Category: Philosophy

Becoming ready to teach

8/22/2015

From Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

Kasan was asked to officiate at the funeral of a provincial lord.

He had never met lords and nobles before so he was nervous. When the ceremony started, Kasan sweat.

Afterwards, when he had returned, he gathered his pupils together. Kasan confessed that he was not yet qualified to be a teacher for he lacked the sameness of bearing in the world of fame that he possessed in the secluded temple. Then Kasan resigned and became the pupil of another master. Eight years later he returned to his former pupils, enlightened.

Warrior: The Origin of Virabhadra

8/13/2015

If it were up to Shiva, he would sit, meditating on Mount Kailasa all the time. It is only because of his interactions with the goddess in her many forms that Shiva takes any kind of active role in the world.

Here is the story of Shiva and Sati, and of how Virabhadra (of virabhadrasana/warrior pose fame) came to be.

Sati’s father is Daksha. Daksha is the son of Brahma the Creator, and all of Brahma’s children also create; Daksha creates culture. Since Shiva stands outside of culture, there are many stories that set Shiva and Daksha against one another. This is one of them. Sati married Shiva against her father’s wishes.

So Daksha held a huge fire ceremony (yajna) and invited all of the gods and goddesses and the great sages. But he did not invite Shiva and Sati. When Sati heard of this, she was angry and determined to go anyway. Shiva said, “Nothing good will come of it,” but he did not stop her.

When Sati arrived, the ritual was already underway and a great fire was burning. Her father was not happy to see her. When she asked why they had not been invited, Daksha ranted. He told her that Shiva was worthless and not deserving of respect. He called Shiva names he considered disgraceful: king of the goblins, beggar, the ash-man, and the long-haired yogi.

Hearing this, Sati replied, “Shiva is everyone’s friend. No one but you speaks ill of him. All that you said, the gods and goddesses know and still they adore him.” According to custom (to culture), when a wife heard her husband reviled, she was to either leave the place with her hands over her ears. Or, if she had the power, she should end her life.

Sati walked into the fire and died.

When Shiva heard of this, he was furious. He tore out one of his dreadlocks and from it created the personification of his anger – Virabhadra, a thousand-armed demon.

In Sanskrit, vira means hero and bhadra means blessed, fair, beautiful, and auspicious. Just as in the renaming of Rudra into Shiva, we see a wild and violent deity beseeched to mercy through naming.

The description that follows of Virabhadra and the ceremony is from Tales of the Shiva Purana, compiled by H. G. Sadhana Sidh Das.

“Virabhadra shone with energy and he had thousands of mouths and eyes. His hair glistened like lightning and his hands were full of all sorts of weapons. When he spoke it was like thunder. From his body, Virabhadra created a female demon named Bhadrakali.

“’What are our order?’ asked Virabhadra and Bhadrakali of Shiva. ‘Go and destroy Daksha’s Yajna,’ was the order. To help them in this mission, Virabhadra created several other demons from the parts of his body. All of them had a thousand arms and carried weapons. Virabhadra, Bhadrakali, and these other demons headed for Daksha’s Yajna. When they got there, they found that the sacrifice had already started and the sacred fire was burning.

“The sages were reciting hymns and the Gods were watching. Musical instruments were being played. Virabhadra roared and the sound of the roar was so loud that several of the Gods began to run away. The earth shook and there were tidal waves in the ocean.

“Daksha was frightened. But he summoned up courage and inquired who they were. ‘We are Shiva’s assistants and we have come to take part in the sacrifice,’ replied Virabhadra. Virabhadra and the other demons then proceeded to burn down the structure where the sacrifice was being held. They tied up the priests and threw all the offerings away.
“With their weapons, they attacked the Gods. Whatever resistance the Gods tried to put up was taken care of by Virabhadra’s [trident] and Bhadrakali’s spear. The Goddess Sarasvati lost her nose and the God Agni lost his arms. The sage Bhaga had his eyes gouged out and the sage Pusha lost all his teeth. Virabhadra sliced off Daksha’s head and gave it to Bhadrakali. Thousands of thousands of Gods died and the sacrifice became a battlefield.

“Vishnu tried to fight it out and he and Virabhadra shot arrows at each other. But one of Virabhadra’s arrows struck Vishnu on the chest and he fell down unconscious. Spurred on by Brahma, the Gods began to pray to Shiva. These prayers pacified Shiva and he asked Virabhadra and Bhadrakali to refrain from causing further damage. Brahma asked about the Gods who had been killed to bring them back to life.

“When Shiva calmed down, he returned the lives of the dead Gods and everyone was back to normal. But Daksha’s head could not be restored. So a goat’s head was put instead and Daksha was forgiven.”

Shiva, the long-haired yogi who lives outside of culture and is concerned only with meditation, defeats the Culture Maker whenever they come up against one another. Culture is maya, an impermanent illusion. Culture led Sati to throw herself on the fire and Shiva sent a vicious reminder that some things are more important than following the rules.

Expansion and Contraction of the Spirit

8/8/2015

Expansion or contraction, from the perspective of psycho-spiritual growth, these are our choices.

Contraction

Contraction stems from fear, from stress, from not having our basic human needs for safety, rest, and belonging fulfilled. Contraction comes from expectations and attachments, which themselves come from fear—the fear of not being in control, fear of change, or the fear of being overwhelmed and unable to successfully navigate the rough seas of this life.

So we contract. We pull inward and make ourselves small and hard like a tired, grumpy turtle pulling into its shell.

And sometimes withdrawal is necessary: sometimes to protect ourselves from very real threats, sometimes to heal, sometimes like the hermit who goes into her cave to seek enlightenment or mystical union with God.

But many of us get stuck here, in this protective place of contraction. And then we stop growing. We stagnate or decline.

Expansion

Expansion comes from love, from feeling safe and cared for, from being patient and compassionate toward ourselves. Expansion comes from being accepting and understanding of ourselves so we can be accepting and understanding of others.

Expansion comes from letting go—letting go of expectations and attachments to how we think things ought to be. Letting go of the judgments and criticisms of self and others that stem from these attachments. Letting go of worries about the future or regrets about the past or whatever it is that keeps us from being fully present, in this moment right now.

When we can let go, we can let our hearts and minds, our whole being shine with love, and we become open, inclusive, expansive. Joyful.

Expansion on the Mat

This is what we need to practice on the mat to continue expansion:

Feeling safe. Yoga meets everyone right where they are, with no expectations for you to be anyone other than who you are right now, body and mind.
Slowing down. To let go of self-criticism we must become aware of it, and to do that we have to turn inward and stay mindful; we have to listen to the internal chatter so we can consciously decide which voices to encourage and which to turn off.
Being patient and compassionate with ourselves. This job takes time. We’ve spent a lifetime listening to the chatter and taking it seriously. It won’t be turned off in a day. But if we can continue to observe and accept ourselves right where we are, the voices that lead us to contract will fade away.
Letting go. Let go of fear and worry and self-criticism. Let go of all those things that make us emotionally and spiritually small and hard.
Filling up. Fill up with compassion and ease and joy. Fill up on all those things that help us expand.

That is how we grow on the mat.

Taking on Too Much

5/6/2015

This is Stephen Mitchell’s version of the Tao Te Ching section nine.

Fill your bowl to the brim
And it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
And it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
And your heart will never unclench.
Care about other’s approval
And you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

It's a warning against taking on too much. “Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill.”

When things seem to be coming at you from all directions; when your calendar is full; when you have multiple projects going on at once; many irons in the fire – it can be exhilarating, it can be exhausting, and it can be addicting.

We can become addicted to the rush and to the feeling of getting things done. We can think that being busy, ticking things off the to-do list, is the same as being important.

And then, when there is less to do, maybe we feel less important, so we add more things to do when they don’t really need doing. “Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.”

Chasing after money, security, and other people’s approval will never lead to peace of mind.

The only thing that really matters is living your authentic life. Stripping away all that is false, everything that doesn’t resonate with your True Self, and living the life of love in which you most feel at home.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

Let us practice doing just what needs to be done, no more and no less, and letting that be enough.

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Becoming ready to teach

Warrior: The Origin of Virabhadra

Expansion and Contraction of the Spirit

Contraction

Expansion

Expansion on the Mat

Taking on Too Much

Yoga Talk

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Categories

Becoming ready to teach

Warrior: The Origin of Virabhadra

﻿Expansion and Contraction of the Spirit﻿

Contraction

Expansion

Expansion on the Mat

Taking on Too Much

Yoga Talk

Archives

Categories

Expansion and Contraction of the Spirit