The Road to Moksha: (4) Battling Aggression and Greed

Although ignorance is the ultimate obstacle to our liberation, the other two that go hand-in-hand are aggression (or hatred) and greed (or desire).

When we are wrapped up in our own selves at the expense of others, we want more and more and we cling to what we have. This causes energetic knots to develop in our heart center and we become less and less sensitive and open to love. This causes suffering. When we are aggressive we are operating from the same mindset, but there is an added element of fear. By acting out on this fear, we perpetuate this falsity and close ourselves off once again to love.

A powerful antidote to break through those energetic knots are backbends. Even more powerful is vinyasa karma. Ultimately, this sacred asana practice is meant to teach us to detach from our likes and dislikes. By treating each pose equally and with a steady and calm mind (aided by our breath) we work towards conquering hatred and desire.

However, as yogis we are called to examine deeply the root of the issue. If we do so, we realize that both aggression and greed are caused by fundamentally misunderstanding the basic principle that all of creation is interconnected and interdependent. Both lead to an attitude of exploitation. To heal this foundational ignorance, one must radically change how one views life - and one's actions. This is why David and Sharon, and many others, believe that leading a vegan lifestyle - or working towards one - is a solution. This lifestyle paradigm is rooted in an inclusive understanding that all sentient beings, and our Earth, deserve our mercy and kindness. It also sees that being compassionate with other humans isn't enough - we must go to the root impulse of exploitation in order to heal. And that extends to all of life.

PRACTICES
1. Vinyasa Krama
2. Ethical Vegetarianism
3. Backbends

The Road to Moksha: (3) The Fundamental Misunderstanding

Yogash chitta-vritti-nirodhah. (YS I:2)
When you stop identifying with your thoughts, fluctuations of mind, then there is Yoga, identity with Self, which is Samadhi, happiness, bliss and ecstasy. --Translation by Sharon Gannon

Because we misperceive reality, we suffer. What we think about, who we are, how we believe the world works, is completely wrong. We are not separate entities but interdependent. The world isn’t out there, but we create it in here.

This is good news, but also scary. It makes you 100% responsible for everything. But its good news because it is fundamentally empowering; now you have the power to change. You can never change others or anything ‘out there,’ but knowing it comes from ‘in here’ means you can change it. It is in your hands.

How? Through cultivating wisdom. Through meditation. We train our minds by meditating to tame our thoughts that reflect our conceptual duality. The very nature of thought is to define and divide. This isn’t bad, but it must be brought under control. We work to transcend thought by not identifying with it. Once we begin to understand reality more, we begin to see more connections and feel the sacredness of all life.

The fundamental misunderstanding is the identification of spirit with matter; thinking that the eternal individual soul is the temporary manifestation of the gunas with which we have come to identify and which forms the basis for actions (karma) which bind us to samsara: we think we are these bodies, and what happens to these bodies happens to us. The state of the jivanmukta arises when we are realize that we not our bodies, we are not our minds - we are Spirit.

"You are either wise---or otherwise." –Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati

"Mind your own business……which is knowing who you are. That YOU ARE." 

–Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati

PRACTICES
1. “Who am I?” Meditation
2. Meditation
3. Inversions

The Road to Moksha: (2) The Guru

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshvara, Guru Sakshat, Param Brahma, Tasmai Shri Guruvey Namaha
Tasmai Shri Guruvey Namaha

Once we’ve decided to embark on this path, we look to the guidance and the advice of someone ahead of us. We can find this in the teachings of those noble and enlightened souls who’ve progressed on the path of yoga, the ‘gurus’ or those who remove (ru) the mud (gu).

It is said that when we are ready, the guru appears. But we can’t be infantile in our understanding and expect a guru to be a small Indian man with a white beard. Gurus come in many forms – including fierce and unpleasant forms. In one way, you can say that everyone and everything that comes into your life has a lesson for  for you. We just have to be open to it. All the time.

PRACTICES
1. Guru Mantra
2. Read scriptures
3. Child’s pose

The Road to Moksha: (1) The Choice to Be Free

Do you want to be right….or do you want to be free? -Sharon Gannon

Before we start yoga, we must answer this question. By “right” Sharon means our identification with the EGO. (In truth we aren’t actually ‘right’ even though we think we are.) Usually we are faced with this question when undergoing tremendous suffering. Otherwise, we are quite content being ‘right.’ But until we are ready to choose to be free over being right, we can’t embark on the path of yoga. That is why it is said that yoga isn’t for everyone; some people aren’t ready or don’t want to be free. They just want to be right. (How’s that working out for you?)

If you have made the choice to be free, now what? You can’t really trust your mind because that is what got you here in the first place. But you can use your heart and set the intention to let go of the need to be right. Even if you don’t yet know how to become free, you can repeatedly remind yourself to surrender your steel-like grip on your EGO. At this point, it is all about surrender.

This involves humbleness and humility. This is a crucial prerequisite to embarking on the path of yoga. Remember that famous old saying about a student going to a teacher asking for teachings, but the guru says he can’t help him because his cup is already full? This practice is about emptying; recognizing you don’t know how to be free or happy and are lost.

And then work with what you have, your body. This is where the work of tapas, purification, comes in. We use asana and pranayama to start cleansing our ignorance.

But realize this is hard work! The spiritual path is not for the timid. But the point is to make us feel overwhelmed, to break us down, to make us ready for transformation. And you will change. Fundamentally. So commit, if you are ready. And find something to inspire you, to support you, to help you persevere on this arduous path. Find something transcendent. Maybe God, maybe a concept, maybe a person. But find something and let it help you on your journey.

“We don’t have time to live a mediocre life.” – David Life

“You get one life that is so precious it is like a diamond and if you are wasting it, you are selling it like coal.” -- Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati

PRACTICES
1. “Let Go” meditation
2. Set your intention, find your inspiration
3. Humble warrior

The Road to Moksha: 5 Week Series

 मोक्ष mokṣa

For the next five weeks starting this Sunday, I will be exploring why we do yoga in the first place -- which is ultimately for moksha, or liberation. Each week I will be covering an essential element of this path.

So, to start off, what is moksha anyway?

Moksha is the Sanskrit word for "release" and refers to the liberation from the suffering of samsara (the cycle of repeated death and rebirth or reincarnation). This concept comes from traditional vedanta philosophy. It is a release from one's worldly conception of self, the loosening of the shackle of experiential duality, and a realization of one's own fundamental nature, which is Brahman.
 
A jivamukta is one who becomes liberated, or attains moksha, while living. Self-realization is the key to liberation and this is done through yoga.

So, in other words, yoga is both the path and the goal.

As we explore the elements of the yogic path to moksha, use this wonderful graphic to help keep things in perspective. It was a gift from my dear friend and fellow teacher Hari-kirtana das. It clearly shows our progression as yogis from the material world of ignorance towards the spiritual world of transcendence. And, provocatively, it shows that moksha is really only the beginning towards our ultimate goal........

Awakening Joy course - July

The topic for this month is Letting Go. I personally find this one of the wisest-- and yet hardest-- lessons to learn. I struggle with it given my personality and temperament. To remind myself, I even had this tattooed into my forearm ('svaha' is actually the Sanskrit and yogic equivalent).

So what does it mean? And how does it make us happy?

First off, it refers to letting go of stuff. [This is a good time for plug for the brilliant 20 minute clip, The Story of Stuff. ]  In truth, deep down inside (and contrary to the messages of our consumerist culture) we know that 'stuff' doesn't make us happy. Being engaged with life and with loved ones, and contributing meaningfully to society makes us happy. Being obsessed with accumulating more and more 'stuff' actually takes us away from that.

This refers to our endless battle with desire. The secret is learning to distinguish what we want from what we truly need. And in cultivating the discipline and wisdom to choose. This means quieting down enough to listen carefully to the different voices in the mind. Then we can hear whether they are coming from a place of lack or from a deeper, wiser, compassionate connection that truly knows what’s good for us. 

I like how some refer to this choice as "surfing the urge" by being SOBER.
S - stop
O - observe
B - breathe
E - expand (see the long term effects rather than instant gratification)
R - respond


Next, and much harder, is letting go of the illusion of control in a world of change. This attempt to control things keeps us bound in fear. Joseph Goldstein uses a powerful image that describes the suffering that comes from holding on with attachment. He says that holding on tightly to that which is always changing is like rope burn. We don’t usually realize that it’s the holding that’s causing the suffering. If we can wisely let go, we free ourselves of the problem.

Some strategies of letting go:
1) Letting go by simplifying your life in some way
2) Letting go of unskillful habits
3) Letting go of your stories
4) Letting go of expectations and excessive planning
5) Practicing generosity as the active expression of letting go

“Let go a little and you will have a little peace. Let go a lot and you will have a lot of peace. Let go completely and you will have complete peace. Your troubles with the world will have come to an end.” --Ajahn Chah