Wow, this is the theme of the month! Recently, I watched a colleague attempt to deal with the problem I had experienced last week, comparing and contrasting styles of yoga with a teacher from another lineage. While giving a talk one year ago, the colleague had an experience in which he felt his lineage was attacked publically in front of 900 people by a man from a particular lineage. He handled it well at the conference a year ago, with satyam. More recently he was giving a very small workshop that I was attending. He came into contact with a woman who was very passionate about her lineage (which happened to be the same lineage that he had experienced difficultly with at the conference). So just as the Yoga Sutras say, his memory of the earlier situation colored his usually clear perception. He was burning inside as he listened to the woman, remembering how he felt attacked a year earlier (I am not sure if this was even conscious for him- it is just my interpretation). He handled the conversation well at first, so the woman had no indication that she had upset him. She floated away probably thinking that she had just enlightened another person about her fabulous style of yoga. She was baffled and confused a few hours later when he lost his composure for a moment and made a bad joke about the "lecture he had received from her about her style." This is when things really went downhill......fast. He quickly apologized, but this did not help.

I was able to see the situation clearly because I was not involved. I knew about the previous conference and how painful it was to experience a conflict about lineage in front of so many people. I could also see that the woman at this conference was just simply passionate about her style of yoga and wanted to share it with others. Both parties wanted to be heard more than they wanted to listen. I could see how each party felt that their style was the best and that the other style had serious flaws in the methodology. I saw her laughing and passing notes to her friend during his lecture, just before she decided to leave the lecture for good. I felt sad for everyone involved. Both parties left the conference feeling unheard, without connection and maybe with nothing learned.

This is an example of Yoga Sutra 2.16- Prevent the suffering before it happens. Unfortunately, the Yoga Sutras tell us that we cannot be sure that we are perceiving something correctly at the time that it happens. Our mind, senses and emotions begin to lead our soul astray. The only way we know that we have perceived correctly or incorrectly is to wait and see what seed was planted with the action and how it grows with time. Then, we practice svadyaya (self-reflection) and see how our past thoughts, words and actions have played out in our lives. It is from this svadyaya that we gain the wisdom to do Yoga Sutras 2.16- Prevent future suffering. It takes time and patience to grow in this way- very slow development. Many of us never do the svadyaya and keep repeated the same painful mistakes. I think this is especially true when our "intuition" tells us to do something, or we have a "very strong feeling"........ How do we know if our current actions will cause us suffering or peace? Again, first svadyaya. Second, is the decision in alignment with our dharma (life responsibilities and benefits). I have a feeling that both parties in this situation felt that it was their dharma to pass on the word about their lineage. The key point is to pass it on with satyam..........and to listen as much as we speak. We can also practice vairagyam- detachment about our tradition. Easier said than done!

I for one do not know if Yoga Stura 2.16 will be practiced by my colleague or the woman who felt so passionate about her lineage. Thank goodness yoga tells us that we do not need to worry about analyzing everyone else's problems. I have enough to do just practicing my own svadyaya and trying to prevent suffering in my life. Trust me when I say that this is a big job! Ha! Ha!