by Swami Vimalananda
This is the second of three articles on Kriya Yoga
Svadhaya: Sacred study of The Divine through scripture, nature, and introspection
The Secret Power of Yoga by Nischala Joy Devi
Study, focusing on introspection, reminds us of our goal of peace, happiness and unconditional love, and the pathways to obtaining our goal.
To begin, we must be able to observe and acknowledge our ego attachments. Then, we can cultivate the ability to step back and analyze what our attachments are. Over time, we replace our attachments with selflessness.
As we engage in introspection we begin to observe our inner peace. As Sri Gurudev stated, “Whatever the thought is, if there is no selfishness behind it, it can never really bring pain to the person concerned. The result is neither pain nor pleasure, but peace. Seeing this truth, we should analyze all our motives and try to cultivate selfless thoughts. That is our first and foremost duty.”
It is the letting go of the delusion that happiness is found somewhere in the world. The letting go creates space for us to step back from the fray, and then everything can become a study of why our peace is disturbed. After completing several years of instruction on roleplaying from a therapist. I remember when the therapist asked me, “Did you see that dynamic?” Roleplaying trains us to see people’s emotional dynamics. But instead of observing the person from a place of peace, I went along on the person’s ride. I cannot tell you how many rides I have been on.
How do we step back? I feel that meditation is the most direct way of developing that practice. With concentrating on one thing and letting all the other thoughts go we begin to realize that we are not our thoughts. We learn that we have the capacity just to watch our thoughts go by without the need to hook on to any of them. We then can take this witness out into the world where we observe that we are independent and that our peace and happiness are not reliant on anything outside of ourselves. We are the source of our own peace and happiness. We discover that our peace and happiness can be maintained even with all the world’s dramas. As Sri Gurudev stated, it can be like watching a movie. We hiss at the villain, laugh with the clown, cry for the lost love of the heroine, feel all the emotions expressed in the movie. But when the movie ends, we get out of our seats and walk out of the theater, knowing it’s just a drama. We enjoy it as such.
As we step back we begin to realize that all the dramas can easily go on without us. All those movies, poems, writings, songs, etc. lamenting love, clinging to the delusion that love and happiness can be found in the world.
Growing up, my father was distant, I remember very clearly trying to win my father’s love, feeling that, if I could, I would be happy. A relative let me see her therapist. The therapist said to me, “First of all, no one ever takes my advice. But here it is – you are hitting your head against a stone wall, you will never feel loved by him. You also do not need his love to have a good life.” I was about 12 or 13 years old when I was told that, I’d say, looking back, I was in my 30’s before I truly got the message.
I remember a skit on TV about four generations of men going to Hawaii together. On the last day one of the wives said “Let’s take a photo for a keepsake of having all four generations of men together.” The men lined up from the youngest to the oldest. Just as the photo is being taken, the youngest looks to his father, the father looks to his father so on to the great grandfather, who is looking straight ahead oblivious to the desires of the other men in the family. With meditation and introspection, we can begin to observe that however convoluted it may appear, ultimately the reason for many of people’s interactions is just the desire to be happy and feel loved.
Usually, though, we feel caught up in the world’s interactions, as if we are standing close to a train going by. We see it as a blur of lights, different colors, experiencing a fierce wind and loud noise, causing us to feel imbalanced. As we step back, we see our peace is not contingent on the world’s interaction. We see the train for what it is, the locomotive, the caboose, and everything in between, and we stay balanced.
With detachment from thinking that happiness and peace is found outside of ourselves we begin to see the causes and effects more clearly. As Ram Das stated in a title of one of his books “It’s All Grist for the Mill”. We observe everything as a learning situation to realize our own freedom from the world’s dramas.
With the practice of stepping back we begin to feel more grounded and centered. We are capable of meeting adversities with more ease. We realize we are independent from the world and that true happiness and peace have always been in our hearts. We see the world clearly, and because of our own stability we see how the soothing balm of love is the way to be of service to others; others who are finding their way to peace and happiness.
Please join Swami Vimalananda for Satsang: Interfaith Celebration of Easter and Passover, The Divine Mystery on Saturday, April 16 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm PDT. People of all faiths are welcome.
Swami Vimalananda Ma, 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.