Dear Folks,
We hope all is well with you all. As we move into the third month of the "great pause" there is a new layer of change that we are adapting and seeking to understand. Part of that understanding, as we have all experienced, is that we are indeed not the masters of nature, as much as modern technology has tried. Now that nature is getting a rest from people, she seems to be happy.
Last weekend at the Inner Peace Conference, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, a member of the Lakota tribe, spoke about the differences between the Lakota and English languages. In Lakota, he said, there is no word for nature. We are made from nature and cannot possibly be separate from her, and therefore no word exists that can mentally separate us off from
nature.
He went on to say further that in Lakota there is no verb "to be." To be what? Other than what you are? We've been taught that the purpose of spiritual practice is to learn how to be who we truly are, and distinguish that from what we are not: our worries, our ideas, our ambitions, our criticism, our self-judgement or shame, our self-righteous indignant feelings towards
those who we do not agree with. The list goes on. The entire self-help industry is predicated on convincing us that we can become something better, we can transform into something greater than we are right now. However, according to the wisdom traditions, we already are better. We already are transformed. All we have to do is reframe our search, reframe the question.
How can reframe our search for understanding?
Sharon Salzberg addressed this beautifully when she asked, when contemplating the challenges that she faces with COVID-19, "What's still true? What hasn't been broken?" I thought this was a beautiful way of cutting past all of the mental turbulence of these times: to not focus on the hardships and not let that be the thing that beats us. Instead, to focus on what's still
true. "When I return to my breath," she said, "I return to myself, and then my values can shine forth."
One of the values that we've been reminded of during these particularly challenging times is to be generous with ourselves and with others. It is a very good remedy for hardship, and so many in the world naturally and spontaneously responded in COVID-19 in this way. Although it's true that sometimes it's easier to be generous with others than it is with ourselves.
The Buddha said, "The best generosity comes from a sense of inner abundance." When we know that there is no other person for us to be other than who we are, when we know that every being is worthy of love and respect because every being is the center of the universe, when we know that within us which has not been broken, then we can truly become beings of generosity. We know our inner
fullness, our inner abundance, and generosity flows. As well, to be generous with ourselves, and to be generous with our loved ones, just plain feels better.
Tiokasin said, "We are the beings of the ancient future now." Who we are today determines the beings of the future, and then in time, that future will become ancient. To be generous now will create both a generous future and a generous past.
With love,
Eddie, Jocelyne and Lili
PS To order Sharon Salzberg's new book, please click here
PPS Our class schedule for this week... all classes continue to be by donation, and those links can be found on our website.
Tuesday
Morning Chanting 6am IG Live
Pranayama 6:30am IG Live
Yoga Therapy class 6:30pm
Wednesday
Morning Chanting 6am IG Live
Pranayama 6:30am IG Live
Yoga Connect: In Conversation with Meher Munjal 10:30am IG Live
Breathing Break/Meditation 3pm
Thursday
Morning Chanting 6am IG Live
Pranayama 6:30am IG Live
Led Primary and Half Intermediate 7am Zoom
Urban Yogis Chair and Adapted Yoga 12pm
Friday
Morning Chanting 6am IG Live
Moon Day no Asana classes
and continues on the same call for Yoga Sutra Q&A 1pm-1:30pm
Never Alone Summit
Saturday
Intro to Ashtanga Yoga 8am Zoom
Never Alone Summit
Sunday
Morning Chanting 7am IG Live
Never Alone Summit
