The Holidays, when things get cold and dark, are the best time of year to party. It's also the birthday of the hippie owner John., so it's an extra festive occasion of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Channukah, and Late-Diwali.
[Humans need social contact, according to psychology, whether they think they like it or not, as we are pack animals and interdependent angels. So get out' the house and into a festive potlach atmosphere of interaction, and give an Irish goodbye when it gets to be too much.]
Use the back door for free parking
Yogis Cody and Stella have a night of music, singing, Sanskrit chanting (kirtan), party games, and lots of delicious food.
It's through the Cosmic Breezeway and in Oh Happy Days Vegan Cafe, a throwback to hippie times when all anyone did was smoke herb, attend anti-war protests, farm hair, and go to college to get a degree in systematically questioning the status quo and the corporate power structure.
Ah, those were the days when you could just turn on, tune in, and drop out. Come by to celebrate and give well wishes to the birthday boy with live musical performances.
Bring a VEGAN (no animal products of any kind) item, dessert, guacamole, salad, soup, or good quality chips. There's always pizza and entree items. All are welcome. It's FREE, so RSVP:
This year marks the 10th International Day of Yoga with the theme “Yoga for Self and Society.”
Yoga, a transformative practice [consisting of eight limbs, spokes, or constituent factors], represents the harmony of mind and body [and spirit or breath], the balance between thought and action, and the unity of restraint and fulfillment.
Yoga on the lawn for 10th Int'l Yoga Day event, June 21, 2024, 6:00 pm (EDT), UNHQ, NY
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Poses are just one limb. Practice all eight.
It integrates the body, mind, spirit, and soul [holy spirit, prana, pneuma], offering a holistic approach to health and well-being that brings peace to our hectic lives.
Its power to transform is what we celebrate on this special day.
Organized by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in collaboration with the UN Secretariat, the event takes place in the North Lawn Area of UNHQ.
What is yoga and why do we celebrate it?
I'm a movie star who loves the Easter Bunny. I'm a social climbing sociopath (2005 film).
Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. The word "yoga" derives from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.
Today it is practiced in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity.
Recognizing its universal appeal, on 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131.
The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga.
The draft resolution establishing the International Day of Yoga was proposed by India and endorsed by a record 175 member states.
The proposal was first introduced by recently reelected Indian [Nationalist] Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address during the opening of the 69th session of the General Assembly, in which he said:
I did it! Hands-free headstand balance!
“Yoga is an invaluable gift from our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action...a holistic approach [that] is valuable to our health and our well-being. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.”
The purpose of yoking, union (uniting body, breath, and mind) is to reach stillness (samadhi), so its real purpose is meditation (absorption) -- being able to sit and being able to still the mind and focus it on a single object.
That object could be the breath itself, a mantra (thought instrument to guide the mind), an image of the divine (visualization), a flower, a candle flame, a kasina (disc), or any of the 40 meditation objects the Buddha described.
Yogini Jen Love in mod outfit
So yoga may be described as a system of breathing exercises, body movements and postures, internal organ stimulation, cleansing, spinal flexibility developed by seers and sages. Although the sage Patanjali is credited with "inventing" yoga, he only organized it into a system in the Yoga Sutras, which are really aphorisms or short sayings that are then explained. He learned them and expressed them concisely, rather than developing them all himself.
In fact, the reason for yoga is stated in the first aphorism: to still the thought waves or streams of consciousness (vrittis). If samadhi is understood as "stillness" of mind, then vrittis are the streams, the whirlpools, the chaotic roar of consciousness. Imagine the strings of an instrument all jangled, out of tune, and constantly strummed. Now imagine them in tune (coherent), softening, and stilling. That is the eight limbs (ashtanga) of yoga, yoking the mind to its sadhana or "daily practice," coming all together, sam-a-dhi, cohering.
One may not reach complete stillness all at once. It may be done in steps or employing expedient means along the way, such as leaning on "God/Goddess" (Brahman, Maha Brahma, neither male nor female but expressing the qualities of both masculinity and femininity, yin and yang), a deva or image of the divine. or one's best possible self, aspiring to our own divine potential, our innate capacity to become divine.
So from a Buddhist perspective -- or any non-Hindu, non-Vedic dharma (doctrine), such as Jainism or Baba's Ananda Marga (PR Sarkar's "Path to Bliss") -- perspective, one need not imagine or visualize a theistic being. It is quite enough to go bigger and take as one's ideal Brahman (the truth behind all illusion) or the potential for Buddhahood, the bodhisattvaideal, when this "being-bent-on-enlightenment" refers to supreme awakening, nonteaching awakening, or personal awakening (the enlightenment of a supremely awakened teacher, a fully awakened paccekka buddha, or an arahant (enlightened disciple).
Om (aum): cosmic sound
Patanjali, gurus, and sadhus of the past really envisioned the immensity of the godhead (godhood), the omniscient and omnipotent (Brahman), rather than relying on human conceptions of an anthropomorphic figure like Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, or Krishna (or Ma Durga, Saraswati, Kali, or Radha). Imagine a "higher power," or the best form of myself I could ever become.
"Ashes to ashes, funk to funk me, we know Major Tom's a junkie, strung out on heaven's high, hitting an all-time low," observes almost-Buddhist monk David Bowie (genius.com).
Where did it all begin? It surely wasn't with the Catholic ("Universal") Church, the great appropriator of all sorts of popular spiritual traditions it abrogates to itself with precious little explanation to its fan base.
Buddhism has a "Lent" called the Rains Retreat (Vas or Vassa), with fasting, meditating, studying, and staying at the vihara or temple complex as the monastics go into retreat.
One of Wisdom Quarterly's "Mexican Buddhists," Pfc. Sandoval, also being Catholic, wants a Lenten sacrifice, removing meat like Catholicism (and many other Christian groups, mainly Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Ethiopian) originally called for until Vatican anti-popes like John Paul II watered the tradition down so much as to undermine it. The whole of Lent was originally about abstaining from killing and devouring animals, which is certainly kinder than the million animals killed a day in the USA for consumption with all the harm that does to the environment and climate.
Bless me, Padre, I want to go back to heaven.
Parishioners in the diocese like spectacle, cake (or communion wafers known as prasad in India and in Hinduism), along with all the candlelight, bells, recitations in a holy foreign language, and incense. It appeals to our sense of mystery and wonder.
Like most great spiritual things, India is the source. (Of course, Egypt and ancient Sumer) were replete with spiritual/religious hokum. It's not anything many civilizations were lacking -- except, oddly, one of the greatest, namely, the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). Excavations have not revealed religious practices or temples, nor has anyone deciphered their pre-Sanskrit writings.
Some mornings I draw my forehead designs, others I just white it all out. Then I hit the pipe.
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The West does asana in place of ashtanga.
The yogic sadhu ("holyman") tradition of spreading ashes all over one's body, with particular attention to designs on the forehead are definitely an ancient Indian custom. Wandering ascetics, not always having access to rivers (to wash away their sins, unskillful karma, or uncleanliness in) resorted to the very smart practice of smearing pyre ash all over themselves.
It is a great cleanser, absorbing oils and lifting dirt. It is then rubbed off like a facemask, revealing clean and rejuvenated skin. Think dry shampoo. Talcum powder became the custom in cold Europe, which needed to stay somewhat clean and not as smelly as the commoners. Cleanliness became close to godliness, which is odd because for so long it was not.
Forehead art -- placing a mark (tilaka) as carefully as applied cosmetic makeup around the bindi or third eye, where Catholics now place a cross -- has been all the rage among holymen for centuries.
Incense ash will do, but pyre (cremation) ashes are more symbolic of being aware of death and accepting of our dust-to-dust journey in samsara (the continued wandering on of cyclical rebirths, which always end in death and redeaths).
It's a drishti(focal point) for darshan(to be seen as being holy), a puja(devotional) practice rededicating ourselves to our religious principles -- virtue and truth and the pursuit of all that is Good and to remind ourselves that life is fleeting.
Buddhism's 13 sane ascetic practices or "austerities"were established to counter the extreme asceticism of some yogis who, as ineffectual "penance" for their sins, would practice extreme self-mortifications that only harmed the body while not purifying the mind/heart, leading away from the spiritual goal of liberation (moksha) rather than toward it.
The Buddha is a Catholic saint. (No, really).
So just as St. Issa/Jesus didtapas (austerities) to purify his mind and heart and exercise his spiritual powers, it is good for use to follow suit.
First things first, it's that time of year to "remove meat" (Latin carnival), to prepare our bodies for Lent to burn away sin (shake off accumulated bad karma) from our spiritual body as a penance, as a sadhana. If Issa/Yshua/Jesus could endure 40 days of not eating, we can surely endure 40 days of indulging in all the great vegan fare now available.
People want to live forever (in heaven), but they won't even stop killing (or paying someone to kill) and devouring animals for even half a season?
Ash Wednesday: a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day) and marks the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence (and sacrificing something we like by abstaining from it) before the rebirth that is Easter. It's the "long dark teatime of the soul" (Douglas Adams), as it were.
Fasting and abstinence
Not killing and not causing to kill, is that so hard? It's like the first commandment. Mercy.
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, meditating alone without food -- and loving it.
Many Lent-observing Christian denominations emphasize making a Lenten sacrifice, as well as fasting and abstinence during the season of Lent. This is particularly true on Ash Wednesday.
The First Council of Nicaea spoke of Lent as a period of fasting for 40 days [as a means of mental, physical, and spiritual purification] in advance of Easter.
Whatever the Council's original intent, this 40-day fast came into wide practice throughout the church [38].
While starting a Lenten sacrifice on Ash Wednesday (e.g., giving up porn, masturbating, meat, or cussing, or cellphone use), it is customary to pray for strength to keep it through the whole season of Lent.
All such sacrifices (abstentions) are good tapas (austerities) performed for the sake of self-purification. If nothing else, they bring into sharp relief our bad habits, energy drains, and clear away distractions and deviance from leading the kind of "good life" we'd like to live. It's better if no one tells us what to give up. We know. We ourselves can see. It's just that letting go is so hard because we've built all sorts of supports to our harmful behaviors that have mortared our habits in place. Just do it. Let go. It's only temporary. Pick up the bad habits in 40 days.
Many often wish others a similar blessing: "May God bless your Lenten sacrifice" [39]. In many places, Christians historically abstained from all food for a whole day until the evening, and at sunset, Western Christians traditionally broke the Lenten fast, which is often known as the Black Fast [40, 41].
In the Ethiopian Church, one of the oldest in all of Christianity, eating vegetarian/vegan food was considered fasting, so one is at no risk of starving. A plant-based diet is a cruelty-free, compassionate, and smart choice to survive and thrive spiritually and physically. Just look at yogis.
(SWB Films) Fed up with teenage life in the suburbs, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse's Buddhist classic Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard.
Now an author and father, he recounts his journey from jungle hippie communes to Zen Buddhist monasteries, from the warm Pacific to the icy New York Atlantic shore.
Based on the internationally-acclaimed memoir, Saltwater Buddha is a chronicle of finding focus in the barrel of a wave and truth in the great salty blue.
Director: Lara Popyack. Executive Producer: Urijah Faber. Editor: Jordan Dozzi. Producers Mike Madden, Lara Popyack, and Jaimal Yogis. Director of Photography: Roberto Vezzone. Surfers in order of appearance: Jaimal Yogis, Logan Landry, Holly Beck, Andy Olive, Danny Hess, Jay Nelson.
Yoga's all about being beautiful in fashion brands, isn't it? Practice at home.
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Go easy without strain. Pain is a warning.
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Can men do yoga? Yes, yoga is for everyone. Uniting flexibility, strength, and balance is yoga, each supporting the other. Effort-ease (sthira-sukha) is the key. Lift into the pose then rest in it (Y7).
Celtic sea salt vs. Himalayan pink salt: mineral comparison + differences
(Clean Food Living) March 12, 2022. Ever wonder what the differences between Celtic sea salt and Himalayan pink [rock] salt are? This video explores in depth information about the minerals in pink Himalayan salt (an ancient sea salt mined in pristine caves in Pakistan) and the minerals in Celtic sea salt. The hostess compares Celtic sea salt minerals to pink Himalayan salt minerals in a side-by-side chart showing numeric values. Plus this video shows the many similarities and differences (other than mineral content) between the two. With this information we can determine some of the health benefits of each.
NOTE: Dear friends, please forgive my mispronunciation of Himalayas (called them Himalayans) and of Celtic. I was phonetically saying "Seltic" (like the basketball team) instead of "Keltic" 😊 Many blessings!
The biggest mountain in Buddhist cosmology is called Mount Meruor "Good Meru" (Sumeru, Sineru), Meruparvata in Sanskrit.
Human progress and exploration scratch and pound at the fringes of our known "world" (loka) and publicly-disclosed understanding.
Yet, there are still places in the world that have remained mostly unexplored by humans. (FACT: 25% of the USA has never been surveyed by anyone on the ground but only flown over).
One such place sits high in the cold remoteness of the Himalayan Mountain range dividing Vajrayana Buddhist Bhutan and Mahayana Buddhist China.
In this place of desolate and bitter cold, unforgiving, biting winds, and jagged peaks looms a virtually unexplored mountain steeped in myth and magic known as Gangkhar Puensum. It is located in closed Bhutan, the last Buddhist Himalayan kingdom now become a republic, near its border with China. Source: mysteriousuniverse.org
World of Spirits (ETs)
Gangkhar Puensum's name means "White Peak of the Three Spiritual Brothers" (wiki).
We visit earth and live in the Himalayas.
It is the highest mountain in the last Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan, now no longer a monarchy, and a strong candidate for the highest unclimbed mountain in the world.
It has an elevation of 24,836 feet (7,570 meters) and a prominence of 9,826 feet (2,995 m). Its name means "White Peak of the Three Spiritual Brothers."
The Maha Kumbha Mela ("Great Ambrosia-Pot Festival") is joyously celebrated in the city of Ujjain.
Few realized that the Kumbh Mela is attended by sadhvis, female sadhus, not only male sadhus. It is a great attraction for these naga-sadhvis and -sadhus.
There are certain rules for the ascetics who attend the mela, which are mandatory for males and females. Here are some interesting facts about them most people might not know:
1. Prior to becoming a wandering ascetic or hermit, a woman has to follow all the rules of brahmacharya(celibate rules) for 6-12 years. If she succeeds in doing that, she is ordained by her guru.
2. Sadhus investigate the woman’s past, family, and friends before making her a naga sadhvi.
3. Before becoming a sadhvi, the woman has to do her own pinddan and libation.
How to become a wandering ascetic: Processes and rituals for becoming a sadhvi vary by sect. In almost all of them she is initiated by a guru, who bestows upon the initiate a new name and a mantra (a sacred sound or phrase), which is generally known only to the initiate and guru and may be repeated by as part of meditative practice. Becoming a wanderer is a path followed by millions. It is the final of four stages of a good Hindu life: after being a young celibate student, a retired worker, a householder, it is time to let it all go to become a celibate wanderer or pilgrim in search of Truth/godhood/moksha.
But for most Hindus, particularly in modern times, this does not seem like a practical option. For a person to become a sadhvi/sadhu,vairagya is needed. This term means "a desire to achieve something by leaving the world" (cutting familial, societal, and worldly attachments).
A person who wants to become sadhu must first seek a guru then perform "service to the teacher" or guru-seva. The guru then decides whether the person is eligible to take to wandering (sannyasa) by observing the candidate or sisya (the person who wants to become a sadhu or sanyasin). If the person is eligible, guru upadesa (teaching) is done. Only then does the ordinary person transform into an ascetic, wayfarer, or wanderer. There are different types of sanyasins in India who follow different sampradya. But all sadhus, even Buddhist ones, from time immemorial have a common goal in mind: attaining moksha (liberation). More
FEMALE Buddhist monastics are known as bhikkhunis ("nuns"), Northern California.
4. Females are first made to shave their heads and then bathe in the river as a part of a [baptismal] cleansing ritual.
5. Femaleascetics are given equal respect as males. They also take the royal "purification bath" along with males the holy river, usually the sacred Ganges.
6. In the path of becoming a sadhvi, a woman has to show that she is a complete devotee of God/GOD and has no interest in worldly pleasures.
7. There is only one difference in female and males. Females are made to cover themselves with a yellow cloth. They are not allowed to bathe naked -- like many of the "skyclad" males -- and so they have to use that same yellow cloth while bathing.
Acharya Mahamandaleshwar ordains women in the holy river as sanyasins.
8. As their lives are completely devoted to realization (of GOD/Brahman, of union with the universe, of finding the ultimate truth), their day starts with praying (japa) devotions (puja) and ends with the same.
9. Female ascetics put tika (tilaka, colorful makeup using sacred cremation pyre ashes as the base) on their foreheads and wear just a single yellowish or white cloth.
10. When a woman becomes a sadhvi, all of the priestesses/ascetics in her group start calling her mata ("mother," like female-padre). More
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