Five Points of Yoga
The Five Points of Yoga & Faith
08/12/08 09:25
To carry forward the car metaphor
regarding the 5 Points of Yoga of Swami
Vishnu-devananda further, one could talk about faith in
a car metaphor also.
Faith is a belief predicated upon nothing except a transcendence itself. The weight of transcendence can be seen in faith. If one uses the Five Points of Yoga as shown by Swami Vishnu-devananda:
Point (Car Metaphor in parentheses)
then one has a well-equipped vehicle with which to negotiate the path one is on.
But what of the path itself? Is there anything we can say about this path, that clearly transcends the "I'-ness and "my-ness" ideas? Does the path itself being negotiated have any impact upon us? Surely it does.
One could teach a student of the 5 points of Swami Vishnu-devananda knowing that his time-tested method will work. Swami Vishnu-devananda created this metaphor for Americans because they saw how dominated they are by the culture of cars, even in the late 50’s when he arrived here, himself not knowing how to drive.
Yet the matter of the motive power behind the laying of these foundational teachings has yet to be described. One does not drive upon a road without precedent, without rules and protocols. People before you and after you will travel this path, pave it, leaving signs along the way for us to follow. These are the hidden personages surrounding us in spiritual life. These are the subtle (and oftentimes unconscious) reasons why people come to a physical location like an ashram or a retreat center and look to it to create an energy in their life that they feel to be missing.
An ashram or retreat center is little more than a place where the path is more well-maintained, and it makes the going forward easier. Much energy is spent in this maintenance by center or ashram staff. Classes are taught, an environment created, food served; all bent towards the one idea to carry you further with your own efforts by these subtle hands pushing your forward.
So what is this the protocol behind all of this? It’s faith.
Faith is ultimately the most practical and useful tool one has in spiritual life. Faith is the ability to visualize something one cannot yet see or feel, and then intention holds the visualization to the fire of faith, and continues holding it. The silent intention is very important. Intention is the arm that holds the weight of your closest desires for happiness and for a long time. Faith is so close to us, and often we can take it for granted and can lose our awareness of it.
It is closer to us than the clothing we wear. It is dearer to us than our next meal, yet somehow it's also forgotten for what it truly is. Why could one call faith practical? In what way is it used in daily life?
Imagine for a moment, you in your car, developed (more or less) through your own efforts in Swami Vishnu-devananda's 5 Points. You are well-lubricated, energetic, cool, full of fuel, and know how to operate your vehicle. Still, one can get onto the path, begin traveling and have a crash, or a breakdown in one’s mental state.
What are the reasons for crashing or breaking down? One is certainly free to drive off the road- yet since one is quite capable in handling the vehicle, this is not that likely-especially if one lives in an ashram or retreat center.
Still, somehow we often desire to drive off the road, right? One could be traveling a hard road- maybe your karma is such that your car would overheat going up the large hills you have to negotiate. One could overheat, get tired, frustrated and take a break, or give up entirely.
You could get lost- one could listen to the wrong person giving directions, or, you yourself might even think it's not necessary to ask for directions! While this is not a crash or a breakdown, you could say it is, in a way, because you are clearly driving. While maybe you are learning your way around, it much harder on the vehicle to drive over old broken roads and through wilderness than it is to travel a well-maintained road. These ideas are all eminently practical ones. Yoga is a practical path, if nothing else.
So what does faith have to do with any of this? Faith is the belief that 1) You are on the RIGHT road; 2) Going in the right direction; 3) Know where to turn to avoid the wrong road and/or rough roads; 4) When traveling on this road- someone will not cross over the double yellow line in the middle and hit you.
These are all quite practical protocols for moving through spiritual life, and quite necessary to remind ourselves of, as we travel.
Faith is a belief predicated upon nothing except a transcendence itself. The weight of transcendence can be seen in faith. If one uses the Five Points of Yoga as shown by Swami Vishnu-devananda:
Point (Car Metaphor in parentheses)
- Proper Exercise (Lubrication)
- Proper Breathing (Battery)
- Proper Relaxation (Cooling system)
- Proper Diet (Fuel)
- Positive Thinking and Meditation (Good Driver behind the wheel)
then one has a well-equipped vehicle with which to negotiate the path one is on.
But what of the path itself? Is there anything we can say about this path, that clearly transcends the "I'-ness and "my-ness" ideas? Does the path itself being negotiated have any impact upon us? Surely it does.
One could teach a student of the 5 points of Swami Vishnu-devananda knowing that his time-tested method will work. Swami Vishnu-devananda created this metaphor for Americans because they saw how dominated they are by the culture of cars, even in the late 50’s when he arrived here, himself not knowing how to drive.
Yet the matter of the motive power behind the laying of these foundational teachings has yet to be described. One does not drive upon a road without precedent, without rules and protocols. People before you and after you will travel this path, pave it, leaving signs along the way for us to follow. These are the hidden personages surrounding us in spiritual life. These are the subtle (and oftentimes unconscious) reasons why people come to a physical location like an ashram or a retreat center and look to it to create an energy in their life that they feel to be missing.
An ashram or retreat center is little more than a place where the path is more well-maintained, and it makes the going forward easier. Much energy is spent in this maintenance by center or ashram staff. Classes are taught, an environment created, food served; all bent towards the one idea to carry you further with your own efforts by these subtle hands pushing your forward.
So what is this the protocol behind all of this? It’s faith.
Faith is ultimately the most practical and useful tool one has in spiritual life. Faith is the ability to visualize something one cannot yet see or feel, and then intention holds the visualization to the fire of faith, and continues holding it. The silent intention is very important. Intention is the arm that holds the weight of your closest desires for happiness and for a long time. Faith is so close to us, and often we can take it for granted and can lose our awareness of it.
It is closer to us than the clothing we wear. It is dearer to us than our next meal, yet somehow it's also forgotten for what it truly is. Why could one call faith practical? In what way is it used in daily life?
Imagine for a moment, you in your car, developed (more or less) through your own efforts in Swami Vishnu-devananda's 5 Points. You are well-lubricated, energetic, cool, full of fuel, and know how to operate your vehicle. Still, one can get onto the path, begin traveling and have a crash, or a breakdown in one’s mental state.
What are the reasons for crashing or breaking down? One is certainly free to drive off the road- yet since one is quite capable in handling the vehicle, this is not that likely-especially if one lives in an ashram or retreat center.
Still, somehow we often desire to drive off the road, right? One could be traveling a hard road- maybe your karma is such that your car would overheat going up the large hills you have to negotiate. One could overheat, get tired, frustrated and take a break, or give up entirely.
You could get lost- one could listen to the wrong person giving directions, or, you yourself might even think it's not necessary to ask for directions! While this is not a crash or a breakdown, you could say it is, in a way, because you are clearly driving. While maybe you are learning your way around, it much harder on the vehicle to drive over old broken roads and through wilderness than it is to travel a well-maintained road. These ideas are all eminently practical ones. Yoga is a practical path, if nothing else.
So what does faith have to do with any of this? Faith is the belief that 1) You are on the RIGHT road; 2) Going in the right direction; 3) Know where to turn to avoid the wrong road and/or rough roads; 4) When traveling on this road- someone will not cross over the double yellow line in the middle and hit you.
These are all quite practical protocols for moving through spiritual life, and quite necessary to remind ourselves of, as we travel.
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