Parinama

  c. from Latin com "with, together" (see com- ) + panis "bread," from PIE root *pa- "to feed."   Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians   Maitri (loving kindness); Karuna (compassion), Mudita (spontaneous joy), Upeksha (Equanmity), Sutra 1.33   To be with each other in companionship is a great achievement of the spiritual journey.   This is the companionship of a generous and patient love.   The companionship of breaking bread together, the bread that nourishes our bodies and the bread that nourishes our souls.   The companionship of equality...

  The final integration of the sheaths of being at last brings access to the knowledge of the soul to join that of the heart and the body. Samadhi is the only state where you experience the absorption of the body, mind, and soul as a single unit. BKS Iyengar, Light on Life   The experience of samadhi or integration is one of bringing back into the fold the parts of ourselves we have rejected.   Although samadhi brings us into a deeply nourishing experience of freedom and contentment, the actual stitching together of the broken off parts can be painful. Afterall, there are usually good reasons why we have disguarded parts of ourselves.   These are the parts that got left behind when we were abused or neglected and at an age or a state of life when we could not protect ourselves.   We come to experience some parts of ourselves as the good parts that are deserving of love and some parts as the bad shameful parts that we need to exorcise fo...

  Pain points out where our attachments are hidden.  It is a perfect indicator of the limitations that are our selfish expectations.  That is why, to the yogi, pain is a teacher - a stern one, yet one that has nothing but the liberation of its students at heart. Inside the Yoga Sutras, J. Carrera We hold the keys to our own inner peace. The Secret Power of Yoga , Nichala Joy Devi All of the spiritual traditions teach that at our core what we are made of is "untrashable" by the violence that maybe inflicted upon us.  Whether by poverty or racism, incest, neglect or hate, the trauma done to us cannot touch this (w)holy core within. In yoga philosophy, this inner core is the abode of Purusha (the soul) which is also know as the Seer.  Purusha is the part of consciousness that can know and experience ourselves and world without distortion.  It is pure present awareness.  Nothing has the power to defame, desecrate, wound, or harm this in...

  We all cling to outer supports for balance, assurance, protection from falling.   Not unlike the way we used training wheels when first riding a bike.   It seemed impossible to ride without them at first given how we wiggled and wobbled back and forth from the center line.   It was only through faith, lots of practice, and someone’s encouraging hand on the seat pushing us forward that we were able to ride without them finding that improbable single line of balance by the sheer force of the forward motion.   The outer things of this world that we put our faith in are like those training wheels.   We cling to them in the hope that they will protect us from harm, loneliness, shame, anxiety, and loss.   We come to believe that our work, relationships, food, entertainment, sex, accolades, money prevents us from falling and enables us to move forward.   It can feel as if without these things, our training wheels, we would be inca...