The pessimist sees the glass as half empty.

The optimist sees the glass as half full.

The engineer sees the glass as twice as large as it needs to be.

The Svaroopa® yoga teachings would go even further. The teachings would say the glass is already full and always has been and always will be. The glass is you.

The tantric perspective of Kashmiri Shaivism, which is the philosophical basis of Svaroopa® yoga, would go even further than that. It would say you are more than the glass. You are the whole universe, an incarnation of the One Divine Reality. You contain the glass and everything in it and everything beyond it.

If the latter of these two perspectives is too much of a stretch for you at this time, start with the easier stretch: realize that you are full – full as in being whole or complete. You can gradually work up to the more difficult stretch when you are ready for it! Just like doing yoga poses!

The most difficult stretch, really, is the negative way you view yourself. That’s the stretch that’s really hurting you. It’s ignorance. Ignorance is seeing yourself as smaller than you truly are. It’s seeing yourself as separate and alone. Or seeing yourself as incomplete. Or seeing yourself as a victim of original sin. No!!! You are original Divine! You are not sinful by nature; you are Divine by nature. It’s not sin that is passed on to you from your ancestors. It is ignorance that is passed on.

That ignorance is the basis of all your fears and anxiety. When you know who you really are, all your fears and anxiety disappear. As Swami Nirmalananda wrote in Breakthrough, the June 2022 teaching article, realizing who you really are leads to this:

“You see the light of your own Beingness, impossible to chop down to size. Your mind breathes a deep sigh of relief, free from the need to conjure up problems and fears. And when life presents challenges, your mind shines the light of Consciousness into them, creating a pathway through the quagmire.”

Afterward

Swami Nirmalananda’s August article is titled No More Negativity. I had already written the above “Foreward” when her article appeared. She writes in more detail about the limited sense of self that you succumb to and the resistance that keeps you confined in your small, protective shell. Yoga is what helps you break through that shell:

“All the yogic methodologies work on dissolving your resistances, melting your negativities and freeing you from your fears.”

These negativities keep you from realizing and being the whole of who you really are. Swami says:

“Once you get beyond the ways you negate yourself [that is, negate your Self], you discover there is more inside than you ever imagined. Exploring that expansive inner reality is yoga’s specialty.”

Once this discovery is made, your off to the races!

Way Afterward: Challenge of the Month

Speaking of races, this month’s Svaroopa® yoga “stretch” is to yogify your driving experience. Slow down. Drive the speed limit or even less than the limit, and notice how you feel. Does your glass feel fuller or emptier? Share your experiences with us in class or via email.