Would you have any advice on how yoga or yogic philosophy could be used to help someone recover their balance after the shock of a significant betrayal? Thank you!
Yogi Mir's response:
The great Swami Sivananda used to say, "The highest spiritual practice is to bear insult without returning it."
That is the work of all those highly evolved yogis.
Where does a 'normal' person begin to heal and recover their balance?
When one's future plans, ideas about life, and expectations get crushed by another person, it is incredibly painful.
The most straight-forward way of healing is to realize who you really are.
Sit down please, quiet your chattering mind, and try to get to the nitty-gritty of who you are.
Do not describe your self. Ask your mind:
- are you this body?
- are you your mind/thoughts?
- are you your work?
- are you your relationships?
- are you your feelings/emotions?
and so on.
Sitting quietly, you will feel that you are none of these things. These are only superficial descriptions.
In reality, it is impossible to answer "Who am I?" by using your own mind.
Why?
Because the mind is limited, impermanent, and highly conditioned.
The mind and its emotional self suffer from emotional pain such as betrayal and loss.
That is what the Buddha meant when he proclaimed that "Life is Suffering"; however, he also showed the way out of Suffering.
One has to realize that their mind is not who they really are.
Your mind and emotional self have been betrayed, yes. There is no denying that it is painful and destructive to your health and sense of self-worth.
However, that is only your mind and emotions.
Your real true Self has not been hurt, and it can never be affected by any external forces.
Your real true Self resides in the compassionate Heart and has always been whole, and complete, without anyone else.
Your true Self is perfectly peaceful, and content.
Your spiritual Heart is the observer who knows that your physical and emotional self were betrayed?
How did you know that you were suffering and in pain?
Your mental and emotional self feels the pain of betrayal.
But who (what conscious principle inside you) observes that pain?
The observer is not hurt. The observer only acknowledges the emotional disturbance.
Every day, please sit down in a quiet and peaceful setting, and do 3 of the following:
1. Bring attention to your emotional pain and observe it as a witness.
2. Bring attention to your breath, and breathe in and out of your emotional self; breathe into your Heart. The breath is your link to the infinite Self and all of life on earth. The breath is your resource that contains all the patience and the power to heal.
3. Bring attention to the quiet Peace within - the Witness that is beyond your mind and emotions - the conscious principle that simply and peacefully is, without a need for anything or anyone. That is who you are.
Love and Light,
~ Yogi Mir