The Niyama Challenge, Week Four

This week's challenge is svadhyaya. In The Living Gita, Satchidananda defines it as "reading scripture; spiritual study." Rolf defines it in Meditations from the Mat as "education of the self, or self-study."

It's very interesting that this week's challenge is the one I have dreaded the most, because despite all my studies in psychology, yoga, and religion, and being married to an English teacher, and loving the written word, I am not much of a reader. Or should I say, my brain has become accustomed to not being disciplined enough to read. I find that sitting down to read becomes an experience fraught with many of the difficulties that yoga students and meditators alike face: a very, very busy mind indeed. And even when the subject is a topic I am interested in, my mind wants to personalize the information, take me off track, and send me in a zillion directions. So my reading is usually limited to short bits of text that I can really allow to sink in and simmer rather than try to cover a lot of ground at once. Because of this, it may take me months to finish a book. Or, I may read something and have a really hard time connecting to the material, but want to know more, and become a bit frustrated by the process.

So I was happy to read the following today from Rolf and start to realize I am doing just fine in the area of svadhyaya:

"As in every other aspect of the yogic way of life, there is a magic to this process of seeking out and reading those works that speak to our true nature. The words of our teachers slowly work their way into our consciousness. Often we find that statements or concepts that we couldn't understand, or had no use for when we first read them, come alive days or months or even years later, as the circumstances of our lives confirm their messages. There is also magic in the ways in which our teachers eventually speak through us. Our thoughts, words, and deeds are informed by the writings of our teachers. It is a magnificent experience to see the beauty of our teachers' souls become manifest in our own lives, to see the loving hands that have touched us touch others through us. Through spiritual reading we gain communion with the divine power on which our hearts are set."

It's so true that I find myself recalling and saying things that Rolf has said to us at different times, and realizing I am saying them in my own voice. I know the process of integrating what I read and hear is an ongoing one that will change and evolve and that space will be made for new information and influence to take root. There's a great power in learning how to allow and disallow what information we will assimilate into our experience. We start to learn so much about ourselves in the process, and ultimately that it's just another way in which the human being is really a vessel for divine expression. It's a great unfolding for which I am so grateful to be present.

More later in the week.

Namaste!