WEEK TWO
ZOOM Class Schedule
Monday, Jan 6th: 7:15-8am ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING HERE
Tuesday, Jan 7th: 7:15-8am ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING HERE
Wednesday, Jan 8th: 7:15-8am ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING HERE
Thursday, Jan 9th: 7:15-8am ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING HERE
Friday, Jan 10th: 7:15-8am. ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING HERE
Saturday, Jan 11th: 9-10am ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING LINK
Sunday, Jan 12th: 9-10am ONLINE LINK HERE RECORDING LINK
Daily Content
Day 6
YS 3:46
rūpa-lāvaņya-balance-vajra-samhananatvāni kāya-sampat
a yogi obtains a physical body which is beautiful in form, strong and has a diamond-like combination of limbs
“The body should be hard as a diamond, as soft as a petal…Each Asana has a beautiful shape, grace and elegance that bestows power and makes the practitioner as strong as a diamond, at the same time as soft as a flower…Patanjali said that asanas bring perfection in body, beauty in form, grace, strength, compactness, and the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.
The commentary Jyotsna' of Sri Brahmananda clearly and beautifully sums up the effect of asanas.
He says: "the body is full of inertia (tamasic), the mind vibrant (rajaste) and the Self serene and luminous (sattvic). By perfection in asanas, the lazy body is transformed to the level of the vibrant mind and they together are cultured to reach the level of the serenity of the Self.” - BKS Iyengar
Day 7
"Tattooing in Qazwin" (trans. Coleman Barks)
In Qazwin, they have a custom of tattooing themselves
for good luck, with a blue ink, on the back
of the hand, the shoulder, wherever.
A certain man goes to his barber
and asks to be given a powerful, heroic, blue lion
on his shoulder blade. "And do it with flair!
I've got Leo ascending. I want plenty of blue!"
But as soon as the needle starts pricking,
he howls,
"What are you doing?"
"The lion."
"Which limb did you start with?"
"I began with the tail."
"Well, leave out the tail. That lion's rump
is in a bad place for me. It cuts off my wind."
The barber continues, and immediately
the man yells out,
"Ooooooooo! Which part now?"
"The ear."
"Doc, let's do a lion with no ears this time."
The barber shakes his head, and once more the needle,
and once more the wailing,
"Where are you now?"
"The belly."
"I like a lion without a belly."
The master lion-maker
stands for a long time with his fingers in his teeth.
Finally he throws the needle down.
"No one has ever
been asked to do such a thing! To create a lion
without a tail or a head or a stomach.
God himself could not do it!"
Brother, stand the pain.
Escape the poison of your impulses.
The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do.
Learn to light the candle. Rise with the sun.
Turn away from the cave of your sleeping.
That way a thorn expands to a rose.
A particular glows with the universal.
What is it to praise?
Make yourself particles.
What is it to know something of God?
Burn inside that presence. Burn up.
Copper melts in the healing elixir.
So melt yourself in the mixture
that sustains existence.
You tighten your two hands together,
determined not to give up saying "I" and "we."
This tightening blocks you.
Day 8
Day 9
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
by Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)
from Walden (1854)
Day 10
Salam. “Peace be upon you”
The Islamic concept of peace in 5 elements,
“Tawhid (unity of all humankind);
fitrah (upholding peace as a duty for every Muslim);
al-adl, justice, which is the backbone of peace because without justice there can be no peace; afu, forgiveness [….];
rahma, compassion and
rahim, mercy”. These elements resonate with the concept of positive peace and of ‘just peace’ as methods to “reduce violence and destructive cycles of social interactivity and at the same time increase justice in any human relationship” - Kadayifci- Orellana
The word “Islam means, “Submission to the will of God” which is practically identical to the yogic niyama, and later in his life what the Master T Krishnamacharya taught was the only way to Yoga;
Ishvara Pranihana which means, “Surrender to God.”
Day 11
One of the fruits of yoga is Shanti (Peace).
I translate shânti as "peace", as it is usually done, but in fact shânti means "the ability not to be affected or disturbed by anything". This word comes from shama, or stability, the ability to stay stable and hold on, in the presence of disruptive elements. - TKV Desikachar
Day 12
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (a yogic prayer for peace)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Everyone and everything receive the divine outpouring of love from St. Francis. All were his brothers and sisters. His compassion as well as his love extended to all living creatures. It was said his sensitive heart was not less concerned about the welfare of a sparrow, the fate of a flower or a tree, than the affairs of his order. And if he was that concerned about the plants and flowers, he certainly could not pass by without helping an animal which he found in need. ….
Well documented accounts tell about his love which won over a Mohammedan sultan, transformed bandits into peaceful friars and attracted the birds to his sermons.
It also includes a story about a wolf. It began one day in winter outside the gates of a city where St. Francis met a group of farmers who were heavily armed with scythes and flails. When he learned they were going after the wolf who had taken their sheep, he went with them.
He saw the huge animal in a clearing nearby and Francis said to the farmers, “Let me talk to him.” Then he walked down alone and they observed with great amazement that the ravenous beast put his paw into the hand that Francis had stretched out to him. Francis knelt down and talked to the wolf. The wolf then stretched out on the ground and began to lick Francis’ feet. He stroked him, and made him understand that he should follow him. Like a dog, the wolf came trotting after him all along the road looking up to him in trustful obedience.
Together they reached the market place of Gubio where Francis preached the gospel of love to the crowd that had come to hear his message, and see the wolf sitting reverently by his side. From now on, the wolf was the pet of the entire town. He was fed by all the people, and when he died he was buried in state. Over his grave a church was erected. And people called it San Francesco della Pace.
-Kamala Silva