“To work with God’s happiness bubbling in the soul is to carry a portable paradise within you wherever you go.”
~ Paramahansa Yogananda
Happy Good Friday everyone! I hope this finds you preparing for a wonderful holiday weekend. And setting aside even just a few moments in church or in meditation to truly connect with the divine, that which Jesus gave his life for.
Upon waking and watching the warm sunrise this morning, I was drawn to think of my favorite book “Autobiography of a Yogi” written by Paramahansa Yogananda. It was named one of the 100 best spiritual books of the 20th century, and reads almost like a fairy tale. Yogi shares with us his unforgettable story of saints and yogis, science and miracles, death and resurrection. With chapters entitled The Saint with Two Bodies, The Tiger Swami, The Levitating Saint, The Cauliflower Robbery, The Law of Miracles, The Woman Yogi Who Never Eats …. He uses the mystical to open our hearts to all that is possible in this world, and beyond.
“The very purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticize others. Rather, we must criticize ourselves. How much am I doing about my anger? About my attachment, about my hatred, about my pride, my jealousy? These are the things which we must check in daily life.”
~ The Dalai Lama
Another enjoyable morning here in St. Thomas, with bright skies, and just the right amount of haze in the air to naturally filter the rising sun. The full moon last night was just as stunning.
“We are each here to be a continual unfolding of ourselves, by taking inventory, collecting the necessary ingredients, adding in what is most nourishing and seeing ourselves rise to new heights.”
~ Simran Singh
It was so deliciously still this morning, I almost felt like I was on the set of Dune or something. And the sunrise was pretty amazing. It’s supposed to be like this for a couple more days, but I won’t bet on it 😉
So the above quote came out of a beautiful email I received in my inbox yesterday. I’ve posted the complete email below for your enjoyment too.
“Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life’s hard.”
~ John Bytheway
From time to time, even I need to be reminded of my most favorite of all quotes. As I sat quietly in the warm sunrise this morning, my mind was already stacking up what the day held in store for me. I was thinking about the mess of unfinished projects that I left sprawled all over my desk.
Peter McWilliam wrote:
When we put things off until some future – some probably mythical ‘Laterland’ – we drag the past into the future. The burden of yesterday’s incompletions is a heavy load to carry. Don’t carry it.
“Our attention is the most valuable thing we have, and the visible world can be an addictive, overstimulating, and spiritually debilitating lure.”
~ David Life
I was chatting with a friend yesterday about her recent attendance at a workshop held by the great yogi Rodney Yee. What seems to have stood out for her was his continued redirection of students to what is known as “drishti” or our focal point. I guess he ‘called out’ alot of highly distracted and a few egocentric people!
“When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world.”
~ B.K.S. Iyengar
What a beautiful thought for this magnificent Sunday! Like the blazing sun, I was up bright and early this morning, ready to meet the day with new awareness. I was on my yoga mat at 4:45, no alarm needed. My body and mind were demanding it.
After a week of slouching off from my practice, my body really felt it’s age yesterday. While I prepped the villa for incoming guests, knees crunched as I bent to wipe cabinets and didn’t enjoy coming back up out of squatting. My lower back was screaming at me by the end of the day, to the point that I had to put China Gel on it. This morning revealed old latent patterns of holding in my shoulders, which begins to effect the lungs and the heart on both a physical and an emotional level.
“One ship sails east and another sails west
With the self-same winds that blow.
Tis the set of the sail and not the gale
Which determines the way they go.
As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyage along through life,
Tis the act of the soul that determines the goal,
And not the calm or the strife.”
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
In all this stillness, the Rolex Regatta began here on St. Thomas yesterday. It’s a bit breezier today, but I was marveling this morning at how skillful these sailors must be to move their vessel, even in these lightest of winds. I think sailors are great opportunists.