Volume 4 Issue 2 Fall 2018

S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 4 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 8 2 7 Mark Graceffo Sri Patañjali teaches that all the tapas we face offer us an opportunity for growth, and our accumulated experience of facing these challenges, whether we appear successful in doing so or not, all slowly contribute over time to nirodha. In other words, everything that life presents us, no matter how sad, bothersome, irritating, frightening, tedious, or frustrating, can be used as material for our spiritual growth. Tapas will have a purifying effect if we receive them with an open mind and accept them as lessons from which to learn. Although adopted by sixth century monks to organize their life in a monastery, the Rule has always been relevant for the common person, and remains remarkably so today. The daily tapas that Saint Benedict addresses in his Rule are challenges we all face, no matter our station in life. So we can turn to the wisdom of the Rule when wondering: How do I restrain hurtful speech so that I do not “sin with my tongue” (RB 6.1)? How do I “welcome as Christ” guests, acquaintances, and strangers (RB 53.1; 66)? How do I serve others without “grumbling or hardship” (RB 35.13)? How do I care for the sick and vulnerable in a manner that is “patiently borne” (RB 36.5)? How do I respect the rank of those higher or lower than me in my place of employment (RB 63)? In the Sūtras, Sri Patañjali tells us that the value of tapas is not only to become stronger people who are able to endure life’s hardships. It is also the refinement of our rougher edges so that we can, over time, become kinder, more compassionate and greater lovers of people and creation. And to accelerate our growth, Sri Patañjali advices that we actually place ourselves voluntarily in situations that will create a little heat in our lives. Thus, we are to look for occasions that will be unpleasant and make us uncomfortable. Visiting someone in the hospital, for example, may be a practice of tapas for someone who is afraid of ill health, or aging, or death. Or volunteering to head a committee, can be a tapas practice, if we’re inclined to doubt our competency and leadership abilities. Tapas, whether we encounter them voluntarily or involuntarily, give us an experience of the wisdom and peace of our True Self, and thus the realization that we possess all we need to face the capriciousness of life. Saint Benedict also knew that whether our challenges are physical, emotional, existential, or petty, they contain valuable lessons, and offer an opportunity to overcome that which limits living from our full spiritual potential. So the Rule as a whole is designed to make us “burn”, to groom us by providing teachings on how to accept and approach the challenges of daily living. Knowing that the hidden fruit of tapas is self-transformation, Saint Benedict extends guidance on how to handle the taxing tribulations that are part of our daily lives. In fact, he referred to a monastery as “a school of the Lord’s service” (RB Prologue 45), a clear reference to his understanding that one enters a monastery, or adopts the Rule as a lay person, in order to learn how to use the events of daily life to burn away imperfections and thus image more clearly their Divine Nature. 4 Svādhyāya The second component of Kriya Yoga that Sri Patañjali introduces is Svādhyāya, or study for the purpose of elevating the mind. Svādhyāya, for Sri Patañjali, can refer to the great scriptures of our religious traditions – the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, the Dhammapada– or the study of anything that reveals to us our true Self. The mind is elevated when it is engaged in study that leads us to contemplate our unity with the Divine. As Saint Benedict asks us, in the Prologue to his Rule, to “listen with the ear of the heart”, Svādhyāya in the Sūtras, asks us to study with the heart, and to use our study to understand ourselves and our world better (Satchidananda 2012). Svādhyāya allows us to finely attune to the dynamisms of nature, and assists us in the self-reflection that is necessary if we are to understand how a practice of tapas ultimately serves our Self-realization. Saint Benedict’s directive on study can be found in Chapter 48 of his Rule, titled The Daily Manual Labor, where his speaks of the importance both of manual labor and prayerful reading, two cornerstones of Benedictine monasticism. This reading, known as Lectio Divina, is a slow meditative reading of scripture, and has over the years become a common form of prayer for the laity as well as monastics. Study and reading were so important to Saint Benedict that he made it part of the daily routine of the monastery, allotting time for it between the hours of prescribed prayer, and increasing this time during the season of Lent. And just in case his monks didn’t fully understand the importance he placed on Svādhyāya, Saint Benedict would actually have senior monks walk around the monastery to ensure the younger fellows were studying and not “wasting time or engaged in idle talk” (RB 48.18)! But for Sri Patañjali Svādhyāya isn’t just for the sake of study or to accumulate knowledge, theories, or facts. Its primary purpose is to allow our spiritual reading to feed our imaginations and to inspire our sādhanā. Ultimately, Sri Patañjali tells us, the purpose of Svādhyāya is to become what we read, to reach the heights of the saints and masters, and to elevate ourselves so we become one with the One we seek. Saint Benedict would concur.

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