August Monthly Theme: The Guru

Excerpt from Chapter 5, Jivamukti Yoga

“Gu” means ignorance; that which obscures Truth. “Ru” means that which removes. The Guru is the agent that removes ignorance, so that the Truth is revealed.

The aim of yoga is to realize that we are all connected. We share one heart, one consciousness, and one Divine Source. Yoga’s method is to provide us with experiences that help us grasp this. To realize that we are all connected, it is helpful to connect to one other person. In the yogic tradition this connection is experienced through a relationship with a guru, a teacher who facilitates the awakening of unitive consciousness. By acknowledging a guru, you connect to those who have trod the path before you. In doing so, humility dawns and awakening is possible.

The concept of guru is difficult for most Westerners to accept, because we like to think we are in charge. But the truth is that the predominant powers in our society control most people’s lives. Big corporations and the advertising agencies that work for them decide what people think about and shape our society’s values. Methods to gain genuine control over our lives are not taught in our schools; instead, working for material gain is emphasized. Most of us are at the mercy of our emotions, and when we can’t handle them we use alcohol or other drugs, TV, shopping, eating, or sex to make ourselves feel happier. The idea that lasting happiness can be found inside, without having to buy, smoke, eat, watch or drink anything is foreign to us. We may need a translator. The guru is the translator.

Gurus do not necessarily have to be Indian, or enlightened. They may be married or not. They may have regular jobs and not head an ashram. A guru is a teacher who imparts to you insights or revelations about Yoga. A guru may also give you a method to practice so that you may realize for yourself the truth of those revelations.

For someone to be your guru you must acknowledge him or her as such. A guru may not proclaim to you “I am your guru.” That is for the student to proclaim. Once that acknowledgment and appreciation dawns, learning accelerates. Gurus do not require, as some in the West mistakenly believe, that blood oaths be taken or that all worldly possessions be turned over.

You will be taught according to your capacity to learn. So to find a guru become the perfect disciple. Become irresistible to the guru by becoming empty. When you come before a teacher set aside “I know”, so that you can be taught. If you are already filled up with knowledge, like a cup full of tea, and your teacher attempts to pour new tea into your cup, you will just overflow and no benefit will be obtained.

In this tradition knowledge passes from guru to disciple in a continuous, uninterrupted flow. The relationship of guru and student must have a particularly pure quality for the transmission to take place. Respect and love for the teacher must be understood as the same as respect and love for the Divine. This can be challenging, especially for westerners.

The guru tradition is based on humility and appreciation. The respect a student gives a teacher is not for the teacher’s benefit; it benefits the student to acknowledge and bow to another because this opens the connection to the Self within the student. It may help to think of the Guru as a force rather than a person.

Remember “guru” is spelled: “Gee-you-are-you”!

July Monthly Theme: Karma and Samskara

From Jivamukti Yoga, by David Life and Sharon Gannon, they state:

This essence of Karma Yoga is selfless service. This practical method for reducing suffering in the world is the foundation of all yoga practice. When we are suffering from self-pity and loneliness, a surefire cure is to care more for others and the reduction of their suffering. When we shift our thoughts away from our own suffering, it diminishes.

Whatever yoga practice you undertake, make it Karma Yoga by devoting the fruits of your practice to God, as Patanjali suggests in the Yoga Sutras: Ishvara-pranidhand-va. Karma Yoga should not be confused with the law of karma, which is that every action causes infinite effects. The law of karma is the law of cause and effect. Karma Yoga, on the other hand, is a method for ensuring that the actions we take cause good karmic effects.

The law of karma is a universal doctrine, operating as surely as the law of gravity. You can observe it in the natural world, if you care to look. If you plant a seed in the ground, the karma of the seed is to grow. If you throw something up in the air, the karmic result is for it to come down.

Karma means action. It comes from the Sanskrit root kr, which means to act. It encompasses all movement, of the mind as well as the body. These movements can be conscious or unconscious; regardless, the karmic result is still ours.

The word karma is also used to refer to the accumulated results of past actions, present actions, and actions we will perform in the future. The karmas of the past, present, and future are of three types:

• Sanchitta: This is accumulated past actions or karmas waiting to come to fruition. Sanchitta is the storehouse of every action you have ever done, in all the lifetimes you have ever lived. These are all of the unresolved past actions waiting to reach resolution.
• Parabda: This is the present action: what you are doing now, in this lifetime and its result. You have taken from the storehouse, sanchitta karma, a certain amount of unresolved desires and ambition, and will try to 'work them out' in your present lifetime.
• Agami: Future actions that result from your present actions are called agami karma. As you attempt to resolve past karma, you unavoidably create new karmas that you may or may not be able to resolve in your present life. If you don't resolve them now, they will go into the storehouse to be resolved in a future life.

Every action creates a groove in the subtle atmosphere called a samskara. Samskaras represent your unfulfilled desires and ambitions, etched onto your soul by your actions. These must be fulfilled at some time, in this life or in another. All karma results from ignorance of the true Self. Let's say you smoke a cigarette for the first time. You want to know what it tastes like, so you take a puff. You like it and say, "Oh, I'll take another," and soon you are tied to the cigarette. What is fascinating is that it is not the cigarette that makes you feel good; it is the fact that as you take a puff, you have no other desire for that moment. In that moment you experience your real Self, which is happiness, freedom from desire. But you mistakenly associate that happiness with the cigarette, not the Self, which is the true source of happiness. Instead of going to the Self directly, you go to the cigarette. You are bound in the karmic cycle of action and the resulting attachment.

The only way to be freed from having to resolve every desire is for the soul to realize the Self. Through enlightenment, no karmas can bind you. You are unbound, liberated. When an action is selfless, it leads to future good karma and eventually to liberation. As yogis seeking liberation, therefore, we strive to perfect our actions. Most actions are preceded by a thought. To perfect an action, therefore, we must first perfect our thoughts. What is a perfect thought? A perfect thought is one devoid of selfish motive, free of anger, greed, hate, jealousy, and so on.

Most of us believe we can think any thought we like and be free of consequence, as long as we don't act on it. Yet how many times have you had something on your mind and a friend has looked at you and asked, "What's bothering you?" Our thoughts affect others and bear karmic consequences for ourselves. Our thoughts are significant even at the time of death, when a thought can propel us into the next lifetime- for better or for worse. Thought leads to action. The same action can be undertaken with a selfish intention or a selfless intention. The act of sexual intercourse is a good example. When intended to control, manipulate, harm, or humiliate another person, it is called rape and is considered a crime. When it is motivated by the intention to love, honor, or uplift another, it is called making love.

The intention behind any action is always more important than the action itself. The intention contains the seed of the action's results. If you perform a good action but you have a negative intention, you will receive negative karma from that action.