Never can desire be quenched
by repeated enjoyment of desires;
like butter poured on a fire
with a view of quenching it,
desire only gets inflamed thereby.When a human being
does not have any
attitude of attachment
or hatred to any beings,
and remains always even-minded,
to that person,
all places always become
suffused with happiness
--Srimad Bhagavatam
Today the rain is coming down in torrents, and I am warm and dry inside. I so enjoy taking days like today (not so great weather days) and turning them into recharge days. These are the days I chuck the to do list and follow the want to do list. For me today that means a candlelight yoga practice (accompanied by the lulling sounds of the driving rain), snuggling on the couch while watching a movie or two, and catching up on reading. It's unwinding from the inside out.
Today my reading of choice is Sacred Jewels of Yoga: Wisdom from India's Beloved Scriptures, Teachers, Masters, and Monks. Jewels indeed. This book offers a delightful collection of passages from some of the most revered yoga scriptures and commentary in India's history. The short excerpts invite you to slowly read, re-read, and contemplate rather than rush through the material to get to the end. Its content that is meant to be enjoyed rather than consumed. The sources from which the book's material is compiled is quite impressive:
- Rig Veda
- The Upanishads
- The Bhagavad Gita
- Astavakra Samhita
- Patanjali's Yoga Sutras
- Narada's Bhakti Sutras
- Srimad Bhagavatam
- Dhammapada
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- Swami Vivekananda
- Sri Ramakrishna
After spending so much time practicing yoga, it's nice to take a break and experience it in a different way. The author, Dave DeLuca, agrees and has made it easy for beginner and advanced yogis alike to have the experience: "Because yoga is one of the oldest living religious words, and because over the millennia it has had so many different and even contradictory meanings, I wanted to present yoga's most important source scriptures and teachings in the clearest and most accessible way possible: in one-page passages where readers can experience for themselves the original and highest intent for the word, the wisdom, and the practices of yoga."
Mmmmm...couldn't have said it better myself. And there's nothing quite like reading to the musical accompaniment of pouring rain...
Namaste!