Hood River-Day Two

Today was all about love-- not in the romantic sense, with all its striving, ego, and attachments; today we talked about and tapped into universal love. (As I'm typing this my roommate Tami is dancing in front of the window so if I'm all over the place with my thought process, please forgive me.) Om mani padme hum-- may the jewel in the heart of the lotus within me shine and illuminate all the world.

We began our day with a nearly three hour practice honoring the heart energy center (cakra) and celebrating openness, compassion, and connection. We were guided to stretch our arms outward in mountain pose (tadasana), warrior one (virabhadrasana eka), and one legged king pigeon (eka pada raja kapotasana).

Our practice contained several flowing devotional movements (kriyas) including a sun dance (surya kriya) and a flowing sequence honoring joy, peace, love, and gratitude. I cannot express in words the emotions that came forth during these times. All I can say is that feeling the devotional energy of 35 amazing men and women at one time can cause one to shed quite a few tears!

So our practice was transformational in so many ways. My automatic reaction to an opening like this is to want to run home and share what I have experienced with all the world. But I understand that not every person is willing or ready to hear it and accept it and so I will keep some of the feelings to myself. I know that they will infuse my classes with a renewed sense of spirit and I am thankful for that. I hope that my "off the mat" yoga will also be re-energized with love, joy, peace and gratitude.

About yoga and religion...

We here in the "west" as it's called have such a tendency to want to put things into little boxes, categories, this is "good," that is "bad," so on and so forth. It's a linear, or dualistic, way of viewing the world and results in all sorts of disconnectedness. Even choosing not to believe is a category into which we place ourselves. The so-called "eastern" traditions have a more holistic view of things. Rather than place ourselves at one end of the spectrum, the traditional yogic view is to reside in the center of a circle and remain balanced or harmonious within ourselves and others, or to put it another way, to live in a state of grace.

Where does that leave people who do traditionally subscribe to a particular religion? It absolutely allows for any belief system. For example, if you are a Christian, one teacher (guru) to which my group receives guidance, Anand, says, "Your love lies in Christ and it creates union between yourself and Christ. Your practice of yoga {which is, after all, seeking unity, not division} allows that union to grow stronger." There is room within yoga for every religion. As one of my classmates said, "The ocean refuses no river."

And if you're an atheist or agnostic or simply have a more scientific view, yoga even can be meaningful because the asana and pranayama (mindful breathing) and pratyahara (sense withdrawal) are all intended to simply awaken you energetically-- creating space in the body and mind and an awareness of connection. No faith required in either case!

Does this mean that there is no good or evil in the world? No, absolutely not. Ignorance (avidya) creates all the obstacles. An "evil" person who reacts in violence or anger or hatred does so in part because he does not allow himself to see the connectedness of everything and everyone. On the other hand, a person who reacts from a place of universal love, sees that the source of everything and everyone is the same. In that way, we are not the same, but it's our choices that make the differences.

We add names and attributes and associations to our true inner nature to help us make sense of the world, but oftentimes, we mistake those things for the inner nature itself. What is the first thing a person asks you when they meet you at a party? "What do you do?" Why is that so important? Even our language contains evidence of how much we identify ourselves with things that are added to our true nature. For example, when we're hungry, we say, "I'm hungry." But you're not hungry; it's your body that needs food. You're you. "I'm 35 years old." No, your body is 35 years old. It's a small thing that says so much about our culture. More about this later.