Prompt 16

Prompt #16

Select your favorite passage from Chapter 2 in The Bhagavad Gita. Retype it on your blog; then, explain it in your own words. Write a paragraph or two about why it speaks to you and how it could be relevant to your own life.

My favorite passage in Chapter 2 is "When the mind constantly runs after the wandering senses, it drives away wisdom, like the wind blowing a ship off course." This quote completely resonates with me because I get distracted very easily and it always gets the best of me. From homework to chores to my social life, I'm always finding distractions to get myself out of situations I don't want to be in. At the end it takes up the valuable time I should of used. A more healthy distraction I've recently taken up is painting. When I feel my mind is racing so much that I cannot do any work I work on my art which helps settle my thoughts unlike facebook or finding new music online. It's common that I will make excuses for myself at the end of the night if I don't finish my work. I always feel guilty about it later and that some form of karma will catch up with me. It's a battle I commonly struggle with. The karma that catches up with me is the results of my action- if I don't complete my homework, I don't get the practice I need and without putting time into practice I'm setting myself up for failure.

Prompt 15

My bamboo tree is still germinating. I will not feel it has sprouted until I get into college because until then I do not know where my future is taking course. The future is completely unknown which is a scary thing after 17 years of knowing where I'm going to be the next year. Even though I moved from Wisconsin I knew I would still attend high school and take the same courses I would take at my old school. College is completely different and I have no idea what to expect in the experience. Today I am watering my tree by pushing myself to make my future less unknown. This is done by studying, focus, and self-control to reach my full potential and if I do, I will reach the college of my choice. Once my tree sprouts I hope for it to sprout fast because I like to know what is coming next and looking forward to new things. I want as many new opportunities as I cant get the second I plant my foot on a new campus.

prompt 12 (second try)

What do you think is the definition of the word "I"? Who is the "I" that you are referring to when you say, "I am hungry," or "I am tired," or "I like techno" or "I hate techno"? Come up with your own definition and try to write as poetically as you can, much like the example Kyle shared with us in class today.

I am still learning who "I" really is. I'm still at the age of discovery where my thoughts and emotions teach me something about myself everyday. I wish I had "I" figured out completely so I could tell you what it really is, but I'm still learning myself. I guess there are complications to who "I" am. This is what I do know. I feed. I feed off of little things and learn from the big things in life. I'm compulsive and passionate. I try to control my thoughts to control my life, but I fail. One day I will acquire the skill. The little things I feed off of will eventually become the big things in life. The more I learn about myself the more I feel this happening and I know one day I will see the big picture. I am learning about who I am.

prompt 10

In the section Indonesia, Gilbert expresses a sense of self- awareness that she lacked in India. The guru's advice that was given to her in India was used throughout her trip in Bali. For example, after a bus hits her, she realizes she needs to pray everyday not just when she feels like she is in need. "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort." This quote really stuck with me because of the truth I feel it holds. Continuing to pray after your distress is like a sealing process. By the end of Indonesia she has the dream of her and Filipe which I thought was beautiful and peaceful. She saw herself sitting in a restaurant with him in New York looking across the room at Swamiji. It seems she can finally see herself in this dream and stop searching for who she is and who god is because she has finally found him. Bali seems like the seal of her distress that had peaked in India.

13 and 14

Describe Saturday's meditation. How long did you mediate for? What type did you do? What went through your mind? Where you able to find any peace? How did you feel afterward?

Then, for prompt 14, do the same for Sunday's meditation.

Saturday's meditation was easier than usual for me because my mind was completely at peace. The easiest time for me to meditate is at night and on saturday night things seemed to be in order for me which made it easier to just focus on my breathing. Eventually I fell into a deep meditation which almost put me to sleep. When I meditate, focusing on my breathing is the most important thing to jump into. I focus on it as if it was a math problem and once I solve it the rest is easy. Sunday's mediation presented more of a challenge because I couldn't solve the math problem. I was focusing to hard on my breaths and not enough on relaxing to the point where I was over focusing. I have a cold which is part of the reason why, but I need to learn to overcome the discomfort and maybe start with long shallow breaths instead of deep yoga breaths if thats what it takes for me to reach a mental balance. In class I also focus on my breathing a little too hard to the point where I cannot find my balance- I'm going to work on this in the future.

Prompt 9

I like what Ketut had to say about facial expressions during yoga. "Why they always look so serious in yoga? You make serious face like this, you scare away good energy. To meditate you must smile. Smile with face, smile with mind and good energy will come to you and clean away dirty energy. Even smile in your liver. This resonated with me because yoga is a way to clear the mend and release negative energy. Today during meditation I was frustrated because i was jittery and couldn't steady my deep breaths and my face held a frustrated expression. I would have felt a more positive energy if I had relaxed my mouth and face. Mediation can be frustrating when you cannot focus so relating with the corners of your mouth curled up can be a a good way to start instead of getting agitated.

prompt 11

Prompt 11

Make a list of your positive and negative behavioral samskaras. Then, make a list of your mental ones.

Positive/negative Samskaras

- Listening to music in the car

- rubbing my dogs belly when i get home from school

- Checking facebook

- checking my phone

- eating goldfish

- starbucks

- signing onto ichat

- think about food

- thinking about college

- thinking about friends

- thinking about death

- thinking about self discipline

- thinking about karma

- checking the weather in the morning