Prana Pigeon & Prose (eBook)

Chapter 2

Tapas (Self Discipline)
Willpower & Coming
into Stillness

David the psalmist of the Christian Bible calls us into stillness. In Psalms chapter 43 verse 10 he says, “be still and know that I am the Lord.”[5]Nelson Publishing 1985 This one of my very favorite verses from the Bible, and it bids us to slow down, to relax, to ‘be still and know’, that God’s hand is over all things. These words have comforted me for many years and through many hardships. Here we learn that there is no need for us to worry, and stress out, that all things are transpiring for our greatest good. Patanjali in his sutras bids us to observe the 5th Niyama of Ishvara pranidhana, or that we should “surrender all to the Lord of yoga”.[6] Miller 1998 In the great Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna who is God Incarnate, reminds Lord Arjuna to do his duty and allow God to take the burden of worry off his shoulders.[8]Eswaran 2007

For us to truly be still, to surrender to what is, I believe is one of the hardest things for us all to do. It takes a great amount of self-discipline, or Tapas (sanskrit for will) for us to restrain ourselves. We try to control the outcomes of life we encounter on a daily basis. Instead of releasing control, we fight against the current, trying to manipulate life’s rhythms to our own. Instead of relaxing and going with the flow, we are always in motion, always doing always going. It isn’t until we get still, that we can receive the messages from the divine, and relax into our life, instead of fight against it, and as a result we suffer when the outcomes do not conform to our own ideas of how reality should be.

Silence

Simply,
Impossible, to
Listen, and 
Enjoy.
Nothingness.
Clamoring on,
Endlessly.

05/01/2002

Run

We run to work, we run to school,
We run to our friends, we run to be cool.

We run to the beginning, then run to the end.
We run past the beauty, with no time to mend.

We run to get older, we run to be young.
We run to be bolder, we run to be done.

We run to get money, then pay it right out.
We run to find truth, then run in to doubt.

We run to get love quickly, then make a mistake,
Then run from the tears, and the resulting heartache.

We run from the truth, as we run from the lie.
So much running, as our life passes by.

Wasting our time, running in place.
We need to stop, life isn’t a race.

Stop for a moment, just breathe and be.
Slow down and appreciate, all that you have, and all that you see.

There is no need to run.
This I say in truth.
Savor each moment,
Like the inner child of your youth.

Open your heart.
To the message contained herein.
Stop all the running.
Ready set, begin.

5/17/16

Remember

Remember the next time you grumble, or groan,
EVERYTHG! you believe is yours, is all on loan.

Remember the next time your heart feels bereft,
If you’re still breathing, then you’ve got plenty left.

When you feel lacking, on any account 
Remember that in your breath, there is an endless fount.

Life giving energy, from which you can always drink,
To restore your body, back from a stressful brink.

So sit here and now, be fully present, be silent, and still,
And drink in the living water, until you get your fill.

For as long as you can breathe, you are able to heal,
Spiritual medicine, from the divine, that’s more than real.

Choose joy for your journey, find love and light, in every step of the way,
Let your heart fill with gratitude, for the gift of life, for another day.

2/7/17

Not everything about stillness is comfortable for us, in fact it is for many it is quite the opposite. I have observed my students fidgeting during their 5 minutes in savasana, after a hour of yogic movement and breath. It is not always comfortable to face the truth within ourselves. It is difficult, but necessary inner work, my students have heard me refer to it as soul work. That is a good way to describe the practice of becoming still. This next poem describes of my own bouts with stillness back at a point in my life where I still had much to learn about my own inner workings, in fact I still do.

Eclipse

Eclipsed by the Earth, the Sun’s light fades out,
I don’t have any fear, but I’ve got a lot of doubt.
All of those people, that want me to be just so,
but my true self, I’m just not ready to show.

The piece that is missing, that is gone, I just can’t seem to find,
I search, and I search, but I’m running out of time.

Darkness drawing near, right before my eyes,
even though I know, that it is no big surprise.

As the seconds pass, days from minutes, minutes to hours,
nothing I can do, as the me that was, gets devoured.
So I just go on, the very best I can,
As I surrender, to the Divine plan.

7/2011

Let it Go

So many things you just can’t control,
with all the punches, you’ve got to learn to roll.
Just let it go.

No one ever said, “life would be fair”,
so many takers, collateral damage is hard to repair.
Just let it go.

The mind is often your own worst enemy,
I know somebody out there, has to be hearing me.
So I’m letting go.

You’ll never be disappointed, if you never expect,
mistakes in life will keep you in check.
Forgive yourself,
and let it go.

People will hate you, and will treat you bad.
Hold your head high, and for each new day be glad.
Just let it go.

So much time wasted, trying to understand,
faith is the answer, it’s the only plan.
Give in, and just let it go.

We all just want respect, trust, and love.
Seek it first, from the Almighty above.
Just give it to God,
and let it go.

12/16/13

I Never Knew

Oh my, I never knew, 
How much I ran, 
How much, I “had” to do.

I don’t think I could even say,
How much the stillness,
Has changed me, in every way.

I didn’t even realize,
The shroud that covered my minds space,
also completely covered up my eyes, and face.

It wasn’t until I found the stillness,
and got lost in my breath,
That I realized, how much life I had left.

Now there is peace,
As I draw from the well,
A place of calm, where there used to be hell.

No more running about.
While listening to my mind,
and it’s endless stream of doubt.

Here with in myself, deep inside I go,
my heart in a state of bliss.
When and where, I found stillness.

4/11/17

Serenity

Serenity of the mind, is not difficult to find.

In open spaces abound, we hear natures’ sound.

The song of a mourning dove, eagles cry, as they soar high above.

The pitter patter of a cool rain shower,
a bee buzzing, working it’s way round a flower.

Pictures even the masters, could not comprise, 
landscapes feed the mind, through our eyes.

Rustling leaves on the forest floor,
made by a squirrel, harvesting her winter stores.

The Sun slowly rising at the break of day,
a brown bear and her cubs at play.

A blue heron wading, the shallows of a lake,
while fish search for dinner, in the waves wake.

Nature provides the joys we all require,
Ever giving her all, she never does tire.

Leaving a legacy for us all, If we open our mind, and listen to her call.

Within the great bounty of Mother Nature we can find, rest for our soul, and serenity for our mind.

02/28/1992

Your Garden

Here I sit quietly in your garden, filled with wild flowers, and apples of May,
feeling the warmth of the Sun, as all my worries, fall away.

Eyes fixed, on the explosion...