|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Yoga and the Great Awakening: Science and Spirituality Personal and Societal Transformation An Integral Home Study Course 4 Quadrants 12 Themes and 24 Fundamental Yoga Poses
|
||||||||
a
center for Arlington, MA 02474 781-643-0117 |
Introduction
" atha yoganushasanam yogash citta-vrtti nirodhah tada drashtuh sva-rupe'vasthanam vrtti saryupyam itaratra Now begins the exposition of yoga. Yoga is the dissolution of the (dysfunctional) mind states. Then "Self as Wholeness" is known and remains as a stable state. At other times, (in dysfunctional mind states) the self sense, con-fused with transient phenomena, (believes itself to be limited and suffers in unstable states of conflict.) P.Y.S. I-1,2,3,4 Atha, the opening word of Patanjali's seminal work, the Yoga Sutras, carries many layers of meaning. Now, at this very auspicious moment; now, that the preparatory studies and training have been done; now, here and always now, this moment, the only moment, the holy moment, in a state of open, non-judgmental, spacious awareness, yoga unfolds within and without us. What is yoga? Yoga is an awakening. This involves a transformation from a life organized around dysfunctional mind states and a dysfunctional self sense, to a life living in the direct perception of the infinite depths of our being and the infinite possibilities of our life's unfolding. Both individuals and societies can by dysfunctional, and both can be healed. We as individuals are intimately intertwined in a multitude of communities and thus yogic awakening requires a self-reflective individual expression as well as a interpersonal relational one. The deepest expression of a this yogic awakening is known as enlightenment, where the masculine wisdom, seeing/knowing the infinite, the absolute clearly as Self, is united with the the feminine compassion, feeling/knowing that all forms throughout time, space and eternity as Self, igniting fullness of the human potential. Our 'Now' is a unique moment in history. We are blessed to be living at a time of an unprecedented accelerating of awakening, as the depths of human consciousness are being stirred by the cosmic evolutionary forces as a response to the devastating effects unconscious human activity is having on the life forms and life supporting systems of the planet. The great wisdom teachings and traditions of human spiritual practice, carefully preserved and handed down through history, are now intermingling with the emerging revelations of modern science, in an unprecedented cross-pollinating of insight and practices to help mobilize the awakening process. In modern terminology, we begin to recognize ourselves as emergent beings in a mysteriously evolving and awakening universe, with the infinite timeless absolute pouring forth as our universe of time, space and forms. With our own awakening, we are thus are more able to fully participate in the process of collective awakening rippling through the layers of human consciousness and cultures. This course is an invitation to plunge into the unfolding mystery of the present moment as it emerges within you, within the various societies and communities of the planet, and the cosmos/Kosmos as a whole Being stuck in a disfunctional state of mind is suffering. The sanskrit term for suffering, used commonly in Buddhism, is dukha, or stuckness. Psychiatrist-neuroscientist Daniel Siegel defines a "state of mind" as the "total pattern of activation in the brain at a particular point in time". When our 'I-sense' or 'self-sense 'is conflicted or feels limited in any way, we struggle to sustain our own existence as a separate form by grasping after and/or pushing away inherently transient phenomena. These self perpetuating patterns of brain activity involve memories from the past and projections into the future and usually ignore the richness and transformational possibilities available in the present moment. In a state yoga, of mindful attention and reflection in the present moment, these patterns can be seen and recognized as disfunctional and the process of dissolving can begin. Over time, the state of mindful open attention becomes more stable and the energies of the disfunctional states become transformed and integrated into the 'self as wholeness state'.
The physically demanding aspects of yoga are well known and appreciated these days, but the integral dimensions of yoga, the aspects that explore mind, emotions and relationships, as well as the body, are less well articulated in the modern culture. This course is offered as a guide for yoga students, yoga teachers and anyone ready for awakening to help broaden and deepen their understanding and experience of the yogic path of meditation, transformation, and liberation (moksha), and thus more fully participate in the transformation of human culture so urgently needed in our time.
This is giving birth to totally new understandings of the nature of reality, creation and evolution, as well as the nature of the human mind. New insights and understandings revealed by the scientific enquiry into the nature of the organismic, biological intelligence (psycho-neuro-biology), the unconscious regions of mind, (the role of emotions in the psychotherapeutic process) and the deeper dimensions of the evolutionary process that are emerging into human consciousness in this moment offer clues and guidance to all followers of a spiritual path. By integrating these insights into our lives and teachings, yoga students and teachers can thus help the human species awaken to its place within the evolving complex community of the planet, and hopefully facilitate a smooth transition to a new mode of consciousness/being more integral and ecologically atuned to the moment then the dysfunctional one dominating current affairs. The possibility of millions of people awakening from the madness of the conditioned mind is vibrating right now in the collective consciousness. This is the Great Awakening.
As we enter the new millennium, the need for a major transformation in human consciousness has become essential. The collective insanity of the human mind has always created suffering for ourselves, fellow humans, other life forms. Today this madness combined with modern technology adds a new level of suffering: the very conditions that allowed life on Earth to come into being and flourish are being seriously threatened. The destruction of the rain forests and other natural habitats, global warming, air, water and topsoil pollution are all accelerating under the onslaught of the human. The threats of nuclear and chemical weapons, of terrorism, of viral pandemics strike fear in the collective heart/mind of humanity. The possibility of awakening from this dysfunctional mind state has been the foundation teaching of the great spiritual teachers and traditions in human history. In the individual, this transformation has been classically called enlightenment, awakening, liberation, salvation, or the end of suffering. It involves the shift in perspective from a dualistic self-sense, an I - me - mine 'mind state' that feels separate and isolated from and threatened by the world to the realization of self, of "I", as non-dual wholeness, as limitless being and consciousness (Sat Cit Ananda). The "I" is known to be luminous, vast, infinitely open spaciousness, unmoving and unchanging , and yet the source of all of creation, of all names and forms. Amazingly enough, this shift in perspective emerges or evolves as the result of practicing some very basic life skills, but some fundamental understanding points must be established first. The dualistic mind constructs a self by identifying with and attaching itself to transient, constantly shifting forms. I am my body, my desires, my possessions, my neediness, my ailments, my religion, my beliefs etc. A non-dualistic mind realizes self as ever present spaciousness, wholeness and aliveness.This realization can be called Primordial Awareness, Naked Awareness, Presence, Being, Buddha Nature, or even God, but these words are only pointers to that which cannot be contained by words, conceptualizations or beliefs. The transformation of self-sense from multiple conflicted small selves entangled in time and space to a single self-sense of wholeness, happiness and limitlessness (ananda) is an evolutionary movement that requires a conscious effort. The 21st century is is offering its own brilliant insights into this transformative process. Cutting edge studies combining psychotherapy, neuroscience and biology are unfolding new understandings on the development of the human nervous system from infancy through adulthood, and how various types of dualistic mind states emerge in the socialization process of infants and children. As adults we can revisit these conditioned mind states, transform the energies sustaining them, and integrate these energetic forms into a deepening sense of wholeness. Our studies here will include: attachment theory and the socialization process, affect regulation and emotional health, the role of sensory integration in building a coherent sense of self and the world, and how executive functioning skills can be utilized in the management of impulses and emotions. These are revolutionizing the study of consciousness and our understanding of the emergent dimensions of spiritual practice as the awakening ripples through society. On a macro-phase level, the cosmological insights of Brian Swimme bring the powers of the universe alive within the human, putting us in touch with the primeval forces that gave birth to and sustain the universe as a whole as they unfold moment by moment. This home study course is about how this awakening arises in us, as individuals, the teachers and teachings of this awakening, how the practice and teaching of yoga can be a vital component to this awakening. We will also see, using the guiding wisdom of some contemporary visionaries including Emilie Conrad, Thomas Berry, Eckhart Tolle, Ken Wilber, and Yasuhiko Genku Kimura, how we as individuals may participate in the collective awakening and transformation that is unfolding and rippling through the levels and strata of the various human societies and communities on the planet. As the Viet Namese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hahn has described, the Buddha of the modern era is the Sanga, the community, as the awakening avatar. Collectively, this communal awakening involves a total transformation of the human's relationship to the Earth community. On the Cosmic level, the awakening is the Universe becoming more deeply aware of itself through the evolutionary unfolding of unforeseen possibilities in the human nervous system and consciousness. We will pursue this further in our section on geologian and visionary thinker Thomas Berry, and Cosmologist and poetic visionary Brian Swimme. In his book "The Great Work" Thomas presents the possibility of transformation on a multiplicity of levels including revolutionary changes in our educational, judicial, economic, political and agricultural systems. Brian, in a series of lectures available on dvd, brings the powers of the universe to life in an extraordinary way in his discussions of the evolutionary dynamics. Another visionary, Dr. Don Beck, building upon the work of Clare Graves and his Spiral Dynamics, maps out how societies, communities, and thinking itself evolve through time by adapting previously learned wisdom to the changing life conditions of the current era. "Its not that we need to form new organizations. It's simply that we have to awaken to a new way of thinking. I believe it makes no sense to spend a lot of time attacking the current realities. It is time to create new models that have in them the complexity that makes the older systems obsolete. And to the extent that we can do that, and do that quickly, I think we can provide what will be necessary for a major breakthrough for the future." Dr. Don Beck But fundamental to all of these will be a shift in human consciousness. We might call it a total overhaul of the operating system of the human, the psycho-neurophysiological systems, to awaken in the human new capacities to be present to what is truly real and meaningful and to be able to respond with clarity and compassion to the many challenges that face the Earth Community today and in the years to come. This home study course is for those who are ready to commit to a radical change in their own consciousness and help bring this awakening into the world through diligence, discipline and practice. The Twelve Facets of Yoga: Themes for Practice and Exploration There will be 12 practice themes organized into 4 sets of three related topics. These include: 1st Trinity: Universal Practices 2. Mindfulness: perception, attention, developing an expanded awareness
2nd Trinity: Getting to the Heart of Practice 4. Alignment: Relationships and coordination in the body, open and closed circuits 3rd Trinity: Refining the Practice 7. lower limbs: explorations of feet, ankles, knees and hips 9: spinal column: exploring extension, flexion, and rotation 4th Trinity: Integration 10. outer body, kinesiology, gymnastics,athletes 11. integration: inner body 4 Aspects of Yoga Each of these practice trinities will both be directly related to the practice of yoga poses and have also have a larger theme, roughly based on the 4 modules of an integral life practice as articulated by Ken Wilbur and the Integral Institute team. These are Non-Dual Yoga, Yoga of the Emotions, Yoga of Embodiment, and the Yoga of Mind. Non-Dual Yoga / Universal Themes The Universality of Spiriual practices is expressed in what we are calling the Non-Dual view, or in the case of yoga, Non-Dual Yoga.This is the foundation view of the awakened mind, where the two apparent realities, formless and the world of forms are recognized as related aspects of wholeness and this wholeness is known as the fundamental truth of oneself. His Holiness, the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa lineage holder of both the Kargyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism, beautifully and succcinctly describes this view as luminous emptiness: luminous (the vibrancy of all forms) and empty (the formless). Vedantins use the trinity Sat Cit Ananda, limitless existence and consciousness, to point to this view. Humans have always had a difficult time reconciling these paradoxical and seemingly irreconcilable dimensions of experience. In modern times, the scientific community has taken the world of forms for its terrain and religious communities are claiming to hold the truth about the formless. Unfortunately confused science denies the existence of the formless and confused religious theology tries to define the formless in terms of beliefs and dogma, both aspect of the world of forms. Doesn't work ! We need to find ways to transcend the current confusion and emerge with a broader, deeper understanding of the human condition. Fortunately we have Non-Dual wisdom traditions that have penetrated this mystery and these will be our guides. Advaita Vedanta presents the non-dual yoga as a teaching art, skillfully using language in metaphors, stories and life examples. The Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita are among the finest examples of non-dual teaching. Another approach involves what are called direct path practices which, as a basic premise, cut right to the heart of the non-dual view. The well established practices of Dzogchen (from Tibetan Buddhism) and Zen (from Japanese Buddhism) are the finest examples in the classical tradition. Recently, powerful modern approaches have been developed which combine ancient spiritual teachings with contemporary psychotherapeutic models. The two that I am most familiar with include Big Heart/Big Mind, a process developed by Gempo Roshi combining Zen with Hal and Sidra Stones's Voice Dialogue; and The Diamond Approach, A. H. Holmaas' teaching on the relationship between the absolute, unmanifest and the forms and structures of the manifest, especially as they emerge as dimensions of human consciousness A third approach is call satsang, or literally being in Truth. Here a gathering of people sit with an awakened teacher and through dharma talks and discussion are put in touch with the non-dual view. Krishnamurhti, Ramana Maharshi and Nirsagdatta Maharaj are three giants of the 20th century in this realm. Eckhart Tolle is emerging as one of the most articulate of a new wave of awakened teachers of the 21st century and many other satsang teachers, often within the lineage of Ramana Maharshi, are traveling the country and the world building communities to help the great awakening along. Yoga of Embodiment All human endeavors involve expression through the human form. The core of this course will use breath, yoga postures, sequences, and movement explorations to uncover and awaken the inherent intelligence of the living body, to develop a practice to maintain optimum health throughout our entire lifespan, and to discover how to use our own bio-energetic forms as a doorway into the infinite Primordial Awareness. To expand our understanding of yoga postures and the larger view of an awakened body, we will also look at various movement and bodywork disciplines and their perspectives on embodied intelligence, as well as the latest scientific studies on sensory motor processing and function and its role in brain development and the maturing of the self-sense. Non-dual teacher Francis Lucille offers this comment as a link from embodiment to the formless. "Do not reject the body sensations and emotions that present themselves to you. Let them blossom fully in your awareness without any goal or any interference from the will. Progressively, the potential energy imprisoned in muscular tensions liberates itself, the dynamism of the psychosomatic structure exhausts itself, and the return toward fundamental stability takes place. This purification of body sensation is a great art. It requires patience, determination and courage. It finds its expression at the level of sensation through a gradual expansion of the body into the surrounding space and a simultaneous penetration of the somatic structure by that space. That space is not experienced as a simple absence of objects. When the attention frees itself from perceptions that hold it in thrall, it discovers itself as that self-luminous space which is the true substance of the body. At this moment, the duality between body and space is abolished. The body is expanded to the size of the universe and contains all things tangible and intangible in its heart. Nothing is external to it. We all have this body of joy, this awakened body, this body of universal welcoming. We are all complete, with no missing parts. Only explore your kingdom and take possession of it knowingly. Do not live any longer in that wretched shack of a limited body." (Francis Lucille) We will examine how the yoga postures are manifestations of the fundamental energy of creation, the prana-shakti (chi or ki), study the nature of these energetic forms using physics, neurophysiology, and other perspectives, and discover how the poses can be used to integrate the functioning of the physical, subtle and causal bodies, sustain health, deepen the clarity of our mindfulness, dispel our fundamental ignorance about the truth of ourselves, further the maturing of the human nervous system, and integrate it into the new emerging network of human consciousness. Yoga of Emotions: Healing the Shadow/Nourishing the Heart
The two related practices most helpful to individual awakening to this non-dual view are Mindfulness/Meditation and Somaticized Psychotherapy Meditation begins as a medicine to help heal our heart/mind imbalance. Our dualistic, confused and deluded mind activites often ignores the wisdom of the heart and this section is devoted to reawakening the heart energy and balancing the heart/mind. We will use mindfulness/meditation and some visualization/imagery practices and also explore some modern psychotherapeutic approaches to understanding and working with the nature and functioning of the various structures of the mind that emerge in response to our earliest life experiences. Primary resources will include the Diamond Approach evolved by Hameed Ali, aka A.H. Almaas and Richard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems Therapy. Although in the beginning, meditation, psychotherapy and yoga practices are experienced as dualistic, something (object) that I (subject) have to do, because "I" am not able to recognize my innate wholeness and completeness, this duality resolves into unity in awakening. Initial spiritual awakening does not necessarily imply the end of confusion and dualistic beliefs, which often lie latent in the various realms of the unconsciousness. But with the cultivating of inner discipline through meditation practices and psychotherapeutic guidance, the awakening heart recognizes these thought forms as conditioning, as suffering, as pathological. Various antidotes (practices) can be skillfully utilized to transform the energies of confusion to the energies of awakened action. The antidotes we will be exploring include classical ones from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Buddhism and the Biblical traditions, as well as ones developed as an outgrowth of these modern psychotherapeutic studies. As the awakening deepens, meditation is seen as an ongoing expression of our innate wisdom and compassion, our natural state, and not as a means to an end. The Yoga of Mind The Cognitive section, will study, using science and scientific principles, the nature and evolution of all forms, including: basic systems theory, the emergence of galaxies and stars, the evolution of life on planet earth, the evolution of the nervous system and consciousness, and the evolution of social structures and belief systems. We will use the maps of consciousness and evolutionary and spiritual development that we discover as a guide to help us make sense of the immensity and complexity of our times. We will also study the visionary teachers and teachings of our times to help integrate our lives and life journeys into this Great Work of planetary transformation. Some notes on Awakening Awakening is a shift in perspective from a me centered, dualistic point of view to a realization of oneness, wholeness that transcends all duality, alienation, or feelings of separateness. It is not something that can be given by someone who has it (guru) to someone who does not have it ( the student). In other words, it is not shaktiput, or any other transfer of energy, not that these can not be powerful in their own right. What can happen is the light of the teachings, or teacher, can shine on what is always present within you, thus waking it from an unconscious, dream state, to a fully active waking state. This requires on the part of the student a deep silence, stillness or surrender of the 'me' dominated state into something infinitely vast and mysterious. "The initiation of the awakening process in an act of grace. You cannot make it happen nor can you prepare yourself for it or accumulate credits toward it. There is not a tidy sequence of logical steps that leads towards it, although the mind would love that. You do not have to become worthy first." Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth Awakening can come on gradually and subtly, as a process, or sometimes suddenly and abruptly. The original awakening may last a few moments or sometimes even for days. However, any unconscious conditioning still remaining in the mind field will sooner or later become active as we interact with the world around us, and the stability of the awakened state will be challenged. Thus constant vigilance and mindfulness are a necessary component to remaining awake while these conditioned patterns dissipate their karmic momentum in the flow of the life situations. As the discipline becomes more firmly established, the awakened state becomes more and more self-sustaining. As Patanjali says in sutra I-3 of The Yoga Sutras, "tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam". tada, then (when the unhealthy mind activity has been attenuated) the drashtuh svarupe, the true nature of the self (the awakened state) stabilizes, avasthanam. To use Ken Wilber's "states and stages" model, the awakened 'state' , ie, awareness seeing clearly what is arising in the moment, is available to anyone at any time, young or old, healthy or infirm, a good person, or a not so nice person. However, the insights that arise and the capacity to understand, communicate and stabilize them are subject to the particular 'stage' of growth and development, maturation and evolution the individual happens to inhabit. Large areas of the unconscious may still be lurking in the background, unexamined and un-transformed. As the life situation changes, these unconscious structures may become operative without becoming conscious. It takes tremendous discipline, tapas, to sustain awareness when the conditioning is active. Our work in the Heart/Mind/Shadow will help indentify and explore these deep seated, dysfunctional aspects of our self-sense and discover ways to embrace them with wisdom and compassion. Ignoring or rejecting them only increases their dysfunctionality. As Adhyashanti explains on his "Spontaneous Awakening" cd series, the need or desire to wake up is a spiritual disease, like the flu, that needs to be cured. The disease is probably necessary in the overall scheme of things, but it is a disease none-the-less. With an infection, you take antibiotics to cure the problem. Once the infection has been resolved, the antibiotics are no longer necessary. You do not mistake the antibiotics for health. They are a vehicle to awaken the healthy state of the body. With the spiritual disease, the teachings are the cure. Waking up is the state of health, not the teachings. Buddha described the same phenomena in his image of the teachings being a boat to carry you across the ocean of samsara or confusion about the truth of your self. Once you have crossed to the other side, ie, awakened, the boat/teachings are no longer necessary. Others, of course may still need the teachings, and you may be a vehicle to transmit those teachings, in one form or another, to others.
Hints for navigating this site: Humble apologies for the complexity of this site. It arises spontaneously and the cross referencing links on the sides of the pages have become a bit confusing. I am hoping to organize it more coherently. The left hand links are eventually going to be the four sections of the course. The names are evolving, but the basic contents remains the same. The right hand links are related chapters/sub chapters in the given section. Not all the pages in a given section have links to all other pages in the same section so you may have to look around to find a given page. Good luck and great blessings to all who venture into this.
|
|
||||||
 |
||||||||
| about
us ~ class
schedule ~ our
staff ~ published
articles ~ workshops
& retreats ~ contact
us |
||||||||
