Category Archives: Live Your Yoga

Remember to Remember

In our recent studies, we’re delving into aphorism 1.20 from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra. In a previous essay, we considered the first two listed qualities: śraddhā/faith and vīrya/strength or energy. The third listed quality is smṛti, variously translated as memory, remembering, or even mindfulness. This always reminds me (I remember!) of something Krishna Das said: remember to remember. I suspect he was talking about remembering the Highest, the Divine, the beloved, always and all ways.

One very concrete interpretation of smṛti is to remember the lessons you’ve learned in your life. This may be a recollection, but it also could be an active inquiry into your history to discern the connection between your actions and the outcomes in your life. First off, we don’t want to continue making the same mistakes. When we encounter some situation we have previous experience with, we bring to bear all we’ve learned about what type of action will bring about the highest in a given situation.

This is related to the concept of sambandha, which is the ability to see the relationship, to connect the dots between one thing and another. Especially important is remembering what takes us further along the path of yoga, understanding what actions on our part keep us most aligned with our Heartself. We must identify how our practice of yoga impacts our life, remember that connection between our practices and the unfolding of our life. This will feed back into the faith/śraddhā and energy/vīrya to do our practices, and to generally affirm we are continuing to move forward in an aligned way.

Another interpretation of smṛti that I see in the commentaries concerns recalling the calm, loving, and luminous states we experience during practice. This relates to the concept of vyutthāna, mentioned by Kṣemarāja in the Pratyabhijñā-hṛdayam (e.g., PH 19). This is a practice done as one is emerging from practice, like when getting up from śavāsana and sitting quietly for a moment to remember and imprint the state of sattva/luminosity the practice brings. Then one’s life can be uplifted by actively recalling that state later during daily life on a moment by moment basis.

Which brings us back around to remembering the Highest in each moment, being mindful of the dynamics of each situation and instead of reacting from some habitual behavioral pattern, remembering your heart, remembering you have some freedom of choice, remembering previous lessons and consciously choosing to move from the highest possible place. And remember to remember.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

Contemplate and write about smṛti.

What are all the ways you think about smṛti? How can they be applied to your life?

What connection/sambandha do you see between your practice of yoga, and living your householder life?

How is smṛti related to śraddhā and vīrya?

FAITH AND STRENGTH

One of my favorite sūtras from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra relates to yogic qualities associated with the path of yoga. You can think of these as virtues that naturally emerge as we move further along the path, and/or as qualities to consciously cultivate as part of your practice.

YS 1.20 śraddhā-vīrya-smṛti-samādhi-prajña-pūrvaka itareṣāṃ
śraddhā: faith
vīrya: vigor, energy, strength
smṛti: memory, mindfulness
samādhi: meditative absorption
prajña: wisdom, insight
pūrvaka: preceded or accompanied by
itareṣāṃ: for others
For others [the state of yoga] is accompanied by faith, strength, memory, samadhi and wisdom.

For starters let’s consider the first two qualities. First listed is śraddhā/faith. What does faith mean? You may want to take a moment to contemplate that question.

Sometimes faith gets a bad rap because it can be seen as a blind religiosity. I think of it as faith in the process and your path, in the teachings and your teachers. This includes faith in yourself, that you will progress on the path, expanding awareness and understanding. And as well, faith can mean sensing that everything will work out. I know that sounds rather Pollyanna-ish, but it’s a sense that even when things are really hard, you will learn something from it, refine your understanding, and get through it.

I remember once I was at a big workshop with my teaching colleagues. My main teacher at the time asked in front of everyone: “Cindy Lusk, what is the first sūtra of the Yoga Sūtra?”, which I answered correctly. The teacher proceeded to point out how I hadn’t freaked out when he put me on the spot, and just called forth the answer in a calm way.

Then the next day, he said, “Cindy Lusk, what is Yoga Sūtra 1.20?” And…I freaked! It is so ironic because the very first word of this sutra is śraddhā/faith, but when I freaked out, I lost faith that the answer would come if I paused to remember. Yet, even though it was embarrassing in the moment, I will never forget this sūtra again.

The second quality listed in this sūtra is vīrya, energy or strength. One way to think about this is as the energy we bring to the practices, be they meditation, āsana, or svādhyāya/study. But as well it involves sticking with it through the challenging times, through the boring times, through the times when we just don’t want to do it. Vīrya is the energy to start, and just keep it going, whether the experience is easeful or challenging.

Vīrya reminds me that there is work to be done. This may entail a summoning of inner resources to start shifting non-aligned patterns in order to manifest refinement in its many forms: healing, growth, change, and transformation. At times we can get stuck in situations be they physical, mental, or matters of the heart, and it takes strength and courage to choose to shift.

These two qualities of faith and strength interact and feed each other. As we have śraddhā/faith in the wisdom of the teachings as guidance for our actions, vīrya/courage arises that provides energy for those actions, and as we see the efficacy of the aligned action, we have more faith. And this is why I continue to study the teachings of yoga again and again, deepening my understanding, my faith, and my courage to manifest them in my life on a daily basis.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

How have you experienced the qualities of śraddhā and vīrya manifesting in your life?

Are you inclined to one more than the other? How is that working?

What helps them manifest?

Now let us study the teachings of yoga

YS 1.1 atha yoga-anuśāsanam
atha: now
yoga: yoga (from the verbal root yuj “to yoke or join”); union
anuśāsanam: teachings, instruction, exposition

Now let us study the teachings of yoga.

The very first sūtra of the Yoga Sūtra literally means “Now the teachings of yoga.” We invoke this sūtra now (atha) at the beginning of our studies together (anuśāsanam). The overall feeling I get from this sūtra is of a threshold, an invitation into the teachings of yoga. It implies that something in the past has led you here, now. And that from “now” the future will unfold. All times—past, present, and future—are folding into the now. Every moment is at least in part a result of the past and will affect each moment that unfolds into the future. So we begin now, knowing there is a vast history that has led us here, and there is a lot to yet unfold.

One perspective on this sūtra is that you are ready now. Maybe yesterday you weren’t ready, but now somehow you are, the prerequisites have been met. Something has brought you this far; otherwise, why would you be reading this right now? And there’s a sense of urgency: Today, not tomorrow. Don’t put it off any longer.

The “now” in this sūtra can indicate that each moment is an opportunity for yoga. Each moment contains a choice that will affect the later unfolding of life. In each moment we can bring to bear a heightened awareness that is a result of our yoga practice.

The second word of this aphorism, anuśāsanam, is usually translated as “instruction” or “teaching.” With this word, Patañjali is announcing that these teachings are part of a long, continuous lineage that he is bringing together in this text of the Yoga Sūtra. It also indicates that many subsequent teachings will flow from this text.

The Sanskrit prefix anu is akin to the English prefix “co-,” meaning “together.” There’s a sense that these teachings are meant to be studied with others, alongside a teacher at least. They weren’t originally intended to be read independently, as we might do today, and that’s one of the reasons it can be so difficult to understand these ancient texts.

And what about that word yoga? In the fullness of the text, Patañjali gives a wide variety of definitions and techniques, including a three-fold path of kriyā-yoga and the famous eight-fold path of aṣṭāṅga–yoga. This is one of the important teachings for us as yoga practitioners: There are many yogas. They are outlined in the Yoga Sūtra, the Bhagavad Gītā, the Upaniṣads, the Tantras, and many other places.

It would be nice to have one clear definition and path of yoga with a beginning, middle, and end. But this is not the case with these teachings. They are not novels or stories. The yogic teachings contained in texts and myths are road maps, pointing in a direction and indicating the landmarks along the way. But as the saying goes, the map is not the territory. And our experience of that territory is heavily influenced by what we bring on the journey: our previous experiences and knowledge.

Each of us has our own trajectory, and it is important to pay attention to that. You are invited to contemplate your journey and what has led to this moment.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

Consider your own journey into yoga and meditation—or into spirituality in general. Consider everything from your childhood until now.

• How has it unfolded?

• What have been the significant events?

• What has your path looked like?

• Who or what have been your teachers?

What is your definition of yoga?

Contemplate this aphorism and write about your own perspective on commencing the study of yoga.

VIGHNEŚVARA

Many of us are familiar with the popular Hindu deity known as Gaṇeśa, Gaṇapati, Vighneśvara, and many other names. This last listed indicates his popularity as the remover of obstacles, as vigna means obstacle. I learned this initially one day long ago in India when I saw a bunch of kids mobbing a Gaṇeśa shrine at which I’d seen little prior activity. I asked what was going on and someone said “Oh, it is exam time and the children are asking for Gaṇeśa’s blessings.”

There are many stories around Gaṇeśa, and like so many teachings there are more internal and external ways to consider and apply the them. Gaṇeśa is more externally summoned as one who removes obstacles, and aids in transitions and beginnings. For example, he often stands at the threshold of temples and homes, and is invoked at the beginning of dance and music performances.

But internally you can think of Gaṇeśa as that quality of consciousness that allows you to negotiate all the obstacles, beginnings, and transitions in your life. Life is always about transitions, and obstacles are common, so we need the wherewithal to address them gracefully. Gaṇeśa represents that quality of consciousness we can call upon for support in doing so.

Yoga is a lot of different things to different people. I teach and practice yoga intended for householders, not renunciates. It is for those of us who live in the world fully, rather than being sequestered in a monastery or ashram. And Gaṇeśa is particularly important for householders, because quite frankly we are much more likely to encounter challenges and transitions out in the world than if sequestered.

To access our inner Gaṇeśa, we have to connect to our very own Self, our essence, however you name it. Our practices of yoga, especially meditation, are the means to move our awareness inward to our deepest heart, where the seeds of all our capacities reside. As we nurture our ground of being through practice, we create the conditions internally from which all the aspects of Consciousness sprout, including Vighneśvara, the Lord of Obstacles.

He is the Lord OF Obstacles, not just the remover, because there are often aspects of our selves and of our lives that we just have to deal with, move through rather than avoid. So in many senses we need to experience these obstacles, and do what we need to remove them, in order to move forward in our lives and practice.

Gaṇeśa is part of you, this capacity to meet every challenge is already within you. We need only to connect and unleash it to gain access. Creating that connection is what yoga and meditation is all about.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE

How do you approach challenging situations in your life?

Do you wish challenges would just go away? Can you think of occasions when a challenge seemed necessary for your growth?

What obstacles, challenges, thresholds, beginnings, or transitions are you currently facing?

How do you most gracefully negotiate obstacles in your life, both internally and externally?

Practice: Repeat or chant aloud Oṃ gaṃ gaṇapataye namaḥ. (Various versions of this chant can be found on the internet, which will help with the pronunciation.)

Rebirth in This Lifetime

Easter and spring have me thinking about rebirth, and it brought to mind one of my favorite verses from the Bhagavad Gita:

Just as a person discards worn out garments and dons new ones, likewise the soul    discards a worn out body and enters a new one. (BG 2.22)

Literally, this teaching is about the Hindu belief in reincarnation, and how our essence, our soul, is not lost when one dies, but is reborn, depending on the nature of our karma.

The reason I love this verse so much is because it seems relevant to our journey in a given lifetime. Our lives have many phases, twists and turns, and often we find ourselves outgrowing worn out garments, and other stuff in our life. This includes not only material stuff, but worn out habits, old grudges, roles, or ways of being in the world that no longer serve us. We don new garments, new ways of being which better fit a different identity and who we now want to be.

This happens quite naturally as we move along the path of yoga, although we might not notice. The process of meditation in particular, cleans out all that blocks our access to our hearts, and we find ourselves releasing old ways of being that led to suffering or are otherwise harmful to ourselves and/or others, in favor of the yogic qualities so often mentioned in the texts. And, especially as we grow older, we feel more compelled to do our duty, our dharma, what we need to do to create a righteous world.

Sometimes we must intentionally access qualities such as will, creativity, and freedom to mindfully and consciously put on a new outfit. For example, recently I replied to someone seeking teachers and healers to be on a podcast and I volunteered a perspective from yoga and meditation. When they reached out for a meeting, I immediately freaked out. I donned the old familiar clothing of fear, insecurity, and worry.

I had to step back and remind myself that this is exactly what I want to be doing now. I am an elder in the community who has a lot to share. I remembered a teaching from one of my teachers: be your future self, be the person you want to become. And I said to myself: Wrap yourself in a robe of knowing that within you, from years of study and practice, is knowledge important to share, and allow that to stream out. Be a conduit for the Highest.

REFLECT AND EXPLORE:

How have you found yourself changing your “clothing” as you’ve moved along your path? What have you released? What is the nature of that new clothing?

Have there been times, like in my example, when you’ve had to consciously release old tight clothing in favor of something that better fits the person you want to become?

What qualities of being must you consciously invoke to be the person you want to become?

Seeing the Highest

During a recent at-home retreat, I opened my eyes after meditating and saw a fabulous golden sunrise. A candle was flickering on my altar and everything was bathed with an exquisite golden light. The whole scene was filled with both peace and a vibrating luminosity. I grabbed my phone to take a photo, but was disappointed in what I was able to capture of the moment.

This has happened to me repeatedly recently, especially out in nature, moments when I can readily see and feel the shakti-filled vibrancy, the tejas, the shining brilliant beauty. And I try to capture it in a photo, but it generally falls short. Perhaps my camera isn’t the best, or my photography skills are lacking. But as well, the camera can never capture what we can see from the deeper awareness of our Heartself.

You may have had at least glimpses of this experience as well. Many of us are overwhelmed by the beauty and vibrancy in nature. Or when we look at a beloved, a partner, child, parent, teacher or pet we may be able to see their inner beauty. Or when we experience a piece of art or music, we may be filled with awe. It is due to our hearts being open and connected. Personally, I yearn for this to be my everyday reality. And I know the increasing experiences I’m having of this is a result of my meditation practice.

When we do our internal practices, like meditation, we clarify our whole being so that we come to a place beyond the everyday thoughts (and in my world today, a lot of agitation), to rest in a place of quiet calm clarity. Then we quite naturally begin to see in an unobstructed way from that place of increased awareness. In the nondual philosophy, it is said that everything is a manifestation of the one still, yet pulsating, energy of Consciousness. And as we move along our path of practice, our ability to actually experience our external world as such increases.

According to tradition, this increasing ability results quite naturally from our internal practices. And it is something we can actively cultivate. For example, in the Pratyabhijñā-hṛdayam, Kṣemarāja outlines the process of vyutthāna, a slow emergence from a meditative state. We can revel in this increased state of awareness, and continue the heightened perception as we move into our world.

On a very practical level, whenever we emerge from the resting pose shavasana, we can pause with a more gradual emergence to experience this heightened and calmer state, and remind ourselves this place is always available and we can cultivate it in any moment. As we move deeper in our practices, our ability to see the highest in each and every thing in our world increases.

It is my greatest hope that we can all begin to interact with our world from this perception of connectedness. As more and more of us do this, we can begin to shift the energy around us, bringing more of the higher qualities of being into the world.

DHARMA and SVADHARMA

(this is an excerpt from my upcoming book)

You may know that the first word of any text is said to be of special significance and reflects the highest first. In the case of the Bhagavad Gītā, the first phrase is “dharmakṣetre,” the “field of dharma,” referring to the field on which the battle is taking place. It represents our lives in its many levels and domains, where all the challenges we face in the course of a lifetime play out. So in a sense, the entire conversation between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna is about how to live our dharma in all the many facets of our lives.

“Dharma” is often translated as “sacred duty, law, or righteousness.” It comes from the verbal root “dhṛ:” “to hold, make firm, nurture and sustain.” Dharma can be thought of as that which sustains or holds things together. It also carries connotations of ethics, justice, goodness, and virtue. There is really no one great English word that captures the nuance of the concept of dharma.

“Kṣetra” literally means “field.” At the level of your individuality, this can be thought of as your field of awareness. So dharma-kṣetra is your individual consciousness, it is where we grapple with our dharma, which is exactly what Arjuna is doing in the Bhagavad Gītā, with the help of Kṛṣṇa. On the battlefield are two opposing sides, one of which is considered more righteous, or dharmic, than the other. The war has come about in order to restore dharma/righteousness. And metaphorically we have parts of ourselves struggling with what is dharmic in our many life situations.

We can also think of the field in a larger way, as any domain in which we operate, where we live our lives. This could be our family, our spiritual community, our professional field, or society at large. This concept, in particular, applies not only to our individual lives but also to upholding and nurturing society as a whole. Dharma is what sustains society. It is that which is uplifting and leads to the greatest collective good. The Bhagavad Gītā challenges us, from its very beginning, to consider deeply how our actions align with righteousness, and how we uphold righteousness in a misaligned world.

Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa are standing on the field of dharma, and metaphorically, these characters are two parts of ourselves, and the field is the inner topography of our consciousness. Arjuna is experiencing a battle within himself, trying to understand what his duty is, what will hold things together, create alignment and serve the highest. And for each of us, as embodied beings, the whole world is our dharma-kṣetra, the field on which we discover and enact our dharma, minute-by-minute, day-by-day, year-by-year.

During their conversation in the Bhagavad Gītā, Kṛṣṇa refers to Arjuna’s “svadharma.” “Sva” means “self,” so svadharma is your own particular dharma. Your own duty. In more modern times, svadharma has been described as your purpose. What are you here to do to create greater alignment within yourself and in the world? How are you helping to hold things together?

Kṛṣṇa reminds Arjuna that his svadharma is that of a warrior (e.g., 2.31, 2.33). In the context of this story, Arjuna’s dharma is to uphold righteousness in society through his actions as a warrior. The whole premise of the Bhagavad Gītā is Arjuna questioning this, as he is not happy about facing an opposing army comprised of people he is connected with. But the concept of dharma dictates that upholding society requires him to do his duty as a warrior.

He has received a great deal of privilege, being part of a lineage of nobility, but with it comes certain responsibilities. Yet he must make it truly his own, so he is not doing what someone else thinks is his dharma. In the course of the conversation, Arjuna is coming to understand his sva-dharma, his own dharma.

In many societies, even today, there are fairly strict roles, so this teaching could be challenged when it is taken to oppress or “keep people in their place.” For example, women in societies where their role is traditionally restricted, are extremely challenged to live their own dharma. They may have to confront societal prescriptions to enact what is truly their svadharma, in terms of what is more nurturing and sustainable.

Our modern society seems to have so much freedom, so many options, that it can be overwhelming to understand what is most dharmic. That’s why the yogic practices are so important for us in our modern lives, to connect to our essence as a guide, our Kṛṣṇa self, so we can each discover our gifts and become clear on what is dharmic in each situation and our lifetime as a whole.

Dharma operates on all levels of our life simultaneously. Throughout the text of the Bhagavad Gītā, we learn that yoga is not about becoming a renunciate, withdrawing from our familial and societal duties and responsibilities. Instead, dharma is about being actively present to the opportunities life presents for sustaining the world, for upholding dharma in society and nature, as well as in our inner growth, what nurtures us individually, and what connects us to our highest purpose.

In his commentary on the first verse of the Bhagavad Gītā, the great Tantric sage Abhinavagupta cites a text that says the highest dharma consists of the realization of the Self by means of yoga. Abhinavagupta is saying that to be dharmic we start with one’s self, refining ourselves through our practice of yoga, which aligns us with the highest. Then we spontaneously are pulled to create alignment on societal and global levels. Because when we do our practices and begin to realize our Heartself, our essence, we begin to see the connection of all things, and quite naturally our actions begin to unfold in a way that reflects dharma in all of our activities.

As Kṛṣṇa reminds us throughout the text, each of our actions is an opportunity to assert dharma. Sometimes it is fulfilling the duty of one of our roles in life, be it, for example, warrior, teacher, spouse, parent, etc. Sometimes it is about making the best choice in a challenging situation, which perhaps we would prefer to avoid altogether. Sometimes it is about remembering what we uniquely have to offer in a given situation, our own dharma/svadharma. And as Abhinavagupta reminds us, sometimes dharma is about doing what aligns us with our highest Self.

As Kṛṣṇa makes clear, ultimately to create dharma in the world, we must act. We must consider how every decision, every action contributes toward sustaining the righteous integrity of our connection with our innermost selves. And as well our actions should help sustain and hold together our society and the planet in the highest possible way.

CONTEMPLATE, PRACTICE, and JOURNAL:

Contemplate the idea of dharma on its many levels. Consider your duty in society, to your individual self, and to your highest self. Think of experiences/examples when you faced a conflict like Arjuna wherein your individual desires conflict with what is best for society. What does dharma mean in these different contexts?

Consider dharma as what holds things together. How does this relate to your yoga practices, especially meditation?

What do you make of the term “svadharma”? What does it mean for you?

Keeping in mind your definition of dharma, how is it reflected (or not) in your actions? For some period of time, mindfully consider whether each of your actions is dharmic.

IS JUDGMENT A BAD THING?

Something I hear quite often from yogis in various contexts is: don’t be so judgmental. This is something that has some level of truth, but is used inappropriately most times. Our ability to make judgments is a human gift. We are always making judgments, probably due to an evolutionary impulse to evaluate whether something in your environment is going to eat you, or it is something you’d like to eat. If you look closely, we are always scanning the environment and making flash judgments about safety and threat. This expands to judgement of good and bad, the value of things, and ultimately aids us in making decisions.

So from this perspective, judgment is useful for us, we need it to function in our world. We need to judge whether the skillet is too hot to handle, some food is spoiled, or a workshop will be of benefit. And broadening the concept, viveka, or discernment, is highly valued in the yoga tradition. Our increased ability to be discerning is one hallmark of our progress on the path of yoga.

We use our judgment to discern what is problematic, bad, or unacceptable in our surface world. Often I’m told I shouldn’t judge other people, but shouldn’t we use our judgment to evaluate whether their words or actions are uplifting, true, useful and good, or false or detrimental, and therefore bad? In general, we need to set boundaries around words and actions that are harmful, untruthful, and mostly damaging.

However, we can still hold equanimity and non-judgment toward the essence of a person. This is one of the great paradoxes of yoga: to be able to clearly discern and draw boundaries around bad behavior, yet continue to remain even-minded toward the person. The teachings around upeksha/equanimity remind us to keep a bigger view, a larger perspective.

This is by no means easy! It is our human tendency to quickly judge something as good, and attach to it, as well as judge things as bad and push them away. These are in fact two of the kleshas/hinderances outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutra. Working with the subtleties of this paradox requires practice. And as we move along the path of yoga, our ability to be discerning is increased as we connect and align with the highest and refine our awareness.

HONORING MY TEACHERS

I have been blessed to have some of the greatest living teachers lead me on the path of yoga, and without them I would not be who I am today. As I describe them, you will see how they each contributed to my journey. In their own way, each initiated me into some aspect of yoga, educated me, and supported me personally and professionally. I have so much gratitude for them and strive to honor them in my own behavior and teaching. They are listed in chronological order

Richard Freeman taught me the art and science of body as mudra: to listen and move with the pulsation of breath, to channel energy with bandha, the focus of drishti, and dedicated practice. He supported me as I became a new teacher, allowing me to teach classes at his studio. He also whetted my thirst for yoga philosophy and again supported my first attempts at teaching that. I am so grateful for these gifts and many others Richard bestowed.

John Friend gave me back my yoga asana practice which was threatened by physical injury. He showed me how to align my body to be pain free, introduced me to the profound practice of opening to grace and the tantric philosophy that everything is a manifestation of the divine. He consistently challenged me physically, emotionally, and spiritually to soften, connect with source, and become a vehicle for divine light. John taught me how to be an excellent yoga teacher and bolstered a well-rounded studentship, and these two gifts serve me well to this day and have allowed me to build a career doing what I truly love.

Douglas Brooks ignited in me a profound love of the deep teachings of yoga through its stories, culture, and philosophy. His particular interpretation of yoga philosophy turned my world upside down in a way that taught me a radical affirmation for and appreciation of the many gifts the divine is offering me in this life. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of something I’ve learned from Douglas, his teachings have had a profound effect on me, my life, and my own teaching and I am forever grateful our paths came together.

My studies with Paul Muller-Orgega fulfilled a call of my heart which was clearly clamoring for something more, and produced a more expansive shift in my being than I thought possible. In a word the greatest gift he has given me: sadhana. He taught me effective techniques, the value of a regular meditation practice, and self-sufficiency, the result of which has been a profound realignment in the core of my being with the supreme pulsations of the highest. This guides me daily and allows me to serve as a teacher in a more effective way than I ever thought possible. Paul fed my appetite for a systematic understanding of yoga philosophy, particularly the Tantras, but as well honoring Patanjali’s teachings about meditation. And Paul bestowed upon me the gift of becoming a meditation teacher, allowing me to serve in an even greater capacity. The work I am doing with Paul feels like the crowning jewel of 35+ years of yoga study and practice, and I look forward to much more.

I must acknowledge Christopher Wallis, whose brilliant book “Tantra Illuminated” helped clarify many philosophical concepts. In addition, his translations of the traditional texts have been incredibly useful to me personally, and they are upleveling the availability of the teachings of Tantra into a world that desperately needs them.

From these teachers I repeatedly heard an honoring of their own teachers, a remembrance of those who helped them on their own paths. So, finally, I would like to honor with a deep bow, the great lineage of teachers, all those who have held the teachings, kept the practices alive, and passed them on for the benefit of all beings.

I applaud the many scholars coming forth to provide translations of texts that have been languishing in homes and libraries. Each is a gift, and I am so grateful for the translations that are coming forth, including from those I mentioned above.

From my teachers and the teachings, I’ve heard a deep respect for the manifest and unmanifest divine and have received the call to attune, again and again, to That which is the ultimate teacher, That which flows through all teachers in service of the greatest Truth. With the help of our teachers, may we all find and align with the highest which serves to empower and support us.

Freedom

Let’s take a moment to remember a fundamental teaching from the tradition: Consciousness in her freedom brings about everything in the universe (Pratyabijna Hridayam 1), and let’s focus on the second word of this aphorism: svatantrya. Usually translated as “freedom,” but remember the prefix “sva” means self, and “tantra” can mean loom, so another interpretation of this word is “self-looming.”

The tradition provides teachings on the various ways the highest Consciousness becomes concealed as we manifest as individuals, including the samskaras, all those latent impressions stored inside each of us that serve as activators of our thoughts and behavior. These samskaras can be negative habit patterns that lead us into suffering. And our practice of yoga, particularly meditation, attenuates those negative samskaras while at the same time laying down more positive samskaras. Our practice allows us greater access to the highest within us, which serves as a guide, if we listen.

As we loosen ourselves from the bonds of our samskaric patterning through our practice of yoga, we are better able to enact svatantrya, freedom. We are better able to consciously loom the fabric of our lives. Our journey of yoga yields the freedom to pause and make conscious what was previously unconscious. We gain what my teacher Paul Muller-Ortega calls “the ledge of freedom,” a resting place on our journey where we can pause and consciously choose our next step.

This is the pause that Arjuna takes at the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, when he asks his charioteer Krishna to bring their chariot into the middle of the battlefield to consider the most prudent course of action. Instead of galloping automatically into battle, Arjuna pauses to ask questions of his highest Self, and he listens carefully to the answers. In this way he then mindfully chooses the highest course of action.

Continuing to enact our samskaric patterns without pause, without reference to the highest, demonstrates a lack of freedom. Often we think we are behaving freely when in fact we are slaves to our habit patterns. We are simply doing what we’ve always done without even considering our options. We have so many opportunities to exercise our freedom that we aren’t even aware of. Our meditation practice supports us in breaking these habitual patterns, allowing us instead to pause and understand we have another choice that may be more optimal.

We are seeing this play out in the COVID-19 pandemic in ways both small and large. Our habitual patterns of behavior have been brought to a halt. Our choices are limited. We are forced into being more mindful.

For example, on a small scale, we’ve had to pay attention to our hands: how we wash them and what we touch. This is an exercise in seeing how mindlessly we have done these things in the past.

We are seeing how our habitual ways of thinking, our general mindsets are being activated with regard to how think about the whole situation. Do we tend toward fear, blame, paranoia, kindness, compassion, depression? As our lives are stripped down, we have the opportunity to look at these patterns and out of our freedom choose how to be. Or we can unconsciously allow the old patterns to dominate and reiterate.

We yearn to go back to “normal,” which essentially means we want to enact our old behavioral patterns. That may not necessarily be bad, but we now have the opportunity, in this moment, to pause in the middle of our battlefield and evaluate whether “normal” is actually the highest way of being for everyone involved. Is there a better choice when we pause, listen to our higher self, and think about it? We have the freedom to choose to do something different.

For me, this ability to take this pause, listen, and envision different options has broadened as I’ve become a regular practitioner of meditation. Honestly it has surprised me to observe my ability to more readily watch an impulse arise, pause to consider whether I want to enact it, and make a conscious choice.

Perhaps freedom isn’t about our ability to do or enact anything without recourse. Ultimately this can lead to bondage on so many levels. Instead, I think of freedom as being free of the bonds of unconscious patterns, and acting out of a conscious consideration of what is the highest action in any given situation.

CONTEMPLATE AND PRACTICE

To what degree do you feel free? Consider your thoughts, feelings, and actions.

What inhibits you from feeling free?

What encourages a feeling of freedom?

Are there circumstances in which you limit your freedom of choice and/or expression?

Observe yourself as you negotiate the COVID-19 circumstances. What is it teaching you about freedom?