Back in India, yoga & meditation is associated less with athleticism and more with spirituality and health. I have seen elders in my family, through repeated practice, claims to have come to clarity with their place under the gods and in the world, and at 80+ years old still possesses the limbs and lungs of a much younger man. Yoga was the collection of asanas and pranayamas that my people had crafted and curated and concocted to promote health, harmony, and spirituality. This cultural discipline turned into a billion-dollar industry featuring yoga pants and various meditation courses.
In the recent few months, I have had many people ask me if I have done any meditation courses (from various organizations, not mentioning names here). I have always loved listening to people talk about meditation and got answers for some questions which I had about meditation. Personally, I m not a big fan of meditation and yoga because of the way it has turned itself into a business. Some people have questioned me why I think it that way because we pay similar amounts for temples, educational institutions etc., which I think is a valid question.
People go for these courses, paying a lot of money, because they want a quick solution for relieving stress in their lifestyles, in which case, this is perfect. For someone like me, I look at spiritual education to be free of expectations i.e. something where I go to learn and, not learn because I want to gain something or not because I paid something and I expect something in return. Each of our actions these days have their own expectations tied to it. Expectations will lead you to happiness or disappointment. I think the happiness or disappointment is acceptable to receive if it is on materialistic things, but I dont want that for spiritual things.
Why did I write about this? I had a conversation with a friend, where I mentioned a few points which I wanted to share.
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Me: How much did you pay for USC to get your Masters degree?
Friend: Lots. :(
Me: Why did you pay that?
Friend: To get a degree.
Me: Why did you want that degree?
Friend: Because it was aligned to my goals to move to the US i.e. get a job, get the exposure and experience.
Me: What if you didnt get either of those (say you didnt get a job)? Would you have been disappointed that you spent so much for the new experience and you didnt get it?
Friend: Yes. I would be disappointed that I didnt get a job, but will still go with my experience I gained.
Me: So, the motive of coming to USC, paying so much money is for the job and experience.
Friend: Yes.
Me: In this case, you needed a job which is capable of paying back all the money you spent on the education experience. This is called "expectation'.
Friend: Yes.
Me: And what you have now is "return of expectation" in multiple expectations. Even if one didnt go the way you wanted, you would have had a feeling "why did I spend so much money on this?". This is what happens on a day to day life of every person.
Friend: But then, I got so much. If something doesnt work out, then it doesnt right? Be disappointed and move on.
Me: When people's expectations are not fulfilled, instead of learning about it, people seek other means. Every person has a different solution for it. When I want to do the meditation/yoga course, I want to do it for learning and not with the expectation that it will solve my problems since I have paid for the course.
Friend: That's the thing about going inward right Bat, none of the rules of the outside world apply. When i get into difficult times, i have the patience to wait. Outside u need to plan, u need to prepare, Inside, u need to relax, to let go.
Me: You cant live a world just inside life is about both smile.
Friend: Yep. Definitely can't! Exactly. But how is the balance at the moment?
Me: Very much perfect. Imbalance is for people who worry about their problems in life. Balance is for people who work in finding solutions to their problems in life.
Friend: he he. No I mean balance in the amount of effort u put in to keep the inside and the outside happy.
Me: You dont need to put an effort for it. It is like "trying to quit smoking". When u say u r "trying",
u r already not confident that u can do it
Friend: Effort isn't the word. time maybe? Attention that's better, I think. See, what I am getting at is that, just take something simple. cooking. We spend at least an hour everyday to feed ourselves. If u think about it, if u skip a meal, or you skip 2, or 3, or 4. we will live.
Me: Yes.
Friend: Now stop breathing. 1 min, 2 mins, 3 mins. That's it. you can't hold it longer. Just like breathing. we do it like 30 times every minute, but have u ever done that consciously. How much time do you actually spend to ensure your breathing pattern is right?
Me: When u spend 1 hour to cook, how much time do u spend eating it? Do u eat it with a spoon or by hand? Do u look at ur food and eat or ur tv/comupter screen?
Friend: Bat, I understand what u r saying. that life is simple, focus energy on the stuff that needs it.
Me: Eating with ur hand is ur physical connection. Looking at ur plate and eating is ur visual connection. Relishing it and eating is ur mental connection. Realizing the energy of the food which u eat, which makes u live is the spiritual connection.
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Education is one of the most precious things in our lives. And spiritual education needs sincerity and focus and the interest to learn. Unfortunately, these days, people do not have the patience to learn things sincerely. Each of us have lots of expectations and get disappointed/stressed very easily because we have too many points of failure (i.e. expectations). For people who seek these yoga and meditation courses, go there with the interest to learn and not because it is trending or cool. And that time, this will have a much bigger impact on your lives.
