by Darren Main
When I first met his friend, I was taken back to see just how unhealthy he was. He was so frail that I was almost afraid of breaking him as I moved my hands over his body. I had worked on many people who were sick, but never on someone this close to death. I tried to avoid the subject of his mortality so as not to upset him, but that seemed to build a deafening tension. I guess he could feel the tension too, because he said something that sliced right through it.
“If you have any questions, it’s okay to ask,” he said.
“I don’t think I have any questions,” I replied. “You were very honest on your medical history form.”
“Not about my medical history—about death. I know you can see it. I am leaving soon. If you have any questions, I would like to talk with you about it.”
I didn’t know what to say. It felt like we were going into that forbidden area where few dare to tread; as uncomfortable as standing at the urinal, and the guy next to you starts up a conversation.
“I don’t know what to say. I am sad that this is happening to you. I wish I could do more to help you.”
“Well, you could spend a little extra time massaging my feet,” he joked. “This curse is really a gift, and it took all of this to make me realize it. I never knew a person could be this sick. Believe it or not, I was very healthy and attractive once. Now I can hardly get out of bed and I am covered with sores. Up until a few weeks ago I was so angry. Everything I had ever loved was taken from me. My health, my good looks, the closet full of expensive clothes that no longer fit me. Even the BMW, which I just finished paying for last year, sits in the garage and collects dust. It seemed so unfair that my life is being demolished by a tiny bug that I can’t even see.”
“Something changed a few weeks ago though,” he continued. “I have never been one to go to church or pray, but the situation seemed to call for it. Of course, I was hoping for one of those miracle cures that you read about in Reader’s Digest while sitting on the toilet, but, as you can see, I didn’t get better. A miracle did happen that day though—an even bigger one. In that moment, I let go of my fighting and my clinging to all the unimportant things that have plagued my life. Everything that I had clung to my whole life—even my very identity—meant nothing when I let go. In that release I found peace; I am now ready to go home. My mother is coming up to visit next month. I am waiting to see her. She is very old and is having her own share of problems, but she is going to fly up from San Diego. I just want to sit with her and have tea. She was raised in England, and tea is a big deal to her. Once I do that, I will be ready.”
I was massaging his back as he told me this, and I was grateful his face was down in the cradle, because I was embarrassed by the tears that I had to keep brushing back. [Most massage tables have an extension called a cradle to hold the face.] At first I was crying for him. It is not easy to see someone who is dying, but as he spoke, the tears were as much for myself as for him. I had sought through my yoga practice for years to find the peace that he had found, but was only able to experience it in fleeting glimpses. My prayer that day was that I would be able to know his peace before I left this world.
I continued to work with him until the end, and I met his mother when she came to visit. Shortly after that he passed on. Even though I went to him with the intention of helping him find peace, I now believe it was he who helped me learn a great lesson about the final stage in a yogi’s life—mahasamadhi.
Mahasamadhi is a conscious exit from the body at death. It is more than simply dying, for we will all do that and usually have little choice as to when. Mahasamadhi is about consciously letting go of everything and moving into the next realm with a clean slate.
The fear of death seems very natural, but this is one of the best examples of the ego’s upside down perception of the world. Death is the most natural thing there is, and to fear it is no more logical than to fear sunsets. Like the sunset that is sure to follow the sunrise, death is the natural result of birth. Resisting it and clinging to life only serves to hold us back while we are here and prevents us from living life to the fullest.
It is important to note the difference between the natural instinct for survival, and an ego-based fear of death. Wanting to maintain a healthy and long life is natural and logical. While we are here, we have lessons that we need to learn, and that won’t be possible if we play in traffic or drink window cleaner. On the other hand, the ego’s obsession with youth and longevity are great barriers to our spiritual evolution.
For many of us, death is not an easy subject. Because our egos so closely identify with the body, death can be a very fearful thing. The practice of yoga is based on the idea that we are not our egos, but rather the eternal Atman. Once Atman is realized, there is no cause to fear death or to speak about it in whispers.
As we have noted so many times, Atman—the essence of who we are—is eternal. Atman is the soul; it was not created at birth and does not die at death. Only the form a soul takes can change. If we resist that change, we suffer, and there is no change bigger than physical death.
Many yogis believe in reincarnation. Others believe in an afterlife such as the one depicted in Western belief systems. Still others see the human soul dissolving back into a great source. While reincarnation is the belief that is traditionally associated with yoga, it is by no means the only way of viewing the afterlife. In my opinion, any belief that reminds us of the eternal nature of the soul is helpful.
Through the practice of yoga, we prepare ourselves to exit the body in a conscious and enlightened way. This allows the moment of death to be a liberating time that lets us move on. Rather than a time of fighting and clinging, it becomes a time of freedom and celebration.
None of us knows when we will be called home. None of us knows when the accident is going to hit, or when disease is going to render the body uninhabitable. Therefore, it is important to attempt to make every moment a conscious one. In doing this we simultaneously create full and rich lives and make a clear space for entering into mahasamadhi.
As long as we are in a body, we will have some sense of separation. Even the most enlightened people need to maintain some sense of ‘me’ to function in this world of form. Mahasamadhi, then, is the final step a yogi takes to free the mind from the insanity of the ego. Once this is done, the mind passes from the state of duality to a state of union, which is what yoga is all about.
Conclusion
You have dispelled my doubts and delusions, and I understand through your grace. My faith is firm now, and I will do your will.
—The Bhagavad Gita 18:73
The Dance of Yoga
That yogi quickly attains the most beautiful practice who everyday has conviction in his learning, conviction in his guru, conviction in his self, and awakening of his mind.
—Hatha Yoga Pradipika 7:2
Once there was a high school custodian named Joshua. [This story has been told by many people, with many variations, I retell it here not knowing to whom I should give credit.] Joshua was a good man and all the teachers, students and parents liked him. He took pride in his work, and kept the school in tiptop shape. Joshua was content with his job, but had always dreamed of opening a small produce stand.
Although Joshua was very wise and compassionate, he could not read or write. This had always held him back in life to some extent, but he always seemed to manage. After much deliberation, the board of education passed a law that required all school employees to be able to read and write, so Joshua was let go. He was given severance pay and sent on his way.
While Joshua may not have been able to read and write, he did have a great attitude toward life. Rather than get depressed about his situation, he took his severance pay and invested it in the produce stand that he had dreamt about for so long. His dream took off and soon he was selling enough fresh produce each day to open a second and a third stand in the neighboring towns. Certainly, it was more than he could have hoped for.
Just after opening his third stand, h
is brother came to visit. He was quite impressed with the small empire his sibling had created and inquired what he was doing with all his money.
“I keep it all in a shoebox under my bed.” Joshua replied
“You must be kidding,” the brother said. “At the very least you should keep your money in a savings account. They are free at almost any bank.”
Joshua agreed, and took his shoebox full of money to the bank the next day. Of course the bank manager was eager to help him, but was a bit perplexed as to how a person would come across a shoebox full of money. So Joshua told his story to the bank manager.
“That is amazing—you are living your dream, and we are glad to have you as a member of our bank. All I need you to do is sign this form for me, and you will have your account.”
“I’m sorry,” Joshua said. “I can’t read or write.”
The bank manager was in awe. “You have done so much—can you imagine where you would be if you could?”
Joshua smiled thoughtfully and said, “I would probably be cleaning toilets still.”
This story speaks volumes about the concepts we have been exploring in this book. Unlike Joshua, most of us resist change in our lives until the pain of not changing gets too great. Joshua waited until the Universe gave him the nudge to move on to higher ground.
For many of us, it’s an aching body or a stressed-out mind that brings us to the yoga mat. This can seem like a bad thing in the beginning, but it is really a cleverly hidden gift. Whatever it is that gets us to the practice of yoga, it is only the excuse that Spirit uses to get us started on the path.
Yoga has a wonderful way of taking our greatest weaknesses and turning them into our greatest spiritual assets. At first we learn to do this on the yoga mat with poses that challenge us physically, mentally and emotionally. But when one opens the heart and mind to yoga, it becomes so much more. The poses of life soon become our practice too, and we have one opportunity after another to practice yoga all day long in our busy urban lives.
Ultimately, the eight limbs of yoga become like an eight-step dance, where each situation and relationship in which we find ourselves become our dancing partners. We begin our dance by finding our moral ground with the yamas and then move on to the next step—cultivating a healthier life through the niyamas. Through asana and pranayama we take the next two steps in our dance by coming more fully into the body. Pratyahara, the fifth step, brings us to the realm of the mind through the doorway of the senses, and the sixth step, dharana, grounds us in the present moment. The seventh step in this mystical dance, dhyana, allows us to witness our dancing partner, and the last step, samadhi allows us to find ecstasy in the experience.
At first it is not easy to learn this eight-step dance, and we can feel like we have two left feet on the dance floor of life. But as we mentioned in the beginning, yoga is a practice. As we practice this dance and use these principles, we will respond to life more and more easily. As we do this, life will look less and less like a slam dance and more and more like an elegant waltz.
Through this practice, our modern urban lives can be powerful and mystical experiences, filled with all the wonder and magic that was once reserved for those living as monks and nuns. By using the practice of yoga in this new way, we have the opportunity to see the world with new eyes and find joy in each step of the journey. We will learn to welcome the difficult poses that life presents to us, and not to attach ourselves to the ones that come more easily.
By working this ancient practice in a modern way, every breath can be a practice of mindfulness that gives way to unimaginable joy. This is the practice of yoga—this is the path of the urban mystic.
References
1. From the compact disc “One Track Heart” by Krishna Das, Triloka Records, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2. The Upanishads are a collection of short, sacred texts from India; they are frequently bound together in one book in much the same way that the Christian Bible is a collection of smaller books that are bound into one larger book.
3. Matthew 5:17
4. madhyama-pratipada (Sanskrit)
5. The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter Three)
6. Paramahansa Yogananda was one of the first Yogis to come to the West from India. He is the author of the modern classic yoga text, Autobiography of a Yogi and the founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship
7. From I Am with You Always by Douglass Bloch
8. Om Bhur Bhuvas Svah; Tat Savitur Varenyam; Bhargo Devasya, Dhimahi Dhiyo Yo Nah Pracodayat
—The Rig Veda 3:62 • Translated by Sanjay Kumar: “May there be peace on earth, immortal, and divine planes. I meditate upon the brilliant splendor of Savitur, the Sun God. May He be the One who stimulates our intellect.”
9. The Yoga Sutras II:40 as translated by Barbara Stoler
10. Barbara Ann Brennan, Hands of Light, Bantam New Age Books, 1987, New York, NY
11. Isaac Newton
12. The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth, by M. Scott Peck, M.D. Simon & Schuster, NY, NY (1978) p. 266
13. The Tao of Healing, by Haven Trevino, New World Library, Novato, CA, 1999.
14. Luke 17:20 New International Version (NIV)
Glossary
Ahimsa- The practice of non-violence. One of the five yamas outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra.
Ajna- The sixth major chakra, located at the eyebrows in the front of the body and at the back of the head. The seat of intuition, perception and cognition.
Amrit Desai- The founder of Kripalu Yoga and Amrit Yoga.
Anahata- The fourth major chakra, located at the breastbone in the front of the body and between the shoulder blades in the back. The seat of love and compassion.
Analome Valome- A breathing technique using alternate nostrils combined with counting and holding the breath.
Apana- The downward breath or exhalation.
Aparigraha- The practice of greedlessness or non-grasping. One of the five yamas outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra.
Archetypes- Symbols and images held in the unconscious mind. They are usually based on cultural images or symbols, and make up the samskaras in the unconscious mind.
Arjuna- One of the central figures in the Bhagavad Gita. As a great warrior, he finds himself in the middle of a great battlefield. Krishna appears to him and teaches him about Spirit.
Asana- Literally ‘to sit’, but often translated as pose. The third limb outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra.
Ashtanga- Eight limbs. Any style of yoga that follows the eight limbs outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra. See also Ashtanga Vinyasa.
Ashtanga Vinyasa- Often called ‘Ashtanga Yoga’ or ‘Power Yoga’, this style of yoga was developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and is characterized by a set sequence of poses connected together with vinyasa (flowing movement).
Asteya- The practice of non-stealing. One of the five yamas outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra.
Atman- The True nature within all beings. The expression of the Divine. The eternal, unchanging and all knowing part of One’s being. Also called the Soul, Self, Higher Self and True Self.
Aura- The energy field in and around a living being’s physical body.
Austerity- See Tapas.
Autobiography of a Yogi- The life story of Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the first yogis to come to the West from India. It has become a classic text for many modern yogis.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)- The branch of the nervous system that governs unconscious activities such as digestion, heart rate and immune functioning.
Aversion- One of the two ways the ego keeps the mind in a state of outward projection. See also craving.
B.C.E.- Before Common Era. B.C. (Before Christ) used to be the standard way of dating events that happened before the birth of Jesus about 2000 years ago. Because the calendar is shared by both Christians and non-Christians, the dates traditionally ending in B.C. have been changed to B.C.E. See also C.E.
<
br /> Bhagavad Gita, The- One of the great spiritual texts to come out of India. It is believed to have been written about 2,500 years ago, around 500 B.C.E., and is part of the epic Mahabharata. It is the account of Krishna’s spiritual wisdom as it was given to his student Arjuna. See also, Krishna and Arjuna.
Bikram Yoga- a style of yoga practiced in a heated room.
Black Elk- A Native American elder.
Brahmacarya- The practice of moderating one’s sexual energy. One of the five yamas outlined by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra.
Brahman- The Formless expression of the Divine. The ultimate reality beyond any idea of time and space.
Brahma- Part of the Hindu Trinity. God in the role of creator. See also Shiva and Vishnu.
Breath- See Pranayama.
Breath of Fire- See Kapalabhati Pranayama.