Spring Creek Yoga

04/06/2025

The Power of Modern Day Tapas
Amidst news of political, economic and social upheaval lately, it was astonishing to bear witness to the courage of Cory Booker on the Senate floor one week ago. Talk about standing up for what is right! His record shattering ultramarathon oration was not only a protest against ruinous policies but a call to action. Booker’s “Let’s get in good trouble,” invoked the late John Lewis and served as a plea for the rest of us to “get up, stand up” (nod to the old Rasta Bob Marley). In the wee hours of 2AM and 3 AM, Booker’s “good trouble” was a vigil, a long slow burn and a heroic demonstration of staying power.

His 25 hour + stretch with only a lectern, a notebook and glass of water to sustain him was an act of embodied resistance against the rise of
authoritarian power here on our home soil. His pernoctation was truly yogic. No food. No sleep. No sitting down. No bathroom break. In classical yoga this kind of austerity is known as tapas. Tapas, by definition, is use of the physical body to effect change, the idea being that if you put your own body through the rigors of disciplined self denial, its repercussions will effect change in the world at large. Yogis use tapas to burn through negativity, lust, greed and the want of power. Traditionally, yogic tapas was born of heat from the alter of the sacrificial fire. And boy did Booker deliver the heat, speaking out against a vengeful president bent on undermining the universities, the scientific community, the right to free speech, and the rule of law. Booker’s demonstration had all the hallmarks of yoga practice: mind-body discipline, endurance, unswerving commitment, fearlessness, humility, actualization of an inner vow, physical pain, a clear purpose, compassion, mental acuity and truth. And people listened. 110,000 followed on YouTube and 350 million likes on TikTok. Surya and I stayed on Booker’s live stream channel over dinner, through the dishes, and past the mochi ice cream well into the night before, exhausted and totally awe-inspired, we went to bed.

12/25/2024

Be the light.

12/18/2024

In the Here & Now

The very first word of all 196 of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is a small word, a short word, a mere particle of speech called atha. It is best translated as “here” or "now” and the entire path of yoga unfolds from this humble beginning. We could say that being in the now is the goal of the entire yoga journey. “The present moment is where life can be found, and if you don't arrive there, you miss your appointment with life” taught Thich Nhat Hanh. The now is immediate, direct, right-before-your-eyes. It is to chop wood and carry water. It is to count five breaths in meditation and to breathe out when you push back to downward dog.

In the sacred texts of India, atha has a different connotation than our common understanding of now. Ironically, our now may imply sometime in the future, or hardly ever at all--we say something happens “every now and then”, or “any day now”. Or worse it is used as an admonishment— “now, now”, says the mother cautioning the child who raises her voice. In yoga, atha does not merely refer to the "what's up" of this short lived moment. Rather it highlights the now as favorable and auspicious. It is an honor and a blessing to have the opportunity to be in the now. Now is never to be assumed, rather it is a portal to a great and wondrous presence. When now is not considered to be auspicious then people take their lives and everything around them for granted.

Being in the now is to move through life with wholehearted gratitude for what arises. Gratitude for everything--the morning light, your bite of tahini toast, your car, your family, your inhale and your exhale. It is to know that god is everywhere. In the zendo after every meditation period, we chant, “Dharma gates are countless, I vow to enter them.” This is the bodhisattva vow to live devotedly through all moments whether sublime or terrible. This is to realize that all moments are potential doorways, potential gates, potential opportunities. It is the willingness to cross over each threshold, knowing the perpetual gift of the here and now to be a truly remarkable thing.

11/26/2024

11/10/2024

Wise Compassion

In this time of bewilderment and loss, when the whole world seems to be caught in a tailspin, we must return to the one thing that never erodes— a compassionate mind and wakeful heart. Today many good friends succumb to fret and gloom, overcome by angst for the future. But yogis know that a fretting mind and unsettled heart steal from the spirit, leave the mind confused, and the heart bitter. It is only by yoking to the indwelling source of wise compassion that we can relax our grip on the world and leave fear behind.

In the wake of our searing losses and burning tears, the trials of the world will go on. Again and again we will encounter joy and sorrow, love and hate, gain and loss. The world is made of opposites and in the words of the Tibetan mystic Milarepa, “I see this life as a conjuration and a dream, great compassion rises in my heart for those without a knowledge of this truth.” We can never fathom the ways of the world for all its sleight-of-hand and trickery. We can only belong to the one great invisible source. “All things have come out of nothingness and are carried onward to infinity” wrote Pascal, "Who can follow these astonishing processes?"

Now it is time to clear the tacky cobwebs of despair. Together we must summon tenderness in our hearts and learn to embody a peace that can never be denied. Time to build a resilient spirit and pliant heart. Time to return to the joy of simple things—walking in silence, the crescent of a new moon, reading poems of inspiration. Boundless compassion will see through the rattle and discord of our time. So may we build resilient compassion and belong not to doom and foreboding, but to the one true heart of awakening.

11/26/2023

Small Prayer, Big Heart

This is how to make your heart supple. Start by emptying your pockets, leaver your pride at the door, and enter the silent space. Sit. Deflate your eyes. Turn them down, so they loosen their grip on the things of the world. Consecrate your chest in awareness, drenching the caverns of your heart, filling and emptying, filling and emptying. Supplicate to the Great One with a feeling of tenderness, for the world is at high tide, engulfed by grief and sorrow. Sit with the open wound of the world and let your silent prayer circulate, borne by the salt of your blood. 
 
'Tis a strange wonder, one that Jesus of Nazareth knew well, an admixture of anguish and the sublime. Be delicate, ripe with affectionate grace. Wait 'till the wind of your breath catches the prayer flag of your heart and circulates to all peoples near and far. May you stand against enmity and malice of all kinds. May each of us rise up against the nefarious forces that plunder and ruin. A naked knowing will come to you, to never give up, to do the one thing you can do, to love the world with all that you have. 
 
No matter how small it seems, know that your benediction is indestructible. No matter how painful or pleasant, let the feeling of loving kindness belong to you, may it never be apart from you again.

10/29/2023

The Light Within The Dark

In a time that cracks and splinters everywhere around, when vile men
lose their minds in pursuit of gold, oil and fame,
when the very ground you walk on trembles
from windstorms and earthquakes, when trepidation wakes you at 3AM
and your faith in humanity is on trial,
you must do the one thing that
will save you from darkness and despair--
you must enter the cave of the heart,
breathe in the fragrance of the night and belong to the enormity of silence.
Stop forming so many words, step outside the machinations of man
and be sustained by that which has existed since time immemorial.
Here there is nothing pressing you forward or pulling you back.
Know this world as a circus of cause and effect, war and peace, birth and death,
where blind men with belligerent pride lead us on to carnage and ruin.
When you open your eyes to the light within the dark
your love gets deeper, wider and stronger.
See through the pain of this world and belong to it, no end in sight.

10/17/2023

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

In the long winding journey on the path of practice, you inevitably come to a place where the best thing to do is get out of your own way. At some point you have to stop engineering your life and allow a force greater than yourself to enter. But how do you get out of your own way? Some people drink whiskey or rave dance all night. Some dive off cliffs or go on shopping sprees. Yogis go to the space between breaths, where the mind loses its grip and the heart suddenly blooms. There you can hover like a dragonfly, weightless in concentration, clear of mind. There you are neither seeking nor finding, neither making progress nor losing ground.

Thinking won’t take you there and by trying to make yourself better, you only get in your own way. Don’t expect to gain anything or get rid of anything. You only have to enter the space between, slip through the gap between worlds and become part of the great unfolding.

When your mind empties, an enormity rushes in like an ebbing tide, filling every nook and cranny of your being. When the flow of the great river of samadhi comes, you need only get out of its way and let it take you.

10/08/2023

Reading the Text of the Body

It is astonishing how little people read today. These days we read only bits and snippets on the digital screen, mostly on the move, not enough to support deep digestion. When reading is limited to texted fragments, we don’t drop in.

When was the last time you curled up on the couch and read for several hours? Slow, deep reading has been proven to support states of parasympathetic rest and cognitive absorption. By reading we sustain steady attention. Reading is essentially dharana, concentration practice, and print reading enables people to “read” their bodies, tracking the language of the breath, nerves and sensations.

Long reading supports long meditation. It builds enduring attention. The alert, listening presence required in long reading is a kind of meditative listening. In both reading and meditation, we listen to the inner voice of the narrator integrating multiple voices, ideas and points of view. In meditation when the mind “goes silent”, we soak into present moment awareness and sense the vast open space behind our internal narration. Reading too can guide you to a clear, receptive, immersive state.

Of course in meditation and reading the challenge is not to fall asleep! Or to become distracted and space out. So everyday make reading part of your sadhana, your daily practice. In your favorite chair, with a cup of tea on hand, drop into a place of deep reading. It will deepen your flow of presence.

05/20/2023