Change is a strange thing. While worldly phenomena—including human bodies and minds—seem to be in perpetual motion—transforming, modulating, modifying, adjusting, etc. pretty much all the time—change turns out to be rather slippery to actually find. The reason for this slipperiness is that to say that a particular object has “undergone change” requires that it partake, simultaneously, of …
Practice Notes
Practice Notes: Untouched & Deeply Felt
It’s been a month now, at least, since I first opened this Word file, and typed in the title—Practice Notes: Untouched & Deeply Felt. I expected that (as is generally the case) I’d return, within the next day or two, to complete the essay. Yet that impulse, until today, just never arrived. Somehow, for a long time, nothing else was needed. Somehow, the title in and of itself (with fewer …
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Practice Notes: Knowing, Being, Seeing
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, from The Little Prince What I’ve been feeling most curious about, as of late, is the meaning of “seeing” and “being seen”—both in relation to the human organism and in terms of our essential identity as Pure …
Practice Notes: Distinction and Separation
There are so many interesting things to explore! And I’ve explored quite a few, thus far in my life—following the thread of my enthusiasm, what piques my interest, lights my fire. But in comparison to all possible things to explore—all the phenomena past, present, and future, in this universe and all others—clearly the explorations accomplished via this one body-mind are miniscule: an estimate …
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Practice Notes: Body Cultivation
Over the years, I’ve explored and greatly benefitted from a variety of body-cultivation traditions—the majority of which have their roots in India or China. Iyengar Yoga The first was Iyengar yoga, which I was drawn to for its therapeutic applications. I was in my early 20’s and still recovering from a serious ankle injury, which had been creating all kinds of problems, also, in my hips and …
Practice Notes: Into-Me-See
Three times in as many weeks, I’ve come across articles and/or online discussions on the topic of spiritual intimacy vs. human emotional intimacy. Questions that have been posed and then discussed include: * Which is more important: spiritual intimacy or human intimacy? * Which should take priority: being devoted to the Divine, in love with God—or being in love with and devoted to human …