Day 135 – A Rumi quote opens up today’s reading: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. Meet me there.” With this, Rolf reiterates the dualistic nature of yogic philosophy. Indeed, caught up in duality, I either see one of two kinds of yogis–the ones that practice transcend their flawed nature, or the ones that practice to remove blocks from seeing their divinity (i.e., truth, etc.). Rolf asks retorically: “Are the sutras a means of escaping a debased world, or are they a set of instructions for becoming fully alive in this lifetime?”
For Rolf, the sutras are a road map and he believes everything will be okay. Just as he says in asana practice, “we do not disavow any aspect of our experience or our physicality,” so, too, do we begin o “progressively embrace what is real for us, so that we may find health and happiness.” He recommends that in “spending time with suprlatives and ideals [to] remember that you are doing this study in order to remember yourself, to come home to all of you.”
This time around in the reading of this book, I am embracing duality, not in its black and whiteness, but in its fluidity (like yin and yang, I suppose)–the nature of opposing forces that are really one in the same thing. I’m playing with this as I develop a yogic curriculum (for a book I’m writing) with a more Western approach. And, as I mentioned, I usually see one of two types of yogis, who love yoga so much (for many of the same reasons I do). Many deny themselves so many things, minimilize aspects of pleasure and life, shifting anger, disavowing physical pain, etc., and go in and out of binges, imbalances, and routine practices or classes. This reading helps me understand the fluidity of these two opposing philosophies and their place in the REAL world.
At many points in my life, I have felt the need to renounce worldly things and just practice yoga, to fix my reality, etc., and, in essence, escape. I’ve learned a thing or two in doing this, but I’m beginning to see that everything is going to be okay. I do what I can, when I can, and I make mistakes, which are, indeed, learning opportunities. I have a million people and things to be grateful for, and I have a long time yet to dance, practice yoga, lift, and love.
The goal is to meet my students (and my life) on Rumi’s field.
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