Greetings Sadhakas,
This week in class
we are considering Tapas.
People say,
"What is the sense of our small effort?" They cannot see that we must
lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time.
- Dorothy Day
It is repeated acts
of unkindness that make us unloving and repeated acts of kindness that can make
us loving. How do I become patient? By trying to be patient every day, little
by little, poco a poco.
We shouldn't expect
to go to bed one night the most impatient man or woman in the county and get up
in the morning flooded with patience. Every day, every night, it takes
continuous practice, continuous striving. If you are doing everything to be
patient, you are going to become inexhaustibly patient. If you are struggling
everywhere to become loving, you are going to be unfailingly loving.
In the gradual
development on the spiritual path, it is better to concede that most of us
start with a good deal of inertia. This shows itself as an attitude of avoiding
challenges, shutting our eyes to the problems that confront the world. This
inertia is slowly transformed into energy, just as ice when heated becomes
water that flows - which can be used for irrigation and harnessed for any useful
purpose that we approve of. In the same way, all of that locked-up energy can be
released. But it requires steady effort, one step at a time.
Words to Live By:
Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to learn how the discipline
we bring to our Yoga practice - part of our Tapas can help us move
through life as described above. Tapas
means to use burning effort under all circumstances to achieve ones goal in
life. Tapas needs to be applied
in three areas: body, speech and mind.
Practicing non-violence towards your own body is one way to practice
tapas of body. Speaking kindly and
truthfully can be one way to practice tapas of speech. Developing an even mind that stays balanced
in sorrow and joy and practicing self discipline is tapas of mind.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington
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