The Shepherd and His…Camel? Or Cow?

…The one who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. (John 10:1-4)

I am not the kind of person who loves memorizing lines from the movies much less Bible verses. No offense meant to our Christian brothers and sisters; it’s not just me.  Strangely though, during our led class tonight, this verse came to my mind.

And it came when I was trying to do an arm balance and a voice from nowhere suddenly started giving instructions. It was not YT; I know his voice. I was not also sure if the voice was talking to me. But it certainly was distracting. I could have done the pose better and held it longer…. Then another arm balance and there went the voice again. Oh, by the way, the led class was turned into mysore after navasana so I was supposed to take my sweet time to position myself, concentrate, and find my balance…and I just felt impatience from this voice from nowhere, giving me instructions when I was still trying to get into the pose. Far from helpful, really. I just tried to do what I was supposed to do…inhale, exhale…. Finally, in one of the poses, the owner of that voice tried pushing me and after a while, seemingly having given up on me, called YT to continue assisting me. And there was peace….

I know YT’s voice. Even without looking up at YT, I know when he is giving me, and not my neighbor, instructions. When he calls out my name even across a crowded shala I can hear him. Now whether I get what he is saying or not is another story.

 

YT: Push!

Me: Push? What do you mean “push”? (Duh?! How else would you like YT to define “push?”)

 

YT: No “T”.

Me: Er…what? (Hay naku!)

I guess in my attempt to empty my mind I often unconsciously just incapacitate it.

Going back to that voice, later I found out that it belongs to another YT. You see, I need to have only one teacher at a time for a specific field or area of knowledge, lest I be more confused than enlightened. That explains why I am a poor driver and why I never progressed in tennis enough to make it a hobby—in driving schools and tennis clinics, whoever is available gets to teach you. The teacher-student relationship (if you may call it) in venues like these is, yes, impersonal. The one-on-one teaching is not really necessary although in my case it isn’t helpful either.

However, this is not the case in yoga. At the very least, the yoga student lets the teacher get into his/her personal space during adjustments—so how more personal can that get? That in itself requires trust…the student trusting that the teacher knows what s/he is doing, trusting that the teacher only has the student’s good in mind (and not the teacher’s ego). In some cases, this trust is brought to another level with the student even letting the teacher into his/her life, as in the traditional gurukula system. Or probably like the shepherd-sheep metaphor in the Bible.

There’s no sheep pose in yoga unfortunately (does anyone have any explanation for this?), but I think the nearest mammals to it in the yoga system in terms of physical attributes and nature are the camel and the cow.

 

source: yoga journal

source: yoga journal

They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice. (John 10:5)

 (Hmmm, I hope my next entry won’t be about the lost sheep/camel/cow, ha ha!) 

Lessons This Past Week

 

 

An organizational development (OD) expert differentiates the following “individual helping tools:”

 

Teacher – presents concepts, ideas; gives instructions; to some degree, builds skills

Coach – focuses on performance; builds skills for a specific task or field

Mentor – helps a person beyond work/performance, thereby affecting the whole person, including his/her emotions, spirituality, etc.

 

I guess these tools also apply in yoga, depending on how far and deep the teachers and students are willing to take their connection.

 

*****

New word for the week: SATSANG

Satsang (Sanskrit sat = true, sanga = company) describes in Indian philosophy (1) the company of the “highest truth,” (2) the company of a guru, or (3) company with an assembly of persons who listen to, talk about, and assimilate the truth.[1] This typically involves listening to or reading scriptures, reflecting on, discussing and assimilating their meaning, meditating on the source of these words, and bringing their meaning into one’s daily life. Contemporary satsang teachers in the West – frequently coming from the Advaita Vedanta tradition – sometimes mix traditional Eastern knowledge with methods of modern psychology. During a satsang with a master, students are likely to ask questions. Satsangs also may contain elements like lectures, meditations, singing and recitations. (source: wikipedia)

 

Broadly speaking, Satsang is a meeting of devotees (yoga practitioners) for the purpose of chanting, meditation and the study of relevent classical yoga texts.
In a deeper sense, Satsang is about energizing the fundamental Guru/Disciple relationship. In a world where the predominant focus of attention is ‘out there’, Satsang provides an environment, which affirms the practise of looking within. (source: http://www.shantimandir.com/glossary/glossary.htm)

 

(Almost fell off my seat when I read these first two definitions of satsang.)

 

Good and virtuous gathering. Being in the company of those who inspire, encourage, and reflect your true nature. The company we keep can give us the courage and strength to be kind to other beings. The seeds of compassion ripen in satsang.
“In this day and age, Satsang is the most important practice.”
- Sharon Gannon, co-founder, Jivamukti Yoga (source: http://www.jivamuktiyogasc.com/)

 

(Hmmm, this is more like it.)

 

*****

 

Om saha navavatu

Saha nau bhunaktu

Saha viryam kararavavahai,

Tejasvi navadhitamastu,

Ma vidvisavahai,

Om, shanti, shanti, shanti.

 

(The above text was sent to me via SMS, so if there is any correction please send it in.)

 

May we be protected together.

May we be nourished together.

May we work together with great vigor.

May our study be enlightening.

May there be no hatred between us.

Om, peace, peace, peace.

 

*****

 

Be careful with what you pray for.

 

“Om, shakti, shakti, shakti….” Oops!

 

 

Rekindled

I walked on the old path

On a cold night

Drenched unbelievably.

 

It was like the first time.

Joyful pain.

Serene ecstasy.

 

The fervor of my first love

Rekindled tonight.

Yoga.

 

Tonight was the first time I shared practice with a couple of dear yogini-friends since the year started. I don’t know what made our experience immensely delightful. Could it be that we just badly missed one another after the long yoga-less holiday? Could it be the novelty of doing yoga outdoor, beside a pool, under the stars?

 

Or could it be the right combination of compassion and command? Could it be the discovery that you can do more…or you can do it right…or you still have a lot to learn? Could it be just being fully present in the moment? Whatever it was, I certainly felt “that thing” again, that which I had the very first time I did yoga and made me keep coming back…but which I have lost for a time. For a very long time.

On Patience and Pride

Tao lang ako


May hangganan ang pasensiya,


Pag ito naubos


Alam mo na ang mangyayari


Kundi pa, pwes malalaman mo na ngayon. 

 

This is what I wrote in an old blog. I still say this once in a while. Okay, often!

A lot of yogins say that they have become patient since they started their practice. I am not one of them. At least twice in different occasions Teacher Pio remarked “impatient ka” and it was not in the context of doing asanas.

Lord, I want to grow in patience…now na! – an impatient person’s prayer.

I am impatient but not in the bratty way as this prayer shows. Not that I want things right away—I know certain things take time such as ripening of a fruit—but I just could not stand inefficiency (e.g. I have to queue longer than I think I should only because all the clerks are attending to the needs of one customer), inattentiveness (e.g. I have to repeat my statement because the other party is not listening), and, as Teacher puts it, “third-class intelligence” (e.g. people keep doing what you keep telling them not to do, never learning from their mistakes). And whenever these scenes turn into heated arguments, I usually end them with a sigh and rolling of eyes, or with my favorite line: Ubos na ho ang pasensiya ko (I have lost my patience already.).

Teacher: But what does that statement really mean?

Student: I give up.

Teacher: Uh-hu…because you have extended all your patience, now you have nothing more to give. Extending patience is exercising compassion. You’ve run out of patience so it means you have given all your compassion. Isn’t that selflessness?

Student’s thought bubble: Hmmm…maybe a new way of looking at it….

Teacher: But patience is never lost. The more you give it or use it, the more you grow in that virtue. You give 100 percent of your patience and get 110 percent or more in return.

Patience is like knife. If you don’t use it, it’ll grow dull in its place. On the other hand, frequent use will just make it sharper.

Student: Ah….

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Last week I watched Al Jarreau and George Benson’s concert “Giving It Up.” Wow, what a gift of music they have! They sang “The Greatest Gift of All” and to my surprise, the song had a new meaning to me that night.

 

I believe the children are our are future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride 

 

I remembered my nine-month-old niece, Sarah. Whenever strange noise disturbs her (and that includes the sound of her sneezing and coughing) we always assure her that “it’s okay.” That’s enough to put her back to sleep or to let her continue playing. Whenever she achieves something (like reaching her ball or burping really well), we never fail to commend her with “good job!”

I wonder if adults could do the same thing with one another, that is, commending one another’s good work no matter how “small” or seemingly insignificant it is. Especially us Filipinos, we tend to be more generous with criticism than with appreciation. Ah, our infamous crab mentality! Sometimes we do not show appreciation simply because we are not/cannot be happy for other people or because we perceive them as a threat. Sometimes we refuse to show appreciation in our fear that it will make the other person proud, in effect feeding his/her “false ego.”

Just how many of us have come up to our yoga teachers and told them how good they are in our session today, for example? We may think they know it already or that they do not need to hear it. The truth is, they do because like us, they are only human.

On the other hand, how quick are we to complain about the pace of the class being too slow or too fast, or about not getting adjusted in poses or not learning new asanas or having the same old routine again or…(I can go on and on)? The same way, some teachers do not know how to give their students compliments, if only for the sake of building their confidence. At times I’d hear students say “parang wala na akong ginawang tama (as if I haven’t done anything right).” But then again, you cannot give what you do not have. And there goes the cycle.

If we do not show or tell a person (especially our children and the members of the next generation) his/her value, sooner or later, he/she would doubt what he/she is really worth. One might turn out to be an insecure person, unable to exercise sound judgment and make decisions, to take actions, to get out of unpleasant even abusive situations, to fight for one’s right, to stand up for one’s beliefs…or one might turn out to be a braggart, telling the whole world everything about oneself in an attempt to gain the much sought after affirmation. And if we do not put an end to this cycle….

 

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows

If I fail, if I succeed

At least I’ll live as I believe

No matter what they take from me

They can’t take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of all

Is happening to me

I found the greatest love of all

Inside of me

The greatest love of all

Is easy to achieve

Learning to love yourself

It is the greatest love of all 

 

That’s sense of pride. Unfortunately we often equate this word with sin, so let me just call it “confidence”. Confidence is valuing oneself, one’s character, life, efforts, or achievements; the “unhealthy pride” or “false ego” is valuing oneself relative to one’s perception of the others.

Just like poverty, belittling oneself (or “false humility”) does not earn one good karma.

And let us not make giving of affirmation or appreciation a mere lip service…sometimes we need to put our money where our mouth is.

 

Teaching Yoga: Profession or Vocation? The Teachers’ Perspective

I found these entries from Linda’s Yoga Journey (http://lindasyoga.blogspot.com/2008/08/price-we-pay.html and http://lindasyoga.blogspot.com/2008/08/price-we-pay-part-2-how-much-is-yoga.html) a good read especially for yoga teachers and the wanna-be’s. I believe that the issues presented in these posts–running the shala like nothing but a money-making venture, commoditizing yoga into “McYoga”, and how this mentality impacts the way teachers are treated–are also happening in the yoga scene in the Philippines although the context and magnitude may be (a whole lot) different. Still, the blogs and the comments left me disturbed and made me reflect on a lot of things….one question after another…one of them is, where is our “yoga industry” (note the quotation marks, as I still prefer to call us “yoga community” instead) headed?

I would certainly like to hear what you think about these issues.