉ GATÉ PARAGATÉ PARASAMGATÉ BODHI SVAHA

[Beyond, beyond, totally beyond, perfectly beyond: Awakening ....Yes!]

Listen to this Chant in RealAudio @ http://www.dzogchen.org/chant/heartsutra.htm

quote-of-the-day ::: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." - buddhist proverb

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.



-buddhist proverb

Friday, April 1, 2011

quote-of-the-day :: We gain freedom when we have paid full price. -Rabindranath Tagore

We gain freedom when we have paid full price. 
-Rabindranath Tagore

pose-of-the-day ::: ananda balasana

from Yoga Journal:

Happy Baby Pose

Ananda Balasana
/YIN_213_AnandaBalasana_248.jpg
Step by Step
Lie on your back. With an exhale, bend your knees into your belly.
Inhale, grip the outsides of your feet with your hands (if you have difficulty holding the feet directly with your hands, hold onto a belt looped over each sole.) Open your knees slightly wider than your torso, then bring them up toward your armpits.
Position each ankle directly over the knee, so your shins are perpendicular to the floor. Flex through the heels. Gently push your feet up into your hands (or the belts) as you pull your hands down to create a resistance.
Coax the thighs in toward your torso and down toward the floor as you lengthen the spine—release your tail bone toward the floor and lengthen the base of your skull away from the back of your neck.
Hold the pose steadily for 30 seconds to one minute. Then release the feet back to the floor with an exhale and rest for a few breaths.
Return to http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2497

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2497?print=1