Bhakti sutra #79: “Bhagavan alone is to be worshipped without worry, all
the time, with all the heart."
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First
question – who or what is Bhagavan? The
word Bhaga means share, or portion.
It also means benevolence or graciousness. So Bhagavan is the one who possesses “bhaga”: as Bill Mahony says, "The
one who shares divine care, affection and love for the human
soul." So basically it is another name for Love, God, the or
Consciousness that portions itself out with benevolent grace to pervade the
entire universe.
What
struck me about this sutra was that it doesn't say "Bhagavan alone is
to be worshipped all the time, with all the heart." It makes the distinction
of "without worry". To someone who struggles with anxiety
(otherwise known as "worry"), this is a striking distinction. I
am a worrier. It is, unfortunately, how I react in many situations – I’m
usually not aware in the moment that I am “imagining the worst”. It is
only later when I’ve had time to step back and bring my rational mind to
whatever happened that I realize I've been anxious about something. When
I take the time to reflect on how I'm
feeling and engage my mind and my heart in the in that reflection, what
I know is a deep faith in the workings of the Universe. I remember that there is a
greater plan to which I am not totally privy to or in charge of and that my
life has proven to me that that plan is intelligent, benevolent and gracious,
and not just about me. My life has proven to me that everything will be
okay in the end, that things will work out the way they were meant to (even if
not necessarily how I want them to be), and that if things are not okay, it
just means it's not the end yet.
So
what am I worrying about?
I
think often worry is equated with love. If someone is worrying about
you it must mean they care about you, right? And if you're not worrying,
you must not care about something or
someone enough. This couldn't be farther
from the truth. When we fall into a paradigm of worry it takes away
from our own enjoyment of life, and the enjoyment of life of those we are
worrying about, by bringing more stress into what is probably already a
stressful situation. One of our wonderful Shree teachers, Valerie,
says it this way: “Worrying is like praying for something you don’t want to
happen.” Because wherever we direct our energy towards is what expands in
our lives. It clouds our vision from seeing what might be possible in
terms of where we WANT to go, and instead directs our energy and carves a path
towards where we DON”T want to go.
On
paper this makes perfect sense. In practice, of course, not as easy to
implement. How can we not worry when we or our loved ones are sick, or out
of work, or facing other hardship or challenge? Like all things in a
yogic life, we need to find balance. We need to learn how to engage
concern which spurs us to action, rather than leading us into anxiety which can
be paralyzing. The action it should inspire should keep us moving in the
direction we wish to go, towards whatever will help alleviate the situation we
find ourselves in. Which might mean a goal or treatment that will move us
out of a challenging situation, or moving into acceptance of a situation that
is not going to change and we will have to live with.
Yoga
practice helps to connect us to all the aspects of our being - those we can see
and those we can't, which inspires faith. Faith helps us to feel certain
of realities we can't see, and in doing so dissolves worry. Every time
we focus on the breath we invoke faith by connecting our awareness to the force
that breathes us. Faith allows us to soften, to accept that we are not
ultimately in control, and in that knowing, let go of anxious or worrisome
thoughts and feelings. When we can let go of those thoughts we live with more
ease and joy, and we inspire the same in those we love.
Bill
Mahony says: “Faith in divine Love is based in the experience of human love in
all of its delightful, poignant, touching, transforming ways, even in a world
that does not always seem to express such love. When there is faith,
there is the possibility of movement forward in life within its
uncertainties. The world will always present us with complexities,
contradictions and vicissitudes. Yet, when there is love for God, that
love will remain steady and trusting and, in this sense, without worry.”
Off
the Mat:
Become
aware of anxious or worrisome thoughts. When they come up, see if you can
direct your thoughts to what you want the outcome of a situation to be rather
than what you are nervous that it might become.
Sometimes this is just a feeling of acceptance when we know it is
something we don’t have control over.
Either way this moves us from the paradigm of worry to an environment of
moving forward.
On
the Mat:
In
asana practice in my classes we worked on opening up the back body, which is
our connection to the unknown and to our faith.
We practiced going upside down with the awareness of engaging our abdominals
to broaden and stay full in the back waistline (which often collapses in poses
like pinca mayurasana or forearm
balance, and handstand) and to keep us connected to faith as we turn our world
upside down.
Open
to Grace:
Breathe
in and fill with faith in the benevolence, gracious goodness that is Bhagavan.
Muscular
energy:
Draw
arms and legs to the midline, to the place in the middle where we can feel love
and compassion without it turning into worry.
Firm
your muscles and affirm your faith in
the ultimate benevolence of the universe/Bhagavan
Kidney
Loop:
Draw
the front ribs together and move the floating ribs back to engage abdominals
and trust.
Broaden
your back body and your trust in the universal that things will work out the
way they are meant to.
Organic
Energy:
Shine
with the radiance of knowing your connection to love and grace.
Let
your pose glow with your connection to Bhagavan
