Greetings Sadhakas,
This week in class
we will be exploring Tapas - discipline, austerities, heat and effort.
The only thing
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.
– attributed
to Edmund Burke
Some of our most
trying difficulties are caused by plain old inertia. Inertia shows itself in
not wanting to move, not wanting to act - in other words, in wanting to be a
stone just lying on the road. It is all right for a stone to be inert; that is
its role in life. But it is not all right for you and me to just lie down and
try to avoid problems, saying, "What does it matter?"
When I hear the
phrase "well adjusted," I do not always take it as a favorable
comment. Mahatma Gandhi has said that to be well adjusted in a wrong situation
is very bad; in a wrong situation we should keep on acting to set it right. When Gandhi,
at the peak of his political activity, was asked in a British court what his
profession was, he said, "Resister." If he was put in a wrong situation,
he just could not keep quiet; he had to resist, nonviolently but very
effectively, until the situation was set right.
Words to Live By:
Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is
to challenge yourself to develop more Tapas
not just in relation to your Yoga practices but in life in general. Tapas
is third Niyama and is translated as
discipline, austerities, and heat. Tapas
can also mean effort. Through this
effort impurities are burned up and we purify our inner and outer environments.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal,
and Vancouver Washington
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