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perfect words

As a manipulator of words, I often am searching for the one that conveys just the right meaning. Pamela Haag has assembled a list of such words, unfortunately, they’re not in English. But who knows, perhaps because of their je ne sais quoi — beating ability or the Weltanschauung they engender, they will come into the Mother Tongue.

Here’s an example:

Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start.

and here’s the whole list:
The Top 10 Relationship Words that Aren’t Translatable into English

Reposted from march 11, 2012 (because I like it)

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dog yoga

In that regard, I would like to read to you my new favorite little piece: “If you can sit quietly after difficult news, if in financial downturns you remain perfectly calm, if you can see your neighbors travel to fantastic places without a twinge of jealousy, if you can happily eat whatever is put on your plate and fall asleep after a day of running around without a drink or a pill, if you can always find contentment just where you are, you are probably a dog.” [Laughter]

-Jack Kornfield, excerpt from talk with Pema Chodron, reported here

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odd choices

I’m pondering the odd life choices presented to artists and yogis…

“I have been told,” the merchant began, “that you were a Brahman, a learned man, but that you seek to be in the service of a merchant. Might you have become destitute, Brahman, so that you seek to serve?”

“No,” said Siddhartha, “I have not become destitute and have never been destitute. You should know that I’m coming from the Samanas, with whom I have lived for a long time.”

“If you’re coming from the Samanas, how could you be anything but destitute? Aren’t the Samanas entirely without possessions?”

“I am without possessions,” said Siddhartha, “if this is what you mean. Surely, I am without possessions. But I am so voluntarily, and therefore I am not destitute.”

“But what are you planning to live of, being without possessions?”

“I haven’t thought of this yet, sir. For more than three years, I have been without possessions, and have never thought about of what I should live.”

quote from text of Siddhartha by Hesse at www.online-literature.com

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Five Daily Recollections

I heard an interview this week with Jeff Bridges. He recited these remembrances, which Buddhists are encouraged to recall daily:

  • I am of the nature to grow old; I cannot avoid aging.
  • I am of the nature to become ill or injured; I cannot avoid illness or injury
  • I am of the nature to die; I cannot avoid death.
  • All that is mine, dear and delightful, will change and vanish.
  • I am the owner of my actions;
    I am born of my actions;
    I am related to my actions;
    I am supported by my actions;
    Any thoughts, words or deeds I do, good or evil, those I will inherit.

from AN V.57  Upajjhatthana Sutta: Subjects for Contemplation

via www.insighmeditation.org

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What I’ve learned from the 2012 Election and Its Convergence with Hurricane Sandy

Republican vs. Democrat

People who tend to vote Republican or Democrat, if gotten into a respectful exchange, will admit their frustration with leaders on both sides and the government in general. Republicans may believe the quality of candidates is pretty close to the same, but they prefer the one promising to do less via government. They trust individuals and business as more efficient. Democrats believe government defends people, rather than special interests (aka, corporate interests).

People who identify as Republican have certain core aggravations with government programs that seem to reward what feels to them like laziness, e.g., “entitlements,” which even by the name sound unearned; and debt spending, which seems to them irresponsible.

Republicans are obstinant about notions of government size, spending and efficiency that do not stand up to the historical statistics, which show deficits, taxes, and efficiency improvements as better under Democratic Administrations. Assuming that the Republican arguments are not trying to mislead based on pure deception, there must be something that is not being well-enough defined in the Republican argument.

Democrats are not doing a good job at convincing the public that they are pro-business, pro-efficient government, and pro-fiscal responsibility. Democrats are not especially liberal — just ask any Green Party member or other liberal. Continue reading “What I’ve learned from the 2012 Election and Its Convergence with Hurricane Sandy”

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Topless in Manhattan Update: Join In!

This spring, I posted here about an experience sighting a topless woman in Union Square. I presumed she was engaged in a performance art piece.

I got an update this week, meeting said woman in an unlikely place: Sivananda Ashram in the Catskills, where she was part of my stepson’s graduating yoga teacher training group. She described her project during the closing activities.

Moira Johnston’s topless strolls are in fact woman’s activism, sparked in an situation involving a yoga class that included topless men. Moira wanted the freedom to do the same and learned that in New York State, women are free to go topless. She has been raising awareness (and no doubt eyebrows) ever since. Here’s a link to an advocacy organization with a video she did on the Daily Beast. Moira’s blog is www.toplessmoira.com.

I was pleased that my reaction back in March was pretty much on the target with what she is trying to say.