Yoga's View of Creation & The Meaning of
Life
In
Chapter four of Namit's book, he explains how this person Jake comes across a
yogi supporting himself on his forearms, with his legs swinging around towards
his head or an asana known as scorpion. As he sees this yogi he wonders about
how the world was made.
The next day Jake meets up with the yogi again and
begins small talk. He goes on to ask the yogi what the yogic philosophy is when
it comes to the creation of the world. The yogi explains that in the beginning
there was something called chaos. Good and evil, light and dark were all mixed
together. But the light wanted to exist, it wanted to be free from the darkness.
It wanted its own independence, its own life. It was kind of like a spirit that
wanted the separation of good from evil, dark from light, happiness from
sadness.
Jake, curious about the light, asks the yogi what this
light was. The yogi responds this light was us - Human Beings. It
is us who have the desire to live. The world we know, that we live in has slowly
been moving from darkness towards the light. Jake responds to the yogi asking if
we are all turning into nicer human beings.
The yogi replies to Jake by telling him we all have good
and bad in us. But the good is becoming stronger than the bad as time is going
on.
Jake unsure of the yogi's response asks him to explain this concept further.
The yogi asks Jake to use science to explain what emotions are. A scientific
explanation for feelings, happiness, sadness, excitement, etc. Jake thinks long
and hard about the yogi's question and has no answer.
The yogi explains to Jake
that your feelings come from your spirit not your body. The body is made up of
matter and therefore can be scientifically explained but the spirit is not and
that is what carries your feelings. Jake being perplexed asks the yogi to
further explain the difference between the body and spirit. The yogi replies
that albeit the spirit and body are two separate points they are linked. We are
both body and spirit and it is the spirit or soul that is the feelings. You are
actually your feelings.
The yogi goes on to explain to Jake that matter can be
very beautiful and there are many beautiful things in this world. And there is
an attraction that each one of us have to these beautiful things.This beauty
makes us feel happy. The problem is that we can develop too much of an
attraction to beauiful things to a point we want to own them completely and take
the beauty for ourselves. We want to own things. Being too attracted to these
things brings out the dark side. We are actually happy when we just sit back and
enjoy the beautiful things in this world and move back to the
light.
Jake understands now and makes reference to how he
enjoys just sitting in nature and admiring all the beauty it holds. Exactly says
the yogi. You are not trying to own the lake or stop other people from enjoying
it. You are understanding that the best things in life are free and not just for
you but for everyone to enjoy. As the expression says..."The best things in life
are free."
Jake still wants to understand the yogi's point about
the good and bad in all of us. The yogi replies how the darkness is the greed
towards material things. It causes jealousy and distances us from other human
beings. The light is when you enjoy the beauty of this world and want to share
it with others. This is the light - happiness and joy. Understanding that liking
beautiful things is not bad but wanting them so badly brings out the dark side
or greed and separates you from others. That is directly against yoga which
means "union."
We are all part of the light that wants to admire all
that is beautiful including ourselves but there is this greed towards material
beauty that which we must overcome in order to a live a life that brings out our
true nature of happiness and sharing. We are put on this earth to share and live
in harmony with one another.
Jake now understanding the yogi sat back to enjoy the
peaceful lake and thought about how there was always corruption in this world
from our ancestors being ruled by the Romans and others. There is still
corruption in the world but much less than there was. Jake realized we are all
made up of feelings, and that we come from a place not of physical things but a
place of feelings.
Jake sat down for dinner that night and felt the way he
saw the world had been rearranged.
Om Shant~
Mary Jane Kasliner - Feng Shui Master & Yogi
