‘Walking lightly on the surface of the Earth’
The Threefold Ecology and Contemporary Yoga practice
Sama Fabian January 2009
There is a renewed sense of ecological urgency that ripples across the world today and in its wake an increasing aspiration for spiritual transformation. The two movements bring into play mighty forces that combined, have the power to accelerate the inevitable changes that await us in the years to come and that for a large section of humanity are already taking place. The choices that we collectively need to make are not tomorrow but today, not elsewhere but here and now.
A wondrous opportunity for transformation is at hand at every moment and at all levels: in the way we think, communicate, respond, in our relationship to ourselves, others, our environment and the whole of the natural world. It is a tremendous challenge that we are facing individually, locally within our immediate families, communities and on the scale of our entire species.
Environmental ecology invites us to show respect for the Earth in developing behaviors and practical means which promote the flourishing of life and reduce if not eradicate the absolute brutality and mercilessness of modern agriculture and animal farming.
As Yehudi Menuhin once said: “I am shocked at the American use of the word ‘dirt’ to signify ‘earth’ while ‘earth’ means planet”. This simple statement shows the depth of our disconnection with the nourishing aspect of earth, and exposes the frightful condescension that modern discourse lends to the very real concept of ‘Mother Earth’.
Socio-economical ecology challenges us to relate to our neighbors with a renewed sense of solidarity and an acute awareness of our common destiny. It calls us to care about the way we consume, to reduce our impact on global poverty by adopting sober and clean life styles, to make informed choices and act locally through associations, collaborations and collective initiatives.
Human ecology invites us to find peace in ourselves and adopt ways, which encourage non-violence. It urges us to understand our deeper patterns, become intimate with our habitual responses, to heal ourselves of psychological strategies, mental manipulations and emotional projections.
Human ecology is the field from which deeper transformations can arise and all Yoga practiced. Sri Aurobindo once noted “all life is Yoga” and so in weaving synergies with our deeper self, each other, the Earth and all living species we can begin to truly embody the integrality of this wondrous practice.
According to Classical Yoga the first step is to apply the Yamas and Niyamas in our daily life which includes our Yoga practice of breath awareness, mindful body work, meditations, mantra and various formulations of bhakti.
In essence, the yamas relate to vital movements in our human nature that need to be reduced or contained for the benefit of our personal and collective lives. Yoga as a path of freedom, can never be prescriptive. There are no absolutes, only processes inscribed in time. What we need to change is not so much the external actions and movements but the mindsets that lead to those actions and movements. Only then are techniques of any use, otherwise they are carried out for the satisfaction of the external self, to serve strategies of denial that reinforce judgmental attitudes, distort perception and inflate vital ego.
Ahimsa ‘non-violence’, refers to life- affirming commitments that run through all the layers of our internal and external life, from refraining to give into compulsions and self-destructive thoughts and habits, to avoiding exploitative conduct, be it financial or psychological.
I cannot help but remember the time in the mid 90’s when the Kurdish population of Stoke Newington, London would set up quiet sitting demonstrations, some of which involved hunger strikes, to urge people to renounce their Turkish holidays. Meanwhile Yoga holidays in Turkey were candidly advertised in Yoga Centers, at prohibitive prices for the local populations. There are many who will justify such practices, yet the time has come where the divorce between the political and spiritual lives must be mended.
We have seen this played out recently with the Buddhist monks in Burma and in the dilemmas the Dalai Lama has to face.
On a smaller scale we can witness this exploitative conduct in some Yoga Centers, run like traditional enterprises, and bent on selling yet more Yoga paraphernalia while paying their teachers miserably and urging them to fill up their classes.
Psychological exploitation is of a different ‘genre’ and can be witnessed in a variety of pseudo-spiritual setups. People are drained of their self-will and discernment rather than encouraged, as traditional Yogic lore has it, to discuss and question the teachings. This wholesome questioning not only keeps the tradition alive but also allows us to feel the freedom and validity of our own experience. Ahimsa is the field from which all vibrations must arise.
Satya, the second yama, speaks of integrity. It challenges us to stay coherent, be true to ourselves and avoid comforting spiritual narratives that lead to delusion. It is also an invitation to speak the truth and to keep in check our deepest motivations.
The Mahabharata specifies: “…truth should not be said that can harm, however, never lie to give pleasure” !
We need always to make choices that are in line with our deeper consciousness, in the knowledge that this will be subjective most of the time!
Asteya refers to non-stealing, honesty. Do not take what is not yours. Ideas, techniques can be used providing their originator is duly credited. Equally be honest in your practice, keep your openness and your integrity. Perhaps in our post modern culture we can speak of non-appropriation.
Brahmacharya is an invitation to moderation, a containment of the vital impulses. In the words of the French eco-agronomist, Pierre Rabhi, a ‘contented sobriety’ is of the day.
Here we are compelled to face our excesses and move towards equilibrium, to make sober, economical choices, which save energy, both physical and emotional. On a personal level, this vibration brings a natural refinement of thought and action, an elegance and beauty of the psyche where there is no demand, expectation or projection.
Aparigraha is the last of the yamas. It tells us of non-accumulation, non-greed. The society we live in not only supports covetousness, but presents it as a perfectly valid life style. We are supposed to want more and better all the time, to acquire perfectly useless goods only because they are available, to accumulate wealth beyond our needs. We can question the current greed for techniques and knowledge paired with a reluctance to experience over a long period of time and thus expose oneself to the full impact of the practice. A certain fearfulness, doubt and insecurity, can be observed in our own interior movements when disconnected from this vibration.
In ‘The Essence of Yoga’ Bernard Bouanchaud speaks of the yamas as principles of respect. The very same respect that modern ecology promotes. Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms. Its essential statement is that living organisms are interdependent and that as humans we cannot dissociate ourselves from our environment.
Krishnamurti once stated ‘Yoga is relationship”
If we are to be in Yoga we are inevitably set into a relational field which goes well beyond common civilities and which includes, active listening, non-violent communication, and a willingness to be of service to the furthering of spiritual life. It can also mean saying what is as it is , and being acutely awaken to the play of forces that underpin any relationship.
The niyamas refer to vibrations which we are invited to increase.
The first, shaucha tells us of cleanliness of body, thought and action.
It brings to mind notions of impeccability and clarity. To clear the body of the external touch of life, to release fearful thoughts from the mind, to make of every act a total act.
Santosha speaks of nurturing a state of contentment which can only come as a result of self respect, reliance, esteem and perhaps the deeply established perception of the validity and worth of one’s own experience. This in turn leads to further trust in the movement of life and helps us touch upon the mystery of creation with a deep sense of wonderment, and joyful gratitude.
Tapas refers to a mind set that involves rigor, a refusal to be distracted or seduced by forces of inertia and complacency.
Here we are invited to be passionate in our endeavor, to burn unnecessary and wasteful burdens in the fire of an unwavering aspiration, to be ruthless with mediocrity, egotistic sentiment, self satisfaction and self importance, to stay uncompromisingly awake, alive.
Svadhyaya is a commitment to self knowledge and the study of the texts. In our desire to understand our processes, inner movements and experiences it becomes essential to hear what both our predecessors and our fellow practitioners have recorded of their observations, enquiries, findings and wisdoms. Here we contextualize our practice within an uninterrupted continuum of transmission, a bead in the great mala of Yogic experience.
It is our prerogative to redefine the practice in the light of our current socio-cultural realities and contemporary preoccupations. A self reflective mind set, a readiness to question ourselves, acceptance and the non judging posture of a flexible mind are the signs of this vibration.
With the last of the niyamas Ishvara Pranidhana we touch upon a very intimate realm. Sadly our secular societies are at a loss to transmit this beautiful vibration outside the inevitable distortions of religious dogma. I would suggest that a profound connection with a deeper and broader consciousness is the key to nurture this particular field of Yogic experience. To know oneself to be always in the presence of the Divine. Here we return to those first moments of revelation where in the early days of our practice we knew as clear as day that we had found our way, and that we would be guided by our trust, unwavering surrender and all pervasive love.
As all these vibrations permeate our collective reflection, society as we know it might well be transformed. Each must labor deeply to reach this level of responsibility and consciousness and access the sacred dimension that makes us experience life as a magical and magnificent gift of love.
It is this love that deep ecology speaks of, not a righteous and often superficial concern, but a profound experience of belonging, of being these two legged creatures on the surface of a most beautiful planet, our Great Mother Earth and knowing ourselves to be a crucial player in a wondrous evolutionary project, to embody cosmic consciousness.
Bibliography:
Pierre Rabhi ‘Pour une Insurrection des Consciences’, ‘Paroles de Terre’
Bernard Bouanchaud The Essence of Yoga, Reflections on the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
Francoise Mazet Yoga-Sutras Editions Albin-Michel
Dr. Peter Yates Heart Yoga Wolverhampton, UK (from conversations)
Tanya Syed Sacred Sound and Experimental Film, Ldn, UK (from conversations)
Dr Robert E. Svoboda (from talks)
Sri Aurobindo ‘The Synthesis of Yoga’ ‘The Divine Life’ Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry
