Tapas

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

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

Moving from a Selfish State to a Selfless State

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring moving from a selfish state to a selfless state.

Love is swift, sincere, pious, joyful, generous, strong, patient, faithful, prudent, long-suffering, courageous, and never seeking her own; for wheresoever we seek our own, there we fall from love.

                                              – Thomas a Kempis

Our English word love has become almost impossible to use. We say he's "falling in love" as if it were something that could happen every day, like falling into a manhole. Is it so easy to fall in love?

Listen to our popular songs; look at our magazines and newspapers. When they say, "I love you," that's not what I hear; I hear "I love me." If we could listen in on a marriage proposal with the ears of Thomas a Kempis, this is what we would hear. The man gets down on bended knee and says, "Sibyl, dear, I love me; will you marry me?"

There is a little undertone of this in almost all relationships. This is how we have all been conditioned, to put ourselves first at least part of the time. Most relationships begin with some passionate "I love you's" and some undertones of "I love me." But if we want our relationship to blossom, we'll gradually change the focus from me, me, me to you, you, you. Then our selfish passion is transformed into pure love.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to notice it the next time you experience pain, jealousy, or a selfish feeling in relationship.  What should our response be when this comes up?  If attaining nonattachment can take a lifetime of work, what is that work?  How can our Yoga practice inform this process?

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

Aparigraha - Non-covetousness or Greedlessness

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring the fifth Yama, Aparigraha - non-covetousness or greedlessness.

O God! make me busy with Thee, that they may not make me busy with them.   

                                                                 – Rabia

Let me continue with the story of the woodpecker. Once our red-turbaned chap had checked out possible areas for working, he settled down at what looked like a solid, unyielding spot and started pecking away rhythmically. He didn't just give a peck or two and then fly off in search of a worm, not to return for half an hour. He went on pecking systematically, with sustained enthusiasm, until he was done. I was amazed at his dexterity. When he had finished, he left such a large hole that if he had gone on, I have no doubt the entire tree would have fallen.

That is the kind of work required to transform personality. For a long time, all we are doing in meditation is pecking away at what we want to change in ourselves. At best it is tedious; often it is downright painful. The problem is that we identify ourselves with the accumulation of habits and opinions, likes and dislikes, which we have developed over the years. We think this is who we are, and are not prepared to let it die.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to consider the fifth Yama, Aparigraha - non-covetousness or greedlessness.  Write down some of the habits and opinions, likes and dislikes that you identify with.  Apply the practice of Aparigraha and pick one or two from each group and work to "let them die".

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 

The Development of our Character

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we will be exploring using our Yoga practices to help direct the development of our character.

Precious gems are profoundly buried in the earth and can only be extracted at the expense of great labor.         

                                              – Anandamayi Ma

A few days ago I was watching a woodpecker, a creature I hadn't seen since I left India. This one had a red turban. While I watched, he came and alighted on a huge tree. He was quite a small creature, and the trunk of the tree was enormous. I wanted to go up to him and say, "What, make a hole in that huge trunk with your tiny beak? Impossible. Preposterous!"

But this little woodpecker was not intimidated by size. He did not throw up his legs in despair; he just alighted and went about looking for the right place to begin operations.

It is the same with transforming consciousness; you have to look for the right spot. In some people it is a particular compulsive craving; in some it is jealousy; in some, blind fury. Some may be fortunate enough to have all three. Each person has to look for that spot where urgent work is most needed.

Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran

The homework is to use the qualities that are developed through your Yoga practices to help you notice and then direct your attention to where it is needed most for the development of your character.

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