Connections
I was reading a book based on Buddhist Tantra Yoga and it prompted some thoughts about Tantra Yoga and this is the second in a three part series that resulted.. The last rambling tale talked about the benefit of being able to see things as they are (without delusions) from maintaining an inward focus, but there are other benefits as well. In order to maintain an inward focus (or always try to be the sort of person that we want to be), we have to regularly and consistently understand our motives for every choice we make and action we take. Otherwise we slip into the numerous traps of an outward focus. However, by working on sorting out our motives we also gain a clarity of thought. We are no longer conflicted about every issue, e.g. 'well I want this to happen, because then I will get this, but I am afraid that if that happens then this other thing will happen and I will lose something else', and so on. All those doubts and conflicts evaporate when we focus on just being a kind and compassionate person, for example. This clarity also makes us more effective at dealing with our environment because not only can we see the world around us clearly, we can also act without undermining our own efforts. When we are conflicted, our actions tend to be conflicted as well. We move in a particular direction, but do so without commitment and our hesitation limits our effectiveness. As we resolve those internal conflicts we become more effective because we are no longer hesitant and indecisive. Indeed, with goals like being kind and compassionate, our choices are much easier and we can follow through with actions which are full of confidence as there is never any doubt that we can be kind and compassionate. However, the benefits of an inward focus go beyond this. People around us sense our motives through our actions, words, tone of voice, body language, and direct experiences of consciousness. If we are trying to change another person because their behavior annoys us, they will sense that, and as seems to be the natural human reaction to such efforts to be changed, they will resist changing in any way that they can. However, if we accept them as they are and try to help them change out of kindness and compassion, helping them find peace and contentment, then they will sense that too. Actions motivated by kindness and compassion are very hard to resist. Those motives tend to melt any resistance which is the classical reaction to efforts to change a person. An inward focus also allows us to more freely develop and utilize our natural direct connection to the people around us through consciousness (as discussed previously). Consciousness moves through all of us, directing and guiding us to those actions which bring the greatest good. With an inward focus, we are more naturally attuned to this connection to the people around us and they are more closely attuned to us. While prayer (or deeply held emotions) are powerful forces on the people around us, by purifying our emotions, our prayers become more effective. Without the false boundaries between ourselves and our environment created by an outward focus, we can become closer to those around us, strengthening and developing our connection with them. In that sense, our role in the world is transformed to more like that of a nerve cell in our own body; we become conduits of higher consciousness, helping to sense the status of things as they are and communicating the needs of the greater whole to those around us. Now it is important to remember that all cells in our body are equally important. Fat cells are just as important to our survival as are nerve and muscle cells (we could not live without all the kinds of cells that there are). Also, individual nerve cells are not really 'in control', but merely conduits through which consciousness is expressed (as are all the cells of our bodies). An inward focus helps us more fully adopt this blessed role as a conduit for consciousness. While it greatly enhances our ability to influence those around us, we are also reduced to that of a passive conduit of a higher power. If we attempt to seize control, we lose our inward focus (we have fallen into one of the traps of outward focus) and our ability to function as a connection to those around us is decreased. All of these benefits of an inward focus are really contingent on our focus on the greater good and not our personal benefit. Of course the real benefit of inward focus is the peace and contentment which it brings to us. Click here to see the next rambling tale.This page was last updated on December 25, 2008