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Gratitude and Thanks Giving

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends,
 
Wishing you peace and comfort on this national day of giving thanks and gratitude.  We all know that there is untold suffering in this world, from many sources - some caused by nature and much more caused by humans.
 
When we do our yoga and meditation practices, we do it for all beings everywhere.
 
"Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you, I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth... This is the real message of love."
Thich Nhat Hanh
 
"Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion."
Thich Nhat Hanh
 
"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future."
Thich Nhat Hanh
 
"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."
Thich Nhat Hanh
 
I am grateful to have you in my life.  Peace and love to you, Karen

Interpretive Translation by Joseph Le Page

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra:  Chapter I, verse 47 - Autumn Light
 
Nirvichāravaiśāradye’ dhyātmaprasādah
 
Upon gaining natural lucidity in meditative absorption beyond reflective thought (nirvichara samadhi), the higher Self naturally awakens, like the shimmering luminosity of Autumn light.
 
Note: The word ‘vaisharada’ used in this verse to mean clearness of mind or natural lucidity, literally means autumnal brightness, which serves as the inspiration for this commentary.
 
 
Each year, I walk that ever new yet timeless trail down to the edge of the sunlit lake, where every tree, being and newly colored leaf is bathed in autumn’s golden rays.
 
And each year I gaze onto the surface of the lake, hoping to catch a glimpse, to see some trace, in the clarity of those golden rays, a reflection of my own true face.
 
And each year there are changes in the clarity I find, depending on the wind and weather in my mind, sometimes still clouded by doubt and fear, but gradually becoming clear and bright in the growing presence of autumn light.
 
And when that calm blue surface is furrowed by the nervous winds of worry, I rest my gaze onto the deep still center of the lake, and allow some time for the waves of wind-whipped mind to soften and fade away.
 
And when my gaze lifts beyond the horizon of the lake, into the future’s endless maze, I soften my breath and rest my sight on the ever-perfect present moment, bathed in autumn light.
 
And when clouds of sadness roll across, reminders of life’s deep lake of loss, I watch and wait for the dark shadows to abate, as white clouds of wisdom sail again over the vast blue stillness of the lake.
 
Sometimes, I go there just to rest my mind, to close my eyes and journey inside, to bathe in the stillness beyond time, and then return to life revitalized in the luminous glow of autumn light.
 
And sometimes, I simply sit in awe at the almost unbearable beauty of the autumn glow, painting a landscape of earth, lake and sky with the precious gold leaf of autumn light.
 
And in the grace of those golden rays, I offer thanks for each new day, a precious gift of Divine delight wrapped in the glory of autumn light.
 
And each year that autumn brilliance grows, a reflection of my own awakening soul, the seeds of wisdom germinating deep inside, grow and burst the banks of the everyday mind, and the One Self shines forth clear and bright in the mystery of autumn light.
 
Now, that autumn aura guides each step, in ever present companionship, a golden cocoon of Divine embrace guiding me to reunion with my own true face.
 
And this year, a fresh breeze of freedom blows through my mind as I walk arm in arm with the Divine; with nothing left to lose, fear or fight, I gaze into the lake with crystal clear sight, to find no face at all, only Autumn Light. Daily Yoga Scripture Study with Joseph LePage on Facebook

Contact

Karen O'Donnell Clarke
karen@yogahealsus.com
860.204.0797 Yoga Heals Us

Healthy things grow
healthy things grow. growing things change. changing things challenge us.
challenge causes us to be stretched and to learn trust. trust leads to wise
choices. wise choices make us healthy. healthy things grow... (source: email tag)


Gratitude by Mary Oliver from What Do We Know
What did you notice?
 
The dew snail;
the low-flying sparrow;
the bat, on the wind, in the dark;
big-chested geese, in the V of sleekest performance;
the soft toad, patient in the hot sand;
the sweet-hungry ants;
the uproar of mice in the empty house;
the tin music of the cricket’s body;
the blouse of the goldenrod.
 
What did you hear?
 
The thrush greeting the morning;
the little bluebirds in their hot box;
the salty talk of the wren,
then the deep cup of the hour of silence.
 
What did you admire?
 
The oaks, letting down their dark and hairy fruit;
the carrot, rising in its elongated waist;
the onion, sheet after sheet, curved inward to the pale green wand;
at the end of summer the brassy dust, the almost liquid beauty of the flowers;
then the ferns, scrawned black by the frost.
 
What astonished you?
 
The swallows making their dip and turn over the water.
 
What would you like to see again?
 
My dog: her energy and exuberance, her willingness,
    her language beyond all nimbleness of tongue, her
    recklessness, her loyalty, her sweetness, her
    sturdy legs, her curled black lip, her snap.
 
What was most tender?
 
Queen Anne’s lace, with its parsnip root;
the everlasting in its bonnets of wool;
the kinks and turns of the tupelo’s body;
the tall, blank banks of sand;
the clam, clamped down.
 
What was most wonderful?
 
The sea, and its wide shoulders;
the sea and its triangles;
the sea lying back on its long athlete’s spine.
 
What did you think was happening?
 
The green breast of the hummingbird;
the eye of the pond;
the wet face of the lily;
the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak;
the red tulip of the fox’s mouth;
the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve of the first snow—
 
so the gods shake us from our sleep.
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