The theme of the month at Revolution Yoga is reincarnation and don’t worry if you’re thinking I’m going to get all religious and dogmatic on you, I promise I’m not! This new year of 2020 has me thinking about all the times within this single lifetime I have reincarnated. I changed forms, changed roles, changed locations, changed relationships, changed my mind, so on and so forth.
For many change is a really hard thing but the yogis teach it as an inevitable part of the cycle of matter (the material). It always has a beginning, a middle and an end. That requires the fluidity of it to change. Often we view change with such a negative mindset because we forget that it’s coming, or that it came, or that it is inevitable and this takes us by surprise over and over again.
In the Bhagavad Gita it says that a “sober” being is not “bewildered by such a change”. That begs the question, what did the yogis mean by sober? Sure we probably aren’t walking around drunk or on drugs all the time but we do get inebriated in Maya (illusion). There is a part of us that is steady, that you know has been there all along. Through the ups and downs in life, through the myriad of different relationships, through all the different jobs, from having it all to having nothing. The yogis teach that this is what the true, lasting identity of the self is.
But we get deluded (or drunk in illusion) into thinking we are the material things. We think I am a DOCTOR! I am a YOGA TEACHER! I am RICH! I am SUCCESSFUL! The list goes on. The problem is those things can go in a minute, for whatever the reason may be. And YOU do not cease to exist when that happens. Sure those aspects make up the external identity but not the internal permanent one. So we are inevitably forced to ask ourselves what is safer, even smarter to identify as?
We suffer greatly when we take the expectation of what we know is true (the true me is a permanent fixture. I am obviously always there, “I” am permanent) and place it onto what is not true. We expect that anything outside of ourselves, which can and will inevitably change is permanent too. The house can burn down. The car can crash. The relationship can end. The job can change. The list goes on and on. We get let down because we started with the wrong equation. (Super sunny newsletter topic I know, I promise there is a positive ending)
So the reality of the situation is that people really are walking around like they are drunk. When you’re really wasted you don’t know your name or anyone else’s, you don’t remember your intrinsic values, sometimes you don’t even know where you physically are. You get lost. I always describe this as trying to play chess without knowing the rules (you may as well be drunk and will surely get frustrated, suffering as you lose the game with great struggle).
The yogis have the rules all laid out for you so you can get sober and get really good at playing the material game. We have to be in the material world but not “of” the material world. Get it now? So why not become an expert at playing the game? If we view the mind/body as an ever changing material vehicle (including all its identities) being driven by the permanent being inside (spirit, consciousness, whatever you like to call it), with that kind of overview a certain clarity and easefulness comes. Then we can direct the external change with less suffering.
The yogi knows what you put into the body/mind, the body/mind will become. So if you want to get super fit for 2020, get disciplined about getting to your asana (physical yoga) practice daily. If you want the body to get super healthy, get into Ayurveda (yoga’s sister science including diet and lifestyle) for a few months and watch your health change drastically. If you want a more peaceful mind, sit yourself down and meditate daily. Watch how quickly the mind changes. If you want to be more present, become a better person, excel in the roles your mind/body vehicle is playing at, get into the wisdom literature of our tradition. It has all the guidelines and answers you’re looking for. The material stuff you put in, the material mind/body will become.
People have these long bucket lists for the New Year every year and those resolutions usually fall off the map by the end of February because they are often based on the material. And as we learned above whatever gains you make in the material are going to inevitably change. So what gains are sustainable? Actions taken to get sober. To exist as the true self. To get anchored down into who you really are. Then all the stuff on the outside falls into place. Try to remember daily through your actions and every gain in this way will last a lifetime (or maybe lifetimes if you believe in that kind of thing.) My teacher has been talking about instead of creating a material bucket list create a spiritual bucket list for the new decade and watch all the sober things you’re working towards come to fruition in a sustainable, satisfying and long lasting way you never dreamed could be possible.
I have a deep love and appreciation for every single one of you who walk through our doors and continue to choose to walk through our doors taking steps towards finding yourself. On behalf of the whole staff we are here for you, we are going to get there together, and we are prepared to lay out all the tools you need through our offerings to get you there. Here’s to an amazing new decade! Happy New Year!
Originally shared in our January 2020 newsletter.