Friday, November 4, 2016

Discovering your Way

There is no fetter like illusion, no force greater than Yoga, no friend greater than knowledge, and no enemy fiercer than ego.  v.4 Gheranda Samhita

There is a path we all want to live in our existence, walk and breath, one that has been written upon the very halls of destiny.  Perhaps, it dwells deep within the marrow, far set into the furthest recesses of our minds, hard to tell from whence it comes.  But…it is there.  Even the most skeptical of persons must admit that each and every one of us carries propensities towards a particular nature that tends to far exceed nurture.  

The ancients, they knew of such things.  This identity behind the personalities of culture and creed were called a variety of things.  Soul, daemon, genius, atma, Self, the list goes on yet the mystery remains the same.  There is something within that transcends and intends beyond the masks of our temporal lives that drives us to be who we are meant to be.  If one is truthful and reflects upon the path of life from birth to now, one must agree.  

Finding this path, one’s way or dharma is the goal and beginning of life.  To realize what is the task of bliss for each every person is the focus of all great legends and epic tales.  

Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of my life? 

All questions, reflections from the magnetic draw of serendipity.  

We all feel it, the pull to be what we are meant to be. Indeed, we are drawn to the unique identity that is our role in this cosmic play we call life.  To find our place is a magnanimous fortune.  It is not easy, even though who we are is always there but it is covered by powerful magical illusion that bewitches our minds and leads us astray.  The life we live, the generations we are born into, the cultures that surround us, all these and more cloud our inner vision and place us in an existence that limits us from seeing our true nature.  Fate, karma, bad luck, these are all the same, remnants of what was before coming into the now.  Accepting this and seeing that there is something larger and more profound than these identities is the shaft of light in the darkness that reveals true knowledge.   

Knowledge begins the journey to liberation.  We see through darkness, out the cave of limitations and realize that a life beyond our imagination exists, one of true satisfaction and fulfillment.  This is the road we are meant to travel.  

If this were enough, so many would be happy and full of infinite joy.  But, most have this beatific sight then ignore it or fall into despair because what was seen seems beyond any reach of present circumstances?  Too many distractions, obstacles surround it.  Honestly, even for those who see and strive after it, what was seen as the path is confused and clouded by perceptions of our mind so the goal becomes even further out of our hands.  This is the realm of the ego and it's skewed take on what are meant to be binds us to ultimate disappointment.  

Here resides a force capable of leading us to the life we are meant to have.  It is a way that has taken many forms and shapes though the ages.  The moment we look at the vision of our lives see it and say yes to it, the cosmic wheels begin to churn and place before us the practice that will lead us into the life we are meant to live.  It will be different for every person.  

I call it Yoga! Name it whatever you want.  Go deep into it and you will discover the way to liberations and fulfillment.  

This is the plug that when connected to what we seek will illuminate our way.  Through following a course of yoga whatever it might be for one, however it manifests itself and then through a determined practice we will be led to the way we were meant to walk.  


May you find your Yoga!!!

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Finding Meditation

First, without bragging let me just describe my life.  I teach five to eight yoga classes and week then add four to five indoor cycle sessions on top of that, fill in to sub in both disciplines, have private sessions with clients as well as oversee several instructors as their direct supervisor.  Oh, and, of course, there are all those extra projects that come along and fill my days.  This is all interesting but the days get filled and time slips away. Basically, my life is busy.  Granted I work in a really uplifting profession but even when one does what one loves things can be intense and exhausting especially when too much ends up on my mat or on the spin cycle.

What to do? 

I could just do more in an attempt to take care of things.  Work differently, find a better schedule, delegate, try and take time off, plan a vacation (that’s real work) and so on…but all this becomes more stuff to do in the end.  

I know in those moments it becomes apparent that it’s time to meditate.  The ultimate act of some non-doing!  That's right, not more doing, but more nothing just to be and be still without worrying about results or what it will get me.   When I meditate, I allow myself to exhale in a whole state of being sort of way then let the world dance by in all its seeming importance until at some point the chatter, urgency and importance of it all drops away allowing a quiet to emerge.  There in that place beyond the ripples of life the truth exists and what really matters rises to the surface and reveals itself.  

There from that place of quiet contemplation I see the relative nature of my acts.  Even when I am attending to great matters and taking care things that must be completed if I am to live a life without complication, still these too become secondary to what I find in meditation. 

This is the real path anyway. It’s not the action, the teaching, all the doing rather this is the arrow that points to the reality of a deeper experience.  Sitting, resting, and all the manifestations of meditation become the real goal of work, yoga and any other act.  

Strangely enough when I grant myself these moments, I receive what is needed to move forward. Sure things may still seem stressful and the day can be filled with obstacles and struggles but when I touch that inner serenity there possibility emerges beyond the immediate occurrences.  This creates a ground from which to move onward.   From this, things evolve, tasks get completed, the necessary finds its completion and the fringe falls away.

Most of all though, it’s not the result of the mediation that matters, this would make it another task to complete if this is the case.  It’s simply to go to where I am truly who I am, the place without masks, definitions and identities and to rest in that.  This is the realm of true Knowledge, the knowing that matters.  Just that!  

As an ancient text declares in all it’s directness.  

By Constant Meditation (comparable to the rubbing of the fire-wood) is kindled the flame of Knowledge, which completely burns up the fuel of ignorance.  V42 Atmabhodha

May we all unplug in our days and find this.  

Enjoy the Ride!

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