Final Post

Sub plans: Write a final blog entry about how you will take the lessons from this class into the rest of your lives. When done, you can go to the library and take out books to read over Thanksgiving vacation

I mentioned at the end of class yesterday that the unique part of the east meets west class is that I have learned life lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Meditation is something I will now always have with me to create peace in my mind when things are chaotic, and the idea of samskaras will always guide me when I want to start or change my habits. When David came in to talk, he flooded my mind with new ways of viewing life. For example, not working for the reward but working for yourself. Also for a college supplement the question asks what is the risk in finding yourself and why is it hard for some people to do. For this question I plan to go into detail about what our "real" perfection is and how it's hindered by our flaws or reincarnation. These beliefs will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Prompt 17

The one quote that really stuck with me from chapter 3 talked about no expectations- Without concern for results perform the necessary action;surrendering all attachments, accomplish life's highest good. To me this means achieve accomplishments for yourself, not for the reward. Life is full of different pressures and expectations and it's very easy to get carried away by these two things. College for example is not something everybody wants to do after high school, if that is the case one should not focus their life on getting into college because it is not their highest good. Whatever that person wants to explore or focus on, is what they should be excelling in to their highest potential. This quote translates to "work to please yourself, not someone else." That is how I read it and I couldn't agree more. When we all work to our highest potential that is what makes the world a better place.

On Pain

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding." This quote has so much truth to me. The times I feel I am in most pain is when I lose a sense of familiarity and understanding of a situation. This is why death is one of the most painful things a human can go through. Knowing someone for a long time and losing that sense of familiarity is what hurts the most. Pain is also self-chosen and the healing is internal. People have a strength within them that can heal any pain, but healing cannot be forced. It is a power within us all that we can only use until we have understood the pain that we have gone through.

On Reason And Passion

There are many situations in my life where I need to decide whether what I feel in my heart is right, or if what is in my head is right. Reason and passion seem to always conflict. This chapter opened me up to the realization that reason and passion is what drives our lives. Reason guides our ship and passion can burn it. I should let my soul direct my passion with reason, whether it will burn me or build me. We all have beliefs and reasons for doing what we do- the most important thing is that we listen to both sides and not just one. That is what takes us on our own personal journeys of life.

Talking

Talking is blocking the peace with your mind. Thoughts cannot process when one is talking all the time, instead, thinking is blocked. People talk in fear of being alone, or speak of things that reveal who they are without knowing. I know a lot of people who seem unassured of who they are, and those are the ones that talk the most. If they gave themselves a moment to collect their thoughts, even the simple thought of who they are, they would see a different side to themselves. They may easily understand other people, but in order to gather the thoughts to observe ones self, aloneness is key.

On Freedom

"For you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment." To me this quote means you are not completely free until you cease to wish for anything that has to do with freeing yourself. You live your life with complete fulfillment. Freedom can also be yearning to discard fragments in ones life. It is not always gaining something, but at times freedom can be a desire to lose something. There are somethings we cannot change, laws, the weather, or the people around us. It is our conscious decision to choose to care about these uncontrollable things. When one starts to let go of desires, freedom is all that is left.

Final Project

Our final project reflects what we've learned about yoga and what yoga means. It's definition is not "working out" or even "stretching". The definition we used in class is unity. Unity with ones self and unity with the world around them. Yoga relieves stress physically and mentally as well as meditation. In our final project we will talk about what meditation and active yoga has done for us as well as well as it's main purpose in life. All the different topics we've discussed this year ties to emotions, thoughts and ones "being." All these aspects weave into the practice of yoga in some way, shape or form. For example, samskaras, chakras, and religion all tie into yoga.

Crime

In crime there are two scenarios that create a mans character- one is the god-self- like an ocean it is pure and like the sun it is pure, but there is also the being of man within all of us which makes conscious decisions and knows right from wrong. He knows the crime and the punishment of the crime. Our crimes reflect who we are as a people, not just as individuals. We are one and there is no "lower than the lowest." The prophet compares this to a tree in which the leafs turn colors making the entire tree turn a different color. You cannot unweave good and bad because they come hand in hand.

Joy and Sorrow

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy can contain." To me this goes hand in hand with the saying what goes down must come up. We would never feel achievement without feeling disappointment fist. People cannot accomplish their goals without failing in some shape or form first. Some people think of sorrow like water, it fills you up and will flood you, or consume you in the end. But in reality sorrow is just a shovel emptying you out, creating room for the happy things in life- hence the feeling of emptiness when one is sorrow. With so much sorrow, it is easier to appreciate the little things in life because there is so much space to fill.

active yoga

I really enjoyed doing the active yoga in class because it wasn't very new to me, but I haven't done it in a long time. During the yoga I could feel every limb in my body stretching and the little poses such as children's pose were very gratifying after a minute of stretching my body to infinity. After the yoga I felt a little head heavy and my head started spinning a little, but I am aware that it goes away after active yoga becomes routine. My legs were also very sore from stretching my hamstrings- I hope to do more yoga now to make the soreness go away and replace it with flexibility. I also hope we can do more active yoga in the class!

Marriage

I love how Marriage starts out in the prophet- "You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days...But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you."Love is not meant for two seas to join into one, the prophet explains marriage as a sea between the shores of two soles. Fill each others cups but do not drink from one cup. This excerpt is full of the "rules" to marriage. The main/most important rule is that the two individuals are able to keep their identities while sharing their life with someone else.

Giving

On Giving

When I give back it gives me the opposite feeling of receiving, it does not make me happier because I have gained something, but it makes me happy because I feel a sense accomplishment. I volunteer at sportsmens tennis club and wrote my short essay about the sense of accomplishment I feel from teaching children to play tennis. Making a difference does not mean ending world hunger, it can simply be hitting a tennis ball over the net that gives one a huge sense of purpose. I really like the section of giving because it emphasizes that everyone deserves a necessity from the greater good which is a universal truth- whether it is food or personal health.

Bucket list

1. Manage a successful band/start a record label

2. Adopt a puppy from an animal shelter

3. Drag race

4. Get a tattoo

5. Be on stage during a bands concert

6. Do a back flip

7. Be on a TV show

8. Live in London for a month

9. Sneak backstage at a concert

10. Throw a massive party

Love

I really liked this section due to the ways it described love and how to act upon it. "When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Through the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you." This is saying be patient with love for it will hurt and it is strong. People tend to turn away when love hurts and the book guides you to stay in love instead of turning from the pain. I also liked the quote "when you love you should not say, 'God is in my heart,' but rather, 'I am in the heart of God.' We are in gods best interest which is why we fell in love in the first place. The prophet then goes on to talk about the pain of love and understanding it while you are in love. It does talk a lot about the pain, but it is the sacrifice we make for something so amazing.