I’ve been reflecting on the idea of meditation lately. As someone who is greatly invested in words and language, it may be a struggle for me to express what I’m thinking here, so bear with me as I try to find the words that may come closest to conveying to you what’s happening in my head. A lot of this doesn’t elegantly fit into the words I have at my disposal to describe it and I think, paradoxically, that’s part of the larger point.
When people ask me about my yoga practice, I answer that the time I spend on the mat is literally nothing. The breath and the stretching and the poses and the relaxation at the end of the hour mean nothing to me; I’ve come to recognize that, if I weren’t already an instructor and if I weren’t being paid to lead classes and if I didn’t feel loyalty and responsibility to my participants, I likely wouldn’t “do” yoga. Unrolling the mat and stretching isn’t what I’m in this for, and if I weren’t able to do it anymore, I’d be okay with that. My true practice - at least, at this point - is the energy I bring to the way I live my life.
I am profoundly aware that I have a place in the Universe. I’m here for a purpose - I’m not entirely sure I buy the idea that there’s no point to any of this and that we should strive to be so disinterested and unattached that we become immune to everything in this existence because it’s all “artificial” anyway. I matter, and what I do and think and believe matters, and I have a responsibility to be careful about the energy that I radiate.
The last time around in Yoga National Guard, we had a guest speaker come to talk about the Yoga Sutras which, for those of you who may not know, are a kind of “bible” for yogis. It’s a series of short sayings and advice and observations meant to teach people to live a yogic life, and one of the biggest ideas is detachment. When we are able to become fully detached, we are able to see the world as it truly is and not as we want it to be. All stress will fall away because we will no longer be putting our own expectations on anything; we will find peace and enlightenment as a singular being.
As I listened to Chip tell us about this philosophy, I found myself looking at my wedding ring. I have connections - strong, deep, important connections to a lot of truly wonderful people. My life is what it is because of the connections I have with others. The joy in my life comes not from my being able to be placidly detached and disinterested; it comes from my being fully and messily and up-to-my-neck engaged with my world. Is that also the source of my stress and sadness? Sure, sometimes, but I’m not sure that we can experience “peace” without having experienced “conflict,” too. How can I fulfill my purpose here if I’m disengaged and on the sidelines? What will that teach me? How will that help me teach others?
In the end, I’ve come to recognize that I may be a lousy yogini, at least according to what I understand Chip’s interpretation of yogic philosophy to be. I choose to manifest my practice not by reaching in, but by reaching out. I don’t have all the answers - I probably don’t even have many of them - but I know that solitary and detached are not what I am here to exercise.
image credit (do go to this site - there’s some beautiful and inspiring artwork there)
nothing. i got nothing. i’m just beaming….! beaming you lovely light energy, good yogini.
From what I know of Buddhism and yogic practices I really don’t think that’s what Chip was meant to say. It may be how he practices but I don’t think that’s the point of the detachment.
You may be right, Kizz, but that’s really the message I heard. Liv, can you articulate the whole idea of detachment a little more clearly?
Amen! I think you put it beautifully. I’ve always had some difficulty with the Buddhist idea of detachment. I think it revolves mainly around attachment to outcomes and people and giving our power to the external environment. Essentially Buddhism is based on the concept of aleviating suffering by eliminating desire. When we desire something to be a certain way and it doesn’t manifest as such, we are usually disappointed if we are attached to the result. But I’m no expert here either. I did take a Masters level class in Zen Buddhism and I’ve read a few books on the subject, but based on what I’ve read I know I’m not a Buddhist. I do love yoga, though, especially Bikram yoga.
But I cannot imagine going through life as an etheral spectator or ascetic. My primary reason I’m not Buddhist is I cannot fathom a world with complete detachment from feelings in order to avoid suffering. Buddha was all about detachment from worldly things. I mean, he did abandon his family to become a monk for like five years and then went to sit under a tree and mediatate until he apparently reached enlightment. After his enlightenment, he traveled for another 45 years preaching about detachment. He actually said “destroy your passions.”
I don’t think he is wrong. I just think there is more than one way to enlightenment, and I’m certain for me it does not involve an isolated, detached lifetime of meditation.
I’ve got a couple of books on Buddhism I re-read regularly, and they leave me feeling, what?, transformed? At least oriented in a quiet, peaceable, and refreshing way.
Om, and all that.
Gerry, given your impressions of the philosophy, did I come close to the biggest ideas?
[...] even written here before about how, if I couldn’t practice with my body on the mat, I’d still be able to practice yoga. This complaining participant, though she claims that she’s been practicing yoga for the [...]