Writings

Steadiness practice
Lkt  ©2009

We are all in the movement of Universal Flow.  To believe that things can be great and stay that way is like wishing it would never rain.  It may be true that the sky is blue, but eventually the lushness of life is drained and there we are praying for sweet rain, in any form, to fill us up again.

This is the same for steadiness and chaos.  We can learn to enjoy both, as long as we see the benefit, and equal drawback, to both.  We are given the greatest of gifts, right here, in this matter/time/space existence…her name is Nature.

If you observe, everything in Nature is in a constant rise and fall, balance and counter-balance, a sumptuous ebb and flow.  This is our map.  We are not meant to be fixed.  That longing for things to stay the same is an “other than natural” phenomena of the ego mind.

The ego mind plays opposite of the divine mind.  And there they dance.  The ego mind (sem) is filled with endless noise, ideas, projections, doubts, manipulations, regrets, desires, longing.  All of which are necessary for growth and understanding of the self.  The proverbial growing pains in life.  The Steadiness (rikpa) is the centered, quiet, here and now, seamless breath of Divine awareness, expansive, juicy.  The proverbial take a break and “be” place.

 Where we are at any given time, in either sem or rikpa, is ultimately a choice, although it doesn’t seem that way in the midst of a really bad experience or day. This is why meditation is so key.   When things really go South, a matured meditation or chanting practice provides the foundation need to get back to balance.

So what about the union of opposites?

How do we use our yoga practice to begin to bind together the seemingly opposite experiences of our lives and our characters?

I believe it begins with acceptance.  Moving beyond old patterns that would have us

amputate the uncomfortable and welcome only what we think is good, whole, perfect……

Or at the very least, Tidy.

Can we really look inside and find the good in our suffering?  How could one’s need to help others ever be a bad thing? It could be……if we take away the lessons from those who need them in order to save them from suffering.  Is that service?  Hmmmmm…….

And what about the bad stuff?  Can that worn argument really have a benefit when both parties are left feeling irritated and empty?  It could be…….if we take the time to consider what really caused the reaction in the first place, what new ways did we learn to place our boundaries, what new thing do we now know about one another?

One of my favorite passages in the Tao Te Ching goes something like this…..

(Sorry Lau Tzu….this will not be exact)

In order to be productive

We must first learn to be lazy

In order to be quiet

We must first learn to be loud

In order to be generous

We must first learn to be greedy

An object can not be fully learned

without understanding its opposite.

So…… embrace the good and the bad, they are both of equal value, holding sparkling gifts, and a bounty of knowledge to know yourself fully.

I will do it.

Lop off your head.

Not for spite

Or glory

Or justice

Just because

I am made to take you there.