Day 25 - Our Life's Song

 

Today's Tarka Practice

Our focus this week will be on the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is one chapter out of the Mahabharata, which is one of the longest Sanskrit epic poems from ancient India.

Yesterday, we talked about yoking together our earth life with our spiritual life, what that means, and whether or not we felt that we were living our lives harmoniously. Today, we will continue on in our exploration of this idea.

The meaning of the words Bhagavad Gita are Lord’s song or life’s song. As we know from our previous reflections on the Atma and the Brahman, our lives are a part of the bigger picture or the atma (the self, the wave) within the Brahman (absolute reality, the ocean). Hence, the Gita asks us to reflect on first life’s song and second our own life’s song.

So, the first question for our journal writing today is what is life’s song? And, our second question is then what is “our” life’s song? In yoga and upon reading the Gita, we are meant to reflect on and we are supposed to determine what our purpose is here in this earthly life.

In the first sense, life’s song is to serve. In other words, our absolute purpose is to serve humanity. In the second sense, we are asked more specifically to reflect on how we, as individuals, are meant to serve that greater purpose. In other words, what is your specific task or how will you serve?

Many people do not understand what it means to serve. Usually, we think of service as taking care of others. For example, we think of service as volunteering at a nursing home or to feed the homeless. While these things are certainly a part of service, they are not the only part. In fact, upon closer reflection, everything we do is a type of service. From doing laundry and cooking dinner to helping our kids with their homework and writing a report for our boss.

For today’s journal entry, I want you to write about all of the things you “do” in your life from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed and think about each task as your service to the world. What did you learn about yourself during this process?

Shanti

Day 26 - Beginning to Know Your Dharma

 

Today's Tarka Practice

Our focus this week will be on the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is one chapter out of the Mahabharata, which is one of the longest Sanskrit epic poems from ancient India. If you have not read Monday’s and Tuesday’s posts, you may want to start there before reading this post.

 

 

For the last two days, we have been talking about our own life’s song or our life’s meaning or purpose. We have discovered that the overall meaning is to serve – to serve others, to serve ourselves and to serve life. How can we serve life? The answer to this question brings us to the next part of the Gita.

In the Gita, there are many key players. Today, we will talk about the two most important players – Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna symbolizes the human being, a person, or even more literally, you – the person you are in this life. Krishna symbolizes God incarnate but can also be seen as symbolizing the oversoul or our higher self or spirit.

So, what is happening in the Gita is this – a conversation between Arjuna (your earth self) and Krishna (your spiritual self). Depending upon your religious beliefs, you can also see this as a conversation between you and God.

The conversation that is taking place is this: Arjuna is trying to figure out his life’s purpose or his life’s song and he is asking Krishna for help. Krishna’s response to Arjuna is this: your life’s song is your dharma.

In yoga, dharma has many meanings. For the purpose of our discussion here, you should think of dharma as the nature of life. Krishna is trying to help Arjuna understand the nature of life, more specifically, the nature of his life.

For today’s journal entry, I want you to think about the nature of your life. What is your dharma or purpose in this earthly life? Most people do not know the answer to this question or are uncertain. That is fine, for this is the place to begin. Many people come to yoga to find out the answer to this question, so for now, if you do not know your life’s purpose, make a list of your strengths and what you feel you do well.

 

Shanti

Day 30 - Pralabdha Karma

Today's Tarka Practice

This week's discussion is on karma, what it means, and some of the different types. On Monday we talked about San-chitta karma or all of your karma from all lifetimes. Today, we will talk about Pralabdha karma.

 

Pralabdha karma is just the karma of this lifetime. So, if you did Monday's tarka, you will be off to a good start thinking about the karma you have in this lifetime. Take a look at the list I asked you to make on Monday. On this list, you should see some of the karma you were born with.

 

Your karma can tell you about your dharma, so it is important to understand the type of karma you were born with. This is the most likely karma to manifest in this lifetime. I'll use myself as an example here to illustrate what I mean. On my list of characteristics, I have teacher. Whether formal or informal I always seem to be teaching something. I teach my kids, I teach my students, I teach myself. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get away from this approach. Smiles. It follows me everywhere. It seems that I was born with this already in place. So, one might say that I was born with the karma of a teacher.

 

To take this further, the way I approach life - through the eyes of a teacher - can then be seen as a part of my dharma. It is in my essence. I might then say that it is my duty or my responsibility to be a teacher in this lifetime.

 

For today's journal entry, take a look over that list of characteristics you made on Monday and see if you can draw a relationship between your characteristics and your passions. What are you most passionate about? How might this tell you about your karma and what you are meant to manifest in this lifetime?

 

Shanti

 

 

Day 31 - Turning the Negative into a Positive

Today's Tarka Practice
We have now talked about two different types of karma - San-chitta karma and Pralabdha karma. The next type of karma it is important to understand is Kriyamana karma.

 

Kriyamana karma is the karma that you are creating in this lifetime. To clarify, Pralabdha karma is all of the karma in this lifetime but Kriyamana karma is the karma you are constantly creating and adding to the Pralabdha karma tank or ocean if you will. For example, on Wednesday I talked about one of my traits - teacher as a part of my Pralabdha karma. Now, when I teach I am creating something and this act of creation creates karma.

 

In other words, karma can also be described as a cause-effect relationship. In my essence, I am a teacher; therefore, I teach. This act of teaching creates an effect on myself and on others. Remember, it is not a good effect or a bad effect, it is just an effect. Someone might see my teaching as either good or bad but this is not karma. Instead, this is someone bringing their own attitudes onto what I am teaching and assigning it a meaning of their own. Most likely, they will interpret my teaching in a way that is harmonious with their own karma.

 

To simplify this idea, what I mean here is that everyone has their own personal lens through which they see the world. This personal lens effects one's attitude towards things. What is important to understand is that you can change your attitude about something at any time. You have the power to see things in any way that you want to see them.

 

For today's journal entry, think about a time in which you experienced something you didn't like and had a negative attitude about it. Now, think about how you could have changed your attitude in order to experience this same thing more positively. I'll give an example for further clarity.

 

When my daughter was born, my pelvis separated and I couldn't walk or take care of my daughter without help. I couldn't carry her or get her a bottle or get up with her in the middle of the night. I couldn't do anything that one normally does with a newborn. I could have seen this as a very negative experience (and on some days I did). However, I thought mostly about what a great gift it was because it allowed me to spend time with my newborn. All I could do was sit in a chair all day long so this is what I did. I sat with her on my lap, holding her for the entire day. This was precious bonding time for us both. If I had been able to move around more, I might have missed out on this bonding time because I would have been very busy cleaning and cooking and tending to things.

 

Think of this example and write about a time when you turned a negative experience into a positive one.

 

Shanti

Day 32 - New Beginnings

Today's Tarka Practice
Yesterday was the new moon. In yoga philosophy, this symbolizes the beginnings of things. It is an opportunity to step back, reassess and set a new goal or start a new practice. If there is something you have always wanted to try or a new habit you would like to form now is the time to begin. It is a chance for a do-over. It is a time for a change in consciousness.

In your journal, make a list of some things you would like to begin anew. Make it simple. Make it something that you can do in less than 30 minutes a day. For example, perhaps you would like to eat better. Commit to adding more fruit and veggies to your diet. Maybe you want to go back to school. Spend 30 minutes a day or less doing a little research on what it will take to get you where you want to go. Once you have selected one thing from your list do this practice until the next new moon. And, don't forget to journal about your experience. Smiles.

Shanti

Day 33 - Beginner's Mind

Today's Tarka Practice
In celebration of the new moon on Sunday this week's theme is about beginnings.

In both the Zen Buddhist tradition and within Hindu philosophy there is a practice known as "Beginner's Mind". This practice focuses on the idea that when we begin something for the first time, we are open, vulnerable, and flexible. Because we don't know what to expect when we try something new, we have not yet created a wall, we have not yet made associations, we have not yet come to expect something specific to happen and so our minds remain open and free. In these traditions, we are asked to remain in this state of consciousness throughout the practice, and we are asked to remain in this state of consciousness in our lives - open, free, unencumbered. When we are in this state of mind, we can see the possibilities for our lives, we experience hope and joy and we can look at the world through fresh eyes.

Today, I want you to spend the entire day looking at everything as if you have never seen it before and as if you have never experienced it before. Try to look at the day through fresh eyes, look at the people you know through fresh eyes and see their beauty. At the end of the day or perhaps the next morning, write down what you experienced. How did this shift in your consciousness to beginner's mind change your everyday experience?

Shanti