Sunday, May 02, 2010
Joy and woe are woven fine, A clothing for the soul divine. Under every grief and pine Runs a joy with silken twine. William Blake
This morning, my ‘1st Sunday of the month day off’ from teaching, I had the opportunity to visit two spaces of worship, to hear words of wisdom and inspiration from two spiritual leaders, and to take time for reflection and contemplation.
In the first space of worship, the sermon began with a question: ‘Haven’t we all had ‘wake-up calls’? Hearing this led me, very viscerally, to recall that time, in 2006, when my husband suffered a series of strokes and then underwent brain surgery. ‘Haven’t we all had wake-up calls’? took me back to that time of fear and anxiety and contraction, the long hours of awaiting news from the surgeon; those hours of being barely able to breathe. When I was led to my husband’s recovery room, he was not only awake, but was chatting and laughing with the nurse and watching the Red Sox on television. And although in the months to come we suffered many other personal blows, Michael was alive, and, perhaps awakening for the first time, we realized all that was truly important in our lives, namely: that this moment is the only moment that truly is, so how do we choose to live it knowing that; and, equally, how might we be of service to others who might too be suffering.
In the second space of worship, the sermon focused on vision, and how we live out our visions and live up to up to our visions, through our words and through our deeds. Listening, I felt a wave of renewal wash over me, a feeling of coolness and spaciousness and clarity. My vision is that of waking up, not only for myself, but so that I might then be of benefit to my loved ones, to my community, to my world. And this vision is what brings me, each day, to my mat and to my meditation cushion. It is through the intentions that we set on our yoga mats and on our cushions, each and every day, whether or not we feel like it, whether or not the sun shines or the rain pours, whether or not all conditions have aligned perfectly, that we then receive the benefits of practice, and that those benefits then spill over, flowing into all of the lives that we touch. When we come to our mats and to our cushions each day, grounding, opening, and receiving, we are then able to bring our intentions off the mats and cushions and into our lives—choosing to be awake in each and every moment—able to live out our vision for ourselves and for our lives through what we say and through what we do. And as I listened to the sermon, I felt a deep, warm glow of gratitude inside, to my husband and to all of my teachers, for showing me the path of practice, that I might come to teach and thus be able to offer others, in some small way, the signposts along this path, allowing them to access for themselves the benefits of practice.
What was your wake-up call? How have you chosen to respond, to re-vision your life? And have you continued to align your life with your vision, or has your attention wandered since the wake-up call passed…
This week, try coming to your mat and your cushion each day—if only for 5 minutes or 15 minutes or 30 minutes. Take a moment of stillness to set an intention for your practice, knowing that all of our wishes for ourselves, anything that brings us to the mat and cushion, is valid. And then, practice in line with that intention. I often suggest, when teaching, that students try to distill their intention to one word, and then to use that word, that intention, that wish, as a mantra for their practice that day. Strength. Peace. Calm. On the in-breath, and on the out-breath. And to know, too, that we are all connected by this breath that we breathe, and thus, whatever we wish for ourselves, so too do we wish for all beings. This knowledge and this practice extends our wishes beyond our sometimes self-centered, self-absorbed worlds, and allows us to open to love and connection and compassion.
Happiness, on the in-breath.
Happiness, on the out-breath.
Breathing in, breathing out. Bringing the attention back to the breath, to the here and now. Choosing to be awake, in this moment—this present and precious moment—the only moment that truly is. Living out and up to your vision, answering your own wake-up call.
Namaste, Chris
