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Process For Reconciliation
In the last session we discussed what is needed to reconcile:
Understanding and empathy - Observing history in the context of colonization is very important to see how race, language, religion and way of life can become an excuse to oppress and exploit by a so called superior race. A deeper understanding of the science and art of yoga is also needed.
Cultivating culture - We looked at culture as a process of refinement where the senses and being are happy with what is and not addicted to more and more. This more can be more of anything - be it money, sex, yoga postures, knowledge, etc. Hence moving away from Vikrithi (misuse of senses/degeneration) to Sanskrithi (refinement of senses/regeneration) is important.
Spiritual maturity - We will explore this and the points listed below, in this blog. This means cultivating the capacity to listen, understand and contemplate many viewpoints. Then there will be no space for a self-righteous attitude that masks as being mindful.
Inclusiveness and ally ship - Including people of any colour, even white who are willing to go deeper and dedicate more time, energy and resources to a path of inner harmony.
Understanding the roots of yoga - Sanathana Dharma is the eternal original laws of harmony, just like gravity. This is the root of yogic culture.
Creating awareness - As yoga practitioners it is our dharma to spread the right information about yoga as well as exploitation. The first yama (restraint) is Ahimsa (non-violence). So if you practice yoga or teach yoga , then you have a responsibility to learn about it and share its true principles.
Just as if we live on a land we need to connect to the land and respect it and its first nations people and share its history.
Humility and grace to take right action - This is for those who may not be immersed in yoga culture or history. If we do not know, then having the grace to say we do not know is important. Only then will we know or understand.
Willingness and capacity - Being willing to learn and to build our capacity. Willing to build our capacity for listening, for self-reflection and self-correction.
Both the oppressor and the oppressed need to start and end with Namasthe and the Namaskara Mudhra. This implies settling into the heart. The Oppressor needs to apologise and make Amends. This is a very important aspect and then Reconciliation will be a natural fall out
Spiritual Maturity
As a community we welcome everyone and encourage everyone to embrace all aspects of themselves. However I have seen that, with the Arkaya 400 hour self-awareness and self-discovery teacher training, unless there is a certain degree of maturity, it will cause more harm than good if I put someone in a position of authority over other people. Any field needs a certain requirement, not only to gain entry into a program but also to graduate.
Somehow those standards seem to be lacking in modern yoga or only superficial standards are being applied. It is like choosing someone to be a doctor just because they look like a model. Both are professions independently, however confusing what is required for one with the other is the issue here. Or certifying someone with a knowledge of yoga concepts but lacking empathy or integrity is another less spotted transgression.
Those who constantly require an ego massage or are condemning of others are ones I will not certify. That blood will be on my hands later as they subtly manipulate or project onto their students or impose rather than share. Their self righteous attitude and suppressed rage will spill out in an Arkaya tantra yoga class as it facilitates deeper layers of integration. For those deeper layers to integrate, there is a gentle churning of the unconscious in order to dredge out emotional and energetic behaviours that are disharmonious. Hence this teaching is structured to remove masks unlike other trainings which might be a better fit if they want to teach a yoga exercise class.
So it is important to cultivate spiritual maturity if one wants to live a yoga life. This is tied to ones emotional maturity and can be observed with how trigger happy or restless someone is or with how much respect one treats everyone.
The Yoga Bully
“Yoga” and “bully” together are an oxymoron, just as “yoga” and “competition” are. When people asked me about Bikram many years before his scandals (over 17 years ago) I told them that the practices are from the yogic tradition and of value but the man is full of himself. He did a good marketing job, yet failed to mention the context and intelligent use of heat. So those who already have a pitha (fire) constitution can burn themselves up. Or the incidence of injury will be high. I knew he was a champion in yoga competitions and have judged those very same competitions 20 years ago. Though I saw the value of those competitions for poor kids, I also knew it could breed a very self-obsessed practitioner.
Imagine I certify someone like that in a self-awareness program and put them in a position of power. I will be subjecting others to narcissism fully aware of the vasanas (traits) in the other. Please understand this is not judging and condemning but only stating a base line of functionality required for being an integrated yoga teacher. Unfortunately many popular male Indian yoga gurus are being exposed for their abusive behaviour as what seems to be the yardstick is how good they are at public speaking or how enlightened they look. Not how emotionally aware they are or how much restraint they have on their senses.
In the beginning, however, I give a long rope to those in the program. One person assisting me wondered why. It is because I want to make sure and not come to conclusions quickly about anyone, without giving many opportunities for them to own their projections.
Imposter Syndrome
When we were having these conversations I saw Ross was growing uncomfortable.
He called me to say he was feeling like an imposter. He was a white man, high on the privilege list. So I was not surprised. I am sure that many sincere seekers on the path also feel that due to the colour of their skin. That is not what these conversations are meant to do. They are meant to facilitate an inclusive discussion. Some may not know the depth of this beautiful science and art as they may not have had the opportunity to live it. And because of that they may have cut up yoga to package it neatly for a need and think it is the whole picture.
I reassured Ross that he was sincere on the path by simply understanding it is a lifelong process and keeping at it. By wanting self awareness he was already way ahead of even some of his coloured counterparts. For the last 6 years that I have known him, he was willing to have conversations, clarify, deepen his relationship to self and others and look at projections. This is a lot more than my brown students have done. He has listened to a lot of what I said right from integrating in the world. He joined Banyen books till he found financial stability and structure and continued to build stability. He has assisted me in the teacher trainings and picked my brain about a lot of things which I am more than happy to share as I know he has the sincerity to deepen in himself which is the practice. I even started calling him thambi or little brother as I saw his commitment to soften any edges. So if someone like that was feeling alienated then the conversation needed tweaking to reassure the sincere white person that they were not the target :)
I salute anyone who has dedicated their time and energy to inner harmony, community and living yoga. So building inclusivity and ally ship is important.
Namasthe Namasthe
I will put out one more thought in defense of the white person here. There is the war of the Namasthe. I have seen many Indians write on the deification of Namasthe and how ridiculous it is, as it simply means a “hello.” I want to defend the white person here, who has taken the time to go and study in a yoga school or ashram in India and come back with a deeper understanding of what Namasthe means. There are many traditional Indians/teachers immersed in Yoga, Ayurveda, Classical music and dance they have learnt this from. Hence they may have a deeper understanding than the average Indian.
Namasthe means, “I bow to you.” Namaskar or namaskaram is another term used and comes from the root word namaha which means “paying respects” or “having reverence.” This reverential greeting is not just defined by words but also by the mudhra one holds. mudhra = gesture/ mystic energetic seal.
The right and left palms are brought together connecting the right and left, masculine and feminine, and all the meridians of the right and left that have a reference point in the palms and fingers. This coming together of the polarities at the heart allows for the expansive connection that is beyond time and space. This same namaskar is used in prayer to connect to divinity and humble oneself.
Namasthe has different depths of meanings in different contexts, which the average Indian does not usually see. So they attack the white person who has gathered the idea of connecting to one's essence at one's heart and relating to another from that space. This essence is commonly translated as, “the divine in me bows to the divine in you” in the west.
This seems too out of the scope of a namasthe for some. The average Indian may not make the connection that in Classical Dance one exits with the namaskara mudhra. Or that some shlokas end with Namosthuthey. And that some traditional hindu priests would actually say namaskaram or make the gesture of a namaskaram, “see you later” or “I will be back” as opposed to “I am leaving” which is not considered an auspicious or a good affirmation as words have power. So many traditional people will till today will only say “I will be back” instead of “goodbye.”
So namasthe is definitely deeper than a hello and not completely wrong when used in the end. However it is more appropriate in common usage to use namasthe as a greeting in the beginning. So dear white people use it in the beginning of your letter or when you meet someone. This will signify you are familiar with seeing and acknowledging those in front of you, despite colour, creed, religion etc
In a yoga class it works for me if you use it both in the beginning to acknowledge all bodies and spirits and the end as well. Having your hands in the Namaskara mudhra you can say a thank you to close the class which will be more appropriate. The mudra or hand gesture still remains the same and you can say Dhanyavaadhaha if you want a Sanskrit term for thank you.
When I studied in the ashram, one of my acharyas said she would not give a student marks as he never greeted those he met and just walked past them ignoring them. She noticed that he did not even bow to her. The Namasthe is not just for class but reminds us to be reverential towards all of life and humble ourselves. So this indicates that we are present to everyone in class and their unique essence when we start with the Namasthe , Namaskar or Pranam.
Pranam is also a reverential way of greeting.
When a true Namasthe is held you cannot but make right the wrong to the best ability. The least one can do is pay for hospital bills when someone runs over a deer. Not sit there and say they love animals and ignore the ailing animals that one caused harm to
Understanding The Roots Of Yoga For Reconciliation
Yoga stems from the culture of Sanathana Dharma or eternal harmony.
Sanathana = Eternal, Perennial
Dharma = Universal law or way of life that creates harmony
You can see my talk in this zoom video from the 25:16 to 32:00 minute mark and an introduction to me a bit before that.
Sanatan Dharma & Perennial Philosophy - Part 1 - YouTube
There was no such word called Hindu until the Persians mispronounced the Sindhu river as “Hindu” and called settlers along the banks of the Sindu river as Hindus. The British further butchered the pronunciation to Indo or Indus valley civilisation and thus “India.” The original name for India was Bharath. That is why some people still reject the name India and call it Bharath. Many Indians just got used to being called Hindus and Indians and accepted it.
Bharath was a land where pluralism existed. This means one could accept many ways to the divine. That is why many archetypes and energies were embraced. Not rejected. It is very common to see a photo of the Buddha or even Jesus in the homes of Hindus as they see no difference. One is taught to see truth in all its forms and glean the good. Ekam Sath Viprabhahuda Vadanthi is a sanskrit phrase my grandfather would always quote from the Upanishads. “Truth or the highest reality is one, wise men call it by different names.” This means that truth can be expressed in many ways. However one also needs discernment to see which untruths mask as true.
That is why it is less of a rigid religion that does not seek converts like Islam or Chritianity. There is no conversion in Sanathana Dharma or Hinduism. One needs to only tune into this harmonious way of life and follow guidelines for that purpose. Only recently some Hindu groups have started reconversions for those who converted to other religions to return back and as a boundary from being told they are less than just because they are inclusive and very tolerant.
Creating Awareness For Reconciliation
You don’t know what you don’t know. The starting point is to be aware that you do not have the full picture. I know that many have caught the wrong end of the stick with yoga. To see that in oneself requires humility and is therefore not an easy task when one is invested in a yoga persona they have created. That is why sometimes it is easier to have students who have no idea of yoga but are just good people and are open to learning in my class rather than ones who think they know a lot because they have picked up concepts without integrating them.
Humility And Grace Required For Reconciliation
Malina connected with me, invited me to a class she taught and asked for feedback. She was authentic and spoke from where she was, rather than where she thought she should be. I enjoyed how she gave context and could see she had done enough work to sit with things.
However I also noticed that she mispronounced sthiram as “sthriam” which changes the meaning from “stability” to “femininity.” Shree means “woman” and “expansion” in Sanskrit while sthir denotes stability. I was a bit hesitant to share this feedback but Malina encouraged me and said, “please share, please humble me,” which is what she had learnt from her native elder. She is First Nations and thankfully she had that reference to respect in her culture as well.
I was pleasantly surprised and joked, “please write it out on a contract, sign it and send it to me, so I know you truly mean it and are not just saying it!” :)
I was holding the intention that I do not want to walk on eggshells with my own students and clearing old energetic threads, during covid. Threads that made me bend over backwards to accommodate someone even if part of me knew that they needed to do the work. Many are, thankfully, mature yet there are a few who are trigger happy and need a lot of attention and energy. That energy and time I wanted to conserve for other activities and not invest in them anymore. So Malina reaching out and asking for feedback was a great sign from the universe in that direction.
Willingness and Capacity
For reconciliation it takes both the oppressor and the oppressed to understand context. We have looked at a lot of points that are required of the oppressor. The oppressed also, however, need to look within to not use trauma as an excuse to bully others or dump on them.
I have seen women of colour do that. I have empathy for the fact that the country they are from has subjected them to a lot of survival dilemmas as women and because of that I have given them many many concessions. Yet when they use that to manipulate, continue to play victim or be unethical financially as well, I have to let them go, intending that life will show them what they need to learn.
There are the extreme ones who wallow in their victimhood and pain, lacking empathy and hurting others while having an inflated image of themselves. It is not just the oppressor who needs to bow in humility but also the oppressed who use their colour and victimhood as an excuse to throw their pain and rage at any unsuspecting soul.
I understand that many of these patterns are unconscious, yet it is each person’s responsibility to make the time for the inner work rather than justifying what they do. And a good society is built on providing those opportunities, understanding how it was taken from them in the past. Else some of them become the aggressors themselves, preying on the kind hearted and setting into motion this vicious cycle of the coloniser and abuser again.
When some choose self grandeur over doing the inner work and receiving support to soften, then I know for sure they lack both willingness and capacity.
So for harmony and reconciliation both parties need to start and end with Namasthe and live it.