God - Ancestral lineage of wisdom present and beyond.
Been havin' to pour my creative energy, life force, into something personal.
Human Nature 2
Writing various paths at once. Is that what writers do? With characters, plots, stories, techniques all entwined into one artful act of catharsis. When I write, I feel good. Even though writing is only one way of channeling life's overwhelming forces of creation, destruction and regeneration. I read, and writers erace my fear of phrasing, long senrtences and ambiguous grammar. Like saints.
"See you soon!" I said to the Ashtanga Mistress. Not knowing when soon would be.
One practically yoga-less week in, only a weekend ashtanga-quickie came to pass. The next week culminated in a moment's complete devotion. A moment Of Fleeting Devotion Breast-Feeding on Soul.
Been havin' a lot of work after the summer break. Substitute teacher help is needed every day. Illness accompanies communities. Teachers have lives. I subbed every day. K-12 schooling is hard. A lot must be learned while coming of age in a given community. And now, our humanity extends well beyond a school district, or village, or nation. We are the people of Planet Earth. Millions of us. Who share the resources of finite ecosystems.
It felt poetic that I spent the first day of school with the same class from the last day of school back in May. I took it as a good omen. In two weeks, I helped care for and instruct over two hundred students, from kindergarden to eighth grade plus special needs. I left bits of my soul in the classroom. Rearing children demands an unbelievable amount of life force. Of course! Education is a vital aspect of inter-being as a human species in terms of wisdom and wellbeingin in the larger context of a finite planet. Mysterious, galactic, universal and non-existent as it's said to be. A planet, nontheless, we all share. We dwell together. We carry each other. Peaceful, caring and kind coexistance guided by wisdom is vital for the wellbeing of a planetary community. But dealing with fifty fifth-graders all day makes my brain feel fried. And when a very troubled middle school student threw a nasty comment at me, I spat out Buddha's First Noble Truth in response. "I know you suffer, so do I, we all suffer." And the moment passed us by.
And my heart yearned for ashtanga yoga as the world (samsara) pulled me in like a magnet. I wondered, is yoga with me (dharma) even if I can't practice full physical mastery (karma) of it? Complex and all-encompassing as yoga is.
Asana is vital. Sure, breath is everywhere, awareness always available. But to train body and mind in the asana-artful way (body physics), is irresistible. Even in a spiritual context, why should I feel ashamed of being deeply physical while I embody a material human form?
Human Nature 3 - La naturaleza humana 3 -
I am content with my Me siento contenta con
relationship with Jesus. mi relación con Jesús.
He who embodied. El que encarnó.
I know what Jesus Yo sé lo que Jesús
means to me. significa para mi.
Yeah, been havin' to experience samsara asceticism, the world without yoga study. Labor, human communal responsibilities, society, all call for observation, for careful attention. All that worldly stuff that engulfes the human soul with its perpetual calls. All that, which makes it possible for anything to be. But it pulls me away from philosophy. Thank God for a weekend's study quickie! The yoga scholar summarized yoga history and philosophy in an hour. Then the ashtanga mistress introduced a list of asanas for another hour. The scholar drew a chronological sketch mapped from scripture. Having studied with him for years, I’ve heard him relate scripture-based yoga history and philosophy before. This time, the mention of ancient fire ignited a different thought.
Physical Master B.
Timelines are important though relative.
They give a sense of being and relation.
Ancestry is embedded in our subtlest flesh,
To engender what lies beyond.
Before, the spiritual fire of ancient Indian philosophy evoked in me a paleolithicish feel, a Stone Age vibe. A prehistoric-to-ancient perspective characterized by matrifocal, non-hierarchical and nature-loving traditions. I had already learned about Marija Gimbutas’ work on the Civilization of the Great Goddess in Old Europe (“Neolithic Europe before the Indo-Europeans”, 7000-3000 BCE (Before the Common Era, i.e. B.C. (Before Christ (birth year zero)))*. I thought of the communal, nurturing, sensual, and earthly female fires of a ubiquitous Mother Goddess. Marija's work made me wonder: Is archeology scripture?
Now, the mention of ancient Indian philosophical fire felt alchemical. Perhaps, because I revisited the subject of alchemy recently. A philosophical fire, indeed, with a more masculine flair, which has burned since prehistory and all through patriarchy. It's effects distinct from those of ancient female fires?
“Alchemy,
the secret art of the land of Khem, is one of the two oldest sciences known to
the world. The other is astrology. The beginnings of both extend back into the
obscurity of prehistoric times. According to the earliest records extant [still existing], alchemy and
astrology were considered as divinely revealed to man so that by their aid he
might regain his lost estate.
…
The earthly body of alchemy is
chemistry, for chemists do not realize […] that so long as they study only
material elements they can at best discover but half of the mystery. Astrology
has crystallized into astronomy, whose votaries ridicule the dreams of ancient
seers and sages, deriding their symbols as meaningless products of
superstition. Nevertheless, the intelligentsia of the modern world can never
pass behind the veil which divides the seen from the unseen except in the way
appointed – the Mysteries.
What is life? What is intelligence?
What is force? These are the problems to the solution of which the
ancients consecrated their temples of learning. Who shall say that they did not
answer those questions? Who would recognize the answer if given?
…
Evolutionists trace the unfoldment of
the arts and sciences up through the growing intelligence of the prehistoric [human],
while others, of a transcendental point of view, like to consider them as being
direct revelations from God.
…
The Chaldeans, Phoenicians, and
Babylonians were familiar with the principles of alchemy, as were many Oriental
[people] [the Harappans? I wonder]. It was practiced in Greece and Rome; was the master science of
the Egyptians. Khem was an ancient name for the land of Egypt; and both
the words alchemy and Chemistry are a perpetual reminder
of the priority of Egypt’s scientific knowledge.
…
Many interesting solutions to the
riddle of alchemy’s origin have been advanced. One is that alchemy was revealed
to man by the mysterious Egyptian demigod Hermes Trismegistus [who] is
credited by the Egyptians as being the author of all the arts and sciences.”**
I wonder whether Hermes Trismegistus is a type of force, a bridge (yoga) between what is (essential knowledge) and inspiration (what is expressed in sharing information (discourse, learning-teaching). I think of Patanjali, author of the ancient Indian scripture the Yoga Sutras. I read somewhere, that patanjali means something like prayer or gift from heaven. Is Patanjali, too, a kind of force yoking essence and the expression thereof (Plato)? Like Hermes, who is the source of science and the arts (understanding). Patanjali is also said to have written the perfect Sanskrit grammar, as well as Ayurvedic medicine, in addition to the ultimate existential guide, the crème de la crème of philosophy: The Yoga Sutras.
Been havin' doubts. Ballet class is about to begin again, after a month-long break. Will I be able to find a balance between study (yoga, kung fu, ballet), work (labor, responsibilities), and art (philosophy)? I guess we'll see. I sense things will change again. And again. Of course! The world is full of changing phenomena arising and passing. That's what Goenka taught that the Gotama Buddha taught through his contemplative technique. Come to think of it, Vipassana Meditation Master S.N. Goenka is one of the best philosophers I've known. His teachings come straight from the Buddha's mouth. A lion's roar that makes my heart beat to the rhythm of ancient drums as my body's many strings light up and catch on fire. That's what Ashtanga does. Asana. Yoga. Embodiment. So what? If I'm going to feel physical being, then I want to feel it whole and on my terms. Is not the feeling of it, or at least the winessing of the feeling of it, pure spirit indeed?
Why is Prakriti (Indian philosophical figure) imagined as a dancer? When dancing in the world, even one of your own creation, is so hard. It demands practice, patience and persistence. But the world demands so much more! Prakriti = nature. Is Nature a divine phenomenon? Divine as in: a grand existence, a phenomenon that extends beyond, one with a transcendental and ubiquitous status.
Samkhya philosophy identifies two grand, all-encompassing philosophical figures: Prakriti and Purusha. A dancer and a witness to her dance. Nature's entangling dance of distractions. Distracing the observer while observing. Purusha observing what, if not Prakriti? A witnessing force aware of the universe. Because there is no self in Purushaland. In fact, there's nothing. But can there be anything unobserved? There must be gazing, whether inwardly or outwardly. Without awareness can a witness even be? To what extent does purusha (witnessing, observation) show up in prakriti (all of nature and the universe)? In observing (which is formless) does form manifest? From what does form draw its presence? Or does form draw observation through its sheer existence? Is form per se? Only how? What are some examples of observational manifestation? Perception per se, the act of witnessing, the attention that bounces back and forth in any ecosystem. Is a phenomenon such as fame en example? Is purusha truly anonymous?*** Why does it need senses and nature to realize itself? Why does Purusha need Prakriti if he is tultimately not to be at all?
At the end of
the yoga scholar’s flash lecture, a scientist in the audience confessed that she
recognized what she had learned in Western science in what yoga philosophy
expressed. Parallels. An interesting phenomenon, they both concluded. My suspicion, that all human seeking will encounter the essentially same knowledge and
understanding, is reinforced by prehistoric, ancient and contemporary
perspectives.
Thank God for Labour Day Weekend as exhaustion sets in. The bleeding has begun again. The time for rest has come.
Human Nature 1
Saw a shadow
Reflected
In a darkened mirror
At dawn.
I thought it was the devil.
But it was I.
Why must the devil be
so much like me?
*Gimbutas,
Marija. 1991. The Civilization of the Goddess – The World of Old Europe. Edited
by Joan Marler. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. Preface.
**Manly P. Hall. 2010. The Secret Teachings of all Ages. Dover Publications,
United States. A newly reset, unabridged republication of the text of the work
originally published by H.S. Crocker Co. San Francisco, in 1928. Manly Palmer
Hall (1901-1990) “This book is
dedicated to the Rational Soul of the World.”
I must say that seeing when this text
was originally written put some controversial remarks into context. Back in the
20th century, particularly the first half, certain sensitivities
were still lacking I.e. sensitivities pertaining to the use of the word “race”
– a word I despise for its abuse and all
horrible human behaviors attached to it. Because, in truth, there is no
hierarchy in nature nor in the universe. Thus, I prefer to speak of different
people, ethnicities, societies, or civilizations, who are all essentially the
same humankind. Manly also consistently uses the word “man” as opposed to
“woman”, “human”, or “person”. Looking at it 24 years into the 21st
century, it comes across as insensitive, even if the cause is contextual
ignorance. I would expect more from true seekers of the mysteries. For, the
mysteries know no gender, race, caste, or other category of any kind tainted by
hierarchical pathology. In its nature of always changing, the world, as the
universe, is cyclical, equanimous and temporary.
*** Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States of America (2008-2016):
“When you become famous, well known, you lose your anonymity. … The natural,
everyday thing of being able to sit in the world and observe it and not be
observed. Sitting in a park and watching the world happen with nobody pulling
you out of it. …That’s a tough thing that I don’t think people think about when
they think of power and fame. There are some downsides to it.” (Interview on
Jay Shetty Podcast on YouTube, Jan.8, 2024)
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