Psychology talks to you like you have no choice, yoga talks to you like you do.
Michael A. Singer (somewhat paraphrased)
I often talk about karma, samskaras, reactivity, and every challenge we face in Life being something we are responsible for.
What you sayin, crazy lady? I 'm to blame for the shitty things that happen in my life?
That sounds harsh, I know. You are not to "blame" but, yes, I believe you are responsible for your life. As I am for mine.
Beyond Psychology
I studied psychology for years and though I probably have enough credits to pursue one, I do not have a graduate degree in psychology. Over the years of my life, I simply soaked up university courses and independent learning in many areas, including this one, in what ever way I could out of interest and a keen desire to learn. I was seldom focused on the outcome. Like all the learning fluttering around in my mind, I now have a mish mashed and confusing collection of transcripts that point in many different directions. I absolutely loved what I learned about psychology and I added that "knowledge" to a cup already pouring over with many things. It is a very messy cup lol. I am a very messy learner. Therefore, I am not an expert in any field (other than nursing, maybe) and have no valid academic credentials to rightfully entitled to say that you are responsible for your life. Many would also argue that I have no right to say that psychology is limited in its ability to explain the human condition.
Still, I continue to say, with great faith, that it is limited and that you are totally responsible for your experience of Life.
Psychology Limited by Its Tidying up Focus
Through my own examination of psychology, I have come to see its limitations. I have come to see how it is focused on the psyche...(psychology is actually translated from its latin origin into English to mean...the study of the mind) and not the whole. It does not see beyond the "me" to who we truly are. Its goal is to help people cope with the problems and troubles of this psyche, this "personality", this "personal mind". Its duty is to soothe and make life better for this "me", or the personal sense of self as if that is who we are. It doesn't look beyond the veil of the mind to examine the "whole picture".
Psychology tends to say when it views the mess inside us , "There, there. It is not your fault. You didn't put that stuff in here and you cant get it out. We will help you to "tidy up" the mess, make it neater and more orderly so you can get by." It recognizes suppression and repression as sometimes useful ways of coping and encourages them to a degree in its tidying up tendency.
Yoga Unlimited by Its Purification Focus
Yoga, on the other hand does not stop at the mind. It goes beyond the mind. Yoga helps us to see the "whole picture" because it is all about the whole picture. It is all about not only seeing Life and that which we really are clearly but about experiencing it fully. It doesn't try to solve the problems of the personal self so it feels better. It sees the personal sense of self as the problem. It sees the "me"as being in the way of us experiencing who we are.
Yoga doesn't just tidy up our insides...it attempts to allow for heavy cleaning. Its goal is to clear the mess out completely so there is nothing blocking that which is who we are , so the joy that has always been within us has a clear pathway to flow. Yoga is a way of removing all that is in the way...to purify. It teaches that whenever we repress or suppress we are just adding to the mess and to the blockages; we are resisting the cleansing yoga can offer us.
And unlike psychology yoga teaches that we are responsible for the mess inside. We created it and we are adding to it everyday. Being responsible doesn't mean we have control over what Life hands us in terms of what is unfolding in front of us...it simply means we are responsible for our reponses ( which in too many cases are reactions). It teaches that the suffering we endure is directly and indirectly caused by our messy insides. Life has little to do with it. We are responsible for the stuffing, therefore the mess. We are responsible for the way we are constantly bumping into this mess, and therefore reacting. We are responsible for the consequences of our reactions and therefore our life experiences. reacting as a result. We are, therefore, responsible for our life experience.
Responsibility is not "blame". No one is doing anything wrong here as we learn. Suppression and repression are common defense mechanisms most of us use. I use them all the time by habit. They are "normal" and conditioned ways of coping with our human experience. Yoga, though, doesn't care about normalcy and conditioning. It is concerned about what is healthy and freeing. It teaches that we do not have to be trapped in these normal human habits. We can transmute them and transcend them. Responsibility is simply our ability to respond. Yoga is about taking back the power over our responses to life, our habitual human tendencies. We do not have to stuff more down on top of that which we stuffed and we can let the old stuff come up and be released. We do not have to stop at tidying up with psychology. We can go deeper and start cleaning up with yoga. We have that choice, we have that power; we have that responsibility!...
Hmm! All is well in my world.
Michael A. Singer/ Temple of the Universe ( February 2, 2024) Exploring Methods of Inner Work. https://tou.org/talks/
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