By Hafiz, on how to practice love:
(translated by Daniel Ladinsky)
Go for a walk, if it is not too dark.
Get some fresh air, try to smile.
Say something kind
To a safe-looking stranger, if one happens by.
Always exercise your heart's knowing.
You might as well attempt something real
Along this path:
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Living, really living
Most of the time, we forget that we're mortal...we are always living as though there is more time. "I'll do that another year," "later on, I'll have more time for that," "after I'm done with all these things on my to-do list, then I can...", or maybe most commonly, "at another stage of life, I will take the time to..."
The thing is, there might not always be more time. That may sound like a dark, depressing thought. But really, in a way, it's liberating. Of course it's important to plan for the future and get things done and fulfill one's commitments....but it's also important just to live. Just to pour yourself into this moment - to be fully here and invest your heart and your energy in the things that matter very most to you. And live from the spaces that make your heart burn.
Christians say "live this day so that it glorifies God." Buddhists say "be present. here. now." Rumi says, go to the rooftops and shout who you are, let it consume you, let your love and passion for life make you crazy.
The thing is, there might not always be more time. That may sound like a dark, depressing thought. But really, in a way, it's liberating. Of course it's important to plan for the future and get things done and fulfill one's commitments....but it's also important just to live. Just to pour yourself into this moment - to be fully here and invest your heart and your energy in the things that matter very most to you. And live from the spaces that make your heart burn.
Christians say "live this day so that it glorifies God." Buddhists say "be present. here. now." Rumi says, go to the rooftops and shout who you are, let it consume you, let your love and passion for life make you crazy.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
you have an ocean inside you
tonight i went to yoga. in the middle of it, we let go of our past. sounds pretty great, right? well, i suppose it's not possible to let go of it completely, but it's so wonderful to acknowledge that some of that stuff isn't a part of you anymore and it doesn't have to define or even affect you.
at the end, in savasana (the state of relaxation that comes after all the stretching and bending and twisting and opening), i felt complete and utter relaxation. not only did i disconnect entirely from all the external stuff - the work and group members and worries and deadlines - that weigh me down daily, i even felt disconnected from my own body. totally outside of it, no longer aware of its existence. i could feel my connection with my deeper self, beneath and behind all the judgments (from myself and others) and bustle and surface stuff that runs over us in normal life.
i felt like the ocean, an expansive and eternal flowing of blue water, rising and falling like the tides with every breath, flowing far outside and beyond my simple body on the floor. the truth is, we all have an ocean inside of us...a store of peace and joy and the fullness of ourselves, that swells and lives beneath all the bits and pieces of every day. as i lay there on the floor, in the dark, breathing calmly, i felt the tension and tightness melt away from my bones and my muscles. i feel like we hold this stuff inside us, we become stiff and rigid (even in our bodily postures) in an attempt to protect ourselves from the pushes and pulls of the world around us. the stress winds itself around our muscles, making us inflexible and unadaptive to the flexes and forces of the world and the subway and the cold outside and the harsh personalities we encounter.
but, in those simple moments, when you massage your feet in the shower or feel your hair full and wet under the water or breathe deeply over a cup of hot tea or eat a piece of chocolate slowly or take a walk and watch the leaves fall effortlessly to the ground or lie and feel the ocean inside of you after a yoga class...it's easy to just release. release!
at the end, in savasana (the state of relaxation that comes after all the stretching and bending and twisting and opening), i felt complete and utter relaxation. not only did i disconnect entirely from all the external stuff - the work and group members and worries and deadlines - that weigh me down daily, i even felt disconnected from my own body. totally outside of it, no longer aware of its existence. i could feel my connection with my deeper self, beneath and behind all the judgments (from myself and others) and bustle and surface stuff that runs over us in normal life.
i felt like the ocean, an expansive and eternal flowing of blue water, rising and falling like the tides with every breath, flowing far outside and beyond my simple body on the floor. the truth is, we all have an ocean inside of us...a store of peace and joy and the fullness of ourselves, that swells and lives beneath all the bits and pieces of every day. as i lay there on the floor, in the dark, breathing calmly, i felt the tension and tightness melt away from my bones and my muscles. i feel like we hold this stuff inside us, we become stiff and rigid (even in our bodily postures) in an attempt to protect ourselves from the pushes and pulls of the world around us. the stress winds itself around our muscles, making us inflexible and unadaptive to the flexes and forces of the world and the subway and the cold outside and the harsh personalities we encounter.
but, in those simple moments, when you massage your feet in the shower or feel your hair full and wet under the water or breathe deeply over a cup of hot tea or eat a piece of chocolate slowly or take a walk and watch the leaves fall effortlessly to the ground or lie and feel the ocean inside of you after a yoga class...it's easy to just release. release!
Friday, November 4, 2011
A little bit of pessimism, with a hopeful twist
I feel like, the older I get, the more I realize that everyone around me is just barely holding it together. Maybe everyone has had a period in life when things just seemed easy, but I think most of the time, for most people, things seem hard. Things seem to be a struggle.
I live in London, which, if you ask me, is a dog-eat-dog world. People don't stop for pedestrians, or care who they push, or where they vomit, or whether or not they're doing any good at all in the world. Sometimes it feels like a really barbaric place.
And sometimes it's hard not to get lost in the rainy days and the car exhaust and the endless conferences of people whose main goal is to sound smart.
But then, happily, I remember, that even though life is hard, people DO manage to hold it together. Sometimes, when we get really lucky, we even hold each other together. And that reminds me that God, that little extra magic and glue in all the falling apart relationships and falling apart rainy days, is here.
"The stars come up spinning
every night, bewildered in love.
They'd grow tired
with that revolving, if they weren't.
They'd say
'How long do we have to do this!"
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
a passion, a longing-pain.
Remember the lips
where the wind-breath originated,
and let your note be clear.
Don't try to end it.
Be your note.
I'll show you how it's enough."
(Rumi)
I live in London, which, if you ask me, is a dog-eat-dog world. People don't stop for pedestrians, or care who they push, or where they vomit, or whether or not they're doing any good at all in the world. Sometimes it feels like a really barbaric place.
And sometimes it's hard not to get lost in the rainy days and the car exhaust and the endless conferences of people whose main goal is to sound smart.
But then, happily, I remember, that even though life is hard, people DO manage to hold it together. Sometimes, when we get really lucky, we even hold each other together. And that reminds me that God, that little extra magic and glue in all the falling apart relationships and falling apart rainy days, is here.
"The stars come up spinning
every night, bewildered in love.
They'd grow tired
with that revolving, if they weren't.
They'd say
'How long do we have to do this!"
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
a passion, a longing-pain.
Remember the lips
where the wind-breath originated,
and let your note be clear.
Don't try to end it.
Be your note.
I'll show you how it's enough."
(Rumi)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Slow down!
Sometimes, God says "Slow down!" Well, he doesn't usually do it in a way that we like...often we get sick or a huge wrench is thrown in our plans. But I think it happens because, when we are getting all caught up and wound up in the thickets of life and work, he wants us to stop and remember what's really important. And to remember to take time for ourselves, and time for him.
Put in a different way, you could say that the universe conspires to give us exactly what we need, when we need it - even if it might look like something very negative at first. But the direction of our lives requires twists and turns, big steps and setbacks, to shape us and the work we are doing. Sometimes, you have to stop, take a DEEP breath, and look at things in a new way. Instead of pulling and pushing with tension and exhaustion and desperation, it's important to regroup and remember that everything happens as it will and growth and progress take time. We sometimes need a little reminder to be joyous, loving, and creative to work through even the most difficult, gnawing of problems.
Put in a different way, you could say that the universe conspires to give us exactly what we need, when we need it - even if it might look like something very negative at first. But the direction of our lives requires twists and turns, big steps and setbacks, to shape us and the work we are doing. Sometimes, you have to stop, take a DEEP breath, and look at things in a new way. Instead of pulling and pushing with tension and exhaustion and desperation, it's important to regroup and remember that everything happens as it will and growth and progress take time. We sometimes need a little reminder to be joyous, loving, and creative to work through even the most difficult, gnawing of problems.
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