Posted by: Jivani Lisa | May 5, 2012

God’s House

“One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  The threshold of the house of God I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.”  (Psalm 84:11)

I love this psalm – and this verse of the psalm in particular.  When I hear it, I envision the ancient Jews longing to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.  I remember that conservative Roman Catholics consider their Church to be the one true house of God.  They consider themselves to be safe and blessed as members of the true house of God.  I remember lavish cathedrals as well as tiny shrines that embodied “the house of God” for me.

Yet the verse also reminds me of holy, mystical experiences out in the natural world – on beaches, in forests, near waterfalls.  Such places are houses of God, too.

Lately, the verse reminds me that each one of us has been blessed with a heart and soul to house God.  Each of us is a house for God – if only we make room for Him, remember Him, and praise Him every moment in our small and large ways.  We need not fear the so-called “dwellings of the wicked,” because God is within.  He is constantly loving us.  When we love Him in return, we sense His presence with us no matter where we happen to be.

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Posted by: Jivani Lisa | April 28, 2012

Breaking the Rules

Does it bother you to see people breaking rules?  One time, when I was working in the fitness center, one of the members (a grown adult) came into the office to tell me another member was talking on her cell phone while working out – a posted “NO-NO” according to our rules.  He wanted me to tell her to stop talking on the phone or take the conversation outside the fitness center.

I politely reminded the woman of our rules.  She apologized and said a call had come in, so she took it briefly.  The other member said, “NO, she’s been the one calling out.”  I refused to get in the middle of the situation.  I purposely choose not to work with children because I don’t want to deal with childishness.

However, there’s another aspect to rule breaking.  The Catholic Church has a lot of rules and regulations (in addition to commandments and dogmas).  The news media like to point out there are many Catholics who refuse to follow certain rules, regulations and dogmas.  (I’m leaving out the commandments because those apply to all Christians, and as we know, all Christians break them in the course of being human.)

Some Catholics have no problem breaking certain rules and regulations while still considering themselves Catholics.  That may be fine for them, but it doesn’t work for me.  Once I realized I couldn’t follow all the rules and regulations – because I disagree with them – and I didn’t believe most of the dogmas, I had to leave.  Why stay?  I’m not really one of “the club” anyway.

Here’s the amusing part about rule breaking:  Since I started writing formal poetry, I’ve discovered there are poets who claim to write formal poetry while breaking the established rules for such poetry.  I don’t get it.  Maybe I’ll get it eventually.  But to me, why write formal poetry if you’re going to break the rules?  Just write free verse, which is complex in its own way.

At this point, I’m loving formal poetry because I like the challenge of being creative while remaining within the structure of the form.  The demands of the form open my mind in unexpected ways (unlike the Catholic Church, whose rigid structure merely stifles – for me).

I’ve heard that once a poet has mastered the formal structure, then breaking the rules becomes an expression of such mastery and creativity.  I don’t know yet.  It still sounds like a cop out at this point, but I’m being open-minded about the whole experience.  Perhaps I’ll be breaking the rules sooner than I imagine.

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Posted by: John | April 25, 2012

Memories of Taps

Last night, at a Hampton Roads Writers Open Mic event, I heard the talented D.D. Delaney do one of his skits, called “Life After War,” with his harmonica.  In the skit he played taps.  It prompted the following to come out of me:

When I was in the Navy, I made two cruises off Vietnam on the carrier Kitty Hawk.  Hearing taps every night at 2200 became routine, just another end to a boring day.  The chaplain’s prayer before taps was just as routine.

When the ship got to Yankee Station off North Vietnam, we were allowed “free mail.”  That is, instead of a stamp we just wrote FREE in place of the stamp.  On this particular trip, we were scheduled to reach Yankee Station at 0200 in the morning.  (It took one and a half days to reach Yankee Station from the Philippines.)  In typical military fashion, the announcement was made over the 1MC speaker reminding us when the ship would reach Yankee Station – and not to put an envelope with “FREE” on it till 0200 on the particular day.  This announcement was made every hour it seemed.  The particular chaplain who said the prayer before taps on this night had a habit of chatting with God before the prayer.

As he started his chat he said, “Well God, tonight the ship expects to enter the free mail zone. . . .”

Someone from the back of my shop shouted:  “Do you really think he gives a shit?”   Most of us ended up laughing as taps was played.

Later, I was a contractor on the carrier Enterprise when there was an explosion and fire off Hawaii during a training exercise.  Twenty-six sailors were killed.  I couldn’t get off the ship till the next day.  That’s the only time I’ve seen and smelled shapeless masses in body bags.  That night the mournful sound of taps really touched my heart.  I’ll never forget it.

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Posted by: Jivani Lisa | April 23, 2012

A Laugh Over Lunch

John and I just finished a rather typical candle-light lunch of tilapia, brown rice and green beans.  John said the blessing before we started to eat.  During the course of the meal, as we chatted about various things, he suddenly said:  “I wanna try making fried rice sometime.”

Me:  “Why?”

“I like it.”

“Oh, okay”

“We could put some of that whatever-the-fuck tasteless stuff in it.”

“Tofu?”

“Yeah.”

Ah hahahahahahahahaa!  I’m still laughing over this!  This is one of the things I love about John:  one minute, he can be praying/meditating, and a few minutes later, he can be cursing.  He’s real.  He doesn’t censor his true self, the part of him that sometimes comes across as irreverent.  He makes me laugh over the littlest, silliest stuff.  He reminds me to just go with the flow, relax and have fun.  I think God has a sense of humor, too.

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Posted by: Jivani Lisa | April 18, 2012

Butterfly Surprise

This week, one of my co-workers brought in a little surprise: a butterfly in a jar.  I was instantly captivated by it.  However, this was no ordinary captured butterfly – but rather an artificial, electronic butterfly.

I’d never seen anything like it.  My mind refused to believe something like this could look so real.  I just stared and stared with a bemused smile on my face.  (Please forgive the pun, but it was quite a jarring experience!)

Tapping or moving the jar causes the butterfly to flit around, bouncing off the sides of the jar and then resting on the side while gently fluttering its wings.  It will sit still, but slowly open and close its wings just like a real butterfly.  The sound of it tapping against the glass is very realistic, too.  You have to look closely to see the fine wires keeping it suspended and powered.

The first thing I said was, “Oh, John would love this!”  He’s fascinated by butterflies, truly loves them.  I took the butterfly home yesterday and observed John’s reaction:  surprise and wonderment.  We agreed its pretty incredible.

Now, normally I have no interest in such commercial gimmicks, but this butterfly has done something to me.  It’s brought a sense of child-like curiosity and reverence back into my life.  Its presence calms and soothes me, makes me feel less alone. 

I, like most people in our modern, hectic world, have very little daily exposure to nature.  I didn’t realize how much I’m missing that aspect of life until I saw the butterfly. 

I’m also reminded that the awe inspired by the butterfly (real or artificial) is the basis for the same reverence we often feel for nature in general – and for God.  In the face of beautiful things we cannot fully comprehend, the most appropriate (and I believe the most instinctual) response is awe and reverence.  Followed closely by gratitude.

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Posted by: Jivani Lisa | April 17, 2012

Selling God

Truth be told: I like reading spiritual books, blogs, etc.; I belong to various spiritual groups on LinkedIn. However, what really bothers me is when someone’s specific spiritual question is met with responses like, “check out my book” or “check out my CD” on that very subject.

Something inside me is immediately turned off by what sounds like a sales pitch. I can never feel comfortable with the idea of people making money from giving spiritual advice. The spiritual path is the highest journey of life (in my opinion) – and true spiritual teachers are not in it to make money (in my opinion). Yes, everybody has to make a living. Yet traditionally, spiritual teachers have lived on the goodwill offerings of devotees (students, seekers, disciples – or whatever you want to call them). In other words, the students/seekers give whatever they can afford to give (not necessarily money) in exchange for teachings. Some people cannot afford to “give” anything. Their donation is the faithful, genuine living – in gratitude – of the teachings they’ve been given.

When I met with my first spiritual director in 2004, she told me her usual fee was $25 per session. I gave her a brief skeptical look, but immediately agreed. She saw my look and responded with, “If you can’t afford that much, then that’s fine, too.” I paid her the money every time because I knew the money was important to her – otherwise she would never have brought it up. She and her husband were well-off and didn’t need the money as far as I could tell.

To me, it’s a great honor and privilege to have the ability to share spiritual teachings for the good of people’s souls. I aspire to one day help people this way. The teachings are given, not with the hope of any kind of personal gain, but purely out of compassion.

Maybe I’m wrong about this. Do you have an opinion on this topic? Should spiritual teachers uphold different standards from the usual “marketplace” values and practices?

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Posted by: Jivani Lisa | April 10, 2012

Are You Ready?

As I entered the elevator at work, I overheard part of a conversation between two gentlemen who were exiting.  One man was saying something about his wife’s work and possible retirement.  He summed up with: “I’m not quite ready for it.”

This statement caused my mind to start spinning about all the things in life (the so-called positive things as well as the so-called negative things) that we’re never “quite ready for.”  Such as: 

*  college

*  marriage

*  birth of a child

*  illness

*  buying a house

*  a new project

*  our spouse’s (or even our own) affair

*  divorce

*  surgery

*  children moving out on their own

*  caring for elderly or ill parents

*  a new career

*  a smaller house

*  retirement

*  death

Isn’t it amazing that, regardless of how well we think we’ve planned, life always manages to catch us by surprise?  If only we could lighten up and take each twist and turn as part of the fun, part of the adventure!  After all, if life always went according to our well-ordered plans, how would we ever learn the lessons we really need to learn?

What are some of your recent surprises and how have you managed to flow with them?  How have you grown or experienced unexpected blessings?

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Posted by: Jivani Lisa | April 4, 2012

Affirming Experience

“I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace and wisdom.”  (Paramahansa Yogananda)

About two months ago, I came across the above affirmation in my spiritual reading.  I liked it so much, I wrote it on a narrow piece of paper to use as a bookmark in my prayer book.

This affirmation speaks to me because most of my burdens are mental:  judgements, anxiety, negative thoughts, depression.  On the one hand, it often seems to me that I want to do and to be so many things; yet on the other hand, all I really want is to be an instrument of God’s love, peace and wisdom.

Last week, I had a phone conversation for spiritual counseling with one of the nuns of Self-Realization Fellowship in California.  This was the first time I’d ever spoken with her.  She answered some of my questions about my spiritual practices, prayer and meditation.  She asked if I use affirmations in my practice.  When I said yes, she replied, “Wait a moment.  There’s one here I’d like to share with you.”

I waited as she leafed through some papers.  She said, “Ah yes, you may like this:  ‘I relax and cast aside all mental burdens [here, I began to giggle], allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace and wisdom.'”

I got the message that God and Yoganandaji (my guru) wanted me to know that this is indeed an ideal affirmation for me at this time. An affirmation of the affirmation!

Don’t you love such confirmations?  Please share your similar experiences here (in the comments) for the upliftment of all of us.  Peace to all!

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Posted in Prayer/Meditation, Spiritual Life | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Jivani Lisa | March 26, 2012

Fear of the Lord

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”  (Psalm 111:10)

Being afraid of God never seemed right to me.  In middle school, I learned that a better translation of “fear of the Lord” is “awe of the Lord.”  Holding God in awe.  I like this because God is indeed awesome in His power, His knowledge, His justice – and also in His mercy, love and compassion.

The notion of an awesome God helps keep us humble.  It reminds us that we are creatures.  It inspires our prayers of praise and gratitude to God as the One who does all things (even when He uses us as His instruments).  It makes us happy to follow God’s precepts because we know He is trustworthy; we know His laws are designed for our own good.

Our God (everyone’s God) is an awesome God!  Let us praise and thank Him every day for the many blessings of His creation, for the countless blessings of our own lives.

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Posted by: John | March 19, 2012

Drive-thru Yoga

Since we now have as many yoga studios as we have fast food joints, maybe it’s time for drive-thru yoga.  The driver would only have to move his or her seat back for more room.

 
Here’s a sample menu:
 
 
             FORWARD FOLD—-$1.00
             EAGLE ARMS——–$1.50
             COW FACE ARMS—$3.00
             SEATED TWIST——$2.00
             HAMSTRING STRETCH (on steering wheel)—$3.00
             FIGURE FOUR HIP STRETCH—-$4.00
             SAVASANA (recline seat)—–$1.00  (with chanting OM–$2.00 extra)
 
And after the practice the driver hears, “Have a Namaste!”
 
OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
——————————–

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Posted in Yoga

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