SANYAM

And so it came to be. A choice had to be made; A choice between two events: Each one a once-in-25-year happening.

On the one hand, our 25 year undergraduate batch Reunion at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT-B). An event that I had been eagerly looking forward to. An event for which I had invested my time and energy… yahoogroups, facebookgroups, whatsappgroups, mini-reunions, cajoling for registrations etc. etc.

On the other hand, after more than 25 years, my Spiritual Teacher, Guruji, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was teaching SANYAM.

Both events on exactly the same dates. Each one half a world away. One in Mumbai, India and the other in Boone, NC, USA. Since I have yet to attain the Yogic Siddhi of being at two places at the same time, I had to choose:

The Red pill or the Blue Pill (as Morpheus offered Neo in The Matrix).

Press enter or click to view image in full size

I chose the Red pill.

And so began SANYAM. We were about 1100 meditators from all over the world gathered at the Art of Living Retreat Center on top of the Blue Ridge mountains in Boone, NC, USA. Each one of us drawn here by the promise of something unknown.

Press enter or click to view image in full size

Each one of our journeys on the path of meditation, inner reflection and outer service for the past 10+ years had been unique. Getting to SANYAM was like coming Home. Except that the Home is on top of a hill. And the journey to the top of the hill takes time. 10+ years of daily practice. On this journey, some of us took shortcuts, some were sincere, some were doubtful but somehow stuck on to the practice and some arrived completely unprepared!

And with a single master stroke, the Master normalized all this:

“The Person who Entered this Place is … “

(I won’t spoil it for those who are yet planning SANYAM).

Over the next few days, the normalization continued. The Master brought everyone onto a level playing field so that we may all enter the Home on the hilltop as One. We learned about the “rules” and “disciplines” that we knowingly or unknowingly had been practicing for the past 10+ years. (These are the same rules and discipline enunciated in the 8-limb path of Yoga by Maharishi Patanjali.)

Oh, and did I mention that the Home on the hilltop is guarded by a watchdog? That watchdog has to be pacified. This is an essential step before entering Home! We each have this watchdog. It is our Intellect. And the Master skillfully tames the watchdog. Slow and steady does it! There is a fine line between pacifying and riling up the watchdog.

The thing with our Intellect is that it is not a real problem if it is either highly refined and sharp or if it is really dull. In either of these two extremes, pacifying the Intellect is easy. It is at the in-between level that our Intellect becomes a real stumbling block on the way Home.

The vast majority of us were at the in-between level; and over the course of the first few days, it became really painful…

Why oh WHY did I not choose the Blue Pill!!

The coloring of the “rules” (or Yamas) and “disciplines” (or Niyamas) caused by my in-between Intellect was brought into sharp focus!

Was I non-violent? Sure! Truthful? Of course! Non-hoarding? Yes, indeed!!

Not!! Most definitely not! It takes sincere self-reflection to even notice the violence, untruth, hoarding tendencies etc. within ourselves. Under the watchful eye of the Master, all this came bubbling to the surface! The Blue pill looked pretty attractive just about now.

The Master recognizes this dilemma of the non-refined Intellect and with yet another master stroke he gets us unstuck: Move beyond our “understanding” of the Niyamas and actually start living them every-moment-of-every-day. We lived cleanliness, self-discipline, self-reflection and surrender. We moved beyond these words. The Niyamas were brought to Life!

We did a set of repetitive and sustained practices including extra emphasis on one of the 8-limbs of Yoga, Pranayama. We added a daily practice of effort followed immediately by dropping of the effort. It is called Asana or body postures.

The large majority of people practicing Yoga have the understanding of it as body postures that requires effort. The key to Asana is effort followed immediately by effortlessness. It takes skill in action and refinement in effort to make this happen and when it does happen, we experience Infinity right here:

Stop TRYING to hit me and HIT ME!

That was the turning point! Realizing that most of the time our own effort is a major obstacle. Effort and effortlessness happen simultaneously, if we let them. We simply step out of the way! This happens effortlessly under the watchful eye of the Master.

Finally, we were Home! SANYAM happened!! A truly humbling and the most incredible gift from the Master. How incredibly fortunate we all are to receive it.

The journey towards SANYAM is like Neo’s in the Matrix. It begins with a choice of which color pill. If we make the right choice, then, how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?!!

And the most important, do you believe that you are Neo?

Go take SANYAM.

Post Script: By now you must have realized that this article has a Sienfeldesque flavor to it. It really does not tell you anything! That is intentional. I do not want to spoil it for those who have not experienced SANYAM yet. — Sandeep Karode