Asteya - Nonstealing

Okay, first things first. - Oy vey it's hard to sit on that floor all freakin' weekend!!!

And here's why. We've spoiled ourselves as a culture with the invention of the chair. All the couches, all the car seats, all the desk work gives us endless opportunities to sit with poor posture. We dump and slump and relax in lazy ways that restrict our breathing (that's bad), crook our spine (that's terrible) and allow our hips to use only a fraction of their joint potential (terribly bad).

Sitting on the floor (with or without a block/bolster/cusion) - as indigenous people do all over the world, as they do in every dojo, every talking circle, every satsang, every studio and hermit cave in the world - is one of the secrets to long life.

No shit.

And like many secrets to life, it hurts at first. It sucks, really, and is easy to skip over with the aid of a comfy recliner or just super bad posture. (I'm not taking about you decadent crazy creek folks...you're still on the floor with us!) But the more we practice sitting like we all did today during meditation - strong and effortless, straight yet flexible - the longer it's gonna take us to get old.

I'm 73% positive of it.


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Asteya - Nonstealing

Remember when Spicoli was battling it out with Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High? After a pizza delivery interrupts Mr. Hand's math class, he accuses Spicoli of stealing the class' time. The reply (in full valley dude surfer talk): "Well..haha... if you're here and I'm here..haha...doesn't that make it OUR time?"

"Then I guess that makes this OUR pizza," gets Mr. Hand the laugh (and a giant slice of pepperoni).

Moral being that at the end of the day (or the end of the cosmic cycle), don't all things balance out? And isn't the universe a place of infinite abundance? --- If that's that --- karma washes away all samskara and the universe holds nothing back from those who truly desire it ---- then how can I steal anything anyway?

Obviously, I'm having trouble with this one...Asteya...I haven't soaked it in or I'm not in the mood for it...but I can say that here I really feel the strong "duality" aspect of Patanjali which J&K were talking about. The very idea of stealing presupposes ownership and lines in the sand and separation.

If someone "steals" my time, I give it to them and then ease my way away or redirect the focus...but I never really feel robbed. If I can't be fully present with my kids or my lovers or whomever because I have another true desire that's pulling me to action...I have to go and work on it or I will shrivel a little (and so will those around me). If nature didn't want me to drain my engine oil at the Kincaid Park parking lot, then she would have put up a sign, ya know?

(fine, scratch that last one)

I don't know...this Yama isn't resonating with me right now.

Maybe I just stole too much candy as a kid (ganesh bless Patti!) and don't want to talk about it.

So, there! Thbbbth!






"...and it all boils down to one quotable phrase,
...if you love something, give it away..."