This past weekend I had the most amazing experience! It was a unique one that I would have never imagined having a few years ago. Even with as much practice and knowledge that I thought I have gained nothing could prepare me for the rich bounty of inner peace that I experience at the Be Still and Know silent retreat with Swami Sankarananda. This was the source of energy that my entire being was yearning for! This wonderful humble man is a testament for devotion to a worthy cause, to an alignment with the truth that exists within each of our hearts. He the message of peace and happiness with us through the experience of chanting, meditation, healthy living, and teachings from the masters all in the midst of an outward silence that had stilled our minds and opened our hearts. At the core of all the great master's teachings there is the truth that we are all one. Manifested into what seems like an individual form, we believe we are separate, and fear drives us away from that truth. However, there exists a deep longing to return back to the stillness within, which unites us once again. In this stillness we find love and happiness, inspiration and courage. This is the energy that turns a bad day at work into a great one.
It is the activity of the mind that clouds over the clear blue sky of the stillness within that brings peace, and nurtures the heart so that one might continue to give. This giving is not of a limited amount because it comes directly from the source of all that is. Saints are examples of those that were able to tap into this energy at a very pure level, and they have been remembered long past their time on this physical plane in a physical form because there is something about them that we in the world loved to witness, that which we yearn to see within ourselves. That same energy that they tapped into is calling to us through them, through ourselves. In fact, this wonderful energy is present to everyone of us found in acts kindness and love to others as well as feats of skill and talent that proves us with feelings of enjoyment and happiness. The inspiration for both of these actions comes for a deeper place than can be identified through scientific thought or mathematical equations. We can not mechanically replicate a great hug or an award winning musician. How many institutions have we created to ensure the making of good and talented individuals? Yet, time and time again, things do not work out for everyone who attends. I am speaking from personal experience there. However, it is not important what my experience may be so much as what my experience reveals to you about your experience. Have you ever had the inspiration to love and live life, to find incredible energy in an activity that you love? Then, almost inexplicable found that you no longer felt like that kind giving individual or no longer felt like something you had enjoyed so much was worth the effort anymore? In some ways, to some degree or another, I have witnessed many individuals agree that they have had this experience in one way or another. So what might bring that feeling within, that flowing uplifting energy that comes to us when we give a gift of our time, resources, and/or skills to someone else without expecting anything in return? What might bring to us that inspiration to live life to its fullest through our talents and passions?
Both the love of a saint and the passion of the artist, the diligence of scientist, and healing skill of a doctor, seem to have something in common from what I have experienced. They all go beyond what is known into a realm where the impossible is possible, where love and happiness exist, and they bring a bit of that back to a world that is in a state of change caught between love and fear. They still our troubled minds and lift our heavy hearts. We find excitement and joy in witnessing what they reveal to us before our very eyes, and uncover within our hearts. Why do you admire a person? What does following their lives bring out in your own life that you keep coming back to? In yoga we keep coming back to the breath time and time again. As the mind becomes agitated and uneasy, this simple activity brings me peace. Does this sound familiar? Do you recognize a connection between those that you look up to and what is in your heart? Perhaps happiness, love, and peace are not as far away as we might have thought. I see the drawing near within my own life. Once the gap was so wide, peace and happiness, passion and love of life seem like a wicked nightmare because they were on the other side of a huge ravine. It seemed there was no way to cross, but yoga and spiritual practice became the bridge of which I dreamed. If life seems this way to you, or just a little off, practicing yoga, silence, meditation, chanting, and/or other spiritual practices can all work to help balance things out so that you might be able to cross any expanse big or small. You can embrace the qualities in those people that you admire within yourself to fit who you are where you are rather then feeling that you need to became someone that you are not and were not made to be.
We all can become a human that is fully alive, healthy and happy. This is the potential that lies in everyone of us. It can seem rather difficult depending on our circumstances in life. However, this is all a programmed perspective within the mind. Early in life we are put into a system which separates the good and the bad, what belongs here and what should be there. We do not have much time to learn to follow what we love before our dreams are already put into similar categories. You need to make X amount of dollars, have a beautiful wife or handsome husband, have Y number of children, and brand Z of this or that is the best, all your friends really love it, so you should make sure to buy lots of it. Why do we think that we should do this or that? Have you really asked yourself? Are you the one giving the answer or is it the fear buried underneath, so deep that it is perhaps too painful to bring to the light of day? But is it more painful to keep on living a life based in that fear?
What can we do to unravel this mystery within us and around us? By learning to replace the habits that that are trapping us in a pattern of fear based thoughts, words, and actions with nurturing practices we can unravel the prison which we had mistaken for a shell of safety. The biggest lesson that I learned this weekend in this process of liberation is to simply be silent, and allow life to be as it will be without so many words meant to convince me that my thoughts were right or wrong. The silencing of my words gave me time to reflect on how words help to perpetuate thoughts and create belief systems. For example it can be very hard to break a pattern of behavior of avoiding artistic activities if I would routinely say to myself, “I can not make art.” If my heart really wants to make art, and these are the words that I am saying, this deep yearning becomes even harder to realize. The behavior of avoiding art practices becomes more hardwired into my brain, and the unhappiness of unfullfillment becomes that much deeper. It is likely that I would become angry at the prospect of making art, and then depressed.
I learned that most of the words that we share between each other are just noise that drowns out the purer forms of communication like body language and awareness of what is truly happening in a situation. Words can change the meaning of something into a context that doesn't serve others well, possibly causing fear and confusion. For instance, messages from the media can be used to convince us of this or that, we are hardly given a chance to see things as they are before we are told what we should understand about them. Think of when a weather forecaster frames a rainy day with “Unfortunately today will have scattered showers throughout.” You might decide that you dislike rain, but rain can cool a hot summer day, replenishing bodies of water, provide nourishment for crops to grow, etc. Good or bad, rain is very important for our life on this planet. Disliking something in this way can be very similar to disliking ourselves or another. We are much more wonderful than hasty words said from a fearful place.
The worst of these words can come from ourselves, and once we become silent in speech, we can take notice of them in thought. Once we notice them in thought, we can begin to isolate the cause of fear and replace it with a helpful thought, which is based in love. A personal mantra is something that can help us over write the old programming in the mind, which no longer serves us. This is a phrase that is repeated over and over again in our thoughts until it becomes hypnotic, rewriting a negative thought to focus on a positive state of being, much like the focus on living a life to the fullest that those wonderful people we look up to embrace. Mantra and silence practice is a tool to use which helps us gain balance in our minds, to steady the bridge, which if we follow, will lead us to happiness, peace and love.
Taking sometime daily is a good way to introduce silence practice and mantra into your life. Fifteen minutes on a busy day and two hours on a day with more free time is a good way to start to see some effects from the practice. We were given two recommendations for a personal mantra if we did not already have one. The universal mantra, “Om,” which harmonizes us with all things within and without. As well as, “Om Namo Narayanaya,” which is directing us to happiness and bliss. I have also used affirmation such as, “I am safe and secure inside the universe,” or, “ I am happy and content just as I am.” Both methods seem effective to me for a more positive life style, though, the mantras hold an extra power in them. Mantras said in Sanskrit allow us to merge our energy with the positive energy described within the object of the mantra.
I recommend a silent retreat to anyone that feels a need to go deeper within and find stillness of mind. The kind of peace I experienced there was very amazing and felt almost absolute. Sharing the space with so many individuals who had a similar intention, and who practice with honesty and reverence helped much more than I could easily measure. Now that I have returned from that place of sacred stillness and safety, I feel that there is once again a veil set over the clarity that I experience there. However, if I take time to still my mind through breath focus or reciting a mantra, I realize that the sacred space and the hearts of those that gathered there are within my own heart. There is no separation between me and those that I love and admire, as well as the places that hold power and peace for me as long as I remember to take time and come back home to the stillness found in silence within. Maybe my impressions inspire you, I hope that may be true, but I also have learned through the practice of yoga that experiencing is where the true knowledge of peace and happiness exist. Is reading about the taste of honey a substitute for actually eating it? I know that you will have your answer if you but take the time to consider it in the stillness of your heart.
May you find balance and joy in the stillness of a quiet mind!
Blessings, Peace, and Love to you my friend! Aaron :-)