The lotus blossoms from the mud

I recently had the opportunity to study the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with Kausthub Desikachar in Wellington. Early in my yoga career, I was profoundly affected by his father's (TVK Desikachar) simple and brilliant work, The Heart of Yoga. This book is a beautiful introduction to the history, practice, and philosophy of yoga as taught by Krisnamacharya. Kausthub is Desikachar's son, grandson of Krishnamacharya, and an insightful, provocative, and jovial teacher of yoga in his own right. The workshop was a wonderful meeting of many passionate practitioners and teachers in New Zealand.

There were many insights that I took home but one in particular keeps resonating with my own experience of life: Yoga is a practice of choosing how best to respond. Often, we are not able to control the people, circumstances, situations, or even the emotions that arise to shape and affect our lives. However, through faith and continued practice, we CAN learn to see clearly with an open mind and heart-- actively choosing HOW best to respond to what arises.

According to the Sutras, yoga is a self-empowering process where we are given the option (and responsibility!) to take charge of our own happiness or suffering. In this model, as Kausthub offered, "life does not happen by chance, it happens by our own choice."

It is easy to suffer from the martyr syndrome, with the insistent "Why Me?" arising in the midst of crisis. I often struggle when I imagine or visualize the "perfect" practice and "perfect" life that I would like to have but look instead at the messiness, imperfection, and inconvenient emotions (indecision, anger, sadness) which might be the reality of my day.

What do you do when situations that arise in your daily life make the living of a spiritually connected life seem a far away dream?

My favorite sutra has always been 1.20 (here without proper Sanskrit pronunciation marks): shraddaviryasmrtisamadhiprajnapurvaka itaresam. According to Desikachar, this translates as, "Through faith, which will give sufficient energy to achieve success against all odds, direction will be maintained. The realization of the goal of Yoga is only a matter of time."

This sutra tells me that the "stuff" of our daily life is not at opposition with our yoga practice. In fact, this "stuff" of our lives becomes our practice! On the mat, we practice virtues like compassion in seated forward bends, courage in urdhva dhanurasana, trust in supta baddha konasana. BUT how more powerful to find the means to practice these same virtues in the midst of LIFE! In trying times with children, conflicts with the boss, or when faced with hurt or betrayal by a loved one.

Pema Chodron writes, "There isn't anything except your own life that can be used as ground for your spiritual practice. Spiritual practice IS your life, twenty-four hours a day."

The beautiful lotus blossoms out from the mud! Beauty arises up and out of the earth with such shape and fragrance and colour that we do not even notice the dirt underneath. Thank you Kausthub for the beautiful metaphor and gentle reminder!

A Path with Heart

I once read that, "we teach best what we most need to know". How often this statement rings true for me this year! How often does it ring for most of us?

Lately life has thrown me quite a few ups and downs. I am besieged by indecision. My emotions have been as dependable and as certain as our local Christchurch weather! And although I try to keep "going with the flow", this practice brings challenges much deeper and more trying than the garden variety handstand!

Looking at a calendar that is already planned through mid-December, I wonder where my year has gone. And, for me, this simple feeling of overwhelm leads to paralysis! I'll admit I am one of those annoying people who sits undecided at a good Thai restaurant...With extensive options and each so tempting, how can you decide which dish is just right? How do I make a sure and definite decision without regret?

Reading Jack Kornfield recently reminds me of something that I often stress to my students. "In undertaking this life, what matters is simple: We must make certain that our path is connected with our heart...Does what we are choosing reflect what we most deeply value?"

Discovering what we really value involves opening ourselves up to our heart with an honest and a genuine willingness to listen. What we hear may fly in the face of accumulated notions of who we think we are and who we think we should be. This honest listening requires real courage and a tender compassion for our own experience of living this life. Again and again, I encourage my students and friends to seek this path and it is one that I also find challenging to walk!

Kornfield shares a story from Don Juan (visionary and teacher of Carlos Castenada): "Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself alone one question. The question is one that only a very old man asks...Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use."

May we all find the courage to choose and walk the path that truly touches and softens our heart.