Cleaning before Viewing

Today I happened to come across one of my all-time favourite books while cleaning my library. It is a simple collection of stories of some of the greatest sages of the Himalayan lineage. From Vashisht to Madhusudana Saraswati, the book essays some key stories from the lives of each sage and I often turn to it when I need strength or am in need of clarity. 


The lives of the sages, the great masters has always fascinated me. I have often wondered about what it took for ordinary people (seemingly so) to develop superhuman abilities and strength, and to me nobody portrays this better than the Himalayan sages and masters. They started out like us, full of fears, apprehensions, prejudices and weaknesses and then rose to overcome all of it to become a "Seer" one who sees and lives the Truth. Their examples paved the way for many who came after them. Some had loftier ambitions while some just wanted to deal and come to terms with the many struggles that one faces in everyday life.


I, happen to be amongst the latter. While the loftier ambitions have tempted me many a time, I often found myself entangled in the challenges of every day life, unable to proceed on to loftier ambitions. However, each time I struggle with a weakness or a conflict I return to the stories of the Sages, wondering how they had responded to the many challenges that were thrown at them. Desperate to find a common ground, a common thread, that I can hold on to and find an answer to some, if not all, the questions that plague me I read and re-read the stories of these ancient Sages that remain a mystery to so many of us even today.


I am almost constantly drawn to the story of the mighty Parshurama each time I face one of my weaknesses. Parshurama is known to be the most skilled warrior there ever was. He had obtained and mastered the knowledge of every form of warfare known to mankind, which is why, all warriors, before going into battle, sought his blessing. Besides being a skilled warrior, he had also received the highest spiritual education from his father, who himself was a known and respected Sage. Parshurama, was also known to be a kind and loving son, who worshipped his parents as God. One day, a greedy king visiting the ashram of Parshurama's father asked for the Sage's wish-fulfilling cow to be handed over to him, as everything within his kingdom, by law, was owned by him. Upon being refused by the Sage, the King ordered both the Sage and his wife to be killed. 
Parshurama, upon seeing the corpses of his beloved parents, flew into a rage and stormed the king's palace, killing him, his entire family, and all his subjects. When he returned to his father's ashram, he was filled with guilt at his actions, knowing fully well that his spiritual education did not permit the killing of another human being. Saddened and tormented, he took over the reins of running his father's ashram and returned to his spiritual practices to overcome his pain and guilt. A few years later, news reached him that some of the King's relatives had escaped to a distant kingdom, and this angered Parshurama to such a great extent that he stormed their palace and killed each  one of them. Once again, when he returned to the ashram, he was filled with guilt and remorse at his actions and fell at his teacher's feet, asking why, he was taken over by such rage and felt unable to control himself. Once again, his teacher consoled him and asked him to stay focussed on his spiritual practices. 


A few years later, word got to him that a few of the deceased King's subjects had escaped to a distant land where they had begun life anew. Once again, filled by rage and a need for revenge, Parshurama rode out alone and killed all of them. This continued twenty-one times. Each time, Parshurama was overcome by the need for revenge and each time he would be overtaken by guilt and despondency soon after. Finally, his teacher sent him out to the great sage Dattatreya, telling Parshurama that if there was anyone who could help him, it was Dattatreya. 
Eager to overcome his weaknesses, that he realized, had now got a firm grip on him, Parshurama rode out to meet Dattatreya. Dattareya welcomed Parshurama and told him that he was now ready to finally confront his weaknesses and assigned him to an intense, long practice in the forest. Parshurama grateful to have found a true Guru, persisted with his practices and after many long years of sadhana (spiritual practice) overcame his weaknesses
and became a 'Master' (one who has mastered his emotions and mind) and is looked up to and revered even today.


Parshurama's story has been an inspiration for many. His struggles with his anger and his need to hit back feel so real to me. We encounter it every day of our lives. And I can vouch for this. As also, for the intense remorse that overtakes me after having hit back at someone, knowing fully well how unnecessary it actually is. Sometimes, my weaknesses feel like a web that I can't free myself from but Parshurama's story gives me hope. And faith. Faith that if he could do it, I can do it too. 


I am also struck by how the Gurus assigned their students to intense practices in the middle of nowhere (in order to remove all distractions and temptations), so that they could engage in deep introspection and sadhana, developing their internal strength to counter what the external world threw at them. It seems they understood, that one can't fight a war with half of one's strength. Hence, students were advised to retire, rebuild their strength through intense practices and then return to the world. I like to think of it as Debugging and Rebooting your internal system. You withdraw into your own space for a while, introspect, overcome and then come back into the world, armed with your internal strength to face what comes your way. Such an intelligent way to respond to Life ! We all need that time to withdraw and we should give ourselves that. There's no need to retire to a cave, just sit your room, or in front of your altar, close your eyes and try to go within. Perform a 'system scan' and see what comes up. Then face what you see and work at overcoming it. This is how the examples of the perennial Sages can be brought to life in the twenty-first century. And given our stressful lives, I think we are in desperate need to retire and withdraw to our own place to reorganize our mind, our emotions, just so they work positively for us and not makes us their slaves. 


Our mind, our emotions and our body were given to us to experience this world. And they can either help us enjoy it or make us abhor it. Retiring to our own space and going within, especially when we feel broken or despondent, enables us to clean our instruments of perception -- the mind, emotions and the body.


So why is it so important to clean our instruments of perception? Imagine putting on a pair of spectacles that has a layer of dust on it. What would you perceive, if anything at all, through such an instrument of perception ? Wouldn't you spontaneously pull out a piece of cloth and wipe it clean ? Why ? Simply because you want to perceive correctly. Yet we pay such little attention to our internal tools of perception. Not realizing the value of cleaning them, or understanding how they affect our 'worldview' and our life at large.


If you want to see what lies within you and realize all that you can become, you have to clean the tools that were given to you -- the mind, the emotions, the body. The process of cleansing will help you develop clarity of thought and purity of heart -- both of which enabled the Sages to become conduits for the knowledge that was revealed to them -- both about themselves and the world they lived in. And armed with clarity of thought and purity of heart, they went on achieve superhuman strength and the ability to influence the world. 
Parshurama is simply an example, and who knows maybe even a myth. A myth that can definitely help us achieve our potential and realize our goals, should we decide to embrace it and apply its lessons in our everyday life. 


So each time you feel lost or despondent, don't lose heart. Just think of Parshurama and take some time off to go within. Face your demons and confront your weaknesses. Don't become their slave and live a life of fruitlessness. Use the gifts that were given to you to achieve all that you can. It will take herculean strength, but in the end, it will all be worth it. Just like it was for Parshurama.  

The practice of Yoga

Today I had a very interesting discussion with a fellow yoga teacher on yoga and how it is perceived in our modern world. We started with a discussion of how sometimes we have students in our classes who come in with preconceived notions about what a yoga class needs to be like. Never mind that most of them have never tried to understand the origin of yoga or what it espouses. Instead, they embrace a very lop-sided view of this ancient science -- its either too "passive" or a "big high" (depending on what 'style' they are practicing). Perhaps it isn't their fault entirely -- how many yoga teachers really understand what yoga stands for or why it was created in the first place?


A lot of times, I find people who claim to 'do' yoga, when all they're really doing is a few asanas. Asana and Pranayama are only two rungs on the eight limbed ladder of yoga, as formatted and presented by the sage Patanjali. Yoga, as I understand it, was meant to empower an individual to realize his own potential. And all of the steps mentioned in Patanjali's eight limbs (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) were meant to lead an individual to this realization. I know that the term 'realization' means different things to different people but to me realization (or samadhi) is nothing but the realization of your own potential. A lot of times we see adepts showing extraordinary powers and we all sit amazed thinking, "What a great soul this is." Great, yes. But he too, I would imagine, would agree with me when I say that this display is nothing but a glimpse of all that lies within us, and which we fail to realize in our lifetime. 
Being Indian, this is something I can vouch for: we put our saints on such a high pedestal that we fail to understand that they are nothing but humans who have realized their own infinite potential. We tend to create a separation between them and us thinking they are 'above' us for some reason. Instead, what would be wonderful is to look upon them as a source of inspiration, understanding that we too can become all that we want to be if only we make an effort to discover and understand what lies within us.  
Practically speaking, yes its hard to take time out for ourselves in the world we live in today. Perhaps because we feel that all that we have to accomplish in this life lies only in the external world. Hence, introspection seems pointless, if not a ludicrous idea. 
For example, one of the things the world we live in today teaches us that relaxation is sitting in front of a TV watching programs in our free time and we don't realize that true relaxation is not just of the body but also of the mind. So many of us can vouch for the fact that we wake up tired even after sleeping for 8 hrs straight. Why? Because our mind is working even in our sleep! So when does it get to relax ? Never. Is it surprising that so many people in the world are complaining of nervous disorders, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, etc. Why? Simply because we don't give the mind a chance to relax. Our mind is constantly 'on' something, expending most of its energy on unnecessary things. As a result, when we really need to become focussed, we realize our attention span cannot be held by anything for very long. And a scattered mind can never attain its objective. Only a focussed, one-pointed mind can. Patanjali mentions Dharana and Dhyana -- Concentration and Meditation -- in his eight limbs to emphasize the need to harness our energies and become one-pointed so that we can attain the final goal: realization. And each of these limbs or rungs lead to the final goal, confirming the validity behind their inclusion in this blueprint for realization.  
Yoga is much misunderstood today. And while I know I'm not in a position to clear this misunderstanding on account of my own limited understanding of the subject, I would like to offer my perspective on why it is more relevant in today's times than it was when it was shared with mankind thousands of years ago. So what makes it more relevant today than ever? For starters, your asana practice doesn't just twist your limbs to increase your flexibility but also gives your inner organs like your digestive system and the endocrine system a stimulation so that they can do their job properly keeping you healthy and keeping disease at bay. Pranayama or regulation of the prana (very loosely referred to as breath for the purpose of understanding. In actuality, it is the life-force that rides on the breath) calms your nervous system, pumping oxygen into your lungs and expelling stale air. Amongst a host of other benefits, it also tones your blood, increasing a person's vitality and raising one's energy levels. It is a well known fact that Pranayama done at the start of the day, will infuse enough energy within you to get you through the entire day. I would imagine this to be a perfect recipe (as opposed to stimulants) for those long, demanding days at work. 
The practice of Yama and Niyama is just as important and pertinent to yoga as a strong asana practice. Both Yamas and Niyamas help us build our character by showing us how to relate with the outside world while also building a relationship with ourselves. Very often I notice our inability to relate to other people, and I feel it is this inability that leads us from one failed relationship to another. One of the aims of yoga is to strengthen your interaction with the outside world, while nurturing the inner self so that one can balance the internal with the external. As long as we are in the human body, we have to live in both these worlds -- the inner and the outer. And also find a way to balance both. Both Yama and Niyama show us how to accomplish this. 
It is my belief that without the practice (or at least an honest effort) of Yamas and Niyamas one can't really claim to be practicing yoga. I often encounter teachers who have a very strong asana practice but their conduct in everyday affairs shows very little display of the principles of yoga like Yama and Niyamas. What's worse is that this strong asana practice becomes the foundation of their elevated opinion of themselves while also serving as a barometer of another's practice for them. I think that while building a strong asana practice with the right understanding --that it is only to ensure that the body doesn't become an obstacle in the fulfillment of our goals -- we must make an honest effort to apply Yama and Niyamas in our everyday lives. While this is hard, it can be accomplished with persistence. And the adepts or masters of yoga are living proof of this. They too started somewhere and if they achieved such magnificent success why can't we ? 
I once encountered a yoga teacher who, needless to say, took a great deal of pride in how she twisted and turned her body in asanas, but when you asked her to sit in meditation (or Dhyana -- as Patanjali refers to it) she couldn't sit still for more than two minutes. So much for being a practitioner of Ashtanga or the eight limbs of yoga !
What I'm trying to say here is that the conquest of the body is easier than the conquest of the mind, which is the ultimate goal of yoga. If one hasn't brought the mind to stillness, or calmed one's emotions, the asana practice is pointless. Your asana practice is only an entry point so to speak. The journey has yet to be made. 
I've personally been in classes where one comes out feeling a surge of adrenaline, ready to run a marathon, and not really infused with a sense of calmness and inner peace -- a definite sign of the mind having come to its natural state of equilibrium. 
So why is it so important to leave a class with a sense of calmness ? Simply because it's only when the mind becomes still or even comes close to stillness that it can really recharge itself. And it is this recharged, one-pointed mind that ultimately reveals to you its latent powers. Your latent powers. And the day you realize these latent powers within you, that day you will be realized. That day, Yoga will have fulfilled its mission.