Comments for Hari-kirtana yoga

Comment on Has The Whole World Gone Crazy? by Jessica Mokrzycki

Jessica Mokrzycki — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:16:09 +0000

Thanks for responding to my comment. I agree that if something noteworthy is happening usually we hear about it enough from others making turning on the news turning on the news to find out about it unnecessary. That’s one thing with fb-seems like anything of any importance is all over my feed keeping me up to date all too well with worldly affairs!

I really like the idea that you mentioned, that Krishna taught Arjuna, as well as us, about how to live with the world’s problems without getting caught up in them. I think that’s easier to do when they seem distant problems but it seems a lot harder when they seem to directly affect us. I’m still working on figuring out how to do that, and probably would make good use of my time by reading my Gita As It Is for a second time to help me work that out! It seems chanting really helps and remembering the impermanent nature of this material world.

Looking forward to your thoughts on my post…Thanks for reading it.

Comment on Has The Whole World Gone Crazy? by Thoughts on Boston | YIOM Site

Thoughts on Boston | YIOM Site — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:23:38 +0000

[...] hopes that yoga can give us some perspective on the world but can’t help but wonder “what the hell is wrong with [...]

Comment on Has The Whole World Gone Crazy? by hari-kirtana

hari-kirtana — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:00:52 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Jessica. The same Bhakti Yogi to whom I referred in my post said that if we want to find out what’s happening in the world all we have to do is ask someone. Odds are people will tell us even if we don’t ask. Arjuna asked Krishna to solve the world’s problems but Krishna changed the premise of the conversation to teach Arjuna (and us) how to live with the world’s problems without getting caught up in them. And a good thing since, as long as we’re here, we’re all participants in one way or another.

I had a similar reaction to Huston Smith’s “Why Religion Matters”; I’ll share some thoughts about it in your site soon.

Comment on Has The Whole World Gone Crazy? by hari-kirtana

hari-kirtana — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:55:08 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Holly. Letting the world do it’s thing while we do ours is one way to deal with the world’s news and, having done that, I sympathize with your solution. I try to convince my perpetually stressed-out 80 year-old mother to stop watching CNN all day if she wants to lower her agitation quotient. Another advanced yogi I know replied to the same issue by telling me that he reads the New York Times as a way to understand the Bhagavad Gita, so it’s possible to turn the situation on its head. I’ll explore that possibility in my next post.

Comment on Has The Whole World Gone Crazy? by Jessica Mokrzycki

Jessica Mokrzycki — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:44:20 +0000

I’m looking forward to your future posts, because for sure, the world does sometimes seem like it’s going mad. I used to be really up to date with the news but am investigating and trying to pursue the spiritual path of bhakti yoga right now so find myself focusing less on the affairs of the world, though they do have a way of crashing into our awareness-especially when they are negative. It seems like there’s no escaping hearing about them and feeling a sense of sadness that people are driven to such extremes and like there’s really no easy answer to solve the world’s problems and end people’s sufferings. Everything seems like a complicated, interrelated web of problems, one part giving rise to another part, nobody is innocent or an inactive participant.

Sorry for writing so much.

Looking forward to your upcoming posts.

If you have the time, I’d love your thoughts on this article:

http://ascendingthehills.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-unsettling-nature-of-uncertainty.html

Comment on Has The Whole World Gone Crazy? by Holly M.

Holly M. — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 02:25:05 +0000

When I was in elementary school (Grade…5?), I listened to WTOP radio every morning. I thought I was mature, listening to the news like adults did. I became very depressed. I stopped setting my clock radio alarm to WTOP. I became less depressed. The world went on, and I treated myself and others better when I did not pile bad news on top of my shoulders. OM Shanti.

Comment on In The Beginning by The torrent | The Considered Kula

The torrent | The Considered Kula — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:11:44 +0000

[...] In The Beginning (yogablog.hari-kirtana.com) [...]

Comment on In The Beginning by Yoga | Carol Yoga

Yoga | Carol Yoga — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:06:46 +0000

[...] In The Beginning (yogablog.hari-kirtana.com) [...]

Comment on Beyond Ethical Vegetarianism by Guerrilla Yogi

Guerrilla Yogi — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:48:07 +0000

I love this part: “Results are a product of actions. Actions are a product of attitude. And attitude is a function of philosophy. So if we really want to change our results then we have to look at the philosophy or worldview that produces our attitude.” It’ll be interesting to see how eating habits evolve when people actually become aware of their philosophy and attitudes. Speaking of attitudes (or bhavas), I just completed a teacher training at the Yoga Institute in Mumbai, a place which focuses heavily on positive vs. negative bhavas. Will be coming back to DC soon and looking forward to putting some of these attitudes into my practice (and dietary habits) in the city! Please check out my blog, including detailed TTC journals. Thanks, Sachin

Comment on Beyond Ethical Vegetarianism by hari-kirtana

hari-kirtana — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:02:22 +0000

I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to your very thoughtful comments. On the topic of how offering our vegetarian food will change the philosophy that is creating the culture of violence, the mood of devotion that accompanies a sincere offering of our food back to its source requires humility. When we see ourselves as very small and dependent on a power far greater than ourselves then it changes our perspective on the rest of the world. And when we see the rest of the world and all the living beings in it as a part of the complete whole to whom we are making the offering then we see that violence directed at others is actually violence directed at a part of the complete whole, at a person who is connected to the complete whole and is, in a way, not different from that of which we are also a part. We would not chop off our hand on the basis of it not being the complete whole of our body; it’s an integral part with a role to play in service to the complete body. So making our food an offering reinforces an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things, of our relationship to all other beings as a part of something greater than the sum of its parts and, subsequently, it becomes more difficult to engage with others in a violent way.

As to your question, civilization is defined as the stage of human social development and organization that is considered most advanced, but it’s also a euphemism for ‘domination’, particularly as it pertains to nature. Our tendency is to equate advances in material comforts and conveniences with ‘civilization’ but, ironically, this advancement of civilization has made us less civil to one another rather than more so, at least in the sense of courteous and polite behavior. So, odd as it may seem, civil behavior is not a consequence of civilization per se. Therefore real civilization should be understood to mean the advancement of civil behavior toward all beings.