The Courage to Face Death

Death is not a topic that people like to talk about. It’s usually associated with sadness and grief, and it’s frightening to think about. However, avoiding conversation about the end of life may be the source of our anxiety when facing death unprepared. Since death is inescapable for everyone and can happen at any time, we should not ignore this subject. Instead of keeping away from knowing, we should learn more about death and let it be associated with the search for wisdom. Such wisdom gives us insights about death and what we can do to fearlessly face the inevitable end of life.

A classical text of Indian spirituality that helps understand death is the Katha Upanishad, which records the teachings of Yama, the Indian god of death. The Katha Upanishad is a dialogue between Yama and Nachiketa, a teenager who was offered to the god Death. Yama played the role of the teacher and answered questions raised by Nachiketa. During the conversation, Yama told Nachiketa the existence of a deathless Self and that “Those who realize the Self are forever free from the jaws of death” (Katha Upanishad I.3.15). According to Yama, people feel sorrow concerning death because they don’t understand the Self, and which is “formless in the midst of forms, changeless in the midst of change” (I.2.22). Just as the beauty of nature won’t be affected by the changing forms of the seasons, the blissful Self won’t perish when one dies.  

Nachiketa, after being aware of the results of Self-realization, next inquired how one could know that blissful Self. In response to his query, Yama mentioned yoga: “When the five senses are stilled, when the mind is stilled, when the intellect is stilled, that is called the highest state by the wise. They say yoga is this complete stillness in which one enters the unitive state, never to become separate again” (II.3. 10-11). The god of death commented that one could realize Self through sense-restraint and disciplined meditation practice (yoga). Even though the path is difficult and “sharp like a razor’s blade” (I.3.14), the reward is incredible: “Eternal joy is theirs who see the Self in their own hearts. Eternal peace is theirs who see the Self in their own hearts” (II.2.12-13). It can be seen that, traditionally, yoga plays an essential role in recognizing spirituality within oneself and exploring the mystery of death.

Acceptance of death helps nourish life. When Nachiketa was given to Death by his angry father, he took it as an opportunity to seek the secret of death. Because of his determination and pure heart, Nachiketa not only overcame death but also brought about teachings from Death that have inspired thousands of seekers to start a journey to understand death and beyond. A person who takes death seriously will eventually come to understand and appreciate life.

Both the dying and the person who sees the death are involved in the death process, the process that causes physical and emotional suffering. Dealing with death is never easy. Perceiving ancient wisdom provides a chance to let go of the fear of death, and the actual spiritual practice gives us the courage and strength to go through the pain of loss. Let our understanding of death help us bring appreciation to life. 

Reference:

Quotations of the Katha Upanishad from The Upanishads, introduced and translated by Eknath Easwaran (Berkeley, CA: Nilgiri Press, 2008)

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Managing Anger

Warrior poses in yoga are named after Virabhadra, a fierce warrior created by Shiva’s anger. There is a story about this. 

Sati, the youngest daughter of Daksha, won the heart of Shiva who was known for dwelling on Mount Kailash in long periods of one-pointed meditation. But Daksha was not pleased about Sati getting married to Shiva.  

One day, Daksha organized a great fire sacrifice. He didn’t invite Sati and Shiva. Sati went to the sacrifice anyway and was humiliated and insulted by her father. Consequently, she immolated herself in a rage. Knowing this, Shiva was mad with grief and fury. From his matted hair, the powerful warrior Virabhadra arose. Virabhadra and his army destroyed the sacrifice, and Daksha was beheaded. 

Traditionally, yoga is known as a spiritual practice, and concentration is an essential part of it. However, be aware that life on a secluded mountain is totally different from worldly life, and the goal of a spiritual seeker is different from that of a householder. Can we recognize the variance and adjust accordingly? The ability to concentrate is not enough; we also need to have the insight and technique to know how to apply this ability. The way of managing anger can help us understand this idea. 

We know that anger is a powerful emotion that harms both ourselves and others. Anger, like a fire, can bring destruction and be the destroyer of life. Without any preparation, we won’t be able to restrain anger. Directing the mind in the proper direction certainly helps.  First, we direct the mind toward anger itself instead of the cause of anger. Thich Nhat Hanh says, “like a firefighter, we must put water on the blaze immediately and not waste time looking for the person who set the house on fire.” As the story of the warrior Virabhadra demonstrates, concentration alone will not help to tame emotions in the absence of this awareness. 

After becoming aware of the appropriate direction, we can then enhance this awareness with mindfulness practice. According to Thich Nhat Hanh, “The foundation of all mindfulness practice is to bring our attention to in-breath and out-breath.” He suggests that when we are angry, we can observe the anger itself and practice mindfulness breathing.

Breathing in, I know that I am angry anger.
Breathing out, I know that I must take care of my anger.

When practicing yoga poses such as Warrior II, we can also combine it with mindful breathing. 

Breathing in, I know that I can take care of this feeling.
Breathing out, I calm this feeling. 

Hopefully, with practice, at the moment anger arises, we can bring attention to our breathing to subdue this powerful emotion. 

Conscious breathing will ground us and give us orientation. May the practice of mindfulness lead us to be skillful mind masters – knowing when and how to apply our abilities and knowing the direction to walk in as the situation and environment change. 

Notes:

1. The story of the warrior Virabhadra is rephrased from B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga (London: Thorsons, 2001), 46-47.
2. Thich Nhat Hanh, Happiness – Essential Mindfulness Practice (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 2009), 3.
3. Thich Nhat Hanh, The Sutra on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness in Awakening of the Heart : Essential Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 2012), 157-158.

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Yoga: The Ability

Yoga is a practice for the mind. According to T.K.V. Desikachar, “Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction without any distractions.” To easily understand this meaning of yoga, we can look at an ancient Indian story.

A group of warriors were studying under their trainer, Drona. They had practiced hard, and they were all strong, brave, and had the confidence to defeat enemies. But Drona knew they were not ready to fight. As warriors, at least one more skill, the ability to direct the mind, needed to be mastered.

Drona had set up a small wooden bird in a distant tree and these warriors were supposed to strike the eye of the bird with their arrow. Before they acted, Drona asked them what they saw. “I see the wooden bird, the leaves beside the bird, the branch the bird is sitting on, the tree.” “I can see grass under the tree, other trees around, the sky, the clouds…” One by one, warriors gave similar answers. They named off everything. Drona asked them to put down their bows as he knew they would not hit the eye of the bird.

It was Arjuna’s turn. “What do you see?” Drona asked.“The eye of the wooden bird”, Arjuna answered clearly.

“Is this the only thing you can see? Are you sure? There are lots of things around. Your eyesight must have some problems.” Drona was teasing Arjuna.“The eye of the wooden bird, this is the only thing I see.” Arjuna answered firmly.

Drona was pleased with this response and ordered Arjuna to shoot. Arjuna held his bow steady, gazing at the target and shot the arrow which hit the bird’s eye.

From the story, we can see that to stop the distraction, we need a focused mind. A mind that can lead the way instead of being distracted. In our regular yoga practice, we can use body exercise to train the mind to concentrate on our goal. For example, when practicing Warrior I, we can consciously lead the mind to focus on breathing while holding the pose. Thus, the state of mind turns a posture exercise into a yoga practice.

Yoga not only physically improves our flexibility, balance, and strength; but more importantly, it helps us concentrate. This ability gives us the willpower to achieve our goal like a warrior: firm and stable without being affected by diversion.

Notes:

1. T.K.V.Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga: Developing a personal practice, (Rochester: Inner Traditions International, 1995), 149.
2. The story of the warrior Arjuna is rephrased from B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga (London: Thorsons, 2001), 28.

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