This was passed to me by a friend. I am not sure who the proper author is.

What appears to be an immediate appeal to stand up, act and perform ones duty, becomes a philosophical eulogy over the many types of Yoga and how an individual may find that steady place from within as the very support of all ones activities. Act with greater clarity and become free from the opposing dualities of good and bad, right and wrong etc. and find a steady support in Yoga. Gandhi suggested that the external battlefield depicted, was a metaphor between the good and evil forces within man and a proper study of the text would help us to better discriminate between the opposing forces that operate within us. How to be more centered, see more clearly, become free from the endless patterns of opposition, awaken to dignity and eventually become free to realize that the source of Yoga is already present within us – if we can only remove the patterns of ignorance that obstructs it.

Read more — here.

Parampara is knowledge that is passed in succession from teacher to student. It is a Sanskrit word that denotes the principle of transmitting knowledge in its most valuable form; knowledge based on direct and practical experience. It is the basis of any lineage: the teacher and student form the links in the chain of instruction that has been passed down for thousands of years. In order for yoga instruction to be effective, true and complete, it should come from within parampara.

Knowledge can be transferred only after the student has spent many years with an experienced guru, a teacher to whom he has completely surrendered in body, mind, speech and inner being. Only then is he fit to receive knowledge. This transfer from teacher to student is parampara.

The dharma, or duty, of the student is to practice diligently and to strive to understand the teachings of the guru. The perfection of knowledge – and of yoga — lies beyond simply mastering the practice; knowledge grows from the mutual love and respect between student and teacher, a relationship that can only be cultivated over time.

The teacher’s dharma is to teach yoga exactly as he learned it from his guru. The teaching should be presented with a good heart, with good purpose and with noble intentions. There should be an absence of harmful motivations. The teacher should not mislead the student in any way or veer from what he has been taught.

The bonding of teacher and student is a tradition reaching back many thousands of years in India, and is the foundation of a rich, spiritual heritage. The teacher can make his students steady – he can make them firm where they waver. He is like a father or mother who corrects each step in his student’s spiritual practice.

The yoga tradition exists in many ancient lineages, but today some are trying to create new ones, renouncing or altering their guru’s teachings in favor of new ways. Surrendering to parampara, however, is like entering a river of teachings that has been flowing for thousands of years, a river that age-old masters have followed into an ocean of knowledge. Even so, not all rivers reach the ocean, so one should be mindful that the tradition he or she follows is true and selfless.

Many attempt to scale the peaks in the Himalayas, but not all succeed. Through courage and surrender, however, one can scale the peaks of knowledge by the grace of the guru, who is the holder of knowledge, and who works tirelessly for his students.

Via K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute

Via Big Think:

Another example of a brain hack is that, again on the subject of willpower, that self-control is a resource that can be built up with practice.  And so whether it’s in children or in adults, the idea that we can somehow build up a mental capacity by practicing it, right?  The principle that brains do well with what they do often.  

This piece was tough for me to decipher. It seemed a bit jumbled. But we agree that practice and repetition lead to the steady development of willpower. Willpower and practice, we have been taught, puts the power in our hands to develop responsibility. We hope it continues to take us to incredible levels of self-love.

From The Daily Love:

Kate also gave me a sneak preview of one of the journaling exercises in the book, which is to write down your biggest frustration when it comes to money and then write down your first memory about money growing up.  Next, look for connections between those two things.  Usually there is a huge connection between present money struggles and memories about money. For example, if you currently feel like you never have enough money to pay the bills and one of your first memories is your parents fighting over not having enough money, there’s a BIG connection. A suggestion Kate gave to shift this particular example is to pay more attention to where you DO have enough like your friends, beautiful experiences, and health.

Check out the rest of the piece — here

Tyler Cowen poses this question on Marginal Revolution:

Could it be Hmong Village, 1001 Jackson Parkway, in north St. Paul?

It is a large indoor market, set in a warehouse, Hmong stores and stalls only, a kind of Eden Center (for those of you who know Falls Church, VA) for Laotians.  The produce and spice and bark sections are amazing.  Along one wall of the warehouse are about fifteen small restaurants, barely more than stalls, mostly Hmong in their cooking but two served authentic-looking Thai food.

Based on visual inspection of the options, we dined at Houaphanh Kitchen, which was superb, don’t forget the dipping sauces.  And I hope you like purple sticky rice.  The other places did not look much worse and there were many more dishes I wanted to sample.  Overall entrees ran in the $4 to $6 range.  Highly recommended.

Traveling throughout Thailand for 5 weeks a few years back, I thought the food was delicious and extremely affordable. My answer to this question would be specifically be the city of Pai, Thailand. I think that most people would argue that India presents the best food for the price.