8 Folded Limbs

‎"If to any man the tumult of the flesh were silenced; and the phantoms of earth and waters and air were silenced; and the poles were silent as well; indeed, if the very soul grew silent to herself, and went beyond herself by not thinking of herself; if fancies and imaginary revelations were silenced; if every tongue and every sign and every transient thing -- for actually if any man could hear them, all these would say, 'We did not create ourselves, but were created by Him who abides forever' -- and if, having uttered this, they too should be silent, having stirred our ears to hear him who created them; and if then he alone spoke, not through them but by himself, that we might hear his word, not in fleshly tongue or angelic voice, nor sound of thunder, nor the obscurity of a parable, but might hear him -- him for whose sake we love these things -- if we could hear him without these, as we two now strained ourselves to do, we then with rapid thought might touch on that Et...

Most of us hate to be in pain.  Perhaps--sometimes-- pain can teach us what pleasure never could.  Pain forces us to be acutely aware of the present moment.  In pleasure, we are there, but hoping it will never end instead of wishing for the end, as in pain.  Either way, there is an immediate focus on need. I twisted my ankle today because I was not in the present moment.  There was an early holiday parade in the city, and I was steaming about having to walk all the way around it instead of through it.  Pop.  Ouch.  Limp, limp.  Every step I took to my hostel from that moment was magnified by the pain in my ankle.  I almost laughed at the lesson.  Suffice to say, from that moment and still yet-- I am painfully in the now.  

Every thing you do, say or think creates an imprint in your minds.  Depending on which parts of us we take care of, some of the seeds after time and attention ripen and create fruit.  These fruits are either the end result of thoughtful or thoughtless deeds.  The gardens of our minds are our responsibility.  What we consume, do or think has a lasting effect on not only us, but others as well.  Be very careful of the types of seeds you plant in your mental garden because they will not only affect you -- they can affect those you love as well. Plant thoughtful seeds as much as you can and use meditation to weed out the others.  It is very important to hold the reins of our thoughts and actions.  The fruits of them will come to visit us again.

I have an opening for a weekly student, as one of my regulars can come no longer. I am still offering a sliding-scale for students -- we can discuss what you can afford. I believe I am going to begin discussion on an ancient text next week.  I am just having trouble choosing which one to start with.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am opening up the sliding scale privates to include not only senior but also pre and post natal. Please be aware that I do not have wheel access where I teach, but I can sure help anyone figure 4 a student into my classroom. I have thought long and hard about the RYT 500 that I will be in the spring.  Most teachers streamline students during that time and move to a pre-determined fee no matter what.  I am not quite sure what I will do, but I am certain that I will always have at least a few slots open for those that need a sliding scale. I know I did -- and my wonderful teacher never looked down on what I could afford to pay her.