Occupy Raleigh group meditations will begin

Several people have stepped forward for the group meditations. The first one will be Sunday 11/6 at 11AM – assuming this does not interfere with some other important work and will be at the occupation site in a spot that won’t interfere with the occupiers who would rather continue picketing, marching etc. We expect this to be weekly and we will have one Wednesday night after GA as well.

This will be an estimated 25 min. event and will be quietly energizing and suitable for people of any religion or no religion. Look forward to seeing you all Sunday – still sniffling but doing better. 🙂 Oh, some really wonderful people have volunteered for this so I am looking forward to their addition to the mix!

Oh yeah, I caught my cold sitting on that sidewalk so we may be standing up and people are welcome to sit, stand, participate or not as we go forward.

Hey, Yoga Man! is travelling the world, Canada, UK, Europe, Lebanon, and Afghanistan

My book, “Hey, Yoga Man! : Yoga Practices for Everyday Life from a Prison Yoga Practice” was meant to help support the prison yoga practice by giving the participants information on the basics of meditation, mindfulness, yama and niyama, and other yoga practices that support a quieter, more centered existence.  It is now in use in several area prisons.  It is also a great book for people who want to develop a meditation practice.

The surprise has been how far the book has traveled.  Last summer, Bryan sent me his picture in Lebanon with the book.  He is spending a year there with family.  And just recently, I sent some books to a radar operator in Afghanistan who thought some of the troops would find them interesting and helpful.  So here are some pics from Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Wishing you all the best.  Keep practicing.  Come home soon and safely, please!

The book is available on Amazon.com or on my web site.

Bryan Marwan Maasarani in Lebanon with Hey, Yoga Man!

Hey, Yoga Man! made it to the guys in Kandahar – a long way from their home in USA

USO in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Our young people are serving a long way from home.

Occupy Raleigh – people can follow yogic principles, can corporations?

Meditating at Occupy Raleigh

The occupation started this past Saturday and for now the arrests are over. The people who stay are confined to the sidewalk so when I spend my time there we are on the sidewalk.  Negotiations are going on for a better spot. People drive by and honk in support.  The police are friendly and stand by.  My fellow protesters are all ages.  Many have had job troubles.  There are many concerns voiced.  The underlying theme is a more just society, more inclusive, more opportunities.  There are many ideas on what specifically should be changed.

When Adam Smith proposed capitalism, he had the landed aristocracy in his crosshairs.  Capitalism would spread the wealth more evenly than the king and his cronies.

Today’s America resembles nothing so much as the old feudal system that Adam Smith wanted to upend when he proposed capitalism and free markets.  It is just a different bunch of aristocrats running the show.  And now corporations are also running the show even though they are not really people.  The idea that they are is a ludicrous invention of a bunch of people who have not thought things through, imagine trying to get moral and ethical behavior out of a “person” with no body, no soul, no morals, no ethics, a “person” made out of paper.

I have written here about Yama and Niyama, the Yogic Ten Commandments or guidelines for living.  Shrii Shrii Anandamurti said that the minimum that you had to do to live the yogic life was to meditate twice a day, and understand and try to follow Yama and Niyama.  Meditating on the meaning of Ahimsa (non-harming) can lead you to become vegetarian (less harming to animals), to recycle (less harming to the environment), and other behavioral changes that result in better world.  Meditating on Satya (speaking the truth with compassion) can result in less name calling and a quieter but more powerful way of expressing yourself.

But can we apply these principles to behavior of corporations and governmental agencies?  Why not?  If we are asked to entertain the ridiculous notion that a corporation that is a bunch of papers filed with the government is a legal person, then why can’t we evaluate whether they follow Yama and Niyama.

Let’s start with Ahimsa (non-harming).  Do chicken producers running CAFO operations follow this?  How about the company that sold the bad mortgage securities that their people knew were trash?  How about coal companies that are blowing the tops off mountains, polluting the ground water with toxic poisons, shipping the coal to be burned in a way that puts mercury and toxic soot in the air, and then funding commercials for clean coal energy?  When companies export jobs to places with lower wages and few worker protections and lay off thousands?  Are all these following non-harming?

Anandamurti did not say that everyone had to follow Yama and Niyama perfectly all the time to be living the yogic lifestyle.  He said that each person would have to understand and “try” to follow these guidelines.

Are these companies trying?  I say no.  I say that they do not recognize any obligation to try.  They are governed primarily by the profit motive.  They will follow laws and regulations to some degree and will also react to pressure from the public, but they also will spend money to buy regulation changes and fund “think tanks” to snow the public with a bunch of theory that backs up their “right” to stuff their pockets as full as they can and avoid anything that might slow them down.

This situation is not sustainable.  Sustainability is key to a good life for all.  Remember, no one is even asking for perfection here.  A start would be to incorporate these as goals.   Another start would be to revoke corporate personhood.  I am not the first one to suggest that.  Until something is done in this direction, I guess we Occupy!

Occupy Raleigh – meditate at the Capital for a more just society

Occupy Raleigh - peaceful energy

Occupy Raleigh - meditating on the signs - great messages

Occupy Raleigh - George Washington approves!

Occupy Raleigh - good energy and people of all ages

Occupy Raleigh - so tiring - whew!

I had a very good meditation on the lawn of the Capital building and celebrated the crowd and the day!  It is good to see people asking for a more just society.  We need a society based on the idea that each individual PERSON matters.  That each PERSON is too important to fail.  Our current society is not providing jobs for all at living wages with enough time for individuals to do spiritual development.  Yogic principles give us a baseline for assessing the situation and suggesting improvements.  Many of the sentiments being expressed by the protesters are fully in line with yogic principles.  I look forward to a long occupation and will get out the word on classes, meditations, and workshops at the occupation soon.

Interview with the Monk arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge as we Occupy Raleigh

Occupy Raleigh and Occupy Wall St. are about a just society.  In yogic terms this means each individual and the societal institutions acting according to the yogic principles of Yama and Niyama.  Completely honoring these principles is not easy, but working toward it results in a society where everyone has basic needs met, has a job with a living wage, and has enough time to pursue spiritual development.  Here is Dada Pranakrsnananda describing what the Occupy movement is about for him.

Some people are saying the protesters are sort of confused or don’t know what they want.  But, they have identified what they don’t want.  And they do want to move toward a more just society.  A better place for all God’s children!

Guided meditation from the monk arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge

Dada Pranakrishnananda protesting at Occupy Wall Street

Dada (means brother) Pranakrishnananda – said Prana, Krishna, Ananda – was arrested the other day on the Brooklyn Bridge with the Occupy Wall St. protesters.  He is out there advocating for a more just society, one where each individual can pursue spiritual development while having basic needs met.  Our society was aspiring to that when Franklin Roosevelt was president and he talked about a 2nd bill of rights.  Right now, our corporate run America does not aspire to that.  The 99 percent can change this.  Here is Dada Prana’s guided meditation for the protesters.

Dada Prana guided meditation

Namaskar,

Shiva

NYPD Arrests Dada Prana while meditating at the Brooklyn Bridge Occupy Wall St. protest

Prison Yoga Practice has employable people available to you!

My yoga students at the minimum security prison are generally nearing the end of their sentences and most work outside the facility during the day.  As discussed elsewhere on the blog, the dedicated yoga students have a much lower reincarceration rate than other inmates.  We have a study on this and Pashupati Steve Landau published a paper with the results.

I am currently helping one of my students apply to jobs.  A job for an outside employer is essential to success for these men.  Many jobs are not available to them.  This man is a qualified welder.  He has a college degree with honors from Shaw University.  He has work experience for an outside employer in a call center.  Any help you can give in suggesting places that are willing to hire a worker who is reliable and with a proven work record such as this man, please contact me on the blog or at ordog@earthlink.net.

Work site should be in Wake County and on a bus line would be helpful.  Employer must have workman’s compensation insurance.  There is a tax break available from the State of NC for hiring this worker and he will provide the necessary paperwork at the interview.

I will be able to provide you with another qualified welder in November if all goes well.

Yoga is a set of practices – what are your practices?

Yoga is a set of practices.  We have many practices.  Each practice has karmic ripples, effects on our lives.  I work at a theatre that is in a public park that includes a beautiful rose garden, the Raleigh Rose Garden.

This morning, I had errands to do related to the prison yoga practice and then got to work early.  I completed a rough draft of a resume for one of my prison class members to help him in his employment search.  I did some theatre business.  I returned some phone calls.  Then I walked outside.

I saw a rose that I had not noticed before in the upper level of the grounds and smelled it.  They say that each variety has a different aroma.  I thought that it would be interesting to find out how many different aromas there were.  I decided my practice would be to smell at least ten varieties.  Three of them that I met along the way are here, but there were many more and I sniffed more than ten varieties.  I wonder.  What karmic ripples will occur from this practice?  It was certainly pleasant.  It made me glad I work here.

What are your practices?

The Quantum Activist – a movie study group

Join the revolution going on in science.

A genuine paradigm shift. While mainstream science remains materialist, a substantial number of scientists are supporting and developing a paradigm based on the primacy of consciousness.
Dr. Amit Goswami, Ph.D, a pioneer of this revolutionary new perspective within science shares with us his vision of the unlimited potential of consciousness (rather than matter) as the ground of all being, and how this revelation can actually help us to live better.
The Quantum Activist tells the story of a man who challenges us to rethink our very notions of existence and reality, with a force and scope not felt since Einstein.
This film bridges the gap between God and Science. The work of Goswami, with stunning precision and without straying from the rigors of quantum mechanics, reveals the overarching unity inherent in the worlds major religions and mystical traditions.

If you meditate, practice yoga, study and practice law of attraction, or do any metaphysical practice, you will find the work of Goswami fascinating.  Amit says that we have now found convincing scientific proof not only of the existence of God but also of the nature of God as well.  He goes beyond this also to define a Quantum Activist as someone who is using this knowledge to help create a new world.

We will watch the movie and then work our way through the study guide as a group.  Scientific knowledge or study of physics is not necessary to understand the material.  This work pulls together science, meditation, yoga, karma, chakras, morphogenetic fields, manifestation, and other topics that have been part of our previous book studies.  Our intent is to have fun with this material as a group and enjoy it for a few meetings.

The workbook for our meetings is here: The Quantum Activist Workbook  Print this out and bring a copy along to the meetup.

Gay Marriage, Green Smoothies, and Genetically Modified Organisms in the Food Supply

People upset about gay marriage ban

This morning the main headline in the local newspaper is “Amendment on ballot: opposition drive begins SENATE VOTES TO PUT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BAN BEFORE VOTERS.” A smaller headline, beginning at the fold says “Poverty hits record high, Number now 46.2 million.”  So, at a time of huge problems in this country and this state, the legislature wants to address a subtle issue in a ham-fisted manner.

Lilja McGee protests the gay marriage ban ammendment!

What’s subtle about gay marriage?  I think explaining to voters who want the ban on same-sex marriage the facts that there already is a ban, that a ban may well be unconstitutional because it defines a group of citizens and singles them out for a lower status of treatment, and that regardless of one’s personal prejudices, a new set of Jim Crow laws is a bad idea, is just a task that is too tough for our legislators.  I watched some of the speeches on Monday in the house and I don’t think that our legislators do “subtle” well.  So, sorry gay North Carolinians, you are the whipping boy of convenience this week.  You join a long line of groups that have had and some that continue to have this distinction.

This is in direct contradiction to yogic principles which would try to ensure security to all animals and plants, the guarantee of purchasing power to all people, and fundamental human rights, rights that include spiritual self-development.  Having one set of rights for one group and another set for another group is not just.  Explaining this is subtle.

Green smoothie diet avoids GMO foods

The green smoothie diet uses fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seeds.  Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are not included.  Why?  Over the past thirty years, GMOs have taken over much of the soybeans, corn, canola, sugar beets, and now alfalfa grown in this country and Canada and they are being pushed worldwide by the corporations that created and sell them.  Some of them have traits that make them immune to herbicides.  Some have genes that help them generate pesticides.  They are not tested for human safety and the companies that have made them have blocked such testing saying that they are “substantially the same” as conventional foods.  There is evidence that GMO foods contain new proteins that are not digestible, have less food value, have higher herbicide residues, and continue to generate pesticides in your gut.

The green smoothies avoid this by choosing real foods that have been available for some time and that our grandparents would recognize as food.  This does mean rejecting any processed food.  If it was fried, and put in a bag, then the cooking oil has a high probability of being GMO.  If it is in a can, bottle, or other package, it has a high probability of having some GMO additive such as high fructose corn syrup or other derivative from a GMO plant.  Processing this stuff turns the liver into a tired, fat, lazy organ that cannot keep up.  Who needs this?

GMO Frankenfood - a subtle issue?

So what is to be done about it?  Do we, as yoga practitioners, simply restrict our diet to green smoothies forever and stop thinking about this?  What about our fellow human beings?  Should we try to encourage them to also restrict their diet, or can we also help to change the food supply?

A number of good people are working to get GMO foods labelled.  This is done in other countries and allows the consumer a choice of GMO or no.  It is not done here due to the money and influence of powerful corporations that feel like we would not buy their frankenfoods if they were labelled.  I find that this issue is subtle.  If I were to tell most people that I have no fear of walking into the middle of a grocery store away from the produce and into the processed foods, but I feel no need to because I am convinced that eating what is in those cans, boxes, bottles, and bags means a slow lingering death, I would need a while to explain and justify why this might be true.  This is subtle.

Fixing the food supply requires action by our legislature. We need their help.  And remember, they don’t do subtle.

The answer?  We need you.  We need each of you to be subtle.  We need you to meditate.  We need you to understand rights issues and stick up for equal treatment under the law for everyone.  We need you to eat food that nourishes you and push away GMO to the extent that you can.  We need you to show your subtlety to all until our legislators reflect that.  Whatever they are reflecting, that I saw on Monday, it has a streak of mean ugly right through the middle.  There were also speeches that were beautiful, invoking Martin Luther King and civil rights.  But the majority was mean ugly.  Become subtle and we can overcome mean ugly.