The
Right Use of Energy.
Page
Contents.
The
Road Itself is the Goal.
There is a natural
tendency to regard any programme of self-improvement as if it were a journey
leading to an ultimate destination. This destination is often thought
of as final perfection towards which man is continually growing through
a process of evolution. It is seen as union with the divine life from
which man has become separated and to which he returns along a path of
unfoldment.
But although this
concept serves a useful purpose for man at a certain stage of his development
it has eventually to be superseded by an even higher one. For it is not
that the road leads to a final goal, but rather that the road itself is
the goal. We tend to represent the journey in terms of space and time
as if life came to a stop when we reached a certain point. But really
life itself is infinite it is not static but a dynamic continuum. So that
although one needs at a certain stage to think of a goal as an incentive
to growth, the end is really endlessness itself.
The idea of life
being endless or eternal is something for which most people are not ready.
To let oneself go forward into the eternal flow of life without thought
of any end is a stage which needs courage and is also a great challenge.
This principle helps us greatly where yoga is concerned because yoga too
is its own reward. It does not need an end or goal in terms of time. If
one's practice makes one more joyful then this is the criterion of progress.
Joy is thc expansion of consciousness or the principle of 'moreness'.
Suffering is the limitation of consciousness, the principle of 'lessness'.
Energy
is in Proportion to Motive.
Everything in the
universe radiates some form of energy, whether it be mineral, vegetable,
animal or human. The amount of its radiation is in proportion to its relationship
to the total or universal energy. So where the energy system of man is
concerned the amount of energy on which he can draw is in exact proportion
to the universality or otherwise of his own consciousness. The more selfish
and limited his motives in life, the more he shuts himself off from the
wholeness of life, and the less the life force will flow through him.
In short, energy is in proportion to motive.
Many of us will have
had the experience of undertaking some activity in a spirit of fear, hatred,
doubt or with some other selfish motive; this always leaves one feeling
utterly exhausted. By contrast, those who act with a selfless, universal
motive of service and of giving will know that such work brings no tiredness
in its wake but in fact brings joy and renewed energy. To the extent that
our motive is for the good of the whole, to just that extent do we have
the right to draw on the whole or universal energy. In reality life has
no shortage or limitation. Energy is limitless and life itself is abundance.
It is we who put limitation into life by our finite motives.
The measure of a
man's greatness or degree of evolution is his capacity for giving. Nature,
it has been said, abhors a vacuum. As we give out energy new life flows
in to fill the space. But when we hold back and restrict our creative
activity we experience a lack of vital force because we have not allowed
the life to flow through us. One may compare this process to that of a
water pump which can only receive through its inlet to exactly the same
extent that it gives out through its outlet. As we create and receive
back we fulfil this law of energy and 'give that we may receive and give
again'. Every selfish or limiting action diminishes the flow of life through
us; every universal or expanding action increases it.
These principles
are often referred to as the laws of universal supply and those who understand
and live by them know no shortage but flow joyfully and abundantly through
life as a bird flies undoubtingly through the air. Such people make life
an adventure - an unending exploration of life's infinite possibilities.
This also means of course the infinite possibilities within oneself.
This principle of
flowing continuously forward with life's becomingness is symbolized in
several age old parables. There is for example the story of Lot's wife.
in the journey away from the city of evil she was turned into a pillar
of salt because she looked back. By looking backward one loses the flow
of creativity which is essentially a forward-going force and so crystallization
sets in. The same principle is symbolized in the story of Orpheus redeeming
his beloved from the underworld. He could only save her if he did not
look back but kept moving onwards and forwards. As he lost confidence
in the future and therefore lost his faith, he looked back and so failed
to redeem his imprisoned love or life force.
The
Best Use of Energy.
Just as water flows
downhill following the line of least resistance, so energy always flows
to its most useful field of activity. When one field of activity has fulfilled
its purpose the life force flows forward into another field. In this way
evolution follows a law, for the energy is always moving into that field
of activity where it can manifest most creatively. The sum total of energy
in the universe does not increase or diminish but is continuously being
transformed or transmuted from one state to another. Cessation of activity
in one field always means a renewal of activity in another field.
Dharma.
This concept of energy
flowing to its next most useful task in the evolutionary pattern is embodied
in the idea of dharma. Everyone is climbing an evolutionary ladder; therefore
in relation to all his circumstances there will be an optimum action for
each person at any one time in his life. The next step on the evolutionary
ladder for any one person at any one time is his dharrna. This is to say
that it is the next action into which his energies can best be channelled
in order for them to manifest in the most creative possible way.
Control
of Energy Through Yoga.
The foregoing principles
involving the right use of energy are all embodied in the practice of
yoga. The flow of life is in fact the breathstream in the human system.
The channels through which it flows are the nadis. The different levels
at which it manifests are the tattwas. When our flow of creativity seems
to dry up then we have to look to the nadis and chakras for the remedy.
The breath and posture will somewhere have become blocked. Through yoga
one may release the blockages and once more become creative and full of
energy. Through yoga we identify our human energies with the universal
energies. Just as life itself is infinite and eternal, so our consciousness
can become limitless in all its possibilities through yoga.
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