Happy May!

Being on the spiritual journey is one of the most rewarding and thrilling journeys in your life. One also realizes that it is incredibly arduous and full of snares. The good news is that one never gets bored on the journey to know the Self. The trouble is that one may get overwhelmed and want to return to the magic-carpet ride of worldly comforts. At these moments, we must remember that it is not the comforts of the world that lead to lasting happiness. It is the relationship to these comforts that lead to real happiness.

In the joy of being brutally honest and radically accepting, let's examine your happiness level. This newsletter will require some written work if you are up to the challenge. If you're old school and appreciate the feel of pen and paper, I encourage you to purchase a notebook. If it's more convenient, make a journal on your computer or use a note app on your phone. Whatever the method, I hope you take the challenge to become a better human. Remember that an unexamined life is not worth living, so let's get started without further delay.

According to Webster's dictionary, the meaning of happiness is: feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of your life. If I asked you to rate your level of happiness on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the happiest you could ever be, what is your number? 2, 5, 7, 9, 10? With that number in mind, make a list of 30 things that make you smile or give you perceived happiness (family, friends, alcohol, drugs, sports, shopping, exercise, acts of kindness, meditating, sex, traveling, social media, committing to goals, television).

Now with this list, I want you to subdivide it into two lists: one of evolution and one of the distractions. We will define evolution as something that marries you closer to your true Self, which teaches you to be constant. In other words, you transcend pain and pleasure and instead maintain a state of equilibrium no matter what comes or goes in your life; you remain constantly happy, not constantly fluctuating. Distractions, we will define as something/someone that keeps you married to the maya of your mind (illusions of the world or how you perceive the world). Distractions keep us trapped in a world of faulty subjective labels and dualities. We are not objective but rather subjective based on the qualities of our minds, and when the object changes, the subject also changes.  

Now that you have your lists let's divide the "distractions" list into five more categories, one for each of the senses. (taste, sight, touch, sound, smell), Step 2 is to place each item on the distraction side into one of the sense categories. Step 2 will help you understand what sense is the prevailing controller of our personality. 

What distractions keep you from fully connecting with the atman (soul)? 

Remember, we form a habit, and that pattern creates us. When you self-study, you will understand which part of your ego/senses you feed regularly. Which sense or senses controls your daily actions. Yoga is about diving deep into the demons and understanding them to defeat them! You cannot defeat an enemy you have no understanding of, and the senses can be your enemy! To know yourself, you must honestly look at those deep-seated behaviors. The reflection can feel ugly and raw, but it is worth it.

In Loving Service,

Ranjani