For me, the motivation behind my actions comes from understanding how what I am doing will bring me a desired effect. My goal has always been to be the best I can possibly be. I see that as being gracious, compassionate, peaceful, accepting, etc, I understand the reason for any of these qualities not being fully developed within me lies within me. It is like those qualities are muscles that do not get used enough. It's fairly easy to see al around us that to become proficient, adept, and strong at anything, one needs to study, practice, and/or train. Following this understanding, the meditations I describe are really the description of an opportunity to strengthen the muscles or qualities we are focusing on.
The first meditation "jnana" (jnana means wisdom) works on developing a few extraordinary qualities within us. One of these is called " concentration." I like to call it "sucking the juice out of every moment of my life." So much of our life is not experienced due to our incessant distractedness. We are missing so much because we are not paying attention. What is so important about all the stuff we are missing? What's so important is "understanding." Without understanding or with partial or wrong understanding, we're led towards misguided actions and undesired results. As we a quire these muscles of concentration, a very powerful result is the mind begins to become silent. It has to be in order to fully pay attention to whatever it is we are doing. That silence not only allows us to fully experience whatever it is we are experiencing, but simultaneously, we are no longer strengthening the old habit patterns. The mind that was hindering us from being purely present, the mind which harbors any doubts, fears, anger, sadness, expectations, judgments, etc., is no longer being fed mental energy and unconscious loyalty. As these qualities become weaker due to lack of thought-based fuel, we start to see things as they are instead of through the spectacles that have been colored or tinted by our history. As we see things as they are, we learn their truth and we cultivate understanding. This understanding is the foundation of wisdom. Certainly, if we are here in this life to learn, grow, and blossom that certainly cannot happen if we are not paying attention to our teacher, which might just be the experiences we are having in this life. As our minds become silent, we receive the wonderful benefit of peace. No longer being jolted from this moment by thoughts of who knows what, we have so many, it's extraordinary. We regret things, we relive things, judge things, and rationalize them; we have malevolent thoughts, greedy thoughts, lustful and fearful thoughts. There are thoughts that build excitement and attachment to desired outcomes. These are just a few of the kinds of thoughts we could have that may jolt us right out of tranquility. As these are minimized due to the silence cultivated by being present, the stresses associated with these thoughts is also minimized, which means the adrenal glands relax, the heart beats slower, the breath evens out, the muscles relax and the body benefits tremendously from the lack of chatter in our minds.
The second an third qualities we are working on in our meditation are Bhakti and Karma, which I interpret as gratitude and compassion. Looking at our mind as a body that houses muscles and deciding which muscles are important to be strong or which muscles will best serve you. To me gratitude is both the doorway to happiness and the foundation of abundance. To have gratitude is to understand how fortunate I am for all that I have. The pleasant as well as the unpleasant. The pleasant things, people, and experiences in my life are so wonderful. The unpleasant things, people and experiences are certainly providing me with the challenges that are prodding and poking me to become strong, creative, smarter and accepting and that is also wonderful. Without challenges there si no growth. Reminding myself constantly of my blessings strengthens my understanding and belief that I am blessed. As these muscles become strong, I notice my mind dwells more in gratitude than ingratitude, more in fullness than emptiness, more in abundance than lack. If it is true what science is telling us that like attracts like, than a mind dwells in abundance will attract abundance into one's life. Maybe that's what they mean when they say the rich get richer and the poor becomes poorer. A mind that dwells in wealth attracts wealth and a mind that dwells in poverty attracts poverty. Regardless, I feel so much happier because I am constantly aware of how fortunate I am.
Now similarly, to develop compassion, we need to work on it. If we were to try and think of one quality that supersedes all others, one quality that all truly great people had in common, certainly it would be compassion. To me it just makes sense. Compassion seems o me the other half of happiness. Since truly there seems to be nothing more fulfilling and pleasant than helping someone smile. Compassion seems to me the master key to the doorway that ends real suffering. Compassion equates generosity, quality, benevolence, selflessness, forgiveness and kindness. Compassion is the most perfect balm for the wounds of our world. Serving others in thought and word as well as action will become the prominent yoga practice of the new future. So let's develop this all important quality. Let's sit for some time with our eyes closed and let's cultivate and strengthen a strong desire for the happiness of all beings. Let's cultivate a desire to uplift those who suffer. Let's strengthen the muscles of compassion and let's contribute to the consciousness of compassion on this planet.
Then let's watch how this quite, gracious and compassionate mind interacts with its environment and how the environment reponds. Now this is what you call a noble and worthy experiment.
Welcome to the life of a yogi and welcome to Power Yoga. *
