by Swami Vimalananda and Susan Ford
This is the first of a three part series on Kriya Yoga
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali with Commentary by Sri Swami Satchinanda – Book 2 Sutra 1. Accepting pain as help for purification, study of spiritual books and surrender to the Supreme Being, constitute Yoga in practice
Accepting Pain as Help for Purification
“When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him. Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so he is for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your heights and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
—Love by Kahil Gibran
Our very foundation, everything we rely on, everything we cling to, every way we organize our world will be shaken. Our sacred opinions will be exposed for what they really are, a protection of our ego. The very essence of how we see ourselves will be crushed. As Sri Gurudev stated, “We will lose everything”.
As my friend Vanitha observed, whether we experience an internal feeling of a twitch or a tsunami of pain, the cause is the same, our ego is threatened. I recently was in Hawaii with my daughters and my two grandsons. The trip was their gift to me. One day towards the end of the vacation I was riding in the back seat of the car with my grandsons. I could hear decisions of where we would go and what we would do being made in the front seat by my daughters. I had these feelings rush through me. “Why aren’t they asking me what I want? I’m the parent, I have the decision making powers.” I even imagined how it must be to be an old lady and having my children making all the decisions about my life. Of course my input is valuable. My ego was definitely dented. As it worked out, it was a nice day. They took care of me along with all the members of the family. My input wasn’t needed. It was clearly an instance of how I organize my life, with my agendas and ego protections.
It is our wanting approval, our agendas, wanting our attachments and desires to be fulfilled – It is wanting our ego to be constantly validated that keeps us in pain.
As we begin to observe our thoughts we see that inner pain is an indicator that acceptance, along with wisdom, is lacking. It is the resistance to observing our selfishness and our unwillingness to change that causes our suffering. I remember one of my aunts telling me, “I feel I have grown enough. I no longer want to explore any more of my personal dynamics. It hurts too much. I don’t want to go there.” She was clearly saying, by closing the window of vulnerability, that she wanted not to be in pain any longer .
We can even judge every interaction by the way it affects our desires and egos. Do I feel superior or inferior to another? Is she prettier than me? Is she older or younger than I? Am I in better shape? Am I smarter or dumber than…?
The degree a person will go to protect their ego, not to grow spiritually, not to look at their pain, led to a book by F. Scott Peck, “The People of the Lie”. He stated that a person of the lie is one who will hurt another person mentally and or physically, deny their selfhood, do whatever damage is necessary to another to protect their own desires and egos.
When I worked in the probation department I was in charge of taking a group of delinquent kids on outings every Saturday. I very often cut the time short so I could go home to my family. I blocked any awareness that this was a time for the kids to experience new horizons. My desire came first, to the detriment of their growth. I had them suffer so I didn’t experience the pain of separation from my family.
We have to ask ourselves to what lengths are we willing to go to maintain our attachments, our desires, and our view of the world?
We can grow, experience the pain, acknowledge our ego’s desires and then accept the pain as help for purification, help in developing selflessness. We can stop blaming others and feeling victimized. We have the ability to change our thoughts. We can nurture thoughts of peace and empowerment. As stated in the Yoga Sutras Book 1, Sutra 15, we can have freedom from our attachments and we can know, “The consciousness of self-mastery in one who is free from craving for objects seen or heard about is non-attachment.”
We can survive the killing off of our egos and see the dawning first of awareness, then accepting the pain for purification. We can change our thoughts to positive ones and increase our ability to abide in our true nature of wholeness, contentment, and peace. It is possible, and it is a must, to live a peaceful life.
Please join Swami Vimalananda for Satsang: Surrender, Sat. February 19 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm PST.
Swami Vimalananda, RYT500, is an Integral Yoga sannyasi – monk. She has been involved with Integral Yoga since 1971 and Director of the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute from 1992-2011. She specializes in teaching yoga philosophy and spiritual counseling.
Susan Ford, C-IAYT, RYT-500, began practicing yoga when she was 18 years old. Her first yoga teacher training was Accessible Yoga through Integral Yoga Institute (IYI) and began teaching in 2011. Susan has been an assistant trainer for the Basic Yoga Teacher at IYI since 2012. She specializes in Gentle Yoga and working with people with disabilities, heart disease, arthritis, anxiety, depression and asthma. Her focus is to help students to meet their bodies where they are by introducing and incorporating Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Pranayama and meditation. Susan has been certified in Yoga for Arthritis, Therapeutic Yoga, Raja Yoga and Meditation Teacher Training.
Join Susan on the fourth Friday of every month for New Beginnings Writing Group, next gathering is Friday, March 11 from 4:00-6:00pm PT.