“And I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.”
This sense of something “far more deeply interfused,” of which Wordsworth wrote, surrounds us; yet existing within the deep heart’s core there’s a divinity which shapes our minds and sets us to ponder with wonder a sinking sun or rising tide.
When we are focused on ourselves, the mind can pick us apart. This self-criticism distracts us from experiencing the sublime sense Wordsworth knew and wrote of when describing sun, ocean, air, sky, mind, motion, spirit, and the Spirit which impels objects and subjects of thought.
Yoga’s manifold program is designed to heal the human in all thought and motion. When the yogi steps onto their mat in true presence the fire of yoga is applied to their minds and bodies as medicine.
And what is the goal of fire? Fire wants to burn. In the case of yoga, fire burns up the rubbish that is unnecessary and unhelpful.
What is the goal of medicine? Medicine wants to cure. In the case of yoga, entering into true presence provides more than we can imagine.
Aiming for a presence to know, we do our work and kindle the inner fire. We pay attention to our constant, deliberate movement, and pray for an endowment of constancy:
• Let me be truly present in my asana
• Let me be truly present in my decisions
• Let me be truly present in my mediations
• Let me be truly present in my service
• Let me be truly present in my emotions
“Crying out loud and weeping are great resources,” Rumi penned in a classic truth from the 13th Century. Embodying true presence in yoga, we release and allow yoga’s wisdom to fill up our decisions, meditations, and service. We believe yoga prepares us for transformation and we submit to yoga’s tapas as it burns up our loud crying-out and weeping.
We are forewarned by the Yoga Sutra that we will go through times of clarity and cloudiness, for the ego is not easily tricked, and each advance we make from periphery to center is also an advance of the self-centered ego’s wants. This should not be surprising because this martial art of soul is an inner struggle between our self-centered will and something “far more deeply interfused.”
But when the yogi is fully present and trusting, yoga will return them to the source where the gifts of true presence will be multiplied. And the motion that “impels all thinking things” will be the acolyte of transformation by fire and medicine deeply interfused.
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