Full Moon Rise

Full Moon Rise, yesterday, afternoon- over the Mission Mountains, in Polson, Montana. :-)

xxoo,

Ayanna*

A.B.C...

One of my Favoritist urban experiential places in the whole wide world, has a Brand New updated website! Annnnd... You can finally shop with them online! Joie! :

http://www.abchome.com/systemPage/home/tabid/190/Default.aspx


(image (c) ABC Carpet and Home)

{ Much Better }

This

and this...


plus this...



equals {Bliss} *

Courage, My Loves.....

"Hands" - by Jewel

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be, we're all okay
And not to worry
'Cause worry is wasteful and useless
In times like these

I won't be made useless
Won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear


My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
and I am never broken

Poverty stole your golden shoes
But it didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after

We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
and I am never broken

In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters

I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
and I am never broken

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
and I am never broken
We are never broken

We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's eyes

Some Thoughts on 'Wholistic' Compassion

by Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche,

a senior meditation master and scholar in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

"The importance of love and compassion is not an idea that is particular to Buddhism. Everyone throughout the world talks about the importance of love and compassion. There's no one who says love and compassion are bad and we should try and get rid of them. However, there is an uncommon element in the method or approach which is taken to these by Buddhism. In general, when we think of compassion, we think of a natural or spontaneous sympathy or empathy which we experience when we perceive the suffering of someone else. And we generally think of compassion as being a state of pain, of sadness, because you see the suffering of someone else and you see what's causing that suffering and you know you can't do anything to remove the cause of that suffering and therefore the suffering itself. So, whereas before you generated compassion, one person was miserable, and after you generate compassion, two people are miserable. And this actually happens.

"However, the approach to compassion is a little bit different, because it's founded on the recognition that, whether or not you can benefit that being or that person in their immediate situation and circumstances, you can generate the basis for their ultimate benefit. And the confidence in that removes the frustration or the misery which otherwise somehow afflicts ordinary compassion. So, when compassion is cultivated in that way, it is experienced as delightful rather than miserable.

"The way that we cultivate compassion is called immeasurable compassion. And, in fact, to be precise, there are four aspects of what we would, in general, call compassion, that are called, therefore, the four immeasurables. Now, normally, when we think of something that's called immeasurable, we mean immeasurably vast. Here, the primary connotation of the term is not vastness but impartiality. And the point of saying immeasurable compassion is compassion that is not going to help one person at the expense of hurting another. It is a compassion that is felt equally for all beings.

"The basis of the generation of such an impartial compassion is the recognition of the fact that all beings without exception really want and don't want the same things. All beings, without exception, want to be happy and want to avoid suffering. There is no being anywhere who really wants to suffer. And if you understand that, and to the extent that you understand that, you will have the intense wish that all beings be free from suffering. And there is no being anywhere who does not want to be happy; and if you understand that, and to the extent that you understand that, you will have the intense wish that all beings actually achieve the happiness that they wish to achieve. Now, because the experience of happiness and freedom from suffering depend upon the generation of the causes of these, then the actual form your aspiration takes is that all beings possess not only happiness but the causes of happiness, that they not only be free of suffering but of the causes of suffering."

On Beauty....

So I've made these Delicious Little Vials of Magical Powder/Incense, called Invoke Beauty(which you may acquire Here).

A Blend of freshly ground dried Organic pink Rose petals, Sandalwood powder and Orris root- amongst other things. It has been charged and is ready for your Use.*

A note on Beauty then. And 'Invoking' it...

Here's the Thing- Beauty, along with Love, is ever present and the natural state of the Universe. And therefor of Us. :-)

So the Invocation to and of Beauty is more of a removing of any blocks and a Re- Alignment with all of our Natural states :-)

Need more Beauty in your life? Need more Love in it as well? ...Remember that both of these are who we all Inherently Are. So Breathe Deeply and Open all of your Self, in stillness, in quiet contemplation, to the true Beauty and Love that always has been, always is, and shall always be. Regardless.

Wishing you All sweet vials of Beauty, and Ships full of Love♥

xx
Ayanna*

In search of Duende

"In New York freedom looks like to many choices..." -U2

Well, I'd always rather too many choices, than none at all.



Duende is a term in Spanish that means a slightly elusive thing. It suggests, rather than defines. Duende is the possession of a kind of Magical Passion...and the ability to transmit that quality to others. It is a term often used en el mundo de Flamenco. But is easily applied(and used) in other contexts.

For many years, Flamenco has been at the kind or outskirts of My Life. Present and calling. But never pushy. Never demanded.

Several years ago, while living abroad, I finally decided to study La Danza (I have studied many dance forms since I was a child), and took classes with a woman from Spain. Who, though in the possession of a great many technical skill,was a pretty crappy teacher of Flamenco-no history, no rhythm, no vocabulary- and absolutely(in my humble opinion) sin Duende. Still. I showed up for class. Jumped from beginner to intermediate in the course of a day or so, and performed in the student presentation at the end of the semester. Always though, aware, that I was not being taught properly. That I needed to learn la lengua de la Danza Flamenco in general. And certainly from someone who knew that that was important, taught it, and themselves possessed un Duende Grande.

So here I am now, in the present time. And for the past few weeks(really, couple of months) I have been actively searching for some kind of exercise to participate in outside of my long park walks. Of course, I have wanted to study more dance. But what form?? Nothing was calling to me. I had decided early on, that though I now had access to many masters(I have always been of the opinion that if you are going to bother at all to learn from someone- you should always learn from The Best), Flamenco was out. Taconeo(the footwork) being much too much for my knees. And besides, I wanted flamenco upper body movements, but something more languid, fluid from the waist down. My sister suggested a new fusion on the scene that combines flamenco with 'bellydance'. So I scoured youtube(how great is the internet!!), watching clips of local teachers, and in every one that I saw, the Power and Structure of the Flamenco upper body was gone. No transmission.

So the more and more I watched, the more and more I thought 'knees be damned!'(not really..I will drink turmeric 3x a day, need be). And the more and more Flamenco seems to be calling me back. 'Middle eastern' dance as well(have you ever noticed how eurocentric geography is?? Surely the middle east is only middle east if you are what eurocentric cultures define as 'west').

So, for the past day, when at home, I have been looking up both styles of teachers in NYC(there are loads). Then finding videos of them to watch and look for Duende(again- how great is the internet?!). The search continues. But I have found a couple that I am going to at least go check out.

In the meantime, if your not at all familiar, and wondering what the heck I'm talking about with all this 'duende' stuff. I leave you with 2 videos, that I dare you to not be moved by. ;-)

Alegrias- make sure to watch the whole video. As beautifull as las senorinas are, it's la Vieja starting at about 2:32 that works the mojo, and has Duende literally-to me- dripping from her dancing soul:




And then, the incomparable Eva Yerbabuena, in my personal favorite(thus far)of her's. Que Bellisima! Ole!:

I Sing the Body Electric

Magic is Real. As real as you are. And me. And no, I'm not talking about that magic(which, too, is also very real).

The Magic of the Everyday. Of Breath, and Wind, and Fire.

The Magic that is the Body as well.

For me, personally, the body is the Key that unlocks the Door.
I'm not looking to transcend my body. I'm looking to move further and further into it. To meld with it. For me, this is Magic.

That Blood Courses through my veins, with no conscious thought of it. That as I sleep, I continue to Breathe. That I wake up, each morning, still here. Breathing. Alive. And that these acts aren't things that I even have a general thought about having to do. This, to me, is deep, deep Magic.

My body has it's own wisdom that seems entirely separate from my conscious brain. My conscious mind.

I've learned over the years, as I've become wholer and wholer, that my body-and listening to it- is the Key. My Unihipili. The One Who Holds Memories and Instincts.

I'm not talking about the part of the body that holds traumatic memories. Fears. Angst.

But that Deeper part that takes the step, walks forward. Turns the right corners. Reaches out to the right people. Bumps in to the appropriate 'strangers'. Gets on that airplane, despite my anxious aversions to flight.

Conversely, it's also the same Deeper knowing body that recoils from dangerous people. That tries to save you from some of your stupider mistakes. That delays you from getting on the wrong train, the wrong bus. That keeps you from Harms Way.

Magic.

And what of the seeds and the stars? That I plant this tiny, tiny hard thing into soil. Add water, place it in sunshine, and some inner force, some inner fire (all five elements, if you look, are present here) compels it to grow. To 'germinate'. Crack it's shell. Push up. Up. Through the soil, towards the light.
And me being a Gardener, understanding the Science of it, doesn't take away even one iota that this is a Miracle. That Magic has occurred(and is occurring), every time something grows. ...or 'dies' (transforms).

For me, true Science, and true Magic are One. They enhance one another, not negate each other. They are In Love. Two sides to the same language, that creates the Third, and makes up the Alchemical Dance.

Knowing how and why air pumps through our lungs, blood flows through our veins, makes it more magical to me that it happens at all. Not less.

* * *
I was very lucky as a child in many ways. Where I went to school -elementary through high- I had some amazing teachers, that cultivated the arts in me(both big and little 'A'). I fell in love with Shakespeare and drama, via my junior high school English teacher, Mr. Keningston. Who also taught us poetry via Phil Ochs lyrics(!). I was introduced to Kate Bush via our substitute band teacher-also in junior high- who simply went by the name of 'Les'. Boy, was Les Cool.

And the songs we sang in elementary school and junior high were radical! Radical in their romance. Their Optimism. Their Hope. A lot of which, apparently, I would never have learned, had it not been for the great Pete Seeger.

I leave you now, with a song that popped into my head as I was watching my favorite movie late Saturday afternoon(the movie which inspired this post). 'I Sing the Body Electric', from the movie(and television show) Fame. Which incidentally is also the title to a rather famous poem by Uncle Walt(Whitman, that is). Who, I am only now in the past few months really exploring the amazing Poetry of. And I wonder if the person who wrote the song, named it after Uncle Walt's poem, as he too was an extreme and supreme Exalter and Lover of the Body(and all her/his Wisdom) as Magic.

Remember to Keep your Awe. Keep your Wonder. Keep Your Magic.

- (c) Ayanna H.


I sing the body electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion
When I become one with the sun

And I'll look back on Venus
I'll look back on Mars
And I'll burn with the fire
of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

I sing the body electric
I glory in the glow of rebirth
Creating my own tomorrow
When I shall embody the earth

And I'll serenade Venus
I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire
of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

We are the emperors now
And we are the czars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

And I'll serenade Venus
I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire
of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

(anyone know for sure who penned these lovely lyrics? Saw 3 different possibilities when I googled it. Thanks :-)