Greetings Reader - In the Krishna-bhakti tradition, there's a beautiful song that's sung during this time of year called dāmōdarāṣṭakaṁ that includes this verse: “O Supreme Godhead, I offer my obeisances unto you. By showering your glance of mercy upon me, deliver this poor ignorant fool who is immersed in an ocean of worldly sorrows, and become visible to my eyes." Worldly sorrows and worldly joys come and go like waves in the ocean. Sometimes we have cause to celebrate, sometimes we have cause to lament. Either way, we can know for certain that this, too, shall pass. If you're here in the U.S.A., then if you're celebrating over the prospect of RFK Jr taking the fluoride out of your drinking water or lamenting over the prospect of being protected whether you like it or not, either way, we have to find ways to get through what promises to be a tumultuous time. It may be helpful to step back and take note of how this time will not be much different from most other times. Such as my formative years, which included the assassination of a President, the murder of his presumed assassin (still the weirdest thing I've ever seen on live television), violence against civil rights protestors and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the assassination of a Presidential candidate - the aforementioned RFK Jr's father, a highly unpopular and gruesome war in Vietnam spiraling out of control, the murder of antiwar protesters by National Guardsmen, and so on. And all of that happened over the course of just 7 years. And World War II ended just 20 some-odd years before that. And between the two there were about 140 other wars, insurgencies, and coup d'état along with 22 natural disasters and 6 major epidemics. The truth is that the world is on fire, under water, collapsing, convulsing, or making us miserable one way or another most of the time. Unfortunately, this is just normal. Nevertheless, we should do everything we can to make the world a safer, cleaner, kinder, and more peaceful place. And we should be convinced that a more beautiful world is possible because anything is possible. To do the work of building a better world, we need to overcome fear, avoid isolation, prevent exhaustion, and resist disorientation. Here are a few ideas on how to do that:
I stopped writing this email for a moment and turned to look out my window; I saw the brilliance of the sun dancing off the golden leaves of the trees behind my building. In the other direction, the faint impression of an early moon was rising in the pale blue sky. I'm grateful for my good fortune: when I look out my window, the world reminds me how beautiful it is. Meanwhile, the world is on fire in California, under water in Spain, collapsing in Germany, convulsing in Gaza, . . . And yet, somehow, we find joy. Or joy finds us. We find meaning. Or meaning finds us. This, too, shall pass. Wishing you all good fortune, - Hari-k P.S. - Here's a way to stay centered: Take a 7-minute break to breath, release tension from every part of your body, and center yourself in the calm space that lies deep within you with this free guided meditation. |
Hari-kirtana is an author, mentor, and yoga teacher who shares his knowledge and experience of how the yoga wisdom tradition can guide us toward meaningful and transformative spiritual experiences.
Greetings Reader - Some people think that a yogi should rise above the dualities of politics to a place of non-judgement and, subsequently, non-participation, through the cultivation of detachment. I think this is one of the most common misconceptions people have about the role detachment is meant to play in our yoga practice. The premises are right but the conclusion is wrong. Yoga does encourage detachment from conceptions of friends and enemies—the essence of politics—as well as equanimity...
Greetings Reader - In his Yoga-sūtras, Patañjali describes the true nature of the self as being eternal, pure, and joyful. It’s nice to know that we have the potential to experience ourselves that way. The sutra also makes a clear distinction between the true self and the not self; the temporary material body that’s subject to so many problems. The differentiation between the infinitesimal spark of individual consciousness within the body and the body itself is a fundamental principle of yoga...
Greetings Reader - In the great epic, the Mahābhārata, the demigod Yamarāja asked a wise king, “What is the most amazing thing within this world?” The king replied, “The most amazing thing in the world is that hundreds and thousands of living beings meet death at every moment, but a foolish person, even after seeing friends and relatives pass away, nonetheless lives as if they won’t die and does not prepare for death.” It's true: we usually think of death as . . . something we don’t want to...