Trying to hold it all together to do ‘a good job’ The family work marriage belly in And you hold in breath tears rage at times loosing your sense of sanity You spread yourself So thin That you are nowhere To be seen Hold yourself Exhale Relax the grip The whole world is not for you to hold
Facing the overgrown weed
The task feels overwhelming
Where to start?
Which one to pull out?
Sudden doubt
This weed is actually pretty
And it serves its purpose too
Varied flowers of different colors
Some are edible too
I finally squat
Choosing one to start with
As my hands move carefully
The task gets easier
Almost instinctively
I move to the next one
and the next one after that
Until after a while I look back
And can see the difference
Squatting and kneeling on the ground
Can’t help but think of the mess in my mind
Like the weed, grown uncontrollably
Away from my attention
Sometimes so dense that I feel stuck
With the constant practice
The ability comes
To pull
One by one
From the root
The weed in my head
So when I sit
That seed
That is inside me
Can finally
Breathe
Although the path to liberation from suffering described by Patanjali is through meditation, we cannot reach a state of meditation as long as our mind is a mess. In order to calm the mind, we need to live a mindful life, and this can be done through the modalities Patanjali gives us in the method of Ashtanga Yoga, which in some aspects, seem to me to be connected to the principles of Karma Yoga as I have studied them in the Bhagavad Gita.
I recently wrote a post about the Yamas and Niyamas which can be seen as values and observances that when used in our interactions with ourselves and others, help reduce and eventually eliminate the fuss in our minds (chitta vrittis). In the same scripture, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we learn about the five kleshas (pancha klesha) or afflictions which are described as the obstacles to cultivating a calm state of mind. As long as our actions are a result of these afflictions, we are stuck in the cycle of karma – cause and effect. If we, on the other hand, choose to live a life of awareness and apply the Yamas and Niyamas, we avoid increasing the karmic load for ourselves, and contribute to a better world.
II.12 The stock of karma has the kleshas as its root. It is experienced in present or future lives. -Patanjali Yoga Sutras
The five kleshas are: avidya (ignorance), asmita (egoism), raga (attachment), dvesha (repulsion or aversion) and abhinivesha (fear of death – clinging to a life of delusion).
The klésha that keeps us in the loop of the other four is avidya, or ignorance. In the context of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the ignorance referred to is our inability to see what is called our True Self (Purusha) which lies beyond our thoughts and physical body. This ignorance bounds us to act out of attachment and/or aversion and their derivates such as anger, fear, greed and so on. Purusha is described as eternal consciousness or pure potential. It is said, that once we realize our True Self, we find inside us a steady state of peace, love, freedom, and happiness. The problem, and the source of our suffering, is that since we’ve lost contact with Purusha, we keep seeking for peace, love, freedom and/or happiness through our actions, but nothing in the world around us -called Prakriti in the Yoga Sutras and Sankhya philosophy- can give us a constant unchangeable feeling of peace, love, freedom, and happiness because the nature of the world is transient.
“II.5 Ignorance is the notion that takes the self, which is joyful, pure, and eternal, to be the nonself, which is painful, unclean, and temporary.” [Commentary: ] Patañjali here gives a very important definition of ignorance, the primary cause of all bondage: Avidyā, ignorance, entails confounding the nature of the soul with that of the body. The body is here described as painful, duḥkha; unclean, aśuci; and temporary, anitya, unlike the puruṣa who is joyful, sukha; pure, śuci; and eternal, nitya.” Bryant, Edwin F.. The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (pp. 216-217). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
I have to say at this stage, that I often see the path of Yoga as a game with levels. At the level, I operate today, the idea of Self Realization, or reaching a state of complete awareness of Purusha seems a bit far out for me and challenging to grasp. However, the path towards it is what motivates me to study and practice Yoga which, will lead me to develop a better version of myself by living more mindfully and creating less suffering for myself and others- note that suffering is used as a common term for distressing feelings such as frustration, anger, regret, stress, and anxiety.
Also, the idea of having, inside me, a place of peace, love, freedom, and happiness that is constant and independent of my mind and the world around me gives me comfort, even though I still have a long way to go, sitting down in silence, practicing breathing exercises and studying and reflecting upon scriptures such as The Yoga Sutras, bring peace and reassurance to my mind and body, especially when being challenged by life and/or my thoughts.
I believe that the two main ways avidya is at the source of all the other kléshas are:
So, because we don’t know our True Self, we identify ourselves with our body and mind and the different roles we play in life. For each role, we have consciously and unconsciously a list of likes and dislikes that trigger emotions and thus actions and reactions. When we are not aware of this, we trap ourselves in some sort of hamster wheel (the wheel of karma). Reflect on the following quote written by my teacher, Prasad, for the Yoga Sutras course from 2021:
“The wider the net of I, Me and My, the more our energy dissipates.”
This is the essence of the Pancha Klesha teachings, I think.
The theory of pancha klesha, Karma Yoga and the study and understanding of Yama and Niyama can help us develop better habits to calm our minds and thus live a simpler, more content life. This in return affects in a positive way our environment because we become clearer, more confident, and compassionate members of society.
One way I use to get myself out of an aversion-attachment situation is to tell myself that things are happening and it is when I add ‘to me’ and especially ‘to me in the role of ____’ that distress happens, or at least it is amplified.
This Summer, I am observing that I have a tendency to be anxious about my role as a mother. This feeling is rather new to me because as the mum of babies, toddlers, and young children although demanding, I felt relatively sure about what I was doing. During the last two years, however, I have become more and more worried about not having done the right thing until now, not having made good enough choices that affect my children, not giving them enough, not giving them the right upbringing, etc.
Needless to say, it is quite tiring, and I must confess that all these worries and anxieties do wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes. My latest anxiety has been the summer break. My husband and I decided not to plan any trip abroad partly because we didn’t want to have to deal with COVID-related complications during a possible trip, partly because we didn’t plan economically for it, and partly because we love spending the Summer in Norway. It is the best time to be here for us because we like riding our bikes, hiking, orienteering, bathing in lakes and the sea and lately, my husband and I have become more and more interested in learning about edible wild plants and mushrooms.
Our plan was to visit my husband’s family that we don’t meet very often in the south of Norway, stopping on the way to make it a bit of a road trip, and maybe spend some days in the mountains in the end of July. The road trip was very nice and spending time with family is always well-spent time, especially for the kids. After ten days, though, we drove back home because our cat was home alone, and although she was being fed by friends and neighbors, she is not used to us being away for long periods of time.
This Summer, the weather in Trondheim hasn’t been great, so we spent some time doing some home improvements, I finished some sewing projects, and we managed to take some trips to the forest too. One of my daughters and I have been also bathing quite regularly even though it is a bit cold.
Our youngest daughter is very social and has a couple of good friends in the neigborhood with whom she has been spending a lot of time. We live close to the sea, and close to a farm, and they spend their days visiting the sheep, visiting a neighbor whose dog just had puppies, and when the weather allows, at the beach.
Our oldest has had a less exciting summer, I think, and maybe that is where my anxiety comes from. He is sixteen and at what I see as a crossroads. He will start High school this Fall, and he is a bit in limbo for the moment. Not much to do. Not many friends to hang out with since some are traveling and others are busy with other friends and/or family. Although I do feel for him, I also think this is quite normal. I also went through a period like that when I was around his age.
So, why my anxiety? Well, it has taken me quite a few days to sit down and write this in my journal and realize that my worries are unfounded. It sometimes seems like ‘everybody’ travels abroad at least once a year in Norway, but although it might be true for some, it is not everybody. And why is traveling abroad better than enjoying time together in nature? Or with family? We made a choice not to travel, why spend time stressed questioning a choice I can’t change now? We do try to give our kids experiences. For us, developing awe, love, and respect for nature has been important. Not to mention joy in simple things.
Maybe what is important to acknowledge here is how everything is in constant change. Our oldest and youngest don’t share the same interests with us anymore. Thus, they don’t always want to join us for our hikes, and they might complain if we insist. But hey! that’s partly the job of a teenager, isn’t it? So why do I torture myself like this?
Being a teenager is going through so many changes, but being the mum of three teenagers also requires changes in my mindset and attitude. I realize that I try to be everything for my kids because that is what I was when they were younger. I don’t need to do that anymore. I just need to be a clear, steady, and reliable adult for them. They might not always like my choices and my ideas, but that is part of allowing them to become more steady in who they want to be. I can listen to them, and we can start making projects together instead of my husband and I deciding for everyone, but I most probably won’t always be able to or even wish to do as they want.
So, to reduce my anxiety, I need to be steady in the choices we make as the adults in the family and accept that some or many of them won’t necessarily be popular among the teenagers in the house.
Last week, I went for a hike with a couple of friends, and somehow our conversation moved to grizzly bears. One of my friends is Canadian and she worked as a guide in nature while living in a small town in the Rocky Mountains so she obviously knows how to behave around a bear. My other friend does too because she has spent time in Canada too, and most probably because she is interested in nature.
I shared with my husband the stories they told about close encounters with bears, and we started pondering the importance of learning how to behave around wild animals and in nature in general. He is Norwegian and believes that most Norwegians nowadays, even those who live in remote rural areas, have lost this kind of knowledge. This lack of knowledge creates separation and fear and has led to what we see as little respect for certain animals such as bears and wolves. We constantly hear about how low the bear and wolf population in Norway is and it is because they are often killed out of fear.
This morning, after hearing about the heat wave in Europe, I asked myself, how long have humans been on Earth (according to atlas.com, six million years if we count our ancestors, 300 000 years as we are now!) and how come it seems like the destruction of our planet to such the scale we see now with pollution and abuse of natural resources seems to be relatively new?
I believe that one of the reasons why we are abusing nature and leading our planet Earth towards climate change is the distance we have created between nature and natural processes and ourselves. In part, urbanization is responsible as more and more people move to the cities attempting to improve their lives and lose contact with nature, in part capitalism, especially in rich countries, which teaches us to believe that our well-being is in buying stuff and experiences.
I am constantly surprised by the attitude many people have towards nature and especially animals. It often seems to me that animals are seen as objects and not as sentient beings. Even thousands of domestic animals are dumped every single summer in Norway because people want to go on a vacation and can’t bother to find someone who can take care of their cat or dog.
We buy our food in supermarkets, spend a lot of money on fruits and vegetables that come from abroad, and are ignorant of all the local edible plants. We recently visited a botanic garden in Hamar, where the guide explained that for hundreds of years, Scandinavians got their vitamin C from among other things, Elderberry. Until someone in the 1700s, I think, introduced lemons as the better option. Lemons that need to travel from afar. Then, gradually, the knowledge about elderberry started fading away. The same has happened with medicinal plants. We have no clue on how to heal ourselves from minor ailments other than going to the doctor and getting a prescription where we could easily use plants and/or common sense.
My point here is that I feel we have lost so much valuable knowledge that on one side would contribute to our immediate well-being and on the other help us develop respect for all living beings. As a global community, we need to stop and reflect on what kind of information we keep feeding our minds and our children’s minds, and whether half of this information is useful.
The more I spend time in nature and learn about the local ecosystems, the more in awe I am and develop a respect for it.
Luckily, I see a trend at least in Norway, where people are going back to traditional knowledge. We are also rediscovering the importance of making and repairing things ourselves. For the benefit of the Earth, but also for our personal well-being. Just remember how well you felt last time you made something with your own hands.
As one of my students said the other day, it is not about going back to the old way of living, but it is about not forgetting the valuable knowledge and values we had before the industrial revolution at the same time as we benefit from the advances and inventions we have today.
A Truth Seeker's Journal 