Given our humanness, we are prone to making judgments on things. Well, everything actually.
Good vs. bad, hot vs. cold, right vs. wrong, etc.
These judgment calls are almost always based on past experience--our past actions/feelings/understandings are naturally going to shape the way we view the world today, and thus, the way we feel about everything.
But these dichotomies of right and wrong are made up in the mind. Things are not one way or another, they just are. And no matter how you view anything, there is always going to be someone who views it exactly the opposite as you. For example, Nebraska summers--brutally hot, right? so easy to complain about because of the discomfort they cause. However, talk to a Nebraska farmer and he/she will tell you the necessity of the heat to grow corn. For them, the heat is a good thing.
Through a yoga practice, we can start to cultivate the awareness of things just simply as they are. Try spending an hour without judging anything. It's nearly impossible. And the nature of our labeling is often a misunderstanding of the true essence of that thing. In the 1978 translation by Sri Swami Satchinananda, Verse 1.8 of the Yoga Sutras states
Misconception occurs when knowledge of something is not based upon its true form.
How do we start to change? Part of the practice of fully understanding something is often a matter of a shift in perspective--a regularly occurring theme of this blog! For instance, moderate suffering can be a reminder of the things we have to be grateful for. Another example, if a new teacher shows up to teach your yoga class you may be dismayed because of your attachment to your teacher, or you could consider that you may learn a new pose or hear something cued in a way that resonates with you.
In other words, get the full story. And try to keep in mind that no matter how you label anything, there is always another way. And that way isn't necessarily wrong. It just is.
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Hi Gabrielle,
ReplyDeleteThere is a duality in the challenge or opportunity Sri Swami references in understanding "true form."
Too often, when in a state of unease we recoil back into our past judgments and anticipate the future with colored lens of the life that is to be.
Yet, when we feel comfortable with ourselves; open to opportunities and willing to be patient with our judgments we see beyond them and our biases. It is then when we have the ability to see form in a truer light.
The challenge in life, is we don't always have the benefit of experiencing life in a comfortable state of being....or the state of Santosha.
I suspect many of us sense that our experiences are shaded by our mental state. The beauty of life is that change is a constant, it happens with each passing moment. It's the gift life continues to provide us with. Therefore, it's how we receive the gift that determine our path.
So I concur, our perspective does shape our experience and judgments. Thankfully, difference is not an absolute nor are our experiences; particularly when our minds and hearts remain open in the present moment.
Hi Eric.
ReplyDeletePowerful ideas. Took me quite a while to digest.
I think your thoughts on our mental states and level of comfort are astute. Naturally when we are happy with ourselves, it is easier to view the challenges of life with a positive mind frame.
The inherent difficulty with this is that we must first become comfortable with and fully understand ourselves. And then, even if things aren't going our way (a matter of perspective, I suspect) we at least know the most honest way to react based on our firm grounding in Self.
Thank you for posting.
Gabrielle