Blog | davidsmith208

Abhyasa and vairagya

Great question. You’re zeroing in on what is arguably the spine of almost every serious spiritual path, even when the vocabulary changes. First, the core idea (in plain terms) Abhyāsa = steady, repeated practice Vairāgya = letting go of grasping, craving, fixation Patañjali’s genius is not inventing these, but naming the two forces that must balance each other: Practice without non-attachment → obsession, ego, burnout, spiritual materialism Non-attachment without practice → p

davidsmith208

Jan 303 min read

Yunus Emre’s reed song

Great passage—you’re right, the author is gesturing at a deep convergence, not just a vague “they’re both mystical” claim. We can actually get fairly concrete about this, even across languages (Persian vs. Old Anatolian Turkish). Below I’ll do two things: A quantitative-linguistic comparison (themes, grammatical stance, metaphors, pronoun use, semantic fields) Side-by-side quotes from Yunus Emre and Rumi that are strikingly parallel in structure, not just sentiment 1. Quantit

davidsmith208

Jan 293 min read

Baraka at sufi shrines

You’re touching something that sits right at the crossroads of phenomenology, devotional culture, and neuroscience—and you’re absolutely not alone in reporting it. First, a small word note: what you visited is commonly called a türbe (Turkish) — a shrine or tomb of a saint. Sometimes people say turbah or tubasi loosely, but türbe is the standard term in Konya. Are there many reports of “radiation / tingling / full-body vibration” at shrines? Yes — across cultures, centuries,

davidsmith208

Jan 283 min read

Rukneddin Sejasi

Great question — you’ve zeroed in on a very obscure but important node in the Shams–Rumi network. Who was Rukn al-Dīn Sejāsī (Rukneddin Sejari / Sejāsī)? Rukn al-Dīn Sejāsī was a 12th–early 13th century Sufi master in Anatolia, active slightly before Shams-i Tabrizi, and part of the non-institutional, wandering Sufi milieu rather than a well-organized ṭarīqa. He is not famous today because: he left no major surviving writings, and his importance is mostly genealogical (teache

davidsmith208

Jan 282 min read

Game Day 3 sets tennis

That actually sounds like a near-perfect re-entry setup 👍 — you gave the system a reset without going cold. Here’s how I’d read what you’ve done and how I’d play tomorrow smartly. 📈 What the 4-day break + today accomplished 3 days full rest Tendons finally got a real recovery window (this matters more than muscle) Nervous system de-loaded (reaction timing will come back fast) Today: legs + swim + sauna Legs: woke up glutes and hips (good for tomorrow’s movement) Swim: low-i

davidsmith208

Jan 272 min read

Hotel or home tennis armor routine 15 minutes

Perfect — with light dumbbells, elastic bands, and a yoga mat, you can run a clean, hotel-proof 15-minute Tennis Armor routine that hits exactly what tennis beats up, without needing machines or space. I’ll give you a single flowing routine, then a travel swap list in case something isn’t available. 🛡️ 15-Minute Tennis Armor (Home / Hotel Version) ⏱️ Structure Continuous flow No setup drama Emphasis: shoulder protection, elbow longevity, hip/knee stability, core control 1️⃣

davidsmith208

Jan 272 min read

15 minute tennis armor routine

Here’s a simple, repeatable 15-minute “tennis armor” routine—armor meaning joint protection + balance rather than max strength. This is ideal before tennis, after tennis, or on off-days. It targets the usual tennis wear points: shoulder, elbow, hips, knees, and trunk rotation. I’ll give it as a clean flow you can memorize. 🛡️ 15-Minute Tennis Armor Routine 1. Shoulder & Scapular Armor (5 minutes) Protects rotator cuff, biceps tendon, and elbow A. Serratus Punches – 1 minute

davidsmith208

Jan 272 min read

Present-centered stillness

Short answer: yes — with an important qualification. Longer answer: present-centered stillness is a shared core move across many contemplative traditions, but each tradition means something slightly different by “present,” “stillness,” and “liberation.” Let’s unpack this cleanly and comparatively. 1. What Dādū means by present-centered stillness When I said Dādū emphasizes present-centered stillness, I did not mean simple mindfulness or relaxation. For Dādū: Past = karmic mem

davidsmith208

Jan 273 min read

Dadu Dariya Tulsi

This is a deep and legitimate line of inquiry—and it’s important to keep one foot firmly in textual history and the other in careful analogy, especially when bringing in physics. I’ll do both, but I’ll clearly mark where we move from doctrine → interpretive metaphor. PART I — How Kabir’s cosmology evolves (Kabir → Dādū → Dariyā Sāhib → Tulsi Sāhib) All four share the same vertical universe, but each sharpens a different edge. 1. Kabir (15th c.) — the foundational rupture Kabi

davidsmith208

Jan 273 min read

Who is Kal Niranjan?

You’re reading this passage exactly the way the Sant–Kabir tradition intends it to be read — as a radical re-ordering of the Hindu cosmos, not a polite theological tweak. Let’s lay it out carefully, because Kabir is very precise here. 1. Who is Kāl Niranjan (also called Niranjan, Kāl, or Brahm)? In Kabir’s cosmology, Kāl Niranjan is: the lord of time (kāl = time, death) the creator–ruler of the material universe not the Supreme God He is often equated with: Brahm (not Brahman

davidsmith208

Jan 273 min read

Complimentary exercises for tennis

You’re playing 12 sets a week, split nicely between evenings and late mornings — that’s a lot of unilateral, rotational, stop-start load. The goal of complementary work is not more conditioning, but counter-loading, tissue resilience, and symmetry so your tendons and joints don’t revolt. I’ll break this into what tennis overdevelops, then what to add, then how to place it in your week so it actually helps. 1. What tennis overloads (the imbalance map) Tennis repeatedly stresse

davidsmith208

Jan 252 min read

The benefits of tennis

Yes — you’re thinking of a specific analysis within a long-running health project out of Denmark called the Copenhagen City Heart Study (CCHS), and it did find that tennis was associated with the largest increase in life expectancy compared with several other common sports — but with important caveats. 🧠 What is the Copenhagen City Heart Study ? The Copenhagen City Heart Study is a large, long-term prospective population cohort study started in 1976 in Copenhagen, Denmark. I

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

Satsang or majlis-e haq-juyan

Lovely question — you’re comparing two living spiritual technologies, not just concepts. Sikh satsang and the Sufi majlis-e ḥaqq-jūyān (assembly of seekers of Truth) sit very close to one another in function, even while their theological grammar differs. I’ll compare them as practiced, not just as ideals. 1. What each gathering is at heart Sikh Satsang (ਸਾਧ ਸੰਗਤ / Sādh Saṅgat) Literally: company of the true / holy Core meaning Sitting in the presence of Truth (Sat) through: t

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

Aristotle

Yes — you’ve put your finger on the spine of Aristotle’s ethics. Those four words aren’t just vocabulary; they mark different ways of being human and different kinds of excellence. Aristotle is very precise here, and modern summaries often blur distinctions he worked hard to keep clear. Let’s go slowly and cleanly. 1. Technē (τέχνη) — making / craft / know-how What it is Rational skill aimed at producing something The knowledge of how to make rather than how to live Key featu

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

Chopin mazurka 23 ending smorzando

Great question — smorzando at Chopin endings is never just a generic “get softer.” In this Mazurka it’s doing something very specific and very Chopin-ian. 1. What smorzando literally means (and doesn’t) Smorzando (from smorzare, “to extinguish, to smother”) means: a gradual dying away — of sound, motion, and energy Crucially, it is not only dynamic. It usually implies: diminuendo ✔️ ritardando or loss of forward impulse ✔️ a sense of breath running out ✔️ Think a candle gutte

davidsmith208

Jan 252 min read

Is Rumi on top

This is a beautifully sharp question, because Eflākī’s remark is not devotional flattery—it’s a sociology of charisma disguised as hagiography. Let’s unpack it carefully and honestly, with examples on each side. 1. “A prophet is loved by a nation” — what does that mean in practice ? Here Eflākī is speaking historically and sociologically, not theologically. Prophets are typically: Anchored to a specific people Bearers of law, covenant, or reform Loved collectively as founders

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

The moth and the candle

This is a classic constellation of Perso-Urdu mystical imagery, and you’ve put your finger on a very specific composite symbol—not just shamʿa–parvāna (candle–moth), but the beloved as saqī who intoxicates and wounds, reigning in the bazm/mahfil. That complex goes back centuries. I’ll move in three layers: the classical Persian origin its Urdu elaboration Sant Darshan Singh’s inheritance and transformation of it 1. Classical Persian poets using shamʿa–parvāna + saqī + khanjar

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

Walt Whitman’s mysticism

You’re right to pause on Underhill’s claim—calling Whitman a “typical mystic” is provocative, and also… kind of right, but only if we stretch what “typical” means. Whitman is absolutely mystical in Leaves of Grass, yet he’s a very American, this-worldly, body-affirming outlier. Let me break it down cleanly. 1. Is there strong evidence of mysticism in Leaves of Grass ? Yes—very strong. Whitman consistently displays what scholars call unitive experience: dissolution of the ego

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

What is true empowerment?

And does it come from the center? Do you need preparatory devotion or is that unnecessary after fifty years? Why would you only have questions? Do you have to be totally detached to reach a state of being a professional? If you want what is spiritual you can go into it. Sitting cross-legged is the gold standard and is a lot better than having a gold card. You can hold a convention at the center of your brain instead of just complaining. I completed my doctorate by just not

davidsmith208

Jan 253 min read

A blind pig sometimes finds a succulant acorn

That line is a folksy proverb with a long, slightly muddy pedigree—and the tennis player was using it very deliberately. Where it comes from The saying is a variant of an old English proverb: “A blind pig may sometimes find an acorn.” It shows up in English by at least the 17th century. One early printed form appears in Thomas Fuller’s Gnomologia (1732), a famous collection of proverbs. Variants exist across Europe, but the English pig–acorn version stuck particularly well in

davidsmith208

Jan 232 min read