We think we own our own minds. But do we? If we consider what we know now, what we believe in, and what we do, how much of that was fed to us from an early age, and how much of that was our decision based on our own quest into different alternatives? Are we truly exercising our choice, or merely following blindly what was conditioned in our minds from an early age? In the work Republic written by Plato, he presented the allegory of the cave. A group of people lived inside a cave all their lives. They saw only shadows in front of them, and their perception of reality is limited to those shadows. One of the prisoners was freed and he saw that it was the fire and statues that casted the shadows, and when he got out of the cave, he saw that reality is so much bigger than he thought, and the shadows he's known all his life were just a mere illusion. Much of what we now know are a product of years of conditioning-- it could be our self-identity, belief systems, or perception of the world. To truly be free, to get ourselves out of our own caves, we must accept that there's more to learn and more to explore. And sometimes we are lucky in that there is something about our thinking, our beliefs, and our habits that gnaw at us, something we feel on some level is not quite right. It is then when we feel we are fed up with the lies we have been told by society, by government, by those whom we trust, that we see it as in invitation to investigate, to get out of the cave, to seek the truth, to expand our mind. And so, being fed up is a gift, because it means we are starting to realize that we are prisoners, and we can then take steps to be free of the bondage of our false conditioning. Here is one documentary that can help us expand our understanding of the truth:
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PYS I.1 atha yoga-anusasanam
Now this is Yoga as I have observed it in the natural world. Everything we need to be free we can learn from the nature that surrounds us. How a seed needs time, certain conditions, sunlight and air for it to grow teaches us that there is a certain rhythm that life follows, a law that nature abides in terms of timing. When the butterfly was still a caterpillar, he had to struggle-- a lot-- to get out of his cocoon. Someone who tries to help him will end up just hurting him, because if he is out of the cocoon before he is ready, he won't be able to fly, then he won't be able to survive. And so the caterpillar has to do his own work, at his own time, at his own pace, to grow into who he is meant to become. When he finally gets out of his cocoon, he leaves that layer behind and begins to fly. We are all like the caterpillars with our own struggles. Those who are around us, however well-meaning, may end up hurting us if they offer shortcuts. We need to understand that our growth is an inside job, and when we are fed up, when it is time, when it is NOW the moment to get out of our cocoon, because we are ready, then we will make it happen for ourselves. Once we leave our cocoon behind, we understand that that wasn't us-- our struggles are not us, our egos are not us, our mistaken identity is not us. Before we grow out of our cocoon, we may lament our struggles, think of our limitations as a curse, wish to take shortcuts. But all those struggles and limitations and difficulties are our growing pains, that is all. We emerge strong and beautiful from it, we get to know truth out of it, we become free from it. One day, I came home and saw that my cats had literally torn up the bills I had to pay into pieces. I found it funny, that they expressed the tiredness that I felt that day from being a grown-up. Don't you sometimes wish you were a child again, and your so-called responsibilities are eating and playing and taking naps? Adulting, ahhh. It can be so tiring sometimes. Responsibilities, heart breaks, financial struggles, finding one's purpose, griefs and losses, etc. It's a lot!
Are there times you get sick and tired? It happens. No one is inspired every single day. No one is positive all the time. Everyone gets tired and worn out and needs to take a break from time to time. Maybe we're going through a rough patch in our relationships and we're tired. Maybe we've been fighting for the same injustice for years and we don't see results and we're tired. Maybe there's nothing really wrong but we think our lives are predictable and we're tired. Maybe everything that we have in our lives are what we wanted and still we're tired. That's okay. Being tired means we've put in the work and we are in this moment that we feel stuck. It's ok not to rush things. It's ok to not know what the future holds. It's ok to be completely where we are, even if it means we are fed up. It's ok to be tired, but we must continue trying. Don't give up before the miracle happens. In the yoga community, we are taught to be positive, to transform our negativity into something else. And I think it's important to note that the emphasis is "transform". It doesn't mean we pretend not to have negative emotions or experiences. Denying anger can eventually lead to depression, while letting these emotions run amuck hurts not only ourselves but others too.
The focus of the month is "fed up". It is when we are angry, frustrated, impatient, and we have had enough, that we think NOW something must change. Atha means now, and it is also the very first word in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. When we are fed up, NOW is the time to have a breakthrough. NOW is when we observe and witness the seeds of unhappiness in ourselves. It is NOW that we have a doorway to either changing our external circumstances, or changing our perception of the situation. Being fed up is something we won't choose for ourselves. But it bears an important gift. Without reaching that point, we may not be completely miserable, but we may not be completely happy either. But being fed up NOW drives us to change and action. Being fed up NOW pushes us to look at our seeds of unhappiness Being fed up NOW teaches us that we are our own dictator or our own savior, and we get to choose which one we are going to be. The poet Hafiz said "I am in love with every church and every mosque and every temple, and any kind of shrine, because I know it is there that they say the different names of the one God."
Let's talk about God. But first, a disclaimer. For many years, I identified as an atheist. Then I realized it wasn't atheism that I gravitated towards, it was more that I couldn't accept the God that was often portrayed. I couldn't accept an angry, wrathful, judgmental God who would place hierarchies on different groups of beings. I realized since then that that portrayal is not the limitation of God, but our limitation as fallible beings. I no longer see myself as an atheist, and I don't have a particular label I identify with. I've come to see God as something more than how he/she/it is unjustly portrayed. I have come to see God as having many different names and forms and shapes, or that it can be formless and shapeless and just be the collective of all of life. So, let's talk about God. The August focus of the month in Jivamukti is devotion to Krishna. If the name Krishna does not resonate with us, then let's think of it as devotion to God. If the concept of God still doesn't resonate with us, then let's think of it as devotion to good. What is the highest good that we aspire to? Compassion? Peace? Equality? Then every time that we practice yoga asana and bring our hands in prayer in namaskar, let's start to see that highest good in ourselves. Let's start to see that goodness is not separate from us. Let's start to see the God in us. How do we then devote to God? By committing to do the good that we aspire to. For some, going to a church or temple or mosque may help, but total devotion must go beyond gestures. Devotion must be present in everything that we do, all the time. That means devoting to God (or good) translates to us treating other beings with kindness, speaking in behalf of those who are oppressed, doing what we can to make the world a better place for all of its inhabitants. The poet Hafiz said "I am in love with every church and every mosque and every temple, and any kind of shrine, because I know it is there that they say the different names of the one God." One's devotion can be through prayer or poetry, charity or activism, art or action. Different names, one God. Different paths, one God. Different expressions, one God. And it is only logical that if God is everything, that everything would also have the element of God in them. |
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