by Swami Ramananda

HEALING THE DIS-EASE OF BUSYNESS

I know so many people, that when I ask how they are doing, respond with something about how busy they are. It has become the status quo for our lives to be filled to the maximum and beyond, so that we’re not really aware of how driven we are, how stressed our lives have become, and how it is affecting us. Even when we are aware of it to some degree, we may feel unable to do much about it. We seem to value “doing” many things over “being” well and at peace. Our sense of self-esteem has become so strongly associated with being busy and stacking up accomplishments that we sacrifice self-care to create an impressive image that will make us look good.

So many of the ways that we hurt ourselves seem to be rooted in this need to win the love or admiration of others (and even ourselves) so that we can be happy. Yoga teaches us that our effort to find happiness by controlling things outside ourselves, such as the opinion of others, will never bear lasting fruit. Our endless efforts to prove worthy of love may bring temporary results, but as we probably all know from current relationships, the affection of others comes and goes; demanding it or holding it too tightly is generally counterproductive. Keeping busy may help us feel good about ourselves, but this feeling will also prove temporary when the pain of pushing so hard catches up with us. There is true irony in discovering that we are hurting ourselves in our attempt to feel good, to be happy.

It’s well known now that a number of the physical problems we experience in western society are caused, or complicated, by stress, and that many ailments can be improved significantly by proper rest, diet, exercise, and self-acceptance. Of course these lifestyle changes take time. It is rewarding to see how popular Hatha Yoga has become, but even in these classes, the engrained belief that “more is better” can dominate the experience, and straining to get a better pose can be the norm. I know I’ve hurt myself more than once from wanting to be—or look—“better” than what I am. I remember really overdoing it with fasting during my younger fanatic days, and rebelling afterward with equally zealous overeating.

What to do? I can’t pretend to have mastered this issue. I still get caught up a workaholic fervor, so clearly, I have a lot to learn. I can share what I’m learning and what Sri Swami Satchidananda, my Guru, has taught me. We can address this tendency by both reflecting on the root cause in the mind and by undertaking step-by-step changes in our daily habits.

We can consciously begin to value our physical and mental health by taking small steps to make time for self-care. Preparing healthy meals, getting a massage, taking a Hatha class, spending time in nature or with loved ones, and time alone to be quiet or creative, are all things that will help maintain a balance of giving out and restoring energy.

In the midst of busy days, with even a few extra minutes (i.e., if someone is late for an appointment), we can relax and reflect on how we’re feeling. A few minutes of stretching, deep breathing and consciously relaxing the abdomen, neck and shoulders, and especially the eyes, can have a marvelous renewing effect. When we eat, we can make it a habit to stop for a moment, calm ourselves with a few breaths and bless the food, then chew it well. When we answer the phone, we can pause for a few seconds to be present for that call.

An even more powerful change, with much deeper benefits, is to reserve one evening per week as unscheduled time that you can devote to caring for yourself. The idea is to turn off the TV and the phone, and cook, take a bath, do a deep relaxation, read, and/or go to bed early—whatever would refresh you. Sri Gurudev has often encouraged us to spend some time each week practicing silence. If you have a family, such an evening might be important time apart from them, but it might also be planned as an evening to have meaningful time together to play, relax, and appreciate each other.

A similar practice that has been so helpful to me is to fast one day per week, giving a rest to the body and giving me some extra time to rest from doing. I always sleep better that night and feel rejuvenated the next morning. In addition, my practice of meditation and Hatha the next morning is inevitably more alert and focused, their effects often lasting through that whole day. Some may find it difficult to fast the whole day and could try eating only fruit for a day or skipping the evening meal, which provide similar benefits.

When we experience the benefits of any of the above ideas, even a small one, we will be inspired to continue it and perhaps to take another step toward the same goal. We may even be inspired enough to try a bigger step, like attending a weekend retreat dedicated to rest and reflection, communing with nature, or spiritual practice. Such a retreat can very effectively relieve built up stress and help establish new habits, like a regular practice of Hatha Yoga and meditation.

The practices of asana, pranayama and meditation, more powerfully than any other suggestions I’ve made, can heal the harmful effects of stress and restore balance to the body and mind. And the other remarkable benefit they offer is teaching us how to prevent a stressful response to life’s difficulties in the first place. By developing an inner awareness of our physical and mental condition, we learn to notice tension or anxiety when it first appears; to respond to that situation, mindful of our capacity at that moment and equipped with the effective tools for relaxing that those practices bring us.

As a meditative practice bears fruit, we begin to have moments of real contentment that are not contingent upon completing tasks. A deeper examination of such moments reveals that this experience is the result of letting go of our preoccupation with making things happen, with trying to create happiness. Instead, as the mind begins to quiet down, we approach a natural completeness and fulfillment that is already there, a feeling that is wonderfully relieving and healing.

Though these glimpses of our true nature may not last as we move on with our day, they can help in several ways. One is to inspire us to continue making time for the practices that have quieted the mind. Secondly, we can create an affirmation based on that experience that reminds us of what we have found to be true in ourselves. We can use that affirmation regularly to assert that truth, to counter the old patterns of thought we have held that still arise. As our practice enables us to repeat this experience of inner peace and that deepens, our old ways of thinking about achieving happiness begin to erode and we can create a new relationship to “doing” things. Our doing can become a joyful expression of “being,” with the wells of light and love that bubble up from within.

When we approach life with a sense of lack, clutching for something to make things right and bring fulfillment, that narrow vision of who we are can only serve to close the heart. When we nourish ourselves with moments of peace, our hearts overflow and we can truly serve others, supporting them on their journeys to recognizing their own inner peace and joy.

Join Swami Ramananda this month for Practicing Freedom: Hatha Yoga Series 

August 10 – This session will focus on opening the heart, honoring the Spirit within and allowing ourselves to connect to and be guided by a higher intelligence.

August 17 – This session will focus on feeling our connection to each other and the web of life, and understanding our practice as a means to bring healing to ourselves and others.

Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He is a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI) which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

by Swami Vimalananda

Surrendering is letting go of our ego’s identifications, opinions, attachments and desires along with the delusion of control. It is connecting with the supreme being through the inner voice of wisdom which is enveloped in unconditional love. It is giving up the delusion that happiness is found outside of our own hearts. If we choose this path of letting go it is possible to live in grace and independence from the world and its agenda.  Often we believe we can control outcomes to suit our narrow and skewed perceptions of what we think we need and/or what other’s need.

As a mother I was committed to my delusion that I knew what was best for my children. I tried to control their environment and to shape it in ways I thought was best.  This included how everyone else should respond to my kids.  In my delusion, I was constantly confronted with the reality that everyone else also had their own agendas. 

When my oldest daughter was in high school, she and her friend played softball for the local softball league. Both girls received invitations to play for a very competitive team located in another area.  An important benefit to being accepted was every girl on the team received scholarships to various colleges. The local league’s president’s daughter was not chosen for the team. The local league refused to let them go, even with the knowledge of what was being forfeited.  I was astounded, for the first time I felt on a visceral level what minority mothers must feel when their children are denied opportunities out of others’ prejudices and self-interests.

It is an example of how enmeshed we are in each other’s desires, with all of us struggling to get what we think we need to be happy. How desperate our desires become until as Sri Gurudev stated, “The pot becomes too hot to hold on to and we finally drop it.”

With a practice to quiet the mind and study our thoughts, we slowly begin to see our own agendas clearly and become more anchored in our hearts with the silent witness. A beautiful experience begins to take shape with the inner voice becoming louder and clearer. It isn’t that we have to create anything. We have always had that inner voice but we do not always listen. In the story of Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket advises Pinocchio how to do the right thing, Pinocchio momentarily agrees and then is whisked off to fulfill his desires, inevitably leading to a disaster. Because desires are much stronger in the turbulent mind than the quiet still voice, we are often whisked away.  The quiet still voice never demands its way.

Some years ago, around Christmas time, I remember driving in a congested shopping area when a car behind me began to honk his horn, he just laid on it. I decided I was going to get out of the car and tell him to take a deep breath, just cool it.  I was halfway out of the car when the quiet voice said to me, “Are you sure you want to do this?” 

Slowly a trusting and beautiful interplay begins to happen. It is a loving voice, always pointing out the best way, and as we chance it and follow it, we come to realize that not only is it the best for us but for everyone else as well. A sweet intimate relationship grows, a trusting and loving relationship. 

One time when I was in Hawaii with my two daughters a huge storm was raging. It was at night and as I laid in bed I began to imagine a possible storm surge or even a tsunami occurring. We were right on the beach and directly across the street were steep cliffs. I pictured myself trying to climb these cliffs with the raging storm and a complete lack of ability for rock climbing.  I was really working myself up into a frenzy. Sri Gurudev came to me and I put my head in his lap, he stroked my brow and I quickly fell asleep. I will never forget the gift he gave me.

With a loving relationship of trust, a building of faith develops. As Kabir said, “it is like a bird that begins to sing in the dark knowing that the dawn is coming.”

There was a time not so long ago when I was very worried about my son who was ill. I was afraid when he became wheelchair bound that I would be unable to take care of him. What would I need to do, agencies to call, etc. Gurudev’s voice came to me and said, “He belongs to me now.” I got it. I just have to love him, all the rest would be taken care of.

As faith becomes solid, our inner voice becomes the decision maker. Our inner voice becomes the vehicle to surrender. We are free from all the fear and turbulence of the world. We are nestled in an intimate and unconditional loving relationship feeling we are completely taken care of.  Gradually we lose even the feeling of separateness to the inner voice and then the inner voice stands alone. 

Tripping Over Joy by Hafiz

What is the difference

Between your experience of existence

And that of a saint?

The saint knows

That the spiritual path

Is a sublime chess game with God

And that the Beloved

Has just made such a fantastic move

That the saint is now continually

Tripping over joy

And bursting out in laughter

And saying, “I surrender!”

Wheras, my dear,

I am afraid you think

You have a thousand serious moves.

I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz

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.

by Prajna Piper

A meditation teacher of mine once quoted a Burmese teacher as saying ‘when everything that can go is gone, what’s left is the truth.’ That sentence resonated with me – I heard it maybe 20 years ago and I still reference it and repeat it a lot. And I think that’s because we know there’s already a truth in us, with us – it’s probably the one thing we really do know. This innate knowing may have gotten distorted, it may seem so removed that we have to project it outward onto a deity or a more spiritually refined person, instead of being everyone’s own known truth, but it’s still in there. That’s what spiritual teachers tell us. The kingdom of heaven is within. The guru is inside. Be a light unto yourselves. Know yourself.

Unfortunately, this is something that we forget a lot of the time. We get lost, and then, we have the ego to deal with as well. Decades ago, the Tibetan teacher, ChogyamTrumpa, coined a phrase, Spiritual Materialism. His classic book, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, is a brilliant look at how to work with an ego that can convert anything (in this case, the spiritual path) for its own use. Spiritual materialism is about acquiring something.

We probably all have had, at some point, a fantasy version about the payoff of spiritual life, where we’ll become better versions of ourselves and consequently have better lives. Or we’ll enjoy the blissful states and maybe have psychic gifts or we’ll be great teachers and have the respect of the world. Or maybe we’ll just settle down to an ever-present, undisturbed state of composure. We think about our spiritual growth in terms of personal gain. We even believe that we’ll achieve these things the way we do in the material world, that at some point our good deeds will tally up or our hard won powers of concentration will carry the day, as if we’re competing at the Olympics.

That’s spiritual materialism and it’s easy to understand how we can be taken in by that approach because that’s the way the world we live in views things. Why would we do something in the material world unless there was something in it for us?

But what if the fruit of practice really is letting go? What if chasing happiness is illusory, but letting go of unhappiness and its causes opens the door for something real – what if what is left is the truth and the truth sets us free?

This is what we get a glimpse of in a meditation where we’ve calmed down enough so that we don’t grasp at everything that comes into our mind. We’re there, aware of what’s coming and going in our experience, but our fascination with phenomena is no longer in the forefront. Instead there’s some calm, some peace, and a treasure, right there inside of us, to be carefully attended to.

I heard someone say once that they were afraid that if their mind stopped thinking, they would die of fear or of shock. That’s an extreme idea, but I think it’s maybe closer to how we function than we know. It’s an example of how counter-intuitive it is for us to let go of using the mind to try and create a fixed reality, a safe, static world where we – supposedly – know what’s what. It’s why we hold onto our stories, our suffering, our thoughts and associations; it’s why we cling to what keeps us in bondage, like some kind of a life raft. We think that our constructed reality is keeping us safe.

Ajahn Sucitto, a teacher in the Thai Forest tradition, says that when the constructed world falls away we won’t be left hanging in an abyss. He says, that in spiritual practice, falseness doesn’t drop away unless there’s already something there to step into – the virtuous qualities will be there. This is the point of the path of purification, which, in that particular tradition, includes cultivating the virtues of generosity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truthfulness, determination, loving kindness and equanimity.

This teaching bothered me at first. It seemed, on some level, a little fishy. We’re going to cultivate habits, replace one habit with another? Even if it’s a healthy habit, that still didn’t sound like freedom. Ultimately, in my idealized view of enlightenment, conditioning will cease and every moment will be new.

Again, probably all of us who aren’t totally enlightened have our own idea of what enlightenment might be like. But, whatever our imaginations may offer, there is a practical reason why the virtuous, the wholesome qualities aren’t just another potential trap of conditioning. And that’s because the virtues aren’t sticky. There’s not much for the ego to cling to in goodness, because it’s ultimately impersonal. If we look at the qualities that are unwholesome, they are all about individuality, they have an identity, a personal self, stuck to each and every expression. We may get very confused about our individual manifestations of ill will, our desires, our dullness, anxiety or doubt, but we aren’t going to be particularly attached to or thrown by our individual experiences or expressions of kindness, generosity, wisdom or equanimity.

If we want to get to the truth, if we’re trying to touch, reach, or uncover the true self, then it does seem that we have to go inward. Ultimately, what is any sane person going to let in?  Not the unwholesome. Nobody will trust that. But we will open to what we sense as innately wholesome, to the qualities that are trustworthy.

In meditation, when I see my mind fixing on something, chasing yet another train of distracted, inessential thought, I’ll often bring myself  back by saying “not really who I am.” I remind myself that whatever my mind wants to chase is not what I’m going for here. I’m going for the truth and that thought, that passing idea, sensation, feeling, mental state, is not really who I am. Can I let it go?

There’s a lot to let go of in spiritual practice, a lot to see through. But I’m heartened by the fact that after decades of practice I understand a sentence that used to puzzle me  -“The fruit of practice is letting go.” Our practices are like seeds that take root, they grow, they have blossoms, and then, finally they give fruit. The fruit of practice is the truth and it is what’s left when everything that can go is gone.

Prajna lives and practices at San Francisco IYI