Mind, Please be My Friend…

Posted March 31, 2015

The last few weeks have been fairly hectic: I am planning a meditation intensive retreat, I am taking some continuing education classes, my work schedule is changing, the children have a bunch of activities, and I am a little over-extended. So working on a blog post has been demoted on my list of obligations.

But, despite all the busyness, my mind-state has been fairly steady, or ekagra. I attribute this to regularity in my practice.

In the Yoga Tradition, the mind is viewed as an instrument through which we receive information about the sensory world (manas), where we store memories and formulate opinions (chitta), it is where our sense of individuality arises (ahamkara), and where our conscience resides (buddhi)–but, not our consciousness.

The four aforementioned aspects of the mind are collectively called the antahkarana–or the inner instrument. The word “instrument” is so profound. Yoga science expounds the concept that the mind is not who we are; but, a tool, which can be sharpened, to glean a clearer understanding of who we are and what needs to be done to Realize our True Nature.

According to Yoga science, our minds becomes colored by our experiences— think of it as a dusty layer on a window. Therefore, they do not allow the truth to diffuse through. We are colored by perceptions of race, social status, gender, etc. Reflect for a moment on a baby who lacks all of these associations.

Through meditation we wipe off the layers of dust and eventually the clear mind allows the truth to shine through.

But, the mind is only capable of becoming crystalline…

What is the light that shines through the crystalline mind?

Eventually, the mind, like all good tools must be set down. Would you walk around in the house you built clutching the hammer?

Over time, with dedication, consistency, and faith, the mind is set down and total awareness of the Self will shine through.

Until then, tell your mind “thank-you” for all that it does. Do not be angry with your mind for thinking any more than you would be angry with your hand for grasping or your ear for hearing. Ask your mind to be your friend, so that you can dust the lens, and see the world as it truly is.

As always, click the links!

Opening My Eyes

Posted March 19, 2015

Filed under Insights, Musings

One day while walking along the Ganges, my teacher was told, specifically, by his Guru , “Witness Everything“. He knew that Swami Rama did not incline towards repeating himself; so, he grunted to acknowledge that he heard the instruction. But, the sound also signified he needed to digest this morsel a bit longer.

“Witness Everything”, what a specific, yet, elusive instruction. As my teacher paradoxically says, “it is simple; but, not easy.”

Often, during the opening of an asana (yoga posture) class, when we begin to focus on the breath, I remind my students we take about 20,000 breaths a day–but, most of them come and go unconsciously. Yet, it is the most essential of all our bodily functions. If we were forcibly made to stop breathing, for even a few seconds, we would suddenly become very grateful for our lifeline!

Witnessing = Observing + Non-Attachment

Why on earth would we want to cultivate this state of detached observation? Witnessing is the essence of mindfulness–the practice of paying attention to and seeing clearly what is happening in our lives.

If we always act from the perspective of the self, life happens to us–it is very personal and selfish. The person that cuts us off is doing that to us personally. The traffic is affecting us personally. When we begin to witness we are able to “see” the person cutting us off is actually thinking about themselves. Maybe they were rushing to an emergency! We begin to see all of the people stuck in traffic–we may even develop compassion for so many frustrated individuals.

But, on a deeper level, when, in our meditation practice, we bear witness to our thoughts (remember, this is done with non-attachment or non-judgment), we begin to notice the patterns, trends, and colors of our thoughts. We begin, without necessarily having to analyze the source of our tendencies, to have more space from the fluctuations in our mind-field. We begin to see the mind as it is, an infinitely creative tool that is a blessing and a necessity to navigate this earth-plane–instead of seeing the mind as a source of our frustration.

Wake up, or do whatever you will…

Discipline

Posted March 17, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Discipline is ready to love you.
It is a cool, uplifting wind
enlightening this life’s path,
putting one foot mindfully
before the other,
giving faith in each step.
This intricate dance, practiced
will one day be as tight as the drum
producing the rhythm
compelling your advancing feet.
This song of the divine
is only possible
with hard work and cultivation.
This watered and tended
garden gifts us
an abundance of nourishing food.
Since we are what we eat,
our discipline leaves us
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
at our little corner markets,
offering freely from
baskets of leftovers
even after we’ve had
more than enough.
Embrace the discipline!
Roll up your sleeves and endeavor
to meet the very best you.
With dedication we can feed the world.

Meditate

Posted March 10, 2015

Filed under Poetry

There is a question at the center
From which all this emanates
The story of this mark
is what these lines are connecting.
Sticks and stones of habit and bones
are woven under careful roofs thatched.
The chicken came first
because the scheme of the egg
had not yet been hatched.
The three streams converging are quite a map,
diagram upon diagram of your ship and the treacherous landscape.
A much fussed over plan spelling out the means to escape
to a question mark.
Only sheer speculation to give it shape.
Destination unknown.
Is this carrot on a string sufficient bait?
I pursue and at times lash out
hungry and enslaved by fate
But that’s really not me,
just this body on mother earth
Hurling through space.
I am the question and the mark
operating this computer that animates.
I may not know exactly what I am
but I do know I must return home to consummate.
So I embrace living for the mysterious
punctuation at the end of the sentence.
Happy to contemplate…

Foresee

Posted March 8, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Loving freely
intertwined completely
In you there’s a better me
So effortlessly happy
laughing so easily
The best is yet to be

One

Posted March 7, 2015

Filed under Poetry, Prose

One

Looking for love
from all of the wrong
corporations
when I should be looking above.
Looking for love from the
administration,
when I should be looking within.
Falling out of love with my
fellow man
when I should be falling in.
Shouldn’t be asking so many questions.
I don’t need suggestions!
I know love’s going to win.
Stopped, dropped, surrendered,
And I’ll never stop giving in.
Already knew, just had to remember.
All is well under this powerful spell.
A perfect life for me,
conflict is done.
The truth is and always will be
that love’s already won.

Relativity

Posted March 2, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Smash the glass chains of negativity
They shatter so beautiful, so easily
under the hammer of your positivity
and as the negative blood spatters
in a Pollock on the walls of possibility
Take your seat with the Mad Hatter,
Partake in his intoxicating tea
Get caught in a whirlwind of creativity
And wake up to a wonderland born
from a happy authenticity

Blow Us Away

Posted March 1, 2015

Filed under Poetry

holding hands
helping each other stand
much more than a friend
the best of us strongly depends
on the goodwill we send
in intricate crafts unmanned
releasing bombs of intensity and number
that no man can outrun or withstand
perfect explosions shake us from slumber
drawing us to the front lines
divine weapon at our command
us and them surrender and combine
to a nuclear reworking that demands
peace and compassion as our mission
an art to be practiced and refined
beginning the proud tradition
of improving each other’s position
freeing our brilliant minds
from the confusion of opposition
setting the stage for our grandest designs

The Zen of Anger

Posted February 28, 2015

Filed under Himalayan Tradition, Insights

It would be ludicrous to think that as a practitioner of yoga meditation I don’t get angry. In fact, my inclination toward getting annoyed is one of the reasons I am so dutiful with my practice. If we follow the DISC personality typing, I am an “I”–which means Influence–but, it can also mean Impulsive! However, the same energy that is the source of my strengths is also the source of my lesser strengths.

This morning I got angry with my son–the people that we are closest to can be the source of our greatest joy. Paradoxically, they can be the catalyst of our greatest frustration! I have a lot invested in my son–he is after all, my son. With an investment comes an expectation. When the investment does not yield a return it is a disappointment. This investment is an attraction and the disappointment is an aversion.

According to the Yoga Sutras, both attraction (raga) and aversion (dvesha) are two faces of the same coin–attachment. Both of these stem from a lack of knowledge of our true nature (avidya)–our true nature is perennial, not ephemeral. However, the nature of the physical world is transient. We cling to the things and experiences of the physical world that we love. We push away the things and experiences that we abhor. But, both the pushing and pulling cause us suffering (dukha or dukkha).

I am attracted to my son doing what I believe is best for me, he does something other than that, my attraction to my expectation is not met, I experience disappointment, my disappointment is a form of suffering. To the unmastered mind, all worldly experiences yield suffering because they are impermanent. However, this does not have to be the case.

When we are rooted in our true nature from earnest abhyasa and vairagya (practice and non-attachment) then we are aware of the fleeting nature of our experiences and we can be released from the suffering of attraction and aversion. It does not mean we are apathetic or ambivalent–I am still going to parent my child–with the hope that he leads a skillful and happy life. But, I am working on not expecting him to do what I want. We still have rules. If he breaks them, he is punished. But, now it’s not a big emotional tirade–because I didn’t get what I want.

Today I got angry, I felt the blood pump and my temperature rise. But, I was very aware that this was a bodily experience and not who I am at the core; moreover, not an emotion I have to act on. I didn’t resist the anger–that is aversion–I just let it come. I went for a drive and returned as the person I want to be.

Sacred Cow

Posted February 25, 2015

Filed under Poetry

Every moment is wholly a matter of now
Not what you say more a matter of how
Leave your tumultuous past in this sacred vow
Insight is a path leading to unending WOW!!
Going on forever beyond sunset and final bow
Headlong into whatever you choose to allow
This peace a gift you willingly endow
Each step a test don’t let it raise a brow
Nothing can splinter this practiced bough
Moreover is our dedication to this sacred Tao
Enlightenment in “Om” even heard in a cat’s meow
None is above you or rather holier than thou
To this I surrender and commence to kowtow