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| AHYMSIN NEWSLETTER, ISSUE - June 2015 | ||||||||
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Hazel Diaries IXby Roxanne CurrieHazel and I were channel surfing the onscreen TV Guide, practicing reading English (at age nine she is fluent in Chinese but not yet in English). She speed reads through all the clutter, searching for the words that bring her so much joy - SpongeBob Squarepants when she sounded out the word “Cat-fish. What’s Catfish?” She asked I said “It’s a tv series about what happens when people lie over the Internet.” She snapped to attention and nodded enthusiastic understanding. She knew right away what this was about. She said “Only it shouldn’t be called Catfish because catfish are awesome. It should be called Shark because they lure little fish to danger and they eat them.” “Amen, Sister” I said “They’re predators” she nodded and we high fived. We identified the bad guy. That’s what art does for us. “Dylan has outgrown me” Hazel said. My roommate’s son, Dylan was ignoring her and watching basketball. “People don’t really outgrow each other like a sweater or pair of shoes. We just develop different interests at times” I said. Boys and girls don’t necessarily want to be around each other, but they feel an excitement hard for them to describe. Adults understand. There’s a lot of giggling and running and tears. When Hazel wakes up I want to be seated in meditation, the first thing she sees. I have sat for an hour and a half waiting for her to wake. It’s hard work to be a good example. She sits with me for a few moments before we begin our day with OM. Out for dinner with friends one asked “What does your daddy do?” “Well, EVERYone is my daddy’s boss; they’re all telling him what to do. One says I need you to make this guy’s voice higher and then someone else comes along and says I need you to make the guy’s voice deeper, and another one comes along and says hey move that tree over there.” “Haha,” they said, sounds familiar for all artists. “Which commercial is he working on?” “Peanut butter.” “Oh, I love that one!” they all said. Hazel likes to play cave man. We know “man” is short for human, not limited to men. So we’re cavemen today. “What did we do before we had cell phones?” I asked Hazel when we were meeting Dik at Whole Foods. He had called and said he’d drive us to Izzy’s, and he’d meet us in the parking lot. "Yogis are infiltrating Macy’s" I said to Swami Ritavan when he stopped in to have his watch battery replaced. I told him the story about how I got the job at Macy’s through another Swami Rama disciple. “Keep going” said Swami Ritavan. Robertina said “It was so gross, there was a spider in the Hamilton watch case! We didn’t know what to do! There was a big, hairy spider in with the expensive Swiss watches and we couldn’t catch it. The customers were afraid to look in the case, it kept jumping out and scaring people. We called the Executive In Charge!” Paul J, (the EIC and fellow Swami Rama disciple, Himalayan Tradition Teacher responsible for my working at Macy’s) said “I saw a spider up on Fourth Floor; maybe I should get him and introduce them to each other.” Later that night, as I lay in bed slightly awake Hazel stirred, turned onto her back, opened her eyes just enough to see where she was, and clapped her hands together gleefully six times or so, closed her eyes again, and went back to sleep. “What’s new?” I asked Hazel the next day. “Did you know our dog, Nemo, died?” Hazel asked. Nemo was very old for a little Aussie Cattle Dog. He was fourteen. “Oh I’m so sorry” I said. “Yeah, especially since he was like a brother!” she said. “Yes, he was a lot like a brother to you” I agreed. I said “You shared food, and chewed on each other; Nemo meditated with us and he even chanted OM once with us, too. How is Mommy taking it?” I asked. “Well Mommy came home and she found him dead and I think she actually cried a little,” Hazy said. “How about Gus?” I asked. Nemo was blind for years before he passed, and Nemo tried to pounce on Gus when Gus was a puppy, but always missed the playful pup by a long shot repeatedly and eventually gave up trying. Hazel said “Gus kind of looks around for Nemo, but Gus is fine, he’s moved on. He’s seeing other dogs.” Editor’s Note: This is the ninth Hazel Diaries to appear in the AHYMSIN newsletter. To read previous articles in the series: http://www.ahymsin.org/docs2/News/1410Oct/09.html Roxanne Currie is a writer, grandmother, practitioner of Raja Yoga. She maintained her yoga practice since she was introduced to Swami Rama and his teachings in 1968. She received mantra initiation from Swami Veda Bharati, formerly Dr. Usharbudh Arya, to the Himalayan Tradition in 1972, and became certified to teach in 2008. She teaches yoga in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area. We invite you to visit her website: www.goodmedicineyoga.com Roxanne has a Good Medicine Yoga DVD entitled “Stretch Breathe Relax.” Please see http://www.goodmedicineyoga.com/htmlsite/products.html It is also available at the online bookstore of The Meditation Center, which ships nationally and internationally, and is under the title “Good Medicine Yoga DVD.”
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