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Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” ― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
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Reflections on a possible difference between pain and discomfort, and why this matters.. Here is a little story and a reflection on our times. As the wonderful teacher Alan Seale asks: What is important to pay attention to right now? What is the opportunity for learning right now? Therefore, what is my next step? A Musing with Bhaskar #2 | The Great Pause A reflection on delusions of grandeur... Thank you for the many request for musings on various themes! Coming up whenever inspiration and opportunity meet :) #tobecontinued This practice is dynamic and still accessible to most that are in generally good health. It is designed to improve circulation, vitality, strength and movement. For previous classes: bhaskargoswami.com/bvlog In service and appreciation of your healthy body, peaceful mind and compassionate heart. 🙏 Muse (intransitive verb) : To become absorbed in thought. Especially : to think about something carefully and thoroughly. ... And thus begins a new journey of musing with you! Today's theme is a reading an reflection of the beautiful poem, As I Began to Love Myself, a poem often accredited to the late great Charile Chaplin. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or themes that you'd like me to explore and we all can look at it together. You can either mention it in the comments below or send me a personal message (I won't mention names!). Our lives are so unique in context, yet often very similar in content. By exploring questions and themes together, we may be of benefit to each other, or at the very least, amuse each other :) #onefamily #keepitsimple #togetherathome If you are open to joining in for any of these practices at all, this is the one… The big finish to our 12-day series! Here we cover the fundamental movements that virtually everyone can (and highly recommend, should) do. This is the ‘do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti’ of movements. The principle is simple: Use it, or loose it. As a bare minimum, it is very valuable to do these simple movements every day to keep the body comfortable and pain free. Especially good for the most vulnerable in our society, so please share with all those that you feel would benefit. There are also a couple of new breathing exercises that are tremendously beneficial for boosting the vitality in the body and for creating a thought-free, peaceful mind. It has been a treat to serve you in this way. My gratefulness to so many of you for your kind and inspiring messages of appreciation. <3 Enjoy and in-joy the practice! #onefamily #stayintheplay #giftitforward #meditation #mindfulness #yoga #healthy #covid19 #coronavirus #togetherathome #daana Today we slow it down once again with a special class on hip openers and back strengthening. Please share will all who may find this to be of benefit. Wishing us all an easeful body and a peaceful mind. 🙏 My intention with this series is to gradually increase the level of intensity of these practices. This is done to offer a practice for virtually all levels of experience. This will also allow for those new to yoga to gradually deepen their practice in terms of strength, balance and flexibility. Today's practice is more for experienced yoga practitioners. What is most important is that you never compromise your smooth, steady and deep breath, and the calmness of your face. As in yoga, so in life! Deep breath in appreciation of you, _/\_ Bhaskar I am surprised and grateful to so many of you who have offered to remunerate me for these videos. This was not my intention. If you feel so moved, you can make a contribution to the non-profit daana that makes generosity, wellness and community accessible to all (globaldaana.org/page/contribute). We also have the opportunity to look at things perhaps a little differently. For example, here is a possibility… In these videos I am offering ways to alleviate stagnation and stress in these intense times. It is something that I have cultivated after years of study and practice. What is the gift that you wish to share? Perhaps you can teach me or anyone else how to play the guitar, how to cook or manage finances. We have a chance nowadays to gift it forward! Many of you already are. Thank you 🙏 |
BhaskarMusings, insights, stories and tips on skillful living. Archives
August 2020
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