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JOANNA

I returned from India right before Christmas 2006. I treaded softly upon my Native New Mexican tierra. In the crisp, cedar smoky winter air I drove up to the University area to greet my old stomping grounds. I was three months behind—had unplugged from the creative culture I regularly was tuned in to.

I felt very soft, like a baby with a skull still un-hardened. It was like being born again, when you remove yourself for three months from the norm and then re-enter. There is great merit in purifying and cleansing your expectations and habits. Suddenly everything was in contrast to the great country I had just been a guest in.

Before I left I’d seen Joanna Newsom would release her second album while I was traveling. That second day back in America that was my first intrigue, to go listen to the cd. I was so patient, so relaxed, so drained of all aggression, after being trapped in the ashrams and the starkness of who we are in every moment, felt beat into submission by the challenging logistics of traveling and the ups and downs. I was so grateful just to have taken a warm shower and be able to drink water from the tap. To be back at Natural Sound, with all the possibilities of all the great albums there, was Heaven. And Joanna Newsom’s “Ys” was my monumental Angelic Soundtrack.

I asked for a listening copy of the cd and sat on a wood stool in the corner of the store and gazed out like a Buddha statue at the asphalt tinted day while Joanna plucked and swirled her warm golden harp and chanted her spirit songs.

I was open, receptive, prepared to take in and I absorbed that whole album. It was like watching an opera, something you just experience once and it changes you. I had heard about Terry Riley the classical musician arranging the strings for the album. It was exquisite. I was a sailor back on land after months at sea, taking in the pleasures well worth waiting for.

I watched families pass with shopping bags of Christmas gifts. Hands walked dogs on leashes and held paper coffee cups. I was comforted by the familiarity like the warm smell of pine fireplaces in the air. It’s amazing what a retreat from the normal will do to heighten your senses to life’s exquisiteness.

Reading Yoga Sutra 2.18

Prakasha Kriya Stithi Silam Bhutndriyatmakam Bhogapavargarhtam Drysam

Prakasha -- illumination

Kriya-- action

Stithi-- inertia

Silam-- nature

Bhuta-- elements

Indriya-- sense organs

Atmakam-- consists of

Bhoga-- experience

Apavarga-- liberation

Arhtam – it's purpose

Drisyam-- the seen

“The seen is of the nature of the gunas: illumination, action and inertia; and consists of elements and sense organs, whose purpose is to provide both experiences and liberation”

Drisya is the reality of the world we see. The Yoga Sutras investigate into aspects of our experience and are always asking Why and What? What is the seen that gives us the experience of being a Seer? We are going to understand ourselves by our relationship to what is outside of us-- like a sounding board. The Yoga Sutras are inquiring into existence in that trippy way of wondering if there is a plastic reality or if we all have our own experience based on our own perceptions... What is the purpose of life?! Nature, the earth elements and organs (sense organs, mind, intellect) are here to provide: Experience and Liberation. Great, there we go-- life is Experience and life is Liberation.

In his commentary Swami Satchidananda, “Nature is here to give you experience and ultimately to oiberate you from bondage. Even if people do not want to be liberated, it educates them gradually so that one day they will come to feel, 'I'm tired of the whole thing. I don't want it anymore. I've had enough.” (p.104)

“Nothing in nature can bring the mind continuous, unchanging happiness, because the mind itself changes constantly”, therefore we have to accept changes in the mind, in the outside world, and not cling to anything in the outside world. The Sutras present these concepts for us to try, to test and see if they are true for us, if they resonate. What is nature and what is our relationship to Nature? The Sutras are saying that we are nature and nature is Us-- we are all made up of the same cells and energy and it is always changing, changing intelligently to teach us to live in harmony, to live FREE.

When we make the decision to seek Truth, our own Truth nature will guide us. We begin to find Freedom and Feeling healthy and complete are not apart from Nature-- that is unveiling Nature's harmony in us, to find our organic vibe, to return to union-- Yoga.

Walking from Wythe to Greenpoint

The sun will be out, revealing
Flat infinite blue sky
Clouds scattered, Whispering
Caught you looking up at them

Instead of the damp concrete
You've bowed your head to
Guard your eyes from the rain

The grey streets are turning silver in the sun
You turn right onto Kent Avenue and sneeze
Two fellows passing you in Beatles jackets
Bless You

Walkway along the water
Gentle wind lifts refreshing swamp smell
Green algae microorganism vitality to your nose

Across the River
Gilded steeple shines in Manhattan
And architecture rises into the sky

From a rusted water tower
An American Flag taut in the air
Sending out songs of Freedom
Like Tibetan Prayers
Playful like a kite
And as long as a Chevy windowshield
Stripes made wider by the sun light
Stars made brighter against the borderless sky

@ Home Radio

It's important to spend time at home.
I am enjoying reacquainting myself with some old favorite websites.
Are you familiar with Internet Radio and the pletura of free music online? There are songs of the day via podcasts on iTunes and I am reconnecting with Viva Radio. com
When I am home I often listen to the FM radio. I love listening to what others are programming, it's exciting to be at the receiving end; to have your antennae up and be plugged in.
Here's to staying at home, to doing simple, enjoyable things