Forgiveness, Ahimsa and Tapas

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering forgiveness, Ahimsa and Tapas.

I tell you one thing - if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather learn to see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; this whole world is your own.

                                   

                                            - Sri Sarada Devi

When we get even the slightest glimpse of the unity of life, we realize that in tearing others down we are tearing ourselves down too. When you sit in judgment on other people and countries and races, you're training your mind to sit in judgment on yourself. As we forgive others, we are teaching the mind to respond with forgiveness everywhere, even to the misdeeds and mistakes of our own past.

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

The homework is to study this quote from Light on the Yoga Sutras by BKS Iyengar: “Ahimsa cannot be properly understood without reference to tapas. Tapas is the inner himsa (violence) by which we create the possibility of outer ahimsa.  Ahimsa cannot exist alone.  A complementary force must exist.  Mahatma Gandhi would never have been able to summon up the implacable peacefulness which moved an empire, without his ruthless attitude towards his own self.  Violence is perhaps too strong a word for Tapas, but it is a burning inner zeal and austerity, a sort of unflagging hardness of attitude towards oneself which make possible compassion and forgiveness towards others.”  

Ahimsa = a commitment to non-violence. The 1st Yama.

Tapas = practices of self-purification through discipline.  The 3rd Niyama.

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

What it Means to Have "inner security" and a "mind that cannot be upset"

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering what it means to have "inner security" and a "mind that cannot be upset".

Do not let your peace depend on the hearts of others; whatever they say about you, good or bad, you are not because of it another, for as you are, you are.

                                    - Thomas a Kempis

Even if you have ninety-nine people cheering you, there will always be a hundredth to boo. That is the nature of life, and to deal with it, we need simply to learn not to be always on the lookout for appreciation and applause. If people say, "Oh, there is nobody like you," don't get elated. Don't pick up your telephone and call your friends to tell them what is being broadcast about you. That's what most of us do, you know; that's why telephones are so busy. It is also why so many people get dejected when fortune seems to frown.

My spiritual teacher - a simple, straightforward woman who didn't mince words - used to tell me, "You can't shut other people's mouths." It took me years to understand that. This unlettered lady knew that we don't have any control over other people's minds. You can control only your own mind. When you understand this, you know you needn't be concerned about what people say about you: it doesn't affect you, because your mind cannot be upset. You may feel hurt, but you will have an inner security that cannot be shaken.

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

The homework is to consider what it means to have "inner security" and a "mind that cannot be upset". Ask yourself how the practices of Yoga helps you develop these states of being.  

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

Faith in the Individual and Oneness

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering faith in the Individual and Oneness.

I claim to be an average man of less than average ability. . . . I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.

                                                                                                - Gandhi

While most people think of ordinariness as a fault or limitation, Gandhi had discovered in it the very meaning of life - and of history. For him, it was not the famous or the rich or the powerful who would change the course of history. If the future is to differ from the past, he taught, if we are to leave a peaceful and healthy earth for our children, it will be the ordinary man and woman who do it: not by becoming extraordinary, but by discovering that our greatest strength lies not in how much we differ from each other but in how much - how very much - we are the same.

This faith in the power of the individual formed the foundation for Gandhi's extremely compassionate view of the industrial era's large-scale problems, as well as of the smaller but no less urgent troubles we find in our own lives. One person can make a difference.

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

The homework is to learn how your Yoga practices help you move from the physical plane to the spiritual plane and to see how this process expands your faith in the Individual.  Experience how your Yoga practices move you in the direction of discovering your true nature and provides you with the experience to cultivate the compassion that allows us to embrace this oneness.

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

Patience

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering cultivating patience.

As Plato sometimes speaks of the divine love, it arises not out of indigency, as created love does, but out of fullness and redundancy.

                                    - John Smith the Platonist

In India, where families often make severe sacrifices to send a son or daughter to college, everyone is patient with a student who is out of cash. If you are waiting in line for tickets with two or three friends, for example, and your turn comes at the box-office window, everyone understands if you suddenly discover that your shoelace has come loose. You bend down to tie it, giving your friends a chance to buy your ticket, and everybody knows there is no question of generosity or stinginess; you simply do not have the capacity to pay.

Similarly, when someone suddenly gets angry, you can think to yourself, "Well, his shoelace has just come untied." He has just run out of inner resources. Whatever he was doing before, he has to bend down and look at his feet; he hasn't got attention to give to anything else. To grow rich in love - to make yourself into a real tycoon of tenderness - have patience with others.

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

The homework is to learn first to be patient with your practice of Yoga asana. When you are faced with something you cannot physically do see what it is you can do and be content (santosa) with that. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras presents Adhyatma-prasada which means calmness, or clarity, of the inner being,  (1:47) and  Upeksha which means equanimity, (1:33). Together these words convey the meaning of patience. Through the observation in your practice and your experiences off of the mat see if you can move towards this native state of being. And just for fun, choose the longest line at the bank or grocery store.  Breathe slowly and pay attention to your bodily sensations.  Your willingness to focus on your impatience will eventually reconnect you with the reality that everything is moving at the proper speed. Finally, remember that there is always enough time in nature.

  

Excerpts from “Living your Yoga, Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life”, by Judith Lasater.

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

Cultivating Unconditional Love

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering cultivating unconditional love.

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.                         

                                       -Saint Francis of Assisi

Millions of people today suffer from loneliness.  Here St. Francis is saying, “I know the cause of the malady and I know the secret of its complete cure.”  No matter what the relationship may be, when you look upon another person as someone who can give you love, you are really faking love.  That is the simplest word for it.  If you are interested in making love, in making it grow without end, try looking on that person as someone you can give your love to – someone to whom you can go on giving always.

Learning to love is like swimming against the current of a powerful river; most of our conditioning is pushing us in the other direction.  So it is a question of developing your muscles: the more you use them, the stronger they get.  When you put the other person’s welfare foremost every day, no matter how strong the opposite tide inside, you discover after a while that you can love a little more today than you did yesterday.  Tomorrow you will be able to love a little more.    

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

The homework is to work on cultivating unconditional love.  Start by putting others needs before your own without any thought of getting something in return.  Try to extend this love to those closest to you first and move out from there.

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

Purusha

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering Purusha.

If God gave the soul his whole creation she would not be filled thereby but only with himself.

                                    - Meister Eckhart

Today, even modern industrial societies are not always able to provide food and shelter for all of their people. These are very real and important needs. But there are other needs that sometimes are not so easily identified. Even when the most pressing requirements for food or clothing or shelter have been satisfied, that is not enough for the human being. There remains a hunger for something more. We want to be somebody. We want to feel secure. We want to love. Without any better way to satisfy these inner needs, we end up depending on possessions and profit - not just for our physical well-being but as a substitute for the dignity, fulfillment, and security we want so much.

Only by living for something that lasts, something real - rather than for passing pleasure and profit -can we achieve the lasting fulfillment, the limitless capacity to love, that is our birthright.

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

The homework is to use your Yoga practices to explore the concept of "living for something that lasts". Consider the concept of Purusha in your exploration. Purusha means the spacious realm of the Spirit, or higher Self. See for yourself if understanding Purusha from your experience opens you up to experiencing a " limitless capacity to love".

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

Practices That Help us "Control the Mind"

Greetings Sadhakas,

This week in class we are considering practices that help us "control the mind".

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

                                    - William Shakespeare

Many of the disruptions that take place in personal relationships can be prevented by learning to control our attention, for attention is closely linked with loyalty.

I can illustrate with that most fascinating of relationships, the romantic. Suppose Romeo and Juliet had turned out differently, and the two lovers had married and settled down to a normal domestic life. After a few years, as sometimes happens, Romeo's attention gets restless. Once the sight of Juliet made him think of flowers and bubbling brooks and the "light, sweet airs of spring"; now she reminds him of the laundry and his morning espresso. After a while, his attention falls on Rosaline, his old flame. Now she reminds him of flowers and brooks; his attention seizes her and will not let go.

Today, Romeo would most likely receive the advice, "Follow your desires. That is where happiness will be." But that is just where unhappiness will be. If Romeo's attention cannot stay with Juliet, how is it going to stay with Rosaline? If he cannot get control over his attention, happiness can only recede farther and farther.

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

The homework is to consider how our Yoga practices help us to "control our attention" and why that would be helpful in all areas of life. Ask yourself which practices are most relevant to this work. Dharana? Tapas? Pratyahara? Pranayama? Dhyana? Svadhyaya? Isvara Pranidhana?  

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