The Joseph Yoga Blog

Heaven Meets Earth

The Law of Attraction promises that a connection will be made when two
forces are similar in nature. We all wish to connect to a higher power. The
entire goal of yoga is to unite with the “supreme one”. The union with the
higher power is thought of as “yoking” which mean to unite. This is where
the word “yoga” comes from — “to yoke.” The Yoga Sutras refer to this
higher power as “The Supreme One” and every philosophy has its on
name for it. We have all heard terms like Hashem, Alah and God. The
Alcoholic Anonymous philosophy refer to this higher power as just that: The
Higher Power. I like this secular term for it includes all religions and beliefs
and I will refer to the supreme one today as the higher power. Regardless
of its name though, I do believe there is just one grand source and we are
all praying and longing for connection to the same source and only our
different languages have created this illusion that we are connecting to
different energies. This illusion is ultimately a tragedy as it causes us to
feel separate and insecure and the ground becomes fertile for wars and
persecution. Although we call God by many different names, the path to
this higher power is similar for all of us. We must all use the law of
attraction. For us to cleave to this higher power we must become more
like it. There is a four step process:

Step 1: Admit that we are in opposition to the energy of the higher power.
This is the hardest step and the most important. Our ego knows that once
we start we will complete our mission so it constructs a lock on the door of
this four step process. This lock is hard to break but it’s vital to our path.
We must admit that we are different to the energy of this higher power
which is why we currently don’t have a constant and strong connection to it.
This for many of us is the willingness we have to start a spiritual practice
like yoga. I am not saying we are horrible people and are sinners. I am not
saying we are not made with the same essence as the higher power either.
I am only saying we must admit that there is a disconnect and therefore a
difference in essence between us and this higher energy.

Step 2: Shut down the energy that is causing the separation. We must
know what we should be before we know what we shouldn’t be. The energy
of the higher power isn’t a secret. We intuitively know what this higher
power is like. For we experience this energy when we are in love, when we
become a parent, when we care for the world, when we feel good and
happy. We know that this higher power has a high vibration because we
have had moments of joy in our life and we know it is a higher quality
energy because of how it makes us feel. But we are not always vessels for
this high energy. We are capable of much much worse. We all have
moments of reactivity, of fear, of hatred and jealousy. Deep inside we
know that parts of us like conflict, wars and lack of human dignity. The
opposite of love is not hate but indifference as Elie Wiesel reminds us. We
also must see that our apathy for the world and its people is also a quality
we possess that needs eradicating. These are the energy patterns that
repels us away from the higher power for the law of attraction states that
like attracts like and unlike things repel. We must stop being unloving,
selfish, hateful, judgemental and self involved. Our yoga postures help
squelch these reactive and body conscious qualities from our being as well
as meditating and deliberate acts of love and sharing. Note that this step
is the ascension towards this higher power. Every small step we take
towards quieting the ego is another step closer to this higher power. This
second step is full of wondrous times and many joys.

Step 3: Fully purge these energies that are unlike the higher power. This
step is different than step two. In step two, we started the process of
stopping these energies. Step three is the complete removal of these
energies. Without a complete release from these reactive, selfish and ego
born energies we will not be enough like the higher power to merge with it.
Devoted daily practice to completely removing our ego through
uncomfortable actions of love and sharing is our medicine for life and our
solution to accomplish step three.

Step 4: Allow the connection. Once our ego has been greatly diminished
we must then allow the connection. We must then allow ourselves to be
loved. We must allow ourselves to receive and connect. But at this point
we have purged our receiving ego nature so greatly that making this
connection it is no longer an act of receiving. Our receiving becomes an
act of sharing because we are now willing to receive so our higher power
can connect to us which is what it has wanted to do from the beginning of
time. In a way we are doing the higher energy of favor by allow the
connection to happen. We let the power connect to us and thus we are
simultaneous sharing and receiving which still insures the laws of attraction
to work. This is called the perfect union since we are connected through
our likeness of energies (sharing) and we get to receive the higher powers
energies at the same time! This is called the union of yoga. Or the Garden
of Eden. Or the energy of being “saved”. Or the concept of being in
Heaven. There as many names of this final union as there are names for
God.

All of great spiritual philosophies promise us beyond our hard work of
conquering our ego lies great bliss when we make our union once again
with the supreme one. We are all on this journey and lets help support
each other. Today, love for no reason. Send mercy to others when they
don’t deserve it. Hate no more. And do your yoga today knowing as you
calm the body down you increase the magnetic attraction between you and
the higher power.

Our power is endless if we connect to the endless....

Often times in this world, people feel the need to hold others up on a
pedestal and give them a larger than life status turning them into something
far greater than who they actually are. It’s not the lifting up of others that
bothers me, its the automatic default mode of lower status the rest of us
become when we separate an elite group or people from of the rest. As if
only a few of us are worthy of praise and love. The rest of us our just
commoners and unimportant is how the thinking goes. But this is not the
truth at all. Everyone one of us is worth knowing and is capable of reaching
great heights of righteousness. We often want to put people high up on
pedestals because then we get the permission to be lazy. We can live a
life unconsciously and devoid of true work if we adopt the belief that only
certain people are destined to greatness and the rest of us are just
hopeless fools who need not apply. We are not forced to idolize anyone —
we run after the opportunity so we can opt out of the game of life and sit on
the sidelines.

Probably my favorites spiritual story of all time is a story that tells of how an
ordinary man can reach heights of extraordinary levels. It shows us that we
are all capable of greatness and everyone of us has this potential within if
we are willing to make the right sacrifices.

One day, a wise old sage was passing through a town he had never
visited before. He was just about to leave the south village of the town
when he noticed the most divine fragrance in the air. He couldn’t believe
what he smelled. It was as sure as the ears and eyes and as strong as
anything he ever knew. The scent was of the Garden of Eden. He had
never in his life experienced the wonder of this scent.

The sage followed the scent to a modest cottage at the foot of the hill
nestled by a small spring. He knocked on the door with great excitement
hoping to find the source of such a wonderful aroma. An old man
answered the door, “May I help you?,” the he said. “I hope so. I know
that in this home is the Garden of Eden and I must find its origin. May I
come in?,” the sage asked. The old man was strong and fearless and felt
no sense of danger so he easily let sage inside. Inside the sage looked
around the entire home and came to a closet. “May I open the closet?,”
he asked. “By all means,” replied the old man. Inside, the sage found
hanging a putrid, molded, frayed, tattered, stained and vile jester suit.
The sage knew this was the source of the Garden of Eden for its sweet
aroma was palpable — it was coming from the suit! The sage
immediately drilled the old man for all information regarding the suit and
the old man relayed the following story:

Years ago, I was living in this very town. The town was quite different back then,
but nevertheless life was good and I had a decent life. I was quite poor though. I
often needed to beg for food and many times never had any food at all. I did
however have many friends. I was blessed with many good friends and I truly did
feel rich. One evening, after a meager dinner, I headed to bed only to be
disrupted by a knock at the door. It was my good friend Noah from town. Noah
appeared to be in trouble. He informed me that his daughter was very ill and she
appeared to be dying and that he needed to pay for his daughter to be
transported to the main city 20 miles north for treatment or else she would die.
Noah came to me to borrow any money that I could possibly spare. I told my
friend that I had nothing myself tonight to hardly eat and unfortunately could offer
no money to him. Noah was devastated. I was his last hope and he knew that
without medical care, his daughter would soon be gone. Now I knew many people
in town and I thought of an idea and told Noah to go home to his daughter and
wait for me and I will get the money he needed. Noah was puzzled but thrilled
and left for home. Without thinking I knew what I had to do. I needed to see the
rich miser who lived at the top of the hillside and I needed to beg him for the
money. I went to the rich miser’s home and knocked on the door. The door was
answered by his servant and I begged to see the rich miser and pleaded for a
chance to speak with him. The servant let me in and showed me to him. I
explained the story about Noah’s dying daughter and asked the miser for money.
Now the old miser lived alone for many years for many reasons. He was a selfish,
mean, cruel and hateful man who hoarded his money and shared with no one.
The miser immediately told me no and demanded me to leave. I fell to my knees
and pleaded and begged for the money. And with this grand gesture, the miser
was inspired to change his mind and decided to have a little fun. “I will give you
the money you need under one condition. Do you see the jester suit hanging?”,
the old miser pointed to an ornate, gaudy and shiny circus like jester suit fit with a
multi pointed hat that hung in the corner of the room. “That suit I purchased
during my travels last week. I was hoping to hire a local fool to entertain me
during my dinners, but I believe you would be just the fool I am looking for. I will
give you the money you need, if you put the suit on and enter ever pub in town
and make a fool of yourself. Jump on the tables, yell — do everything possible to
get kicked out. And do that in every pub and when you return I will give you the
money you need.” I remember feeling ill and I felt as if my face turned white. The
prospect of doing what the miser asked frightened me, but I remembered Noah
and his daughter and I knew I had to do it. So I put the suit on and left the
house headed for the first pub. On the outside of my body was the shiny and
circus like jester suit complete with a multi pointed hat. And on the inside of my
body was fear filling my bones and sickness in my stomach. What greeted me as
I entered the first pub was an onslaught of laughter. Patrons heckled and called
me names. I jumped on the table tops and jumped across the bar inflaming
everyone with rage and anger. I was beat up. I was kicked. I was spat on. I had
food thrown at me. And I ultimately was kicked out on the street. It was an awful
experience and I felt I couldn’t endure it again. But, I remembered my dear friend
Noah who needed my help and knew what I had to do. I visited a total of ten bars
that night. In each bar patrons kicked me Beat me. Spat on me, threw food and
ultimately threw me out on the street. After the tenth bar, I hobbled back to the
miser’s home. The miser was waiting for me and he began to laugh with such
amusement after laying his eyes on me, “You are the town fool after all!” I stood
there dripping with blood, food, dirt and defilement. I was bleeding and the suite
was torn to shreds. “I have never so thoroughly enjoyed myself. Here take the
money, it was worth it,” the miser said to me as he handed me the money and he
too kicked me out. Suddenly, through all the pain and humiliation, I didn’t care. I
knew I had gotten the money for my friend and somehow it was all worth it. I
couldn’t deliver the money to Noah personally, I was too beaten. Instead I got a
child to deliver the money to Noah and I decided to go home. When I arrived
home I fell to the ground and passed out. And that is the story behind that suit
you see in the closet. I kept the suite to remind myself that if we are willing to
sacrifice ourselves a bit, we can probably make anything happen. Noah’s
daughter was sent to the near by city and got her treatment and survived. What I
did was worth it. She is now grown and is a mother and a wife and I am the
godfather to her five children. Noah and I have been very close since then and
have become the closest of friends. I feel truly rich in life. I am happy and joyful
and feel loved.”

The old man finished the story and realized the sage was in tears. “This
is truly the most beautiful story I have ever heard and now I see how this
suit has the scent of the Garden of Eden”, the sage said. “I have met in
my life many great people. Popes, bishops, priests, rabbis, scholars,
author and leaders, but till today I have never met a truly righteous man
like you. I see you have a place in the world to come.” The sage
thanked the old man for his time and story and left, taking with him the
awesome lesson that anyone of us can reach greatness when we are
willing to make a sacrifice for another person. The sage now saw that true
spirituality is taking responsibility for others and when we are willing to do
this anyone can be righteous.

Giving is the endless gift...

Nothing physical will ever bring us true happiness. The happiness we
have from physical things will feel like true happiness, but it’s liken to
artificial sweetener — it’s really not the real thing. Many of us have never
tasted the real “sugar”. How do we taste real “sugar”? What is true
happiness? Well, I tend to think of Oprah Winfrey when I think of this
subject. During one Christmas, Oprah went to South Africa and gave
away thousands of toys and clothes and shoes to the children of South
Africa. After all her money (more money than any other entertainment
personality), after all her “things”, she says that during that moment when
she gave the children the gifts she had never experienced joy of that
magnitude. And that moment was why she was put here on earth! This
message that sharing and giving is the source of our joy and purpose is
counter intuitive. It’s almost as if we are being set up in this world. We
think happiness comes when we “get”, but it’s actually when we give.
Today, give to someone who needs. It doesn’t work to give where it’s not
needed or appreciated. You must fill a vessel. Giving without a vessel is
a waste of energy. Find a vessel, find need and give and splendor in
the taste of the real thing.

Keter

Today I heard one of my teachers say that if we could really see who we
are inside, if we could really see where we come from we would never
again suffer from sadness, depression, jealousy or low self-esteem
again. Our eyes are capable of seeing only a fraction of reality. We see
only red through violet. Thats it. Is there more to life? Well about a
hundred years ago we thought the answer to that was no. But today, we
know that there is infra-red and ultraviolet — frequencies beyond both
ends of our visible color spectrum. So today, we know that there are
things that exist that we cannot see. Could there be more?

One of the great modern movies of our time Pan’s Labyrinth depicts the
story of a young girl who on the outside appears to be quite powerless
and burdened with problems, but in reality she is really a princess. Could
we all be princes and princesses and not know it? The Yoga Sutrus
teach that the final realization is when our soul looks into the mirror of the
mind (once the mind is still) and it recognizes that “It is He. And He is it.”
We realize that we are Divine. Not just similar to Divinity — but identical
to it. Today, cut the process out. Don’t just believe — but know you are
worthy of love, happiness, joy and fulfillment. Know that in your core there
is a blood line straight to the King and that you are something quite
special.

What is real?

It is said that in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve (Adam and Eve is
code for the two parts of our soul) loved all that was good for them and
had a bitter taste for all that was bad for them. Imagine a consciousness
where you loved eating healthy and exercising. Imagine living for the night
when a friend would call you at 3am to talk about his or her problems!
Imagine loving giving money away to everyone in need. Imagine loving
sharing and loving loving itself! Imagine loving saying only kind things to
our friends and loved ones. Imagine being in love with acting in
accordance with the highest vibration of the soul! What a way to live! No
wonder it is called the Garden of Eden.

But, it is said, that when Adam and Eve (again code names) lost their
elevated consciousness their perception of reality was flipped on its
head. Meaning they, or more precisely we, now perceive reality under an
illusion. We now love all that is bad for us and loathe all that is good for
us. This is why life is a paradox. This is why we are here on earth — to
figure this out. The truth is, only sharing and loving will bring us the
happiness we seek, although receiving endlessly from one source to the
next is all we ever seem to do. We have to look at the world and
recognize that what we see and hear cannot be trusted. We have to
understand that behind the image can be something completely different.
And sometimes the things we think are meaningless or the things we
think we would never want, can turn out to be the most important things in
life. Today: Be Bold. Be Wise. And dare to HEAR with your eyes. And
SEE with your EARS.

“Life is a paradox. What’s big is small. What’s small is big.”
——Caroline Myss

Who's really in contol?

On the first day of Capricorn, we discussed the power the Capricorn has
and how because of this power the Capricorn tends to feel that they are
the sole creators of their life. And we discussed the need to appreciate
that although we do make amazing things in this world with “our hands”,
we do not make our hands. We were giving the ability to create and we
should remember that we are co-creators — not sole creators.

The blessings we see here in our lives on earth is liken to the way a
shadow works. We make a shape with our hands and the shadow
appears on the floor or wall. We make a new shape with our hands and a
new shape appears in the shadow. If we want to change the shadow we
can in no way go up to the shadow on the wall and try to change it
directly. The only way to change the shadow is at the root: the hands!
This metaphor shows us how life works. Do we think our physical lives
are shadows or are hands? Are the blessings we see here on earth the
result of a greater movement above? And conversely, are the disasters
on our planet a result of above mechanisms? How do you see your life?
Is life random? Or is there order? Does a blessing just suddenly
appear? Does a storm just suddenly appear? Does a tree just suddenly
appear in the back yard? Or was there a seed? A seed that was planted
years ago. A seed that was responsible for what we see today.

This world is a shadow of the upper worlds. As above so below. What is
in control? Is it this earth? Who or what is controlling what happens here
in your life and on this earth? Where is the root of blessings and curses?
Why can we change some things and cannot change others? Our life is
a reflection of a higher order. We live in the shadow of an upper
world. We however, are not just mere puppets victimized by the tug of a
string. We have influence on this upper world and we can make any
shadow move and change! It’s as simple as moving our hands and
changing the shadow’s shape on the wall.

We can no longer ignore the fact there is a root cause to how our life is
manifesting. Today remove from your vocabulary the following words:
BLAME. VICTIM. SUDDENLY. UNFAIR. ACCIDENT. COINCIDENCE.
RANDOM. Know that there is a root. You can change things. And
nothing just comes out of the blue. The universe is wise, compassionate
and there is great order.

We learn in yoga the importance of withdrawing from the senses, like the
turtle who goes into itself and withdraws from the world, we withdraw from
our attachment to our senses of gratification. This is the work of yoga. If
you have been practicing yoga for many years and have been focused on
your postures more than this basic concept then you are perhaps
practicing gymnastics instead.

Of all the sensory withdraws, the need to eliminate anger is the most
important. Anger is the most devastating blow to the energy structure. It
causes the practitioner to behave in ways he would never normal behave.
It is said that during anger, another soul leaps into our body and that we
shouldn’t even look into the eyes of an angry person.

I have a note reminding me each day the following: I will not let my ego
get me to argue and battle with my brothers and sisters today.

We will always have a reason to argue. That’s the trick about war: there
will always be all the right reasons to go to “war”. The question is will you
engage? Will you be like a fighting dog? Is being right more important to
you then peace? Will it make you feel good to have “HE WAS RIGHT,”
etched in your headstone? Today, think of your desire to argue, to
defend, to cause separation, to yell, to scream, to tell someone how right
you are and how wrong they are, think of these desires as real of a
sensory pleasure as a thousand orgasms would be! Draw away. Go into
your shell. There you will find peace.

Fight against the magnet......

What if what you ever wanted out of life is waiting for you right behind the
action you least want to take? What if the ultimate paradox existed? That
the very thing you think you want is the very thing that is holding you back?
What if your truest treasure is in the last place you’d ever go to find it?
Caroline Myss reminds us that life is a paradox: What is big is small,
what is small is big. And Joseph Campbell tells us that the jewel is
always going to be in the cave. Today, look for your joy in places you
would never expect to find it. Look for what is drawing in your attention
and run from it, chances are your dream isn’t going to found in the places
you are naturally drawn to. What a shame it would be to be distracted all
your life from what you really truly wanted and not ever know it.