Be a Warrior! #61

Be a Warrior!   # 61                                                                            October 16, 2018

What defines a warrior?  Poise, readiness, skill, courage, focus and the desire to be in the thick of things.  Householders are yogis who embrace both a spiritual practice and living fully in the world.  The desire to positively impact life and the skill to do so is supported by time spent in the dynamic silence of deep meditation.  In other words, Tantricas are warriors!  

While the desire to remove oneself from the messiness of life is natural and indeed necessary, we need respite, there is a difference between removing oneself, detaching from the world as goal and doing so in a temporary manner, with the firm conviction that life, to be embodied, is a gift to be unwrapped each and every day. 

This distinction is what defines the renunciate and householder paths.  Each path is beautiful and serves the individual practitioner with love, support and a stated goal.  But many are living as householders, one who has responsibilities and the desire to be fully present in and of the world, while attempting to embody renunciate practices that are working to the opposite effect.  

There is a metaphor used to illustrate this teaching that comes to us from Ayurveda called the ashaudi nyaya, that states: the right ingredients, in the right amount, given at the right time will yield the best results.  We want the best results always and so we go to experts of every sort to ensure we are participating in the best manner possible.   

Yoga is a beautiful umbrella with many practices nestled under its canopy. To receive its most potent benefits, we need teachers who are themselves both practitioners and students, with the knowledge, the understanding via experience, of the sequential process that will yield the highest result.   The choice is ours alone; yoga as a grab bag or as true sādhanā with a systematic body of practices that supports and enriches life whatever you wish to do.  

Life is short.  There is no time to waste time going down roads that may or may not get us to our desired destination. Or worse, wander aimlessly not caring where we end up.  Know what you are engaged in and why; make sure that what you practice supports your highest goal.  Be a warrior for a life well and fully lived.   Meditate, contact me and learn this simple, effective, powerful householder practice.