Step 6 Yoga Wisdom: Embrace Transformation And Healing

In this session, we dive into Step 6—"Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character"—by shifting away from harsh self-judgment and making space to honor our true readiness to change. We look at how to navigate this internal transition by cultivating deep receptivity and practicing the niyama of tapasya (self-discipline). By trusting the timing and pace of our recovery while raising our energy and vibration, we open ourselves to let divine grace support the healing process. You are not your mistakes; your defects are simply a temporary cloud cover over the unchanging, radiant light of your soul.

Transcript

So we're focusing on step six today in Yoga and the Twelve Steps. That's basically our theme as we are going through these satsangs. And step six is about a readiness and a receptivity to change. The step reads that we are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. I'll read actually This is from AA's Twelve Steps. We are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. I think that's just what I said. And really what happens as we're practicing this and exploring it in both the 12-step community but in the yoga world, And we're looking at bringing these two together, Is what does it mean to be entirely ready? One of the things I appreciate, It's kind of in a beautiful way that whatever class I'm teaching or focusing on, I will, You know, Probably not surprisingly, But notice how many things support that subject. So this morning I was watching a talk that a satsang Shanti gave on Saturday. A Q&A, And the very first question that was asked was really about working with challenges and what's the difference between suppressing something and really being able to release it, Which is very much the topic. And Shanti gave a beautiful answer, So I encourage you, If you feel intrigued, To go there and listen to that talk. So what we're looking at with Entirely Ready is often we feel daunted by that idea. For me, What comes to mind is our purification ceremony in Ananda that we offer before shelter-in-place. It was part of every Sunday service. And just this Sunday, We brought back in the fire ceremony and also the practice of purification in a new way. A virtual way of practicing. What we do with the purification is we bring to God that which we feel ready to be purified in our life and that could be something we're ready to release or we want help releasing or something we want to strengthen. So the wording of the purification ceremony is, I seek purification by the grace of God. " And you bring that to the light bearer, The minister, Who is representing the channel of that divine grace of the masters, And they sit with you. And then after a moment of silent meditation, They touch the heart center. And as a channel of this divine grace, Actually, When you come up, They say, The Master says, Open your heart to me, And I will enter and take charge of your life. So you're saying you're seeking purification. They're saying, Master says, Open your heart to me. And then they touch the heart and say, By the grace of our Masters, You are free. It's extraordinary. And it's a very high level of practicing this principle of a readiness to change, A willingness to change, A receptivity to change. And part of what we need to do is work with where we are. So in the previous steps, The most recent four and five, We're identifying, We're taking an honest look at our life. It's an honest appraisal of where are we? Where have we been? Where are we now? And we're sharing that in step five intimately with someone we trust. And then the next step is that we look at, We ask ourselves the question, You know, It's a statement, We're entirely ready. But then the whole step goes on to say, Are we? Are we entirely ready? Without judgment, Without criticism. But with a loving, Compassionate practice of truth. Am I ready? " So Shanti was saying in her talk today, She was referring to something that is also stated in the Twelve Steps that Swami Kriyananda said, To introduce the word yet. So if you are facing something You want to be free of, And you are moving consciously in that direction. But either you feel within yourself you're not quite ready to release it, Or your behavior is demonstrating you're not quite ready. You feel ready. You think you're ready. But the behavior's not matching that. In either case, Rather than say, I can't do it, I'll never be able to do it, Begin to make space within yourself for, I'm not there yet. And because inherent in that, Is the understanding that I'm moving in that direction. And I believe. In the possibility of being able to do it. I was talking almost a year ago now with a student about a place in her life where she knew that there was something that she really was ready, Actually wanting to be ready. And feeling ready. To at least have the serious conversation about letting something go. But she had a lot of doubt that she could do it. She really did. And we had, I would say, A very deep, Beautiful conversation about that, Where she needed space to be able to say, It was clear to her that if she could take this step, It would be so positive for her in her life. It would be a game changer for her, For her health. For her overall well-being, For her ability to engage in life and participate in a way that she had a deeper sense of a soul calling, Wanting her to. But she'd never been able to make this change. She'd been afraid to make that change. It was completely daunting to her. And she knew that I had made similar changes in my life and that I had made, She knew that I was in recovery and so she wanted to talk to me. About where she was at. And to talk about this possibility that she might really be able to do it. And I could feel that she was ready. I could feel. I didn't say, Well, I shared honestly with her that. She also told me. That part of her journey had been, It had taken her about a year to get to that conversation. And during that year, Every few months, She would talk to me about what I was doing. And this in particular was focusing around diet. And so not eating, I'll just say to clarify, Not eating flour or refined sugar. And she had just, We'd been together at an event and someone had offered me something and I just started to say yes. And then I said, Is there any sweetener of any kind in that? And yes, There was maple syrup or something. And I said, Oh, That's okay, No thank you. And that piqued her interest because this was something she knew. For a very long time was causing her a lot of problems in her life and her health. So she just kind of asked me, Oh, Do you not eat refined sugar? And I said, No, No, I don't. And what she noticed is the peace I had. So that was very intriguing to her. I didn't make a big story about it. I just said, No, Thank you, And moved on. Well, Throughout that year, Every few months, She'd ask me about it. Are you still following that? I'd say, Yes, I am following it. How's it going? Very well, It's working for me. It took me a long time. In my life, It was something I'd considered. And probably in a similar way, I just got to a point where I felt like, I do feel ready. I do feel ready. And so she was reminding me that day that over the years, She'd been in many ways building a sense of readiness and a sense of courage to have an honest conversation. About saying, Yes, I'd like to take this step. And basically then from there, She wanted to know a little bit more about my journey and what were the things that I was using. And she knows me as a yogi, Right? So that was very, Very important to her is how as a yogi is this, Am I doing this? And I was happy to share with her. She recently mentioned that it's been a little over eight months now, I think for her. It has completely changed her life. It really has. It's been a beautiful thing to see. And it was a deep, Beautiful reminder for me that we need to honor our own sense of true timing. So to be moving, I mean, There were many other things in her life she had said yes to and was doing beautifully. So in terms of her spiritual life and personal life, But this was an area that she had always wanted to address and had the moment. And to me, In my experience, Things like that can happen for us. We hear someone say something, Right? It was just such this side comment that she heard because it was meaningful to her. That's, To me, Part of how the universe supports us in our journey. So this practice of readiness and receptivity, I was reflecting on something that Yogananda did. He was said to have done it every one of his talks, His public talks. And we say this, A version of this, At the beginning of Sunday service. He would say, How feels everyone, Right? And the group would respond, Awake and ready. And it was said that he would do this repeatedly. He would keep asking. Until he could feel. A level of vitality and energy flowing through the audience in their response. And then he knew they were ready. They were ready to receive the consciousness and the vibration and the gift that he was offering in that talk, Right? Divine energy, The energy of a master. So he was helping them by this call and response to get them to a place. Perhaps of optimal receptivity that each one of them could be at to receive what they were ready to receive. And this is a divine principle. God and the masters and the saints do not trespass. So they do not enter With that energy, Without invitation, And the invitation on our part is our willingness, Our receptivity. I was reflecting on a story about the modern saint, The 20th century Padre Pio. He was born in 1887. Died in, I think, In 1968. And one of the stories about his life that was very, Very interesting to me is a story of a British journalist who wrote about him with great respect and understanding of his stature as a saint. And so he introduced many people to who Padre Pio was and the power, The transformative healing divine power that he had. He was an Italian saint. Well, After many years of writing about him, He was able to get an interview with Padre Pio, To go and see him. And he, I think it was after 15 years of writing about him, And so then he got the interview. He flew to Italy to go see him, And as the story goes, On the day of the interview, He was on his way there, Stopped in his tracks, Turned around, And flew home. And no one could understand why he would do that after all this time. This opportunity, This rare opportunity to have a personal interview with a true saint that he knew was a saint. And his words were meaningful to me. They were powerful. He said, I realized on the way there that I wasn't ready. For how meeting that man was going to change my life. And the depth of understanding in that. That he had gone as far as he could go, He could write about him. He could know about, I'm sure was profoundly inspired by him. But he couldn't go. Any further than that. For that time, That was his limit. There's a lot of truth in that. I would say that there's a play that Swami Kriyananda wrote. That always reminds me of that as well. It's called The Jewel in the Lotus. And it's a humorous but deep. Play about a it's really Yogananda coming back after is fulfilling his promise after 200 years that he would come back and he would be, He would come back, He'd bring his teachings. And so the play centers around that and there's a storyteller and there's a man who's a merchant in his family and it centers on this merchant who's very skeptical and feels that he doesn't want to know anything about the divine and At a certain point in the story, There is a depth of understanding for him, And it's beautiful. Again, It's humorous and sweet and very deep. But what's interesting is that when he encounters his opportunity to see the Master, To meet the Master, He too comes to a place of saying, I will go to the temple. And worship Him there. I will worship the pictures. I will honor Him. I do honor Him. He had a state of realization of the truth. But I'm not ready to be in his presence. That's too much for me. And again, So others go to be with him. I want to say. . . Also, What I appreciate about the play, There's many things I appreciate. But part of it is the truth that there's space for wherever we are in the journey. That as we awaken, What we need and what we can work with is presented to us. It is a beautiful step to go to the temple, To bow at the altar, To honor the sacred images of God, To chant, To pray, To read scripture, To study, To work with teachers, To follow that soul call that is ever guiding us. Back to a state of our true nature. In the path of the 12 steps, It is said that it is a path of spiritual awakening. That is. What I have seen to be true. Yoga, The same thing, A path of spiritual awakening. And the way that that is defined in yoga is that we remember our true state of being. We awaken. The word in Sanskrit is smriti, Divine memory. We remember who we are. And that is what the Masters come and all the teachings are here to help us remember, To help us to shed what is false, What is keeping us from realizing our highest self. And it's interesting, I think, That, Well, I will say this, You know, I've encountered this thought And I've worked with students who've had a similar thought of, Well, Why wouldn't I be ready? Why wouldn't I just say yes? I'm entirely ready. You can have all of me. It can feel scary, Right? It can feel scary. The standing where we are and not knowing what it means. What will it mean to change? And the change is the change into, It's to come into myself. In yoga teaching. Yogananda said that the ego is the soul identified with the body, Identified with the personality. Identified with this incarnation. Identified with the material realm, And it's familiar. So if I'm thinking about shedding that identity for a greater identity, The ego self can be frightened by that. What's very interesting in yoga teaching And it has resonated for me on a very deep level and I've seen. The truth of it, And others I've worked with is that the ego has the power and was given the power. This is free will. To surrender. It cannot be killed. It cannot be suppressed. So we can fight it and fight against it, But we will not experience true realization if we go about it in that way. So we need to work with our ego. We need to work with this aspect of the soul that is identifying with a body. It is identifying with the material realm. It is identifying with this personality and this incarnation. And to work with that level of understanding and move beyond it. And to ask for God's grace and God's help and the help of the masters and the help of scripture the help of spiritual vibration to lift us into a higher awareness as we're ready for it. So the great epic of the Mahabharata, Which is a spiritual allegory of the soul's journey of awakening and the battle between what we can say is our lower identification of this small self in yoga terminology. We say self with the small s with our highest aspiration, Our highest self. And in that story, In that metaphor, Yogananda gave the commentary. Swami Kriyananda wrote a beautiful book, Asha's Given, Talks on this that you can find online or on her channel. And actually Saigonesh, I believe, Is giving a beautiful class on the Bhagavad Gita. So it's the story. The Gita is within the Mahabharata. Oh, This is why I was saying this. So in that story, It is said that the character representing the ego, Grandfather, Bhishma. Is he's given a spiritual boon that he cannot be killed. And he will only die when he decides he is ready to die. And this is true. So this practice of readiness for change, We want to work with the truth of ourself and where we are. It's our active surrender. It's our active offering. That's why in talking about the purification ceremony earlier, We come and we offer, I seek purification. I'm seeking change. I'm seeking the Master's grace. And the Master is reminding us we are already free. So as we offer that which we feel ready to be free of to God, And we ask for grace to get even to that step. As my friend and student was saying, I was talking about earlier, She had to wait until she had gotten to that step. To be willing, Right? So something Shanti was again saying in her talk today is lift your behavior, Lift the challenges that you have, Lift any part of your life that you feel is not your highest self, Right? Into the energy of God, Into the vibration of God. Yogananda used to say, Invite Divine Mother into every aspect of your life. Just say, Well, Mother, This is where I am today. If it's the diet that I have. I'm looking at it and saying, Well, You know, I feel like I know that it could be better, But I'm not ready for it to be different. Bless this food. That I'm about to eat. Enjoy it with me. Help me to feel that it's a divine meal. Whatever I'm doing, Just feel that sense because God knows everything, Is already with us. What Swami said, Was extraordinary for him to experience with Yogananda as a fully realized master, Which means he was living in God consciousness. So there was a story, More than one, But one story comes to mind that Swami had had a thought about something. I guess the most one that's coming to mind is he had an exchange with someone and it was really a small thing. But later when he saw Yogananda Master said, It's better to not say that. Swami felt this person was offering him flattery, And he felt it was insincere, So he made a comment to kind of rebuff it a little bit. A small, Minor, Not much of anything really. But Master said, Better to not do that. And it really startled Swamiji. He said, Were you aware? He said, I know every thought that you have. He knew every taste. He was omnipresent. He was God in the container of a body, Right? Showing us and teaching us that God knows already and loves us completely and unconditionally. So the practice here is for us to lift who we are and really ultimately come to love ourselves with divine kindness and compassion and acceptance and truth And to say, This today is what I can do. This I will give you. And as Krishna says in the Gita, It is enough. I will bless whatever you bring to me. So I offer this to you today, Dear souls. May you feel God's loving presence joining you every moment of your day, Blessing you in all that you do and helping you to be free. Many blessings.