the violence of our times - here

hatred never ceases by hatred
but by love alone is healed.
this is the ancient and eternal law.
                      ~ the buddha

the news of the shooting
at macy's - burlington mall...
i hear the comment
from around the area..
how could this happen here?

yet why wouldn't it happen here?..
here, there and everywhere is here..
how far away / how close
does it have to be to be here?
st. cloud, minnesota is here,
damascus is here....
istanbul is here ~

how big the world is..
how small this planet
& each step we make..
each breath-
a connecting thread
to the very next step
the next breath
the next being

i cannot look any further than this
and this is that..
this is bcause that is ~
that is because this is...
it has always been thus...
this, that, thus..
here, there, everywhere ...

we who lived in the concentration camps
can remember those who walked through
the huts comforting others, 
giving away their last piece of bread.. 
they may have been few in number 
but they offer sufficient proof 
that everything can be taken from us 
but the last of human freedoms...
the freedom to choose our spirit 
in any circumstance.
                          - victor e. frankl

gandhi called this soul force ~
                 
if only it were that simple!
if only there were evil people somewhere else
insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were simply necessary to separate them
from the rest of us and destroy them.
but the line dividing good and evil
cuts through the heart of every human being.
and who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
                  ~ solzhenitsyn

if we could read the secret history 
of our enemies,
we should see sorrow and suffering
enough to disarm all hostility.
                    - longfellow

if you want to see the heroic, 
look at those who can love in return for hatred.
if you want to see the brave,
look for those who can forgive.
                   ~ the gita

have you seen the red signs everywhere
anouncing the gun show in oak harbor
this week-end?
my initial reaction was to follow their trail,
pick them up and dump them...
yet how poignant .. how heart-rending
in the wake of the gunshots and deaths..
their message - so bold....so out of touch..

the first step to the knowledge
of the wonder and mystery of life 
is the recognition of the monstrous nature 
of the earthly human realm as well as its glory,
the realization that this is just how it is
and that it cannot and will not be changed.
those who think they know - and their name is legion -
how the universe could have been had they created it,
without pain,
without sorrow,
without time,
without death,
are unfit for illumination.
so if you really want to help this world,
what you will have to teach is how to live in it.
and that no one can do who has not themselves
learned how to live in the joyful sorrow
and sorrowful joy of the knowledge of life as it is.
                   ~ joseph campbell

as i write this i hear Raven claiming the sky,
Mandy ~ blind, aged, barking a heartache,
Hummingbird burring to the nectar..
my early morning candles flickering
and me.. remembering MLK Jr's words..
we can walk through the darkest night
with the radiant conviction
that all things work together
for the good.

love will have the last word ~ here

ode to autumn - yoga for the season of change

season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
                           ~ keats

'tis the season of change..
autumn offers the grande opportunity
to begin again..
to garner the harvest of the wistful summer daze ~

here is the schedule for dunja's yoga classes
offering the grande opportunity to begin again!
and why not?
'tis the season ~

tuesdays @ MoNA
6:30 - 8:30 pm..
please note:
no class on september 27th
this is a 2 hour class for the same low price!
($15 / drop-in)
we will have a breathing practice & a sitting practice
as well as the asana practice..
filled to the brim with mellow fruitfulness

wednesdays @ Crescent Moon Yoga
9:30 - 11 am
you are able to use either dunja's series / CMY punch card
also $15/ drop-in

thursdays @ swinomish spiritual center
7 - 8:30 pm
fridays @ swinomish spiritual center
9:30 - 11 am
8 classes for $108 or $15/ drop-in

i will be teaching until the 11 of november ~
there are just 8 weeks left of class
so you could purchase the series and see it thru..
also note:
the series does not ever expire
and can be used when i return next summer..
as i like to caution ~
the series does not expire but i will -
so get on your mat and use them up!

private sessions
by appointment..

may these golden autumn days bring forth
 the harvest of realizing our natural wakefulness..
in this every moment of the blazing now!

wo-he-lo!
work-health-love

DIE

it is wet and foggy and thick with autumn this morning..
after sitting, breathing, and stretching the bones -
i hop on my new olde bike.. a schwinn super 7 cruiser..
blue with silver fenders.. a basket.. a bell ..
and pedal to the padilla bay trail along the water..

barely able to see the road ahead..
the path ahead..
i can make out the silhouettes of great blue herons..
on posts, on the newly ploughed fields, near the water's edge..
ducks leaving their trace on the rille, lazy lolling..
before hunting season brings them to their knees..
(that eternal question..do ducks have knees?)
a ring-tail hawk just off the branch
to follow and lead and tease me along my way -
before flying to more lucrative stores..and shores..
the flitter and titter and winged-woosh of wee birdlets..
a kingfisher rat-ta-tatting.. announces my arrival..
to the bunnies with their tails like spotlights..
they are skittery and full of delight ..fearful and popping..
i see shimmer..the white of a white of a translucent egret
finding her flight under the damp dew that holds her heavy..
where did she come from?
a rarity .. a find.. a blessing.. a treasure...

then...
 i see the letters in the path..
strong bold letters with an arrow of equal stock
pointing in the direction i am heading..
                          DIE
ring! ring! i ring the bell
and continue on my way..
to my death..it would seem ~

and....
although i hold death in high regard..
as the moment when real awakening arrives..
the next great adventure..
the chasm of faith, the threshold, the door to eternity ~
a favor to us..the remembrance of all things impermanent ..
the midwife who travels with us from beginning to end..
to the end that is no end..
that outbreath from our o so short inhale of a life...

i simply cannot not leave those letters there..
hanging out to dry
on this sunday morning
of such richness ~ such poignancy ~ such moist and lush aliveness ~

as i circle back..i knew to do what i brewed to do..
adding the M ..
and above that CARPE ..
and above that - as an arrow of its own species - a heart..

                                      CARPE
                                       DIEM!

yes.. any day, this day, all days are good days to die ~
                                  seize the day!


die while you're alive
and be absolutely dead.
then do whatever you want;
it's all good.    
              ~ bunan
                  1603-1676
( imagine..that expression..
it's all good..took this long to arrive!)

one instant is eternity;
eternity is the now.
when you see through this one instant,
you see through the one who sees.
                       ~ wu-men

between living and dreaming
there is a third thing.
guess it.
                ~ antonio machado

may living and dying be the same for you!
carpe diem..!

autumn YOGA offering at MoNA in LaConner

the beginning of autumn 
decided
by the red dragon-fly.
               - shirao

wild geese coming down,
their voices one upon another,
the cold of night increasing.
                      - kyoroku 

i saw the red dragonfly..earlier..
standing on it's head..or hands..
on a tall grass sheath..tail straight up!
shimmering crimson transparency..
ah! if only my handstand had such flight ~

...indeed, there is a chill in the night..
my mama's quilt now covers my duvet
when i settle in for slumber..
in the morning it is nested on the floor..
shrugged off in the heat of dreams..

here is the offering and website
for the fall yoga series at MoNA..
feel free to register online
or pay at the door..
full series or drop-in..
everyone is so very welcome..
come!

http://monamuseum.org/event/catch-your-breath-harvest-your-practice


persimmons are on their way!!