What Do You Really Know for Sure?

Years ago I was reading an issue of O magazine as I sat in my doctor's office. In this issue -- and, from what I understand, every issue -- Oprah spoke about "what I know for sure." I remember thinking that I didn't know anything for sure and that I'd be hard-pressed to come up with something, much less write one thing each month. My yoga practice has taught me that many of the things I thought I knew aren't exactly true. Rather, I see things as I think they are rather than how they really are. Yoga and meditation have helped me with getting clear, but it's still a clouds often eclipse the sun situation -- sometimes I see the light and sometimes I don't.

Case in point -- something came up for me a few weeks ago. The reality was that I received an email from someone. That's the fact. Of course my mind took that simple fact and created a whole story around it -- the intent behind it, what it meant, what was going to happen next, etc. By the end of that day I had already created a situation that simply didn't exist, yet I behaved as though it did. A few days later I was sitting quietly on my yoga mat after my practice when it hit me -- I realized that I didn't really know anything about the situation except for the fact that I received an email. I was inferring the person's intent but I didn't truly KNOW it. Here's a great example of how when we let our mind run with things we limit our possibilities and we cause ourselves suffering. While I couldn't see it years ago when I was reading that magazine, I now know for sure that life is more joyful and filled with possibility when I live from my heart rather than my head.

Now I am also sure that the present moment -- not what's happened earlier today, yesterday, or last month, or years ago -- is my true point of power. I have gone through the motions on my yoga mat, thinking about things other than my body and my breath on more than one occasion. I am sure that those practices didn't serve me. When I match my breath to my movement and I engage my mind in the process, my total attention is in the moment. My breath anchors me there and I am focused, calm, at peace.

The final thing that I can say I know for sure is that this will also change. I've always heard people say things like "change is inevitable" or "you can only count on change" or "everything changes" and to be honest, I understood it with my mind but I didn't really "get" it. I also felt like those phrases had a negative connotation, as if change were the enemy. Now I know differently. Just as my practice changes from day to day so does my life, my body, my mind, my everything and the world around me.

I heard a story a while back (and recently came across it again) about a meditation student and a Zen master that reminds me of the fluidity of life and the organic process of change. One day the student goes to the teacher and complains that his meditation practice is going horribly -- his mind is distracted and sitting seems like torture. The master wisely replies, "that will change." Some time later the student returns to the teacher in a state of bliss happily rejoicing that his meditation practice is wonderful -- his time in meditation is bliss and he's transported to higher states on a regular basis. The master replies matter-of-factly, "that will change."

As I mature and open myself, I realize that there are a few things that I know for sure. I also realize that sometimes not being sure isn't such a bad thing. I'm learning to question where my reality is really coming from -- my head or my heart. Here's a little story that will inspire you to do the same (thank you Nancy of Less Stress Yoga):

THE LOST SON

A young widower, who loved his five year old son very much, was away on business when bandits came and burned down the whole village.They took his son away. When the man returned, he saw the ruins and panicked. He took the burnt corpse of an infant to be his son and cried uncontrollably. He organized a cremation ceremony, collected the ashes and put them in a beautiful little bag which he always kept with him.

Soon afterwards, his real son escaped from the bandits and found his way home. He arrived at his father's new cottage at midnight and knocked at the door. The father, still grieving asked: "Who is it?" The child answered, "It is me papa, open the door!" But in his agitated state of mind, convinced his son was dead, the father thought that some young boy was making fun of him. He shouted: "Go away" and continued to cry. After some time, the child left.

Father and son never saw each other again.

After this story, the Buddha said: "Sometime, somewhere, you take something to be the truth. If you cling to it so much, even when the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will not open it."

What do you really know for sure?

Namaste!

Comments

[yoga teacher]

Very true! The more you know, the more you know you don't know. Practicing yoga has helped show me that.