Consent

 

Atha Yoganushanam

(Sutra 1.1: Now we begin the practice of yoga.)

 

 

The spiritual path never imposes itself upon us.  It is not urgent or even necessary for life.  It is always an invitation, a calling from a quiet place into the unknown.  Our hearts feel this urging, not our minds.  We must take the first step onto this path from our own free will.  As seekers on this path, we consent to learn something of life beyond our small self, to find the deeper meaning and purpose to our lives.  We enter this path also out of desperation, sorrow, longing for love, and belonging, for all that we face that we cannot understand or control.  We surrender something of our own understanding of things, on this path, open to what is beyond our comprehension, for the possibility of living with more ease, peace, and capacity for love.  But we need to begin, take that first step in letting go.

 

Our creator did not make us to be blind or consistent followers of faith. Doubt is interwoven into the fabric of our being and consciousness, into the process of faith itself.  Without doubt, there could be no real experience of faith which is something that has to be sought through practice and effort, in despair and in hope.  Beginning a practice and beginning again as we fluctuate between doubt and faith is the practice.

 

In some traditions, this process of stepping onto the path is described as a “consent” to listening to the divine presence in our lives which some call God. I experience it as an “allowing” myself to listen for the deeper callings of my life beyond the push and pull of the surface levels consciousness.  I am listening for what life is asking of me now to heal, resolve, contribute, beyond the happiness, power, security that my smaller egoic self is always clambering for.  This struggle is holy helping us to stretch the boundaries of who we are and what we are capable of. With a daily practice, I am better able to tune into this more integrated way of being which at its root is a call to connection, love, compassion, and tenderness.