Yoga Sutras Week 6 - Be the Loving Gardener

The Sharanam invites us into a new relationship with Life.
 It invites us into a new depth.
 It invites us to let go of certain personal delusions
 about how Life works — and about our own sense of controlling it all.

Because once we’re no longer delusional about how Life works,
 we stop fighting against it.
 And a lot of our psychological games give way.

We can start coming into service of Life.
 I feel that this is the great happening.
 We come out of our self-centricness — our self-centredness.
 We start to see — oh, it’s bigger than me.
 We might even start to understand — it’s not all about me.
 Life is bigger than just this little happening inside of me.
 Not that that’s not important. But it’s just… bigger than that.

I have a prayer I say most mornings.
 It never comes out the same.

The essential gist of it — is the feeling behind the Gayatri Mantra.
 And because the Gayatri is the mantra of radiance, illumination, and Light —
 what we’re really asking is:

Illuminate my mind. Illuminate my intellect. Illuminate my heart. Illuminate my body.
 Light me up from the inside — and shine out of me.
 Bring nothing but love out of this instrument of me. Bring nothing but joy. Bring nothing but goodness.
 Despite me, I ask you to do this. That’s my wish.

Now that wish is a biggie, no?
 Don’t you think?

It’s a different choice about how to live Life.

Then these prayers become really relevant.
 There’s nothing we can say from the core of us that isn’t heard — by the energy of Life.
 Because we’re part of it.
 We’re like a tannoy.
 We’re asking for this, asking for that —
 "me, me, me... I want, I want, I want."

Meanwhile, Life is possibly waiting for someone to just go —
 "You know what? I just want to shine your Light. I want to bring love into the world."

Wow, did you hear that?
 Amazing.

Someone’s asking to be an instrument of the Light.
 What do you know? One of those rare ones.

So I was just feeling it, that’s all. So I shared it.

Don’t be shy, you know. What else are we all up to?

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This is a gentle invitation
 to become an instrument of the great intelligence.

And in order to do that, six things have to take place.
 That’s why they’re there in the Sharanam.

In order to become an instrument — in order to become of service —
 those six things in the Sharanam have to click.

We have to stop believing that we’re creating ourselves and running our own show.
 We have to put the desire of Life within us ahead of our own.
 We have to understand that Life, in its intelligence, is taking our life forward.
 We understand that we are totally loved and accepted by Life in our own unique unfolding.

We’re not the plan. We’re not determining the outcome of everything.

These things need to click into gear.

And then — Life’s game on.

With these six clicks in us each day,
 we make sure the instrument is aligned,
 so it’s possible for the Light to pour in and out of it.

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So we’ve gone through the sutras.
 We keep going through them, because that’s how the scripture starts to enshrine itself within us —
 rather than being information from the outside.

(Sutra 1)
 atha yoga-anuśāsanam

Are you enjoying your discovery of yourself?
 Yes?

Is it the greatest discovery you could make?
 Yeah.

(Sutra 2)
 yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ

Yoga is a disidentification from everything we think we know already.
 It’s a disidentification from what we imagine about ourselves — everything we’ve accumulated along the way.

It’s not an adding to us.
 It’s the one thing that’s not adding to us.
 It’s a subtraction.

(Sutra 3)
 tadā draṣṭuḥ svarūpe avasthānam

It’s a pulling away of all this stuff
 so we can get to the original radiance of ourselves.

That’s not the only thing there, right?

(Sutra 4)
 ṛtambharā tatra prajñā

 Wisdom is also there.

The splendour and wisdom… deep stillness… peace…
 absolute ease in oneself is available —
 if one’s willing to let go of the notion of oneself.

Coming to terms with the fact
 that we have absolutely and completely made ourselves up.
 You are a complete fabrication of your own making.

How’s it looking?

No — don’t answer that.

All you need to know is:
 Are you currently satisfied with it?
 And have you ever been satisfied with it?

You’ve never been satisfied with yourself once.
 I’m just telling you.

Because it’s fabricated, we know it’s false.
 You can’t be satisfied with the false.
 You can only be satisfied with essence. With truth. With that which has changed you.

 Come on. Shed this stuff. Shed this stuff.

Keep dropping everything.

(Sutra 5)
 abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyāṁ tan-nirodhaḥ

Keep practising this —
 “Oh, and I let go.”
 Vairāgya.

Whilst being completely involved in everything.

(Sutra 6)
 sa tu dīrgha-kāla-nairantarya-satkāra-ādara-āsevitu dṛḍha-bhūmiḥ

So — the yogis in front of Patañjali have possibly asked the question,
 either mentally or out loud:

"All right, Guruji… how long is this process going to take?"
 "And what’s it going to require from me?"
 "What’s the exchange?"
 "And what kind of timeframe are we looking at here for enlightenment?"

And Patañjali has responded by saying —
 Well, in order to become firmly grounded, deeply rooted, unequivocally established in the true nature of yourself —
 to be able to really flow with Life
 without very much interruption from your psychology,
 but simply going with the innate wisdom of creation itself that’s pouring through you…

Yeah, that’ll take as long as it needs to take.
 Which means — generally — a long time.

Because the reality is,
 it’s taken a long time to get where you are — to waking up.
 And now, it’ll take a little longer to really own this truth that you know.

Like — we’ve seen satsang together, haven’t we?
 We all nod away — “Yes.”

But it takes time for it to take root in the ground of us.
 It takes a lot of feed. A lot of rainfall of satsang to keep feeding the root.

But it is feeding the root.

And that gradually becomes our background reality.
 Rather than checking in with our thinking,
 we start checking in more and more with our being.

 "Is it so?"

You check your energy for validation — not your mind.
 Because you start to see —
 "Ah, it just gives me more dilemma.
 I’ve got to go to the place without dilemma — which is the stillness."

And that’s the beginning of this deep maturing.

So he’s saying — the fruit will ripen in its own time.
 Dīrgha-kāla.

The fruit will ripen.
 It’ll mature in its own time.

But — in order for that fruit to ripen —
 you can help.

You can’t force the fruit to ripen.
 We know this.

That’s why we have sukha and ahiṃsā.

I worked on a lot of farms as a young fella — because, you know, I did that travelling thing.
 And farms were great because you didn’t need to work big the most of the time.
 So I was an illegal immigrant almost everywhere.
 Wonderful life.

A lot of the greenhouses — greenhouses are fine.
 That’s a gentle encouragement.

I have a greenhouse — bloody brilliant, what it does for tomatoes.

But, you know — those Dutchies…
 They’re not all legit, those Dutch tomatoes.
 Just so you know.

They’re gassing the crap out of them every night.
 To bring them into a pseudo-ripeness,
 so they can flog them.

They didn’t actually do it in Holland — they sent them to Belgium to get it done.
 Or they did back in the day.
 And then got them shipped up and boxed.
 In Dutch boxes.

Interesting to know what goes on, isn’t it?

I was there helping out. Wasn’t too bothered at 18, you know.

But it just doesn’t taste as good.

You can force something to grow,
 but it doesn’t develop the inner juice.
 It doesn’t develop the inner taste
 that a naturally ripened fruit does.
 Isn’t it?

So you’ve got to give the fruit time
 to find its own ripeness.

Patanjali uses three things to get this across:
 nairantarya — consistent attentiveness
 satkāra — dedication
 ādara — warmth, reverence, care

Three terms.

You’re going to have to really stay with it.
 To be with the fruit.

You’re going to have to really tend it well.

This is your inner fruit, by the way —
We’re not any longer in greenhouses in Holland.

Your inner fruit will need to be tended well.
 You will need to be persevering.
 And you will need to be very dedicated to its ripening.

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He’s saying — if you just leave it there,
 maybe at some point it’ll get ripe by chance.

But —
 if you cut some stuff back and let more sun on it,
 if you water it in the evening,
 you’re giving it the best shot for its ripening.

Still — the weather will determine some things, no?

But he says — this is what you can do.
 It’s going to have to ripen in its own time.
 Be extremely patient.

It’s taken you a long time to get to the awakening point.
 Don’t hurry this.

It’s an absolutely beautiful final straight.

But do tend to it lovingly —
 like you would a small child.

And then your inner one will grow from that attention.
 It will grow from that food and that knowledge.
 And that will largely determine the time it takes.

There are other sutras around this
 where he goes into a bit more detail.

But yeah — how’s that sitting?

Good to be a ripening fruit?
 But with a loving gardener, no?

Rather than being gassed in your polytunnel every night
 like you’re not growing quick enough.

Just gently.

And your practice is this.
 We’ve literally taken this sutra
 and put it into action, have we not?

Lovingly tending your own inner garden,
 into ripening the fruit of your own illumination.

Not heavy with the secateurs?

Not over-pruning too much.
 Not over-fussing either.

You notice that?

Not over-watering.
 Not over-mothering.
 But just being relaxed.

Letting the process unfold.
 Enjoying the ride as much as you can.

But also —
 not forgetting to go and water on a hot day.

Otherwise — no fruit.

Gardening and spiritual practice are very intertwined.

In fact, everything is intertwined.
 I just chose gardening —
 because it’s on my mind.

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Be a great gardener.
 Oh — that’s the ticket.

I think we’re learning that well.
 Sukha

 Spanda

 Leela 

Purna.

You’re just helping to ripen your fruit
 in every session.

The fastest way for something to ripen
 is to come gently closer to the sun.

So all we’re doing in the practice —
 essentially —
 is bringing our body and our mind
 closer to the Source.

The sun.

You know what I mean?

That’s all we’re doing.
 We’re just making sure
 that delivery happens.

The sun does the illuminating, doesn’t it?

Oh — the analogy just goes on and on.

Just in case we’re feeling like we’re the doer —
 "Oh, I’m ripening my fruit, Steve."

No, you’re not.

You’re just gently relaxing your body and mind
 so it comes in contact with the great Illuminator —
 the great Ripener.

Life’s doing the whole thing.

I’m just choosing to take a little bit of part in that.

All right.
 Come on, then.

Let’s ripen some fruit
 by bringing it closer to the sun.

Thank you for being here.