New Year's event: 108 Sun Salutations (1/1)

Healthline.com; Stella Han (@yogihantas), Kinship Yoga Studios, Yogi Seven, Jen Bradford, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly; Seth MacFarlane, American Dad

Can one lose weight doing yoga poses? Types, exercises, and more (healthline.com)

EVENTS + WORKSHOPS — KINSHIP HIGHLAND PARK (kinshipyoga.com)

How can we awaken our seven spinal energy centers? Kundalini energy rises with yoga.

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The sun is good, but we'll do this series indoors.

It's New Year's Day. Will the wheel spin just the same as it did the year before? Or...

Will we put a fresh spin on it? It's up to us. "Karma" does not mean choice but rather the ACTION we take based on the choice we make.

Dharma Bu Meditation

We can always choose. There's freedom of choice, not just in this country by throughout the universe.

But what if there's a gun up to your head?

All the better. Makes my choice easier. I have to want to do it to do it, don't I? Or else that person should take her hands and grab mine and do it for me. Before I do it, that gun has to be there, that threat of violence or imminent death. If there's no threat of great bodily harm, I'm not stirring.

Hot yoga poses are easier in a big group.

In all of these, I have to choose. The choice may get smaller and harder, but it's a choice the gun holder is counting on.

The young man held a gun to the head of God, "Stick this holy cow!" Put the audience in action; let the slaughtered take a bow. Did God do it? His/Her choice.

Hi, I'm Stella or "Yogihantas" on Instagram. Reach out. I'd love community input!

QUOTE: Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles. It takes away today's peace.

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So what if, whatever we do for New Year's Eve, we get up before noon and get over to the yoga studio for some Sun Salutations to greet the rising sky clock? Our choice. Habit is a strong predictor. The Sandman will hold the gun and say, "Stay in bed!" We could listen. Or we could do different.

Excellent instruction will be provided. Bring a mat and a water bottle. Everything else is available at the studio.

• What are the Eight Limbs (or Parts) of Yoga

What's a "Sun Salutation"?

After the laundry, the ecstasy: first the Sun Salutations to the long final resting pose.

Sun Salutation series of poses

What's a Sun Salutation? First of all, no one needs to know to participate. Beginners are welcome. It will all be explained. But for those who are a bit an*l about jumping into things, it's a series of standing and bending poses that go both ways for balance. Here's a photo of it all at once from the India's Gandhi Airport.

• Why 108? It's a holy number, a mala (rosary, full string of beads)

Begin at Mountain, rise up to a Back Bend arch, Forward Bend with the breath. (It's all about the breath, which unites or "yogifies" Sun and Moon, Yin and Yang, Bright and Dark, Effort and Repose, Inhale and Exhale to bring about a UNION of complementary parts thought of as opposites).

I've never felt so good at noon on New Year's

Hatha is said by some to mean "Sun-Moon," whereas others say that's not what it means. Close enough. Breathe out for effort, in for repose, which is the reverse of how we usually do things. There are video tutorials. After plank there's the most talked about yoga pose since Full Lotus: Downward Dog. There's Upward Dog, too, then Plank. It's a lovely series. And there will be a room full of others on their journey to a great New Year.

• Participate live online, and donate to a great cause

All proceeds benefit Yoga Gives Back

Yoga Gives Back: Stella Han's fundraiser (networkforgood.com)

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Stella (@yogihantas)

All proceeds from this donation-based event support Yoga Gives Back (networkforgood.com), a charity that provides education to children and micro-loans to outcaste women in India to help families rise from poverty by their own efforts.

Yogini Stella Han is an ambassador out to save the world, country by country. But why India? It's the world's largest nation, now surpassing China. Why children? C'mon, they're kids! Why women? Women are the root of the family, and family is the root of traditional Indian society.

• RSVP at Dharma Buddhist Meditation (MEETUP):
• Disclosure Project (Greater LA) New Year's Day Moving Yoga Meditation: 108 Sun Salutations, Mon, Jan 1, 2024, 12:00 PM | Meetup
• PasaDharma (Foothills) New Year's Day Moving Yoga Meditation: 108 Sun Salutations, Mon, Jan 1, 2024, 12:00 PM | Meetup
• Nature Center (The Valley) New Year's Day Moving Yoga Meditation: 108 Sun Salutations, Mon, Jan 1, 2024, 12:00 PM | Meetup
• Connect with Yogini Stella at Kinship Yoga Studios
• PARTY LOCATION: 5612 N. Figueroa St.
• Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA 90042
• COST: This event is donation-based with proceeds benefitting an Indian charity that serves outcaste children and provides women micro-loans so they can help themselves: Yoga Gives Back - Stella Han's fundraiser (networkforgood.com)
• New Year Ceremony: Kinship Yoga Studios (12/30/23)

The Eight Limbs or Parts of Yoga

Here are the 8 parts of yoga. Samadhi-in-meditation is most important, breath the most basic.

New Year Ceremony: Kinship Yoga

Stella Han (Kinship Yoga), Ananda (Dharma Bud Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Hi, I'm Stella Han, straight outta K-Town! Follow me @Yogihantas on Instagram

Hosted by Stella Han, Araceli Contreras, and Veronica DeSoyza (kinshipyoga.com)

Hosted by India-trained Stella "Kwan Yin" Han

As the longest and bloodiest year in history wraps up, with Israel raging war on an innocent public that Americans are paying for, it's time for yoga, meditation, gratitude, gift giving, and maintaining our humanity in the split-personality town that is the City of Lost Angels. This event is by donation.*

The way to Union of mind and body is breath.

We may be surrounded by Hollywood's tinsel, but we are in search of spirituality. Come help us build community with a vegan/vegetarian potluck, free gift exchange (gift blanket with gifts for all), yoga, guided Buddhist meditation, kirtan (call-and-response Sanskrit chanting), spiritual music (holy harmonium), conversation, hugs, friendship, verbal sharing, and maybe even an Xmas jingle.

• New Year's Day yoga event: 108 Sun Salutations (1/1/24)

All proceeds benefit Yoga Gives Back

Yoga Gives Back: Stella Han's fundraiser (networkforgood.com)

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Stella (@yogihantas)

*There will be festivities, friend making, reflection, an inclusive altar, good vibes, surprises. All proceeds support Yoga Gives Back (networkforgood.com) a charity that provides education to children and micro-loans to women in India to help families rise from poverty by their own efforts.

Yogini Stella is an ambassador to save the world, country by country. Why India? It's the world's largest, now surpassing China. Why children? They need it. Why women? Women are the root of the family, family the root of Indian society.

• Annual Veggie Potluck New Year Ceremony
• Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, 5:45-9:00 PM
• Kinship Studios, Highland Park
• 5612 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
• kinshipyoga.com
• KINSHIPYOGA@GMAIL.COM
• IG: @KINSHIP_HIGHLANDPARK
• FREE TO RSVP:
• Disclosure Project: New Year Veggie Potluck, Meditation, Gift Exchange w/ Stella @ Kinship Yoga, Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 5:45 PM | Meetup
• PasaDharma: New Year Veggie Potluck, Meditation, Gift Exchange w/ Stella @ Kinship Yoga, Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 5:45 PM | Meetup
• Nature Center: New Year Veggie Potluck, Meditation, Gift Exchange w/ Stella @ Kinship Yoga, Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 5:45 PM | Meetup

"Radical Buddhism"

Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly; Leonard Price (Radical Buddhism)

 The Dali Buddha (Shannock Boy, Ted Buchanan/flickr.com)

The Baited Hook

...Though seldom stated in so many words, a cherished belief of all human beings is that happiness lies in the satisfaction of our desires. 

 

All our actions are usually based on this seemingly self-evident fact. We are devoted to obtaining the objects of our desire; we consider it our right, our duty, and indeed our highest aspiration [the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness] to get what we want, to obtain what we think will bring us enjoyment, satisfaction, and/or "fulfillment."

We are accustomed to asking one another, "What do you want out of life?" believing that if we can settle on some clear vision of happiness, and go after it, then all will be well.

"Earthlings are easy" - Mara Devaputra

Unfortunately, experience has a way of overturning our theories. Those manifold objects we yearn for prove troublesome to capture; when captured they yield less pleasure than expected; when held onto they decay and cause us grief. 

 

Then we are driven to turn for relief toward other enticements and thereby renew the cycle. Somehow we believe that if only this search for gratification is conducted correctly, if only the right objects are selected, if only we can have a little luck to add to our efforts, then we can certainly attain that permanent happiness that now eludes us. Badly thumped by fortune, we doggedly tell ourselves, "Yes, it's worth all the pain," and turn a swollen eye toward fresh delights.

 

But is it worth all the pain? 

 

I was doing what I was told to do.

Consider a succulent worm bobbing just below the surface of a pond, attracting the attention of a hungry fish. In a flash the fish swallows the worm, only to discover the hidden hook, the barb that rips into its innards and causes it terror, suffering, and untimely death.

 

The worm is attractive, but it delivers little satisfaction to the fish. Such is the nature of sense-pleasures. 

Those objects of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind that we find so alluring are more likely to cause us misery than happiness, and the surprising truth is that it is not so much our choice of objects that is at fault, but the mere act of choosing in the first place, since all phenomena of this world are in reality flawed, connected to suffering, and unreliable.

  

Happiness - How To

According to the Buddha, true happiness is not to be found in the deceptive sense-pleasures of the world -- not in wine, wealth, or wo/men. No matter how hard we try, we can never reach security as long as we persist in wrong views about the desirability of this or that sensual object.

Without a clear understanding of the nature of phenomena our search is doomed from the outset.

Our first task must be to confront the facts that the universe does not exist for our amusement and that such pleasures as we customarily derive from it are false, impermanent, and unworthy of our interest.

 

While the Buddha knows the existence of enjoyment in the world, which he himself indulged in to an nth degree as a Shakyan prince, he points out that all worldly pleasure is bound up with disappointment (dukkha, dissatisfaction, "suffering," instability, and unreliability), inseparable from disappointment, and sure to give way to disappointment.

Yin-yang with amethyst (Joe Temmel/flickr)

Therefore, in embracing the pleasant we cannot help but simultaneously embrace the unpleasant -- like yin-yang. Our craving prevents us from realizing these facts by continually projecting a false appearance on the world, convincing us that the tempting objects around us can actually be possessed and squeezed dry of some satisfying essence.

 

Without the intervention of wisdom, craving will keep us running from one disappointment to another. Though we have many times taken the bait of sense-pleasure and suffered the inevitable pull of the hook, each new worm that comes wiggling through the water excites the heedless person.

  

But I don't want it, I don't want it!

The Buddha teaches that the solution to the terrible union of pleasure and pain is not to struggle hopelessly to split them apart, but to view the whole contaminated mass with detachment.

All phenomena share the same Three Characteristics of Existence: instability, unsatisfactoriness, and unsubstantiality. So it is futile to single out some objects for liking and others for loathing.

 

The whole cast of mind that sees things in terms of liking-and-loathing must be abandoned in favor of the detached observation called "mindfulness." Clearly, if the bait hides a hook we do best to curb our appetites.

  

Forsaking attachment to sense-pleasures is a logical application of the Four Noble Truths, yet even among those who subscribe to the teachings of the Buddha there can be found a deep-seated reluctance to move from theory to practice. The hold which craving has over our minds is... More

Indian outcast millionaire mulls caste, riches

Tim Sullivan (AP)

AGRA, India - As far back as he can remember, people told Hari Kishan Pippal that he was unclean, with a filthiness that had tainted his family for centuries.

Teachers forced him to sit apart from other students. Employers sometimes didn't bother to pay him.

Pippal is a dalit, a member of the outcast community once known as untouchables [who often leave Hinduism to become Buddhists, which recognizes no castes]. Born at the bottom of Hinduism's complex social ladder, that meant he could not eat with people from higher castes or drink from their wells.

He was not supposed to aspire to a life beyond that of his father [according to the Vedas, a collection of sacred Indian Old Testament-style texts], an illiterate cobbler. Years later, he still won't repeat the slurs that people called him.

Now, though, people call him something else.

They call him rich.

Pippal owns a hospital, a shoe factory, a car dealership and a publishing company. He owns six cars. He lives in a maze of linked apartments in a quiet if dusty neighborhood of high walls and wrought-iron gates.

"In my heart I am dalit. But with good clothes, good food, good business, it is like I am high-caste," he said, a 60-year-old with a shock of white hair, a well-tailored vest and the girth of a Victorian gentleman. Now, he points out, he is richer than most brahmins, who sit at the top of the caste hierarchy: "I am more than brahmin!" More

How to Get Riches: the Buddha

Once the Buddha addressed the [multi-millionaire] householder Anathapindika:

"O householder, there are five things that are wished for, loved, and agreeable yet rarely gained in the world: long life, beauty, happiness, fame, and rebirth in heaven(s).

"But of these five things, householder, I do not teach that they are obtained by prayer or by making vows. If one could obtain them by prayer or vows, who would not have obtained them? For a noble disciple, householder, who wishes to have..." More

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Indian Heroes: Mayawati for Queen?

Potential Indian prime minister, Mayawati, the Dalit (untouchable) Regina: To Mayawati and her mentor, Kanshi Ram, goes the credit of finding a strategy that allowed Dalits to parlay their numbers and position in the lower echelons of the state structure into real political power. Today, BSP supremo Mayawati wields power not as a subordinate member of a coalition led by privileged groups, but as the head of an electorally potent coalition of diverse social groups with Dalits in the vanguard.

Assembling a list of 60 people to represent sixty years of the Republic of India is a kind of indoor game, fundamentally no more important than arguing about the ten best Hindi films of the sixties.

But the nation-state is a charismatic beast: it invests everything it touches, even the trivial business of list-making, with significance. When our jurors sat down to the impossible business of finding sixty names to stand in for the nation, there was agreement, argument, accommodation.

Sometimes there were differences of opinion that couldn't be reconciled. And this despite the fact that the three jurors agreed, before they started, to exclude villains from the list, no matter how historically significant they were. See their choices>>