Hi
Everyone,
One
of our teachers, Zyrka Landwijt, was chased from her home
by the Tea Fire, losing most of her possessions. A week later,
during the season's first rain, she was evacuated from the
home where she was staying because of the potential for mud
slides. Arriving to teach class later that day with her remaining
possessions "safely" in her Volvo, she was warned
of a rash of car-break-ins that were plaguing the neighborhood.
"I
know this is making me a better yoga teacher and a better
human being," she said, "but I am ready for the
lesson to slow down, just a bit. I think I get it."
The
question on everyone's post-fire lips was: What would I take
if I had only minutes to evacuate? After a few days the question
took on the subversive character of a zen koan. Koans (what's
the sound of one hand clapping?) are not rational questions
with linear conclusions. They are designed for one purpose:
to open and free a mind narrowed by habitual responses to
a bigger possibility of truth.
The
rational mind's initial response to the question,
"What would I take?"
is personal and practical:
"I'd take my photographs, manuscripts, my laptop, my
grandma's crystal owl, the cash under my mattress, my cast
iron frying pan, children's drawings ..... "
After
a few days perhaps, the question "What would I take?"
might give unexpected, alchemic birth to the more introspective
inquiry,
"What do I need?"
It's
clear that to continue living none of the things on a list
beyond the basic necessities of life are ever really necessary.
Once that is noted, digested and absorbed life is no longer
the same. Strategies for living and accumulating, for negotiating
and safeguarding take such a radical shift that something
like a fire, which seemed devastating beyond argument, can
now be perceived as a gift, an opportunity. Incredible to
even open to the possibility that an event that smashed your
life to bits was in fact the best thing that ever could have
happened.
From
a yogic perspective, an event like the fire marks the beginning
of a Hero's Journey. Prior to the life-smashing event we'd
been living our life as we'd grown accustomed, in a haze of
routine, or, to paraphrase Thoreau in "quiet accumulating
desperation."
Than
something happens that wipes everything out. Bam. Gone. This
has, or will, happen to all of us. If the fire didn't get
you, the flood will .... if not the flood, than the spot on
the x-ray, or the unexpected phone call. This is how life
operates and because there's no avoiding it, or postponing
it, the turning toward it when it happens can be a great source
of awakening and liberation. .
A
related question that has haunted me since opening the business
called Yoga Soup is, what should we sell?
A
place that's dedicated to revealing the deeper truths of life
often spends it's time looking though catalogues, fussing
with retail software, and arranging it's shelves for clothing.
But that question .... what do I need to live?
To live freely and unencumbered by the ideas that objects
provide?
There
is a passage from The Dhammapada,
a small text of wisdom sayings ascribed to the Buddha himself
(which is for sale at the studio for under eight dollars):
The
gift of truth is the highest gift
The taste of truth is the sweetest taste
The joy of truth is the greatest joy.
The extinction of craving is the end of suffering.
The Buddha continues:
Sorrow springs from craving.
Fear springs from craving.
Whoever is free from craving
knows neither sorrow nor fear.
Living beings, led by craving
Rush about aimlessly like trapped rabbits
Caught up in their own desires, they suffer
Over and over again.
Possessions destroy the fool,
But not those who see beyond them.
Through craving for possessions
The fool destroys himself and others as well.
*
Bah Humbug?
No.
This is not about not giving and receiving,
two of life's greatest joys.
Preaching a creed of anti-shopping would be as hypocritical
as it would be absurd at a studio that sells things. Not having
things isn't the point; being attached to things (ideas, objects,
labels, beliefs) as a source of who one is, this is what gets
examined under the yogic microscope.
Yoga Soup is in the self-discovery business. For many people
the journey of self-discovery began by reading a book which
opened their eyes and hearts and made them realize there was
something deeper to life than what is experienced on the surface.
Consider
this holiday season giving the gift of spiritual wisdom: a
gift of something that can't be lost, stolen, drowned or incinerated
...... something that counsels us in how to live a life that
is always one unpredictable step away from certain change
and unavoidable dissolution.
Books are affordable, life-enriching and instead of going
out of style grow richer in value and insight as we read and
re-read them over and over the course of our lifetime.
For instance the latest book by a teacher of mine, Dzigar
Kongtrul, expands on the Buddha's ideas about craving:
"The mind captivated by a state of craving has no clue
as to what pain and pleasure really are. When we hanker after
objects, do we experience peace and bliss? Are we in control?
Do we feel at ease? Or do we feel restless? Stressed and worried?
Insecure and desperate? The slippery thing about attachment
is that, in our bewilderment, we can't tell the difference
between pleasure and pain, love and desire, happiness and
sorrow. The craving mind can mistake anything for pleasure
-- even pain! It's like an addiction.
Attachment makes us vulnerable; it makes us dependent upon
objects as a source of happiness. Without identifying the
true causes of happiness and suffering, pleasure and pain,
we swing back and forth between expecting objects to fulfill
us and then blaming them for luring us in and making us unhappy.
It's like eating sugar and crashing, and eating more sugar
and crashing again -- yum .... yuck ... yum ... yuck. So how
do we differ from an addict? If objects were a genuine source
of happiness, we would be happy all the time, seeing as how
there are so many desirable objects around us."
 
From "Light Comes Through"
Dzigar Kongtrul is the teacher of Pema Chodron,
who's own prodigious body of books and CD's never fail to
inspire and make very special gifts.
Michael Singer's The Untethered Soul is one of the clearest
evocations of spiritual awakening I've ever read. Almost without
fail people who've bought the book return and buy one for
their friends. We now have an accompanying set of CD's by
the author providing a running commentary on the book. It's
a brilliant companion to a brilliant piece of work.
Here are two excerpts from it:
*
On Happiness
(click above)
*
On Death
The wise realize that in the end, life belongs to death. Death
is the one who comes in his own time to take life from you.
Death is the landlord and you are just the tenant. People
say things like, "he's living on borrowed time,"
or "He got a new lease on life." From whom did he
borrow the time? From death, of course. Death is the one who
comes to claim his property because it has always belonged
to him. You should have a healthy relationship with death,
and it should not be one of fear. Feel grateful to death for
giving you another day, another experience, and for creating
the scarcity that makes life so precious. If you do this,
your life will no longer be yours to waste, it will be yours
to appreciate.
*
My
long time friend and teacher Steve Ross has
released a long awaited live chanting CD: Give Love
A Chants. Steve's 30+ years of teaching and study
in the company of great teachers and saints is really best
expressed through his golden voice.
Listen
here for an example of what we mean:
And
so on. We have lots of interesting cards, posters, journals,
sounds, images ..... come see for yourself.
We have gift cards and gift certificates available that can
be used for retail purchases, classes and special events.
Our
5/10/20 class series never expire and for the holidays we're
offering a special six-month membership: Buy six months of
yoga and get one month free, along with ten percent off all
retail purchases and workshops.
If you know someone who'd like to be introduced to yoga, we're
offering a Beginner's Weekend Special with the esteemed Heather
Tiddens. For $75 you get three classes with Heather, two weeks
of free yoga and 20% percent discount should you decide to
purchase a series.
One of the most exciting gifts we've ever sold was to a father
who bought a block of classes for the teachers and administrators
at his daughter's school. Perhaps you'd like to provide the
gift of Yoga Soup to the employees of your business, or as
support for people who work for not that much money in the
arts and for charities.
Beyond the buying and selling please pay us a visit. We are
first and foremost a space for meditation, for contemplation
and community. The studio is a wonderful place of respite
from the busyness of modern life and even though we do have
lots of things for sale, it's a space where you aren't compelled
to buy anything. There is always fruit and tea available ...
more often than not some other special snack .... the library
upstairs is always open and the massage room is available
to sit in when it's not in use.
Thank you for all the support you've given us over the years.
On behalf of our staff, I wish you all peace of mind and ease
of heart for the holidays and always,
Much love,
Eddie
If you can't find what you are looking for at Yoga Soup, please order through Amazon, and we will get a small commission.
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