Prompt 17

“Knowing the Self, sustaining the self by the Self, Arjuna, kill the difficult-to-conquer enemy called desire” (70).

I think this is an important passage because it pretty much sums up what The Blessed Lord said to Arjuna. He is saying that sometimes in life we get caught up on our desires and so it is important to leave those aside and just be you. Before the Blessed Lord speaks, Arjuna asks the Blessed Lord why men act against his will, and in this part the Blessed Lord told Arjuna that men act this way out of desire. Throughout his speech, The Blessed Lord talked about the man defying his desires and controlling his senses. This is also important because throughout the whole chapter, Arjuna sought help from The Blessed Lord. In this part, The Blessed Lord helped Arjuna by telling him that sometimes the man cannot control himself because of his desires. I think he is telling Arjuna that it is not the man's fault for his actions, sometimes desires can't be controlled. 

Prompt 16

"Abandoning all desires, acting without craving, free, from all thoughts of "I" and "mine," that man finds utter peace" (59). 

I think throughout this life, we all want something. Whether it is something as simple as an ice cream cone, or something huge like a million dollars, everyone has wants. It’s also a part of human nature to want something. We walk by expensive stores and think, “Oh man, I wish I had the money to buy this,” knowing that never in a million years, we could never afford something like that. “Abandoning all desires,” means to lose all wants and needs and I don’t think we could live without them.
The worse part about wanting is the selfishness. When we wish for something, it is usually for ourselves. We rarely wish for something for someone else, or something that someone else could use more than we ever can. This relates to me, because I know that I participate in these selfish activities. I’m always window-shopping, knowing that I will not buy those material items. This quote perfectly sums up why the “man” can’t be at peace. We desire way too much for ourselves, that we forget to appreciate what we already have. Our desires take over and reality loses itself somewhere in that realm. It’s not wrong to want something, but we want in excess way too often. It’s normal, but we always want what we can’t have. 

Prompt 5H

Mitchell refers to “Secret Miracle” on p. 16 because in the “Bhagavad GIta,” Michell talks about a moment when time stops and everything is still. In the Gita, Mitchell speaks about the fight between Arjuna and Krishna, and suddenly everything stops but Arjuna and Krishna. In the Secret Miracle says, “The physical universe stood still…the had halted as in a painted picture” (148-149). Like in the Gita, the world had stopped before a fight for Hladik as well. In both instances, the subjects had been involved in fighting and suddenly the world ceased and they were the only ones allowed to move. Mitchell means that, for both parties, time ceased at an important time in their lives. Reality can hit us hard that sometimes we need a moment to really stop and realize what is happening to us. 

Prompt 15

My bamboo tree is not yet done; it is still in its beginner years. In other words, I am still “germinating.” There is still a lot left to go through in life that I have yet to experience. Even though I have lived for 17 years, I still feel young. I know I’m about to go to college but I haven’t yet fully lived. I feel like I still need to do a lot more in life before I can say that I have even started to grow. Most people think that experiencing more means going out and travelling the world, but for me I see it as becoming successful or watching your child grow up. There are many baby steps that need to be taken in order for my bamboo tree to even start sprouting.

I think today I can water it just by trying my best at everything I do. If I keep working my hardest, I can eventually start to reach my full potential and my bamboo tree will start to sprout and it will keep growing each day until I reach my full potential. 

image from:http://www.gator-ventures.com/bamboo/bamboo-propagation/pics/indianbamboo2.JPG

Honors Prompt 4

On Monday, I wanted to meditate before I did my homework. I thought it would be a good idea to get in the zone before I do homework because I was really tired. I decided there would be no music and no meditation to clear my nose, but just simple meditation. I started my using the same pillow, I used for Sunday’s meditation and I sat in my kitchen. The reason for this is that my mother had been cooking and the kitchen was filled with delicious smells. I sat literally in the middle of the kitchen surrounded by the wall, the refrigerator, the stove, and the sink. Even though my nose was still clogged, I started with my regular breath. “Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, exhale, 1, 2, 3, inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, exhale, 1, 2, 3, inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, exhale, 1, 2, 3.” I continued this pattern for another five minutes and I let my breath control my meditation. This time, there were no wandering thoughts, just the intake of the smell of food. I loved meditating in the kitchen because usually I do everything in my room, so this was the chance to get out and actually do something outside of my comfort zone, literally. It was a good experience meditating for those 10 minutes on the floor in the kitchen. I would definitely do it again!

image from:http://steamykitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/img_7725-web.jpg

Prompt 14

During Sunday’s meditation, I was a little sick so it was hard for me to get into the breathing. I started out by sitting on a big pillow from my living room and straightening my back, just like we do in class. Instead of using music, I tried to do silent meditation. At first, it was very hard to get into the meditation because I usually try to focus on my breath but I couldn’t this time because I could barely breathe out of my nose. I kept trying to breathe out of my nose but it just wasn’t working; all I could hear was snot as I exhaled. So I decided to keep breathing for a little while longer and then try the meditation that helps you breathe. I held my right nostril for four seconds and inhaled through my left nostril, held both nostrils for two seconds, then breathed out through the right nostril for four seconds. I was doing this for about 3 minutes when I sort of felt my nose clear up a little bit. I got really happy during the meditation so I started doing it faster for some reason but I didn’t want to force it so I stopped and I continued on with my regular breathing. I think this was a very successful meditation. Even though the congestion came back an hour later, it still felt good to know that meditation could help cure something as simple and a stuffed nose. I tried to do the same thing again two hours later and it didn’t work. I wasn’t that upset because knowing that it had worked once, worked for me.

image from:http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/j2/9a/treat-stuffy-nose-200X200.jpg

Prompt 13

So today I decided to meditate after my final dance performance. I thought it would be a good idea to take the time and reflect not only on the performance but also on my 12 years of dancing. I started the meditation by putting on some meditation music that I found on Google and letting the music fill my head and control my thoughts. I admit it was a bit weird meditating on my own and without the sound of Ms. Ahktar’s voice, but I had to manage. In the beginning, my thoughts started to wander aimlessly and I found the meditation wasn’t really working, so I decided to focus on my breath. “Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, exhale, 1, 2, 3, inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, exhale, 1, 2, 3, inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, exhale, 1, 2, 3.” I let the counts of my breath control my thoughts and I found my inner self started to sink deeply into the meditation. I completely immersed myself into my breath and everything became steady. Once I knew that the meditation was working, I kept breathing for another five minutes. I slowly came out of the meditation and I opened my eyes very slowly. After meditating I sat on the floor for a while and just thought about dance, and realized how far I’ve come since I started dancing when I was five. The show was a lot of fun and I know I’m going to miss it. And just how you start off meditating, you’re not really a pro until you keep practicing, I started off dancing, and overtime, I’ve grown and grown into a beautiful dancer. 

image from:http://tothepc.com/pic/Female-dancing-silhouette-icons.png