19. Taking refuge from the world together, with Richard Freeman, Mary Taylor, and Barbara Benagh The Weeks Well

In the conversation on what yoga lineage is and why it matters, I knew that Richard Freeman, Mary Taylor and Barbara Benagh would offer a multidisciplinary, intersectional conversation that carries both deep respect for what has come before us and a passionate, insightful caring about what may be coming—not just for wisdom tradition practitioners but for the world as a whole. These three have contributed so much to modern yoga and offered what I see as a lasting legacy of wisdom, humility, and grace. In this conversation, we talk about all kinds of things: Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, how paradox is something that is loved by the yogic traditions, and how your mind goes into a suspension when you’re really deeply practicing in a wisdom tradition. This talk is deeply philosophical, lovingkindness-based, and community centric.

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Sanskrit:

1. Sankhya: a dualistic school of Indian philosophy

2. Hinayana: small vehicle; a sect of Buddhism

3. Mahayana: great vehicle; a sect of Buddhism 

4. Samadhi: liberation

5. Samyama: simultaneous practice of dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi 

6. Nirodha: cessation of desire)

7. Citta vrittis: the thoughts that clutter the mind

8. Kleshas: the characteristics that cause suffering

9. Pada: part

10. Pragya: highest and purest form of understanding

11. Dharma: duty

12. Prana: breath, life force

13. Tadasana: mountain pose

14. Bhakti yoga: a practice within Hinduism focused on loving devotion toward a personal deity

15. Sri vidya: Hindu Tantric religious system

16. Rigvedas: ancient Vedic Sanskrit hymns

17. Upanishads: the most recent part of the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) 

18. Naga: race of half-human, half-serpent beings

19. Vaishnava: Hindu denomination worshipping Vishnu 

20. Vadriana Buddhism: a branch of Buddhism teaching that it's possible to reach enlightenment in one lifetime

21. Shankacharya: a Vedic scholar

22. Daiva: relating to Gods 

23. Shakti: primordial cosmic energy

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References:

1. Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor Yoga

2. Barbara Benagh 

3. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras

4. Bhagavad Gita

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Episode credits:

Original music by Kim's band Governess.

Produced by Alyssa Yeroshefsky and Kim Weeks.

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Copyright © 2023 Weeks Well®.


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