What is my message?

Mark here...

Recently at teacher training with John Friend, he asked us to contemplate what our central vision of the world is and, as an extension from this, what our central message as teachers is. I thought this was a great contemplation.

As far as the world goes, I am not so sure, as I would not want to assume that any tiny conceptual understanding I have could adequately explain the world, but I do feel comfortable commenting on human experience.

I see the whole of human experience as a dance of wills. Each of us has a will that is powerful enough to change things, but it never changes things solely according to its desires. When my will exerts its force, it is then met by another (or many other) will(s), and the product of that collision is manifestation.

(It happens that this is an expression of what Gurdjieff called the "Law of Three", or Triamazikamno, in Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson.)

Now what does this 'dance of wills' have to do with anything? What is its practical meaning?

Well it is a useful understanding for me because in it I know my power. In it I free myself from a speciously claimed anonymity, claiming instead my place in creation as a person. In it I know that I do exert influence on the world. For me, it is in recognizing this that I come to know my value. I think it is a rather new phenomenon where humans think they can actually be anonymous. We are never anonymous, we are always in relationship.

Further, I come to know my value is dependent on my interaction with others, for it is through others that I know myself. I can see the dance that we are in together, that my input combines with another's toward a manifestation. Therefore, the moral dimension of life is where my value rests, for I would not know myself in its absence, indeed I would not exist (at least as I do).

(For philosophy nerds like myself, I realize I am making quite a claim here and would love to hear refutations. )

Now it is arguable that my value is present without my conscious recognition of it. But it is in the recognition of it that I know of it, and only things I can know of interest me. It makes little difference to me as to whether it exists independent of my knowing. This is not an argument against our intrinsic value but rather for it. I am just outlining a take on the nature of our intrinsic value. It is an argument for both individualism and collectivism. (Opposites are implicit in one another)

It is in recognizing it that it can then grow and be creatively expressed. Which brings us to one of the coolest teachings of Anusara: That our highest aims as practitioners are CIT and ANANDA.

Now what about SAT? Well, as I understand it, SAT is being itself, which exists independent of us. But CITANANDA? Well here is where we step in... we have the power of recognition (consciousness) and the power of creative expression.

So, what is my central message? It is that we ought to always endeavor to recognize our value by seeing our unique contribution to the world, and equipped with this recognition, affirm this value through skillful action.

By seeing my value in the context of the world itself, in concrete behaviors and roles I play, I automatically connect with something larger than myself while affirming my individuality at the same time. In the yoga room, if I take my thighs back really well and someone else sees that, they might learn how to take their thighs back too. If I am kind to someone on the street, even if I am not feeling kind, they might be kind to someone else. If I choose to question the values of my culture, and skillfully do so, I might be able to make an argument for a new way of seeing things that inspires another. I benefit from these actions by doing a better yoga pose, by having a moment free of my selfishness, by refining my insight into things. But someone else benefits too. This is the dance.

I know that others have done all of those things for me and I have been affected profoundly by them. People who come to mind are my friends and family, my early religious mentors, John Friend, Christina, Charly, the kula, my philosophy teachers at UT, Hannah. They have all helped me shape my understanding, and I theirs. This gives me a profound sense of community and personal empowerment. I see how my life is dependent on theirs and theirs on mine. We affect each other. For me, this understanding is rich with meaning.

This I hope to inspire in my students. I hope my students aspire for excellence not as a fawning or desperate act to gain my approval or to somehow be something they are not, but to be excellent as an affirmation of their own value. That they can be excellent because they are important. Their actions matter and, therefore, it is important to act skillfully, for the quality of an action is as important as the action itself.

You can just get into the form of a pose or you can execute the pose with skill. When you do a pose there is a relationship between the mind and body, the latter is predisposed to torpor and the former envisions the perfect pose. Somewhere in between there is a balanced expression of skill and acceptance. The collision of these two "wills", the desire for a beautiful form we see with our inner vision, and the tendencies of the body under the influence of physics and the weaker parts of our psychology, creates the final manifestation. Putting myself into a form is certainly an affirmation, but to skillfully align in the pose is a radical affirmation! And it leads to a recognition of my value and therefore truly is "a gateway to the heart".

I pray I can know this more and more fully too. Holding this understanding, all joy becomes possible, for, if I know my value, I am free to play, free to speak or offer an opinion, free to listen to others, knowing our respective values are nested in the relationship itself. I can offer myself to the world, joyfully and freely. This is ANANDA.

Happy Tuesday!