Quiet Does Not Mean Blank
A yoga student recently presented this well phrased question. "So often in class the comment is made to let go of our thoughts, to watch them drift away, to keep coming back to our focus. There seems to be an assumption, or else I missed the lesson, that we don't want the thoughts, that there is something wrong with them. From my first yoga class I have found myself defensive on the subject. I like my thoughts; they are so much my sense of who I am that I don't want to let them go. They might not come back. I get that I'm very cerebral. People have often told me I think too much, and I leave a good yoga class feeling refreshed at having been focused on something else. I have a sense that there is a limitation to thinking too much, that the technique of stopping thoughts has great value, in fact, ironically, I understand that intellectually, but I'm wary of it. I don't quite trust it. What is that part of yoga, and meditation all about?"
Looking through a telescope we see a a vast portion of the universe, but one small finger or fragment of dirt can block the entire view. The masters of yoga remind us over and over again, that we are already ONE with all that is. That we are not practicing to BECOME that, but to remove the obstacles that obstruct our realization of THAT. In the wording of the question, lies the answer. "I have a sense that there is a limitation to thinking too much". In that statement, the innate wisdom is already coming through. Thoughts can be the obstruction or limitation that obscures the vision of the universal truth. Like the dirt on the telescope, thoughts can limit access to something vast and awe inspiring. But, what thoughts and is "stopping thoughts" what we are really after?
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras Book III Sutra 9 says: Study of the silent moments between rising and restraining subliminal impressions is the transformation of consciousness toward nirodha. (Light on Yoga Sutras by BKS. Iyengar) The term Nirodha does not so much imply "stopping thoughts" as reigning them in, literally stopping the chitta vrtti or whirling mind, pulling IT down and smoothing it out. More like soothing the chaotic mind rather than stopping it. (see blog post Feb 2011)
Subliminal impressions are often thoughts that we have previously denied, ignored, or shoved aside due to their disturbing nature. Or, they may be thoughts we hold on to because we think they define us, and, as the student astutely points out, " I don't want to let them go, they may not come back". If we examine both of these motives for restraining the impressions (pushing them back into the chitta) we see that they are fear based.
To study the silent moments BETWEEN the time fear based thoughts (subliminal impressions) arise and we unconsciously push them back (restrain them) requires an aware and open observation that can "face and embrace" the limiting thoughts of "lack and attack". Just as tender and caring embrace can calm the most distraught person, embracing the agitating thoughts does not so much STOP them as dissolves them into a more expansive awareness. This is not at all a blank mind but rather a clear one. Not one emotionally charged but clearly directed. It is the place where we do not so much hear the VOICE OF GOD or the songs of angels, but the still, small, practical voice that is completely present for us moment to moment.
A yoga student relayed this story of an incidence where this distinction between the two voices gave him the ability to react correctly to a tense situation. While trekking in Nepal, he and his wife settled into a high altitude camp to sleep. The temperatures drop significantly requiring that the trekkers sleep in snug mummy bags. Between the snug hood and the lower oxygen levels, D's subconscious mind conjured up a nightmare that he was being choked by someone. As he started to panic and tear at his bag, a very clear and sharp voice commanded to "not tear your bag, move slowly and release it to breathe easily” and then, as though observing both aspects of mind, he proceeded to very calmly take control of his hands, reach up, loosen the ties at his throat and free himself of the entanglement of the mummy bag so he could breathe more easily.
The questioning student is correct to not trust the idea of letting go of all thought, of having a blank mind. With practice of observing the pause, of listening deeper than the chitta vrtti, we can develop trust in the sure true guiding voice that is there for us in every moment.
NAMASTE,
Lynne
(If you have a request for a topic or a question regarding yoga please submit to my email lynneminton@gmail.com with BLOG POST in subject line and I will address them in future blogs)
