Just found out that Mary Dunn died

Well, I never studied with Mary Dunn, but I always saw her name around, and I was always pretty sure that she did good work. I'm bummed to hear that she died, and I'm sure that she will be missed by alot of people. She was 66, and died of cancer, it happens to the best of us. I have heard that when yogis die, usually they are full of life and vigor right up until the very end, and often have a quick and painless drop off into the infinite. I hope this was true in her case.

I did read (skim) her blog, marydunn.blogspot.com, it is brief, and has a few notes by mary and her family. It has a very tender feel to it.
It notes that there will be a merorial service for mary on September 27, at 2pm, at the New York Iyengar Institute.

There is an article in the New York Times here

Some pretty cool pictures of India

lots more pictures here

Inspirational Atheletes (Yogis?)

I stumbled across these pictures of nude atheletes, and there seem to be a few in asana.

In one way or another, we all struggle with our bodies, our yoga requires it.

The question is, are we bigger than our struggle, or is our struggle bigger than us?


more pictures are here

Deepak Chopra weighs in on the election

Deepak deconstructs the political candidates, and tells us what our choice of leadership tells us about our own internal psychology. It is pretty interesting, as he describes the part of us that wants to grow and be responsible, and take our place in the world, and the part of us that just doesn't

"Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin’s pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper."

DUN! DUN! DUN!

read it here

"The best solution would be for us all to become vegetarians".

"The best solution would be for us all to become vegetarians".
So suggested the head of the UN climate agency, Yvo de Boer, who is attending UN-led climate talks in Germany this week. He was responding to criticism that measures to tackle climate change are partly to blame for the rise in food and energy costs. Carbon-cutting biofuels, for example, use food crops to make alternatives to gasoline.
Meanwhile, Patrick Wall, chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, has questioned whether it is "morally or ethically correct" to be feeding grain to animals while people starve. Speaking to the Times, he argued that it's time to end the EU ban on the use of animal remains to feed pigs and chickens. Lifting the ban would allow grain to be diverted to millions of starving people.
And the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, hosting a much publicised summit in Rome this week, has warned of global catastrophe unless food reaches parts of the world where it is needed most.
So, does the global food crisis demand a radical rethink of how we distribute food? Should we worry less about feeding our animals and prioritise getting grain to people suffering food shortages - even if that affects the availability of meat?

the article, with some cool video here!

Pictures of the Milky Way

Pretty neat, huh?



i found this picture here

No time to think? Mental Leisure and Sanctuary

I really like this video. Dr. Levy teaches graduate level courses with Titles like "Information and Contemplation". He stresses the importance of having quiet time to think. He discusses the different types of thinking and the need for leisure and mental sanctuary. It reminds me of something I read in a Robert Anton Wilson book once. Something to the effect of 'employ the machine, so the human has more free time'. Levy seems to be on the same page, but his discussion is a little more serious, and a little more comprehensive.