The Acharyas Path
When one enters the Acharyas path he doesn’t know what lies ahead. She intuits that it is indeed the path to be on. He honors the path, and he takes the first step. Mixed with exhilaration and trepidation her intentions are good. For it to be the Acharyas path it has to first me known as “my” path then as you progress the sadhaks path. Alas, the path is always longer than we expect; likewise the fruits along the way are different, often bittersweet. Sometimes we stop to take in the view or to take a rest. Sometimes we slow down. Sometimes we slip. Then sometimes we run so fast we think we are flying. What we eventually realize is that we are being lifted, pulled & carried. Yes it was our effort that lifted us to within the guru’s grasp so that we could then be pulled. But let us make no mistake, there is magic here and it is the energy of the unseen guru whom we follow and to whom we must offer our gratitude for feeding us in every way. Then there are the times we take a wrong turn or get trapped in the many pits that are on either side of the path. Then there are the times we wallow in the pits not knowing how to get out or blinded by our tears & not caring as we despair over some imagined loss & burden we were attached to. Eventually we do get out, sometimes scratching & clawing with every bit of energy & will power we can muster. Often we are badly bruised, scratched, torn, & broken; this too is important for the scars are needed for a long time to remind us of what happens when we go off the path and in time we heal & we learn.
Know this fellow Sadhak, as your vision becomes sharper you will discern the path better & it will become clearer. That which leads us to our destination and that which will not will become more apparent. Feed the vision of viveka with a meaningful amount of viragya. Always and in all situations keep your stock of both topped up.
We learn how to pick ourselves up when we fall and we learn to get strong enough not to fall in the first place. It is this strength that makes all the varied & seemingly beautiful paths & temptations powerless over us. We know our minds therefore knowing all minds, it is in this way that we know the path. We walk the path and we walk strong & straight; steady, straight & with more and more ease. We learn when to take a helping hand and whom to accept it from. Eventually it is us who lends the hand. Careful of those who live in the land of pleasure for their goddess is Maya herself… remember what my guide told me; that which is pleasurable should not be confused with that which is good!
Only eat from the tree with eight limbs it will nourish you and if for some reason you imagine you can be nourished from another tree you can always come back. Just know that once you eat from another tree your ability to see the tree with eight limbs as the good tree will diminish. I am told there other trees out there from which you can be nourished but I do not know them just as I am told there are paths, but I only know this one. I do know that the fruits from the eight limbed tree are plentiful, nourishing and never ending. Everything else I have tasted was poison.
Every Sadhak must care for their own staff, it must be kept clean, strong, & flexible. You will not reach the goal if your staff is not capable of surviving the journey. I am not talking of any old stick. You must transform your staff with the use of the alchemical formula. Utilize the 3 subtle properties farmed from fields of the Dosha’s. Remember that there are many that you will meet along the way who have gone insane, alas this is a dangerous path with many unfit guides. These crazy ones did not care for their staffs and when the time came for their staff to support them unfortunately they were not able to climb the height or maintain the intensity.
The path is sometimes mazelike with choices that seem to lead no where. This is fine as we had to learn, …for how else could we know. We will become challenged with the narrowness of the path and we will feel like we are walking a tight rope… a razors edge! Then we will become truly happy that the path is no longer wide, (less traffic & less sideways wandering). The path will become steep and for this too we will become thankful for we will be made strong and we are better able to rise above our weaknesses.
Through the path we learn truth and eventually truly know as it teaches us through its experiences. We learn to appreciate our guides who point us in the right direction even though there is of course the inevitability for some of us, some of the time, to discover the futility of the wrong direction.
The path is navigated as this map is, lightly, with awareness, paying special attention to the hidden meanings and with the knowledge that success on this path is meant only for those who understand the allegorical hinting’s and the nature of the true path. Time will demand action and it will require your constant awareness. You must use time wisely and remember that its use does not make it your tool. While time is often forgiving, always know that there is an exacting opportunity of great value that can never be traversed again exactly as it is when it is presented to you. To make the best of times offerings, your awareness, energy, and sincerity are required to the same measure of the benefit you will receive. Among her many roles time is the tollkeeper, pay special heed to her.
Listen for the nameless voice and follow her. Do not succumb to repeat the patterns of your previous failures. Simply follow the path & do not yield to the temptations of your desires. Nor should you pay heed to aversions for you must move to a higher ground & become above these hindrances. In truth they are more than simple hindrances rather they are the weapons of your enemy that you must not give power to. We, you and I, have an enemy that each of us must face, befriend, and then let go of. The enemy is Ego but goes by many different names, know that there is never a time that Ego is your friend for he will use his weapons already placed within you known as your desires & aversions to destroy you and keep you his slave. We must pity him as he cannot ever achieve the heights you are called and destined to. Ego will use his servants, the five Klesha brothers to harass you, as well as the nine demons of Viksepa; recognize them early on and stay ever vigilant.
Slowly, slowly, as we learn the path, we contribute to the path, building it, repairing it, caring for it, building it, and adding our experience. Initially our guides may ask us to rebuild it. Step by step as we add to the path, it is we who are transformed. The path becomes our home, the gates, the walkways, the many steps, the outer and inner doors, the screens, the foretelling windows, the inner chamber, and even the weather, especially the weather.
As we love the path & all it has done for us, as well as all it has given us, we merge with it. We become the path! We are the gatekeeper, the light, the support, the guide, as well as the critical key. We and the path become one for without us the path would no longer exist and without the path we would no longer exist.
On this great Yoga Marga, the Acharyas path, let us rejoice for the gifts of our inner faculties. Let us honor the path and those who have tread and merged with it before us. Let us honor those who still guide us and those who apparently are long gone, for it is their steps that support us and their guide rails that keep us from falling. It is the light from Guru’s past that guides us and as we too merge with the path it is our light that makes the path brighter. May the light of the Guru ever shine brightly. Let us merge with the Guru. May we become one!
Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo, Maheshwaraha. Guru Saakshat Para BrahmaTasmai Sree Gurave Namaha!
by Yogacharya Gowrishankarananda © 2010 Yoga Life Magazine
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