G to the O to the D

Sometimes things come to you all at once, and when you look behind the surface you can’t help but think the timing is synchronistic.

I was invited to Passover by a yoga student who often comes to my Sunday morning class. It was such an honour for him to invite me in with his family and friends for this important holiday in Judaism. And pretty much around the same time I was also invited to join my good friends to do a Native Sweat. These two things happened to fall on the same weekend. And I couldn’t help but draw a parallel between these two ceremonies I was asked to join in over the same weekend. First the sweat which is a ritual of purification. Timely set two days before I will attend this Passover celebration which will be the 2nd seder (2nd day of celebrating passover).

And even more synchronistic is a recent conversation I was so grateful and excited to have. One of the amazing things about my job working at the Naturopathic Clinic are the conversations that go on behind that shut door. Myself and the other person can either a) say very little and get the job done b) stay pretty light and enjoy some jokes or c) get really heavy into deep philosophical/spiritual/life talks…which surprisingly or not surprisingly happen more often than you might think.

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation that pretty much topped them all, I was reeling from what we had discussed for the whole day, and it made the rest of my day bright and joyful. Yup, a good conversation can send me into fireworks and sunshine mode.

It was with Jay, a young man studying at Rabbatical School in New Jersey. Hi Jay! (if your reading this)….and we got into comparing and discussing yoga philosophy with Judaism, touched on Kabbalah, and discussed the feminine and masculine, the yin and yang, and G to the O to the D. Forget about the food sensitivity test…the conversation was much more compelling- even to Jay.

What did we figure out…that Purusha (masculine energy) in yogic philosophy which is known as the seer, the soul, consciousness, formless, unchanging is basically another word for God. Yes, I kind of knew that before but now comparing the term God with what Jay calls God made it more real to me that in fact we are talking about the same thing here. The same essence that is worshiped, prayed to, the same light to look upon when your in the midst of darkness. Different religions may idolize it, genderize it, name it differently…but we’re ultimately talking about the same thing here.

Prakriti (the feminine) is that which always changes, that which creates. It is matter, nature, the mind, the body…it is the receiver of the Purusha (divine consciousness)…the prakriti needs the purusha to be able to experience life- so in essence the prakriti receives and the purusha gives…actually the way I understand it is that the purusha just is, it isn’t intentionally giving…it simply is there, free and unbound, and the prakriti uses it to have an experience. The purusha doesn’t desire…but it is fireworks and sunshine when the prakriti can reflect purusha’s quality of being free. This is what is termed enlightenment, self-realization, jivamukti, moksha, kaivalyam.

In the same way the ancient eastern cultures describes male and female energies, the giver/the receiver/the do-er/the acceptor etc etc…all relationships have this quality whether gay or straight…two women, two men, a man and a woman…there is often one person who balances the other with the opposite qualities or who takes the masculine giving role or the nurturing feminine role. Another parallel we drew was that of reproduction. The woman’s body creates the baby, and without the woman the sperm would do nothing it would be inert…it is the same with Purusha and Prakriti.

If Purusha or consciousness is a male energy and it is that energy that is liberated and divine than it makes sense that when people refer to God they refer to male…which frankly used to piss me off before I realized this! Thanks Jay! Not only did this help me to not cringe when I hear the word GOD…which has been lessening over the past few years…but when hearing “he” I will understand the origin’s of where that comes from. It does not mean God is a man…or a person, it is the quality of the energy (if you want to think of it that way)…it is relatively masculine, it has relatively masculine qualities to the creative matter which is nature. If you continue to see a man and a women when referring to these energies than I can see how that would cause a mental blockage. A man can have lots of feminine energy and vice versa…it is the quality not the gender!!!

With things lining up as precisely as they could to get the message across to me- I came across this article which further expresses some of the ideas expressed here:

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/04/to-sadie-nardini-please-dont-whitewash-yoga/

It takes effort to be free.

One of the many wonderful gifts of insight that I received studying the Patanjali Yoga Sutra’s at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandaram is the notion that Yoga takes effort.

The experience of yoga which is a moment to moment endeavour…is not something that just slips under our feet and lifts us off into the land of lavender and honey because we want it to…and more especially because we participate in asana classes a few times a week. And another one I grapple with- is that all I have to do is allow, accept and surrender into yoga’s arms. Surrender into focus, attention, presence, balancing softness with action; surrender and accept who I am and who other people are…ahem….but what if I am an asshole? Should I just accept that, and not make any changes?? And what if that friend of mine is out right rude to the waitress and I’m starting to realize we have totally different values? Do I accept, and find within myself a place where I can learn to accept this person and continue to spend time with them?

So, is yoga accepting things as they are, or making changes to have the things that I want?

The experience of yoga is an endeavour towards freedom. So what does it mean to be free……? take a minute and answer that for yourself.

Freedom to me, means to be less bound by the limitations that hold you back from fully being in each moment without the constraints of the past, and expectations of the future. Freedom means that I am not limited to thinking things must be a certain way, and that I am a certain person, who can and can’t do certain things, and that the people around me are a certain way, and I am going to hold them to it, and that I am a certain way and unwilling to adjust who I am in order to bring me more happiness…or better yet adjust my circumstances in order to be happier. Maybe that means letting go of that friend, or that person in your life that doesn’t resonate with who you are anymore. So there is some acceptance, accepting that you cannot change anyone else, and accepting that what once was, doesn’t mean it always will be.

To me freedom is not something I expect to have all of the time….in the words of Robert Birnberg “suffering will come find you, you don’t have to look for it”.

I don’t know about you- but I want more freedom, more of the time!

So indeed yoga is about flexibility….flexibility in the way you see the world and yourself; so you are less bound to all that you rigidly hold onto. All that you have worked so hard to strengthen your identity with. All the colourings with which you see the world. All that you imagined things would be like. Side note: Having a flexible body does not ensure this kind of thinking.

                                                   B.K.S Iyengar.

But it doesn’t hurt to master the limitations you have in your mind about what you can do with your body. And it also helps to make more space in your body, and clear out your mind all at the same time. The more you are focused on the breath during asana, the less you are a thinking head, the more space you have for being free. There are many other reasons why asana is amazing and wonderful…but to merely practice asana even if you are totally focused on the breath, is not going to give you freedom the way using yoga in your everyday interactions especially the one with yourself will.

On effort.

First we must understand what it is that yoga (or any or practice) can do for us. We must understand how it can effect our life. From that comes the desire to want what it has to offer. We need to have faith that the practice of yoga is going to bring us what we want, we then need to make contact with it (touch, taste, smell, feel, breath and listen to how the aspects of yoga interact with us) and here’s the thing- to make contact with our whole heart, with awareness, with our reflective lens- the one that reflects our own image, our own behaviour, our own samskaras (habits)…the willingness to look at ourselves and our role in our interactions, the willingness to see without attachment to our ego, the willingness to let go, and yes there is also a willingness to accept things as they are…a surrender if you will- but there is also the awareness on the adjustments that can be made in order to interact with the world in a way that brings you more freedom…and for most of us that takes some change. Maybe the change is to learn how to accept some things? Accepting your past, and be with things as they are in each moment with awareness, reflect on how things play out and then apply some effort to adjust things- to bring about what you really want for the future. And over and over again…

It’s the same way we adjust ourselves in a posture to find more stability and space in the body.

That’s a lot….the willingness, the desire, the faith, the interaction with yoga takes effort. It is an on going practice, and we will fall from yoga’s grace over and over again, from the grace of being free. And as Patanjali so precisely spoke about- yoga is meant to be done with correct effort (positive attitude, enthusiasm, for a long time, and uninterrupted)….the uninterrupted part simply means that if you shall fall away from yoga’s grace, keep making your way back with enthusiasm….(if you indeed know that it is the path for you), yoga’s path will be waiting for you, and is willing to take you back over and over again.

The path is being able to discern when to let go and accept and when to make adjustments towards change.