I owe a lot to Dr. Martin Luther King. Every American does. If they have room for another bust on Mount Rushmore, it should be of Dr. King. Not only did he give his life for equal right for all Americans, he showed us how to return hatred with love. He was Gandhi's message of peace an nonviolence in a walking, breathing, brave human being.
Two aspiring actors were just starting their careers and lived in poverty, the kind of poverty unknown to most of us. They were so poor that in order to enjoy the theater and learn from other actors, the two actors would buy one ticket for a play and hand it off at intermission. The one who had seen the first half filled in the other about what had transpired. The two young actors found their place in the world of entertainment. They were Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte.
Life is all about teamwork, partnering, inter-dependence. While revenge weakens society, forgiveness gives it strength. - Dalai Lama (14th)
Even a hunter cannot kill a bird that flies to him for refuge. - Samurai Wisdom
In order to maximize the benefits of meditation, one must minimize external distractions by practicing in a secluded place. Once a practitioner advances and has achieved a higher level of meditation, there is no need to practice in a secluded place because the power of external distractions has dissipated. However, until one achieves that level of practice, seclusion is a good support for beginning meditators. - Lama Dudjom Dorjee
(public domain image from www.pixabay.com) Those of us who do yoga and meditation, often find ourselves in the company of our animal companions, usually cats and dogs. Imagine meditating while python snakes crawl around the room. That's exactly what is happening at at Buddhist Temple just south of the former capital Yango and has received the nickname Hmwe Paya or “snake temple” from locals. Located in the middle of of a lake, the temple houses some 30 pythons, some measuring seven and eight feet in length, that can be found draped across windows and basking in the warmth of the sun, gliding across the temple’s floors, coiled around the many Buddha statues, or weaving themselves through the branches of the tree in the pagoda’s main hall. Many of the local residents see the presence of the pythons as a sign of the pagoda’s auspiciousness, and visit frequently to pray and make offerings to its reptilian inhabitants. People can be found prostrating below the snake-filled tree, tucking 1,000 kyat notes (US$0.60) between the coils of the snakes, and, if they are brave enough, gently caressing the snakes for good fortune. Nay Myo Thu, a 30-year-old farmer, brings the snakes that he finds in his fields to the temple as he believes that he will receive good fortune by bringing them to the temple instead of killing them. In doing so, he follows the Buddhist principle that all animals are sentient beings that have the potential to reincarnate as humans. “I don’t want to bring about any misfortune by killing a creature," he explained. "Catching and donating the snakes brings me good fortune instead.” Snakes and serpents have mythical significance both Hindu and Buddhist iconography. According to Buddhist mythology, the snake king Mucalinda protected the Buddha from a storm after he attained enlightenment. During the seven weeks that the Buddha meditated after attaining enlightenment, the sky darkened and torrential rains descended. When the rains threatened the Buddha, the snake king came forth and protected him from the elements by spreading its hood over the Buddha’s head to act as a shelter. (source: Buddhdistdoor.net) A tree full of ripened fruits bows down naturally, because of the weight of the fruits and its willingness to make its fruits accessible to others. - A. C. Bhaktivedanta
WITHDRAW FROM YOUR TOXIC FRIENDS AND FAMILY - IT'S THE YOGA THING TO DO AND IT'S CALLED PRATYAHARA10/23/2018
Pratyahara is the fifth limb of the eight limbs of yoga and it means the withdrawal of senses and drawing awareness away from the external world in order to create a stable, calm, anchored and balanced inner life. The foundation of pratyahara is the intentional absence of curiosity about outside stimuli. In modern life it has become even more imperative to practice pratyahara on a daily basis in these ways:
(feel free to repost and/or link to your social media) The web site Medical Daily, had an article on five benefits of meditation. The first four are well known: better sleep, pain management, mood lift, emotional intelligence. It was the last one which caught my eye. Couple who meditate together find their relationship becomes stronger, healthier. Here's what the site says:
"Dyadic meditation refers to the practice of two people meditating together. It is believed that this could help improve relationships with a partner by promoting closeness and communication. As researcher Bethany Kok notes, regular conversations are often constrained and focused on what a person should say next instead of listening to others. Dyadic meditation, on the other hand, teaches people to pay close attention and listen to their partner in a calm, accepting manner." I believe we are called today . . . to move beyond our own tribalisms, our racial and ethnic and national and class smallness, and let our vision of human wholeness become a basis for a more genuine community, a model of what can be. One way [to do this] is by participating in multiple religious traditions. - Gene Reeves
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Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
March 2024
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