Page 21 - 2-19-Issue

LIVING THE I think there is great value in satsang, in spiritual community.
We can talk to others and find out about their struggles or get
ETERNAL WAY suggestions. In the highest sense, there is always the teacher
we can go to and say, ‘What is this? I’ve been practicing and...
nothing.’ Sometimes we have an idea based on the experi-
ence of others, but it may be that what we may or may not be
experiencing is exactly right for us.
...continued from page 11...
There is a beautiful story about Sister Gyanamata, one of the
senior disciples of Paramahansa Yogananda. She was a yogi of
All of the mystical traditions provide that key. Most often, you wisdom and her path was counseling other disciples. James
need to get this from a teacher who can share consciousness J. Lynn, was called Saint Lynn. As another disciple, he had
with you, who can share the practices with you and be an very dynamic meditation experiences, and Sister Gyanamata
inspiration for beginning to turn your life from the outer to the did not. When she got ready for her transition, Paramahansa
inner. was at her side and asked her if there was anything that she
wanted at that point to complete her life experience. She said
MM: There’s a popular cliché that tells us we need to sepa- she had not had thesamadhi experiences in meditation and
rate the teacher from the teaching. Don’t look too close wondered if she was missing that. His response to her was:
at the teacher’s behavior and just listen to what he or she ‘Sister, you are already there. Why would you want to have an
says. What is your attitude toward that? experience when you are already in the light of divine truth
and wisdom?’ So, her way was different than the way of St.
EO:All teachers are human, regardless of how revered or Lynn.
enlightened they are. They’re all going to have human charac-
teristics and flaws, so we have to keep that in mind. I’m not of MM: So, it has a lot to do with expectation.
the school of thought that one should ignore ethical violations
of the teacher. We have to take our hearts with us into our EO:Yes, and when we are in a community, it can happen like
relationship with our teachers, but also our minds. We love the that. We compare ourselves to what others are experiencing
divine nature that we revere in our teachers, but we should and that’s an obstacle.
also hold them accountable as we would any other human
being. I think many of the problems Westerners got into with MM: What is your attitude toward bringing other practices
gurus had to do with leaving their discernment at the door. from other traditions into your hybrid, personal, spiritual
life?
I wrote a little saying, ‘The ticket to enlightenment is not
transferable.’ A teacher can’t give it to us. We have to im- EO:One needs to be dedicated and stable on their path and
merse ourselves in the teachings and practices we are given. then there’s no problem with being inspired or enhanced by
The teacher can’t do it for us although the teacher is a bridge a reading or literature or even a form of meditation from an-
for us. other path. But that period of time usually takes years.
We have to understand that ultimately, a spiritual path is
MM: And when the teacher is not walking the talk, is that a about freedom. But is freedom just moving from system to sys-
sign for us to look elsewhere? tem, from practice to practice? The yogis would say, ‘No.’ Is it
freedom to be so constrained that you feel you could never be
EO:I think it depends on what it is. If there is something inspired by anyone or anything that’s not part of your lineage?
egregious, it needs to be addressed. Sometimes, a student That’s not freedom either.
won’t understand a teacher’s behavior. A student can say, ‘I’m
confused about this behavior and this is the teaching, can you MM: Let me ask you about discipline, Uma. When folks hear
help me understand?’ Isn’t it an ideal situation where one can that word, they think of a tyrant with a whip. How do you
have a respectful conversation about how the teachings are to define and teach discipline?
be understood?
EO: Students from the West do hear the word discipline as
MM: There is a period of having to take the teaching in, self-punishmentor doing something that you don’t want to do,
working it in the inside and integrating it into one’s life and because it’s good for you. I explore that by asking, ‘What is
practice. How do we know when we’ve taken a practice as your experience?’ I invite them to re-define it, and also offer
far as it can go and it’s just not working for us? How do we a deeper explanation. I define discipline as doing what pleases
know when it’s a bad marriage or when it’s our own resis- the soul. The right discipline, whether it’s the right diet or a
tance? daily meditation practice or being kind in a relationship, all of
those things please the soul. They bring us higher or deeper
EO:That’s difficult because as individuals, we have samskara happiness. I focus on self-discipline as being self-care or pro-
imprints, we have karma. Although it is a universal nature to viding self-love. Self with a capital “S.
the path, it’s also quite unique in terms of how it is we work
our way along the path. ...continued on page 26...

Horizons Magazine by mail $28/12 issues Read online at www.horizonsmagazine.com Page 21