Yoga for UPS Drivers 
Did you know that, on average, UPS drivers go up and down the steps of their truck over 400 times per day? To stay fit and safe, drivers at the UPS package center in the California Wine Country have now turned to yoga. "Safe by choice, not by chance," is the motto. Balance. Energy. A help in quitting smoking . . . these are just some of the benefits drivers are experiencing as a result of their yoga practice. 80% of UPS' revenue goes to the employees in some form, so it makes sense to protect their most valuable investment -- the employee. Check out the following video:   http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2008/11/14/fn.gupta.ups.yoga.cnn.   
If it's good enough for UPS . . .

Docs and Yoga Science
The News Observer reports that Yoga Science is finding a new following among physicians and medical researchers who work to discover its benefits for a variety of illnesses.  "There's been an explosion of data using yoga and meditation as treatment options," claims Dr. Shelley Wroth, an obstetrician at the Duke Integrative Medicine.  "As a therapy, it shows tremendous promise."  
Editor's Note:  Do you believe the medical community is embracing Yoga Science?  Do you feel comfortable talking to your personal MD about complementary medical practices?

Headstand Danger 
 According to the Journal Optometry and Vision Science, yoga headstands (Salamba Sirsasana), can cause eye pressure spikes that lead to glaucoma and short sightedness if you are already at risk for these conditions.  "Yoga head stands and pressure spikes are fine you have healthy eyes," the article reports, "but if an individual at risk has this condition, they can be negatively affected." 
Editor's note:  AMI does not teach headstands in our Easy-Gentle yoga classes.

Karan's Gift of Yoga  
Fashion designer Donna Karan has donated $850,000 to Beth Israel Medical Center for a year-long experiment in combining Eastern healing methods with traditional cancer treatments.  The New York Times reported that "The Karan-Beth Israel project will have a celebrated donor turn a hospital into a testing ground for a trendy, medically controversial notion:  that hatha yoga, meditation and aromatherapy can enhance regimens of chemotherapy and radiation."

Economy and Health 
Can a depressed economy harm your health?  Professor Martin McKee of the London School of Medicine says yes.  As an example, McKee cites the aftermath of the former Soviet Union.  "Regions of the USSR which had the highest rate of economic downturn also had the highest increase in death rates."  For McKee, "The key issue is how flexible people are to meet the challenges of change; how supportive is their philosophy of life."
 

In November, 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected the thirty-second President of the United States. By March, 1933, as the depression reached its depth, Roosevelt's inaugural address reflected an unusually yogic quality. In broad terms the new President reminded Americans that the nation's "common difficulties" concerned "only material things" and that true "happiness lies not in the mere possession of money." In fact, he said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts." Then, directly addressing the nation's despair in phrases that might well have been inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, FDR offered this yogic insight: "Confidence languishes," he observed, because "it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection [and] on unselfish performance." For true confidence and security, Roosevelt concluded, what is needed is "discipline and direction."

As recent economic and terror-related events have revealed, we could all profit from a thorough understanding of how we can experience real security and freedom from fear. For this noble inquiry Yoga Science offers a well-tested rule: the sooner we base all our thoughts, words and deeds on our own inner, intuitive wisdom, the sooner we'll receive everything we need--including fearlessness and security. However, if our actions remain in conflict with our intuitive wisdom--even if it appears that we're getting away with something in the short term--we'll eventually experience insecurity and pain.

Many historical examples demonstrate how the employment of inner wisdom leads to a greater sense of security. In colonial America, for instance, men and women banded together in revolution to gain freedom and independence. They succeeded because their momentous, courageous effort expressed the eternal truth that all human beings are endowed equally with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and happiness. During World War II Americans found comfort, strength and security by honoring and consciously exercising four essential freedoms: the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom from want and the freedom from fear. In colonial India, Mahatma Gandhi reminded the Indian people that if they sacrificed their anger and served the eternal principle of non-violence (ahimsa), they could throw off the shackles of foreign oppression and gain real security. Today, even in the face of vast domestic and global challenges, the most reliable blueprint for security can still be found by serving the eternal truth within ourselves.

In the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita life is visualized as an inverted tree, with the roots above in heaven and the branches below on earth. To understand our own present day dilemma and the opportunity it presents, let's examine the desire for security through the symbolism of the Gita's timeless "Tree of Life" metaphor.

The most important part of any tree is the root. If you fail to water and fertilize the roots, the entire tree will suffer in the face of inevitable natural forces. Even if you support the limbs, the tree may be injured or die in a seemingly insignificant storm--simply because it lacks the strength to stand.

From our birth to our death, each of us must tend after the Tree of Life. Most of us profess to be taking care of the parts of the tree we know: the trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit of our body, mind and senses. But we can still suffer enormously and unnecessarily if we neglect our root, which is hidden from us by the alluring procession of objects and relationships of the material world.

In this metaphor, the root represents the soul--the Divine, eternal spirit of creative energy and wisdom that is within, and yet has remained unfamiliar to us. Whenever we deny ourselves the unerring wisdom of our spiritual Self--which is the Source from which we have come--we are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually weaker than we would otherwise be. When the body becomes sick, we seek a doctor and take the prescribed medicine. When the mind is anxious or distraught, we try to heal it with therapies. But because we have woefully ignored our inner Source, we remain insecure--fearful that we might lose what we have or might not get what we want. We continually run after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but cannot find the real security we seek.

In order to experience lasting happiness and security, we need a philosophy of life. The modern Western view suggests that the goal is to be found by exploring, acquiring, subjugating and consuming attractive portions of the material world. But when the search for security and success depends on the accumulation of worldly objects, we tend to disregard the discriminating advice of our essential nature--the higher Self or soul. When we are out of touch with our perennial Source of wisdom, we suffer at the hands of fear, anger and the torture of our own unending, self-willed desires.

During the recent Wall Street meltdown, business experts noted that an unregulated stock market rises and falls on the emotions of greed and fear. These forces are actually two sides of the same coin. In the absence of one, the other automatically appears. When we trust only in the material world, after a wave of desire for acquisition arises and is fulfilled, passing pleasure is inevitably replaced by the fear of loss.

What can end this enslavement to the extreme highs and extreme lows (the sukhas and dukhas)? Just as Wall Street is now considering the medicine of regulation to cure its ills, you too need to address the cause of your dis-ease--not merely the symptoms. How do you do this? By adopting a philosophy that encourages you to explore and examine the inner dimensions of your entire life; one that teaches you how to regulate your choices wisely. On Wall Street the issue is how to intelligently regulate a financial industry without destroying the positive aspects of the profit motive. For the human being, the issue is knowing how and when to discriminate between the preya of passing pleasure and the shreya of lasting benefit so that life can be both rewarding and secure. For this undertaking you need an understanding of your attachments and fears. With that clear overview, and by using the powerful weapon of non-attachment (vairagya), you can begin cutting yourself free from those entangling desires that are no longer beneficial. For an in-depth examination and prioritization of all your desires, there is no better tool than Yoga Science.

In every facet of life the human drive for unbounded happiness is expressed through one of four basic categories of desire. Artha--material comfort and security, Kama--emotional, intellectual or physical pleasure (those desires which, when thwarted, cause anger and when fulfilled, give rise to selfishness, attachment, jealousy or pride), Dharma--the eternal law that maintains individual and social order (duty or right action), and Moksha--realization of unbounded happiness; liberation from pain, misery and bondage.

The fulfillment of each of these four categories of desire is considered essential to living a rewarding and secure human life. No one can be truly happy or fully content unless the desires for artha, kama, dharma and moksha are recognized, honored, explored and balanced. These four are listed in order from the most gross (artha) to the most subtle (moksha), for this is the sequence in which they motivate most of us.

The more you remain attached to fulfilling self-willed desires that conflict with the inner, intuitive wisdom of your conscience--the buddhi--the greater will be your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dis-ease. The more you discipline the call of the senses, ego and unconscious mind and rely on your buddhi to transform the energy of desires for artha and kama, (security and pleasure) the greater will be your personal fulfillment. The choice is yours.

In order to consciously shape your destiny, you need to know what you want most in life, and to adopt a philosophy that helps you reach your goal. This means working toward the fulfillment of your higher desires for dharma and moksha (duty and liberation)--even as you pursue artha and kama, (security and pleasure). The Divine wisdom of buddhi generously equips you to fulfill all these desires in a creative and gratifying way.

When you unify the energy of your many smaller desires to serve the one deep, driving desire for moksha (liberation), all your thoughts, words and actions will manifest not only the material security you need, but also the creative work and loving relationships you seek. By choosing the shreya (that which serves the long-term benefit) over the preya (immediate sense or ego gratification) in your pursuit of artha and kama (security and pleasure), you automatically achieve fulfillment of your dharma. These three desires, rightly expressed, lead to moksha (unbounded happiness and liberation from all pain, misery and bondage).

When you examine and prioritize all the little desires for things you previously thought would make you happy, you immediately move toward acknowledging life's true goal. Remember the instruction of the ancient Upanishads: "You are your deepest driving desire. As your deepest driving desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny."

Every aspect of life looks different when you acknowledge that liberation (moksha) is your deepest driving desire. By that choice you have effectively defined the standard of shreya against which all your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, vocational, social, familial and financial desires will be measured. Then, every relationship becomes a means for your spiritual unfoldment and ultimate security.

The sacrifice of preya is transformation, not repression. It must always be guided by ahimsa (non-injury), the first and highest principle of Yoga Science. Be careful what you desire, and be careful not to give up too much too soon. It is quite impossible to unify all your desires merely by renouncing the objects you possess. Rather, it is by surrendering your attachments to your lesser desires that you are led to the freedom and security you truly seek.

An abiding faith (shraddha) develops as you practice Yoga Science. Shraddha will deepen to a brilliance of confidence as you observe the steady lessening of the physical, mental and emotional pain you once experienced. Purify the mind, and your innate and profound happiness and security will have room to unfold effortlessly. By harnessing the energy of all your desires, you gain access to your hidden power to create a destiny that reflects your highest aspirations.

The regular, systematic practice of Yoga Science helps you remember the wisdom of the Divine Reality within as you act in the world. Sustained mindfulness of your higher Self--moment by moment--frees you to serve the shreya and sacrifice the preya in mind, action and speech. The cumulative result of this continuous "meditation in action" is unshakable security, no matter what circumstance you encounter.

Remember that the essential truth of how to experience security is not exclusive to Yoga Science. It is found at the very heart of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and the Native American traditions. Here is the same message enunciated by Jesus the Christ in His Sermon on the Mount: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." In what way are we to seek the kingdom of God so that we can receive what we need? The answer lies in aligning our actions with the wisdom of the buddhi--that function of the mind (the Holy Spirit, in Christianity) that reflects the will of the Divine Reality. When we recognize and trust this truth, we are guaranteed imperishable comfort.

In 1989 Jenness and I traveled to California to visit one of our dearest teachers, Eknath Easwaran. While with him, we explained that Yoga Science had become the guiding force in our lives, but we still were very insecure--always worrying that we might not have enough money to live. It seemed to us then, we told him, that Yoga Science would work best for people who were guaranteed a weekly paycheck. We, on the other hand, were self-employed. The fact that Jenness was a painter and I was an art dealer meant that we never knew from one day or month to the next if we would have enough money to pay our bills. So we asked for some advice.

Without hesitation, and with a loving twinkle in his eye, Easwaran responded, "Your problem is this: you consider yourself self-employed. I am employed by the Self." Hearing that one turn of phrase, we recognized that the secret of real security was already within our grasp--and would be ensured by our continuing practice of Yoga Science.

Easwaran's reply taught us that the insecurity and pain we suffered by worrying was a direct consequence of being enslaved to the limited perspective of the senses, ego, unconscious mind and the suggestion of the culture. To end our insecurity, we needed to willingly surrender the consternation of the personality and to rely exclusively on the Divine wisdom of the buddhi.

Because Easwaran's insight made sense to us, we decided to experiment. Through our own personal experience, we discovered that Yoga Science is not just a scholarly pursuit. It is a moment-by-moment and thought-by-thought practical guide for living. With this insight, our path became clear. In order to end our mental anguish and to experience "a peace that passes all understanding" we simply had to become loyal employees-of our higher Self, a.k.a. God. This meant neither serving nor repressing our worries, but welcoming, witnessing and honoring them, without being controlled by them.

And the very same security can be yours today--regardless of terrorist attack or a negative (or positive) quotation from the Dow Jones index. When you adopt a philosophy of life that encourages you to serve the shreya and sacrifice the preya in mind, action and speech, the material and spiritual support you need will flow effortlessly to you.

If you have any doubts about how your practice of Yoga Science can lead to real security, listen and trust this inspiring promise of Shri Krishna (who is your own Higher Self) in the Bhagavad Gita. "Abandon all other support, my dear one. Regard Me as your only protector and make every act an offering to Me. By relying on interior discipline and meditation, peace profound will surely be yours."

Leonard is a philosopher, educator, author and founder of the American Meditation Institute.

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It was one of those Spring afternoons so beautiful you could cry. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, there was a gentle caressing breeze, and the doctors and nurses sitting outside on their lunch break were smiling and relaxed.

For me it was the end of the world. Inside the hospital my husband was in surgery. He'd been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and his odds of surviving looked grim. Watching the secretaries and medical technicians laughing and chattering outside the hospital entrance, I was overwhelmed by how powerful maya is, the universe's ability to deceive us into believing everything is safe and secure when in fact accidents, disease and death threaten us at every turn. Not even these medical personnel, surrounded by terrible suffering each day at work, seemed to realize how vulnerable they were themselves.

In the Yoga tradition, time is often pictured as a graha, a crocodile. You're bathing down by the river, enjoying the sunlight and joking with friends, when suddenly the log floating past you comes alive. It grabs you by the arm or leg, pulls you into deep water, holds you under until you drown. Then it eats you.

You never know when a crocodile will strike. It seems so placid, floating motionlessly down the river, but when it attacks the graha is astonishingly fast. It can outrun you on land if you try to escape. Even if you get away, you're likely to die from blood loss if the crocodile managed to graze you with its powerful jaws. If you survive that, you're likely to die from the infected wound.

The sunlight and soft breeze cast a spell over our intelligence. They lull us into a complacent sense that our future is secure. The crocodile is reality. It brings injury, deprivation and mortality. Sooner or later each one of us finds ourselves staring into its unblinking eyes. The crocodile is time, promising that after every profitable cycle comes a season of loss.

My husband was in a lot of pain, but he was far more comfortable with the crocodile than I was. To Johnathan life had always been an adventure. He was always ready to move on, to meet the next experience head on, never clinging to the past. Death for him was simply the next adventure. But I wasn't prepared to deal with reality at all. I didn't want anything to change; I wanted our happy life together to go on forever. When Johnathan was diagnosed, I felt as if I'd been pushed out of an airplane without a parachute. I was in freefall, and there was nothing to grab hold of. I was not looking forward to hitting the ground.

The human brain is geared for survival. We recoil at the thought of our own death, or the passing of those we love. In Yoga this is called abhinivesha-the shrillest cry of ego against Spirit. It is oddly comforting to me that when he realized his own gruesome death was approaching, even Jesus prayed that the cup of suffering be taken away. Immediately he corrected himself, "Not my will but Thine be done." That beautiful Spring afternoon I was having a terrible time making peace with God's will.

What is it in us that clings so steadfastly to the illusion of lasting security, the delusion that by doing hatha postures and eating health food we will never get sick; that we'll be fine if we invest wisely with the advice of a professional financial consultant, because surely the value of our house or our stocks can only go up? Why does the universe make us feel so comfortable, then cruelly pull the rug out from under our feet? Solid ground feels so firm, but where I live an earthquake can occur at any time. You never know when the roof might come crashing down.

The Fall from Grace Searching for an answer, I turned to the Bible. It has a special story about security and about the value, yes the value, of living in unhappy times.

It was the most secure place in the world. Adam had been placed in a beautiful garden, where his only job was to name the lush trees and lively creatures around him. His Divine Father gave him a companion named Eve so he wouldn't be lonely, and there was always plenty of good vegetarian food to eat. But there was a booby trap in the Garden of Eden, as there is in every seemingly safe haven. The Father told his human children not to eat from two particular trees. And of course, being human, they soon sampled the forbidden fruit.

We all know what happened next. God came walking in the garden and found the guilty couple covering their naked bodies. Sensing immediately what had happened, he threw them out of paradise. From that point forward, nothing would ever be perfect again. Security slipped away, replaced by the necessity for backbreaking labor, childbearing, and death.

This archetypal story has resonances with all our lives. As young children we play innocently in the yard while our parents protect us and supply all our needs. All we have to do is name the objects around us. "This is my nose, this is my belly button, and there is my puppy Oliver!"

Then comes the day boys and girls start seeing each other in an exciting new way. Our parents may tell us not to do it, but many of us do anyway-we taste the bittersweet fruit. Just as in the Bible, an angry father appears shouting, "All right young man, you're obviously old enough now to support yourself, so get out of my house and get a job! As for you, young lady, nine months from now you'll experience the consequences of your actions!" [Compare Genesis 3:16-19.] Like Adam and Eve, we're forced to head out into the unknown. Yet how many of us wish, consciously or unconsciously, we could return to those childlike days when someone else took care of everything for us? (If only we didn't have to obey their rules!)

Adam and Eve experienced the consequences of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that is, of growing up and facing the real world. Puberty-when Adam and Eve first became aware of their nakedness-forces us to change our priorities, whether we want to or not. In the adult world good things happen, but bad things happen too. Maturing as human beings-and as spiritual beings-means learning to overcome serious difficulties and face hard truths. When the Father expelled the original couple from the garden, he bluntly reminded them that their bodies were made from earth and would return to dust. The Bible is telling us that maturity means honestly facing suffering and mortality. Nothing in the world is secure. Whatever Eden we try to create for ourselves will ultimately go into foreclosure. That's just the way things are. If they weren't, would we ever grow up?

Religious people insist God has a plan. The theologians I studied with in graduate school even admitted that placing the forbidden trees in the Garden of Eden-knowing fully well that Adam and Eve would eat the fruit-was part of the plan. Whether we take the story literally or metaphorically, God didn't want his children to sit in stasis forever, in a pleasant garden that never changed. He wanted them to learn, to become strong, to become masters of themselves, to learn the inestimable value of divine grace from personal experience. That meant letting go of everything secure and entering a world of challenge and change.

But I have always suspected there was more to the story than I learned in Sunday school. Remember, there were two forbidden trees in the Garden of Eden. The Bible calls the other one the Tree of Life. Perhaps our purpose here is larger than merely knowing good and evil. I can't help wondering if we weren't thrown into this world of trouble and travail to prepare us to eat from that other tree, on the day when we're finally prepared to do so and the Father at last signals his permission. Perhaps that will be the day we outgrow our preoccupation with the things of this world and begin to seek the gifts of Spirit.

There is a Tree of Life in the Yoga tradition too. Yogis call it the nyagrodha or banyan tree, the tree whose roots are in heaven and whose boughs extend down to earth. According to ancient legend, only advanced souls were allowed to eat the red figs of this tree. Its fruit was associated with soma, the plant which gives divine knowledge and immortality. For Yoga students the Tree of Life is the sushumna, the column of subtle energy extending upward through the subtle body into the soma chakra at the very top of the head.

Each of us is invited every day of our lives to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We do so every time we put our faith in our physical body, in our stock portfolio, in our government. These things sustain us, but they can also fail us. Or we can choose the Tree of Life, putting our faith in the words of the guru, and turning to the ambrosial inner light, shining like a full Moon in the inner Eden. Making the second choice isn't always so easy, since it demands we look reality in the face, and at times the mask it wears is genuinely frightening. But then, Yoga isn't about consoling us. It's about leading us to truth. Truth is the one completely secure thing in the universe.

Embracing Insecurity My husband survived his bout with cancer, but my naive expectations about life did not. I could never again take a day of life for granted, or pretend that Johnathan and I will never part. I had to look hard at my attachments, and what it is in life that gives me a sense of security.

We crave stability because Spirit is perfectly stable; it's always tranquil and serene. Consciously or unconsciously, we sense that perfect stability is our true nature. But prakriti-material elements and energies-are always destabilizing. As Yoga students we must make peace with the dynamic nature of the universe, and learn to honor it. It's the fleeting nature of every second that makes each one of them so special.

As I watched the medical staff enjoy their lunch break that horribly painful Spring day, it suddenly struck me how beautiful these people were. They worked hard to alleviate the suffering of their patients, and richly deserved these few carefree moments sitting out in the sun. Feeling the breeze caressing my cheeks, as if it was trying to wipe away my tears, I felt acutely how fragile life is, but also how infinitely precious. This moment, with both its beauty and its anguish, was a perfect gift from God. By letting go of my attachment to the way I wanted the world to be, I could embrace the world that was actually appearing before me.

My teacher Swami Rama often explained that enlightenment brings freedom from fear. When we shift our awareness from the world of the senses entrenched in the unstoppable flow of time, to the inner world abiding in eternity, we gain a higher perspective. This allows us to walk through the world like masters, not like victims. This amazing planet is the stage for a great adventure that brings both pleasure and pain, and also (as perhaps our Father intended when he first placed the tempting trees in the garden) inner strength and hard won wisdom. Those are prizes worth losing everything to win.


Linda Johnsen, M.S. is a regular contributor to "Transformation" and the co-author of Kirtan! Chanting as a Spiritual Path (currently available at the AMI bookstore).

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Tell a Friend about AMI

If you know someone who might benefit from our American Meditation class, let them know about the AMI program or call us with their name and address and we'll send them a brochure with our current class schedule.

Karma Yoga --- the practice of selfless and skillful action

If, as part of your practice, you have a few extra hours during the week and are interested in helping grow the American Meditation Institute, we need your dedicated, volunteer energy. As a student of yoga science, you are already familiar with the kinds of practical services the Institute provides. Each month we write, edit and publish this newsletter, teach an average of thirty new meditation students and present stress-reduction seminars to various businesses and organizations. We also invite visiting speakers of interest to our area, organize seminars on yoga science and do continuing personal counseling.

Our immediate needs include press relations, seminar management, clerical assistance and general delivery work. 
Remember, whatever time or talents you possess will be put to meaningful, productive use.

If you have the time, please call the Institute at (518) 674-8714.

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