LIT#200715-AURORA

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Aurora performs 'It Happened Quiet' live in The Current studio. The song is from her 2018 album, 'Infections of a Different Kind

AURORA delivers a stunning cover of Massive Attack's 1998 song 'Teardrop'

AURORA's cover of The Beatles 'Across The Universe'

LIT#200709-The Heart of Yoga

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{ …Rather, we should know the feeling of being a little better today than yesterday exist just as much as the hope that we will be a little better in the future. These feelings[obstacles] will come and go until we reach the point where there is no better and no worse. }

{ …What is important is that we never try to force…we must just create space for ourselves, for the mind…whether it is through [our own image of God], or with the aid of breathing techniques, whether it is by approaching a teacher or investigating our senses—whenever there is confusion in our minds we must try to create space. there are many possibilities for getting out of a difficult situation. Ways and means can always be found for overcoming the obstacles we meet. }

{ …Karma is action.... If the fruits our efforts do not correspond to our expectations, we should not be disappointed, for the effort is often imperfect. Our actions should indeed never be determined by any expectations, for we can never be sure of the results of our actions. We should also not take the credit when things turn out well, for we are not necessarily personally responsible for successes anymore than we are failures. And it could well be that we see things in different light tomorrow. We must involve ourselves through action, but leave the rest to God and expect nothing. }

{ … We must not let ourselves be confused by the way the different schools describe the same process…Many people want to give everything and everyone a label. Unfortunately these classifications have become much too important and give the impression that there are fundamental differences between the various forms of yoga. But really they are all dealing with the same thing, and are only looking at them from different perspectives. If we really follow one direction in yoga as far as we can go, then it will lead us along all paths of yoga. }

TKV Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga

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{…following one teacher and one direction helps you discover the ways and means of avoiding and overcoming obstacles…}

my one teacher is [ all ] ;
my one direction is [ inward ] ;
my one discipline is [ creation ] .

FURTHERANCE

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Always from conquering heartbreak am I granted another encounter with Furtherance.

…wealth, fame, power…winner claims justice…

lose … cravings, insecurity, guilt, ambition, eagerness, anxiety, expectations, judgement, negative thoughts….;

nurture … compassion, patience, strength, flexibility, balance, breath, peacefulness, resolve, gentleness.

LIT#200624-Ludovico Einaudi

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Einaudi performs an original piece "Elegy for the Arctic"

”Through his music, acclaimed Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi has added his voice to those of eight million people from across the world demanding protection for the Arctic. Einaudi performed one of his own compositions on a floating platform in the middle of the Ocean, against the backdrop of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier (in Svalbard, Norway). Travelling on board Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise on the eve of a significant event for the future of the Arctic: this week's meeting of the OSPAR Commission, which could secure the first protected area in Arctic international waters.” [via Ludovico Einauldi YouTube]

Ludovico Einaudi - Elegy for the Arctic (The Making of)

”The silence broken by the noise of the glacier as it fell off. Some notes torn from a grand piano floating in a sea of ice. Thus began the shocking video with which master Ludovico Einaudi put the soundtrack to the campaign to save the Arctic.”

Elegy (which may be traced to the Greek word elegos, “song of mourning”) commonly refers to a song or poem lamenting one who is dead; the word may also refer somewhat figuratively to a nostalgic poem, or to a kind of musical composition. [definition via Merriam-Webster]

LOG#20200623

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Woke up grumpy. Wanted to sleep in. I slept at 1030 last night so that’s a win. Summer woke me and thank god she did. It knocked on my laziness. Fed her and wanted to go back to bed. She barked again after eating. I was irritated but it got me moving, putting dishes away, washing up dirty ones from last night, this clean up routine helps me wake. Besides, there is no snoozing a hungry dog. 630. Not good enough but I’ll stop being hard on myself. Day at a time, crumbs at a time. Those earlier hours I am still awful drowsy, after all I had spent most of my life going to bed in the am. My body is intelligent but I shouldn’t expect it to be abrupt.

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Stop chasing delusional thoughts…be practical…lose all passion. The only way to dream. Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work…Gustave Flaubert. I need nothing but to solve this puzzle on my own. This is my mind. I will look after it myself. Life gave me some time. Thankful. No need to fear… power. Cease to be intimidated by anything…can’t afford it. I will tell myself until it becomes true. Fruition…when I finally failed enough to recognize it, to acquire it…took a while. Ready to carry on.. ready to play this game. Work with change..all is temporary and brief. Faltering strengthens. It needs to get worse before it gets better.

clarity….vision….

Angel in the marble. Sculpt until he is weightless.

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I WROTE ANYWAY

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my poetry was born from father’s death
his existence felt like a memory from a dream
was he ever there? maybe ages ago
about grieving? I knew not a thing
but I wrote anyway

he was looking out a window, stationed on an angle
and still, I cannot figure out if I had imagined this
only the seizures were as real as my uselessness
it was all just fragmented lines, juvenile vocabulary
but I wrote anyway

perhaps it was my attempt at communicating
with whatever emotions that were
screwing around inside my head,
poetry and I sat patiently listening to guilt
as it rambled on about how pathetic I was
for writing, that it was a vain act of self-pity
it had a point and was probably true
but I wrote anyway

I thought maybe sadness
would eventually become my friend
so I wrote anyway

JUST

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Nothing, no one is either bad or good, put another way, bad or good evaluation is irrelevant to any existing thing or persons. No experience is right or wrong, meaning right or wrong judgement is irrelevant to our experiences of the world. If we have nothing to blame and no one to judge, how then, can we channel overwhelming and ill emotions? In one way alone, by the path of just action. And how can we learn to act justly? First, let us contemplate the state and sensitivity of our minds as this is a reflection of the qualities of our actions.

Actions with unjust intentions are essentially corrupt energy and can lead to obvious and immediate detriments or travel unceremonious paths and take root in the unexpected mind spaces of our own and of others’ we encounter, waiting to detonate more unjust actions. A vicious cycle.

We act unjustly because there is a deficiency of justice, which happens when our mind spaces are overtaken by corruption. We can, however, find no resolution in demonizing corrupt energy or the unjust actions that come of it. Understand that corruption is not an individual condition but a collective human condition. Living with corruption is liken to living with disease and plague, it causes moral suffering.

Nature always finds balance through change, meaning change is a the constant of moving in and out of balance. Justice is a balanced state of the human mind, the state of mind where personal freedom breeds. When we encounter experiences that we feel negatively towards, it is because there is corruption in that which we experience the world through, namely our own minds. If we mistreat corruption by inaction or suppression, its effects of deteriorating our minds will only multiply until there is little humanity left.

Now if we look to nature and see that corruption is in fact just a state in which our nature is out of balance, and we accept that there is possibility for reversal, this awareness becomes faith. Faith is but an outlook of the mind. It is what allows us to hope, to be grounded in the midst of change because we understand that we can learn to operate the mechanics of reversal when nature challenges us with painful or traumatic experiences. Faith gives us the confidence to deal with corruption objectively.

What do we do with this confidence? We must venture into our minds and seek out an uncorrupt area. Then, upon this healthy soil, we will begin to erect a sanctuary through meditation. Here in our very own creation, we can begin to develop a personal and private practice. This is the practice of understanding, the practice of utilizing the behaviour of our minds and our unique experiences as intriguing subjects of observation and analysis. As we gain awareness through practice and study, we improve the sensitivity of our minds and expand the area of our safety. This allows for us to nurture just thoughts, and as they grow and flourish in our minds, they override what corruption there is. This is the path of just action.

As our minds are vast, intricate, and mysterious, this life-long practice of strategically breeding justice and warring corruption must be embraced as a fundamental theme of our existence.

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in this life,
we are born innocent,
then innocence finds corruption
by nature’s workings, a challenge,
a testament of humanity,
should we find meaning
in suffering,

life finds meaning
in the gradual process of reversal,
a principled, personal, and
private practice, a practice anchored in
reflection and meditation
upon gratitude and repentance,
welcoming pain as the source
of energy for transmutation,
we become a host
for strength to act
justly,

through this process of healing
corruption, purifying soul, we attain
our purpose in life, the union with divinity,
becoming one with
freedom

HOW MANY

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Before we react with anger and disgust and annoyance
Before we mock and shame and humiliate 
Before we act in self-profit without consideration
of the rippling consequences that come with any action or inaction
Before we speak our stubborn opinions
Before we condemn and criticize with brute or intelligent words
Before we judge and expect and demand
Before we boast our righteousness and superiority 

Ask ourselves

How many hungry people have I fed
How many neglected children have I nurtured
How many of the depressed have I given warmth
How many downtrodden have I defended and helped
How many students have I enlightened
How many differences have I welcomed
How many of the old and dying have I embraced
How many genuine smiles have I lit
How many times have I forgiven
How many letters of grief have I written
How many thanks have I given

How many miserable souls have I shown kindness...
including myself, and how often?

RE

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today I kneel in repentance
to be revived from the sacred well,
rest the wounds that gave birth
to this peaceful moment,
a forever now

I renounce all crude censorship
upon my innocence,
and learn again my thirst and hunger
as a strong and curious cub

today I kneel in gratefulness
to be reborn from the immortal source,
bless the defeats that challenge me
to feel the enigma of nature
and the humbling presence of sun

tonight when I look to the dark waters
beneath the glowing moon,
a reflection awaits me of a vehicle
driven by an eternal light of truth