Cultivating compassion and joy is not a linear process; it’s organic, like growing flowers. If you work regularly at decreasing your compulsive desires and narcissism gradually you will see beautiful results.
–Lorne Ladner, The Lost Art of Compassion
~~@~~
Last June, I spent two weeks deconstructing at an ashram. On the surface, the ashram experience seemed a nightmare. Group constipation, perpetual cravings for hamburgers, and sleep deprivation combined with withdrawal from various vices, hard work, heat, and allergic reactions. (See Poo-poo Tea at the Ashram and Ashram Adventures for a recap of those fun details.)
Beneath that muck, seeds of joy were being planted. Several lifetimes of lessons were condensed into those two weeks. It was a lot to processes. I’m still working to understand what I learned and to apply it to daily life. (For more on that end, see A Heart Flung Open and Knowing by Doing.)
And here is but one of the many lessons I learned from the experience: Beauty will unfold day by day when you work to tend the garden.
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 18, 2012 at 4:56 pm
iamlenise
Your photo is lovely 🙂
May 18, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Lunar Euphoria
Thank you!
May 22, 2012 at 12:46 am
Dana
Beautiful! I see in my inbox that you have a couple of other lessons posted, too. I like how you’ve distilled your experience from last summer into pearls of wisdom several months later. It shows that your learning wasn’t just contained to those 2 weeks.
May 22, 2012 at 2:41 am
Lunar Euphoria
I love the word “distilled” — it makes me feel like I’m making moonshine. 🙂
And thank you for your always kind words!
December 17, 2012 at 2:57 am
Rufina
Oh! Thank you for liking my post. I will have to take the time to read all of your posts on your ashram experience. I look forward to taking notes! 🙂
July 13, 2013 at 8:28 pm
Work Life to Life’s Work: The Commute | My Little Spacebook
[…] in perspective that was inspired by a number of awesome books I’d been reading and by a yoga teacher training course that totally rocked my […]