In the ancient Yoga tradition, a spiritual teacher is called a Sat Guru, or teacher of truth. The word “guru” has two parts: “gu,” that which hides our true light, and “ru,” that which removes the covering.
Nischala Joy Devi
The ancient sacred yoga texts speak of a “guru” taking his 10-year old devotee into the forest where together they would spend the next 10 years studying and practicing yoga teachings often for 10 hours a day. Although very few contemporary yogis have the opportunity for such dedicated daily one-on-one study, the intent remains the same — to reveal and then peel away whatever is inhibiting knowledge of our true Self.
The favouring of Western cultural teachings on scientific fact has long shrouded us from true knowledge. Scientific fact, like everything else in the universe, is subject to impermance. It is true until it no longer is. Given that everything in the natural world undergoes change, and change is constant, scientific facts are constantly changing. So where do we look for true knowledge or wisdom?
Yoga’s sacred text, The Bhagavad Gita, states “When we are able to know the Self, all else is known.” In order to know the Self, yogis continually peel away the layers of ego and cultural conditioning that shield its presence. We are taught that once we integrate the “outer” layers of our being — physical (Annamaya Kosha), energetic (Pranamaya Kosha), and mental-emotional (Manomaya Kosha) — we uncover our intuitive wisdom and true knowledge (Vijnanamaya Kosha). This fourth layer of beingness, intuition, connects us to what is permanent and truth-filled. The eight-limb practices of yoga provide us with ways and means for experiencing the truthful knowing of intuition.
I know very few disciplines, other than yoga, that teach one to trust your intuition and then provide you the inner journey to experience it. The significance of intuitive knowing is reflected in philosopher and poet Henri Frederic Amiel’s words “The man [or woman] who has no inner life is the slave of his [or her] surroundings.” Our contemporary society has been enslaved by its false promise that science will solve our social woes.
Nischala Joy Devi in her revised edition of The Secret Power of Yoga, Revised Edition: A Woman’s Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras presents an interesting exercise for finding and experienceing true knowledge via intuition. She instructs, Search until you find a passage or a commentary that supports your feeling. If one does not reach you precisely, reword, rearrange, or broaden the idea until you feel in accord. This allows the passage to be more inclusive and sing to your heart. When you hear its song, you are experiencing true knowledge.
I tested her theory out with some of my own true passages that sing to my heart:
– Peace begins within. Then, a peaceful presence transforms its outer world.
– Love everything and everyone, no matter what.
– Joy is an inside job. Nothing and no one outside of yourself is a source of joy.
– “Life loves you and so do I.” from one of my mentors/gurus Louise Hay
I encourage you to find your own true knowledge that sings to your heart and express it to the outer world as I have tried to do in my poem below.
Let Love Live
A dark wound lurks deep below the skin
festering from fear and shame.
Sourced in the unconscious, it holds space
only for criticism and judgment.
Where love could live, darkness now grips
squeezing out creation’s mastery.
The heart needs a healing salve. Massage
its inner chambers with whatever releases joy,
and witness the fluttering wings of forgiveness.
Let love live.
Everything else must go.
For more yoga actions and teachings, click here. Namaste.
