Thursday, June 9, 2016

living the dream.


there are a few things not so good for a yogic lifestyle. crack, meth, heroin: these are not recommended, not even for those bad days, like when you lose your job, your teeth, whatever. morphine can be useful, but i'd rather dwell at this time on five more traditional recommendations or virtues helpful for a yogi. in sanskrit these are called the yams, like the potato only not as starchy.

firstly, starchy sages suggested living a life of non-violence. i agree in principle with that. i once lived with a lethal scorpion for three months in a small stone and mud hut. i firmly believed my vibrations of non-violence, ahimsa, kept me safe, and here i am. we even slept together. i wouldn't do that now, of course, because i'm not nearly as sure of myself as i used to be. i would want my own hut, but i'd at least insist on separate rooms. 

next is the suggestion to always be truthful, satya. i always tell the truth. like, i went to a barber shop the other day on beechwood and as soon as i walked in some young guy asked if i had just walked in, and i said i had. there was no sense in denying it even though some other young guy entering behind me got to have a haircut first. anyway, he had an appointment. the point is that being truthful helps keep one unagitated, better able to meditate in peace, as i did that day while waiting patiently for my poodling.

as well, for very much the same reason and along the same lines, is the recommendation to not steal, asteya. i never steal, although i've been accused of stealing a line or two, a passage or two, even a story or two from better writers than myself. those accusations are ridiculous and i may add have never been proven. 

lastly, aparigraha is the name given to the useful quality of not being a greedy bathdurd. there is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. some people think i stole that line from mahatma ghandi, but that's a lie. 

ok, there's one more suggestion or recommendation passed down from generation to generation of strictly selibate starchy sages to round off the so-called five virtues. i'm not sure how there were subsequent generations, but anyway celibacy, bramacharya, is a hot topic, highly controversial and disgustingly disruptive to many people. so i will not touch it, so to speak, or handle it, as it were. but, you will all be able to read my rather graphic thoughts on the subject in my upcoming book entitled 'unprotected sects.' 




"nothing we do, no matter how virtuous, can be accomplished alone. therefore we are saved by love." reinhold neibuhr.

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