Ancient Stories, Life in the NOW
Beautiful Soul,
This morning as I'm preparing what I'm teaching in The Sanctuary, I'm personally really relating to the theme.
We are doing an exploration of themes of the Bhagavad Gita through asana...I'm teaching all the warrior variations with plenty of personal reflection too. Pretty fun and enlightening too!
Early on in that story, in case you haven't read it, Arjuna (the warrior) is standing on the battlefield with Krishna ("God"), strongly resisting going forward with his role in war.
He says, "I don't want to fight." And has a multitude of reasons why.
Including, he doesn't want to kill his cousins, uncles, and friends. Nor does he want to see them die. And he doesn't want to cause suffering and grief to their wives, children, mothers or anyone else.
He is a state of deep confusion. Krishna tells him it is his duty to fight. But he can only imagine all that is wrong with taking those actions.
It seems, to him, that no good can come from the place where he finds himself.
Of course, this story is not only about Arjuna's dilemma.
It's about what happens for all of us, in both big and small ways, as we journey through our lives.
Consider all the times you have arrived at a point where things seem destined but you resist and make excuses. When the road ahead seems hard, how many excuses do you find for not going forward?
Especially when you feel those counter resistances from the people around you? No one wants to "die" or feel the pain of making changes or "killing" off certain parts, behaviors, or beliefs.
And even when you are determined that they will improve the state of the "kingdom" in the end, it can take a lot of fortitude, dedication, and discipline to continue to move forward.
So, too often, we give up. Or only go part way with our intentions. Or worse yet, we don't even begin - because although we might have a vision of how we'd like things to be, we can't get clear about the next step.
The year of 2022 is rapidly coming toward it's ending. Is there anything you had committed to finally doing this year for your health, wellbeing, and/or happiness?
It's not too late to start.
And don't forget, you can be like Arjuna and ask for wise counsel!!
You never have to do it all alone.
With love,
PS....While a text like the Bhagavad Gita was written thousands of years ago, the themes are so pertinent to our contemporary lives! I love supporting you in more fully embodying wisdom, not just telling stories - one of my students said today after class, "I've studied the BG a few times over the years but the way you're doing it here, with less of the content and more encouragement to reflect on the themes in myself is really helpful!"
If you're ready to go deeper with your practice, I'm here for you! Just like Arjuna with Krishna, all you have to do is ask!