Im vorigen Blog über “Wirklichkeit & inneren Dialog” habe ich davon geschrieben, wie die Welt durch Benennung und das Aufrechthalten durch den inneren Dialog – manchmal ist es ein Polylog – begriffen wird. Die Grundlage für diesen Dialog/Polylog bildet die emotionale Färbung.

Es ist dem Geist NICHT möglich NICHT zu sein. Bloßes Gewahrsein ereignet sich unaufhörlich, wird allerdings immer von den Ich-Bezügen begrenzt, blockiert. Dieser Mangel an Verständnis führt zu einem Objektanhaften, das den Fluss des Wahrnehmungserlebens einengt. Als Folge entsteht daraus die uns bekannte und erlebte Welt. Fühlende Wesen bewegen sich in verschiedenen Erlebnisbereichen. Die Bandbreite reicht von körperlich schmerzhaft, qualvoll bis hinauf in genussvolle Regionen. Doch ausnahmslos jeder Bereich ist von Unzulänglichkeit durchtränkt. Warum nur? Die Unzulänglichkeit IST der Mangel an bloßem Gewahrsein.

Eine weiße Muschel erscheint Gelb für eine Person, die Gelbsucht hat, aber sie wird weiß für eine Person ohne Gelbsucht erscheinen. Die Substanz „Wasser“ wird von den verschiedenen Wesen der vielfältigen Arten des Daseinskreislaufs gemäß ihrer jeweiligen karmischen Situation unterschiedlich erfahren. Götter erfahren es als Nektar, während die Wesen in den Höllenbereichen es als feurige Flüssigkeit erleben. Alle Erscheinen werden gemäß der karmischen Wahrnehmung der Betrachter gesehen, etikettiert und ergriffen. Man muss verstehen, dass die Art, wie man die Dinge sieht, benennt und ergreift nicht notwendigerweise wahr ist, aber der Dharma ist wahr. Wenn man den Dharma jetzt nicht verwirklichen kann, dann sollte man auf richtige Art daran arbeiten, sich in die Richtung zu bewegen, dass man fähig wird, ihn eventuell zu realisieren. Man muss das Vertrauen und die korrekte Sicht haben, das eines Tages sein wird.

Durch entsprechende Praxis kann man ein korrektes Verständnis der Dinge erlangen. In der tantrischen Tradition des Pfades zum Erwachen (= Buddhadharma) wird mit dem Geistesstrom und seinen Inhalten gearbeitet. Die Übungen der drei Aktionsebenen – Körper, Rede und Geist – reinigen die bisherigen geistigen Eindrücke und unterstützen die innewohnende Herzenweisheit bei ihrer Offenbarung, ihrem In-Erscheinung-treten. Die Erlebnishaufen (skt., skandha) werden von ich-haften Bezügen geklärt. Die Anhäufungen des Erlebens – elementare wie auch Empfindungs- und Bewusstseinsaspekte – sind jedem fühlenden Wesen zu eigen. Je nach individueller Wahrnehmungsgewohnheit baut man das Welterleben mehr oder weniger gleichbleibend auf. Dies führt zu dem Eindruck, dass die Welt so ist, wie sie eben ist. Und man selbst auch.

Erst durch entsprechende Übungen ist es möglich, die sich wiederholenden Wahrnehmungs- und Schöpfungshandlungen zu verändern. Ein besonderer Stellenwert kommt der Hingabe dabei zu. Dies werde ich in einem folgenden Blog näher ausführen.

This boy was standing a tthe entrance of the little akhara which is near Aurangzeb’s mosque in Kashi, the oldest part of Varanasi (Benaras). 
That afternoon the temperature reached 48° and he was trying to get some freshness under this piece of cloth.
He was waiting for his father who was training nearby.
We talked with eyes only, I was trying to understand all that he was thinking under this veil.

Die menschliche Wirklichkeit wird durch den inneren Dialog aufrecht erhalten. Durch das Gewahrwerden dieses Dialogs erkennen wir die Wirklichkeit, in der jeder von uns lebt. Das Anerkennen unserer liebenden Güte bzw. Freundlichkeit als natürlicher Ausdruck des ursprünglichen Geistes bildet das Fundament zur Transformation des Herzens. Durch das Erkennen und Annehmen der vorhandenen Wirklichkeit werden die Wirkkräfte des Geistes erfahren.

In jedem negativen, hemmenden Gefühl steckt gleichzeitig auch sein heilsames Potential. Wenn Zorn nicht Befreiung beinhalten würde, könnte man ihn nicht transformieren. Diese heilsamen Qualitäten in den Gefühlen zu entdecken und durch Verständnis zu verwandeln, ist Ziel einer spirituellen Heilung.

Achtsamkeit und Gewahrsein bilden die methodischen Grundlagen für eine Wandlung der Herzensqualitäten. Übungen zur Reinigung der groben, subtilen und sehr subtilen Verschleierungen führen zu einem natürlichen Anwachsen der Herzensqualitäten. Dabei kann der ursprüngliche Geist erfahren werden. Kommt das diskursive Denken zur Ruhe, dann kann Friede im Herzen entstehen. Dies führt zur Befreiung zum Wohle aller Wesen.

All epically great music videos should contain at least eight of the following:

- Political incorrectness

- Weird juxtapositions

- Obscure and symbolic (NOT direct) references to at least one taboo sexual perversion or drug

- Mythical archetypes turned into high camp

- At least one prominently sparkly thing, even if it’s a B&W video (remember those Flock of Seagulls videos? That, but maybe less).

- Sunglasses. Or some type of interesting spectacles.

- Some tie-in with the lyrics, but not so much it becomes over-literal and fussy.

- Creative storyline (think Common and Mary J. Blige’s “Come Close to Me,” where Common proposes marriage to his deaf girlfriend he’s just had a fight with, by standing on her lawn drawing a cue-card rebus to go with the song lyrics)

- At least one tastefully tongue-in-cheek phallic or sexual symbol (my favorite: Devo’s “That’s Good”… that repeated cartoon of a french fry going into a doughnut)

- Twisted, campy references to classic films, novels, comics or anything that permeates our cultural consciousness

- At least one caricatured angry authority figure (parent, teacher, cop etc) (The Kinks, “Come Dancing”… Beastie Boyz, “Fight for your Right (to Party)”… this was more popular in the 80’s I think…)

- Exaggerated gestures and facial expressions (think anything Van Halen), or, conversely… studiously understated “cool” gestures (think Digable Planets, Snoop Dogg)

- Art that comes to life (optional)

- Food that comes to life (optional)

- Musical instruments that come to life (optional)

- Musical instruments that combust (please, just one is enough per video)

- At least one child, often cast into an ambiguously appropriate and ironic adult role (I love Jill Scott’s video for “Gimme,” where she’s a sexy nurse followed by sick children who suddenly can get up and dance)

- Awesome choreography (ALL MJ videos)

- References to insanity (Bjork “Violently Happy,” David Bowie “Look Back in Anger”)

- Irony, even unwitting irony

- Big hair, no hair, long hair, blue hair… some kind of hair extreme going on

- Disturbing visual imagery (optional, depending on song)

- Humor (less optional)

- Both of the above at once

- Dreamlike, smooth transitions between scenes

- Special effects only to fit the mood/narrative.

What is NOT necessary for a good music video:

- Booty close-ups

- Gratuitous sexuality

- Gratuitous and overdone special effects

- Maudlin, heavyhanded political memes and themes

- References to drugs and top-shelf sexual perversions without the slightest trace of irony

- Excessive instrument/hand close-ups

- Anything where the band plays on a beach, on top of a tall building, a mountain, a boat… (yawn… cliché alert… although I did love U2’s “Gloria” and Duran Duran’s “Rio” videos back in the 80’s)

- Choppy, jarring transitions

- Zooming in and out repeatedly (excuse me, some of us are epileptic)

- Words superimposed unnecessarily on footage, as if to provide visual Cliff’s Notes to the action (you’ll see a lot of this in French and African videos…)

- Excessive food references (I am still haunted, to this day, of that horrible Wall of Voodoo video from the 80’s where everyone is drowning in baked beans… not to mention INXS’s “The One Thing”)

- Any, any, any form of pixelized or other cheesy image fades… except when done to create a mock 80’s effect.

- Too many women in one video… destroys the narrative effect

- Humans morphing into ferocious wild animals… biggest video cliché on the planet (think Sade)

- Sentimentality or over-seriousness about romance… unless you’re making karaoke videos (think Alicia Keys)

- Any form of leopard-skin print clothing, Greek columns (unless used ironically, as in Soft Cell’s magnificent, insanely perfect video for “Tainted Love” which contains just about every video “DO” listed above)

- Any visual imagery so completely disgusting or disturbing that people can’t even watch it. That differs for everyone… for example, I think Aphex Twin’s “Rubber Johnny” and “Come to Daddy” videos are fantastic, but they disturb me too much to watch them. I get nightmares.

- Over-selfconsciousness, narcissistic imagery (most rap videos…)

- Over-fixation on the symbols of luxury and wealth (ditto, although many 80’s videos were guilty of this distraction from good-video content as well)

- Over-repeated samples

- Distasteful focus on death or body functions

- Meaningless, weird or random stock photo footage that doesn’t fit the mood of the song

- Footage that is very obviously stock footage

- Special effects that can quickly be named by anyone who knows the editing software

- Destroying more than two cars, three guitars, or one building… kids are starving in Africa, man. Do you really need to blow up four guitars??

- Obviously underage girls (or boys) in sexually compromising situations

- Cheesy metaphors for sexual body parts (think Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”)

Anyone want to add to this list?

Is it just me, or is everything just getting too damn small?

Today I accidentally washed my iPod Shuffle in the laundry (it was attached to my gym shirt), and then knocked a 2GB memory strip into the AC floor vent as I was trying to back up my hard drive. Argh! Even though I’m kind of a nano-human at 5′1″, I’ve decided I’ve had it with small.

I’ve had it with digging into my purse to find cell phones that mimic the contours of a credit card. I’ve had it with keychains overflowing with assorted electronic thingies. I’ve had it with thingies that clip onto your ears or clothes like inconspicuous parasitic insects, sucking assorted waves and bytes out of thin air. And I’ve definitely had it with shoving my entire life on little thingies the size of boogers.

I’m claustrophobic. I used to have freak attacks in elevators when I was a kid. I hated the last two months of pregnancy because I felt so squished and crowded out. So when I think about my tax returns and design files bumping up against ultrasounds of Jeni, complex applications, and MP3’s of Madonna and Meatloaf, I feel deeply anxious for them. I wonder how such a motley crew (sorry, back to the M artists…) of data can possibly stand being squished nuts-against-butts onto something that could fall into a floor crack.

I understand that big isn’t what I want either. I am really happy that computers don’t take up a whole room anymore. I thank God for laptops, and do not want to revisit my stepfather’s old cell phone from 1991, which was about the size of a small gerbil cage. But at least, back in those days, everything had a special place and device. It wasn’t all just DATA that fit on one do-it-all thingamajig. There was uniqueness in the world.

Somehow, it just feels wrong to have my friend’s cherished songs live alongside my demo invoices and font “read-me’s.” Shouldn’t they have a special place where they can bask in their specialness? A place that is easily found, easy to notice, an album I can hold in my hand, smell, touch and lovingly re-read the liner notes while doing absolutely nothing else but relaxing? And what about poems and love letters I’ve collected over the years? Shouldn’t they be stashed away in a silk-lined box under my bed… the kind that has a real key, not an encrypted password? And what about all these pictures of Jeni? I can’t think of the last time I printed them out and glued them in an album. They’re all just backed up on more and more little sticks of data, data, data… little 0’s and 1’s I can’t even see, like some kind of exotic digital alpha-bits cereal all jumbled into a heap that somehow points to beauty in its various forms. Looking at all this data… I half believe the idea that life could begin from a pile of gases exploding out of nothingness. Everything feels so random. It’s up to me to make sense of all this data, all these bits and bytes of my life, heart and soul stored onto various inconsequential lumps of plastic the size of tiddlywinks.

I wonder sometimes if those little flyers the religious fanatics used to throw on my doorstep—you know, “The End Days are Near… Don’t Accept the Number of the Beast on your Hand,” are coming true. Maybe we really will start getting barcodes and data chips embedded into our skin, because there is no more “nano” left to go without going within our very cells. It creeps me out. I don’t want nano. I want “manageable, function-specific macro.” I want a device that plays music and a device that watches movies. I want to be disciplined to do one thing at a time, to enjoy each thing for what it is, to not start mixing up all these bits and bytes inside my brain. I want to experience the integrity of a moment, a song, a picture as something solitary and unique—not a “file type” among many others, all squashed up into the same crowded bedroom like transients in an Amsterdam youth hostel.

What’s particularly interesting is that the more “nano” electronic devices get, the more “macro” we get… our meals, our bodies, our cars, TV’s, businesses. It’s kind of disgusting. I feel like the two are directly proportionate. Do we really need to eat 20 ounces of steak? (I don’t need to eat any, but theoretically). Do people really need to drive Hummers if they aren’t in active military service? Do three national banks and one coffee place need to own the entire share of these markets? Do we need to drive everywhere? Here in my town, the county planners didn’t even bother to build sidewalks in the main commercial areas. It’s ironic how, to me, moving to a city, my life will be, in so many ways, less “macro,” and more “microcosmically conscious.” I will be without a car, I will be able to compost and buy fresh fruits more easily, I will have sidewalks to walk on and resources for living soulfully. I won’t have to go to big chains for everything like I do here. Cities are becoming the place where it’s possible to live an organically empowered life.

One of these days, we’re going to be so disproportionate in our mini/maxi tendencies that we’re going to lose all our ipod shuffle extra-minis and memory microchips in the folds of our burgeoning sedentary flesh, while consuming whale-sized burgers in front of TV’s that take up entire rooms. We’re going to have such big needs for space, despite all the downsizing we seem to be doing, that we’re going to have to send half the human race into outer space just to survive.

I have only one thing to say about this:

Nano-Nano!

© Sarah Noack 2008

“The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” ~H.H. Dalai Lama

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.  ~Thornton Wilder

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.  ~Cicero

Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.  ~Seneca

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.  ~Aesop

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.  ~W.T. Purkiser

“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” ~Ralph Marston

If you are struggling with the acceptance of a higher power in your life, then that’s OK.  I’ve been there as well.   So have many others.

For me it’s been the struggle between the ego self established by my brain and that of a wholistic self.  Syd articulates well how we can get lost being attached to our ego self.

As I’ve struggled with gaining a more wholistic sense of self, I have encountered some intriguing questions that have helped shaped my path.

Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way asks some good questions for those of us wrestling with Step Two in the Al Anon program.  I don’t necessarily agree that we owe some tribute to this higher power, but the questions are important in the asking.

It’s my experience that we’re much more afraid that there might be a God than we are that there might not be.

If God-by which I do not necessarily mean a single pointed Christian concept but an all-powerful and all-knowing force-does not exist, well then, we’re all of the hook, aren’t we.  There’s no divine retribution, no divine consolation. And if the whole experience stinks – ah well.  What did you expect?

If there is no God, or if that God is disinterested in our puny little affairs, then everything can roll along as always and we can feel quite justified in declaring certain things impossible, other things unfair.  If God, or the lack of God, is responsible for the state of the world, then we can easily wax cynical and resign ourselves to apathy.  What’s the use?  Why try changing anything?….

If we do, in fact, have to deal with a force beyond ourselves that involves itself in our lives, then we may have to move into action on those previously impossible dreams.

This blog post isn’t about whether or not there is a creator God.  Evolutionary biologists like David Sloan Wilson have alot to say about group selection that seems compelling to that question.

However, this blog post is about my own discovery process.  The understanding I have in the moment is a reflection that the existence of a higher power is necessary for me to achieve a sense of happiness, peace, and be respectful and loving to others.

I agree with what I have heard from others when they say “I don’t need a God to be nice to my neighbor.” I don’t.  If being nice to your neighbor was the full extent of enlightenment, then I’m almost there.  For me, I need a God to help me figure things out.

As I have explored my own problems and those of my marriage, I realized my brain cannot be trusted alone to provide the right response and guide my choices in a way consistent with my own understanding of an integrated self.  I have to reach for another source of energy and comprehension to sustain these goals and maintain my self worth.

There’s this analogy from this Audio Dharma podcast. If a fly buzzes around and lands on an ant, this fly is a big nuisance to the ant. It dominates his point of view.   But if the same fly buzzes around an elephant, the elephant hardly notices.

Until I began walking the Al Anon walk, my life was that of the ant.  I viewed my wife’s alcoholism like the giant fly buzzing around my head.  I couldn’t get past to focus on anything but her drinking and coniving.  I am just beginning this journey.  As I look ahead, I can see that I can look ahead.  My horizon is expanding.  Yet my wife still drinks.

As Gil Fronsdal explains in the podcast, the Dharma suggests we have the option of living like the elephant, and not like the ant.   So too it is with Al Anon, by working the 12 Steps, I am told I can learn to live in peace and happiness with or without my alcoholic wife.

We were told that anger are bad, negative, not good. But how true is that? Anger is an expression of upset, frustration, irritation, disappointment and dissatisfaction. Anger is a very normal feeling that everyone has just like feeling happy and feeling sad. When we feel happy we will laugh, when we feel sad we will cry, when we feel angry we will shout. It is a natural way of expressing how we feel. Who says that we can only express happiness and cannot express unhappiness? Who says that we can only have positive feelings and expression and cannot have negative feelings and expression? Who says that having positivity is “good” and having negativity is “bad”?

If we think that anger, sadness, low energy, sickness, poverty, fat, ugliness, or anything that is being labeled as “negativity” as bad and not good, then we will be told that we are not good to have any of these negativity, and that we are not suppose to have anger, sadness, sickness, being poor, fat and ugly. Because it is something “bad” and make us a bad person. And we will be so unhappy when we encounter any of these so called negativity, and not able to express anger and sadness because we were told not to, that it is bad, and we are not good if we express our anger and sadness. But these anger and sadness are being suppressed into our body and the mind, and become a huge burden or tension in the body and the mind that will explode one day and cause larger damage to ourselves and to others. And it is worst when suppressed anger had turned into great hatred because we are not allowed to confront or express any of our unhappiness. Due to our conception that anger and shouting is something negative and not good, we will be so annoyed, upset, unhappy or angry when someone express their anger towards us or shout at us when we had say or do something that made them unhappy. We will be so annoyed and feel insulted when people confront with us about why they are being angry and unhappy with us. It makes us think that “we are bad”, “we did something wrong”. And our ego really doesn’t like this.

We will think that we are the victim of somebody’s anger. Even if we did cause the unhappiness in other people but they should not express any anger or unhappiness towards us at all, because it is bad and not good. Or we will think that we are not good and bad because someone is angry with us because we did something wrong or bad. And thus we don’t like other people to be angry with us. We will be very unhappy if people tell us that they are angry and unhappy with us. And so, it will become “I am bad, I am not good” because someone is angry and unhappy with me, and as well as “you are bad, you are not good” because you are having anger and you are expressing anger and unhappiness onto me whether I did something that caused you angry and unhappy or not.

This is very unhealthy for the body and the mind.

It is actually the ego feeling being insulted when someone is being angry or unhappy with us. We think that we are not responsible for what we have done that had caused somebody’s unhappiness. We think that even though we did something wrong, nobody should be angry with us because they are not suppose to have anger. They are bad if they have anger and especially if they are angry with “me”.

When we stop thinking that anger, sadness and all those so called negativity are “bad” and “not good”, then we will see all these “negativity” are very normal phenomena that happens in our body and in our mind. It is very normal and nothing wrong to have feelings of frustration, disappointment and dissatisfaction just like having other feelings of joy and happiness.

But not let the anger turns into hatred is the most important thing. We should be able to confront with the person who might or might not have inflicted the unhappiness in us, and tell them why are we feeling angry or upset about, which has got something to do with that person. And after expressing our unhappiness, we should forgive and forget, and let it go. Not let this unhappiness or anger carry forward into the next moment. This will stop us to have any further misunderstandings, confusions and conflicts that is due to the unexpressed frustration and suppressed anger in our heart, in the body and in the mind.

Most of the time if we did not confront our anger and unhappiness with that person who have inflicted the frustration but in stead we will tend to express these anger and unhappiness onto someone else or something else as substitute. This is a common mistake we all are making. When we are angry with the boss but due to our job, we don’t want to express our anger and unhappiness towards our boss, but very naturally we will express that anger onto someone else who are at lower position than us, or someone on the street, or when we go home to our family, we will find some excuses to express our anger and unhappiness within the family members as a target of our frustration.

And if we did say or do something that had inflicted other people to be angry and unhappy, then it is nothing wrong that these people are confronting with us and express their anger and unhappiness onto us. We should be responsible for their reactions and accept the consequences of our own actions. We shouldn’t be angry or upset about people being angry and upset with us because we had caused that anger and unhappiness in these people. In stead we should ask for forgiveness from them and let them express their anger and unhappiness so that they won’t save hatred towards us. We should dissolve any conflicts and misunderstanding immediately and let it go.

And even though if we did not cause anybody’s pain and unhappiness, but they take us as a target to express their anger and frustration, and due to compassion and selflessness, we should be able to forgive and being compassionate towards these people and let them let out their suffering and unhappiness. We are just a listener or an instrument for other beings to let go their suffering. These anger and unhappiness cannot hurt us or affect us or contaminate us, because we are selfless without an ego there to receive any insults, humiliation or negativity.

We just need to know how to deal with this anger and not let it turn into violence and deep hatred.

It is just like everything else, anger, sadness, happiness and joy are just a fleeting momentary names and forms. They all are the creation of the mind and the ego. If we can detach from any thoughts and feelings that arise in our mind doesn’t matter if it is “positive” or “negative”, happy or unhappy, just be aware of it and not give any values to all these thoughts and feelings, then no matter what is happening to us or in our life, there is no reason for us to be frustrated about, unhappy about or to be angry with.

Be happy.

From Shambhala Sunspace

Prison Dharma: Meet the Buddhas who practice it — on both sides of the bars

Buddhist principles and teachings, put into practice to give comfort and guidance to the incarcerated. What could be a more worthy cause? Anyone who’s practiced prison dharma will tell you: It works.

Sunspace has collected some excellent prison dharma contributions from their archives.

You can find them all here.

And dont forget to check out Calvin Malone’s amazing book about his life as a Buddhist behind bars Razor-Wire Dharma.

There is a very memorable Zen story ;

When a Zen master and a novice were sitting in the Temple,

a wind bell out side tinkled with very beautiful sound.

As both master and the novice were so deeply struck by

its sound,the Master asked novice Why.

The novice answered ” Since, both of hearts are calmed still “

(Nishin sizuka nareba nari) / (The heart of the listener and the

heart of the bell are both in the dead calm state, hence both are in harmony with the Dharma )

———– By this answer, the novice was ordained. ———-(Read this story tens or hundreds of times again )

This must be the most beautiful Zen episode among the rather harsh vigorous stories of them.

———– But in the same time, this story imposed me really awkward questions.

As all the Mahayana Mantras repeating, all the senses include hearing are the false.

And the self who is supposed to listening, is also false.  ——- Even if we take the explanation,which is,

the selflessness is in fact detached mind, —-? ? ?, in any view, this story is the contradiction.

————————

But, I definitely take and believe this story than 1000 of the words in the Mantras. This is the Zen.

How do you think ?

( Photo / From Frickr /  By Kamomebird /  Fuurin in Mino-town )

“Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other — it doesn’t matter who it is — and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.”
(Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Albanian born Indian Missionary and Founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979. 1910-1997)

This is another portrait that I have shot last Sunday as I was walking near Lal ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
Then I met several kids and young men bathing in the holy waters and listening to the lectures of a priest sitting under a big umbrella.
When they saw me each asked for a picture and of course I was happy to make a few portraits that I promised to print and to deliver at the same place today.

It’s important to keep your mats clean especially when you don’t use a towel over your mat.

I’ve used the advice of some of these sites.

Love to know – Their cleaning instructions are nice and detailed.  I like using baking soda as an added ingredient to the soap.  However, I read somewhere that using soap isn’t really good for your mat.

yoga journal - I like their advice on using a big fluffy towel to dry off the mat instead of hanging it out straight.

I used to do an intensive cleaning of my mat every week.  That didn’t help my mat since it got worn out fast.   Good thing I met Monica of Dharma and Indigo Baby.  She introduced to me her product, yoga mat spray.  It’s awesome!

Yoga Mat Spray 300ml bottles

I personally use Dharma’s Yoga Mat Spray.  I like the fact that’s it’s handy and all natural.  You can keep it in your yoga bag and just spray on your mat before and after your practice.  I don’t have to worry about harmful ingredients while I have my bare skin on the mat.  After practice,  I spray a more generous amount and wipe it off with my towel.  This way the sweat and dirt doesn’t accumulate.  I have the bigger bottle since I use this on the studio/shala mats too.

If you’re interested in buying a bottle for yourself, I sell SOLSTICE (lavender) and WINTER SOLSTICE (peppermint) Yoga Mat Spray (100ml) in my shala for P220.

Remember to keep your mats clean to have a healthy practice.

Namaste.

-Karen

“No matter how long our life is, there is a limit to it, is there not?  When we think about the formation of this universe, the lifetime of a human is very short and there is no guarantee that we can live out even a normal human lifespan.  Under these circumstances it is senseless to concentrate all of one’s energy on accumulating money and property.  Since it is clear that wealth is helpful only for this life, it is appropriate to reduce extreme greed…Also, it is clear from the current world situation that no amount of material progress can fulfill what beings are seeking.”  The Meaning of Life, H.H. Dalai Lama

“Não demoreis em fazer o bem e afastai vossas mentes do mal, pois todo aquele que tarda em fazer o bem acaba sendo alcançado pelo mal.

Insistir na maldade provoca sofrimento. Assim, que ninguém atue mal uma e outra vez.

Insistir na bondade produz felicidade. Assim, atua bem uma e outra vez.

Despreocupado vai o malvado enquanto sua má ação não produz frutos. Mas quando ela amadurece, sobre ele cai todo o infortúnio dessa má ação.

Às vezes o homem bom sente dor ao agir bem, mas quando sua boa ação amadurece e produz frutos, então o bondoso recebe a fortuna de sua obra.

Não os descuideis do mal pensando que não os alcançará, pois assim como o cantil se enche gota a gota, assim o malvado vai se enchendo pouco a pouco de maldade.

Não os descuideis do bem pensando que não chegará, pois assim como o cantil se enche gota a gota, assim o sábio vai se enchendo pouco a pouco de bondade.

O mal deve ser evitado com a mesma astúcia que um comerciante rico afasta sua caravana do caminho perigoso, e com o mesmo afinco que o homem que ama a vida evita o veneno.

Assim como o veneno não consegue ferir a mão que o sustenta se não há ferida, assim se livra da maldade aquele que não está enganado.

Como poeira lançada ao vento, volta-se o mal contra o malvado que fere o homem inocente, puro e sem mácula.

Alguns homens nascem de matriz. Outros, os malvados, nascem em estados desgraçados. Outros, os que dominam a si mesmos, nascem em estados benditos. Mas apenas os iluminados alcançam o Nirvana.

Não há lugar algum, nem no céu, nem no meio do oceano, nem em uma caverna perdida nas montanhas, onde um homem possa estar a salvo da morte.”

capítulo X – Castigo

todos os capítulos

Lama Gyatso holding texts for Chagdud Rinpoche

Ceremonies for Venerable Lama Chödak Gyatso Nubpa’s  49th Day will conclude on the 30th of this month with Rigzdin Duepa, Throma and  Shi-Tro practices at the retreat land of  Ari Bhod.

May the seeds that he planted in each of us continue to flourish!
I’ve posted an album of photos of Lama Gyatso, HERE.