Language and Power

In Indian cosmology the Sanskrit language has immense power. It is a magic and divine force of creation, preservation, and destruction. Each letter of the alphabet is assigned a divinity. In Vedic times, the ritual, performed in Sanskrit, was believed to uphold the entire cosmos. There was even a class of priests who oversaw the ritual to make sure that each and every syllable was pronounced correctly and to remedy a mistake should one occur. It was believed that a misspoken ritual could lead to the unraveling of reality. 

In some Hindu cosmologies everything was brought into existence when Lord Brahman spoke everything into being. He did this through the power of Vac, the goddess of speech, who lent Lord Brahman her supreme creative force — the word.  The power of word is by no means exclusive to India and is evidenced in every spiritual tradition with which I am familiar. For example, in Judeo/Christian cosmology the Lord God speaks the world and man into existence in the book of Genesis chapter 1.

Everyone is acquainted with the sacred Sanskrit word, Om, which is comprised of a nasalized “m” known as visarga or bindhu. “Bindhu” means “drop” and it is believed that this drop is the primordial and eternal sound from which all creation sprang. Even to say the Sanskrit word for “I”, aham, is a sacred act. Aham begins with the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, the vowel “A”. The second letter of aham is “Ha” which is the last letter of the Sanskrit alphabet. Finally we end with the nasalized “M”, the visarga or bindhu. Thus, to say aham we go through the beginning and end of reality and culminate with visarga, the primordial sound of being.

Today we tend to forget that language has any power and are often unconscious of the words we use. In reality, language has a strong influence on our world view, attitude, and our actions. Positive thinking and speaking produces positive actions as negative words and thoughts will engender negativity. In order for us to evolve and connect with the ground of being, it is incumbent that we bring more consciousness to our language. We must be mindful and speak in a way that is congruent to the positive, powerful world and lives which we aspire to have. 

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Marriage of Joy and Sorrow

Many people have a misconception that the spiritual path is about nothing other than always feeling good, of only having “positive” experiences, of never allowing our anger to show. This is simply not the case. The spiritual path is about not identifying with that anger, sorrow, joy, or other form of suffering. These are emotions and feelings occurring in the mind stream and they will pass, but these emotions are not us. They don’t define us and they are not inherently existing. As is often the metaphor used by many Buddhist teachers, emotions are like clouds floating by a blue sky. Our mind in its true, intrinsic nature, is like the blue sky. Calm, clear, unpolluted.

Some people will view the act of experiencing those emotions and feelings that we tend to label as negative such as anger or sorrow, as an unwanted, unspiritual, unnecessary occurrence. However, this is not at all the case. These “negative” emotions are part of what it means to be human. Further, they are pointing at something within our minds that wants to be looked at, something that needs to be put in light. These emotions have no existence in and of themselves, they are part of the story of ourselves that we have conglomerated hour by hour, day by day, and they are pointing to that story and the falseness of it all. They are pointing to our boundless nature that exists beyond the stories and lies. Beyond the labels and beyond the emotions.

I invite you to feel these emotions, whether positive or negative, and get to know them. Let them flow through your mindstream. Even experience them in your body. Allow your heart to break open in 1,000 pieces so that it can have space for greater love. Know your fears and sorrows so that you may meet your joys more profoundly. And, ultimately, know that these are layers upon the story of “you” being felt and known by something that you believe to be you.

Awakening does not mean that there will never be sorrow or that difficult circumstances will never again occur in this life stream. After awakening, we are still human. We still live in the realm of name and form.  Life is still occurring. Allow there to be an opening up to the Taoists’ “10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows”. There is no use in denying the emotions and feelings going on. Transformation occurs in the embrace of the emotions. In their feeling, and in the realization of that which in ourselves they are pointing that will take us even deeper into the experience of being human.

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Vigilance in Spiritual Practice

It is extremely possible to establish a way of life that is conducive to being spiritual, mindful, and compassionate in our daily lives. However, this requires vigilance. We must make spirituality, mindfulness, and awareness our priorities so that we are not otherwise distracted by everything that samsara throws at us. This world of form can be extremely distracting and getting sucked in to the mundane level of consciousness is all too easy. Thankfully, like our body, our minds are pliable and we can exercise and strengthen them in order to meet everyday situations that arise with equanimity. However, like exercising and strengthening the body, this does require vigilance and dedication to practice. We are always at practice. Our entire lives are our practice of going deeper and deeper into being and vigilance is the guideline that keeps us directed on that path.

How do we establish a new way of interacting with our lives when we have become so entrenched in our usual way of seeing things? We can begin by taking incremental steps and increase these steps throughout time. Take a day to experience nature. Begin meditating 15-20 minutes a day. Go one day a week “unplugged,” without your computer, cell phone, or TV. Find things that provide you with a feeling of connection and expansiveness, begin implementing them in your life and build from there. Soon, you will see your life improving, and you may be tempted to stop practicing because life has improved so much. Change is a constant in life and, at the risk of sounding negative, our situation always changes. Practice when everything is going well helps to prepare us for when that situation will inevitably change.

We need to practice regularly so that we can begin to see the ultimate, non-dual, spacious nature of reality which will then free of from the tyranny of an unenlightened mind. We are constantly waiting for happiness. We are always expecting to get it from somewhere else. We will experience it in some point in the future. One more self help book will solve our problems. Another workshop. One more retreat. There seems to be an unconscious part of us that doesn’t believe that we are worthy of happiness and fulfillment right now. But what would happen if we were? What would happen if we finally knew that we were always already whole and complete as we are and we don’t have to wait any longer? What would it feel like to experience contentment and equanimity as it is here, now, sitting within our being? At some point in time we have to give up our illusions and delusions. Why not now?

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Empty Thoughts

One of the primary teachings in Buddhism is that our thoughts are integral in the generation of our realities. Our experienced reality is largely shaped by what we think and how we perceive the world. Each one of us sees things differently from the other and these different way of thinking are not intrinsically “good” or “bad” but we have this tendency to label them as such. Then we become attached to these thoughts. We even label them as “my” thoughts. We erroneously view these thoughts as being a part of us, a definition of us, a story of us. “This is MY anger” or “This is MY joy”. We think they have such realness. Wars are created over these differing views of perceptions, but perception is subjective. We place ourselves in self imposed hells or magnificent heavens based upon what is happening in our minds. We spend enormous amounts of energy investing and maintaining these thoughts and these stories of us, making sure they are real for us, being certain that they are what define us.

In reality, these thoughts are empty. They have no intrinsic, real substantiality to them. They are etheric. The idea of them being “good” or “bad” hangs on our stories, which are more thoughts we have formed around them. 99.9% of all our suffering stems from these thoughts and from thinking that the thoughts are real, inherently existing, that the are good, that they are bad, that they are that which defines us. This, of course, is a lie. Thoughts are inherently neutral. The idea of them being good or bad, and hence our suffering around them, are all created in our mind.

The way out of this is the recognition of the emptiness of thoughts and that our perceptions are highly filtered. When we are disturbed, it is because of thoughts occurring in our mindstream. We may believe it to be because of an action, but it is due to our thoughts around the action, the stories we create to explain and own the action. In the recognition that these are simply thoughts forming and passing through our mindstream, we gain clarity and freedom from the mind. There is less suffering. Often the analogy is made that thoughts are like clouds passing through a clear sky. The thoughts and emotions are those clouds, they come and they go, yet the underlying sky remains the same: clear, and unadulterated. It is the same with the mind. 

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The Prison of Limiting Beliefs

Changes in one’s train of thought produce corresponding changes in one’s conception of the external world….

As a thing is viewed, so it appears.

 To see things as a multiplicity, and so to cleave unto separateness, is to err.

 –Padmasambhava

We could have just about anything we want if something wasn’t blocking us. Many of us often face obstacles that keep us from achieving our goals and living our ideal life. The bulk of these obstacles are without foundation, substance, and lack any real existence. They are mental constructs that you impose upon yourself with your imagination and cultural agreements. Many of these obstacles are known as limiting beliefs.

All behavior stems from belief. A limiting belief is behavior that limits our empowerment and prevents us from achieving our goals. Some examples of limiting beliefs are: “I can’t make enough money”, “I’m not good enough to do X”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I don’t deserve to be successful”, or “I must/have to do Y”.

Limiting beliefs do not come from a state of choice, they’re restrictive, often unconscious and as such don’t encourage mindfulness or personal growth. They keep us stuck, unhappy, and burdened. They’re just ugly.

Here are 3 simple steps to change limiting beliefs:

  1. Consciousness: The first step in changing a belief is knowing it’s there. Recognize it for what it is. Look into and at it. See why it’s there. What is it getting you and do you still want what you’re getting from it? Where did it come from? Do you still want to hold on to it?
  2. Language: Changing your language will change the structure of the belief. Instead of saying “I can’t make enough money” say “I can make enough money. I AM making enough money. I am so dang successful I don’t know what to do with myself!” Rather than saying, “I must/have to/should/need to do X or Y”, say “I want to/it would be fun to do X or Y.” This brings choicefulness back into the picture. There’s ultimately nothing we have to or must do. It’s always a choice. What would happen if you didn’t do X? Often, nothing at all and sometimes, something with a negative consequence. Reframe it all in a way so it speaks to your choicefulness and passions. Instead of saying “I have to go running today,” say, “I want to go running today because I enjoy the feelings of health and vitality it brings.” Instead of focusing on the negative consequences you would get from doing something that needs done, focus on the positive. “I have to pay may taxes” becomes “I made a lot of money this year so I get to pay taxes and help the country out, woohoo!” (Yeah, maybe that’s being just a little too idealistic, but you get the point).
  3. InternalRepresentations: Changing internal representations, or how we mentally see ourselves, also has a powerful effect. Limiting beliefs invoke negative internal representations. Negative internal representation fuel limiting beliefs. Change them from unresourceful to resourceful. Give yourself representations that are powerful and positive. Put yourself in those states. See and feel yo urself making money, being choiceful, healthy, more conscious or whatever you want to change and you will change your actions accordingly. Remember that whatever is in our mind influences your reality. Stop believing you’re a limited person with limited choices and you’ll become freer, more successful, and more powerful.
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The Joy of Mindfullness

Mindfulness is an ancient idea that stems from India’s wisdom traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. It really began making its way to the West in the 60s. Its popularity has grown so voraciously that today it is an almost unavoidable concept. It can be see on magazine covers, books, TV, it is being taught in places such as schools, the military, businesses, and prisons. But what exactly is it? Simply, it is the idea of being present, conscious, here for your life, that which is happening right here, in the now. It is the act of being conscious of the actions you are currently undertaking or to what is unfolding in the moment before you. Mindfulness is one of the most simple, profound, and important tools in leading a joyful, content life. 

The alternative to mindfulness is unconsciousness. That is, the alternative is to live an existence imbued with a sense of zombiefied sleep walking. It could be argued that in certain situations, those that are full of suffering, a mindless, vegetative state of being could be preferable in order to not feel what is occurring so thoroughly. In truth, this is not the case. A mindful state of presence allows you to meet the situation with fortitude, greater capacities of understanding, and increased clarity. 

There is a Buddhist saying that “There is one most direct way to overcome sorrow, lamentation, despair, anxiety, and to realize the highest happiness. That is the establishment of mindfulness.” Indeed, modern psychology and neuroscience are showing that this is the case. Experientially, practitioners of mindfulness know that it increases wholesome, expansive states of mind such as joy, love, and generosity and simultaneously decreases unwholesome, contractive states of being such as fear, jealousy, and hatred. 

Mindfulness is not a forcing or a coercion of the present moment. It is not an attempt to make the positive happen, nor is it a delusion in which we say to ourselves that all things occurring are joyous. Rather, it is the extremely simple act of seeing things as they are in and of themselves. It is allowing them to be without our unnecessary judgements of positive or negative. It is giving what is happening our purest attention possible, because whatever is happening is worthy of that attention. This moment is in constant flux and, at the deepest, intrinsic level, at the level that exists before our minds form labels and stories around it, is neutral. As such, we can savor that which we label as being positive and those moments we see as unfavorable we can take a more detached look, see a bigger picture, and have a more empowered way of meeting it. The joyous moments take on more joy and the moments of suffering possess less tyranny. Our minds will then become more of a friend as opposed to a jailer. 

This necessitates that we are with things as they are without our sense of judgment. However, know that it is natural for your mind to judge and don’t get caught in the trap of judging yourself harshly for judging. Just know and see it for what it is now. Embrace it. This will take practice, but slowly you will start to realize that the mind is out of control and you can stop blaming yourself. Thoughts can then be seen in a more passive frame and not taken personally. 

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Yoga: Beauty, Power, and Life

When the word yoga is mentioned, most of us in the West think of a physical and mental exercise wherein the practitioner places his or her body in a series of poses (asana) while controlling the breath and focusing the mind. This type of yoga is known as hatha yoga (properly pronounced as haata). Studios that teach various forms of hatha yoga are ubiquitous and most of us have either tried it or know someone who has. However, hatha yoga is but a small component of the rich and ancient practices of yoga. 

So what exactly is yoga and where did it come from? What is its aim? In this article I’ll attempt to answer these questions by providing a brief history of yogic philosophy and descriptions of some of the various forms of yoga.

Yoga is one of the world’s oldest spiritual traditions. This family of practices was born in India but the precise date of their origination is unclear. According to traditional yoga philosophy, the entire cosmos consists of a state of duality between the eternal and abiding purusha and prakriti. Purusha is the formless, pure realm of spirit (for lack of a better term) and consciousness. Prakriti is the realm of nature and physical materiality. As humans, we simultaneously inhabit both of these dichotomies. Our body’s essence is that of prakriti and our soul (jiva) is purusha. Traditional schools of yoga hold that because our purusha, our true self, is part of prakriti, it becomes so caught up in the physical nature of reality that it forgets its true being — that of pure, formless essence. 

This is where yogic practice comes into play. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning to yoke. Early yogic applications focused on restraining and controlling the senses in order to realize separateness from one’s purusha and prakriti. Ultimately, one would experience nirvikalpa samadhi where the purusha no longer has any ties whatsoever to the prakriti. In this state the purusha is free, completely liberated. 

As I stated before, it is unclear when yoga first began. There are seals from the Indus Valley civilization (c. 3600 – 1900 B.C.E) that clearly depict beings in various asanas. It is highly probable that early forms of yoga, like tantra, were developed by the Dravidians (the indigenous people of India) long before the Aryans came into India and brought with them the Vedas (holy books of ancient Hindus dating to at least 1500 B.C.E.) and what we call Hinduism. However, these forms of yoga probably would not be very recognizable to us today. There is no mention of yoga in Hindu scripture until it is passively alluded to in the Upanishads (c. 900 – 300 B.C.E.) and clearly described in the Bhagavad Gita (c. 200 B.C.E.). This suggests that by 200 B.C.E. Hinduism, like it did with so many ancient Dravidian beliefs, practices, and philosophies, had married and adopted yoga.

According to Encyclopedia of Hinduism, the earliest structured form of yoga was likely practiced by the Jains (c. 900 B.C.E) and involved severe worldly denial and physical restraint. “The early Jain monks  and Thirthankaras (perfected beings) would train themselves to ignore the body completely and train the mind to ignore even the strongest positive and negative stimuli” (511). Renunciation and worldly denial is still quite prevalent in many forms of yoga today. “Yoga of this sort is ultimately about controlling all bodily functions, so that even the autonomic nervous system can be under the adept’s control. When Swami Rama first traveled to the United States in the 1970s, he demonstrated such control by stopping his heart completely for more than a minute while being attached to a heart monitor” (511). 

This is a very extreme path of yogic practice and not all schools are quite so severe. When Buddhism was founded (c. 600 B.C.E.) it promulgated another view that did not advocate bodily denial. Its focus was that of mental control where the practitioner focused on the breath and physical sensation in the body.

After Buddhism, other forms of yoga began to develop in Hinduism. In the Bhagavad Gita there is a lot of emphasis on devotional yoga or bhakti yoga. Here primary mental focus on the deity is the goal. There is also karma yoga where one’s attention is ideally placed solely on good worldly conduct. Astanga yoga, the eight-limbed yoga of Patanjali, where we get the Yoga Sutras, “…involved a sitting yoga, sometimes called raja yoga, which focused on breathing. As one observed the breath, one developed ways of concentrating the mind and eventually controlling the mind” (511). 

Next we come to the ever popular hatha yoga that “…is an amalgam of practices that may have emerged separately and were later combined” (512). The primary progenitors of hatha yoga were the Nath Yogis, a group who sought physical immortality through alchemy, the ingestion of mercury, and asana. Hatha yoga today does not involve alchemy or mercurial ingestion, but combines the teachings found in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, such as breath control with asana. Hatha yoga is, essentially, an active meditation and within its scope there are various schools with differing postures, techniques, and philosophies. Examples of these are Iyengar, Vinyassa, and Yin. Kundalini yoga is another popular school of hatha yoga that focuses on awakening the serpent Goddess-energy at the base of the spine (kundalini) and moving this force through the energy centers along the spine, or chakras (pronounced chaakras as opposed to shockras). 

Breath control is the foundation of hatha yoga. This, coupled with asana practice, produces such an amazing feeling of peace and compassion. It also develops concentration, ease in the body, relieves tension, and makes overall spiritual practice easier. 

The beauty of hatha yoga is its adaptability. In yoga, there is no place to go, except for where we already are. The point is to strive to improve ourselves bit by bit, moment to moment. The postures have ideal forms, but these forms are only pointers. In practice, we simply try to get as close to these forms as we can. It is a continuous push to better ourselves, our bodies, and our minds. It doesn’t matter how physically flexible we are, insofar as we engage the body while focusing the mind and the breath. 

Essentially all yogas are ancient Indian sciences that we can use to invoke our own inner power, to better ourselves as human beings, and to realize the divinity of ourselves and the world. These are practices that we can harness to live deeper, more meaningful, and more compassionate lives infused with zest and vitality.

Recommended Reading:

The Alchemical Body, by David Gordon White

Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, by Mircea Elliade

The Encyclopedia of Hinduism, by Constance A. Jones and James D. Ryan

Yoga Spandakarika

The Shape of Ancient Thought, by McEvilley

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by B.K.S. Iyengar

Light on Yoga, by B.K.S. Iyengar

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Religion

The subject of religion is taboo for many people to speak about, however, it utterly fascinates me. Religion is perhaps one of the most powerful and influential forces throughout history. It has taken us to the heights of our sublime and beautiful feats and to the depths of our most despicable and gruesome acts.

In the past three weeks several friends have asked me about my thoughts on various branches of Christianity as well as other world religions. My thoughts on any religion are basically the same: they are all good at their core, but are often filled with corruption and a lust for power which shrouds the truth of the original teachings in fear, greed, and hatred. I have been reading The Power of Now and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and he really helped me solidify my thoughts on religions when he said “All religions are equally good and equally bad. It just depends on how we use them.”

All prophets from Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, and Krishna teach the same basic message and have all realized and tried to point to the same ultimate truth. Consequently, all religions seek the same thing, the Absolute, our truest nature, the Ultimate, God, or whatever their vocabulary may be. The nouns differ, as do the methods of attaining what is sought, but in essence, it is always the same end — getting away from our pain inducing, false, ego-derived sense of self, and realizing our true nature, that is pure being. In Christianity, this is the attainment of the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ Consciousness, or knowing God through Jesus the Christ, which is becoming free of pain and illusion of the ego self through God. In Buddhism, it is the realization of Sunyata and Nirvana, which are dissolution of the ego-self through the realization of emptiness and nothingness where pure, unadulterated consciousness and bliss exist. Schools of Hinduism, such as Advaita Vedanta, speak of attaining the Absolute from the opposite end of the spectrum, that is fullness, rather than emptiness. All is full of God, all is God. The totality of reality is nothing more than the divinity. Here, the ego self is dissolved in the realization that there is no “me” or “I” but only the fullness of God.

Nowhere is the commonality between all religions so obvious as it is when reading mysticism. There are branches of mysticism in every major world religion: Dzogchen in Buddhism, Gnosticism of Christianity, Sufism of Islam, Kabbalism in Judaism, Kashmir Saivism and Advaita Vedanta of Hinduism, are a very few examples. It is often difficult to tell just by reading passages from the world’s mystics which religion they adhere to because their words are so similar.

Why then, if the ultimate aim is the same, is there such  dispute between religions of the world? When the founders of these religions were still alive, the message was still true to the founder’s experience. However, over time, religions start to be controlled by people who have not experienced fundamental consciousness, who begin taking the words of the prophets as absolute truth, rather than as signposts pointing to the Absolute reality, which can not really be truly described with words. Politics and fear come into play, and religion is used by frightened people to control others. Religion becomes a divisive tool to say that “We have the truth and no one else does”. It becomes a game of “us” versus “them”. This othering and separation then allows for violence and murder. This is evidenced most strongly in every form of religious fundamentalism today. The basic messages of love, acceptance, knowing God, and the true self are lost to fear, hatred, and greed.

So, what are my thoughts on religions? That, intrinsically, they are all good, but most of the time they are so covered in ego that they only serve to entrench the followers further into the world of form and illusion rather than taking them to their goal of finding the true self. Branches of mysticism, which are often lacking in this thirst for power and politics, and are often marginalized as a result, are the closest and truest aspects of the incarnations of the prophet’s original message.

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What is Practical Spirituality?

I will discuss a range of topics on this site and many of them I would consider refer to “practical spirituality”. What I mean by practical spirituality is getting in touch with your spirit and higher power, or what I refer to as “awareness” or “consciousness” without dogma, regardless of your religion or spiritual path.

The beauty of practical spirituality is that it is not confined by the formalities and walls of churches, temples, religious congregations, or structured rituals. Practical spirituality is about bringing the sacred to our everyday thoughts and actions. As a result, everyday life is filled with more joy, passion, and gratitude. It is about being conscious and ultimately living each moment with purpose, power, vibrance, and meaning. I know it sounds difficult, if not impossible, to live every moment in this way. That’s why practical spirituality is a practice and not an end. Many of us are lucky to have a few moments each day where we feel completely connected, grounded, vibrant, alive, and conscious. To infuse every moment of every day with that sublimity is the intention of practical spirituality. Whether we ever get there is irrelevant. Just touching this experience for a moment is amazing. We simply wish to build moment to moment and get as much of the practice as possible in our daily lives.

I want to make it clear that I do not believe practical spirituality is above traditional religious practices or that these traditional paths are unimportant. In fact, I feel quite the opposite, since these traditions are the sources of practical spirituality. Anyone’s current religion and spiritual views will remain extremely important, they may even become more so, when implementing practical spirituality.

I do concede however that there is a problem with many institutions of religion, especially in the West. In my experience, it seems that people will go to their church, temple, and religious meetings once or twice a week. Afterwards, they leave spirituality behind until their next visit. It also concerns me that in many traditional paths the highest spiritual ideals and experiences are believed to be difficult to attain and may only be tasted by those who have renounced the world, vowing to embrace their religion fully and daily as priests, sadhus, monks, nuns, yogis, and so forth. Many of us really value the devotion and sacrifice of these people, and value spirituality just as greatly. However, our value of spirituality is in conflict with the values of having a family, friends, jobs, or experiencing the vast richness of the material world. This conflict causes many people to believe enlightenment or experiencing the ultimate reaches of spirituality is beyond their grasp. It is precisely this limiting belief I would like to dispel.

Some of the ideas that I call practical spirituality are my own and many of them come from my years of academic and personal study of philosophy, religion, and meditation. Whenever I can remember a specific source, I will cite it and provide some reading suggestions.

Ultimately, I want to help you realize that the sacred is an everyday experience. This will be done through practices that bring awareness to the moment, clarity to the mind, or empowerment to the psyche. I invite you to take what works for and with you and to ignore anything that that does not resonate with who you are or your current path.

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