MUSIC | Girish : Diamonds in the Sun

Lokah Samasah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all. 

Let's look more closely at the meaning of each word of this invocational mantra: 

lokah: location, realm, all universes existing now 

samastah: all beings sharing that same location 

sukhino: centered in happiness and joy, free from suffering 

bhav: the divine mood or state of unified existence 

antu: may it be so, it must be so (antu used as an ending here transforms this mantra into a powerful pledge)

This is a prayer each one of us can practice every day. It reminds us that our relationships with all beings and things should be mutually beneficial if we ourselves desire happiness and liberation from suffering. No true or lasting happiness can come from causing unhappiness to others. No true or lasting freedom can come from depriving others of their freedom. If we say we want every being to be happy and free, then we have to question everything that we do-how we live, how we eat, what we buy, how we speak, and even how we think. 

(From Jivamukti Yoga)

PLAYLIST

MUSIC | NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert : Patrick Watson

by STEPHEN THOMPSON

Patrick Watson has a lovely, flexible voice and a gift for wringing evocative sounds out of everything from vintage keyboards to bicycle chains, but his real gift lies in his ability to maximize beauty at all times; to guide every noise in such a way that it coheres into something dramatic and graceful. When the Polaris Prize winner performs, he seems almost hypnotized by the sounds around him, yet every second and every unlikely component seems plotted to maximize its impact. It's deliberate, impeccably appointed music that still seems airy and spontaneous.
Given that every note Watson has ever played is etched into some nook or cranny of Bob Boilen's living soul, it's a wonder that we'd managed to schedule more than 200 Tiny Desk Concerts without bringing the Montreal singer-songwriter to the NPR Music offices. With a gifted and like-minded backing band on hand to help flesh out these three songs from Adventures in Your Own Backyard, Watson conducts a swirl of interlocking loveliness that still finds room for surprises, from a singing saw to a microphone that makes his voice sound as if it's bouncing off some faraway satellite.

Set List:

• "Adventures In Your Own Backyard"

• "Words In The Fire"

• "Into Giants"

Credits:
Producer: Bob Boilen; Editor: Michael Katzif; Videographers: Michael Katzif and Emily Bogle; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; photo by Michael Katzif/NPR

PLAYLIST

ROGER WRITES | Fill Your Heart With So Much Love...

When I was 21 a friend took me to a free movie series at The University of Delaware.  The first movie we saw was Gandhi, and I don't think I blinked or breathed throughout the entire film.  What most imprinted on me was how he constantly brought his hands together in the sacred gesture of love, prayer and reverence. This expression was so genuine, so honest.  It was the definition of kindness.  After the movie, as we walked around the campus, my friend asked me what I was thinking, for I had been silent.  I remained silent for quite a while after he asked the question.  I finally turned to him and he held me while I cried.  I knew in that instant that my life would never be the same.

The very next day I went to the local bookshop and got a used copy of Gandhi's autobiography.  I couldn't put it down.  I learned that Gandhi had dedicated his entire life to the practice of ahimsa, a Sanskrit word translated as non-violence or non-harming.  As you might imagine, this practice didn't come without inner-conflict and oftentimes failure, for there were many times early on in his life when he was tortured by how to proceed with this practice without bringing harm to himself or to others.

After reading his autobiography, I desired to achieve a deeper understanding of his mind, so I read everything that Gandhi read:  Thoreau, Emerson, Tolstoy.  These men spoke of civil disobedience by living simply and away from dominant culture.  I soon moved to Colorado and lived in my tent on the side of mountain.  And yet, a question continued to raise itself:  How could I live in this world and not be part of the violence and hypocrisy that seemed to permeate every aspect of living?

Ahimsa is the first of five yamas, which are ethical explorations on "right living."  They are the infrastructure of living a life in harmony with ourselves and with the world around us.  It's easy for us to say off the cuff, "I'm not violent," but the practice of ahimsa invites us to dive deeper and to see the ways in which we are creating harm to ourselves and to all living beings, including the Earth.   It is unlikely that any of us will achieve a state of perfect practice of this foundation.  There is no such thing.  There is only the vibrant and constant movement towards being more conscious.

Ultimately, Gandhi believed that if you fill your heart with love so that nothing else can fit, then the practice of ahimsa will become a natural way of being.

JUST/breathe

The Spandananda Show : Episode 9 : Just Breathe

Recognize that your body is the shore of your breath with these three guided breathing explorations.  These calming techniques bring yogic balance no matter where you are! They include:  Dirga, ujjayi, and nadi shodhana pranayama.  

POETRY | Rumi : Buoyancy

Buoyancy
Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

Love has taken away my practices
And filled me with poetry.

I tried to keep quietly repeating,
No strength but yours,
But I couldn't.

I had to clap and sing.
I used to be respectable and chaste and stable,
But who can stand the strong wind
And remember those things?

A mountain keeps an echo deep inside itself.
That’s how I hold your voice.

I am scrap wood thrown in your fire,
And quickly reduced to smoke.

I saw you and became empty.
This emptiness, more beautiful than existence,
It obliterates existence, and yet when it comes,
Existence thrives and creates more existence.

The sky is blue. The world is a blind man
Squatting on the road.

But whoever sees your emptiness
Sees beyond blue and beyond the blind man.

A great soul hides like Muhammad, or Jesus,
Moving through a crowd in a city
Where no one knows him.

To praise is to praise
How one surrenders to the emptiness.

To praise the sun is to praise your own eyes.
Praise, the ocean. What we say, a little ship.

So the sea-journey goes on, and who knows where!

Just to be held by the ocean is the best luck
We could have. It’s a total waking up!

Why should we grieve that we've been sleeping?
It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been unconscious.

We’re groggy, but let the guilt go.
Feel the motions of tenderness
around you, the buoyancy.

MUSIC | Neutral Milk Hotel : In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

MUSIC | Rill Rill : Sleigh Bells

TED | David Kelley : How to Build Your Creative Confidence

Yet surely, David Kelley suggests, creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few. Telling stories from his legendary design career and his own life, he offers ways to build the confidence to create... 

ROGER WRITES | 30 Day Challenge

My 30 day photo challenge is coming to an end.  A week before I started this commitment,  I took myself out on a date to take pictures.  I was looking to be inspired and to boost my stock pile of photos for my newsletter and blog.   Well, I came home from my date with my head hung low.  I had snapped 3 or 4 humdrum images.   A few days later I came across the 30 Day Challenge video, and I knew instantly that it was going to be a picture-a-day.

Even though the daily undertaking of snapping and posting one picture was simple, it had a great impact on me.  Every picture that I took was consciously taken.  I can look back at each photo and remember where I was, what I was doing, and in some cases, what I was actually thinking.  There were days when it was the first thing I thought of in the morning, and some days I didn't post until almost midnight!  What I realized is that it didn't matter where I was.  I could find inspiration in my very own living room, in a restaurant, out on a walk, anywhere.  Oh, and I took a lot of bad photos.  That's just part of it.  I took more photos this past month then I have all year.

I know that many of you committed to the 30 day challenge, as well.  The variety of commitments was astounding. Several people chose to dance.  Doug has been posting his dance videos on Facebook every day.  I would love to hear how the experience was for you.  Let me know if you are going to start or do another one next month.

I'm already excited about my next 30 day challenge, which will start June 1st:  One muscle a day for 30 days!  I've always wanted to learn more about muscles -- their names, function, etc..  My intention is to select a muscle first thing in the morning, and then throughout the day pay attention to how I'm using it.

If you'd like to join me for this make sure you "like" the Sacred Tremor Facebook page, and check in daily.  I will post the muscle-of-the-day in the morning.  Together, we can think and learn about them all day long!

Make sure you watch the TED talk on the Three Brains.  It gives a scientific explanation of something yogis have known for thousands of years.  It also reveals how activities like the 30 day challenge do, in fact, re-wire the brain and shape how our mind views and experiences the world.

TED | Joe Dispenza : The Three Brains

Joe Dispenza, D.C. has lectured in 24 countries on six continents, educating people about the role and function of the human brain. He has taught thousands of people how to reprogram their thinking through scientifically proven neuro-physiologic principles. As a result, this information has taught many individuals to reach their specific goals and visions by eliminating self-destructive habits. His approach, taught in a very simple method, creates a bridge between true human potential and the latest scientific theories of neuroplasticity. As an author of several scientific articles on the close relationship between the brain and the body, Dispenza ties information together to explain the roles these functions play in physical health and disease.

POETRY | Dorothy Allison : Two or Three Things

Tow or Three Things
-Dorothy Allison

Two or three things I know
for sure, and one is that I
would rather go naked than
wear the coat the world has
made for me.

DOUG WRITES | The Inner Weaknesses

The Inner Weaknesses by Douglas Allen Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that the global beauty industry consisting of skin care, make-up, hair-care products, and perfumes is $95 billion, and is growing at up to 7% a year.  If you figure in the amount spent on cosmetic surgery, diets and weight loss programs, the figure is much higher. Now, don’t get me wrong.  I like to look good.  However, I have been guilty of going above and beyond the call of hygienic duty by purchasing exorbitantly priced creams made by monks in small batches in the monastic mountains.  Counseling myself from the pain and into the comfort and relief found in products that improve chances of finding admiration and love is a natural go-to.  While strengthening the inner is having an upsurge, it is easy to fall back into traditional normalities.  Establishing a more desirable physical presentation of oneself is always in fashion and does not require one to get in touch with what is really bothering them. We are all aware of the ubiquity of the pretty lady syndrome, and now men have been given the permission to pamper and prod and poke in order to more fully realize the occupation with the outer self. This desire to be cloaked in beauty is one of the oversized coats the world has constructed for us.  It is certainly part of our pie chart, but an obsession over looking good didn’t always make me feel good, and this predilection did not leave much time for occupying the space within, which is where an everlasting beauty awaits our consciousness.  Everyone has so much inner knowledge and beauty, and oftentimes it sits inside instead of being assimilated and translated into beautiful gardens for all to savor.  Tragic. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2nd Corinthians 4:16

THE SPANDANANDA SHOW | Dear Diary

The Spandananda Show : Season 1 : Episode 8 : Dear Diary

Dear Diary:  I will no longer limit myself with drab entries that all contain the same energetic quality.  Instead, I will embrace a newfound sense of creativity and have variety in my journal in order to gather insight and wisdom and have more fun!