The Springtime The Vernal Equinox

So here we are at the beginning of a new season -- in Yoga, this is a propitious time to begin one's practice -- so let us begin. We begin by being aware that we have a body and that it belongs to the earth which now begins to sprout buds, flowers and leaves. The sun moves higher in the sky and its extraordinary radiance reaches all the way to the Earth.

In the Lord's prayer, the English translation is sometimes incorrect when viewed from the perspective of the language which Jesus spoke, which was Aramaic -- this was the father language of both Hebrew and Arabic, cousins and brethren who are now engaged in a life-and-death struggle like Cain and Abel. In any case, I went out of my way to learn the Lord's prayer in the language he spoke, so that when I said it it would contain the actual sounds that came out of his mouth -- of course I have a different vocal cords -- I am a different human being, but this brings me closer to his truth. I will give my own English rendition below:

Father/Mother/Breather of ALL;
May your name be kept secret, hidden and protected,
Come, come, your Kingdom
May your will which is done in Heaven reach all the way down to the Earth
May we be nourished at the teat of your divine breast,
And keep us from Evil,
Amen.

It's that simple. The part about forgiveness and trespassing was added later. If we are conscious and in touch with our conscience and we can do no evil -- Mr. Gurdjieff declares that only mechanical evil exists.

Now we are in the spring time of the cyclical year. I went to South Africa on Ash Wednesday and went to mass in the airport. I hadn't been to a Catholic Mass in many years, although I was once a lector and taught catechism and sponsored acolytes in to Catholicism. But Ash Wednesday has stayed with me -- the palms from Palm Sunday are burned after Easter and kept the entire year until Ash Wednesday when they are dispensed on the forehead of the parishioners, and sometimes the priest utters words: my favorite are as follows:

Remember, oh Man, that thou art mortal. Ashes to ashes; dust to dust, from the Earth your body has come as a gift and you will return it soon. Remember this from Dawn till Dusk, and go in the peace and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Actually, my favorite are a different set of word but they elude me at the moment. Soon I will talk about my time in Africa. For today this is enough. My love to you, my friends.