A reader from Oregon asks:

I once heard that the way to do Yoga is to “be present and to be kind.” I have understood the present part (breathing and meditating) better than the kind part! Do you have any tips on being kind?

Kindness is the universal medicine for releasing our own Karmic patterns and those of others. Kindness– the sincere expression of goodwill toward yourself and others — is the fruit of practice.

So how can people who are largely still living in the experience of separation discover sincere kindness?

One good way is the practice of Guru Yoga. Guru Yoga means entering into the state of your teacher. Guru Yoga can take many forms, but the essence is remembering your teacher and experiencing your state of continuity with your teacher.

Try to be in a state of constant remembrance of your Guru. If you have a mantra given to you by that teacher, try to do it while out and about, and especially when you are in a stressful situation with another person.

Keep your Guru’s face and words and teachings with you at all times, as much as possible. Saturate yourself in their way of being, their state of realization. Feel that you are taking refuge in your true home. Ask for help when, inevitably, your karmic fixations win the day.

If you do this, little by little, over time, the qualities of that person will arise in you.

If you do not have a Guru, you can choose a teacher you feel exemplifies the qualities  you would like to realize in your own life. You should choose a human teacher, not a deity.

Why? Because we are trying to realize the most enlightened qualities of human beings. So we need a human teacher for Guru Yoga.

You can choose someone such as Anandamayi Ma, or Krishna, or Christ, or Padmasambhava, or Buddha, or any other person of that stature.

Also, ordinary presence and Self presence (the continuous presence of the one world Self)  are not the same. Beginning practices such as watching the breath are meant to cultivate ordinary presence. There are other practices for cultivating awareness of Self presence, some using the breath, others not. When you begin to consciously embody Self presence, kindness will also naturally arise.

In Ma’s love,
Shambhavi

Posted by Shambhavi on June 14th, 2009 | Explore More! Tags: Compassion and Generosity, Guru yoga