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may/june 2018yogajournal.com.auThe next step was to imagine that
one of the corpses was my own body.
I selected one of the burning bodies
closest to me, and in my mind I
converted its identity to that of my own.
Then I watched the flames envelop and
consume it. Just as this happened, a
gust of wind whipped toward us,
blowing smoke and ash our way. As I
imagined my own body burning, the
ashes from the pyre blew into my eyes,
covering my face and hair, as if
punctuating reality. I don’t know how
long we sat there—perhaps two
hours—but I do know that on our
walk back up the ghats, in the light of
the sunset, covered in the ash of the
dead, I knew that I was going to make
some changes in my life.
My mortal life was running out.
It struck me that even if I were to live
another hundred years, my body would
one day be ash on someone else’s face.
In that moment, I realised that there
was more to do. I was being held
accountable by something deep within
me, and that something told me I had
better get busy. As rich and meaningful
as my life was, I knew it could be more
so. I knew that I was being tempted
by what I call the complacency of
achievement. It is a well-known trap:
when you achieve much of what you
want, you can be tempted to stay where
you are—and cease to grow. I realised I
had been holding myself back from life
due to both fear of failure and fear of
success. I needed to learn to become
truly vulnerable; I needed to take off the
armour I’d been wearing so that I could
fully complete my life’s purpose.
Emotional transformation like this
shapes our understanding of the world,
often giving us sudden insight into the
essential meaning of life, which can
cause powerful changes. Yet you don’t
necessarily have to wait for life to
present you with an extreme situation or
circumstance to accelerate your growth.
Instead, you can decide to take intentional
actions that accelerate your evolution,
so that you become wiser—faster.The imperative to accomplish
this is as follows: do a daily practice
of breath-centric movement, such as
asana, and emphasise breathwork.
Breathing patterns affect us
emotionally and can heal us very
quickly. Without focusing on the breath
in asana, we may become physically
flexible and strong—yet remain
stagnant in our internal world.
And most importantly, no matter how
young or old you are, live as if your
time and your lifespan are the same.
After all, we only have a few seconds
here on this earth.
The knowledge we need to transform
ourselves and our world is available.
And whether you feel ready or not,
the time is now. So live! Look at your
life. What things do you remember?
Wonderful meals—or television
shows? Long chats with loved ones—
or endless social media and texts?
When we begin to study ourselves,
we can step more fully into our
imperfect, impermanent lives.