सोपक्रमं निरुपक्रमं च कर्म तत्संयमादपरान्तज्ञानमरिष्टेभ्यो वा॥२२॥
sopa-kramaṁ nirupa-kramaṁ ca karma tatsaṁyamāt-aparāntajñānam ariṣṭebhyo vā
Actions (karma) can be clear and have immediate results (sopa-kramam karma) or can be confused and have postponed results (nirupra-kramam). Samyama on actions and their intentions and state of mind of the one making the action can lead one to have insight into the future (jñanam-aristebhyo) and even one’s own death (jñanam-aparanta).
PRACTICAL LIVING Have you ever tried making a decision, even forcing it because the unknown is hard for the human mind, but the decision cannot be made? Perhaps that decision is not yet ripe to be made. Perhaps holding the question with curiosity and spaciousness allows for the respect of the rhythm of that answer to show up. The mango ripens at a different pace than the strawberry. A friend recently gifted me with a meditation of an empty bowl: keep an empty bowl in your sacred space and meditate on emptiness, on allowing the timing of actions, clarity and decisions to be made in their own divine timing.
About knowing when we will die, I asked myself this question: if we knew the exact time of death, how would that influence our relationship to life? I had a dream once where I saw my funeral. The question I was asking myself was: what were people celebrating me for? That answer gave me direction on how to live right now! With integrity, enthusiasm, laughter, spaciousness, slowness and so much compassion for human nature and planet earth. A documentary I recently watched about a dying poet significantly impacted my life: Come see me in the good light. I strongly recommend it.
IN THE YOGA WORLD. A committed Yogi sees the relationship between actions and consequences. According to Iyengar, the results of actions could be from previous lives, from decades past, or the ones we are presently in. With that in mind, we may not understand certain things that are happening to us because they may be the fruits of what we experienced in previous incarnations. Some may be a result of early childhood when we may not have a memory of. So what we can be attentive to are our present actions, whose results we may see immediately, in the future, or, in the next incarnation or so.
Vyasa says that omens might be seen or felt as a sign that death is near. We may have personal omens such as closing our eyes and not perceiving light or sound. Or we can have visions of beings from other realms sending a message about death. And finally we may have appearances from deities or heavenly beings delivering a message about death. The knowing of one’s own death often brings clarity regarding values, purpose and priorities. Once again I pose the question: if we knew that we were dying, how would we choose to live our lives?
INSPIRATIONAL PERSON. She’s ineffable. A woman that lives her life based on intuition, on the intangible, on the often unseen. From chemistry to psychology, biology to psychedelics, her mind holds so much that my mind barely grasps when she talks. But our connection is not mental. There is an energetic-soul cord that makes me feel lighter, more magical and mystical. A meeting of witches, she takes me to other dimensions. A courageous, hilarious and absurdly smart human, Hillary, I am profoundly grateful that we get to be friends! Love you woman!
weeklysutra 