Yogis who practice with sincerity and consistency eventually gain powers, one of which is the power of levitation. An onlooker may look at a yogi doing arm balances and see the element of levitation, just as a magician may look to others as performing tricks. However, one need not focus only on the physical aspect of levitation, as there is far more value in a psychological manner of levitation, the kind where one is able to rise above challenges and float above difficulties.
One of the tools available to a yogi is mantra repetition. Even from a psychological perspective, it is recognized that the words we use create our reality. If we go through our lives speaking unkind words to ourselves, we create a cycle of suffering where we see ourselves as small, we act small, we continue to speak in a berating manner to ourselves, and so on. Mantras are a tool to cross over the mind, using powerful Sanskrit words that elevate our intention to God or peace or kindness or compassion. Through mantra repetition, we purify our speech, and through that, we learn how it is to go through life as though we are floating on air. The yogi acknowledges that the practice does not exempt one from the highs and lows of life. There will still be many things and situations outside of the yogi’s control. But what we learn is that we can control the contents of our own mind, we can control our internal reality, we can control our emotional and spiritual response. And in that way, no matter what difficult situations arise, we are able to get through them, all the way to the other side, unhurt and unscathed. The difficulty is not denied, but we gain the power to let go of the suffering attached to it; and it is in that way that we rise and float and levitate.
0 Comments
Samadhi is a state of enlightenment, where there is a release of otherness, when all merge into one reality. Samadhi is when you let go of the “I” and you become the universe. To someone who is attuned to this state, no explanation is necessary. But to someone who has never glimpsed it, no explanation comes close to what it really is.
There are times through grace, that we are able to let go of our thinking mind. Perhaps it was a moment when we looked up at the sky at night, and had a momentary experience— an internal knowing— of how vast the universe is and how small we are, and it’s as though both the body and the mind were set aside. For a brief moment, there could be that experience of samadhi. Perhaps we were at a concert, and in the wave of people who were singing and dancing, and in the midst of a musician being lost in their element, we were lost too and didn’t know where we were and it didn’t matter. At that time, that could be a window showing us the possibility of samadhi. Try this exercise. Lie down in savasana, and allow yourself to relax. Allow the body to be left behind, and bring the attention to the mind. Using the focus of the mind, trace back to who you are today, whatever the concept of “I” is. Trace it back to yesterday, the last week, the last month, the last decade. Trace it further and further back, sliding down to your earliest memory. Connect to that “I” then. Before that earliest memory, where were you? Who were you then? Let the mind drift away, so even the thinking mind is let go of. When you reach that space where you are conscious but the “I” no longer matters, that your existence is the kind that connects to everyone and everything, that is samadhi. At that state, you have all the answers. Because at that state, there aren’t even any questions. One of my adopted cats has white fur. He has never taken a bath his whole life that is 3 years. All he did was lick himself clean. And this cleanliness is impeccable. He is so white that sometimes I can’t find him in my small studio apartment, and it takes me a while to realize he was sleeping in the bed, because he would blend in perfectly with the white bed sheets, almost as though he were invisible.
The yoga sutras speak of siddhis or powers or accomplishments, and one of those powers is the power to be invisible. My cat already nailed it. He’s perfected it. As for the rest of us, being “invisible” can be quite a feat. Our entire world is set up for human beings who live in these times to do the opposite. We have Facebook and Instagram and SnapChat so we are always visible. We like buying clothes that make us look attractive so we will be noticed. We want to have some kind of a “grand entrance” when we enter a room. We even know people whose footsteps, whose stance, whose way of carrying themselves draw so much attention that their mere presence announces “I’m here!” When we visit places, we see vandalism, people writing “so and so was here, at this date, with this person”. We yearn to be seen and to be heard and to be acknowledged. It is not “wrong” to crave attention. It is the human condition. The yogi’s path is to work with this human condition. Notice when a small child is throwing a tantrum. They scream and shout, making themselves as visible as they can possibly be. This child is not “wrong”. This child simply has some unmet needs and feels they have to act out. We are the same. We yearn to be visible when there is something inside of us we haven’t yet worked out. We crave attention when we feel there’s an incompleteness in our lives that weighs us down. We torment ourselves with anger and internally comparing ourselves with others. We defile our speech by saying hurtful words about others or to others. We create harm through our day-to-day actions that may not have ill intent but are unconscious just the same. This heaviness weighs us down, and this heaviness brings attention to us, because we know no other way. The yogi has the ability to be invisible, in that they are attuned to their lightness. They walk into a room quietly, and leave the room just as quietly. Sometimes they even wear clothes that make them not as noticeable, almost like a uniform. When they move in the mat, it is almost as if they are floating. Not only because they know how to engage mula bandha, but because they know how and where to redirect their energy. They do not gravitate towards greed; instead they use only what they need. They are not attached to sensory pleasures; instead they are able to enjoy temporary things without clinging. They do not makes choices that harm others such as eating meat, dairy, and eggs; instead they eat plant-based that is not only light in the body, but also creates the lightest possible footprint on the earth. The yogi with a deep practice is secure in themselves. That is why they crave no attention, and that is why it may seem to outsiders, that they are almost invisible. The power to be invisible does not have to be a supernatural power. It is walking the human path in such a way that we are at our lightest. We are light in our thoughts, in our words, in our actions. We cause as little harm as possible. As far as disturbing the world is concerned, we yogis refrain from it, as though we are invisible. How was meditation for you today? Was it easy to stay in the moment? Or were you distracted? Were you mentally writing a to-do list? What was happening?
The practice of meditation, or even just sitting still, is challenging for many of us, because we are not doing anything, we are not going anywhere, we are not accomplishing anything. And being right here right now can be tough. And to not do anything can even feel like...madness! But let’s take a look at what we consider “normal”. Starting the week on a Monday and wishing it were already Friday. Being in a hurry to get to the next place, next job, next relationship, next event. Not liking the present but putting up with it because of the prospects of its future. People being in the same physical space, but all of them on their phones, on social media, talking to people who are not in front of them, while ignoring those who are. These happen often enough that they are common, they are normal. But this is the true madness— that bec we think happiness is to be pursued in some other time than now, in some other place than here, we ironically suffer in this pursuit of happiness. So what’s a yogi to do to stop this madness? We learn to be here, fully, consciously showing up. We enjoy where we are and whom we are with, even if and especially if we are only by ourselves. We don’t think of ourselves as going somewhere, we experience arriving in every single moment. We don’t think of doing sun salutations so we can get over it and do the “hard stuff”, we enjoy it. We don’t cross the street absent-mindedly because it’s the same route we take 5 days a week to get to work, we enjoy it. We don’t talk about the next vegan meal we’re having while we are still eating the present one, we enjoy it. Happiness is not a destination we go to— that is madness! Happiness is here. Yoga is here. Atha yoga anusasanam. |
Archives
March 2020
|