YATRA is YOGA

Faith and Reverence

"Asana will make the body light. Pranayama strengthens prana. Dharana purifies the intellect. Meditation purifies the mind."   - Sri T. Krishnamacharya

Practice takes on a whole new meaning when steeped in devotion. After while it leads one there. Recently, when reading Yoga Mala in the asana section, Guruji mentioned when practicing we should lead with faith and reverence. It jumped out at me on the page. FAITH and REVERENCE. A profound statement that brings a whole new energy to the practice if one hasn't done so. I mean, it doesn't always feel this way. When the body aches, it can be challenging to feel reverent, but also, it has a way of healing the ache. It has a way of alleviating tiredness and apathy. It gives meaning. At the end of the day, even after all this time of practice, there is no possibility I can claim to know everything about what it is we are doing, and why the practice has the affect on us as it does. Yes, science has tried to explain it. However, deep down the source we are connecting to is still a mystery. The unexplainable can never be explained. The outlet, being our hearts. Devotion. Love beyond the knowable.

Tuning inward with a dynamic practice such as Ashtanga Yoga is ultimately where the intention must reside. In many ways I feel this is the mastery to the design. On the outside it may look merely physical, however to maintain the practice over the long term, deeply rooting ourselves into devotion, aligning inward, beyond our little self, into the expansive sky of the unlimited, we are carried through the ardor. We find our wings.

Shraddha

I'm just about done with the new Guruji book. What an amazing compilation of stories and dialogues. There were numerous instances where I felt resonance with the practitioners/teachers interviewed. Their experiences touched, and reaffirmed many of the insights that come about through sustained practice. To feel a kinship to those in the book, that in turn, spread to all who devote themselves to this practice, is a special thing. I know I tend to repeat myself, but once again, to feel the deep sense of gratitude towards Sri K. Pattabhi's for his tireless love and devotion toward his students is beyond inspiring. The power of one person is immense. Truly.

As I continued to read the book, in Sharath's chapter he mentioned, shraddha. The word sprang out at me like a jack in the box. Right away, it held meaning. As I read on, Sharath went on to say:

"Shraddha is more than faith. It is also surrendering your sense organs, your body, your everything, surrendering to the practice. "

Most people know the story of Guruji starting his study with Krishnamacharya with 100 students, to then, end up with only three. As students were jumping ship, Pattabhi Jois continued on. Why? What force led him there and what made him stay? Those who left, must thought it madness. What allowed him to steadily move forward on the path, with joy, through hardship and uncertainty? Shraddha.

Through his example, he was more than a yoga teacher, a guru - yoga embedded his being and lead his life. It was one and the same. What really struck me was not only his vast dedication to his students and their progress, but also how with money, without it, with one student, or many - none of it changed him - he had the same fervor and passion for teaching without the fame with only making 17 rupees a month. That takes more than a leap of faith, it's in joining what you love and do, and living it as one.

With shraddha being more than faith, it's funny how when something strikes, it comes at you again, and again. As I flipped through a copy of The Bhagavad Gita I came right to a page mentioning shraddha. Okay. I get it. I need to look deeper. So I did, and it has stayed with me ever since. Here is some of what I found. 

"That concept is shraddha, and its nearest English equivalent is faith. I have translated it as such, but shraddha means much more. It is literally "that which is placed in the heart": all the beliefs we hold so deeply that we never think to question them. It is the set of values, axioms, prejudices, and prepossessions that colors our perceptions, governs our thinking, dictates our responses, and shapes our lives, generally without our even being aware of its presence and power.

This may sound philosophical, but shraddha is not an intellectual abstraction. It is our very substance. The Gita says, "A person is what his shraddha is" (17.3). The Bible uses almost the same words: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," Sharaddha reflects everything that we have made ourselves and points to what we have become. But there is nothing passive about shraddha. It is full of potency, for it prompts action, conditions behavior, and determines how we see and therefore respond to the world around us."

- The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Eknath Easwaran

Sounds powerful. Yet, we don't do it for power, we do it for the love. We do it when we are moved beyond rational thinking. We do it because we have to. We do it because it is who we are.

"Yet shraddha is not brute determination or wishful thinking. When St. John of the Cross says "We live in what we love," he is explaining shraddha. This is our world. Our lives are an eloquent expression of our belief: what we deem worth having, doing, attaining, being,. What we strive for shows what we value; we back our shraddha with our time, our energy, our very lives."

- The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Eknath Easwaran

It reminds me of a student, who later became a friend and mentor of mine. A woman of over 60 years and still as young and vivacious as ever, told me, "Laruga, it almost doesn't matter what you surrender to, as long as you do." Letting go to it all, and riding the wave of devotion brings with it unexpected, luminous gifts. To this day, I still contemplate all that it means. To allow the movement of my heart to lead the way no matter what the external world says, is a dynamic that requires trust, that where I stand, and where I'm going, and what moves me to my very core, should, and will, define my life. I need only listen and be aware of my internal light. A light I have one too many times ignored, and in the end always return to. Nothing else has given me comfort in this knowing. And, when I let go, and allow the knowing and living to join, not much gets better than that. Not much at all.

"Like our thinking, therefore - like we ourselves - shraddha evolves. The purpose of karma is to teach the consequences of shraddha, so that by trial and error, life after life, the individual soul acquires the kind of faith that lead to fulfillment of life's supreme goal. Krishna explains the dynamics:

When a person is devoted to something with complete faith, I unify his faith in that. Then, when faith is completely unified, one gains the object of devotion. In this way, every desire is fulfilled by me. (7:21-22)

- The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Eknath Easwaran

Namaste 

Three Requirements for Yoga Practice

OvO passed on an amazing link (click here) in regards to mediation and the essential tennants to long term practice. On the page they had the above video posted. I felt compelled to share it. Doesn't get much better than this.

Practice with devotion everyday. Without exception.

Devotion

When you are fiercely angry or feeling joy beyond description, when you are at an impasse, not knowing what to do, when you are in terror or running for your life, know that such intense states of mind are fully permeated with the spanda, the creative vibration of divine shakti. Find her there.

~Spanda Karikas



I love the story of Hanuman...Thought I would dedicate this post to him and the purity of essence he represents. When I think about the muck I've been living in lately its the portrayal of Hanuman that pulls me up, and breathes new life into me.

Morning practice today felt a new vitality enter in...not because of anything that I did, but because I let go, and released...a lightness filled me. When standing at the top of my mat, I allowed the energy to move through. As an act of devotion, I showed up and was present. That is all it takes. Just being, and using the practice as a connection to something bigger than myself...makes all the difference...





Hanuman characteristics: bravery, strength, humility, wisdom, truthfulness, sincerity, loyalty, perseverance, utter selflessness, and devotion to God. A true Karma yogi, who does not seek rewards or fame. Represents selfless devotion and love.

Hanuman symbolizes the temperament of the human intellect, which is jumpy, uneasy, excitable and unquiet. It is only through the direct path of pure bhakti (devotion), that it can be made aware of its profound potential, and silent essence.



In Hindu symbolism, a monkey signifies the human mind, which is ever restless and never still. The monkey-mind happens to be the only thing over which a man has absolute control. We cannot control the world around us but we can control and tame our mind by ardent discipline. We cannot choose our life but we can choose the way we respond to it.



H ~ Humility and hopefulness (optimism)
A ~ Admiration (truthfulness, devotion)
N ~ Nobility (sincerity, loyalty, modesty)
U ~ Understanding (knowledge)
M ~ Mastery over Ego (kindness, compassion)
A ~ Achievements (strength)
N ~ Nishkama-karma (selfless work in service of God)

~Bansi Pandit