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OPEN MIND OPEN BODY The Yoga of Connection |
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Week 43: Of the two witnesses, honor the authentic one. This week's reflection begins with a practice saying from the Mahayana tradition of Tibetan yoga: "Of the two witnesses, honor the authentic one." This saying is an answer to unspoken questions: How do I know what is right? How do I know what I need? How do I understand the present moment? The answer is, "Of the two witnesses, honor the authentic one." But who are the two witnesses? The authentic witness is the Self; yourself. The other witness is the external view of you: other people's opinions, feedback, criticisms, compliments, advice. This witness is also always observing, and almost always evaluating. But as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche teaches, "You are the only person who knows yourself. You are the only person who has been with you since your were born." Recognizing the self as the authentic witness can pose another round of an unasked question, with the same answer: "Of the two witnesses, honor the authentic one." Because we are so used to the external voices passing judgment, we have an internal voice that does the same. And that is not the authentic witness; it is just masquerading as your authentic voice. One of my favorite ways of framing this happens to come from comedienne Loretta Laroche, who talks about "the committee in your head." The committee is made up of your mother, your second grade teacher, your neighbors, (maybe even your yoga teacher?) -- and whichever other internalized voices constantly evaluate your behavior, thoughts, and feelings according to somebody else's standards. Laroche advises kicking people off the committee (after all, they haven't done much good). Honoring the authentic witness means finding the part of yourself who can observe without judgment. And because this part of yourself does not judge, it has access to everything: the ways you might otherwise try to deceive yourself or others; the vulnerabilities; the dreams; the willingness and the resistance. The practices of developing witness consciousness are the practices of non-reactive, non-judgmental mindfulness. In asana, you can ask yourself: How do I know what is the right way to do a pose? Am I integrating external wisdom with my internal witness, who offers non-judgment feedback about how a pose feels? Or am I looking only for external feedback and advice? If I compare myself to others, what witness is directing my experience? What would an authentic witness consciousness of this moment be like? Who is on your "asana" committee, telling you what poses you need to be able to do, and how you should do them? How does the authentic witness experience these poses? In meditation, you ask yourself: What voices come up, as I sit without directed thought? Who is "on my committee" evaluating the present moment through some standard or expectation about how things should be? Take care, Kelly Share your reflections at http://www.openmindbody.com/discuss\ Explore the class archives and audio files at http://www.openmindbody.com/2006emailclass/archive.htm For both sites, use the Login: yoga and the Password: connect
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