Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering tapas and endurance.
Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.
-The Buddha
People often find that meditation is easy for the first few months; but then, just when they think things are going well, it becomes difficult. It is like digging in your garden. The surface level of consciousness is soft loam, easy digging for the first twelve inches or so. The blade of the shovel is turning over the soil so easily that you say, "This is great! Isn't meditation wonderful?" Then you strike something hard and impenetrable. Your hands sting from the shock, and your arms ache. That is the first stratum of bedrock - a dense, rock-hard layer of sheer resistance. Congratulations! You are getting somewhere at last!
How do you know you have hit something? The most common sign is a wave of sleep during meditation. Your mind is saying, in effect, "My shovel is getting blunted, and my arms are tired. Why not stop digging and have a snooze?" It is extremely important not to yield to this inclination. Sit up straighter and draw away from your back support until the wave of sleep has passed. This problem of sleep may be with you for a long time. You have a lot of strata to dig through, and there is great joy in this digging.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to explore the third Niyama - Tapas. BKS Iyengar writes that, "tapas is a burning inner zeal and austerity, a sort of unflagging hardness of attitude towards oneself which make possible compassion and forgiveness towards others.” Apply the concept of tapas and the idea of endurance put fort by the Buddha to your own life and practices.
Light on the Yoga Sutras - BKS Iyengar
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
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