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sara
Major
Gender: Unspecified
Location: Registered: Feb 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 1253 |
     
 Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 08:26 AM
Just read our Administrator’s current newsletter and I am convinced that his next career should be as a speechwriter for Obama. But, then again, perhaps he should teach philosophy for a decade or two before attempting anything as morally seductive as politics. (or is it “immorally seductive”?) It seems to me that we will not be able to have mutual cooperation with one anther until we can come to terms with two fundamental drives within ourselves that powerfully affect our perception and behavior…..anger and fear. I am an authority on both. Didn’t that statement irritate you? Don’t deny it. You wanted to say, “Oh yeah? What makes you so smart?” Ironically, I counsel people who suffer from either or both of these emotions to an excessive degree….the mentally ill…and have learned a great deal from my interactions with them in my role as “authority”, but, on the other hand, I, too, am victimized by unwanted surges of anger or fear, which, more often than I’d like to admit, intrude into my consciousness. It is easier when my reactions are dramatic because I can observe and “influence” them. I know enough about religion, philosophy, and psychology to apply the appropriate coping techniques. It is much trickier when the feelings are subtle and sneaky and I don’t know they are there or that I have mastered them. That’s when I get into trouble. It might be blatantly obvious to others when I am reacting from unconscious motives, but, when it’s happening, I can’t see it. Sometimes, I feel the sensations of anger, but I confuse it with the “exhilaration” of honesty. Frankly, it feels good to release these emotions and, when redefined as sincerity, may be perceived as a virtue. All this angst might stem from the fact that I’m a WASP in love with Goodness. My husband, too, loves Goodness (when you think about it…who doesn’t? Only the truly evil, I suppose, and I am not sure they exist) , but he comes from a Sicilian background and life is much simpler for him. “When you’re happy, you smile. When you’re sad, you cry. When you’re mad, you yell.” I might add, however, that he isn’t the most popular guy in the neighborhood. How to “solve” the problems of anger and fear? (actually, the two emotions are so connected that they could be combined into one term: angry-fear or fearful-anger) It seems almost impossible. Pride is supposed to be the root of most sin, but anger/fear is a close second. Vigilance helps, I suppose. Self-examination. Contrition. All those religious terms that are now so out of vogue. However, I think the most important quality we can nurture in ourselves is forgiveness. As William Blake wrote….. ”And throughout all Eternity I forgive you, you forgive me. As our dear Redeemer said: “This the Wine, and this the Bread.”’ |
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Admin
General
Gender: Male
Location: USA Registered: Jan 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 810 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 10:03 AM
What I write this time around does sound very much like Obama, doesn’t it? And so far as I understand, he writes all or at least most of his own speeches, no? I suppose the whole Obama element might itself have been more influential than I realized in penning this edition, but there are many voices that have convinced me of the need to transcend our differences, among the many who left a real impression on me Daryl Davis, a black blues and boogie-woogie musician who much like Obama is a world traveler and the son of international parents, and who began doing research on the KKK in large part because he too was obsessed with this question of fear. When Davis came to speak to the university during African American awareness week, the turnout was a bit disappointing, but Greg (who’d previously heard about the community event on NPR) and I were not sorry we went. Davis suggests that racism and intolerance is always motivated by fear of the unknown and little understood, and that left unchecked, that fear impulse goes through the various stages until it manifests itself as hatred. In 1997, his book Klan-destine Relationships was published, chronically his research and experiences as a black man who has befriended a number of Klan leaders (not just members) and seen quite a few of them leave the Klan (again, leaders, not just members, and simply because a black man was willing to befriend them without passing judgment). There was a particularly moving account in which an entire (white) family was transformed by Davis, finding God as a result, learning to live a new life of universal brotherhood with all persons (I want to say that Davis was the best man for one of their daughters?), and solving an entire host of personal problems that had kept the family crippled for years. Needless to say, when this kind of radical communication is being proposed by a black musician—someone who is no stranger to the darker sides of life and can readily defend himself in a fight—who has befriended and seen transformed members of an organization known for its animosity toward other human beings like him who happen to have the wrong color of skin, it is nothing short of inspiring. I suspect that the day he came to campus, it seemed to him that his words had little impact on a rather skimpy and largely unresponsive audience, but I, for one, have never forgotten the man or his message and how powerfully it moved me not only to tears but ultimately (in my own way) to action. Then too, I feel as I do because, in spite of the differences that we had, the woman I took as my wife was multi-racial. That brought the level of race relations down to a whole new level when the woman with whom you share your life, whom you love, gets treated differently at times because of the color of her skin. I mean, she’s your wife, for goodness sake, the woman whose body you know ever square inch of, who has borne your child, whom you have confided in and fought with and unfortunately ultimately collided with past the point of marital reconciliation. But that happens, and it isn’t about race. I think, honestly, that I have always myself felt like the outsider in a number of ways, and it has been “prophesied” (those who did so would not have used the scare quotes) that my “ministry” (again, they would not set such a word apart) would reach those who were on the margins, those who had been abused and neglected by their churches and religious institutions. I believe you even said a few things along those lines yourself once. So that’s the inspirational, still-caught-up-in-the-beautiful-vision part of my post concerning an idea that is much wider than race, the latter being but one of many aspects that serve to divide rather than unite people. But I do have a sincere question for you. I guess I don’t really see fear and anger as having that strong of a hold on my life, and that makes me wonder if I am just not consciously aware of its presence or if some people are more predisposed to certain negative emotions and if so, if your particular circumstances have put you in contact with a disproportionate sampling of persons who deal with such things. As you know, throughout my life depression has been an issue I’ve battled—that could perhaps have a fear/anger element to it—and there are certainly times that my internal angst has reached the boiling point. But generally, my angst had more to do with romance or the lack thereof and spiritual misgivings for a person to whom religion was more than a passing interest and who found himself in the corner with REM, losing his religion. Or, put differently, my angst appears to be related to my desires for intimacy and depth, and God and romantic partners are about as intimate as it gets for human beings. Another question too—I hope I am not going too far off track here and bringing in elements that don’t relate. In a different (and self-admittedly disgruntled) thread you spoke of the current generation not having a concept of their own capacity for evil. I was curious why you felt that way? Is that more a statement about humanity in the large than the current youth, as in, today’s youth had better beware because we have seen this glorious human nature played out one too many times and the track record is dismal at best? Or is it more an observation of today’s youth per se? My own take on the matter is that I think that their approach is more in keeping with the counsel I have seen you give others who speak with great conviction about the power of satan and his minions. You generally counsel such persons, or at least you have in the past, to focus not so much on satan but much more on God, to embrace the positive in order to dispel the negative. Likewise, my own thoughts at present is that focusing on hope and the prospect of a better tomorrow may not indicate a lack of self-awareness at all. Hopefully my example is not a non sequitur when I point to myself and say that there are certain views on this forum that I do not engage, even certain persons at times whom I do not directly interface with, not because I lack self-awareness, but because I don’t think it is profitable to do so. In any case, and probably more to the point, when it comes to Holocaust remembrances and that kind of reflection, I do not say such things do not have their place because I believe that they do. Yet you and I both know that it is also possible for a person to become morbidly fixated on such events as well, and that is not healthy either. It seems to me that today’s generation has, in fact, dealt with a lot of crap, probably a lot more internal than external, and hope is precisely the thing that galvanizes them. I personally haven’t seen a great of evidence of a lack of self-awareness or a shallow naivety, though I am not saying that it does not exist, only that I haven’t seen any real evidence of it. Also, I guess I am not sold on the idea that human nature is plagued with evil either. I am fully aware of the horrors that human beings are capable of perpetuating, but I am inclined to think that there is something other than inherent evilness at fault, which may very well be saying as much as anyone who takes the Genesis account seriously for all I know. A predisposition to evil would not itself necessarily have to be a moral defect, merely lead up to one. And the final question, also from that post. Quote: I am not optimistic about the near future. I see no obvious awakening of consciousness in the lives of young people today. They are pleasant, earnest, and, of course, tolerant, but they don’t seem morally superior to their elders. What, in your mind, constitutes moral superiority? What exactly does this “awakening of consciousness” mean for you? And do you think that moral superiority and an awakening of consciousness are necessary prerequisites in order for a higher plane of being to exist in our world? Again, I am not entirely sold on the idea, as I understand it, of moral superiority or even necessarily the need of “moral evolution.” That is a very jaded and even somewhat cynical assessment however, as it seems to me it is precisely an obsession with morality that so often leads to the ideologies that crush people. By contrast, it seems that the persons and spiritualities I find most winsome are the least given to what I consider an often moral pretension, content to be and let be and in that finding a paradoxical beauty. I guess that “moral superiority” in its apparently positive sense so often comes to take on the negative sense of “moral superiority”—“holier than thou”—in a great many ways beyond the obviously religious. Perhaps what I am looking for is “moral humility”? And if that is what I seek, I don’t see that today’s young people haven’t already found that in large degree, as manifest precisely in this “pleasantness, earnestness, and, of course, tolerance.” |
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bonnie
Master Sergeant
Gender: Female
Location: Pacific Northwest USA Registered: Oct 2007 Status: Offline Posts: 129 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 11:16 AM
Doctor Dictionary paid me a visit this morning and brought the word latitudinarian. I thought of certain fair writers and philosophers of this forum, of course. Eric’s current newsletter hit me at a profoundly personal level. I need to meditate on his pennings, rather than comment.  Cicero Denounces Catiline, fresco by Cesare Maccari, (1882–1888) |
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sara
Major
Gender: Unspecified
Location: Registered: Feb 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 1253 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 11:28 AM
A quick reply to your complicated questions…. About depression, I’m not sure. Some people say that it is anger directed inwardly. Personally I think there is a lot of fear in depression. For instance, your yearning for intimacy and love is intensified when you imagine that it will NEVER happen to you; that you are destined to be alone; that you will miss out on one of the greatest gifts of life. In regard to the Millennials, I don’t think any of the post-World War II generation has any real capacity for understanding depravity and evil on a large scale. This includes the Boomers. We have read about it and we see it on TV, but, other than the social violence that erupts now and again, history has been very gentle to us. Our country has not been invaded; there may be hunger, but no starvation, we have a social system that, though far from perfect, is the envy of the world, and, for the most part, we are a Christian nation, in the best sense of the word. Most of us believe that we are our brother’s keeper. We just argue about how to go about it. I guess what I’m saying is that most of us have never suffered to the degree most of the rest of the world throughout history has suffered. In our country, when a child dies, it is an outrage. In most of the world, it is the norm. We aren’t dying on the streets from disease, we aren’t eating the bark off trees because there is no food, we don’t (well, most of us anyway) live in fear of our neighbor. We have led privileged lives. I think of us as living like the French aristocrats before the French Revolution. Yes, we have social problems….divorce, promiscuity, alienation, cynicism, but we have always had our cake (and plenty of it), as well as bread to eat. Yes, we have freedom, but what do we so with our freedom? We are sexually obsessive; we constantly seek entertainment, most of it violent, we eat like gluttons; we buy things we don’t need, consume resources we don’t have and can’t comprehend the world outside our borders. Even I didn’t know where Croatia was and I’m a teacher! As far as I can see, the current generation differs not at all from their parents in this regard. What constitutes moral superiority? I would suppose it is that quality that allows a person to sacrifice their personal interest for a cause greater than themselves, without any expectation of “getting” something out of it. (even “Heaven"  Maybe it is love, maybe it is justice, maybe it is peace….either on a small scale, in one’s personal life or on a larger scale, in a social movement.Are the Millennials capable of self-sacrifice? That remains to be seen, but I don’t see any indication that they are unusually virtuous in this regard. As a matter of fact, I think they, for the reasons I already stated (affluence, pampering, inflated self-importance) may be even less prepared than previous generations to deal with the challenges that await them. And I’m going to say something controversial, at least from someone like me, who is as religiously confused as anyone can get… The decline in Christian belief…which we are seeing now….is going to cause even more misery in the lives of many people who will have nothing to hope for when the world seems hopeless. Christians have always had the cross and the ideal of Jesus’ sacrifice to inspire us through dark times, but I don’t know if He will be available in the future, if we don’t know He is there. I don’t think positive thinking is an adequate answer to suffering. I hope I’ve answered your questions. I’ve written this rather rapidly…sorry. |
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Admin
General
Gender: Male
Location: USA Registered: Jan 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 810 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 11:29 AM
Latitudinarianism in the Anglican/Episcopal sense you mean? What is also known as the doctrine of comprehensiveness, the so-called “big-tent” of the Anglican Communion that allows for a range of beliefs and opinions to peaceably co-exist under a single banner? Yes, I think that description fits quite well, and is certainly one of the things that I admire about the Episcopal Church. |
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Admin
General
Gender: Male
Location: USA Registered: Jan 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 810 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 11:38 AM
I was posting to Bonnie as you were posting to me, Sara. Yes, I think you bring out some relevant points. A bit like Bonnie—perhaps like us all really—I probably need to do a little more thinking before really commenting. The only thing I might say at the moment is just that I don’t think our perspectives are mutually exclusive, but ultimately complementary, a bit like “me” representing “us” and “you” representing “them” in a way that brings clarity to both. I guess, though, that the element I am most genuinely curious about and least given to debate is exactly what negative emotions typify virtually everyone, or if it is more of a personality thing such that one person struggles with certain groups of negative emotions much more so than another, all else being equal. Maybe there are types of people with clusters of negative emotional tendencies? Didn’t you once say, in searching for fodder for one of your theme-based newsletters, there was a certain negative emotion that appeared to be entirely under-represented on this site? Was that fear? I can’t remember. All of that makes me wonder. And I don’t really see myself with struggling with guilt in the same way that it seems you often do either. Makes me think that while negative emotions are themselves universal, their manifestations might be more personality based. |
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bonnie
Master Sergeant
Gender: Female
Location: Pacific Northwest USA Registered: Oct 2007 Status: Offline Posts: 129 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 01:39 PM
Cicero’s philosophical and religious dialogues proved him a latitudinarian, not unlike your dear Episcopals, Eric. He relished being challenged and disagreed with in these disciplines. However, that was apparently not the case with his political speeches. Much like our sweet Sara, perhaps? Sara~Blake’s Broken Love is one of my favorite poems. He was home-educated, by the way, and a brilliant painter and engraver, as well! I shall boldly submit yet another avatar idea for you:  The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun by William Blake (1757 - 1827) Blake’s Satan is the Great Red Dragon from the Book of Revelations with 7 heads and 10 horns! Would this be a bad time to mention that Blake was a Swedenborgian for a time? I read recently that Dr. Oz from If peace of mind is our goal, forgiveness is our only function. Forgiveness corrects our misperceptions and allows us to let go of fear. Yoga brings a deep love and forgiveness toward one’s self and a profound equanimity toward others. I composed a lullaby to Blake’s Cradle Song (from Songs of Innocence) when my eldest daughter was a baby. I sing it to my grandson now. Here are the last three stanzas: Sweet babe, in thy face, Holy image I can trace. Sweet babe, once like thee, Thy maker lay and wept for me. Wept for me, for thee, for all, When he was an infant small. Thou his image ever see, Heavenly face that smiles on thee, Smiles on thee on me on all, Who became an infant small. Infant smiles are His own smiles; Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.  The Cradle by Berthe Morisot Eric~Pondering your newsletter brought me the desire to seek patience with all my being regarding certain prickly relationships in my community just now. I was both stunned and deeply encouraged by the timing of your post. Merci beaucoups, Monsieur Renaissance! |
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Admin
General
Gender: Male
Location: USA Registered: Jan 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 810 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 02:08 PM
Thanks, Bonnie. The Ciceronian connection fits perfectly, as the Renaissance era was enamored with Cicero, his rhetorical methods, and his idea of prudentia in particular. It is really where the great humanist spirit was born. I think I have arrived at one other element of insight about the youth culture today, in part sparked by your comment, Sara. They, like American youth for the least several decades, are youth with a comparatively large amount of time on their hands, and, like youth most everywhere, not that many commitments. I think that fact is entirely neutral, actually. It means that in some ways the extra time and lack of family commitments and other engagements that typify older adults gives them a fresh perspective which can genuinely lead to positive change. It certainly allows them to look at hope from a fresh perspective and to imagine—and achieve—possibilities that neither time nor vision allows their older counterparts. They have the time to volunteer for the Peace Corps or to become involved in social service projects and seemingly more ambition than youth that have gone before. But their youth likewise means that there are lessons still to be learned as well. So I think that, ultimately, when you look on the youth culture with trepidation, and I look on them with admiration, in both cases we are inscribing value judgments on events that have yet to prove whether they are good, bad, or (as I am given to suspect) more or less indifferent. We want our world and our lives to be big and important. And isn’t life largely what we make it? If we want it to be big, huge, and important, we can read into it either catastrophe, triumph, or both, as either points to largeness rather than smallness. But if things seem to us small, the events of the world continue on more or less the same as they have for centuries. It seems to me that in many ways, watching the events of our world unfold is a bit like sitting at the theater. Sometimes we rise up and uproariously applaud, at others we boo and hiss, sometimes we’re on the edge of our seats, and sometimes we feel a bit bored. Even as our emotional roller coaster plunges up and down, the events on the screen unfold as they unfold. The real action is taking place inside of us—it is our response that is important. |
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sara
Major
Gender: Unspecified
Location: Registered: Feb 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 1253 |
Posted Saturday, May 17, 2008 @ 06:26 PM
Eric, you indicated in your post that I seemed temperamentally inclined to feel guilty, and you are correct, but it is not the kind of guilt inculcated by well-meaning adults or religious authorities. As a matter of fact, I believe I am less afflicted by that “you oughta be ashamed of yourself!’ guilt that many people carry around with them. My guilt stems from that fact that I was raised and loved by two parents, who were deeply flawed and who created a world for themselves…and me…that resonated with anger, bitterness, and recrimination. Add to this, the pressures of a nuclear family….no uncles, aunts or cousins popping in to say hello; alcoholism, which intensified the disorder, and geographic isolation and the result is unpleasant. Of course, children adapt remarkably well, and so did I, but I retreated into a world of books, which was a very great blessing in my life. Not only because I could use them to escape to other worlds, but also because, as I’ve mentioned before, I learned that human behavior was complicated and that suffering was universal. I decided fairly early that I would not live as my parents did…or like Becky Sharp or Scarlett O’Hara or that bewitching woman who roamed the moors with Heathcliff. At an early age, I became somewhat neurotically determined to remove self-deception and erroneous thinking from my character. When I behaved inappropriately, or made mistakes because of flawed insight, I felt guilty, as if I failed to measure up to some imaginary standard of “righteousness” that I created for myself. A penchant for philosophy/religion, a love of the Good, and a basically kind disposition made me the guilt-addict I am today. I must mention that I’m not naïve enough to think I’m less self-deceived than others; I am just more clever at concealing it. Anyway, when I see that I’ve erred, I am immediately flooded with guilt. Personal, existential, religious….you name it. It takes time for me to get into balance when this occurs. Then I investigate deeper and try to separate the authentic from the neurotic guilt. As for “original sin”, I’ve never given much credence to that. Of course, we are born with a survival instinct which inclines us toward self-interest for our entire lives, but, if well-fed and safe, most people don’t seem to me to be, as Bonnie puts it, “marinating in sin” (although I love the phrase) Actually, most of the time, they are quite communal and benevolent towards each other. My parents may have been flawed, but nothing was intentional and, in many ways, they were very good people. Most people I know are like that. They may not be entirely untouched by the 7 deadly sins, but no one is wallowing in them. Is being foolish or childish or a little too self-important a sin? If so, then we are all doomed. But..to Hell? Nah, that seems unlikely to me. Most of the time we are “punished” for (or should it be “by”?) these kinds of errors in this life, not the afterlife. Sometimes I think sin is “not caring” that you “don’t care” about others. That’s when I tentatively use the word evil. But then, even that is questionable. What if someone has been raised in a loveless environment? How about the mentally ill? However I do see that our basic survival instincts can be corrupted into something that is more related to power than self-preservation….blood-lust, cruelty, oppression, exploitation. Under the right conditions, people may become megalomaniacal or depraved. Maybe that “tendency” is what is meant by original sin. I don’t know. I solved the problem by…you guessed it…concentrating on myself and allowing other people to worry about their own behavior. (That is, when I’m not dashing off angry e-mails to servants of God.) I have also come to believe…and this is my faith….that something in the Universe helps us in our quest for love, goodness and wisdom. It doesn’t mean life will be easy, we won’t be stupid, or even that our souls necessarily survive death, but, I trust, with all my heart, that there is a meaning beyond absurdity and that every deed matters. Bonnie, Yes, I am aware that Blake was influenced by Swedenborg. I also knew that Lorens was of aware of that as well, so I included it for that reason. It was supposed to be a subtle way of reinforcing my apology. Hmmm….or should I say “wrangling forgiveness”? Whichever, they are beautiful lines, aren’t they? Oh…one more thing about the youth culture, Eric, is how easy it is to be optimistic and personable in school because that is a time when we are all equal. Okay, some get better grades than others, some are more popular, some excel at sports, but the future is ahead and glowing with possibility. I’m at the time in life when the group of friends I was with in college are all wondering where we went right and where we went wrong. Most of us were artists of one sort or another…mostly writers…but none of us produced anything of consequence. Then, there’s the failed or fruitful marriages, successful or soul-destroying careers, varying financial states, and our delightful or screwed up offspring that fill our hearts with pride or guilt. Some of us are dying, some of us are alcoholics, some of us are merrily traveling to exotic places or taking up belly dancing. We all eat bran. Life takes its toll on all human beings and young people don’t know that yet. They are anxious about the future, but don’t know the bitter pain of disappointment and regret Fortunately for me, I have a cheerful disposition, a loving family, and, to me at least, an interesting life. But it could all end in an instant. That’s what it is like to be “no longer young.” Schopenhauer, that miserable belly-acher (that used to be one of my mother’s favorite phrases) whose cynicism sparkles with truth, said that in the first half of life, we are never satisfied, in the second half we live in dread of misfortune. I’m starting to feel guilty about the maudlin turn this post has taken, so I shall bid adieu… |
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sara
Major
Gender: Unspecified
Location: Registered: Feb 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 1253 |
Posted Sunday, May 18, 2008 @ 11:47 AM
addendum: After interacting in the world for several hours, then watching the morning news shows, I now see that Bonnie was correct. We humans are “marinating in sin”. I might prefer to call it “Original Ignorance” rather than “Orignial Sin, but the results are the same. “Sin” implies choice; “Ignorant” is what we become when we don’t recognize we have choice. Call me a cock-eyed optimist (the vulgar among us will have fun with that line), but I believe most of us are ignorant, rather than sinful. Sara sunshine |
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bonnie
Master Sergeant
Gender: Female
Location: Pacific Northwest USA Registered: Oct 2007 Status: Offline Posts: 129 |
Posted Sunday, May 18, 2008 @ 01:13 PM
Sara~Your marinade is equal parts loveliness and humor with a dash of bawdiness thrown in for good measure. I have never met anyone at all like you and wish you would write a book so that I could read more of your insights and have you autograph it. I thought of you as I recently finished reading Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss, subtitled The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door. She quotes Richard Layard, author of Happiness: Lessons from a New Science: “Our problem today is a lack of feeling between people - the notion that life is essentially a competitive struggle.” This reminded me of the way you might be seeing our world these days. I feel quite certain that you would love yoga. However, I will be a good student of our dear Administrator and try to allow you “the dignity of freedom” rather than to “coerce and cajole” you into trying it. I practice yoga instead of watching the news, by the way. Saluting Sara Sunshine from Seattle! 
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Admin
General
Gender: Male
Location: USA Registered: Jan 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 810 |
Posted Sunday, May 18, 2008 @ 02:23 PM
Well, I can capture your post and beautiful photograph in a single word, Bonnie: नमस्ते (Namasté)!  (Of course, if I am seeing what I think I am seeing, the very mudra/pose is नमस्ते.)A few tidbits from Wikipedia: Quote: In Hinduism: This gesture is a mudra, a well-recognized symbolic hand position in eastern religions. One hand represents the higher, spiritual nature, while the other represents the worldly self. By combining the two, the person making the gesture is attempting to rise above his differences with others, and connect himself with the person to whom he bows. The bow is symbolic of love and respect. Particularly in Hinduism, when one worships or bows in reverence, the symbolism of the two palms touching is of great significance. It is the joining together of two extremities—the feet of the Divine, with the head of the devotee. The right palm denotes the feet of the Divine and the left palm denotes the head of the devotee. The Divine feet constitute the ultimate solace for all sorrows—this is a time-honored thought that runs through the entire religious ethos. Quote: In general: In recent times, and more globally, the term “namaste” has come to be especially associated with yoga and spiritual meditation all over the world. In this context, it has been viewed in terms of a multitude of very complicated and poetic meanings which tie in with the spiritual origins of the word. Some examples:
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sara
Major
Gender: Unspecified
Location: Registered: Feb 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 1253 |
Posted Sunday, May 18, 2008 @ 03:07 PM
I do want to learn yoga, but I also want to learn Spanish, read about 1000 books, visit more museums, meditate, do errands for the elderly, play with my nephews and nieces without constantly checking my watch, finish this remedial reading program I’ve been working on forever, and play online scrabble every once in a while. I want to be focused and attentive, stop multi-tasking, and sigh with contentment, not with exhaustion or impatience. I want to be like the lady in that photograph, except not sitting on a rock in the dawn or dusk. You can’t fool me. If that were reality, her derriere would be cold & achy and there would be mosquitoes buzzing around her head. I grew up on a beach. I know about these things! Yes, I see life as a competitive struggle, but, since becoming an adult, I have always refused to participate in it that way. I agree with Van Gogh….”To succeed one must have ambition & ambition seems absurd.” Of course, he wasn’t talking about his art. However, I don’t mention this to my clients, most of whom are neurotic & anxious about their child’s progress in school. About 1/2 of my students are doing quite well academically, but their parents think they must do better. It’s a tough world out there! Recently, a mom started crying because her 6 year old son failed a spelling test. I didn’t know whether to console her or smack her. I did neither. I simply said, “Get a grip! He hasn’t reached the age of reason yet!” Last year, I tutored a two year old. The dad wanted him to have “an edge” on the other kids. So, maybe my perception is askew because I live near New York with its fast paced & nervous, competitive atmosphere, but I have begun to see most people as wolves dressed in Gap clothing. Hmm…time to move West? Missouri? Colorado? I now have friends in all those places, don’t I? Maybe even Croatia? Thanks for saying nice things about me. I like you, too, Bonnie. I bet you have wonderful dreams at night with all that art floating around in your brain. |
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bonnie
Master Sergeant
Gender: Female
Location: Pacific Northwest USA Registered: Oct 2007 Status: Offline Posts: 129 |
Posted Monday, May 19, 2008 @ 07:47 AM
Latitudinarian Lutheran yogis love to say, “Om Shanti…, Shanti…, Shanti…, Namaste.” They savor the study of Hindu philosophies As they sit on chiseled ischial tuberosities. For, whether the weather is hot or frigian, Yoga derrieres are decidedly callipygian. And, may I add without ill will or malice? The bottoms of yogis obtain a well-hewn callous. Yoga was not created For leg over shoulder binds; ‘Twas designed for teenage Indian boys - To calm their monkey minds! I’m sorry if I embarrass or abash; It comes from reading too much Ogden Nash. Also, my offspring compete at improving the vocabulary To a degree that I should call for services constabulary. Regarding Sara’s moving west: Forget MO, CO, and CRO - Seattle’s Best. (And that’s just the coffee!) What trumps bad poetry? Only a pun! Pardon the corruption; I’ll offer you one: Mohandas Gandhi practiced yoga every day and had a vegetarian diet. As he grew older parts of his body became calloused and his breath had a questionable air. It was then that he became known as the Super calloused fragile mystic vexed with halitosis!  Yoga trance dance CD for any interested Whirling Dervish types |
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sara
Major
Gender: Unspecified
Location: Registered: Feb 2006 Status: Offline Posts: 1253 |
Posted Monday, May 19, 2008 @ 08:22 AM
My goodness! That was rather amazing! Esp. the Gandhi pun! Perhaps, with your love of art and poetic talents, you could go into the greeting card business. You’ve never met anyone like me? I return the compliment. I’ve never met anyone like you. Actually, I’ve never anyone who’d know what a “chiseled ischial tuberosities” is, (except maybe our Admin.) |
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bonnie
Master Sergeant
Gender: Female
Location: Pacific Northwest USA Registered: Oct 2007 Status: Offline Posts: 129 |
Posted Monday, May 19, 2008 @ 09:01 AM
Creative juices flow Post standing on one’s head. Sirsha asana is the pose I held, After rolling out of bed.  But dear, I fear I lacked restraint: The poem’s mine; The pun, it ain’t. |
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