my teacher maria….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpT13E83q9o&feature=player_embedded

I’ve said it before but feel compelled to repeat:

SO FOUL A SKY CLEARS NOT WITHOUT A STORM……………………………………….

From craving [attachment] springs grief, from craving springs fear; For him
who is wholly free from craving, there is no grief, much less fear. (Dhammapada Sutra.) If you don’t have attachments, naturally you’re liberated … In ancient times, there was an old cultivator who asked for instructions from a monk, “Great Monk, let me ask you, how can I attain liberation?” The Great monk said, “Who tied you up?” This old cultivator answered, “Nobody tied me up.”The monk said, “Then why do you seek liberation?” (Hsuan Hua, tr., Flower Adornment [Avatamsaka] Sutra, “Pure Conduct,” chap. 11).

The term “ashtanga” comes from the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, where it refers to classical yoga’s eight (ashta)-limb (anga) practice. The eight limbs are restraint, observance, posture, breath control, sense withdrawal, concentration, meditative absorption, and “enstasy.” This last word, which means “standing inside of,” is Mircea Eliade’s translation of samadhi, which literally means to “put together” or “bring into harmony.” In samadhi, we “stand inside of” our true Self in preparation for the ultimate state of classical yoga, the eternal “aloneness” (kaivalya) of that Self in the purity and joy of its being.

The clearer the body, the brighter one’s Buddha Nature shines. In the beginning, we still need the body. It’s like a lamp. The Buddha Nature is this flame. But we may still be conscious of shadows. As we progress we feel that the body is the universe itself and that our Buddha Self shines throughout it like the sun.
~zen master han shan

ashtanga is better than sex, in fact: no contest!!!!

Coming soon to our STORE, along with posters….and more!

Sometimes the best form of transportation is a leap of faith…..

“Even in Kyoto/Hearing the cuckoo’s cry/I long for Kyoto”
― Matsuo Bashō