February 2009
Monthly Archive
February 11, 2009
Posted by Madhava Gosh under
Jokes
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From “The Onion”, 3/6/96
LHASA, TIBET—Employing the brash style that first brought him to prominence, Sri Dhananjai Bikram won the fifth annual International Yogi Competition yesterday with a world-record point total of 873.6. Sri Dhananjai Bikram walked away with the World Yoga Championship after averaging 1.89 breaths per minute for two straight hours. “I’m blissful! You blissful?! I’m blissful!” he screamed repeatedly to the other yogis.
“I am the serenest!” Bikram shouted to the estimated crowd of 20,000 yoga fans, vigorously pumping his fists. “No one is serener than Sri Dhananjai Bikram—I am the greatest monk of all time!”
Bikram averaged 1.89 breaths a minute during the two-hour competition, nearly .3 fewer than his nearest competitor, second-place finisher and two-time champion Sri Salil “The Hammer” Gupta.
The heavily favored Gupta was upset after the loss.
“I should be able to beat that guy with one lung tied,” Gupta said. “I’m beside myself right now, and I don’t mean trans-bodily.”
Bikram got off to a fast start at the Lhasa meet, which like most major competitions, is a six-event affair. In the first event, he attained total consciousness (TC) in just 2 minutes, 34 seconds, and set the tone for the rest of the meet by repeatedly shouting, “I’m blissful! You blissful?! I’m blissful!” to the other yogis.
Bikram, 33, burst onto the international yoga scene with a gold-mandala performance at the 1994 Bhutan Invitational. At that competition he premiered his aggressive style, at one point in the flexibility event sticking his middle toes out at the other yogis. While no prohibition exists against such behavior, according to Yoga League Commissioner Swami Prabhupada, such behavior is generally considered “un-Buddhalike.”
“I don’t care what the critics say,” Bikram said. “Sri Bikram is just gonna go out there and do Sri Bikram’s own yoga thing.”
Before the Bhutan meet, Bikram had never placed better than fourth. Many said he had forsaken rigorous training for the celebrity status accorded by his Bhutan win, endorsing Nike’s new line of prayer mats and supposedly dating the Hindu goddess Shakti. But his performance this week will regain for him the number one computer ranking and earn him new respect, as well as for his coach Mahananda Vasti, the controversial guru some have called Bikram’s “guru.”
“My special training diet for Bikram of one super-charged, carbo-loaded grain of rice per day was essential to his win,” Vasti said.
The defeated Gupta denied that Bikram’s taunting was a factor in his inability to attain TC.
“I just wasn’t myself today,” Gupta commented. “I wasn’t any self today. I was an egoless particle of the universal no-soul.”
In the second event, flexibility, Bikram maintained the lead by supporting himself on his index fingers for the entire 15 minutes while touching the back of his skull to his lower spine. The feat was matched by Gupta, who first used the position at the 1990 Tokyo Zen-Off.
“That’s my meditative position of spiritual ecstasy, not his,” remarked Gupta. “He stole my thunder.”
Bikram denied the charge, saying, “Gupta’s been talking like that ever since he was a 3rd century Egyptian slave-owner.”
Nevertheless, a strong showing by Gupta in the third event, the shotput, placed him within a lotus petal of the lead at the competition’s halfway point.
But event number four, the contemplation of unanswerable riddles known as koans, proved the key to victory for Bikram.
The koan had long been thought the weak point of his spiritual arsenal, but his response to today’s riddle—”Show me the face you had before you were born”—was reportedly “extremely illuminative,” according to Commissioner Prabhupada.
While koan answers are kept secret from the public for fear of exposing the uninitiated multitudes to the terror of universal truth, insiders claim his answer had Prabhupada and the two other judges “highly enlightened.”
With the event victory, Bikram built himself a nearly insurmountable lead, one he sustained through the yak-milk churn and breathing events to come away with the upset victory.
February 10, 2009
Posted by Madhava Gosh under
Thomas Merton
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“3) One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.”
Sri Sri Siksastakam
“What is it that makes a [human] life “divine”? Surely if this special quality characterizes [a human being], it must in some sense be recognizable. The “divine” life is, in fact, characterized by a faith which frees [a human being] from all forms of servitude, even and perhaps especially in religious matters (see [Paul’s epistle to the] Galatians’ passim).
“This faith brings [a human being] under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit of love living in the Church of God. The “divine” [human being], or the “son [and daughter] of God,” is then, paradoxically marked by a great humility and self-effacement. He [or she] is not violent but forgiving and kind (Matthew 5:43-48). He [or she] is free from any need for aggressive self-assertion. He [or she] does not worry about his [or her] own needs, but trusts completely in God for everything (Matthew 6: 19-34).
“The [human being] who leads a “divine” life is, then a perfect son [and daughter] of God in imitation of Christ, who in all things looked only to the will and love of His Father. The divine [human being] lives in constant contact with an inner source of divine life, or as Meister Eckhart would have said, with ‘the divine birth within us.’ ”
Thomas Merton. Love and Living. Naomi Burton Stone & Patrick Hart, editors (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jonvanovich, 1985): 108-109.
February 9, 2009
“So when Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita, “These material elements,” bhumir apo ‘nalo vayuh [Bg. 7.4], earth, water, fire, air, they are My energies, so if one has studied Krsna, then as soon as He sees a great ocean, He sees Krsna: “Oh, this is Krsna’s energy.” As soon as sees a big anything, fire, water, anything, He sees Krsna, nothing but Krsna because He knows.”
Room Conversation With Three College Students — July 11, 1973, London
During the last period of below normal temperatures we received some snow, then it got just warm enough in the atmosphere so it rained but was freezing as fast as it hit the ground, covering the exiting snow and all shrubs and trees with a layer of ice. After that we got more snow.
After another week or so of below average weather we had enough of a warm day that the surface snow in our front yard melted, but because it couldn’t drain through the ice, refroze during the night.
The next morning dawned clear and warm. The sun was bright and low in the sky so its reflection was scintillating off the ice, golden in hue and almost blinding. It reminded me of the sun reflected off water anywhere, but especially off the ocean when we recently visited the Gulf Coast of Florida.
A regular camera just can’t do justice to the goldenness of it, it is too bright to record, the image is washed, but I am sure you have seen what I am talking about.
For those living near or traveling to bodies of water on a regular basis, this may be the same old same old, but for me it was quite wonderful and a great memory to visit.
Standing by the ocean on a sandy beach is like being at the corner of Ephemeral Street and Eternal Avenue.
On the one hand there is this completely primal experience being in the raw presence of pure unmanifest earth in the bare beach, fire in the form of the sun, air in the form of wind, and water.
When I stand on a sandy beach looking out across the ocean, I am seeing and experiencing exactly the same thing men have experienced for thousands and/or millions of years. Even if the consumer society continues to careen to destroying all life forms on the planet, sun on the ocean will continue to look golden and wind will make waves which will sweep the beach clean. It is eternal as it gets in the material world.
Yet, simultaneously, the beach is the most ephemeral of places. Tracks made by passersby will be gone in a matter of minutes, or when the tide next changes. Even standing where the waves came in I could feel the sand being eroded from around my feet as the water receded.
Everything that comes to that beach is soon washed away. What could be more transient than the footprint of a tourist on a beach walking where the waves are lapping?
Even this blog post with a picture of the ocean, although enshrined in some server somewhere, will eventually be lost — if not sooner, than later.
The ocean’s edge, at once both the most enduring and the most transient place on the planet. Easy to see Krishna there.
scintillating sea
in the sand footprints
of a tourist
February 6, 2009
Posted by Madhava Gosh under
Poetry
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This ocean, humiliating in its disguises
Tougher than anything.
No one listens to poetry. The ocean
Does not mean to be listened to. A drop
Or crash of water. It means
Nothing.
It
Is bread and butter
Pepper and salt. The death
That young men hope for. Aimlessly
It pounds the shore. White and aimless signals. No
One listens to poetry.
February 5, 2009
Recently I accompanied Vidya on a trip to the eastern panhandle of West Virginia near Washington, DC. She was jurying for a show to sell her crafted gourds at, the Mountain Heritage Arts and Crafts Festival.
We passed Berkeley Springs on the way so stopped for a mineral bath, as people have for thousands of years. As it is a tourist town, we visited some shops, as always scouting for ideas.
In one they had back issues of Life magazine. This photo journal, along with the Saturday Evening Post, used to be the most widely read magazines in America, eventually losing their prominence to TV and the internet.
We bought the issue that had the same date as her birthday. This was what people were reading when she was born, an interesting glimpse into the past.
Although she was born in Wisconsin, Vidya moved to New Vrindaban in 1971 and has had a Moundsville, WV, mailing address ever since. In this issue of Life there was a story about a prison beak at the Moundsville Penitentiary.
There was also a story about Portugal that had a picture of gourds being used as a floats.
It seems pretty coincidental that the national magazine from the week when she was born had a story about Moundsville, where she ended up living, and gourds, that she crafts for a living.
Prophetic might be a better word.
February 3, 2009
February 2, 2009
From Mother Earth News
Good news! Renewable energy systems just got a little more affordable. Thanks to federal tax credits that will go into effect in January 2009, U.S. homeowners can get money back if they purchase wind turbines or solar panels next year. There are tax credits for energy efficiency, too — including projects such as adding more insulation to your home, or buying energy-efficient windows.
All this is good news for the planet, because it encourages renewable energy and reduces the use of polluting fossil fuels. It’s also good news for your wallet, because over time, these types of energy upgrades can save you a lot of money.
How do the savings add up?
Whether you’re buying a wind turbine or new windows, most home energy upgrades require spending money now to save money later through reduced energy bills. Some of these projects are big investments, costing thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.
How it all pencils out will depend on the details of your project, but with the new federal tax credits you can count on getting some money back quickly. The tax credits for energy efficiency cover up to 10 percent of many home improvements, up to a total of about $500. Even better, the new tax credits cover 30 percent of the cost of most new renewable energy systems — which can add up to thousands of dollars. For example, the maximum tax credit for installing a wind turbine is $4,000.
Does any of this sound familiar?
No, it’s not déjà vu — you probably have heard all of this before. A similar group of tax credits went into effect in 2006… But most homeowner incentives for energy efficiency expired at the end of 2007, and the tax credits for installing solar energy systems were due to expire at the end of 2008.
Then in October, these new tax credits passed as part of the economic bailout package. So now the tax credits for efficiency are back, the solar tax credits have been extended, and in a few cases, these incentives have been expanded. They all go into effect Jan. 1, 2009.
For a more complete summary of the new energy incentives, this list of tax credits on the Energy Star Web site is a good place to start. It has more details, and even links to the tax forms you’ll need. But here’s a general idea of what’s included:
- You can get a total of $500 per taxpayer for making home improvements to increase energy efficiency. Improvements that qualify include installing new windows, additional insulation, and more energy-efficient water heaters and furnaces.
- The tax credits for installing solar panels were extended. That means home solar-electric systems qualify for tax credits, as do solar water heaters. Both qualify for 30 percent of the cost of the project. (Solar water heating is capped at a $2,000 credit; solar-electric systems are not capped.)
- Now more types of renewable energy systems qualify for tax credits, including wind turbines (up to $4,000). Tax credits are also available for home fuel cells (30 percent of system costs), geothermal heat pumps (up to $2,000), and biomass stoves, such as woodstoves or pellet stoves ($300).
- There’s a new tax credit for plug-in hybrids ($2,500 to $7,500) although it gets phased out as more models of these cars are sold. Also, an earlier tax credit for gasoline-electric hybrids is still in effect. Toyota and Honda vehicles no longer qualify because of the number of those models that have been sold, but tax credits are still available for Ford, GM and Nissan hybrid vehicles.
So what else do I need to know?
Before you invest in any of these projects you’ll want to read all the fine print. Many of these projects have restrictions, for example, eligible replacement windows must be Energy Star rated.
Also remember that you may qualify for additional state or local incentives. You can find out more about what’s available by visiting the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.
Finally, don’t despair if you look at the numbers and decide you don’t have the money to invest in energy improvements right now. There are lots of different ways to lower your energy bills including inexpensive and DIY options. A good place to start is this article from Gary Reysa, Eight Easy Projects for Instant Energy Savings.
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View From a New Vrindaban Ridge 