|
Will Doran Yoga Newsletter
- September, 2007 "The Yoga Coach" ~ Helping people find their place and direction in life. ________________ <<< ☼ >>> ________________ Dear friends, Thank you once again for your interest in my words. This month I talk about the power of living in the moment, following the natural path of our innate goodness and inner wisdom. I hope you have all enjoyed your summer and are gracefully embracing the coming autumn. In this issue: Yoga Philosophy: Life Lessons from the Blackberry Patch Applied Yoga: Non-practice Practice of Tantra Notices:
____________________________________ Yoga Philosophy: Life Lessons from the Blackberry Patch I live in a blackberry patch. More accurately, a blackberry patch disguised as a city. Where the hands of man have not tilled and managed the soil the true nature of Seattle is a brier of thorny vines that yield a scrumptious fruit in the fall. For the past thirty odd years of living here I mark the end of summer by donning my leather glove in my left hand, lace a gallon bucket through my belt and stuff a pair of clippers into my back pocket. I’m off to reenact the ritual of harvest that always puts me into a reflective and philosophical mood. While cutting and picking my way through the thorns I move deep into the heart of blackberry heaven to emerge a couple hours latter with a scrumptious harvest of nature’s bounty. The philosophy of picking blackberries with such refined practice is quite metaphorical for life and has shaped my way of thinking and being in this world. When I pick berries I dress with heavy boots and thick pants; I usually don only the lightest of shirts, if any at all, and expose my limbs to the occasional jabs and scratches of the thorns. Of course, I could wear a heavy shirt and avoid some of the smarts but the finesse of delicately reaching a bare arm through a weave of thorny branches to reach the delectable clump of hanging berries is too much of a challenge to pass up. As I pick I ponder the importance of finesse and self mastery as I weave my way through life. I cut deep into the brambles and get to the clumps of berries hanging big and ripe that the pickers who only hang on the fringe never find. Yes, I do get scratched and do end up digging out thorns for a few days but overall I emerge from the experience delighted and abundantly rewarded for my efforts. My efforts and delicate dance is a bit of a sacrifice but my family enjoys pies, cobblers and jam throughout the year. In life we have choices; we are the directors leading ourselves down the path into unlimited experiences and opportunities. Some bear fruit, some don’t, most add something to our awareness whether we are cognizant of it or not. It is how we walk the path that counts, for like the metaphorical blackberry patch, life has its delectables and its detractions – its bliss and its sorrow. The opportunity before us is to take risks and go for the goodies, even if we get a little scratched up in the process. A child learns at an accelerated speed how to stand and move about through trial and error, through experiencing. We, like the child, learn what works and what doesn’t; sometimes we even hold on to patterns that don’t work and expect different outcomes. I’ve heard this called the true definition of insanity. Showing up and jumping in with both feet may produce some interesting results but at least it is gaining experience and as such will lead us into greater personal mastery. What strikes me as fascinating is how similar the "blackberry patch" is for so many of us. It usually has something to do with finding and holding on to love, security, pleasure, and maybe even joy. The fruit we seek may vary in form but the refinement of being human has a great deal of consistency in the process of pursuing our goals. The path of being human requires some skill and discipline for all of life is a classroom for learning, and effort is required. Knowing how to go for the fruit and how to diligently do so without getting shredded by the thorns is no small matter. Knowing when to pick and when to wait till the berries are ripe means paying attention to your surroundings and the timing of the seasons. Choosing when to sample from the edges or "gird your loins" and go for it requires courage and conviction. Once commitment to an action is made staying present minded in the moment yields the optimal outcome. Through stillness and quiet observation you open to the music of the world as it is played around you and you more readily learn how to harmonize your tune with the larger melody of creation. More pitfalls and "sour berries" are avoided that way and you get to enjoy the scenery as you pick your way deeper into the thicket. Sacrifice and service, too, are no small part of the picture for quite frankly, how many berries can one enjoy by oneself while standing deep in the brambles? Doesn’t sharing the fruits of your labor make the savoring of the fruit itself more delectable? Making a contribution to the whole serves the whole but also advances the experience of he or she who shares their abundance. Also, we never quite know who will stop by for a visit and knowing that you have some sweet jam to serve – the fruit of your labor – makes the encounter more precious and sweet. Who among us hasn’t enjoyed the unexpected delicacy of a willing helping hand or open heart ready to listen and share their comforting words? We serve each other through the shared knowledge of our experience and wisdom. It takes skill and insight to see into hearts, to listen to what is not spoken, to let go of preconceptions and feel the presence of God. In his beautiful translation of the ancient writings of Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching, A new Version for All Seekers, Guy Leekley contributes the following verse that speaks to this insight: Seeing the shadow Around each color, We honor our inner eye. Hearing the silence Around each sound, We honor our inner ear. Feeling the sacred Around each moment, We honor our inner heart. Freed from grasping In the material world, True seekers follow Their inner light. Freed from the bonds of delusion, Their spirits soar. ____________________________________ Applied Yoga: Non-practice Practice of Tantra One of the things that strongly attracts me to the life-affirming practice of Tantra is its belief that we are not tainted goods, that by the nature of our existence we are an aspect of the Divine. It is very nonjudgmental for it holds that who we are – how we live, the realities we create – is an expression of the creative forces of Absolute Consciousness flowing through the uniqueness of our being. It is an empowering philosophy for it puts the ownership of our reality into our own hands. Tantric scholar Daniel Odier expresses this when he states, "Tantrism is a path where we learn to respect ourselves completely and to look at the extent to which our marvelous functioning and our innate freedom are hindered by our beliefs, our fears, our hope, our ‘spiritual’ life." I feel that the deepest "spiritual" practice is to let go of seeking and practice being, seeking not to find but to integrate what is already there by nature of our being . Through this process we create a level of awareness that fosters freedom from cultural and familial patterns of perception that shape and mold us through fear and intimidation. When we are brave enough to sensitize ourselves to the presence of the ever-expanding circles of consciousness and divine love we can flow freely into new learning and experience with open and embracing arms. Our job is to move into authentic living that reveals the highest image and greatest good we can hold for ourselves. This is living through the heart in harmony with the universe. This natural state of being frankly is a lot more fun and enjoyable than living with the challenge of trying to fulfill someone else’s ideas of what is right and wrong. We have an inner wisdom that intuitively senses our original essence and how we can align with the pulsation of divinity in all things. It gives us freedom to feel the wide spectrum of emotions that we are capable of, to honor our passions and desires as part of our humanity. It takes a great deal of strength, however, to handle freedom. It requires honesty, responsibility, love and compassion. The fruits of this labor are well worth it for the essence of freedom is unbound joy. What better goal for life than to turn our humanity into play, seeking the divine dance of consciousness and creativity in all aspects of being? Spontaneity and play open us to the moment and the richness in being present. It moves us out of the "dos and don’ts" of externally imposed behavior and into the sensitized world of feelings. It opens us to the endless interlacings of the great cosmic movement that is our natural essence free to experience without labels or judgments. It leads us to compassion and empathy. It makes space for the unknown to take us deeper, to experience without a pre-conceived idea of where it will take us or what beauty may be formed. The visual image of a fractal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal) with its endless weaving of patterns within patterns expresses this concept. Our being and experiences all contribute to the beauty of something so much larger than just our differentiated self. The patterns of our being create the tapestry of existence, including all the permutations of light and dark. We are empowered beings capable of such incredible capacities to create beauty simply by living authentically and with passion! There is a state of being that the ancient masters write of that is all about being the expression of the heart while reveling in the power of now, as Echart Tolle calls it. It is about deeply feeling the world in which we live and knowing that we are not a mistake, nor are we separate from The Great Natural Perfection, the Divine Essence, Absolute Consciousness. We do not have to transcend or transform; we live in this sea of divinity, like a fish in the ocean, all we have to do is recognize our own nature and essence and keep paddling. The process of getting to this realization is quite paradoxical, however. One sage, Sahajanandabhairava, wrote, "The paradox of seeking is that we must start seeking. But this, we find only by abandoning seeking." He adds, "I have read a thousand descriptions of ambrosia but I have tasted it only by sipping of it myself. … I stopped rambling on about the clouds and finally I saw the sky." To this light Daniel Odier adds:
The non-practice practice is living in the flow of grace. It is constantly coming back to our authenticity and fearless attunement to our true nature. We are not tainted goods having to do something to save ourselves. We are beautiful and wonderful in our essence, free to express ourselves to the highest and lowest level we choose. Non-practice means being who we are without trying to be something else, contrived and forced. It is living for the experience, creating the tapestry of our life with the colors and texture of our choice, creating beauty or not. It is living the gift of life with such life-assuring focus and behavior that the expression of our being is such that the essence of divinity pours forth from our open heart naturally and unimpeded. As Odier states, "We enter into this creative dynamic where we let go completely in relation to the guilt of being, of doing, of doing too little, of succeeding or failing, of not being this or that, of having certain abilities and not others. We see little by little that all these abilities and all these limits are illusory in relation to our absolute essence, our original nature. Once we consider the whole of our functioning with love, there is blossoming." ___________________________________ Notices:
My teaching schedule: Monday: 12:00 noon to 1:15 pm at Olympic Athletic Club in Ballard Thursday 7:30 to 9:00 pm 6-weeks + one pre-registered series (Sept. 6th – Oct. 18th) Friday: 12:00 noon to 1:15 pm at Olympic Athletic Club Saturday: 10:00 – 11:15 am at Phinney Center on <<Phinney>> and 65th Sunday: 11:15 – 12:30 pm at Olympic Athletic Club in Ballard Note to OAC members: Because they are refinishing their floors I will not be back until Sunday, September 16th.
May your days be filled with peace, joy and light. Namaste, Will PS. Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to your friends. ____________________________________________
If you wish to be removed from this list send a blank message with the word "REMOVE" in the subject line
to wjddoran@comcast.net .
|
|
|
|
|
