I was musing about my recent blog about impermanence and was thinking about how the concept of impermanence can seem so lofty and yet so simple, probably depending on our mood!  We can wax pessimistic and really struggle with letting things go and meeting the present moment as it is.  Or we can wane optimistic and see through a lens of refined awareness, with a sense of mindfulness, and a calm clarity even in the darkness.  This brings to mind a beautiful verse from John; The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:5 Of course this verse is referencing Jesus, but couldn’t this also be a pointer towards impermanence, perhaps seen outwardly as our faith, our faith in things unseen, our faith in our own personal transformation and the patience and trust that is required to actively seek and embody these qualities of lightness

Yoga and all faith traditions help us move (faith in action) towards a felt sense of wholeness.  We can attest that this feeling of wholeness is fleeting or impermanent, this is why we call yoga, practice.  We must find practices to move us into this peaceful place.  I am enjoying this play on words and the fact that movement is required to bring wholeness.  Like the renewal that a flowing stream of water brings to a dried-up creek bed, nourishing the land and restoring what was once lacking.    The Yoga Sutras hint at this in chapter 1 verse 20: Wholeness is proceeded by faith, energy, mindfulness, union and awareness. 

The author of the Yoga Sutras was so wise, truly speaking of universal truths and offering a literal road map for us to follow to lead us towards liberation.  Concrete instructions are given as he speaks of mans ‘issues’ with suffering and pain, attachment and aversion.  To truly break down the Yoga Sutras is beyond the scope of this blog.  However, bringing in nuggets or pearls of wisdom from different traditions is like the light in the darkness for our weary modern souls.  I truly hope these pearls of wisdom are like seeds lightly landing in your mind and heart, guiding you like the ancients of so many traditions and true mystics that see beyond the limitation of their current culture or personal problems and shine a light on our paths, even now. 

Wholeness is proceeded by faith.   Just say that out loud or in your mind and heart.  What does this mean to you?  Just those four words speak volumes to me and affirm my yoga and faith journey.  In order to feel whole we need to have faith in our practices that we invest in to transform our weary souls.  Whether it is our yoga practice or taking time to be in God’s presence we must have faith that our efforts are sustaining us.  Often this means we will not see immediate ‘benefits’ and must have patience that our practices will be fruitful.  Patience as faith in action is expressed in this verse from Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.   I believe what Paul, the reported author of the chapter of Romans in the Bible, is alluding to is that we will never see God but by faith we know by his omnipresent and omniscience that he is working for us and through us in his time and not in our time.

Lao Tzu a Chinese philosopher who founded the system of Taoism in the 6^th century BCE says this about patience.  Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?   Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?  Such a beautiful expression of patience!  Simply allowing one moment (or several) to pass so the next action or the way can be seen with more clarity.  Faith in action…perhaps action doesn’t always imply speed but conscious energy and mindfulness as the next few words from the Yoga Sutras suggest.  Another parallel saying is from Rumi – As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.  Implying that the energy or movement on our path towards wholeness in enhanced by awareness and also by seeing things with a wider lens, sensing the connection and common thread or God in all things, union.   I add one more beautiful quote to reinforce the teaching, which of course is not mine at all!   From the Buddha –At the end of the way is freedom.  Until then, patience.   

To wait on things unseen and to have faith in our practices certainly takes patience but it also requires the sister quality of patience, trust. Trust has been my own personal intention since formulating this intention through inquiry and discernment during my yoga therapy teacher training.  Initially I had arose at an intention of self-reliance.  After several months of the training, I realized this was too confining for me too self-contained and born more from my feelings of unworthiness and self-perceived lack of love from my husband. My intention one day in nature (of course, all things of God and abundance arise while I am in nature) morphed into trust.    Not like a rose-tinted glasses version or naïve put a band aid on it kind of trust, but a deep-seated trust that was not from me at all but from God and my own divinity, a feeling of being held by a loving God that is caring for me, guiding me even in the darkness. There are so many inspiring verses from the Bible to help us feel this sense of trust in something greater, here is just one from Jerimiah 17: 7-8 But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

Nature is indeed a great teacher and guide for us.  When we have difficulty with making peace with the changing nature of all things (impermanence) we need only to look to the natural world.  Cultivating these higher vibrational qualities of patience and trust helps us to deepen our faith in something greater and to deepen our faith in own innate abilities. We enhance our ability to pause and to breath, to harness energy and attention which can bring us into a place of union and a more spacious and loving awareness that whispers of wholeness, even holiness.   Rumi whispers again from the past to Be patient where you sit in the dark, the dawn is coming.  Every dark night of the soul is greeted by new mercies in the morning.   The Psalmist also speaks of this Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.  Psalm 143:8.  

One more time feel in your bones the wisdom from the Yoga Sutras; Wholeness is proceeded by faith, energy, mindfulness, union and awareness.  What this says to me is that we truly are cocreators of our lives.  We all have the ability to achieve this feeling of wholeness and holiness.  Perhaps consider weaving in just one of these words as an action statement like a mantra to remind and anchor you.   As always with patience with yourself and trust in your own worthiness to feel whole and trust in something greater holding it all together in ways that are somehow timeless and vast, like the wise ones before us, and from within.   As K. Patthabi Jois says Do your practice, and all is coming. 

This yoga practice aligns with the blog. It took me a while to complete, I was patient and still enjoyed the process and many trips to the woods to make it happen!