Tuesday 28 September 2010

The Lottery


The Lottery

I was pondering this idea of time. It's sort of like the story of a friend of a friend. He won the lottery. Not a huge amount, just a couple million pounds. He was a very sensible person so he figured the thing he must do is to speak to an investment broker to figure out how best to use the money. But as he had only just received it and was in a celebratory mood, he decided he would search for a broker later.

He started spending a little of the money - a couple hundred here, a few hundred there - to just enjoy himself before he got down to the business of deciding what to do with it. He gave some to family and bought a few things for friends. He was spending sensibly - not too much because he wanted to retire early and live off of what he had left. And what he did spend was just a drop compared to what he had won.

Time passed and he still had not contacted a broker. He knew he should, but his social life had taken off and he just wasn't finding the time to do the research and start the interviews. Besides, he had met someone new and was trying to keep her happy.

Eventually he got to a point where he wasn't sure how much he had left and if it was enough to live on. He was afraid to contact a broker now because he might get bad news and so he procrastinated further. When he finally did contact someone, a recommendation from a friend, he found out he still had enough to retire on, but not enough to support a family or allow him the same sort of lifestyle without earning income elsewhere. Where had it all gone? He realized then that it had slipped through his fingers all too quickly because he was not aware of how he was using it.

Time works much the same way. In India, men will put off spiritual practice until retirement age. Then they renounce everything and devote all their time to their practice. That's all well and good, but where is the guarantee that we will reach retirement age? We don't know how many days we have left. Isn't it better to take stock now, increase our efforts and stop putting off those disciplines that we have been collecting but not using? It's our future that we're working towards. So you have to ask yourself, what kind of future do you want?

Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.

Sunday 26 September 2010

Plenty of Effort, Not Enough Time


Plenty of Effort, Not Enough Time

I'm discovering and hearing over and over again that there are no short cuts on this journey towards enlightenment. Two commodities are required: time and effort.

Effort is required to break our old habits of living an ordinary life and pulling ourselves up a few notches until we are living elevated lives with elevated thoughts, words and actions.

Effort becomes lax when we believe the myth, 'I've got plenty of time to... - I'll make effort tomorrow.' What we don't realize is that transformation from ordinary to elevated does not happen overnight. It requires changing our thought patterns and this takes time - lots of it. In Raja Yoga, it is recommended that you spend 8 hours a day on this effort. Eight hours for sleeping, eight hours for working, eight hours for meditation. Why so much time? Because that is how much time it takes!

My first reaction is, 'I don't have that much time, I should give up!' But if we're honest with ourselves, giving up is not really on the cards. Giving up doesn't make things better. Instead, let me start now with 5 minutes. And increase the amount daily. When I make a habit of putting some time aside, then it accumulates.

Om shanti.

Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.

Friday 24 September 2010

Beware the Grumblies


Beware the Grumblies

Today was one of those days. Not bad. But things didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked. The installation of our new printer consumed much of my time. Rather, the
failing of the installation of our new printer consumed much of my time. Rain caused my bike trailer to come off twice. Interruptions when cleaning the flat meant it took more than half an hour longer. These are all little annoyances that causes the 'grumblies'. Grumblies are dangerous because even though they are trivial, if you poke at someone going through a grumblie, then it becomes too much and that person is likely to bite your head off!

Whilst cleaning the flat, I was listening to Mike George's talk from when he visited Cambridge recently. It's about an hour and a half long, but well worth a listen if you have the time - I'll include a link below. He was giving a talk to introduce his book, The 7 Myths of Love. One of the things he pointed out in the talk was that we learn as children that happiness comes from having toys. And that we get love when we make other people happy. So, early on, we learn to externalize love and happiness instead of learning that we are love and happiness. He said it much better than I'm relaying it and it's near the beginning of the talk so you don't have to listen to the whole thing to get that part of it.

It just got me thinking, how many times to I expect others to make me happy? How many times do I expect things to work out for my benefit? How much happiness am I missing out on because I wait for external sources to produce it?

Om shanti.

Click on this link and then scroll down to the bottom for Mike George's lecture.
http://www.innerspace.org/cambridge/downloads/


Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.

Thursday 23 September 2010

I Know Where I've Been



I Know Where I've Been

My daughter has fallen in love with the musical, Hairspray. We have it on DVD and she's been learning all the songs. There's one song I particularly like - I Know Where I've Been. I've included the lyrics below following this post and the link to the video if you want to hear it.

The song speaks about the struggle and hope for minorities to be accepted into society. But for me it shows a snapshot of a journey. And when I compare it to my own spiritual journey it makes me stop for a moment and consider, where have I been, where am I going to, what is my struggle, what is my hope, and what/who is the light that's showing me the way. If you don't know the beginning, the middle and the end of your journey, then how do you know when you get there? How do you know your headed in the right direction?

Om shanti.


I KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NfW_UnoOLQ

MISS MAYBELLE
There's a light
In the darkness
Though the night
Is black as my skin
There's a light
Burning bright
Showing me the way
But i know where i've been

There's a cry
In the distance
It's a voice
That comes from deep within
There's a cry
Asking why
I pray the answer's up ahead
yeah
'Cause i know where i've been

There's a road
We've been travelin'
Lost so many on the way
But the riches
Will be plenty
Worth the price
The price we had to pay

There's a dream
In the future
There's a struggle
That we have yet to win
And there's pride
In my heart
'Cause i know
Where i'm going
Yes I do !
And i know where i've been
Yeah

MISS MAYBELLE & ENSEMBLE
There's a road (There's a road)
We must travel (We must travel)
There's a promise (There is a promise)
We must make (That we must make)
But the riches (oh but the riches)
Will be plenty (The riches will be plenty)
Worth the risk (Worth the risk)
And chances that we take (and the chances that we)
There's a dream
Yeah yey yeah
In the future

There's a struggle

That we have yet to win
Use that pride
In our hearts
To lift us up
Until tomorrow

'Cause just to sit still
Would be a sin

ENSEMBLE
I know it, i know it
I know where i'm going

Miss Maybelle
Lord knows i know..
Where i've been

Miss Maybelle & ENSEMBLE
Oh! When we win,
I'll give thanks to my god
'Cause i know where i've been

Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.

Wednesday 22 September 2010

More on Renunciation

starburst sun set pictures, backgrounds and images


More on Renunciation

What is the greatest renunciation? Raja Yoga teaches that renouncing Body Consciousness is the greatest renunciation. What does this mean? Well, we have a habit of thinking that the body we occupy is who we are. But that doesn't really make sense. Here's why.

Cell replacement: Over a period of 7 years, the body completely replaces every cell in the body. After 7 years, if I am the body, I am no longer the person I was. I am some body different.

Death experience: The body needs something extra to be conscious. The body can die and come back to life again, but the experience of the one who dies is not that he ceased to exist, but he continued to exist apart from the body.

Past life experience: Some individuals have been able to recall details from a past life and their accounts have been scrutinized and found to be true. Somehow that information has been carried on - but not through the body.

Raja Yoga says that our true being is that of an atma (soul). We are genderless, ageless, and eternal. We are very small. An atma does not take up any space. But it is very powerful. It can master the movement of a body and bodily functions. With the power of thought an atma can achieve many things.

I like this idea that I am an atma. That this body is just a vehicle. That at some point I'll get to trade it in for a new model. :D

There is great benefit in knowing this. But to keep it in the awareness takes constant effort. And that is what makes it the greatest renunciation.

Om shanti.



Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Things I Could Really Do Without


Things I Could Really Do Without

In my Raja Yoga class recently, we had a lesson on renunciation. Renunciation is one of those disciplines that doesn't seem to be appreciated in the Western World. With mottoes like 'he who dies with the most toys wins,' it's not surprising that we find renunciation difficult. I'm just trying to think back to my own years growing up. We learned values like 'waste not, want not' and 'treat others how you would like to be treated'. And in Christianity, there was the concept that the more you gave the more you received (charity). But I don't recall any strong emphasis on renunciation. The closest slogan I can find is 'everything in moderation'. In other words, everything is ok, as long as you don't indulge too much.

Ah, wait, there IS renunciation in Christianity. There is the season of lent when you are supposed to give up something. I remember my friends taking up smoking so that they'd have something to give up. But fasting during lent was not something my family practised. I never fully understood what lent was about until the film, Chocolat. So I missed out on some major renunciation. And having not practised renunciation, I never learned of the benefits.

I've been examining the idea of renunciation lately. I don't know about where you live, but here in the UK people are past renouncing. They had to for the war and so they feel they don't need to any more. Or they feel as if they still are renouncing - out of habit - and that everyone should practice their form of renouncing. Or they are too young to know what it means to do without and they don't care to learn. Renunciation has a negative feeling of 'doing without' or 'giving up' or 'making life uncomfortable'. But that is not the true spirit of renunciation.

The reason for renunciation is to cut out things that are unhelpful or harmful. One very basic example is smoking. I might enjoy smoking. It might help me to cope with stress. But it has lasting, and sometimes fatal, consequences. By smoking, I'm abusing my body and those bodies that share the same immediate environment. So I may choose to renounce smoking when I fully realize that the harm outweighs the benefit.

It got me thinking, what other things can I renounce. Here are a few ideas.

Stress. Can one renounce stress? Sure. Who creates my stress? I do. I put pressure on myself to perform. Or I allow other's expectations of me to dictate what I should do and how I should spend my time. Or I allow others to affect my emotions. Is renouncing stress easy? No. But it can be done.

Vices. Most big vices I've renounced. Lying, stealing, cheating, murder. What about anger (subtle violence)? What about greed? There are lots of small vices that, if I renounce them, it will improve my life and my relationships. Some feel they don't have any vices to renounce. I'd like to live with one of these people. If they are truly viceless, I can't think of a better housemate. :)

Sweets. Definitely. Why? Because through taking in too much sugar, I put myself at risk of illness. Lately I've been eating a lot of sugary foods. I have a sweet tooth, so I'm grabbing a sugary snacks in a hurry because I don't have time to produce a proper meal. Which snacks do I reach for? A cereal bar, chocolate, fruit yogurt. Some of these things sound healthy, but when I look at the ingredients I find that the yogurt and the cereal bar have more sugar than the chocolate! But I digress. By renouncing sweets, I practise loving care for the body and the body will be in a better position to serve me longer term.

So, renunciation is a choice. Through renunciation I choose to do something good for myself whilst renouncing something not so good. And in the practice of renunciation, it's helpful to focus on the benefit and not the object of renunciation. I remember when I stopped eating meat, I found myself looking for meat substitutes because I was focused on NOT EATING MEAT rather than EATING DELICIOUS NEW (and vegetarian) DISHES. Where we focus our attention will determine how much effort is required during our first weeks of renunciation.

Well, enough on renunciation. I'm hoping to NOT renounce blogging any longer. It's a useful learning tool for me and I enjoy sharing experiences and musings with the wider family.

Om shanti.


Thank you for reading. For more information on Raja Yoga philosophy see www.bkwsu.org.