Category: Beautiful Places

Happy Easter:)

Post author By Kay T. Ananda
Post date April 5, 2015

Tonight, for our class, I read a passage which was also featured in my blog awhile back when I was upset over the hospitalization of Thich Nhat Hanh. Then later tonight, timely for it it Easter holiday, I did catch the last 30 minutes of that Japanese documentary of faith in Nepal that I referred to yesterday. It was a very on-hand, on-sight gritty* look at how people deal with human-ness in Nepal – believing in resurrection, Renewal, Resurgence … prayers of Hope and Faith play a large part in the day to day living there – it was about something universal, whether Buddhist, Hindu, Christian – whatever the faith, whatever we believe, it’s that innocence and purity of being able to BELIEVE – that’s probably what sets us, humans, apart from other species of life on this earth… Our ability to “believe” in something and find what’s sacred… and take solace from suffering. So once again, sharing when I get attached to the idea of sadness in saying “good bye”s. I hate saying good byes and not being able to see someone anymore so …sharing the sentiment again:

“This body is not me; I am not caught in this body, I am life without boundaries, I have never been born and I have never died. Over there the wide ocean and the sky with many galaxies All manifests from the basis of consciousness. Since beginningless (stuttering…) time I have always been free. Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek.

So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye. Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before. We shall always be meeting again at the true source, Always meeting again on the myriad paths of life.”

― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear – Believe this to be true:)
ox

With under-aged little people, so just passing by to get to Cheese Board…
Making a lot of detours …because we are lucky:)
A solution for the California drought problem – I love Berkeley:)
A bubble bath?! ha ha ha – it’s the tub:)
What’s on the outside can be deceiving… step in.
This is what you see… inside the building … No, it’s not Napa, it’s Berkeley for you.
It’s the best pizza I ever had…freshest pesto – flavors are just so SO vibrant!This area is called Goumet Ghetto for a reason… Gourmet Ghetto street scene during lunch with yoga-mat slinging passer-by…wish I had brought mine… I have to get my “yoga” in or …iUNHAPPY…
a lively band playing inside and right outside alfresco dining on the street.We were actually seated right in front of the drummer on that bench but scooted out to take this photo during their breakBut actually my favorite is this hole in the wall Juice Bar from the 70’s(!) where line forms for their vegetarian scrumptious lunch that reminds me of Wolf House Coop kitchen manager days… loved cooking for some 30 people back then – don’t know how I did it. Guess anything is possible if you have a commercial kitchen. Was a good training ground to deal with any kind of chaos? Then run over to Shattuck YMCA for yoga…to find the nature of the beast…Polenta with black beans and salsa option for vegans, or with cheese otherwise. Reminds me of my college years whenever I drop in this area… Nostalgia:) Memories come flooding back – for me – through sights, sounds and … scents of … food. Ha ha. Um, so who was trying to lose 10lbs to get back to that college-days body mass ? It’s all plant based; no meat so there’s hope?
Haahhh a big sigh … some day:)
Beautiful wisteria blooming framing their menu… a bit in awe – birthplace of California cuisine.

Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Uncategorized

Easter… and then…

It does not seem likely in the near future nor in my lifetime to get to Nepal – the Himalayas, so all the more finding this Japanese program fascinating. Here’s a clip from this documentary that airs tomorrow night on TV Japan. Click here.

This facebook page has a preview video of a documentary that aired in Japan last year …titled “Death and Eros in Nepal”… that would be the straight English translation. Even though it’s in Japanese, I think anyone can appreciate the visuals and be intrigued.

In fact, after it aired in Japan, one of the comments on Twitter was …
(さすがNHKBS、グルメも娯楽もない。) “Shout out to NHK (similar to NPR in Japan), no gourmet foods; no leisure travel entertainment but a sobering documentary…”
(ハードボイルドですね。) “so hard-boiled.”
as the documentary is a look at Birth, Death and Creation concept in the land of the Buddha. The travel guide in this documentary is an actress who later touches on the similarities and differences between Tibetan customs and Japanese customs as far as Buddhist worship (esp. in funeral customs) is concerned. When it comes to religion, Japanese practices Shinto at birth; Christian when getting married and Buddhist at death – a joke but… it’s a bit that way… probably weird from the perspective of Westerners who are steeped in Christian ideas of birth, and then you die and go to heaven, if you were good and hell, if you were bad during your lifetime.

By the way, there was no country called “India” while there was country called “Nepal” at the time when the Buddha was born. Turns out Buddha was born in a small kingdom called Kapilavastu, where his father was the king, which was situated on both sides of today’s Indian-Nepalese border. His actual birthplace, Lumbini, is today in Nepal. So birthplace of Buddha is Nepal … while Nepal is part of Indian subcontinent so guess you can say that he was born in India. Buddhist teachings spread mostly Eastward through the Chinese continent and then even to Japan … so it is noted in the documentary how there are many similarities shared in the practice BUT shocking rituals unthinkable　in today’s Japan …where there’s no clear dividing line between birth and death and the grieving for the dead is also a time of great celebration – that is something so distant in our modern life. The documentary reminds us how it used to be and how it really is: that celebration of new life is as valued as celebration for the grieving for the life parted…SA TA NA MA…It’s all a full circle into Oneness… interconnection we have sort of lost touch with as death is a taboo and scary subject best be avoided.

“Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it. By living our lives, we nurture death.”

― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

I might be accused of being morbid again… so here’s sharing of an upcoming birthday party we are invited to:) It’s Flowers-Festival – a celebration !
Buddha’s birthday coming up! Celebrated at a local Buddhist temple… Party time:)

What’s real; what’s an illusion?

Beautiful People Beautiful Places Healthy Living Yoga

Wah, wah, wah, Light in the Dark

Post author By Kay T. Ananda
Post date March 27, 2015

It’s steamy…
Being a night owl (a recovered insomniac*), I like to practice in the evening – late evening when all the “doing” and running around, rushing about comes to a halt and I can press the “pause’ button knowing I don’t have to re-start for awhile.

I tend to feel the need to conserve my energy at all other times but post dinner late evening (hear the booming voice of Maty, “you create MORE energy when you direct ALL energy!” – that’s the AM concept), I am better able to gauge how much energy I can tap into when there’s nothing left to do. Actually, late nights, I am SO tired, there are times, during rounds of repeated vinyasa, I feel like just collapsing from my Chaturanga right onto the mat and checking out rubbing my eyes…lol. All demands cease, every commitment is almost over with, and such class does not break up the day nor consume the precious morning hours – I dedicate the time right before turning in – to purge all thoughts to just “be”…relieved from the chores, the duties… all life’s little dramas… to usher in detoxifying and purifying evening to let go of the day… I treat the class almost like that …an opportunity to cleanse and purify from the day’s built up tension and stress. I love the sense of closure and completion for the day, a late evening practice allows.

Wonder why there aren’t more late night yoga classes? (okay, admittedly, we are TIRED… even exhausted. Maybe even the instructors are all too tired…) Is it the fear of the darkness? Why fear darkness …Do bad people come out at night? ??? Is there a really good TV or cable program that time I don’t know about? Used to go to 8:30 pm classes which worked so well for me but … there is none around here. So odd. 8:30 class is perfect – you get out 10:00pm and go home and wind down. It’s perfect – at least it is, for me at the moment. Thank you Teacher K for such ideal schedule. It’s a well designed vinyasa flow and judging from the packed studio room, I am not the only one who thinks practice around 8-9pm is ideal. Sadly, it’s only once a week…The only public class I can take at this time…but hope for more as I so enjoy being a student to keep myself motivated. How else can I challenge myself to the eventual intensives … I hope to do in series …and still remain giving to family and friends… striking a balance somehow.

Still reminiscing…
Wah ! with basket of rose petals – an offering accepted with gratitude.