Off the Beaten Path

In our anatomy physiology class that is part of our therapy training program, Dr. Prasad was talking about changing neural pathways - moving from unconscious incompetent to conscious incompetent to conscious competent to unconscious competent. How wonderful I thought! This is how yoga practice helps us replace old unhealthy habit patterns (Samskara) with new healthy ones. Every neural pathway is essentially a habit, and the more our prang flows through a specific path, the more it deepens the groove, until we get trapped in it, sometimes for eternity! And each one of us develop our own unique combination of such patterns that defines who we are.

For us to change our conditioning - the unwholesome, bothersome habit patterns, we have to go through this process of consciously engaging the energy into a direction that is positive and healthy. Initially, we experience incompetence in sticking to the new pattern (of thought/action/behaviour) and may even slacken and fall back into the old groove. But as we continue to practice this new path, the pram begins to flow more effortlessly and a new groove is created that is tar more efficient and wholesome. Then again, this can become unconscious. When we later recognize a need for change, again the work begins, afresh! This is the story of our life, in all dimensions of our existence!

 And, in this process of conscious change, weds have concerns at each stage.

Firstly, what Is that I want to change? What is giving me constant pain? What about my present reality is causing me discomfort?

Identify these unwholesome patterns and list them out:

Underline the most dominant and bothersome ones in red.

How do these habits affect you in your daily life?

How do you treat yourself or others when this dominates?

How do you treat the world in general?

Am l willing to change?

 Time to consider if you are ready to change this. Let go of the old, well trodden path and explore a new one...

Ask yourself, Am I really ready to let go of this pattern?

You will be surprised to know that very often we are not ready to let go, so this step is important.

Explore the existing path

Before attempting to change the pattern, we try to understand the nature of this old pattern, how it has evolved and what is holding it in place. This understanding can stabilize your mind and help you find strength and clarity to take on the new direction.

Let us say, I am getting disturbed by one particular person - triggered just by the presence of this person. Sometimes all it takes is hearing their name or seeing somebody who resembles that person, causing much tension and unrest. The uncanny ability for the mind to be drawn to specific sensory inputs in the presence of many stimuli, how some people bother us more than others all the time, how we choose to be drawn to or repelled by them more than others in a group?

What is the process of these thoughts? What is the pathway they are taking? What are the past memories - in relation to that person - that are being picked up as the thoughts gather strength and momentum? What are the other judgements, beliefs and past hurts that are being activated in this process? You see how it works? It becomes impossible to isolate the single present experience (of what somebody said or did) from this torrential outburst of reactions. We feel helpless and trapped. It is as if the other person has control over our happiness and peace of mind.

By awareness we are able to observe the whole process. Also being aware of the tendency to get caught up... and learn to step back carefully so as to not disturb the equilibrium of the mind. With practice, this can be done very efficiently.

Insightful understanding

Once we are able to stabilize the mind, it can offer a deeper insight into the nature of the existing pattern. Through this insight, a conscious competent pattern can be created. We may choose to drop the trigger, not react or learn to hold our judgements lightly. And with some consistent effort and discernment, this new pattern can become our second nature - unconscious competent!

One path serves all…

And since it is not humanly possible for us to identify all our negative patterns and replace them, Pataniali says, cultivate just one pattern - nirodha samskara (YS 3.9), a state of mind that is stable and equanimous that is capable of pure non-judgemental awareness. When such stability is established and strengthened, it binds down all the unwholesome patterns and renders them ineffective. This is the purpose of daily meditation.

"You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes everyday - unless you are too busy, then you should sit for an hour." - Old Zen Adage

Best wishes,

Saras

Journey without Reason

How much have you understood your spouse/partner or close friend? Do you really know? We believe we know the person quite well. But often their action or reaction takes us by surprise. All along, we think we are connecting with the other person, but we are only connecting with our idea, with our projections of them. This is because like everything else about life, we are satisfied with connecting with the gross, that part of reality that reasoning can touch.  Beyond the realm of reasoning, how much do we know? Even about ourselves?

In exploring the nature of reality, Patanjali offers a simple but powerful process:

Vitarka Vicara Ananda Asmitarupa Anugamat Samprajnatah (YS 1.17)

The steps towards attaining Samprajnata Samadhi: moving from the gross through reasoning (vitarka) to the subtle through deeper enquiry (vicara) to the experience of bliss (ananda) and finally to the state of .'I am that' (asmitarupa)”

Whatever I seek to understand in life often is limited to the extent of vitarka. I begin with engaging with the gross aspect of a reality - that which is tangible and measurable, that which always has a reference point for comparison, where there is scope for endless arguments. Since I have not had the courage to let go of the reasoning mind in order to explore the subtle dimensions, I am left impoverished and limited! Vicara - deeper reflection and enquiry, if sustained, leads to the experience of pure joy (Aananda). This engagement and the wisdom that arises from it has the power to transform me, I become that.

If we were to apply this idea in our daily practice of Asana & Pranayama:

Explore what occupies our mind during practice. Do we dwell on the length or intensity of practice? On how we can stretch or bend the body? On the calories we are burning or how good we look in front of the mirror? Are we attached to a particular technique or ratio in pranayama, is our ego identified with how long we can hold the breath in practice?

Have we ventured beyond the known, tangible, measurable dimensions of practice? Have we experienced a posture and understood anything about the body that we did not know before? In that moment of understanding, did we have a glimpse of the joy and have we been able to integrate this new wisdom, has this experience changed something significant about us?

Try this next time on your mat:

Let go of your obsession with form and techniques.

Breathe in and out gently, navigating  your attention through the body.

Drop all thoughts, all judgements, coming back to the body awareness and the breath, again and again...

Become the posture.

Listen with your whole being.

If we were to bring this exercise into our relationships that we struggle with all the time:

Is it possible to go beyond the polarities of the ego-mind and experience something, even for a short while from a more subtle, deeper location?

Can we connect with that part of the other person beyond the gross, beyond what the rational mind can grasp?

Can we choose to move into the uncharted pathways of the heart?

In silence, listening carefully, observing without judgment, touching the most subtle, staying with the feelings?

What happens when the mind penetrates the layers of conflict to touch the essence of our being? There is an experience of pure joy (Ananda), the bliss that pervades our whole being. Have you experienced this joy with nature, even if momentarily? With your pet? With your little ones? With music or any form of art?

Then why  can't we touch the subtle in some of our daily activities, our crucial relationships? With people who matter, we genuinely care for? Why are we not able to sustain this depth of feeling and experience?

Even a glimpse of such an experience can re-configure our identity, our sense of self. Maybe the relationship will never be the same again, maybe there will emerge an opportunity for freshness and beauty.

Maybe this deeper change will help us view the world differently, relate to people and experiences differently. Maybe, we will then be less swayed by our attachments, aversions and fear.  

Try this once in a while...

Choose one relationship in your life (which is important but not too difficult to begin with).

When you speak, speak your truth with great care and compassion.

Listen and observe with a quiet mind, beyond the apparent words spoken, beyond the emotions, gestures...

Recognize judgements and gently drop them, before they can settle down in your mind.

Defer reactions, at least for the time being

Be sensitive, stay, just be...

Can you feel what they maybe feeling?

A gentle touch, a caring smile, an expansive silence that can embrace the other, as they are, without any reservations.

Letting our ego drop for the moment.

Observe how you feel...

A very important question arises: “How can we do this with somebody who cannot understand or relate to all this?”

Well... Welcome back to Vitarka!

“Now here is my secret, very simply: you can only see things clearly with your heart.

What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Best wishes,

Saras

The looking glass called sattva

As the New Year approaches, we are busy preparing for holiday time, clearing up work, making plans for 2013 ...

This year has been quite intense for me, and I assume it is so for many people.

Is that true?

It is really interesting, as I write this, I realise how easily and comfortably we make assumptions. And how obstinately we act on our assumptions. The nature of the mind to hook on to a certain perspective of reality and base all its actions and experiences on this perspective. How much we suffer, how insensitive we are of somebody's suffering (because we have not seen it or experienced what they have been through), how careless we are with our opinions and judgments. Whatever efforts I make, I cannot completely understand and grasp your reality, your experience, your feelings and emotions. I can say “I understand how you feel”, we always say that but we really cannot! Either we don’t know that we don’t really understand or most often we are lying to please/comfort.

In the fourth chapter of the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali presents a very beautiful sutra :
Vastu Saamye Citta Bhedhaat Tayah Vibhakthah Panthaah (YS 4.15)

Meaning, the object being the same, because the mind is different, we see the object differently. The path the mind takes to comprehend an object or a particular reality is different for each person. So the object appears to be different, sometimes this difference can be like the difference between the sun and the moon!

To understand this Sutra, we have to look at the whole process of perception as our entire life is shaped by how we perceive reality. It is a given that we do not perceive any reality as it is. Always distorted. And what distorts our perception of a reality? It will be interesting to explore.

Let us now zoom into one specific recent experience that left us upset, angry or irritable - rather reactive in some way.

Recollect the incident in all its details.

Make a simple note of what you saw/heard/felt etc.

Continue to hold the incident in your mind's eye and watch carefully for everything that has come in the way between you and the incident/person.

You will be able to recollect some previous experiences (similar to that situation, relating to that person) flood back - see these impressions and make note of them.

What you know of that person/situation begin to surface, make notes. (we are capable of coming to conclusions with very minimal or no information whatsoever, do you see that?)

Your previously held judgements crop up - acknowledge them, make notes.

Beliefs of yourself/other may also be seen if you waited and watched carefully - these are more deep-rooted and often remain in the unconscious realm.

You slowly begin to connect with layers and layers of impressions that have gathered on to the mental lens that have been activated by this incident. Every bit of your current reaction can be in some way traced back to your past.

And it does not end there, each subsequent experience has a cumulative effect leaving behind more impressions that further colour and confuse our perception and direct our actions keeping us perpetually stuck in a vicious cycle.

But wait, perhaps there is something more to it.

You do realize that you don’t always feel or react so badly, there are times when such an incident has not brought up so much of reaction in your mind. So, it is not the impressions alone, it is the state of mind at that time.

If the mind is already agitated and dispersed, that energy - Rajas - dominates the mind and causes all the reactions to surface. If the mind is already clouded and confused - Tamas - it withdraws but gathers the impressions and begins to ruminate on them, postponing reactions to a later time.  But when Sattva dominates, it sees through all the layers very clearly because the mind is neither too agitated nor clouded.

The very essence of yoga - the way Patanjali defines yoga - Citta Vrtti Nirodha (YS 1.2) is about clearing the mind so that our perception is not clouded or distorted by pre-existing impressions. This can only happen when Sattva prevails, when Rajas is controlled and Tamas is reduced.

Then the task becomes simple, quieten the mind, clear it, clean up past impressions through practice and maintain a stable, peaceful state of mind that will not succumb to the old patterns of habit.

Awareness is key, the only way being regular practice.

When we cultivate pure, non-judgemental awareness, we see through the layers of impressions, the whole process more clearly.

Then, perhaps we can hold our truth more lightly.

We maybe able to empathise better with others.

We may not want to thrust our opinions and judgements on them so carelessly or ruthlessly.

We may grow more compassionate and understanding,

We may get closer to reality, to what is.

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes everyday - unless you are too busy, then you should sit for an hour.”                - old Zen adage

Best wishes,
Saras

The choices we make…

There is always a better choice, even when we want to believe there is none. And when this choice is exercised, it can be both empowering and liberating. This month's issue is about looking at why we make the choices we make and how it matters. Of course, when in doubt, ask Patanjali, seek out the wisdom from the Yoga Sutra.

We are often torn between several alternatives to be considered while engaging in an action. Whether it is picking up food off a supermarket shelf or choosing the kind of education for your children or a system of medicine or the kind of yoga class you want to go… window-shopping, nibbling here and there, has become a way of life for most of us. The end result is that we are not really clear about what we really want out of life, more confusion, more advice, more choices… leaving us always wanting, unhappy and discontent.

The next time a “what” pops up, consider asking yourself “why?” and ”how?”

The why behind our actions   The “why” will clarify our intentions. There maybe an apparent pretty intention that we are often stuck with. Dig deeper to locate what drives this action. Is it my fear and insecurity? My attachment to a particular outcome? How is my sense-of-self identifying with this action? How strongly am I invested in what is to come out of this action?

When we are able to recognize the deeper intention behind the action, it can help us at two levels:

• take responsibility for the action, knowing fully well where it is coming from.
• we could choose to refine the intention before the action. This can also be done in retrospective so that we can refine in future to avoid or minimize future suffering.

Refining intention is about really making the right choice. At this level there are only two choices.

• allow the action to be driven by our pleasure seeking, pain avoidance tendency – this is often compulsive, unconscious, conditioned and has its own momentum.
• Stop and ask why I want to do it? How does it serve me?

This could be about a simple innocent act of reaching out to a second helping of that delicious dessert or about wanting to thrash out at somebody over phone, sms, email or in your own head!

The wisdom behind the why of an action is answered beautifully in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. (YS Chapter 2.18)

Nature (mind, body and the entire material reality) exists to serve the Self (the Consciousness) in two areas of fulfillment:

• Bhoga: for worldly experience (that is constantly driven by pleasure seeking, pain avoiding tendencies)
• Apavarga: for freedom from suffering; the path of discernment, towards finding your true nature.

So, let us ask ourselves why we want to do an action, is it to further our own suffering by feeding our attachments, aversions, fear and the ego's need to constantly protect itself or do we want to do it to free ourselves from such conditioning, from suffering? Do we want to get stuck or unstuck?

And if there is clarity, naturally we only want to do what will take us away from suffering, right? Instead of perpetuating suffering through our actions, however innocuous they may seem.

The how of an action   Then essentially there is only one choice, to free the mind, to move towards greater freedom from suffering. And for that we need to bring in the attitude of reverence and service. When enumerating the qualities of Abhyasa (effort/practice) in the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali calls it “aasevitah” – let it come from a space of reverence.

Serving our Self also includes serving the other, the other only being a reflection of us. We are so inseparably interconnected with the entire humanity, the entire universe. Whatever we do has a repercussion on the people around us, our environment and the world at large.  Every flower, leaf, blade of grass, a bumble bee, a broken twig… everything exists to serve each other, has served, is serving or is getting ready to serve in some way. This includes our body, mind and all our resources, including our vital energy, prana that is at our disposal any given moment.

Daily Wisdom

Let us take a few minutes to explore this idea in the context of everyday life to see what it means to us at this point of time, focusing on specific areas of life where constant choices have to be made and consequences dealt with:

How may I serve my body better?

So that everything I do for my body and with my body will take me to better health and inner harmony. Then perhaps, instead of indulging or punishing my body, I will choose to treat it with reverence as it is my instrument for spiritual progress.

How may I serve my mind?

So that instead of feeding the compulsive tendencies of the ego, I can get my ego to serve a higher purpose. I may then choose to question my resistances and reactivity to find a better way of being.

How can I serve my prana?

So that I can choose silence and mindful actions instead of empty chatter and wasteful, dispersed actions that dissipates my prana. So that I can clear my physical, mental, emotional blocks that leave my prana stuck and unavailable.

How can I serve my relationships, the people around me?

So that I can receive and offer with gratitude, enable my own growth and generate peace and harmony in my environment.

How can I work better?

So that my work can be my way to freedom from suffering, my work can help me find more clarity and joy. So that my work can be my service to humanity and world at large..

How can I serve my spiritual growth?

So that everything I do takes me to a better space, towards less conditioned actions, towards more stability and centredness. Actions at this level become means to serve to the Highest Intelligence that operates through this Universe, through each individual being, that Patanjali calls Isvara Pranidhana (YS 2.1)

And so, if we are seeking to evolve, to grow spiritually, there is essentially no choice. There is only one way, the intelligent way, the way to empowerment and real freedom.

Call it the way of Yoga or the way of the Tao…