Greetings Sadhakas,
This week in class
we are considering the obstacles that are on our path that inhibit our ability
to move towards "what really matters."
We need people who
can dream of things that never were, and ask why not. *
-George Bernard Shaw
In an Indian movie
I saw recently, a villager leaves home for the first time to travel to the city
of Bombay. When he returns, his family and friends crowd around him, asking what
it was like in the big city. His laconic reply sums up our era: "Such tall
buildings . . . and such small people."
If we were asked to
give an accounting of our society's achievements, we could claim many great technological
developments and scientific discoveries, plenty of skyscrapers, and the
amassment of huge sums of money, but few truly secure, truly wise, truly great
men and women. It is not for lack of ability or energy, though; it is because
we lack a noble goal.
To grow to our full
height, we need to be challenged with tasks that draw out our deeper resources,
the talents and capacities we did not know we had. We need to be faced with obstacles
that cannot be surmounted unless we summon up our daring and creativity. This
kind of challenge is familiar to any great athlete or scientist or artist. No
worthwhile accomplishment comes easily.
Words to Live By:
Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is
to consider what obstacles are on your path that inhibit your ability to move
towards "what really matters."
Use the two wings of Yoga: Abhyasa or effort, willpower, and practice;
and Vairagya or letting go, acceptance, and detachment as your guide. Work to find balance between your effort and
letting go of getting anything out of your effort. Take whatever little steps or attempts you
can make.
*edited to make gender neutral
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
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