Palolem, revised

  The waves amble onto the beach at a leisurely pace, one smallish wave every ten seconds, six waves per minute — as unhurried and undemanding as the restaurants or services here, a definition in action for the word languid. In some magical configuration of sea and sand, the waves which fall to earth are reflected …

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More on embodiment

A common misperception of meditative practice is that its goal is one of disowning the body. That becoming pure consciousness — of finding this "I" which is beyond the body — is a renunciation of the physical and the sensory. The deepest and broadest result of meditation is in fact the opposite. For the years …

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Palolem Beach, Goa

Hm. The face of India changes yet again, and we poor freshmen have to shift our energies to make space for it. The beach at Palolem, in southern Goa, is every bit as riveting as we had heard it would be. The essential coconut palms providing shade overhead, the incredibly gentle surf that is warm …

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Trusting the Universe

Manny Muros: I have always had a lot of faith and trust in the goodness of the Universe… A believe that things will always work out for the best. The desire to simply see clearly what is in front of me. Traveling thru India we have had lots of practice on moving toward a general certain …

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Another Horizon

The practices of meditation and asana, and even the practices of work and community with which I have been involved, have all been driven together in the force of this travel. As I understood it would be, at a knowing, if not thinking, level. It has not been a pilgrimage to empty tombs — a "temple-tour", …

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Watershed

Interesting to watch the broad movements of the brush, see what is being painted as we work our way across the country and through our allotted travel time. We began with the shock of arrival, followed that with the shock of the new, and the shock of being changed… then the shock of allowing change …

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Palolem, revisited

Fortunately, I can make a better report of this beach myself. Whatever was up with people yesterday (and I do include myself in that population) — the fights, the unsmiling eyes, the shabby shacks — seemed to have eased with the setting of the sun, and Manny and I found ourselves sitting up on the …

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Uma carta é o coração dobrado

uma carta é o coração dobrado endereçado, enviado parcela de pétalas brancas pétalas derramando do livro aberto das mãos   uma carta é coração destilado decifrado, recombinado em músicas de pétalas de flor pétalas oferecidas aos vasos abertos das mãos   cinzas nas veias vegetais trilhas à caminhos traçam passagem-fogueira dos tempos deslumbrantes ao atardecer …

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A respite

Manny Muros: On our last morning with the Tibetan family Mark and I tried to express our appreciation for all their warmth and hospitality given to us. Deep emotion and tears came to Sonam's eyes as she wanted to express thru us the gratitude she has to the "American people" who have helped them so …

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Mangalore

Manny says "another noisy city, where you can't walk and breathe at the same time"… and he is right. From 8.30am to 7.00pm, Mangalore presents the same toxic blend of autorickshaws, interstate and local busses, private passenger cars and Jeep lookalikes, bicycles and trucks and pedestrians; you breathe only shallowly, and return to your sleeping …

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Meditation

into the well a silent pebble falls and finds a voice a body sinks; the body's echo climbs into the light who cast the stone whose is the well who waits for the reply? The poem stands without the 3rd stanza koan, and stands as well without 2nd stanza commentary. Just as meditation stands without …

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Undercurrent

The external beauties and (as often as not) challenges are easy to write about, but the inner work is not. Still, I am rising at 5:30 for yoga, each day feeling stronger, more limber, and somehow "cleaner"; I am sitting when I can in meditation — really delighting in being close to the ground, and …

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