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Yoga’s
Promise
by Tom
Pilarzyk, PhD The
essential question of the yogic tradition is “who am I?” It
motivates many practitioners to walk this noble path of personal
transformation. That means yoga buns and toned thighs are merely
unanticipated consequences
of the practice, not
its intended goal. Our Social Identities In
everyday life, we know who we are. We may be a, sister, ex-spouse, a
great dancer, 30-something, an office worker, shy, overweight and
ambitious. Social
roles and psychological labels become
expectations chosen by us and
assigned to us, often
reinforced since birth to help define and understand who we are. They
can be respected, disregarded or belittled, depending on our gender,
age, social class and subculture. These
limiting qualities make up our fluid sense of identity. They are subject
to change even as we hold onto them as our public persona, defending
against anyone who argues
otherwise. All it takes is a serious upheaval to realize our ultimate
fragility - death, a lover who leaves, the trauma of ill-health or
sexual abuse, loss of a job.
With
such
critical life situations, we experience a gap in ordinary consciousness
and realize the precariousness of our lives and self-definitions. These
openings also provide fresh opportunities to explore who we really are,
if we have the courage to not close off or shut down. Is
my social identity real? Only relatively so.
Is this all I am, a being co-created by myself and others and occupying
this body in a unique time and place? The yogic answer is “You
are much more than this.” Our
Intimate Selves We
experience a deeper, more profound sense of self usually reserved for
ourselves, our confidants and potential intimates. This personal
identity demands real authenticity: an open mind and heart, honesty and
a willingness to be hurt as we share deeper feelings, hopes, fears and
insecurities. As a result, these experiences acknowledge our genuine
vulnerability. We
are touched fundamentally by moments of intimacy. Here we take off the
armor to reveal our emotional or physical nakedness. Feelings of love
naturally arise since we are sharing something truly precious with each
other. Some
non-conceptual episodes of consciousness- whether in lovemaking, yoga
practice or connecting with Nature- make us feel more fully alive and
“in the flow.” We may even momentarily lose that sense of dualism or
separateness from others through, what psychologist Abraham Maslow had
called, these peak experiences of life. Is
my intimate identity the real me? Peak
experiences, and intimacy in general, allow for
a more expansive sense of
who we are, drawing on universal energies that underlie thoughts,
emotions and actions. While our intimate identity appears real in time
and place, the feelings
associated with it are fleeting. This more authentic consciousness is
not the Real Self described by Eastern traditions either, although it
may act as a doorway to it. So
who is the real me, before I was born of this body, before I learned to
cling to my sense of
self?
The
experience of the True Self has been described as the discovery of the
Universal Energy of Pure Awareness. It is clear, expansive, luminous,
non-dual consciousness marked by bliss, freedom, joy and love that
cannot be fully described. Like
an indescribably delicious candy bar, momentarily tasted in a peak
experience. In
the jivan mukti (the enlightened one who is living), mind and
body have been tamed and purified, their energies harnessed for personal
liberation. “Who am I?” no longer needs to be asked nor answered.
You are that! That which is Absolutely Real. In
yoga class, the synchronization of mind and body through asana and
pranayama is a foundation for meditation
practices said to lead to realization of the True Self. While most practitioners
may not care who they ultimately
are, the yogic path cultivates changes in us just the same, often
subtly, sometimes directly, if we remain committed to it. The
Promise of the Path For
the serious practitioner, personal transformation remains yoga’s
promise. It is the fuel and outcome, journey and goal, in uncovering our
essential birthright. For the new student, yoga is an opportunity to
begin that process by increasing openness and flexibility while
strengthening determination and love. Yoga
practice is a natural way to work with the “stickiness” of our
opinions of body and mind that imprison us in a false, relative sense of
who we are. Enlightened yogis remind us of the beautiful rose that grows
beyond that prison, if only we dissolve the bars and free ourselves to
unfold under the ripe
conditions of our innate wisdom
and compassion. Tom Pilarzyk is a social scientist, college administrator and new yoga teacher at Seven Stones Center for Wellness. He has published articles on Hinduism in America and has practiced yoga and meditation since the1980s.
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