A couple months ago I was catching up with a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. I don't even know how we got on to the topic, but we ended up talking about god. She said she didn't know if she believed in god, but she did "believe people". This has stuck with me so much. I can't stop thinking about it actually... when you pair that with the yoga philosophy group I am in where we are unpacking the yoga sutras it brings me to this whole post.
One of my favourite things about yoga is it doesn't require you to follow a specific religion or a prescribed religion at all, and yet can be considered a religion in its own way. In my previous post I talked about purusha; the indwelling god in each of us, that light we acknowledge in each other when we say "namaste". It is this that connects us to something bigger and also what connects us to each other. It is through the recognition of this purusha that we see each other as souls on our own journey to understand each ourselves and each other. This understanding creates compassion for the other souls we meet and frees us from the responsibility of their happiness. We can delight in each others growth, feel empathy for those who are struggling by recognizing each of us as a soul on our own journey. Your neighbour, your son, your parents, the homeless guy you pass on the street, people you disagree with politically, strangers who treat you poorly, friends who take care of you... we are all walking our own path with our own struggles and lessons and you can not do it for anyone else, and no one else is responsible for your happiness and growth.
For some this knowledge and understanding might be freeing. To not carry the burden of someone else's choices. For some it may feel heavy to realize that you can no blame someone else for something you are dissatisfied within your own life.
Each of us has our own relationship with god, spiritually or whatever it is you call it. Not my place or job to tell you what or who to believe in. But I think that we can think of moments in our lives where we have felt that connection to something bigger. Sunrises and sunsets, when everything feels like it is just falling into place, meeting someone when it just felt like coming home, moments of gratitude and awe. My husband and were talking about god sometime after I got home from the hospital. If you know me well, I am a fairly "right brained" person. I like math and science because there are clear right and wrong answers. I believe in the scientific method whole heartedly, I am a fact kinda gal. My husband said that he has a hard time with religion, for all his own reasons I won't get into. I said "the logical part of me that loves science and math is fairly confident that there isn't a god and is comfortable with that, but there is this part of me can't help hold on to the idea of something bigger than that, it feels right." That part? I have a word for it now. Purusa. There are too many things that I feel have a bigger meaning. And maybe it is brain looking for connections between things as our brains do to understand the world... but clearly this is a thing that as humans we look for answers to.
Yoga has given me a framework to understand this feeling, and tools to work through my own stuff. Understanding the dance between the stories I tell myself in my head (ego- how you understand and interact with world) and being able to distance myself from those and know that many are just stories helps me understand myself and more importantly understand and have compassion for others. For me little moments of gratitude and wonder as I go through my day are that connection to purusa. When I lose sight of that, then I end up feeling frustrated with others, unhappy, feeling bad about myself, or just kinda shitty. I have talked about my guideposts of compassion and joy a lot. But I forget, and as soon as I am reminded I can fall back to my home base. Things feel easier, better. I see the child walking with their mother and getting so excited about a puddle. I notice the chickadees in my tree. I recognize the little things my husband does to show me he loves me. I can respond to family in friends in the way I want to.
Yoga means connection, union. What connections are you making today?
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