The Way of the Bodhisattva

Last night was the first in a series of eight weekly classes at the Austin Zen Center. The instructor is named Flint Sparks (that can't be his given name, can it?) I have taken two other classes from him in the past few months, one at The Crossings and one at the Texas Yoga Retreat. He is a fiftysomething bald Buddhist who emanates peace, humility and contentment. I am very excited about learning all that I can from him. We will be studying an ancient text by Shantideva, a monk who lived in the 8th century. Written in verse form, it's called The Way of the Boddhisattva. I picked up the commentary by The Dalai Lama at Half-Price Books, entitled A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night.

I will have to miss next week's class, as I've been invited to a potluck party with my favorite yoga teacher of all time, David Moreno (see www.moryoga.com). I studied with him during teachers' training at Yoga Yoga in 2001-02, and then he moved to Berkeley. When I was living in Palo Alto, I would often make the hourlong trek to the east bay just to attend his Tuesday evening hatha flow class. Well worth the trip. He is hilarious and amazingly adept at asana and meditation. He's another fiftysomething, bald man. He is gay and seriously studies tantric yoga (which is much more than just fancy sex positions popularized by Kim Cattrell et al.) I am attending two of David's workshops at Castle Hill Fitness this weekend. I feel so honored to be invited to his party next week. I think my friend Angel, an artist and tai chi instructor, will accompany me.