The ashram was having a problem with mice, so the guru brought home a good cat. The cat did a fine job on the mice but she became attached to the guru and would follow him everywhere, even when he was performing his morning meditations. In order to keep the cat from disrupting his meditations, the guru took to tying the cat to a post.
The guru eventually died, and his students decided to continue with his “tradition” of tying the cat. The cat, too, later died, and a new cat was obtained so that she could now be tied to the post. The post rotted, so a new post was constructed in order that the cat could continue to be tied. Over successive generations different sects formed based on the type of cat to be tied, the type of rope to be used when tying, and the color paint used on the post.
As you can imagine, today these sects are convinced they are following the founder’s true teachings, while the other sects are ignorant blasphemers. Meanwhile, because the cats are always being tied, the mice enjoy the run of the ashrams.
From a practical point of view, yoga, which means “union,” may be understood as a verb. Yoga is a series of practices whereby one purifies his body, emotions and thoughts in order to realize, or have union with, his true nature, the Self. While the yoga practices we are familiar with originated with the great sages of India several millennium age, yoga is no more Eastern because it came from India than the Law of Relativity is Jewish because it was formulated by Albert Einstein.
Imagine you are learning to be an airplane mechanic. If the airline sends you to South America for training, your boss might tell you to report to work in a t-shirt and to bring along a thermos of cold lemonade. He might also tell you to be sure to check the cooling units on the plane because they have a tendency to overheat. If you were learning the same trade in Siberia, you might be told to wear long johns to work and bring along some hot coffee. Your boss might warn you to be alert to the heating mechanisms in the plane because the engine can get too cold to operate properly.
The principals and operation of getting the plane in the air safely have nothing to do with culture or personality. The differences in approach are rational, having to deal with practical considerations. The science of aerodynamics has nothing to do with whether the plane was built in South America or Russia.
Spirituality is as precise as mathematics. Our opinions, likes and dislikes, do not alter its laws. A great Zen teacher said that spiritual discipline is the thing that people most avoid, but, it is the ultimate refuge of everyone when they get tired of suffering. When we see that all our self-created plans, ideas, and concepts fail to bring us peace, then we turn to those teachings which are greater than ourselves.
In the majority of yoga centers I have visited, the spiritual context of asana and pranayama practice is deliberately hidden because it is not considered palatable to the average consumer. I do not argue that everyone who walks through the doors of a yoga center must a prioi demonstrate a degree of spiritual commitment and devotion, but I do think the yoga community must keep the bar raised high enough that the depths of yoga are honored. If what we have to offer is not appealing to everyone, so be it.
Yoga centers do not need to be like shopping centers, where the customer is always right. The western Buddhist movement, for example, has done a better job than we have in showing it is possible for a tradition to remain true to its spiritual heritage while adapting itself to the needs of Western students.
The problem with the de-spiritualization of yoga is that we inadvertently shortchange our students. Yoga in contemporary America is too often advertised as a fast-track to health, ease, and comfort. This presentation is not consistent with the millennia old yoga tradition and its emphasis on selflessness, discipline, and ego transcendence. The beginning student is often thrilled to find that yoga does, indeed, live up to its billing as a stress-reliever. As the student continues to practice, however, he will find that yoga becomes a stress-inducer, revealing just how chaotic and disappointing is his life. This is the natural, intended progression as devised by the great sages.
As a true spiritual discipline, yoga strips away the veneer of pompous self-satisfaction we lay down to prevent ourselves from experiencing the depths of despair and longing hiding in our hearts. It is only by first becoming aware of the inner turmoil, though, that we gain an opportunity to fully relinquish the root causes of our suffering. If we do not prepare our students for this inner work, they will eventually leave yoga practice because they will believe it cannot help them with the profound questions of life.
After the initial flush of physical health and vitality, the student will find that even touching his toes and standing on his head does not bring him the happiness and peace he seeks. If he is a sincere student he will look for deeper answers. If we are sincere teachers we can help him find those answers.
If Western yoga is to succeed, we want to ensure that we deal with the deeper problems of suffering. Imitating our Indian brothers and sisters won’t produce results, but neither will superficial answers to profound problems. If we ignore the reality that we have three blind mice — loneliness, fear, confusion — running around our minds, we will never seek that cat of yoga that can relieve our difficulties. Let us commit to authentic yoga practice, heal ourselves, and become capable of truly solving life’s problems.
