The meaning of life - 'To be like a Tree!'

I have just returned once again to Kathmandu after another amazing, revealing and illuminating time in India.  How lucky am I to be able to keep growing and learning and then to see so many faces from around the world at Pranamaya’s opening of our new studio in Thamel last night, to share all this with.  All this wonderful yoga.  How privileged I am.  How lucky we are to have these human bodies as our abodes, to experience life through.  To be able to work through all 5 layers of our existence through the practice of yoga, to experience our physical selves, our pranic selves, our minds and mental layer, our intellect and our bliss.  What joy to have this human existence and what an adventure of discovery we can have. 

On this trip I had the great fortune to meet and be in the presence with Swami Bhoomananda, as his eyes shone brightly he explained that we should be like the plants, like a tree that gives fruit, giving to all and causing no harm.  We should have no possessiveness, no ego and be desire less.  It is our birthright to be happy; to feel joy and that we should be laughing.  However we should feel pain, pain is a good thing he explained, if we feel no pain this would be a very dangerous thing, if you cut your hand off and you felt nothing you would very quickly bleed to death.  We need pain, but suffering that is different.  By studying Vedanta that suffering can be relieved and eradicated.  By studying Vedanta we can become free there is no doubt he says. 

Although we are lucky to have these body homes we must remain unattached to them, they are not permanent, death of the body will come, the soul is eternal.  Don’t get caught up with the body, with ideas of perfection and appearance.  Does a tree worry about what it is looking like?  I think it just enjoys its life. 

Swami Bhoomananda’s response to the question of what is the meaning of life was to be like the tree, give your fruits, be compassionate, and be kind.  Keep growing with your experience, and having the honour of sharing yoga certainly is a way to keep growing. 

We are all teachers, the teachers learn from the students and the students learn from the teachers, we are all students learning from each other.  Staying in an Ashram environment teaches us so much as we are thrown together with a whole bunch of people that we have to live, sleep and eat with side by side.  When there is no personal space we learn a lot about tolerance and acceptance and how to love one another.  To not judge others but to work on ourselves, don’t worry about what so and so is doing, worry about yourself, keep working on yourself.  Yoga isn’t just about the time when you have your yoga stuff on and have laid out your mat, yoga is something that should be with you every second, it is an attitude not just breath and postures.  Yoga is being able to remain calm, happy, contented and compassionate in every situation, in our success and in our failure.  To simply be like a tree, feel like the tree and give as the tree gives.

Have beautiful days and sway in the breeze!

Om shanti

Mangala - Nicky