Being with truth

One student asked me after the last post, this appropriate question: So if you want to go through the process of Yoga, of facing truth more and more, how do you do it?

Last time, we talked about Yoga as a truth-seeking tradition, and about unveiling layers of untruth and faulty knowledge.

We also talked about the myth of Shiva, when he kept the poison, which had come up through this process of truth-seeking, in his throat.

This place at the neck is called Vishuddha in the Tantric tradition. Vi is a prefix that means special, and shuddha means pure. This is the place where, according to the tantric energy system of the body, the purification takes place.

As we talked about last time, Shiva represents consciousness.

The keeping of the “poison” or “darkness” in the throat represents the keeping of all the painful things in life, in our consciousness.

So how is this done?

Most people recognize that the parts of our lives that we have not met fully or grieved clearly, seem to have a tendency to appear in new situations. That is, we often find ourselves in situations that remind us of the most difficult moments in our lives, even if we have done everything in our power not to have to experience it again.

The process of keeping something in consciousness until all its “poison” is forfeited seems to be the only cure. That is, to fully let the pain come when we are in a state where we are actually able to “hold it”, without going under.

So what constitutes the consciousness that can “hold” this?

This consciousness is an integrated consciousness.

Misconceptions about our history need to have been straightened out.

Misconceptions about our history are what we mentally have stories about, which do not match what the body remembers.

As long as these are not compatible, we are in constant internal conflict.

This consciousness also has a quality of “holding”, of love.  

Music: Live2love, Shantala.