Perceiving things and situations differently

[Guest guest]

I made my first journey to Indonesia in 1988.....It was a very interesting

experience for me....I was exposed to things that I had not been exposed to

before...At the time, it all seemed so new to me....strange, fascinating,

unusual.......Islam, simplicity, cold water baths, wooden hotels and buildings,

washing clothes in streams and rivers........bathing and defecating in the same

streams and rivers........eating rice and vegetables all the time, lamb, no

pork, lots of chicken and fish..........Beautiful women with 8

children................lots of beaches, but no one swimming, and if they went

swimming, wearing their regular clothes, not swim suits...Sarongs, mosques,

people interupting visits and conversations so they could do their prayers in

the house.........Since I was in no hurry and did not have to be anywhere except

to catch the plane back to Singapore on the last day of my visa, I took it very

slow and easy, following my heart....it was all an experience, the good and the

bad......I spent alot of time on buses and walked whenever possible, knowing

that if I got tired, I could always hop on a bus that came by..............

 

One day I was walking early in the morning and two young women, probably in

their late teens or early 20's approached me, walking down the road to me,

towards me.......Apparently they were coming from their morning bath in a small

stream............They were wearing wrap around sarongs..What struck me was

their subsequent action...One girl took a shirt and covered her shoulders as she

saw that I was approaching..The other opened her sarong so that her

underclothing was visible to me, and then wrapped her sarong around

herself...What struck me about this was their completely different actions,

though they were from the same country, the same area, probably

friends........They perceived me and my approach to them in different ways and

acted on their perceptions of me.........

 

This is how we live our day to day actions, based on our perceptions..many

times, many individuals are not aware of their perceptions, do not question them

or think about what motivated them.......

 

Through the practice of Yoga we become more aware of ourselves, what we are

thinking and doing...We start to questions it's skillfulness.......This is not a

journey of doubt/self-doubt.....it is a journey of awakening to ourselves and

others..................This journey, like all, will have hard times, there may

be pain, there may be pleasure and excitement.................Some individuals

do not or can not make it.....It is too difficult for them to look at themselves

and the world in a different light.......... because we have to face the fact

that we have been or are wrong in some of our assumptions and perceptions of

ourselves and others...............

 

When we encounter these feelings, these realizations, it is useful to have

someone to share with, who perhaps has been down the road before, in life and in

Yoga....Or just sit down and write, and post our feelings or just keep them for

ourselves.....................I do not remember anyone really ever sitting down

and telling me about life and how it is, how it can be, how it should

be....Buddhist and Yoga scripture frequently refer to the mind as being our

friend or our enemy..............and nothing else as being really relevent...Of

course, we all want someone to love and accept us, to understand us, but so many

other individuals are dealing with the same issues that we are, maybe it is

unwise to expect that from others.......I, myself, remember signs of love and

encouragement, kindness and understanding in the strangest places, for the

quickest moment.............For many, it can just be a smile and a nod.....In

Yoga, we develop an inner smile, that we can think of as being joyful

awareness............awareness of pure energy, of other's experiences, of

everyone's humaness...................we can make an inner and outer connection

that brings us strength and wisdom and insight..................each day!!!!!!!

 

 

Yours in Yoga,

 

John

 

 

 

 

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