the unwashed truth.

karl marx once wrote: "before i speak, i have something important to say." it may have been groucho marx, but does it matter(?) the fact remains that the best communicators i've ever known could be fabulously relevant without even speaking. it's an odd concept, i know, yet worth considering. many who did speak, and wrote, burdened us with rules, guidelines, a whole whack of suggestions we never asked for, such as those i elubricated last time. here are a few more, called niyams:

shauch is the suggestion to keep oneself clean. my whole family believed strongly in that, except for my uncle morris. old uncle morris did not believe in soap and he still lived a long life. unfortunately, he died a rather lonely old man, but that's an entirely different matter. anyway, those wonderfully well washed ancient sages included in that the renouncing of unclean desires. seems to me, however, that the necessity to think over which desires are unclean would necessarily mean thinkin about those unclean desires, don't you think? just sayin...

santosh is the sanskrit for contentment, being satisfied with what you have. i was content until i got a flyer in my mail-box recently picturing a luxurious bath-tub for sale. the photos showed how big and deep it is, its possible colours, the wonderful whirlpool function. it seemed to even include a couple of lovely ladies and my shauch immediately drowned my santosh.

tapas is appetizers that go well with wine. however, it's also sanskrit for the facing of hardships, the ups and downs of life. i was excluded from a basketball game the other day at my gym in ottawa. that happens once in a while. i just felt like skulking away. i guess i felt old, drove back to wakefield, went to the community centre to shoot around. the skateboard peeps never mind giving me some space and i ended up playing in a great big basketball game with a whole herd of wild eight-ten-twleve-year olds. there was a dylan, a ky, a tom, a dick and it got harry. they wore me down. but when i sat against the boards in the shade they all came, sat around and we had fun. i'm not really describing tapas here. i was just happy to have come home is all. facing life's situations with strength and fortitude: that's tapas.

swadhyaya is the study of uplifting and enlightening literature, like maybe this blog (?)

then, lastly, finally, ishwar pranidhan, the dedicating of all ones thoughts and actions to the supreme lord. i personally haven't met him or her and don't know why i'd dedicate all that to him or her if i did. i'm not really into the whole aristocracy thing, and i have a perfectly good will in place that i call 'my last will and testosterone.' nathan out, but not all the way out.