The Lotus Jewel
Spiritual journey starts the moment we recognise that something is missing, and also realise that romance, money, power or fame will not be able to fill the void within. Potential for spiritual growth is present in every human being and very often compared to the journey of a lotus flower. The Lotus Flower grows in deep mud, far away from the sun. But, sooner or later, the Lotus reaches the light, becoming the most beautiful flower ever. The Lotus Jewel. Most of us come to Yoga practice because we experience some sort of frustration with the world or suffer in some way…. whether it is loneliness or something like back pain. Because we become stuck or contracted we start to seek.
The practice of Yoga has had a profound effect on my every day life and I want to share that with others.
What Are We Searching For?
We are in the one of the biggest cities in the world where there is so much going on and we spend most of the time running from one thing to another, constantly in movement and stress, trying to chase something, to prove something or simply to pay our bills. We live in a constant state of contraction – and we meet at least 100 people a day in their own states of contraction, on the tube buses, trains.
The question is WHAT IS IT WE ARE SEARCHING FOR? What is the mechanism behind that constant chasing of things to fulfil us? For love, sex, money, recognition, maybe power? What is it that we are running after? Why do we feel that we lack something? All these questions brought me to yoga….
Purnatva – Perfect Fullness
The style I teach is called ANUSARA based on SHIVA-SHAKTI TANTRA and it means “connecting with the essence of who we are, connecting with the TRUTH. The teachings of PURNATVA (perfect fullness) say that the TRUE essence of who we are is COMPLETE, LACKING NOTHING. THAT WE ARE PERFECT- nothing needs to be added!
It teaches that we have everything, within each of us, we need to live a happy and joy filled life – imagine that moment when you sit on a mountain or on holiday watching a sunset on the beach and you feel so at ease-so complete. Or when you are with someone you love and you feel so full and lacking nothing.
Mala – Veil of Ignorance
So why do we feel not whole most of the time – lacking, unworthy? Why do we seek external things to complete us? We are experiencing something called MALA – limited perception, veil of ignorance, that is the primary cause of our suffering. It’s like dirt that accumulates on a car windscreen that does not allow us to see clearly.
It makes us believe that we are incomplete and imperfect, insignificant and certainly not divine. It is a belief that we are limited and powerless, unworthy and meaningless. Something is missing or is deeply wrong with us. Perhaps it is the perfect boyfriend, house or a promotion that we believe will fulfil us. And with this state of mind, when we achieve some of these things, we attach our happiness to the current circumstances. With this comes the fear that whatever circumstances are making us happy will change. And inevitably they do. What fear does – FEAR is to cloak our essence, like a lampshade that dims the light – the light is always there but sometimes we cannot see it. This belief does not allow us to experience the possibility of a different reality – the whole of our real nature. There is more to life, more to me, than this! We dis-empower ourselves when we believe the cause of our greatest joy is something outside of ourselves, such as another person or a particular circumstance.
State of Luminosity
If we take away all the false mental constructs about ourselves and when all the mind colouring is dissolved, then the HEART WILL STAND REVEALED IN ITS FULLNESS. – AND THEN WE CAN SEE. For some people it can be very difficult, PAINFUL even, to surrender the self-image in which so much energy has been invested. But it will inevitably result in a far greater JOY! Thought is always limited. Mind cannot perceive its own true nature except through meditation or through being in the state of luminosity which is the goal of all yoga practice.
YOGA practice helps us to keep that lamp without a shade and we look for happiness that does not depend of outer circumstances. We practice yoga as a way to reconnect to that place of Purnatva within us and then to express that experience of fullness in our daily life.