i'm taking the train down to new york city in about half an hour. i'll be meeting with radical faeries tomorrow. we're going to discuss plans for the radical faerie camp in vermont. i've got new plans i'm taking down and some models of a proposed timberframe, pictured. back on monday night.
i neglected to mention that i went to the vipassana meditation center in shelburne falls, mass. there are centers worldwide. more info: www.dhamma.org.
i'm back, not fallen off the earth, though it feels like i've been to space and back. my retreat at vipassana mediation center was fantastic. it was the most intense ten days i've ever experienced—challenging, scary, surprising and wonderful. after ten days of silent meditation for about 10-11 hours a day, i can say with certainty that vipassana meditation works. i highly recommend the vipassana program to anyone interested in the subtler natures of one's body and mind.
the program is experiential. you're skillfully guided and learn by doing. there are discourses in the evening but by the time they happen you've likely experienced much of what the teacher talks about. i learn best this way--theory after experience. if you do decided to go sign up early. their programs fill far in advance. i had to sign up six months in advance.
i'm now working on architectural plans for faerie camp destiny, a radical faerie camp in vermont. i've got about another month of design and then we'll begin construction. at the moment i'm doing budgeting and timberframe design, trying to figure out just how big a building i think is feasible and if the camp can afford it.
i opened the date book my sister, megan, gave me for christmas with phrases from paramahansa yogananda, the famous yogi who wrote autobiography of a yogi and was one of the first to introduce yogic practice to the west. the phrase for the week is:
the cultivation of intuitive calmness requires unfoldment of the inner life. when developed sufficiently, intuition brings immediate comprehension of truth. you can have this marvelous realization. meditation is the way.
what better send off for my meditation retreat?
krishna das
roger
danny
ann
i travelled up to burlington, vermont yesterday to see a krishna das concert with danny, roger and ann. krishna das performs traditional hindu chants which are sung with the audience in call and response. the chants are devotional, sung to myriad gods and goddesses and simply repeat, again and again, lulling one into a heavy breathing (because you're chanting) meditative state. i'm pretty sure it gives you the same high as christmas caroling.
we chanted for three hours and afterwards i felt energetic, a bit tingly, knees tired from being bent, ass sore from lack of padding, but i must say i really learned how to sit! i took a yoga class with danny in the morning in which i discovered my abs and how weak mine are. my belly can attest. sitting, i began to play with my abs, pulling my belly in and up, creating what's called a lock in yoga. this seemed to lengthen my spine, set me upright. i was surprised after playing around for about a half hour while rocking and chanting to find my pelvis suddenly roll forward and my legs relax. truly, for the first time since i can remember, i found myself sitting, unsupported and relaxed. hallelujah! i've been trying to achieve this for years. and since i'm going to be sitting a lot later this week and all of next in a meditation retreat, i'm happy this bit of enlightenment landed in my lap. my abs felt taught, like a stretched sheet, but they weren't straining. it felt like my torso was floating.
we all went out for a bite to eat before and afterwards, had great, fun conversation. it felt like vacation, silly and relaxed, and occasionally meaty when we probed. getting back to danny and roger's in plainfield after midnight, i slept by their wood stove and had a crazy dream about trains.
while checking out at the montpelier coop, the cash register display informed me it was performing "tender validation." i mentioned to the clerk that everyone needs it.
i just started reading this amazing book: light on life by b. k. s. iyengar. the first chapter is the most inspiring description of yoga i've ever read. i'm looking forward to reading the rest!
this book chose me. i sat down with a pile of other books at the bookstore and it was there just waiting for me to pick it up, and i did!
for new years i've pledged to stop using my car to drive into town. i walked in today, took 30 minutes. i arrived in town invigorated, tingly. i enjoy walking. when walking cars seem brutal. if i walk back that'll make 60 minutes a day where i'm just doing my thing, free to think and get a little exercise. i was instructed by michael to throw my socks out. he may have a point. if i keep up this walking, i will probably need to get new socks. minutes before the midnight bell they had some serious issues. but i did walk to town in them today and i'm no worse for wear. barb and i tried on some shades. she's going to cut my hair today.
