Steeping in the Teachings
The first day Hendry and I arrived back in Florida, we were busy all day and didn’t have a chance to go outside. So after my class, after the sun had set, we decided to venture over to the beach. Hendry optimistically put on his swim trunks, but I didn’t bother putting on my swim suit.
When we arrived, the air was warm and heavy with a gentle breeze. We dipped our toes into the foamy waters at the shores. It was warm. One of the biggest perks of the summer in the tropics is the bathwater-like ocean. Hendry asked me if he should go for a swim because it would mean that he needed to shower before bed.
I told him, jokingly “you can swim anytime. tomorrow or the next day or the next. but at the same time, right now is all you have…nothing else is a guarantee.” I guess that was his cue because he immediately bounded towards the shoreline and dove into the waves.
His immediate action made me consider the teachings on time a bit more as I watched him. The teachings of yoga tell us that the time to act is now. When do we begin? Now.
And yet, at the same time, the teachings remind us that change occurs in small increments over a very long period of time. We have all the time in the world. Time is on our side.
I remember about a year ago, Hendry and I went to see Amma, a women from India considered an Enlightened being and known as the Hugging Saint, when she visited NYC. People line up for hours to receive a hug from her.
There is also an option to wait in another line to receive a mantra from Amma. When you get to the front of the line, they have you meet in a small group with one of her disciples and define your chosen form of the Divine, which Amma uses to determine your mantra. They tell you that once you’ve received your mantra, you should use it for the foreseeable future. Not just for a few days, but for months, years, even decades. It’s the only mantra you need.
When Amma gave her speech before all of this, she told the audience that any spiritual path can deliver you to the end goal. They all work. It doesn’t matter if you practice Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion), Ashtanga Yoga (the 8 limbed path, which includes Asana and we are all currently practicing), or whether you prescribe to Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity etc. Any of them will you work if you stick to them long enough. But if you’re constantly changing your practice, very little progress will be made.
So when do we begin? Now. Are we in a rush? No.
The only time is now. But we have all the time in to the world. Time is on our side.
If we rush, constantly looking towards our end goal, we never get taken by the practices. We’re never able to settle. In our rush, we’ll never make progress.
When we look at the equal rights movements such as Black Lives Matter and LBGTQ, it is clear that the time to act is now. Now is ripe for change. It is the only time. On the other hand, we need to find a way to integrate the essence of these movements in our daily actions in order to keep the momentum. We have to keep going, to keep doing the work, to keep walking the path.
It reminds me of my afternoon tea process. I boil the water. Take it off the burner. Add 2 scoops of the fresh tea leaves, which never looks like enough. Watch the leaves rapidly expand and take up space. Wait for the water to slowly darken in color over the course of a few minutes.
Like that, we steep ourselves in the teachings, we give them time to do their work on us (and take up more space within us). At some point, in what feels like an instant, everything is different.