photograph
"trees" © J. Merideth 2010
- J. Merideth
Suffering For compassion
-ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH
The commonplace quality of suffering is what makes it so important and powerful. We all suffer and sometimes that suffering is striking in its magnitude – for example, terminal illness or the loss of a loved one. More often our suffering is more subtle in nature, emerging through the existential thingness of being a human – loneliness, fear of growing old, social anxiety, etc. Rich or poor, celebrity or Haitian orphan, we ALL suffer. To claim that we don’t suffer is like saying that we are somehow remarkably immune from being human. In so many ways suffering is one of the common threads that binds us together as humans regardless of location, age, station or class.
To admit that we suffer is to accept that we are just like everyone else, no better, no worse. More importantly, allowing oneself to work with suffering “is a tremendous affirmation that there is no need to resist being fully in this world, that we are in fact part of the web.”* Suffering, in all its forms, is the road to compassion and can lead to greater understanding and inner peace. Many spiritual teachers knew this; you need look no further than the teachings of Buddha or Christ for examples of how coming to terms with suffering can alter the landscape of self-awareness. The point I’m trying to make isn’t that we should all collapse into a heap and bemoan our existence. My point is that if we deny or try to avoid suffering, we are effectively cutting ourselves off from one of the most essential qualities of our humanity and in turn limiting our ability to connect with a partner, child, friend, or stranger. Suffering doesn’t have to be a negative particularly when we reframe it in the context of connecting compassionately to other people. Compassion and suffering are intimately bound together in what it means to be a conscious human. Denying suffering within ourselves is to deny our basic humanity.
Go in peace!
John Merideth
for more articles read john's blog
*Pema Chodron, The Places That Scare You
And the winner is...
Parking
Update
After a little persuasive reaching out, the time limit for parking
on 8th street has been expanded from 1 - 2 hours!!!
Winter Schedule • January 1 - March 31
Evening classes begin at 5, 6 & 7:30pm.
For the most up to date class and eVent information, visit the schedule page.
Quarterly Specials
20 Classes $191 - Regularly $221 - Save $30
50 Classes $499
Join onlYoga For Spring Classes In Piedmont Park
April
Wednesday April 14th 6 - 7pm AUM
Camp
Thursday April 22nd Primary Series 6 - 7:15pm
Tuesday April 27th 6 - 7pm Tabata
May
Wednesday May 5th 6 - 7pm 108 Sun
Salutations
Thursday May 13th 6 - 7:15pm AUM Camp
Tuesday May 25th 6 - 7pm Tabata
June
Wednesday June 9th OY Primary
Series
Thursday June17th AUM Camp
Tuesday June 22 TABATA
Upcoming events and activities
onlYoga Book Discussion
Belief:
Readings on the reason for faith
Date:
May 15, 5 - 8pm
register now
108
Sun Salutations Piedmont Park
Date:
Wednesday May 5th
Time:
6 - 7pm
Cost:
Free unlimited - $10 Dop-In
register now
Bryan
Kest Master Class
Date:
Tuesday March 22nd, 2011
Time 6 -
9:30pm
Cost:
Early Registration before 9/22/10 $65
After 9/22/10 $75
Late Registration after 2/22/11 $85
Day of eVent $95
register now
2010 onlYoga RetreatDate:
Will be announced in Early April
register now
Metaphor Of Trancendence
The Foundation - Muladhara &
Swadhisthana
The chakras are symbols in an ancient metaphorical language. Their
meaning pertains to the ever evolving consciousness as it travels
from one frequency to another. The wheel, the spiral, the flow of
energy from one state to the next, the symbols of the chakras
innervate the subtle body and bring about union with the universe
at large. In this workshop we will explore the shape, sound and
texture of the first two psychospiritual "organs" -
Muladhara root,
red, earth, stillness &
Swadhisthana emotion,
sexuality, reproduction. This workshop is the first in a series of
four exploring the chakras through metaphor, movement,
visualization and guided meditation.
Date: Sunday June 27th
Time: 10 - 12am
Cost: $25, $10 Unlimited
Instructor: John
Merideth
Everyone is welcome register
now
min 8 - max 20
unusual spring linguine
- ingredients
- 1 pound linguine - freshly made if possible
- 1-2 cloves of fresh garlic minced
- .5 pound fiddleheads
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- .5 pound baby leeks, washed, trimmed and cut into thirds on a bias
- 1.5 cup dandelion greens or sorrel, washed well
In a large pot of boiling water, cook the linguine until al dente. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Meanwhile, remove the papery particles from the fiddleheads. Fill a medium bowl with cool water; add 1 teaspoon salt and the lemon juice. Add the fiddleheads and push them down into the water multiple times to clean them.. Transfer them to a steaming rack in a saucepan and steam, covered, 4 to 5 minutes. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, until soft. Add the fiddleheads and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, until warm and golden. Stir in dandelion greens. Toss the mixture with the pasta, season with salt and pepper, and serve.
a spring mix 2010
A selection of songs from one of dj johnny's Spring 2010 class mixes...
poem
Everything is plundered, betrayed, sold,
Death’s great black wing scrapes the air,
Misery gnaws to the bone.
Why then do we not despair?
By day, from the surrounding woods.
cherries blow summer into town;
at night the deep transparent skies
glitter with new galaxies.
And the miraculous comes so close
to the ruined, dirty houses-
something not known to anyone at all,
but wild in our breast for centuries.
-Anna Akhmatova, 1921:
