Dancing with Paradoxes
Solstice Morning Sunrise
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It’s all sacred.
It’s all true.
It’s all—
Inevitable.
I have said
These words
For—ever.
I’ve said them
To you,
On coaching
Calls.
I’ve said them
To you,
In the
Forest Room
At Kripalu.
I’ve said them
To myself,
When
The proverbial
Shit
Of
Course
Hit
The
Proverbial
Fan.
Only now,
Like,
Right here
And
Right
Now
Am I
Beginning
To
Grok,
To
Feel
The
Depth,
The truth
Of this,
This
Experience
Of
Our
Humanity,
Our
Dancing
With
Paradoxes.
~~~
Paradox
a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities.
I have known
The most amazing
People,
You.
Us,
People
Who are
So resilient,
While being
Beyond-
Tender-hearted.
These qualities
All exist
In the same being,
Us!
In the same moment,
Us.
I am beginning
To recognized
My own
Heart-shattering
Horror
At the inequities,
The injustice,
The suffering,
The dismantling
Of truth,
The dismantling
Of
Our
Democracy,
While…
Celebrating,
Enthralled
With
The glory
At
The
Solstice
Sunrise.
It’s all sacred,
All true,
All inevitable.
We don’t get
One side
Of the picture
Fully,
While
Denying
The
Other.
We
Get
It
All.
~~~
The gift
Of this
Practice,
This dance
Of seemingly
But-not-really
Opposites,
Is
Spaciousness!
Freedom!
Expansion!
We get
It
All.
The effort
It takes
To deny
One side
Blocks
Us
From
Receiving
The other.
We are busy.
We miss
The doorway
Home.
The pause,
The relaxation
Into
Whatever
Is happening,
That sacred pause,
Frees us.
~~~
Here is a reminder:
~~~
Now, for those of us who need less rocking and rolling:
This is, of course, Tracy Chapman. She is performing in the live Madison Square Concert in 1992. This is “Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration”, released in 1993.
~~~
One more iteration, from yesteryear. Perhaps the most powerful of all versions, from the Newport Folk Festival, perhaps in 1966. Please listen to this one. Look at them. Their passion, their commitment to the song, which was written by Dylan in 1963.
~~~
Dear Friends,
What do you deny?
What slice of reality do you attempt to ignore?
What’s the cost of that?
What might you receive from relaxing into just a sliver, only a breath, of what you usually deny?
Ponder.
Consider.
Imagine.
~~~
Dear Friends,
Not to deny
The suffering,
But as strength
And nourishment
To get through it—
With gratitude,
With possibility,
With hope—
Aruni
~~~
Quest for the Limitless You
What are the expired coping mechanisms that keep you stuck?
What are the obstacles that block you from living the life you want?
In this core Kripalu Legacy program, obstacles become doorways.
Blocks become the pathway to freedom.
You will leave this program with a roadmap for living an expanded life.
- Thursday, July 7- Sunday, July 10
- Kripalu Center, Lenox, Ma.
Thanks for sending this invite on to your peeps.