a blind owl

frozen snow leaves

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:17:00 GMT

Leave a taste of winter walking    frozen leaves piled sidewalks
    they fold softly under my feet
the rustle of pantlegs n cold air
        softer than I'd thought turning the thought backwards
softer than I'd imagined    they fold in turning frozen sunlit
    angles r angels fallen frm spring trees

n now they lay encrusted frzen spring
        (th nviroment the lectric books written last hemisphere bout was talked about
                   s n d back f my head)

unexpected, its soft a delight unexpected
        more than frozen air, diff to breathe the sun comes through
            which is softer expectations f spring

sidewalk shuffle
   I walk its good
       winter cold
the sun is out
       leaves

Vishaka Nakshatra

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 23:59:11 GMT

Today is the New Moon in Vishaka Nakshatra. Vishaka, ruled by Jupiter, is the triumphal arch ruled by Indragni - the combined deities Indra and Agni. This Nakshatra is created by the four stars that make up the scales of Libra and sits from 20^o Libra to 3^o20' Scorpio. It is in this arc that the Moon is debilitated.Scorpio.

What does it mean for the Moon to be new in its place of debilitation? And in the Nakshatra of the Triumphal Arch?

From the online <a href="http://students.washington.edu/prem/mw/n.html">Monier Williams dictionary</a>:

nakṣatra: nákṣatra n. (m. only RV. vi, 67, 6; • prob. fr. √nakṣ, cf. nakṣ dyām, i, 33, 14 &c.) a star or any heavenly body; • also applied to the sun; • n. sg. sometimes collectively 'the stars', e.g. vii. 86, 1 RV. &c. &c; • an asterism or constellation through which the moon passes, a lunar mansion AV. &c. &c. (27, later 28, viz. Śravishṭhā or Dhanishṭhā, Śata-bhishaj, Pūrva-bhādrapāda, Uttara-bhṭbhādrapāda, Revatī, Aśvinī, Bharaṇī, Kṛittikā, Rohiṇī or Brāhmī, Mṛiga-śiras or Āgrahāyaṇī, Ārdrā, Punarvasū or Yāmakau, Pushya or Sidhya, Āśleshā, Maghā, Pūrva-phalgunī, Uttara-phṭphalgunī, Hasta, Citrā, Svātī, Viśākhā or Rādhā, Anurādhā, Jyeshṭha, Mūla, Pūrvâshāḍhā, Uttarâshṭāḍhā, Abhijit, Śravaṇa; • according to VarBṛS. Revatī, Uttara-phalgunī, Uttara-bhādrapāda and Uttarâshāḍha are called dhruvāṇi, fixed; • in the Vedas the Nakshatras are considered as abodes of the gods or of pious persons after death Sāy. on RV. i, 50, 2; • later as wives of the moon and daughters of Daksha MBh. Hariv. &c; • according to Jainas the sun, moon, Grahas, Nakshatras and Tārās form the Jyotishkas); • a pearl L.

byehello

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 01:30:15 GMT

Flurry of leafs
    n
a    flurry of leaves

go coming    go         saying hello
n collecting stopping water    flow n rain
        the rush of traffic n
city streets       the flow of                   n the flow
of
    lives leading
their own
        preciousness each
        momentness

bubbling over drains over flow    into spray
    as traffic like angioplasty
n homeowners with
                 preconceived lawns
haircuts dried dreams n lists
    meals purchased
    mals n other sadness

stomach rot n stagnation
    but you go, you leave
    but you come, you enter
each n we all the centers

where d swirl f activity    mistaken fr activity
movement each moment n
        flurry s blurry furry
            sound of
breath d        pulse f blood
river        s colder now

sun s farther
    low n
bent over

n coming the going
    finally        s
ok

byehello

Jump

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:08:29 GMT

Rabbit Moon

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 18:49:16 GMT

I laugh as the moon rises
    blood - hot with sake - is
       flowing, alive

September already,
    the months begin to fly
       as the years come on
       and I learn to
                            savor life

-----------------------------------------

Bright Moon
       White People
             Portland

-----------------------------------------

Laughter, spilled sake
    you - what a beautiful
          Harvest Moon

-----------------------------------------

Rabbit or human
    there is something
       alive - the moon

-----------------------------------------

Chatter, plastic chairs
    downtown lights
Nothing hides
    this beauty

-----------------------------------------

There is no thought
    about this or that
    just the sword of life
          slicing each moment

written at the Japanese Garden during the moon viewing this year.

mita santana

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:04:37 GMT

Srivatsa Ramaswami:

"During the early years, Sri Krisnamacarya used to quote often from the Yoga Rahasya of Nathamuni, many of which quotes I noted down. For instance, he quoted the following passage to emphasize the importance of finding means for contraception and family planning (mita santana). This sloka, Pasasanam yoganidra garbhapindanca bhadrakam | Matsyendrasanakhyete, sarva garbha nirodhakah, mentions the asanas (noose posture, yogic reclining posture, fetus posture, auspicious posture, kingfish posture) that prevent conception."

by way of Alan Little's blog. The original text is from Ramaswami's "Yoga for the Three Stages of Life".

Rice

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 19:44:47 GMT

I've been thinking of rice quite a bit lately and while reflecting on the yamas and niyamas today, I came across this article on the announcement last week by the US Department of Agriculture that US commercial long-grain rice supplies are contaminated with a genetically altered rice that is not approved for human consumption. I couldn't find mention of this contamination at the agency's food recall list but did find this press release. Several countries have banned US rice because of this, including Japan and the EU. You might note that the recall list is almost entirely consists of meat items.

Currently, the USDA depends on countries to self-regulate the testing/use of genetically altered foodstuffs. The agency was not aware of the contamination until Bayer alerted them. There is a short press release on the Bayer CropScience website here. The agency is not aware of the extent of the contamination in US supplies which makes up 12% of the world's rice trade. The GE rice is known as Liberty Link 601and is desigend to resist herbicides. Sigh.

There is a lot of crap that US agribusiness is doing around the world and in India. Vandana Shiva is one activist who has been tirelessly working on self-sufficiency there and currently heads Navdanya. I didn't mean to get into the politics of rice... but I will mention what a friend of mine once told me about GMO. Her thoughts were that altering the genetic history of the plant destroys the connection the plant has to the elders - this lineage that stretches way back to the beginning. I'll leave it at that.

The reaction to this reminded me of sutra I.33 of Patanjali:

The mind becomes purified by the cultivation of feelings of amity, compassion, goodwill and indifference respectively towards happy, miserable, virtuous and sinful creatures.

The use of the word "sinful" is problematic in this translation but in this instance if I view the actions of Bayer/USDA as sinful, it is important to keep in mind that, indifference does not mean apathy or non-action.

I meant to write more on Indian rice varieties but I'll save that for next time. In the meanwhile, you might want to check out The Center for Food Safety and The Organic Consumers Association.

Meats

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:49:24 GMT

The end of the light foods listed in chapter 5 of Caraka Samhita are the following meats:

Kapinjala = partridge
Ena = deer/stag
Sasa = hare
Sarabha = a kind of deer
Sambara = a large Asian deer (Cervus unicolor) with the male having strong 3-pointed antlers and long coarse hair on the throat

I think there is an assumption here in the west that meat eating along with intake of other "unsavory" goodies is frowned upon in Ayurvedic thought but just a little investigation finds that meat and liquor are considered healing foods.

From an article on the medieval social life of Kannadians from kamat.com:

Though a sizable population was vegetarian due to Jaina or later Virasaiva influence, a number of meat dishes described by Somesvara indicates that the nobles and the royalty were predominantly non-vegetarian. Contemporary commentaries of Vijnanesvara and Apararka on the Dharmasastras allow the use of meat under special circumstances [31]. The Agni Purana says, 'A man suffering from any sort of wasting disease should take special care to improve his appetite, and take essence of meat every day whereby he could get rid of his malady.'

Regarding meat-eating, A.L. Basham writes: 'Medical texts, even of a late period, go so far as to recommend the use of both meat and alcohol in moderation and do not forbid the eating of beef. It is doubtful if complete vegetarianism has ever been universal in any part of India, though in many regions, it was and still is practiced by most high caste Hindus [34].

The Agni Purana advises a brahmacharin (celibate) to refrain from eating unwittingly beet-root or garlic or from drinking wine. He was to avoid cakes, sushkala (dried fish), krisara (khichadi or milk with rice and pulse), partridge flesh and thickened milk... Flesh of five-digited animals such as porcupine (sallaka), iguana (godha), rhinoceros and tortoise was permitted; that of other animals was prohibited [83].

Intoxicants were considered the luxury of the nobility and the fighting castes. The Kashmiri port Kalhana mentions that king Lalitaditya's legionaries, while marching in the South, got rid of their fatigue by sipping coconut wine in the cool breeze of palm trees on the banks of the Kaveri river [90]. The Agni Purana classified wines of grape, sugarcane, palm and coconut sap, besides madhavika, tanka madhavika and maireya. Lavam sura, krishna sura and paishthi were liquors, the last being highly intoxicating [91]. The Manasollasa adds wines of palm (talimadya), coconut (narikelasava) and date (kharjurasava) to the list. The methods of brewing, these are also described [92]. Marco Polo found palm-wine delicious and says it inebriated faster than grape wine [93].

Sali

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:43:04 GMT

There is excellent ayurvedic information on rice at: http://www.agri-history.org/pdf/R-r.pdf, from which all the information below is taken.

Charaka writes:
Sali (or Shali) rices mature in winter ahve the following effects: cooling, tasty, causing slight flatulence, somewhat sticky, nourishing, semen augmenting, and diuretic.

Sali varieties: Raktashali (red), Mahashali (large and fragrant), Kalama (thick stem), Shakunarhita (curved), Turnaka (quick maturity), Deerghashuka (long awned), Panduka (yellowish), Langula (tall ?), Sugandhika (fragrant), Lohawal (red), Shariva (pointed ?), Pramodaka (fragrant), Patanga (resembling grasshopper/locust ?), and Tapaniya (golden or maturing in hot weather) are all excellent shali (rices maturing in winter) rices.

Raktashali (red) was claimed to be the best. It quenched thirst and corrected humoral (three body humors: vata, kafa, and pitta) imbalance. The next best were Mahashali and Kalama; the rest
were rated lower.

Shavak (barley-like), Hayana (golden), Panshu (dusty), Vapya (oblong), and Naishadaka (from Nishadha country, i.e., modern Kumaon hills) were also considered shali rices having similar but inferior properties to the above.

Shastika (60-day) rices were considered cool, tasty, and rectifiers of humoral imbalance. White rices of this group were the best. The next best was a dusky one.

Vrihi rices matured in four months [maturity in the Sharad (October–November) season].These were either white or red (Patala) grained. Vrihi rices, though tasty, were claimed to increase hyperacidity as well as frequency of excretion.

Susruta, who pioneered plastic surgery, also wrote a treatise and mentioned several varieties of rice. Some names were common.

Shali varieties: Lohitaka (red husk), Kardamaka (growing in slimy soil), Panduka (yellowish), Sugandhaka (fragrant), Shakunarhita (curved), Pushpandaka (resembling ovary of flower), Pundarika (white), Mahashali (large and fragrant), Shitabhiruka (cold
sensitive), Rodhrapushpaka (red), Dirghashuka (long awned), Kanchanaka (golden husk), Mahishamastaka (resembling buffalo head), Hayanaka (golden), Dushika (rice resembling pencil), and Mahadushika (?).

Shastika varieties: Shastika (60-day), Pramodaka (fragrant), Mahashastika (large seed, 60-day ?), Kedaraka (from mountains), Pitaka (yellow grain), and seven others, which were probably not rice but some other short-duration crops.

Vrihi varieties: Krishnavrihi (black), Jatumukha (freckled), Nandimukha (shape like bullock face), Lavakshaka (curved grain ?), Twaritaka (early rice), Kukkutandaka (oval), Paravataka (small, oval), and Patal (red).

All shali varieties were considered “strength-giving”, shastika varieties astringent in taste, and vrihi varieties were considered astringent and sweet.

Sandy River Training

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:38:41 GMT

First rule is- Follow the Government
Second rule is- Be nice to mommy
Third rule is- Don't talk to commies
Fourth rule is- Eat kosher salamis
From Commando by The Ramones

Spectrum of Life

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:59:10 GMT

Here are some recent public remarks made in the USA

"Well, I think they should; they ran the 'mom-and-pop' stores out of my neighborhood.... But you see those are the people who have been overcharging us — selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it's Arabs, very few black people own these stores."

Andrew Young, as head of a Wal-Mart advocacy group, to the Los Angeles Sentinel, the largest black-owned weekly on the west coast. (From an LA Times article).

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. ... He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said to appreciative laughter.

Senator Allen (R-VA) at a speech to supporters pointing out to an Indian American man. Macaca is a derogatory term for darker-skinned people and comes from India.

Stunning displays of public intolerance are hardly new and neither is the feeling, that in this day and age, this shit is boring. Given that news and views travel quickly these days, one might think an evolution of thinking patterns would prevail but it seems we're stuck. We still have war and gender war and....

Lately, I've been speaking to my yoga classes about the spectrum of life. I think its helpful to think of life this way, as in McKinsey's spectrum of sexuality. A speaker from Ground Zero years back really cemented this spectrum view for me when she spoke of military officials and peace workers as being in the same peace spectrum, just at different parts. Its not that heteros are innately against homos or whites against everyone else - that's just old patterned thinking - these are different flavors of life to enjoy.

Another way of thinking about this spectrum comes via Aja. A student asks a teacher about the meaning of life. The teacher tells the student to imagine a vast galaxy containing innumerable worlds populated by an infinity of people. In the midst of this galaxy, there is a planet among trillions circling a small sun. This planet contains many countries and people and in the middle of one country there is a classroom where a lecture has just been given. A student stands up and asks, "What is the meaning of life?" Capiche? Perhaps, thinking of Hotel Infinity may be more to the point.

This spectrum talk isn't to say that I condone violence and am complacently for varieties of social hegemony; I bring this up only to illustrate another way of breaking through the tyranny of the MIND. This, as a way, of finding liberation here in this plane of existence. I'm reminded of listening to Ramona Africa speak. In her words:

"And we're all looking for the same thing. I don't care if you're rich, poor, black, white, whatever. We are all looking for the same thing, happiness, peace, satisfaction. That's what everybody is looking for. I don't care what form you think it comes in. You're only going to find it in one way, through freedom. And freedom only comes with freeing ourselves from this rotten, corrupt, treacherous system that we are living under. That's the only way."

Speech at Kent State, WA 5/4/2000

At a speech she gave in Portland several years ago she made a point to say that violent or non-violent methods or being more correct than anyone else is NOT the way to go. There are many paths and it is up to the individual to discover their own strengths. What is the Satya, or truth, of a situation? And how do you live dynamically and presently with what is? And is this Truth universal or only relevent to those of a certain pattern or vritti?

I was actually going to write a little pome about thanking Hitler for sharing the spectrum and showing how much more work we have but after listening to an announcer on KBOO this morning mention that Seattle has the highest concentration of mixed race marriages. I haven't been able to find mention of this but it does tie back to the spectrum and hits home to me as I am a product of a mixed race marriage. Its crazy to think that in 1965, an interracial couple was jailed for getting married. As Washington DC judge Leon Bazile opined,

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

It hasn't been until 2000 that all anti-miscegenation laws were repealed in the US when Alabama repealed the ban on interracial marriages.

Back to yoga. Hatha Yoga is usually described as a union of Sun and Moon or the source of light and its reflection. I'm not going to go into it here but you can think of it as Yin and Yang. To think of it as union is to already think of it as being separated. That which is Sun is Sun and that which is Moon is Moon. True but that which also notices them as such also transcends them. What's interesting is the Sushumna or the central channel, that middle path between those. This is also referred to as Edge Space in Permaculture. Where is the body? Where is the mind? Its in the spectrum of life.

sastika

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 19:06:58 GMT

* Notes taken from an article at bologi.com on the roots of the Sanskrit word for rice, Vrihi. Its a fascinating article and if you are turned on by linguistic connections of everyday objects with the esoteric, you will find a lot to ponder as you connect the names of Indian rice varieties, names of deities, the timing of their harvests, astrological timeframes, etc. I found this page during a google search for sastika while researching Mitahara. Sastika is mentioned as a special variety of rice good for yogic diet in the 5 chapter version of the Hathapradipika published by the Kaivalyadhama Mandir.

(I am constantly amazed at the deep connections inherent in names. I am always amazed at the awareness made between food, earth and the human experience. It exists everywhere. Due to my interest in things yogic, I've found a wealth of such connections in Indian literature; I have no doubts it exists in other cultures that are still rooted in the "natural" world. Please note that I am a non-Indian who is very American and has no understanding of Indian life/culture.)

The names of rice crops are based on the seasons. Sastika is a rice that ripens in summer, quick in growth, and can be harvested in 60 days. The Vishnu Dharmottara Purana mentions two varieties of Sastika: a medicinal variety called Rakta Sastika and Pramodaka Sastika.

The pronunciation of Sastika is actually Shastika (transliteration can be problematic from Sanskrit to English, probably vice versa as well). Shasty is sixty in Sanskrit, which correlates Sastika as a rice that is harvested in sixty days. It is also a graishmic rice, meaning it is harvested in Summer. It is also a variety of Navara rice, which is either white or black. Navara is also known as Paadala. Paadala is another name for the Goddess Durga.

From a pdf doc on Brahmanic food choices and meanings published by The Department of Nutritional Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University:

Sastika rice, is described as “cold in potency, unctuous, and light and sweet”, Vrthi rice which is harvested in the autumn is described as “hot, sweet, heavy and an aggravator”. Wheat is described as a “restorative alleviator, sweet, cold in potency, invigorating, nourishing, aphrodisiac, unctuous, stabilizing, and heavy” (Kilara, 1992). To this day, wheat is eaten in the Punjab, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Bihar; while the rest of the country prefers rice as the main staple cereal.

After having this information, I still do not know exactly what kind of rice Sastika is - but will look it up as interest and time allows.

[Note to self: look up Sastika in Apte.]

Mitahara

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:14:08 GMT

As for yama and niyama, he thinks that, except for two of them, today they are no longer of any value. The first one is called satya niyama (knowing what to say, what not to say, to whom, how to write and how not to write). This is the correct use of words. The other niyama that one must respect is ahara, what to eat, in what quantity, depending on age, profession, etc.

Desikachar on Krishnamacharya

Mitahara (Apte): Sparing in diet or moderation in eating.

MItahara is one of ten Niyamas listed in classical Hatha Yoga texts (it is not listed as one of the five Niyamas by Patanjali). There's been a lot of commentary written about right and wrong type of opinions of Mitahara - I don't want to add to that stuff so I thought I'd throw in some diet advice from various sources.

From Caraka Samhita, chapter 5

v.2-4
As propounded by Lord Atreya. One should take food in (proper) quantity. This quantity of food depends on the power of digestion. Whatever quantity of food gets digested in time without disturbing the normalcy should be regarded as the measure of (proper) quantity.

v. 5
Thus the articles of food such as sali, sastika, mudga [mung beans], lava, kapinjala, ena, sasa, sarabha, sambara (meats) etc. even though light by nature depend on quantity. Similarly, those such as preparations of flour, sugarcane, milk, sesame, black gram, marshy and aquatic meats even though heavy in digestion by nature depend on the quantity itself.

v.6
By this, it should not be confused that lightness and heaviness in food are inert. In fact, light articles are predominant in properties of layu and agni while others are the same of prthvi and soma.... these light articles being stimulant of digestion, even taken up to the saturation point, produce little derangement. (On the contrary) the heavy articles because of dissimilarity, are not stimulant of digestion by nature and thus cause considerable derangement if taken up to the saturation point except in case of physical exercise and adequate strength of agni (digestion). Hence, the quantity is related to agnibala (strength of digestion).

v.8
A person, after having taken food, should never eat heavy preparations of flour, rice and flattened rice. Even when hungry, one should take them in proper quantity.

Metolius

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 18:05:47 GMT

wondering

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 17:45:18 GMT

      wonder
what s love to
love s what
      the other
           loves, tasting
have tasted, n

    how to define

            from

      I don't know

And now
      Its like
                 this

in the midst of it

    all around - no place to run
                ending as its begun

                  or

    a continuus meeting
                 as close, fleeting
              continuously
                            deepening

                   - s d same -

what isn't touched

      those things that
            are not you
          become you
                       i fall

          beyond

those

        things still stuck
             with those
       things

    no more saving
                waiting for
                anything
                else

bye

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 21:40:39 GMT

Hey
    I use that to get attention n I want yrs
because I have something to say to you
        there is
        a you
    which I believe there is
                             as
                             much as
                             there is me
                         we all
                             eat n breath n exist
                             -
                             n yes its up to debate,
                             n everyone has their views
                             n argues

But
    I want you to know that
        tho I've never seen you never
                   felt you
              I know you - as real as me -
here n now
            in my heart, s true

This s a goollo or hellbye
not sure which
    but s an acknowledgment
        of life n love n the presence
        of strengths n weaknesses that I wield
            n my own life n love

n we all that we possess makes us alive

s which
    Amanda n I brought together
which brought us together
    which brought us together

s which prevented
    yer fruition
        this time - I'm convinced
           you'll come around the fruition
        Amanda n me
    n you will be r an amazing
powerhouse of truth

n s timing n alla that
    s alla that happened happens
        I urge on-ness, always steady
           dreamlike n reallike,
    ephemeral what is
        world
who u are not to b r to b
    not confused
        s life thats all

i love u this being
    theing I m sorry
but keep going n going
        knowing that there is always
            love for u
            thank u

to vic

Wed, 09 Aug 2006 21:37:40 GMT

the old hippie owner s
    cleaning
the bar where my
    lion friend
        thinkin he lost
            his cojones
got 86d the
    other night

yeeaaahhh... its
    summer
        n the asphalts
doin a good job o
    mirrorin the heat
        - layin like a black sun
    of indecision

now, theres no choice -
    stew, run, or sleep -
just all meltin to this heat

    and one decision
certainly destroys thousands
    of undecisions
    you can get lost
        in causality
        n ramifications

as if theres a line that the present
        can be traced back
    to the sun
a big bang of the heart
        a pleasure principle

but love -
    it too swelters in this heat
    enveloping in toto all
        choice, premonition, intuition
    dreams

and you can
    run, swoon, fall, fight,
    get aggro, get all in yo head,
    get all
whatever - its still there

waitin for you
    what you gots
        n cn you swing
            heatwise n
        beauty who cares
    about balls
or the old hippies

its summer
    sweat n
        all

Welcome - pull up a chair

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 22:38:04 GMT

2 Turntables and a Microphone Hosted on Zooomr

You can check for more appetizing photos at my fl*ckr page.