by Swami Ramananda
Do we still believe that the sun travels across the sky while we stand stationary on a flat piece of earth? No, these once held beliefs were dispelled long ago. But how many other things to we accept as true simply because our limited senses tell us so, or that is what everyone else believes? For example, we see ourselves as separate from one another, and we assume our security and happiness come from acquiring or arranging things well enough.
Yoga teaches us how to experience for ourselves that this normal perspective is an illusion. Sri Swami Satchidananda used to ask us, “Who made your very first food? Your mother?”. Then he would remind us that even she watched as her breasts created that nourishment. For that matter, who arranged that the plants around us absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen? And who arranged for the body to breathe without even a thought from us?
Clearly, the universe and all its forms are created and guided by an unseen hand, a supreme intelligence. Each particle is a miraculous world of infinite detail and interconnected so fully that even prayers offered from a great distance can generate measurable benefits. How is it that we manage to watch our bodies self-regulate minute by minute, the planets orbiting and the march of the penguins and fail to be in awe? Can we just as easily observe, if we pay close attention, how we are being steadily guided to realize our innate condition of peace and compassion for each other?
For those of us who do not suffer from a lack of basic needs, gratitude is the most natural response to even a small effort to acknowledge all that we are given. If we pause to really see the magnitude of these gifts, we will not fail to humbly offer thanks, to let the fullness in our hearts spill out as service to those in need. May we in some small way earn this blessed life by making peace in our hearts and bringing peace to those around us.
You can join Swami Ramananda for Thanksgiving Puja, Sharing & Potluck on Thu. November 23 @ 11:15 am – 12:15 pm PST, online & in-person. Free.
Swami Ramananda C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, 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 all levels of Yoga teacher trainings and programs around the globe. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program and has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings. He a founding board member of Yoga Alliance and is a co-founder of The Spiritual Action Initiative 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.