I'm reading more on the eight-fold tree that is yoga. I'd always thought of yoga as stretching and breathing - and figured that any type of spiritual path that went with it would be Buddhism or Hindu. But asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing) are just the physical aspects of an eight limbed practice - they are the part of yoga that brings peace to the body so that we can focus on returning to the core of our being. I don’t know of any other religion that brings an understanding of the body and how it affects every day life into a spiritual practice.
Much of what yoga teaches, I've heard before in counseling, psychology, or even other religions. But there is often some sort of twist of thinking that makes my Western brain pause and reconsider. In Christianity you have sin and redemption and other black and white concepts - I am used to life's trials being presented in good or evil, saved or damned. It gives me pause to realize what a harsh religion I was brought up with. Yoga, so far in my reading, does not have the concept of "evil" or "sin." I might encounter it further in my reading - but those two things that to Christians cause ALL problems are not what a follower of yoga believes in. Yoga seems to see problems as internal ways of thinking as opposed to outside influences (like evil).
One of the concepts that is fascinating me is that the stark ideas of "sin" and "evil" seem to be replaced by something I would consider very mild - a lack of perception. T.K.V. Desikachar explains that in yogic terms most of our problems are caused by the way we perceive things. Perceiving situations and ideas incorrectly is what causes misfortune to ourselves and others around us. We deceive ourselves into thinking we know exactly what a situation is and act a certain way but instead are seeing through avidya, incorrect comprehension. Unfortunately, we rarely figure out that we are not seeing things clearly, that we are perceiving through a cloud of old assumptions and habits of thinking that we have accumulated through the years.
What are these habits of clouded thinking (or branches of avidya)?
The first is the ego (or asmita) - which gives us thoughts like "I know I am right," and "I have to be better than that person."
The second expresses itself by making demands (raga) - we want something today because it was pleasant yesterday, not because we really need it. We want things we do not have. We want to keep what could be given away.
The third is the opposite of raga - it is the rejection of things (dvesa). We have a difficult experience and are afraid to do something again so we reject people, thoughts, and settings because we assume they will bring pain. We also reject things that are unfamiliar, fearing they too will be unpleasant.
The fourth branch that clouds perception is fear (abhinivesa). We rarely acknowledge the role of fear in our lives, but it can be found in our everyday life. We fear people will judge us wrongly; we're uncertain when changes occur in our routine; we don't want to grow old - all are expressions of abhinivesa that skew our perceptions.
I know when I go to my yoga class, I have to stop myself when I look at the other students and think "hey, I'm better than her at this" (asmita) or "Julia must think I'm a total goof, I was on the wrong foot" (abhinivesa), or even "I tried that at home and it hurt - I won't do that again" (dvesa). When I manage to sweep away all those false perceptions, I relax, and I walk away from my asana practice feeling peaceful, complete. One of the roles of yoga is to lessen these habits so we can act correctly, with clear perception and clear our minds so that the core of our being (purusa, or that which can see clearly) , the "I am," can shine through.
Monday, October 12, 2009
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