“Lose yourself to improve yourself. Only when we shed all self-definition do we find who we really are.”
RZA (via nlvlr)
Group Home & Guru - The Legacy
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dedicated to my teacher…
this weekend Breakti ® opens into Space…. a new directive outside of movement that addresses how we can approach our everyday challenges with concepts from Buddhism and Yoga, with inspiration from Hip Hop.
this track will always remind me of him in the studio working out his footwork, drilling me, challenging me to push past my comfort zone.
we all need that… to move beyond comfort into the unknown.
here’s a link to the workshop, hope you might join!
(via pathsofrhythm-)
there are more mysteries in the world than solutions…
anyone else take comfort in that?
The mysterious Voynich manuscript
The Voynich manuscript, described as “the world’s most mysterious manuscript”, is a work which dates to the early 15th century, possibly from northern Italy.
Much of the manuscript resembles herbal manuscripts of the time period, seeming to present illustrations and information about plants and their possible uses for medical purposes. However, most of the plants do not match known species, and the manuscript’s script and language remain unknown and unreadable. Possibly some form of encrypted ciphertext, the Voynich manuscript has been studied by many professional and amateur cryptographers, including American and British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. As yet, it has defied all decipherment attempts, becoming a cause célèbre of historical cryptology. The mystery surrounding it has excited the popular imagination, making the manuscript a subject of both fanciful theories and novels. None of the many speculative solutions proposed over the last hundred years has yet been independently verified.
mindful group poetry
At the end of my “Joy in Everyday Life” course at the Shambhala Center recently, we had a feast (which is paramount to the Shambhala gathering-of-any-kind tradition I am learning)… Part of the ceremony this time around included the group as a whole participating (even by listening) to a free-form spoken word or poetry circle. I had never done anything like this so it freaked me out a little. (Imagine facing one’s fears at a place like Shambhala -ha) Nevertheless I tried to clear my mind and allow myself to participate in any way that felt natural. Believe it or not, I spoke a line out loud spontaneously, surprised at my own lack of inhibition.
Here is what we came up with as a group. Each line is a different person speaking. All in all it probably took not much more than a minute to compose, however I am impressed by its resonance and how it could be read.
Despite all my initial hesitations, I do think this could be fun in a lot of settings…
Joy Poem
I‘ve learned that pain and suffering aren’t the same
Reality is a ripper
Try not to cling on to the sides of the river
Be present
Put on your oxygen mask first
Hear the music, feel the magic
Be
Cha
Don’t change change
Synchronized swimming in the vast blue sky
Parting is such sweet sorrow
Supported by my sangha
Losing is gaining
No feeling is final
What a beautiful feast
Try not to cling on to the sides of the river
Be present
Put on your oxygen mask first
Hear the music, feel the magic
Be
Cha
Don’t change change
Synchronized swimming in the vast blue sky
Parting is such sweet sorrow
Supported by my sangha
Losing is gaining
No feeling is final
What a beautiful feast
DJ Scribe is an incredibly talented and knowledgable DJ (and an amazing friend and colleague of mine). He produced this video for his epic party, (with epic DJs and epic vinyl collections) “I Love Vinyl”
Check out their third anniversary party this Saturday at Le Poisson Rouge. Guaranteed to be a ridiculous evening of only the best music. All vinyl. No laptops. Tell your mom. And then RSVP here for reduced admission.
“Making 100 different mistakes on the path is part of the spiritual journey. Making the same mistake 100 times is suffering.”
Lodro Rinzler, a recent teacher of mine and author of this book
More than the spaceman pageantry of glam rock or the occult hijinks of heavy metal, disco realized the theatrical possibilities of pop: within its long, swirling songs, auteur producer and their divas imagined worlds as elaborate and beautiful as the sci-fi dreams filmmakers like George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg would soon bring into movie theaters. Donna Summer was one of pop music’s greatest actresses, investing fully in the roles her songs demanded, demonstrating remarkable grace and self-awareness.
Ann Powers via The Many Voices Of Donna Summer
(via npr)
En kopp kaffe (remake)
Illustration by Swedish designer and illustrator Robert Lindström.
“I have modified my illustration from the wallpaper “En kopp kaffe” to match a 50×70 cm print for an upcoming exhibition. I will definitely play around with it more later, regarding colors and graphic elements. The print will be a limited edition of 25 or so…”
via: WE AND THE COLOR
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(via beautifuldisharmony)
“When we survey our lives and endeavors we soon observe that almost the whole of our actions and desires are bound up with the existence of other human beings. We see that our whole nature resembles that of the social animals. We eat food that others have grown, wear clothes that others have made, live in houses that others have built. The greater part of our knowledge and beliefs has been communicated to us by other people through the medium of a language which others have created. Without language our mental capacities would be poor indeed, comparable to those of the higher animals; we have, therefore, to admit that we owe our principal advantage over the beasts to the fact of living in human society. The individual, if left alone from birth would remain primitive and beast-like in his thoughts and feelings to a degree that we can hardly conceive. The individual is what he is and has the significance that he has not so much in virtue of his individuality, but rather as a member of a great human society, which directs his material and spiritual existence from the cradle to the grave.”
Einstein on interconnectedness and interdependency (via youngblackthinker)
(via so-treu)
“I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … What I dread is the isolation. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.”
(via flavorpill)
Farewell, Mr. Sendak. Your stories and illustrations inspire and haunt me to this day.
