[NOTE: it's a long one, you may want to print from blog for better reading. You have to read all the way through to download the meditation in mp3 format 
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Is my body mine? Does it belong to me, in terms of rights of ownership? Am I defined by my physicality (gender, species, health, illness)? Are my actions, works and rewards, skills, thoughts, ideas, gifts mine to claim ownership, and thus credit for? From whence does sense of identity come from, “I” sense? Is a thing, a human, the thing in itself and of itself?
In “How Yoga Works” there is a beautiful twist on the Yoga Sutra I.2:
Yogah citta vrtti nirodha -
Common translation:
Yoga is the stilling, or quieting, of movements, or fluctuations, of the mind.How Yoga Works:
Yoga is learning to stop
How the mind
Turns things around.”
~ Yoga Sutra I.2, How Yoga Works, page 109
Vritti is literally a whirling. Leaves do vrttis in the wind. There is a turning around implied and I see this in a way in this verse I never did before reading How Yoga Works. See blog entry “book: Good Story, Yoga Sutras and Great Teachings – “How Yoga Works” for book review and to order the book.
A key teaching in the Baghavad Gita, and thus Vedanta and Yoga generally, is our mistaken sense of what is what, is a thing a thing in itself? The teaching starts in How Yoga Works in how a bamboo pen is a writing utensil for the captain, and a morsel to eat for the cow, and evolves from there. In Vedanta, and the Gita, we see the teaching in how we are often trying to solve the wrong problem. We start from flawed assumptions or perceptions, and thus problem solve from a false start. If I see a rope, and think it is a snake, and walk out of the way, I am solving the wrong problem. A cognitive problem cannot be solved by action. I need to understand it is not a snake. If I see a snake and know it to be a snake, then the action of walking out of the way is a correct action for an accurately perceived problem (to simplify rich complex teachings over years).
How we see who we are, our actions, the results of our actions are all colored by similar flawed perceptions and misconceptions. How we understand our very identity, the nature of being, the nature of consciousness are all colored by similar flawed perceptions and misconceptions. How we move through the world, understand “I”, “me” and “mine” are likewise colored flawed perceptions and misconceptions. In specific here I want to address sense of ownership, and sense of “I”, “me” and “mine,” and thus often a sense of entitlement of injustice, or unfairness, of “why me?” or likewise pride and thus overlordship over others.
This gets to the heart of Karma Yoga as Krsna teaches in the Baghavad Gita, which includes devotion, or Bhakti Yoga. Karma Yoga is the understanding of who is the ‘actor’ and of action and thus of results or fruits of action. It is challenging to pull this out of context of the gradual unfolding of teachings in the Gita, which is why I teach a six week course, but I will try. I teach a six week course only because it is unlikely to get people to register for ten weeks or three months.
In the second chapter of the Gita, knowledge of oneself is unfolded, or the knowledge of sankhya and the chapter concludes with Lord Krsna saying that the “person from whom all desires have gone, who is free from attachment, gains tranquility.”* Most of us, like Arjuna, take this to mean we must give up all desires in order to be happy. * (The Teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, which I use to teach the Gita course. I also draw from his 4 volume home study course and his talks I have been to).
It is a long road to unfolding the various misconceptions around who is really the actor. From whence does our ability to act come? And when I don’t get the result I wished from my actions, what at my options in response? Blame, guilt, self-pity? Do I see the source of discontent in the fruits of action in someone else? or is blame and cause relevant at all?
Later, in “All is Given… Part Two” I will identify and address the verses from the Gita relevant here… this piece is getting long for blog attention span, no? How you doing so far?
The main points I set out to make, which apparently wanted set up are these:
The very ability to act at all is given to us. Whether it is simply lifting your little finger, or mastering and instrument, or excelling at your work, or producing art, or ‘mastering’ asana.
And yet it is the “I the doer,” the ego, the personality with name and form who takes credit for successful action, and seeks to pass blame or distance oneself from undesired results of action.
Action presupposes desire, and you are very much entitled to both desire and the fruits of your actions, and no need for detachment from fruits of action as we will see in “All is Given… Part Two.”
The ability to act does not come from the “I the doer” but from the very gift of Consciousness, given to you, and the gift of breath, given to you; as are the fruits of actions given to you to enjoy, relished and savored and received as the blessings they are. You have every right to the fruits of your actions, there is no non-attachment here as we will see in Part Two. Without these first gifts, nothing is possible for the ego with name and human form in the mind/body/sense complex.”
I have been touched deeply with the sacredness of all that is given these days as I battle for health and reclaiming of my small and large intestines, my lungs and inferior vena cava that were being choked by a tumor. How I long for intestines that are free to do their work. Intestines so intelligently put together, such a glorious important function: transforming matter into energy to sustain the very gift of life. As I struggle to breathe and reclaim my lungs each breath stands out a light, a wondrous gift nurturing all other organs and thought and awareness itself. Coming back to life, each organ’s functions shines like a beacon I breath into each morning or when I wake at night.
All is Given
What is mine? Daily I give thanks for all that is given to me: Intestines, given to me. Lungs, given to me. Breath touching every cell, given to me. Blood moving energy and breath to every cell, given to me. Mind that perceives breath, given to me. Consciousness that sees mind perceiving breath, given to me. Intestines, given to me. Food to eat, given to me. Sun that nourishes food I eat, given to me. Kidneys, liver, pancreas, gall bladder, spleen – all given to me. Arms and legs, organs of action, given to me. Each of the five senses to experience the world, all given to me. Hands to work and play music, to touch and love, given to me. Voice to sing, given to me. Who then is doing the singing? The one who gives does the singing, I surrender to being sung with all that is given to me. Who is doing the asana? In truth I am not the doer, I am being done; each asana a manifestion of all that is given and a celebration of the one who gives. Therein is the art, the devotion, the prayer of gratitude in each breath in each asana.
Oh, How the mind turns things around. “Look, look at me and what I have done.” Silly old brain.
In pursuing desires, in relishing results of action, knowing I am not really the actor changes everything. We will look at this further.
Summary:
Understanding All is Given — not choosing tor believing it be so, not positive thinking — but understanding ‘what is’ reveals how and why every action is an offering; every fruit of action is a blessing given to be savored and received, what ever it may be. This is the nature of Karma and Bhakti yoga.
All is Given Meditation mp3
I have attached a link to a meditation I used in one the classes of a recent 6 week Gita course. I hesitate to separate from the unfolding of teachings over time in the course, so I have tried to give it context here. Do let me know if this is accessible and relevant or useful. Writing on these topics is new to me and challenging, hence why I teach small groups of 7-10 and use Swamiji’s book to keep discussion grounded and focused in the text. Watch for upcoming free Chitta Chats ™, free conversations on these topics either where I am staying or in Golden Gate Park or coffee shops.
Download right click to download to local drive.
All is Given Meditation (18 minutes, 2 MB)
Coming Soon
More on context of Karma Yoga in “All is Given… Part Two”, actions and results, and seeing that all is given, and nothing, not even ideas, is really mine. I will go into key verses in the Gita and Yoga Sutras carrying these teachings. Let me know what you think of How Yoga Works and how these ideas are presented.
Much love,
~Karl
yogaNexus by Karl Erb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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