Preparing for Uncertainty

  • By onthemat
  • •
  • 12 Apr, 2016
  • •
Today, when Marni’s Aunt Emerald spoke to us about our time in the nunnery, we learned a few things that were not quite what we expected. One, we are in the nunnery, during the Water Festival Retreat, for the duration until Sunday, April 17, after the closing ceremonies. We thought we might be able to […]
Today, when Marni’s Aunt Emerald spoke to us about our time in the nunnery, we learned a few things that were not quite what we expected. One, we are in the nunnery, during the Water Festival Retreat, for the duration until Sunday, April 17, after the closing ceremonies. We thought we might be able to leave periodically, to go to an Internet Café to post our blogs, check email, touch base with loved ones, but that may not be the case. Our leader, is affectionately, with a bit of humor, referred to as the Warden of the Monastery. With that said, I’m headed in tomorrow, not sure when I will be able to “report from the field.”
 
One key thing we learned is there are rules about seated poses. I reflected earlier in the week on the differences between the different seated poses: Sukhasana, Virasana and Vajrasana. As I watched the people sit in Shwedagon this evening, adults and children, I noticed the girls posture. Their feet were out to one side, tucked underneath them. As I watched parents seat their children to pray to the Buddha, I noticed them fix their feet to the side, especially the girls. It was ok for the boys to sit with their feet underneath them, but as most of you know, without a block, the floor can become quite hard.
One’s feet are always supposed to be below the rest of the body. It’s an alignment principle of respect where the head must be the highest and the feet the very lowest. Easy seated pose, cross legged doesn’t adhere to that. It’s much better for your feet to be at the bottom underneath you.
In addition, a younger person is never to be higher than an older person. Marni explained that it would be very distressing to see me, the eldest, sitting on the floor, talking to Carly, the youngest, who was seated above me while I demonstrated the seated postures on the floor. The younger needs to stoop down to be below the elder. Carly thought that was very funny, given I’m the eldest at a smidge under 5’2”.
I took photos later in the evening, as we watched the sun set on the Pagoda, of the children, wondering not only how they would sit in the monastery, but what their training and understanding is of prayer and meditation.
I will send photos from the field, as soon as I am able!

On The Mat Yoga Blog

Heart~ Day #7 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • 03 May, 2020

“There is a light in the core of our being that calls us home—one that can only be seen with closed eyes; We can feel it as a radiance in the center of our chest. This light of loving awareness is always here, regardless of our conditioning. It does not matter how many dark paths we have traveled or how many wounds we have inflicted or sustained as we have unknowingly stumbled toward this inner radiance. It does not matter how long we have sleepwalked, seduced by our desires and fears. This call persists until it is answered, until we surrender to who we really are. When we do, we feel ourselves at home wherever we are. A hidden beauty reveals itself in our ordinary life. As the true nature of our Deep Hear is unveiled, we feel increasingly grateful for no reason—grateful to simply be.”

—John J. Prendergast, PHD, The Deep Heart  

SUN!~ Day #6 (Week #4)

By Linda Malcomb • 02 May, 2020

Seems like it’s been rainy, windy, dreary for eons. Which may have helped us shelter inside a bit more. I remember reading years and years ago in a Seth book that weather can be influenced, and even created by mass human emotion. Why not? We are far more powerful than we currently acknowledge, and science is beginning to validate many phenomena that had seemed inconceivable before. Those seemingly endless days of “bad” weather seemed congruent with the emotional tone of covid her in New England. And now SUN! Glorious, warming, invigorating, hope-filled Sun! Today I will be outside basking and gardening and thanking. And I’m sure the whole neighborhood, and most of New England will go outside, stand with our faces to the sun and breathe a huge healing breath of joy. And maybe the collective energy of that will resonate out across the word as a promise of brighter days to come.     


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