As I drive away from a week long yoga retreat at Mission Beach, I feel balanced and at peace. I look out at the amazing scenes of nature around me and ponder on how different I feel to the trip from the airport some 7 days ago. I am also nervous to return to the pace of life in the fast lane. My ‘sankalpa’ is to make sure that I manage this better, knowing that this will not only benefit me, but also all those around me.
Surrounded by the rain forest and a week of torrential rain, with glimpses of intense sunlight, the song of frogs, the shriek of birds, the fleeting dash of the cassowaries; I realise how perfectly balanced nature is. I sense the accepted pattern to the way things are in nature, and how this is obeyed by all living things, no matter how difficult or challenging.
Only us as humans try to change the natural order of things to suit our needs. We do this without accepting the consequences, and therefore we have little peace. We seek to alter pure matter, by not accepting ourselves as we are, We seek to change even our appearance to become something other than what we are. We seek to alter consciousness in terms of what we like, what we strive for, and what we consider is necessary for a good life. This creates tension and unrest, and results in our individual struggle. What we understand of ourselves determines the nature of this struggle, and our ability to deal with this depends on our coping skills and strategies-our spiritual stamina that enables us to stand up to the threats and onslaught of life.
In other words, the strength of our spiritual stamina relates to how much our inner balance is shaken by external forces and pressures. Modern life has become so materialistic, and we are constantly confronted by so many negative images. Our state of mind is constantly being degraded, and we have a decreased ability to tolerate and maintain inner balance and peace of mind. The amount of spiritual stamina we have, determines how well we can respond to the stresses and challenges around us, and therefore our ability to maintain our inner equilibrium.
Ancient texts give insight as to how spiritual stamina might be developed and maintained. The Baghavaad Gita, the Puranas, the Upanishads, and Patanjali’s Sutras are all great examples. Taking the time to read these texts, and to listen to those who have developed an understanding of their messages, can give great guidance for life in the modern world.
“Mindfulness” is a catch cry often quoted as the means to this end, described as letting go of the worries of the past and the fears for the future, and enjoying the here and now. But these writings and yoga go well beyond this.
Our sense organs enable us to see, hear, smell and speak of good things that would be beneficial to us so that we can learn from them, keep centred and focused on positive and constructive ways to live.
However you cannot see, hear, smell or speak of only good things and ignore the many negative aspects that surround us. We are continually bombarded by these in all forms of media. The amount of information that we are confronted with escalates each year. I recently heard that in half a day today, we are exposed to the equivalent information as those 200 years ago would be in 6 months.
Behind the sense organs is the mind, and behind the mind, the consciousness.
Our minds are trained to look at the world in terms of opposites –day and night, work and relaxation, love and hate, pain and pleasure, success and failure. The tendency is to run after one, and deny the existence of the other. We may pursue love and wipe out any possibility of hate, or run after success whilst denying the existence of failure. But any of these states cannot exist without the other, and this ongoing tension creates stress that is spiritually unsettling.
Yoga teaches us that we may look different on the outside, but we are all essentially the same on the inside. We must learn from nature to work towards seeing the similarities rather than focusing on the differences. Yoga shows that the mind is like a curtain blocking the view of reality. By understanding this and working towards a better view of reality, we can prepare for and work towards the lifting of this curtain.
Whole food, exercise and good quality sleep is not enough to deal with the stresses of modern day life. We must find time for relaxation and meditation. The yoga journey commences with the physical asanas or postures. These deal with the body and prepare the way for mediation. They allow for ease of sitting still, and with practice, they pave the way for more subtle understanding on the level of the mind, intellect and spirit.
We must also use pranayama or the breath, and meditation, to work towards an appreciation of the ego-that within us that has needs, wants, desires and concerns-all that which differentiates us from everyone else. The duality between the ego and the rest of the world, is based on competition-us and them! Meditation leads the ego on the path to its’ demise, so that the body disappears and our essence remains as part of the divine, not separate but all part of the one.
When we can accept this as a possibility, then we can live life as the master mind-actions soaked in selflessness, feelings nurtured in kindness, and thoughts flavoured with love. With no separation and no attachments, there will be a glow to our actions, feelings and thoughts. We can lift up from the present state of anxieties to a higher level of contemplation.
In nature this appreciation becomes a self evident truth, and the journey so much easier. In the bustle of life in the city, the curtain lowers and it is so much harder to maintain clarity and to peer through this curtain. Focus slips back onto duality and attachments of the ego. My ‘sankalpa’ is to try to keep even a glimpse of the bigger picture for as long as possible with regular practice and reading, until I can return to the next retreat!