posted Mar 22, 2011 7:51 AM by Aaron Harting
G R A T I T U D E - appreciation, acknowledgment, recognition, gratefulness, grace, thankfulness for the overwhelming majority of things that are going right in our lives. Practicing this is constantly reminding ourselves that life is awesome just the way it is. Instead of focusing on what we don't have. The latter seems to be par for the course, in the United States and in most western countries I suspect. The ethos of consumer capitalism is to keep us dissatisfied, always wanting more, there will never be enough stuff, or resources to produce it. This phenomenon is grotesque considering more than 1,000,000,000(that's a billion)people on earth live on a dollar a day or less. Recent world events remind us yet again that all we have, including our very lives could be destroyed in a flash. So we might as well be happy for the time we get to spend in our present form. The people of Japan have been in my thoughts daily. Since becoming a father, the tragedy hits "home" in a different way, and I commit to living an extraordinary life with my partner and child while I am here. I think contentment is a good synonym for gratitude. I think one of the greatest examples of contentment can be found in the Advaita Vedanta text called the Ashtavakra Gita. The scripture is a dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and his student King Janaka. King Janaka comes to embody contentment in this text. The latest translation I read is by Sanskrit scholar and Buddhist monk Lama Sumati Marut ( http://www.lamamarut.org). I will share a few passages from this translation. "Just as the one all pervading space exists both inside and outside the pitcher, so too does the eternal and pervasive ultimate exists in all beings. -1.20" "One who knows for sure that suffering is in the mind and nowhere else is free from it and is always happy and at peace and all discontentment just melts away. -11.5" "Realizing that truly there is nothing that is really ever done, when something arises that needs to be done, I just do it and stay happy. -13.3" "I have often observed that the appearance of pleasant things and events are out of my immediate control. So, not caring about whether the thing or event is agreeable or disagreeable, I just stay happy. -13.7" "Not wishing for the end of the world nor minding it's continued existence, the fortunate one subsists on whatever comes his way and stays happy.-17.7" There are 20 other such chapters full of this beautiful wisdom. Next time you are feeling down and out, or like you need someTHING else, just find a copy of this text and read it until an understanding happens. We would all be fortunate ones to understand this text. |
posted Mar 9, 2011 3:21 PM by Aaron Harting
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updated Mar 9, 2011 10:20 PM
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I am writing this article, because my partner and I are expecting our first child, a son, in July. Stepping thru fear has been a process that I have been working with over the past several months. Like my past few posts, about acknowledging the shadow aspect of ourselves, stepping thru fear is not necessarily a comfortable action to take, it is however very rewarding. Recently I held the belief that I wished to be free of all fear, to attain a state of fearlessness (Abhaya in Sanskrit). There seem to be two ways to go about this; 1. To realize that everything in phenomenal existence is but a play of illusion (maya) originating from the mind, and to hold this understanding as a thought form in each moment. 2. Is to have a traumatic brain injury or psychological impairment. A 44 year old woman from New York has a damaged amygdala and is unable to feel fear. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/brain-damaged-no-fear_n_797848.html) Of the two options #1 seems really great but as of yet I only have an intellectual understanding of life's illusion that is not present every moment within my mind. As for #2 I'm not sure I want to take the chance of breaking my brain. So being completely fearless is out of the question for the time being. I imagine that it would be much easier to not contend with fear at all. My only other options are to press on in spite of my fear or let my fear dictate how I live my life. Fear can dictate how we live our lives, because we have a habitual reaction to it. That reaction can shut us down and keep us in the same patterns that leave us feeling unhappy and dis-empowered. The fear maintains it's grip on our life and we never challenge it because we are afraid of the discomfort of stepping thru fear. Making the choice to do something you are afraid of is a very empowering decision. The fear could be leaving a job you hate to pursue your passion, leaving a relationship which you have outgrown, asking for help, failure, having a child, or doing a headstand, handstand or other inversion. For the last year I taught rock climbing at a local gym, and one of my favorite things about the job, was seeing people step thru their fear of heights. The smile on their face after climbing all the way to the top of the wall was priceless. The first step in conquering your fear is acknowledging that it is there, then having the audacity to put yourself in that situation in spite of your fear, with practice the discomfort will ease and you will transform your habitual reaction into non reaction. It is a very empowering process, but it does require you to stay checked in and remain open and honest with yourself. Give yourself love and understanding and remember persistence is the key to making lasting changes. |
posted Feb 7, 2011 1:17 PM by Aaron Harting
Ok, so since I'm writing about shadows, I think I should share one right here, right now. After seeing the "award winning" movie Y Yoga, which I found it difficult to sit thru, I completely made an erroneous, short sighted judgment about fellow yoga teacher Seane Corne. It was not a flattering judgement. Perhaps you know what kind of judgment I am talking about, one of those judgments you make about people you don't even know. Upon just seeing that person, everything about them just drives you crazy. It is true I could not stand the movie but a shadow part of myself made an irrational judgment about a person who does great things in this world. Several months later, I came across this video from the omega institute, and the process of eating my words began. The illusory nature of my judgment had been revealed to me in a compassionate manner. Seane Corne and I have much in common, We both work the Shadow, and We both really learn a lot from unconventional teachers. The Junkies and the Whores as she says in the video. I couldn't agree with her more. There are a lot of teachers out there, whether they are teaching Yoga or Spirituality, they either appear to be keeping perfect morality, or some pretend they do. Buddha, Jesus Christ, White Buffalo Woman; Whoever you may claim as your prophet, they were all born as humans. So speaking for myself, it is hard for me to relate sometimes with these perfected beings, these perfect teachers. There is however, a teacher out there for everyone... Perhaps you may have heard of an adept practitioner and teacher called Milarepa. Milarepa is one of Tibet's most renowned Yogis and Saints. I will include a link at the end of the post. Long story short, Milarepa had a tough early life and was not treated well by his family, they soon came to regret this though when he used sorcery and yogic attainments to kill about 30 or so of them while they slept. Milarepa spent many years feeling guilty and atoning for this act. Milarepa too had a teacher of a prickly disposition, another crazy wisdom teacher called Marpa. Marpa beat and mistreated Milarepa in to becoming one of the most powerful Yogis ever. Milarepa's story is a very human one to me, I can picture myself in his place full of mental afflictions and shadows. We all have the opportunity to become great Yogis and Yoginis, with the right teacher, but it's not always pretty. A crazy wisdom teacher is not there to be your friend,to wipe your nose, or to give you candy. A good teacher is interested in your development as a practitioner not in stroking your ego. They often know exactly what to do to push all of your buttons and in pushing all your buttons, they compassionately show us exactly where we still need work. The teacher does not always take the form of a person we know. Usually it is that loved one who says something, or gives us a look, the drunk vagrant shouting victuals as we pass, the thing that we find in our lives so disgusting, horrific and shocking it causes us to blow up and react, or perhaps it just shuts us down. It appears that way only to ourselves. We have seen it inside our own mind! It is our reflection. What a wonderful blessing to be shown exactly what we need to work on! We can be grateful for the lesson, or we can lose the lesson. As Master Seane Corne said, it is not pretty, it's a fierce journey. It's not fun to look at. It is not child's play. It is certainly not a path for those faint of heart. It is walking the razor's edge. It is also a path to find quick results. So next time you are find yourself reacting, blowing up, or shutting down, see if you can find the lesson. By Aaron Harting for more on Milarepa visithttp://www.cosmicharmony.com/Av/Milarepa/Milarepa.htmfor more on Crazy Wisdom visithttp://www.shambhala.org/teachings/view.php?id=131http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_wisdom |
posted Jan 27, 2011 9:34 AM by Aaron Harting
by Aaron Harting
with special guest
Puppetji
I have been doing a lot of work on myself recently regarding shadows. Shadows are that part of ourselves that we don't really like to look at, and we surely don't like for other people to know about. The Yogic literature is rife with the term Kleshas meaning Poisons. It is described in the third sloka of Patanjali's Yoga Sutra:
Avidyāsmitārāgadveṣābhiniveśāḥ pañca kleśāḥ
Translated into English, these five (pañca) Kleśa-s or Afflictions (kleśāḥ) are:
- Ignorance (in the form of a misapprehension about reality) (ávidyā),
- egoism (in the form of an erroneous identification of the Self with the intellect) (asmitā),
- attachment (rāga),
- aversion (dveṣa), and
- fear of death (which is derived from clinging ignorantly to life) (abhiniveśāḥ).
One of the ideas about working with your shadow is if you can recognize those uncomfortable parts of yourself when they come in to play in your life, you can own your shadow, and begin to transform your habitual patterns. It is my judgement that whenever we are feeling "stuck" or "trapped" in our life, there is a shadow lurking behind whatever obstacle we need to overcome to step back into our power. We think we see a snake curled ready to strike, it feels like it might kill us, we get scared. It takes courage to approach that fear, and upon further examination we realize it was just a harmless rope. Our mind takes us for a ride with all of the "What if" scenarios that are a complete fabrication with no concrete reality in life. We let these illusions, these shadows run our lives, because we refuse to step into our power as individuals. The consequence of this is we choose to lead unhappy and discontented lives. By confronting that which scares us, with a playful and gentle attitude, we will be begin to make friends with our shadows so that they no longer dominate our lives. It is an ever unfolding process. When we are able to recognize our own shadow, then we are able to have patience and compassion when we see other peoples shadows get the better of them. If we can accept our own dark places, we will likely be able to accept them in others as well. This work begins right in our own skin. I will include a few links to follow if you are interested in researching a little more. My next few posts will be dealing with Shadows. Thanks for visiting, I hope you come back again! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kle%C5%9B%C4%81http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_%28psychology%29 |
posted Jan 17, 2011 11:53 AM by Aaron Harting
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2011
Every time I hear this speech, it sends chills throughout my body. Sometimes my eyes well up with tears. King's words cut deep, right into that soft part of my heart that is so spacious, so wide that there is room for all beings to reside there. It is a recognition that all anyone wants, is to be happy and avoid pain.
When I think about this, it makes me feel really good, because it is touching what in Tibetan Buddhism is referred to as Bodhichitta. Bodhichitta naturally arises,especially if you are living your Yamas and Niyamas. I am going to offer a very amateur translation of Bodhichitta as being awakened mind. Let me just say I believe Everyone has Bodhichitta, it is not something you need to try to do or find. If you have ever done something nice for someone else, you were using Bodhichitta.
Martin Luther King Jr. was not leading the civil rights movement for himself. He became the leader because he believed in what that movement meant for others. He believed that the entire planet would benefit if the movement succeeded in granting equal rights to all Americans. King's Bodhichitta changed the world. The Bodhichitta you have now, right now is the same as Martin Luther King Jr.'s. Your awakened mind can change the world too.
"I have a dream" and awakened mind are inexorably linked together. King was not asleep when he had his dream. Many of us are still sound asleep dreaming. Dreaming that, we are different or somehow separate from others, your neighbor, the homeless man, that annoying person you saw today or Martin Luther King Jr. That our happiness is somehow not intertwined with the happiness of others. Thinking of "#1" first. This is when Bodhichitta has been clouded by ignorance and fear. Catching yourself slipping into this mode of closing down, of shutting the world out is a huge victory, and it's good sign you will be functioning more from your awakened mind in the future.
I have a dream that by living with an awakened mind, I can make this world a better place for all beings. I have a dream that if all humans live with bodhichitta, we will be "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty" we will be "free at last."
by Aaron Harting
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posted Aug 16, 2010 2:42 PM by Aaron Harting
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updated Jan 13, 2011 9:36 PM
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These words are not my own, but touched me very deeply. I look forward to reading this book at my first opportunity. This is from the introduction of his recent book "The Mirror of Yoga". "Introduction
Yoga begins with
listening. When we listen, we are giving space to what is. We are
allowing other people to be what they are, and we are sanctioning our
own bodies and our own minds to fully manifest. Yoga also begins in the
present moment. Many classic texts, such as the Yoga Sūtra by
Patañjali, start with the word atha, meaning "now," which refers to
this very notion. In the context of the Yoga Sūtra, the use of the word
atha means that we have come to a point in our lives where we are ready
to wake up from our conditioned existence and our habitual ways of
behaving, thinking, and interacting with the world. It insinuates that
we are fi nally ready to get real and to discover the essence of all
existence that lies deep down in the core of our own heart and at the
center of our being. It is from this experience of the root of life in
the present moment that a yoga practice can actually be generated.
Patañjali's use of the word now implies that we have most likely tried
many, many other things in order to wake up and to find happiness. We
have probably pursued all different types of pleasures, and perhaps we
have explored various philosophical teachings and disciplines and maybe
even religious practices in order to give life meaning. But still,
something is not quite right. When all of our attempts to find meaning
are seen to have been inadequate for the job, then we come into our
present situation and this is where the practice of yoga truly
begins—right here, right now.
Yoga is freedom. It is
freedom from the fear of not knowing who we are, from presenting a face
to the world that is not truly representative of who we feel ourselves
to be, and from pretending to believe in things that we do not really
know to be true. Th is is the liberation we find in yoga as we return
to the present moment: to our natural mind and to a state of complete
happiness. It is unlikely we are drawn to yoga in a conscious search
for this freedom, but rather that we find yoga attractive because we
imagine that it will make us happy, and there are many ideas about what
happiness is that may invite us in. We may begin our practice to
benefit the body; to become healthy, strong, flexible, sexy, or
vibrant. We may see yoga on a more superficial level as simply an
answer to our boredom or as a good way to meet people. Then one day in
a yoga class we may experience the mind spontaneously dropping into a
state of calm and clarity, a feeling that draws us back again in search
of that natural sense of balance. The particulars of why we come to
yoga may take on any number of forms, and all of them are honorable
starting points for the practice because each doorway that reveals
itself is a path into the deep matrix of what yoga truly is, and each
entrance reveals that ultimately we have come in search of the mystical
experience—a timeless sense of complete freedom and happiness.
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