What Was, What Is…

Here are the lyrics—check it out.  Was Paul Simon writing about May 2022?

Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I’ve often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I’m alright, I’m alright
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

And I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it’s alright, it’s alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we’re traveling on
I wonder what’s gone wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what has gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call The Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune

Oh, and it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all I’m trying to get some rest

~~~
I am of the generation of protest music.
Paul Simon isn’t a Bob Dylan, rattling the gates of patriarchy.
Yet his capacity to capture the feel, the mood, the despair, 
The pain of our American contradictions—
The weariness, the emptiness,
Both then and now,
Have always explained to my heart 
What I was feeling.

Today this song explains to my heart 
Exactly what I am feeling,

Right here,
Right now.

June, 2022.

~~~
As a recovering English teacher.
I have been cosmically granted
Life-long permission to edit.

It is in my blood;
It is my dharma.

As a Kripalu legacy teacher.
I have been cosmically granted
Life-long permission to offer
A bigger spiritual context
To the moment.

It is in my blood;
It is my dharma.

So, 
Dear Paul Simon,
I have grown up with you
And I continue to grow up
In the embrace of your music.

You have given so much
And I am forever grateful.

Today
I choose to lovingly change
One element of your masterpiece, 
American Tune.

When you say:
You can’t be forever blessed…

I must,
I must,
Respond
And say—

We are forever blessed.

Certainly, the culture we live in—
The national political scene—
Etcetera and so on…
We are bogged down
In such chaos and misalignment.

But we,
Each,
All,
Wounded-Buddhas,
Us…

We are
Forever
Blessed,
No matter
What 
Happens.

~~~
The shooter in the Texas massacre was a stutterer, 
Bullied and ostracized by the world around him.

I was/I am a stutterer.
Bullied?  Ostracized?

Memories are dim.

As a kid,
I separated myself
Out and away
To protect
Myself
From the pain.

I had resources.
This boy
Never did.

Guns were not an option
In Scranton, Pa., in the 1950’s
.
Unfortunately,
Guns are an option now.
Thank goodness,
Thank every star
And
Every
Raindrop
And 
Every
Particle
Of air,
That was not my path.

My path
Is
Right
Here,

Right 
Now,

With 
You.

Dear friends,
Stay safe.
Stay awake,
As you can.
When you can’t,
Come on back.

Keep coming back
To yourself.

Stay blessed,
Love from Aruni
~~~

Do you struggle with addiction?  Do you have galloping negative thoughts that take over?  Do you have habitual patterns that take away your choice?  Do you or others you care for rely on substances that are the problem and not the solution?  Do you know someone who does?  

Please join us for the Yoga, Meditation and Addiction Recovery Conference.

Kripalu Center

June 26-July 1
Nikki Meyer, Rolf Gates, Kate Johnson and myself will host.

Pass on this invitation on.

Information here