One month ago, on the December 28th Full Moon, I started a 30-day practice. Daily, I lit a stick of Maroma’s “New Energy” incense; asked myself, “How will I sustain my total well-being in order to serve others and live on purpose;” sat to chant 108 repetitions of the “Asato Ma” prayer (Lead me from…
Tag: ahimsa
Compassion for Killers, Revisited
“For as long as space endures and the world exists, may my own existence bring about the end of suffering in the world.” – Shantideva (8th Century Indian Buddhist Scholar) * * * I cannot dwell in resentment. Because if I do, I am only adding to the pain of the world. In light of…
Ahimsa Now: 100 Days of Intention – The Final Word
Ahimsa Now. I just spent 100 days exploring violence, its patterns, its causes and the tools for avoiding it. (For background, see “The Roots of ‘Ahimsa Now: 100 Days of Intention’” at the bottom of this post.) What rings true in all of my observations and experiences – when someone is in pain, that person…
Peace Tools: Gaining Counsel
Clearly it is my life practice to find the tools to: pause, assess, gain counsel, decide, then communicate. Rather than cutting and running. Yup. Trying. – Day 94 of Ahimsa Now: 100 Days of Intention * * * For the final quarter of my 100-day exploration of Ahimsa (for a brief background, see “The Roots…
Ahimsa Now: 100 Days of Intention – The Home Stretch
“The internal practice of meditation and the external attitudes and habits we adopt in our daily lives are the means of healing the split between the selfless and the selfish, between wisdom and ignorance.” – Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999), from “Essence of the Bhagavad Gita: A Contemporary Guide to Yoga, Meditation and Indian Philosophy” * * …
Peace Tools: Infinite Compassion
“For as long as space endures and the world exists, may my own existence bring about the end of suffering in the world.” – Shantideva (8th Century Indian Buddhist Scholar) * * * For the final quarter of my 100-day exploration of Ahimsa (for a brief background, see “The Roots of ‘Ahimsa Now: 100 Days…
Peace Tools: Pratipaksha Bhavana, Samtosha & Gratitude
For the final quarter of my 100-day exploration of Ahimsa (for a brief background, see “The Roots of ‘Ahimsa Now: 100 Days of Intention’” at the bottom of this page), I am compiling my favorite Peace Tools – fail-safe practices for cultivating a reliable inner peace, which leads to a serene life and accountability to…
Ahimsa Now: 100 Days Of Intention – The Halfway Mark
Back in April, I launched a 100-day exploration of “Ahimsa” – the Sanskrit word for “avoidance of violence” or “avoidance of harm.” Each morning, I light a stick of incense and say, “Ahimsa Now” – the name of my envisioned non-profit organization. Ahimsa Now’s mission is to use yoga and related practices to address emotional…
Ahimsa Now: 100 Days of Intention
* * * In a recent blog entry, I mentioned “Ahimsa Now” – my idea for a non-profit organization whose mission is to use yoga and related practices to address emotional pain and increase inner peace in at-risk youth and those that serve them, consequently decreasing violence in at-risk communities. When I called my friend…
Focus Wrap Up: The Eight Limbs – Yama
It was 10:38am on Sunday, April 3rd when I started writing this wrap up, and the New Moon hung invisibly above. In that Sunday’s classes we wrapped up our March focus on the 1st of the Eight Limbs of Yoga – Yama, or, abstinence. I extended the March focus through April 3rd so the New…
The Urban Yoga Den 