With so many spiritual traditions accessible to a person in contemporary times it can be a daunting prospect to sift the wheat from the chaff or make sense of it all. One can attend a workshop in a particular tradition in the morning walk across the street and join another seemingly at odds with the former in the afternoon.
I would like to approach this subject in keeping with the invocation from the Upanishads oft quoted before a period of study, roughly translated.
“May He protect us; may He nourish us both together;
May we work together with great energy,
May our study be vigorous and effective;
May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any).
Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !”
I may suffer from a yoga centric view of the world thus to me all of life is yoga. Yoga is the practical side of spirituality. Within the fold of yoga there are numerous traditions. They may obviously overlap or not sometimes in conflict or competition or less commonly collaborative.
Unity in Diversity.
Is it possible to follow an authentic yogic path that embraces all? What is the best approach to adopt that is not limited to the constraints of any tradition yet remains true to the highest principles of all.
Is a true collaborative approach possible? Should not yoga be expansive, inclusive and integrating?
Depending on the individual one may be in a window shopping phase, looking at different teachers and traditions before embarking on one. Many words of advice from teachers are to the effect that once found one you should stick to your path, your guru. This does bring up the guru role or teacher. What exactly is a guru?
The term guru meaning “dispeller of darkeness” is a principle of nature, the learning principle if you will. That eureka moment, when you get it. It can occur through the eyes of a child, a sunset or through any of the experiences of life by which we learn. When it comes consistently through a person, that person is called a guru. Still itis that principle of nature working through him that is the guru.
The guru comes in many guises, look beneath the surface. “It is a well known fact that all satgurus (true gurus) are from the same lineage.” - Swami Vedananda. My understanding is that there is no conflict among gurus, it is all the same, ultimately God is guru or that principle of nature. Ultimately it is your inner guru you must heed. One may have many teachers or gurus. If you want to become a good artist you need to attend various classes from various teachers it may involve apprenticing with someone competent to bring you to their level and who can evoke your own latent inner talent and ability. As William Shakespeare said, “To thine own Self be true and thou canst be false to any man.” Avoid doctrines that breed superstition which weakens the mind and overly controlling teachers. A good rule of thumb is if someone says he knows and is a guru chances are he’s not.
What is more important? The teacher or the tradition. In truth they go hand in hand.
Even if one does find a tradition and teacher that resonates with one and commits to a practice how does one avoid becoming narrow minded. Thinking my way is the only way, or a form of cultishness, somehow feeling superior and everybody else needs to adopt my belief system.
Or perhaps another danger is flitting from one teaching to another without truly practicing or absorbing anything or at best at a superficial level.
As my opening statement contends that truth is one, all true teachings have the same goal. The methods may have some overlap or be entirely different however.
This is where the confusion sets in, we identify perhaps more with the methods than the underlying unity.
As many individuals there are, so there are as many belief systems and potential pathways to self realization.
My own observation is that followers of different paths dispute among themselves while the teachers or gurus seldom do.
Sometimes you see a merging of traditions such as in when two people form a couple yet each adheres to different faiths or a blending of traditions occur. How do they do it? I recently attended a weekend retreat featuring native American spirituality and Buddhism in a yoga studio. This was conducted in such a way that each tradition was given its own time and not blended together however it demonstrated a sharing and openness. Sometimes the blending of traditions, extracting the best features from each produces something more whole or is it perhaps diluting the original teaching? It may depend on who is doing the blending.
Many traditions and cultures evolved in this way, many are time honoured and have produced exemplars of their traditions, so to dismiss them without understanding them does not seem appropriate.
As one's understanding evolves, so do traditions themselves evolve, one builds on another.
If we look to some contemporary teachers today, let’s hear what they say
“Yoga is beyond any belief system or religion, it does not matter what religion, culture or country you are from everyone can practice yoga.” Baba Hari Dass
Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying, “you don't need to renounce the religion you were brought up in.”
“In the West, I do not think it advisable to follow Buddhism. Changing religions is not like changing professions. Excitement lessens over the years, and soon you are not excited, and then where are you? Homeless inside yourself.” Tibet, Tibet - Patrick French
This may have merit, yet who is to say whether you have been a buddhist in your former life or lives accounting for the attraction to this path.
And Ramakrishna, “God has made different religions to suit different aspirants, times and countries. All docttrines are so many paths; but a path is by no means God Himself. One can reach God if one follows any of the paths with whole hearted devotion.”
What if you have no religion, is not that liberating in itself! Nothing to run from or cling to. One can evaluate the various teachings from a neutral point of view.
My friend John says to me you are a Hindu, because you practice yoga, but this is a limited view. OK, I say, as part of me is a Hindu perhaps since I honour those traditions, but I am just as much a Buddhist, practicing American Indian spirituality, Christian, even atheistic, my original orientation.
What I always liked about the yogic tradition was that I felt it was all encompassing, it did not matter what tradition if any one belonged to. True yoga is based on laws of nature and as such transcends cultural setting. Yoga does originate in the east and is closely tied to eastern traditions, so it would be incorrect to say there is a Christian yoga. One can still be a Christian and practice true yoga however without renouncing Christianity, it does take an open minded mindset however. You could say various traditions do overlap in places like overlapping spheres.
In his book A Path with Heart, Jack Kornfield has a chapter entitled “One Seat” meaning one needs to be firmly grounded in his own tradition before perhaps glancing peripherally at others. This makes some sense, one must have a firm grounding in some tradition before even trying to understanding or appreciating others. However I find this approach limiting, if we are to realize an all encompassing view of the various spiritual pathways, this necessitates experiencing and drawing the best from each through our own personal synthesis to arrive at what works for us.
Is not every human being a synthesis of all his experiences of all his genetics whether well integrated or not ultimately is to integrate it all well?
The quote from the Upanishads speaks of working together, collaboration, not taking such extreme positions that it fosters enmity, such a spirit is needed not only in our spiritual education but across all cultural and national and class divides.
Lying on the ground in my tipi I look up where the poles cross, the view is mandala like. The poles are like the various pathways to ultimate unity, they meet in the center.
Truth is One.
Amman