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Elementary Yoga
Are you the best Third Grader?
By Scott Page


Imagine that you are walking into your first day of Elementary school. At the door you are met by a very friendly teacher. She leads you to the third grade classroom. You begin to learn and practice basic third grade problems. As you progress, you work on intermediate third grade problems, and eventually you are trying advanced third grade problems. In the back of your mind, you wonder how you skipped over the first two grades. You watch other students come and go. No one ever tells you that there are any grades above the third. When you ask the teacher if there are grades higher than the third, you find out that the school has eight grades. Your helpful teacher tells you that she has been incorporating some fourth and fifth grade curriculum into your third grade work. She never tells you when you are ready to move beyond the third grade. You may intuitively feel that you are ready to graduate to the next grades, but you have become very comfortable in the third grade. You can do all the basic and intermediate problems, and even some of the more advanced ones. New third grade students are always impressed by your abilities. You decide that you are happy in the third grade and are going to stay there. Other students have moved through the third grade on there way to eighth, but you are content to work at being the best third grader.

This is much like many of our yoga practices. We walk into a yoga class and are greeted by a friendly teacher who teaches us asana, the third limb of the eight limbs of yoga (ashtanga yoga). Many students dedicatedly practice asana regularly. This is admirable, and the most effective means of endowing the body with the strength, flexibility, and balance needed to prepare it for the higher limbs of yoga. (concentration and meditation) The problem arises when either by their own ignorance, ego, or the lack of proper instruction, the student is oblivious to anything other than the physical component of the yoga practice. If it is, in fact, ego, then you are just striving to be the best third grader.

(an excerpt from Scotts seminar on Balance)


Mantras
From Learn to Meditate by David Fontana PhD

"Easten traditions teach that all things are composed of vibrating energies. These vibrations are akin to sounds, and the universe itself is thought to have been created by the primal sound Om. (In the Christian tradition St. John's Gospel also tells us that in the beginning was the Word.) By using certain sounds, the person chanting is thought to be able to influence the vibrations in his or her own body, and thereby his or her physical health and spiritual development. Chanting, therefore occupies an important role in the rituals and meditations of all the great traditions. Examples include plainsong (unaccompanied music sung in unison by Christian monks with the aim of producing powerful changes of consciousness) and the soaring beauty of of the oratorios and requiems in sacred music, which aim to lift the soul towards God. The chanting of Buddhist monks, and the low groan of Tibetan horns, provide further examples, as does the Islamic call to prayer, and the intonements of the Jewish religion. Some languages are thought to be richer in vibrations and harmonies of sacred sound than others. This is particularly true of Sanskrit, which in the East is said to be the primal language, and also of Arabic and Hebrew. It is claimed that to translate these languages is to lose much of their power, because although words can be translated, their vibrational forces cannot. Vibrational forces are believed to be particularly strong in the sequences of sounds that form mantras - these can be a powerful aid to concentration, whether repeated silently or chanted to gain the full benefit of their sound vibrations. Mantras usually consist of sacred words or texts, but they may simply be strings of syllables with no strict meaning. The meditator may repeat the mantra on each exhalation (the Buddhist monks sometimes chant on the inhalation as well) or use it independently of the breath. It can be used throughout meditation or returned to each time the mind is found wandering. A devotee reciting the sacred syllables is said to "absorb" the power incorporated in the sound of the words, by reciting the "root" mantra Om, he or she partakes of the power of creation...."


"Empty Your Cup"

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.

Zen Story


One Day

people will touch and talk
perhaps easily, and loving
will be as natural
as breathing and as warm
as sunlight,
and people will untie themselves
as a string is unknotted
unfold and yawn and stretch
and spread their fingers,
unfurl, uncurl
like seaweed returned to the sea;
and work will be simple and swift
as a seagull flying,
and play will be casual and quiet
as a seagull settling
and the clocks will stop,
and no one will wonder or care
or notice
and people will smile
without reason,
even in the winter,
even in the rain.


BE THANKFUL

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.
It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.
~~ Author Unknown ~~


The Stone Cutter

There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day he passed a wealthy merchant's house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"

Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. "How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering rock. "How powerful that rock is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a rock!"

Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the rock?" he thought.

He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.


Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.


Fear

Fear keeps us from living well, because fear is always about the future, never about the present.
When we are afraid, we are focusing on what might happen, and not on what is happening right now.
So the next time you notice fear arising in you, tell yourself to focus on what is happening right now, right here.
This practice will reduce your fear and allow you to live more fully.

Yoga Journal March 2007


Fix

The puzzled ones, the Americans, go through their lives
Buying what they are told to buy,
Pursuing their love affairs with the automobile,

Baseball and football, romance and beauty,
Enthusiastic as trained seals, going into debt, struggling —
True believers in liberty, and also security,

And of course sex — cheating on each other
For the most part only a little, mostly avoiding violence
Except at a vast blue distance, as between bombsight and earth,

Or on the violent screen, which they adore.
Those who are not Americans think Americans are happy
Because they are so filthy rich, but not so.

They are mostly puzzled and at a loss
As if someone pulled the floor out from under them,
They'd like to believe in God, or something, and they do try.

You can see it in their white faces at the supermarket and the gas station
— Not the immigrant faces, they know what they want,
Not the blacks, whose faces are hurt and proud —

The white faces, lipsticked, shaven, we do try
To keep smiling, for when we're smiling, the whole world
Smiles with us, but we feel we've lost

That loving feeling. Clouds ride by above us,
Rivers flow, toilets work, traffic lights work, barring floods, fires
And earthquakes, houses and streets appear stable

So what is it, this moon-shaped blankness?
What the hell is it? America is perplexed.
We would fix it if we knew what was broken.

by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, from No Heaven


Maybe

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.


THE INVITATION
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from god’s presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.