Yoga is Skillfulness in Action and Living - What Does This Consist of? - Part 1

In listening to news reports on a daily basis, we see many fine, dedicated, focused and hard - working people making a sustained effort to make the world a better place and deal with the acute and chronic problems that arise through life and the environment in which we live.

While all of these things go on, we may wonder if we are significant or what it is that we should be doing to make the world a better place.

What some of us can and should do is continue on examining and working on ourselves so that those people that we interact with and influence will reap benefits from our changes while we experience and grow from them also.

This is how we can make the world a better place.

If we practice Yoga as a way to learn more about ourselves and in order to bring about such a change, it may be useful to remember that Yoga is defined in various ways, one of which is skillfulness in action and living.

When we are presented with such a statement and idea, we may not always be clear about what it means or consists of.

In its application, it means that whatever we do, as individuals or in our interactions with others, we function, act, react and respond in ways that bring the greatest amount of health and wisdom to all involved.

It involves the application of a mindful, focused, energized and calm state of mind, consciousness and being.

In practice, this can involve many things.

One such thing is learning and understanding what it means to live within our means.

Too many times, many of our problems in life are a result of wanting to possess more then we can afford monetarily or manage mentally and emotionally.

It is basically a problem of greed and a lack of contentment.

If we think that we need to have a bigger house, a newer car, and a more fashionable wardrobe in order to be happy, we will continue to pursue these things, without seeing the amount of money and energy we put into them, and how such an infusion of this money and energy can be draining away resources that may be better spent on other things.

If we do not live within our means, we may always be in debt and such a state will add to our worries, anxieties and an overall state of depression and confusion.

We may also, even if we have education, money and charm, overindulge in too many things, trying to manage more businesses, relationships and lovers then we should or can.

In such a situation, just like in the overindulgence of wanting too many material things, we also want too much in terms of things that build up our ego or satiate our desires.

Then, when we lose our job or there is some kind of economic change or meltdown, we get angry and bemoan everything and everyone instead of our own ignorance and greed that may have led to such a state.

Many times the house that we desire is bigger then we really need. Many times the new car that we have bought has a more faddish or fashionable aspect to it then a practical one.

Too many times we are consciously or unconsciously influenced, intimidated or pressured into thinking that we need to have something in order to be cool, hip, fashionable, civilized, modern, admired or accepted and respected by others.

In looking back at the two main motivations behind such a way of living, we once again are directed to greed and a lack of contentment as being the major states that lead to an inability to live within our means.

Yoga specifically teaches us that we need to cultivate non  greed and contentment into our thoughts, words and actions.

Non  greed is one of the teachings put forth in the yamas, while contentment is one of the teachings put forth in the niyamas.

Those who teach Yoga may have met more then a few people who come to Yoga to get the physical benefits from it, but are reluctant to look at or resentful to be exposed to any of the other teachings that Yoga advises them to look at, learn, reflect on, understand and try to implement into their lives.

So even though they practice the physical aspects of Yoga, they still experience frustration and disappointments in their life.

This is one of the reasons why Yoga teachers need to be skillful and make an attempt to, at the very least, make those who want to learn and practice Yoga mindful about what all of its teachings are and what the reasons for those teachings are.

Some individuals can naturally and easily live within their means, while others spend a lifetime struggling with it.

With the way modern culture and society is, in any country of the world, there will always be outside forces that stir inside forces to work and act in ways that can create problems.

If we can better understand the way those inside forces work and make an effort to manage them, unwholesome influences that try to make us greedy and lacking in contentment will be less likely to create problems for us.

)2005 John C. Kimbrough (January 12th, 2005)

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be reached at johnckimbrough@yahoo.com)