Here I am at the American Museum of Natural History to consult on the upcoming Cuba exhibition. In case you don't know it, this is the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy. No, it's not Ernest Hemingway, although they both loved mustaches and spent a bunch of time in Cuba. Ernest Hemingway only drank a lot of rum and caught a lot of marlins. But Teddy aimed much higher. He wanted the whole Kahuna because he was probably the biggest imperialist we ever had. I mean, he charged all the way up San Juan Hill! And if you know anything about that time you know that Jose Marti was killed in the battle of the Two Rivers, but that's another story. Cuz I think Jose Marti was a bad guy then. Wasn't he? Anyway, they asked me over because Teddy was way too busy to know anything about regular folks on the island. The fact is, while he was stomping around the island making it safe for the United Fruit Company, Cuban top dogs all over the place were lynching up a lot of poor old Africans for, get this, using the hearts of little white girls in their magic. Like "La Niña Cecilia" and "La Niña Zoila." I mean, that's kinda what they said about us in the Middle Ages to start pogroms. Us Jews, I mean. So oh my G-d on that island just so ripe for democracy who the hell wanted that savagery around? So, the point is you know, Teddy was a gentleman naturalist and believed in conserving plants and stuff. Like, when you see those nature films of Africa, you don't see any people. I mean that place was pristine just like Cuba. So we have to thank him for that.

Changing the "Game"

In meditating on mind-body consciousness, I've been going back to human potential thinkers, including Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (Baba Ram Dass), Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Werner Erhard, Esalen, Harvey Jackins, and, yes, L. Ron Hubbard, and, when I'm brave enough, related writers, such as Robert Anton Wilson--not to join a cult, just to think about American cultural history.

This loose movement was thoroughly enmeshed in Eastern Buddhist and Yoga practice, as was its predecessor, the "New Thought" esotericism of the nineteenth century, which included H. L. Blavatsky's Theosphy, as well as slightly earlier practices, such as Swedenborgianism and Mesmerism.

Leary was revolutionary not because of any simplistic advocacy of psychedelic drugs. His theory of society and the individual, or culture and consciousness, prefigures post-modern insights in this field.
 

"Leary’s new doctrine rests on the notion that all cultural behavior is simply a “game” that we play. Each game—­psychology, religion, politics—has specific roles, rules, and goals. [Consciousness-expanding drugs are crucial because they allow the user to see beyond the game and its rules.] Leary’s description of human behavior as an elaborate game anticipates postmodernism’s suggestion that all forms of culture and language are simply social constructions that can be manipulated for various ideological ends (“the nationality game. It is treason not to play. The racial game. The religious game”). Leary’s rejection of all social constructions is followed by a rejection of the myth of the self: “the most treacherous and tragic game of all. The game of individuality, the ego game. The Timothy Leary game. Ridiculous how we confuse it, overplay it. Our own mystics and the Eastern philosophers have been warning us about this danger for centuries.”

His project was "deconditioning" by "unplugging the ego, the game machinery, and the mind (that cluster of game concepts").

See:
http://disinfo.com/…/change-behavior-timothy-learys-first…/…http://disinfo.com/2014/08/change-behavior-timothy-learys-first-article-psilocybin/

And see:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1620552353/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1620552353&linkCode=as2&tag=disinformation&linkId=V3TYLE4D5HK2EVOB

Sleep Like a Baby

B-17 Bomber sound for sleeping! In search of long, continuous natural sounds for meditation and sleep (ocean, river, rain, fire, crickets, etc.) I was knocked over by this one. I not only fall asleep immediately, but also now dream in great detail about the excitement of reaching the target area, opening the bomb bay doors, and unleashing hellfire on civilians. Inside-the-beltway folklore tells us that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger slept like babies to this soothing engine sound, particularly after they commenced the bombing of Cambodia in May 1969. Nowadays, silent drones used in assassinations of American citizens, among other things, do not offer the same comfort, though the president is reported to sleep well.

Fear and Courage: We are Warriors, Peaceful, Humble, Strong

 

Brave New World

A miracle has occurred under the progressive Obama administration. Despite criticism that it's become "soft on terrorism," the CIA finally came around and substituted Yoga for torture in all of its black sites and Gitmo.

Starting April 1, 2015, all detainees will perform eight hours of meditation, eight hours of Astanga Mysore and Led classes in the secondary and advanced series, instead of the customary eight hours of SERE-derived stress positions, and eight hours of Yoga Nidra on Manduka Black Pro mats with bolsters and blankets instead of rusty steel cots without mattresses or adequate cover.

As options, detainees who have been subject to extended periods naked in freezing rooms can elect the 105 degree Bikram classes in speedos. Detainees who've been "hanging around" (i.e., shackled from the ceiling), can choose the traditional Iyengar prop wall or the new "Aerial Yoga" slings.

 

Instead of waterboarding, each detainee will be juicing four times a day.

Forget torture, CIA theorists say; once detainees realize their true selves, they will just open their hearts and say exactly who they are. Of course, any self-respecting person will say, "this is merely a palliative; the enlightened path is to actually close Gitmo and the black sites and release them so they can attend the yoga school of their choice." The CIA remains unconvinced; it's jealously proprietary of its students.

Looking to the New Year: What's on My Mind?

Tremendous gratitude for the great joy people and animals brought into my life in 2014: family, friends, teachers, abures, clients, and Gem Gem. Listen, most demonstrations of gratitude stop there; yet, it's never inappropriate to appreciate ourselves: at minimum, just for showing up. For being able to forgive ourselves: each of us makes a lot of mistakes; so we try to make them right. If we can't, be grateful that we have the mindfulness treat others and ourselves gently. Be grateful that though so much sticky negativity tries to glom onto us with every step, that we dust ourselves off and stand up again. Let's show gratitude to ourselves for staying the course, having faith in ourselves, changing flexibly when necessary, focusing on the future, pulling something beautiful from sunrise to sunrise, staying socially conscious, believing that we belong to all others and that they belong to us--and telling them as often as possible. Be grateful that, against the odds, we continue to act with humanity, compassion, and empathy. Be grateful that we choose to give and serve over any other temptation. By the way, laugh, laugh at yourself, cry when it strikes you, but keep a sense of humor. Gentle irony accepted. Happy New Year.

A Gift from a Beautiful Spirit

 

 

A beautiful Mantra to the Goddess Green Tara. Female incarnation of the Buddha of compassion.

 

There must be a Yoga dynamic I'm only beginning to learn about. The more my heart opens up through the practice, the more arrows seem to be aimed at it, and the more I'm having walk on eggshells around other people, even my closest friends. The keystone of that learning curve seems paradoxical to me now, but no less essential: the more my heart opens outward, the more I need to go back inside as in meditation. The rest will take care of itself, I imagine.

Vinyasa Yoga and Capoeira

I want to link Yoga and Capoeira in parallel or sequential fashion, or use one to reinforce the other (not an original idea, but I want to do it myself). Capoeira de Angola was my love and life when I was footloose and fancy free, before I was sidelined by family and business. Now that I've given myself to Vinyasa , I realize how much the muscle memory, strength, body awareness, mindfulness, and flow resonate with capoeira and prepared me to take on power Yoga. Indeed, the radical inversion, "inverted tadasana"-hands-on-the-earth work, and flow are defining features of capoeira, which surprise-attacks the colonial order upside down. Each "move" is an Afro-Brazilian "asana" of sorts, but they are connected by dynamic movement--an elegant flow. We could say that capoeira de angola is the ritualistic, spirit-inspired Tai Chi of the Afro-Atlantic danced "martial arts." If you are a yogi, look at the delicious dance driven practice of Shiva Rea or Tias Little, for example, you will immediately get it, even if you don't know capoeira directly. I would love to dialogue with anyone who continues to practice dance, martial arts, and yoga. As I write this, I think immediately of two beloved members of our Yoga community. Don't be shy. (The first video is a didactic introduction and is, technically, the fast "up" style of Capoeira Regional; the second video is a staged and produced representation of Angola Capoeira).

Click here: http://youtu.be/DF9o9hJ2-ic

A New Student's Revelation

Yoga encourages us to stay present on the mat and take joy in our practice: this happens in-and-through the breath and our growing expression of asana. So, this type-A personality, who has worked all his life just a bit too hard for success, discovers one day in a deep pigeon pose (ah, emotions stored in the hips!) that it's actually possible to relax and enjoy asana. It's not a moral or intellectual mandate. It's the practice, stupid. No one can do it for you; certainly not your head. "The body speaks and the breath responds," a teacher close to my heart recently told me; still, what I took away from her class was the profound impression of her joy. I thought about these words and her joy for a month, but they had no effect until three minutes into the pigeon, when the practice permitted my body to relax. Then I knew joy. It was fleeting but certain--and portends good things ahead.

Better Than Anything

Janine's Vinyasa flow and Yin class this morning was masterful and transformative, nothing less than a smorgasbord of neurotransmitters. And it gets better and better on and off the mat. Oh, just for the sake of metaphor, imagine Al Jarreau's or Patti Cathcart Andress' version of "Better Than Anything."

Better than sailing at midnight
Better than diving for pearls
Better than skiing in Aspen...
Better than feeding the squirrels
Better than finding a horseshoe
Better than losing your head
Better than anything thought of
Better than anything said
Better than singing right out loud
Or being spotted in a crowd

Better than anything except being in love

I'm talking about being in love....

Better than four sets of Dizzy
Better than Count Basie's band
Better than Rollins and Coltrane
Better than being on the stand
Better than Ella Fitzgerald
Better than Miles' latest news
Better than Bill Evans' ballads
Better than Joe Williams' blues
Better than hearing Lady Day
Or checking in at Monterey

Better than anything except being in love
We're talking about being in love...

Better than Lucy and Desi
Better than Route 66
Better than Kildare and Casey
Better than quiz shows on Pix
Better than Huntley and Brinkley
And Singing with Mitch
Better than Hitchcock and Karloff
And clicking the switch
Better than movies late at night
And watching Emile Griffith fight.

Better than anything except being in love
We're talking about being in love....

Elephants dancing
Clowns on parade
Better than peanuts and popcorn
Fresh lemonade
Better than rides on the midway
Better than seals blowing horns
Better than men shot from cannons
Better than fresh ears of corn
Better than balancing on a wire
Or watching tigers leap through fire

Better than anything except being in love...say now...being in love...
[Talking 'bout] being in love....Skat, Skat, Skat....Better than anything except being in love.