I’ve just started my yoga teacher training as another means to teach what it means to be heart centered and live from the inside out. My passion is God and this passion leads me to seek ways to help others realize who they are so that they can bring everything that they have to offer into the world to light this place on fire (in a good way of course). Naturally, I want to give in the ways that have given so much to me on my own spiritual journey. During the first weekend at the teacher training, we began learning about the tradition of yoga, which involves a detour into Hinduism. As part of this, we learned about a lot of the deities and various stories encompassed in the belief system. I very much enjoyed this aspect of the training as I love learning about spirituality and different paths that people take to bring themselves nearer to the divine. However, when we got into the part where we were to participate in a traditional chanting session, things shifted a bit for me.
I’ve dabbled in chanting at home, with mantras like Sat Nam (truth is my name/identity) or Wahe Guru (wonderful teacher). I didn’t have a hard time with this because I believe in the meaning of the words. I’ve always considered myself very open-minded when it comes to other’s thought systems, which is why it surprised me to have experienced a HUGE spiritual conflict during the training. When asked to chant to Ganesha during the first chanting ceremony, I almost broke down in tears. I went along with the group in an attempt to be an open-minded and an eager student when my inner guide was in crisis mode feeling this was “idol worship” as referenced in the Bible. The Bible clearly states that God hates idol worship, that there is only one Lord of all and that individuals should not worship or honor false God’s, make idols of wood, stone, etc. In this first chanting session, I prayed my way through it as the words came out of my mouth and kept silently explaining to God how conflicted I felt, but that in an effort to love my neighbors I was trying to be respectful of the yogic tradition and my instructors’ beliefs by not shunning them when everyone else was participating. I did feel a slight energy buzz after the chanting, which I’ve felt before during prayer, worship, and meditation… which made me feel that maybe God does respond to all belief systems that intend to honor Him, that maybe it is the belief in a higher power alone that elicits His response.
The feelings that came up around chanting made me question if I was as openminded as I thought I was. I’ve always hated the way some religions attempt to judge and exclude others who do not believe the same things that they do and I definitely don’t believe in warring because of religion. Yet here I was having a hard time with this. It made me question the amount of mental programming I now had after spending some time in church and having spent the last year or so reading the Bible in full. Was this mental program a good thing, cementing me solidly in truth, or was it causing me to isolate from others and the way that their beliefs are structured in essence building a false sense of superiority that my beliefs are “right” and theirs “wrong,” which is a very dangerous pit to fall into.
There is a quote that speaks to this very eloquently,
“All morality is founded upon this concept: namely, that what increases the life force is good, and what diminishes it is bad. There are acts that must not be committed, because they diminish it, create disorder and destroy the social order as much as the human order.”
– Alassane Ndaw
I don’t necessarily believe that any religion has a monopoly on God. I believe they all attempt to teach humanity the way to morality and enlightenment through stories, history, etc. I certainly believe that my yoga instructors are kind, welcoming people who strive to live their lives by the code of love. Yoga has it’s own moral principles, the Yamas and the Niyamas, which are very much like the 10 commandments and other moral teachings directly from the Bible. Given this information, I do not think that they were intentionally going against God by chanting the name of an “idol.” If anything, I believe that they believe that this was a way to draw nearer to God.
The following day of the class, I chose to sit quietly through the chanting portion of the class. Again, we did another chant to Ganesha and another Goddess from the Hindu religion. I sat in meditative silence, taking in the sound (since participating in chanting brought up more discomfort for me than peace). It’s tough to know whether you are uncomfortable because something is new or whether you are uncomfortable because God is signaling a big red caution sign to you through your feelings. I’ve mentioned in prior writings, that the emotions and feelings within the body are your internal compass that often guide you where you need to be in life and away from that which does not serve you. However, sometimes we can be confused by the compass, not understanding if discomfort is resistance meant to be cleared so that we can grow into our higher self or whether it is a strong warning signal to back away from the territory because it is not good for us. This is often when I choose to pray and seek guidance so that I can develop a clearer understanding.
When we pray, we are answered. I had missed church because the yoga teacher training (YTT) runs from Fri-Sun once a month for 8 months. It’s interesting because my church is preaching a series called “Untangling Jesus from Religion.” My experience at YTT made me wonder if I was getting caught up in religion and missing the intent of the chanting… to connect with a being & presence higher than ourselves a.k.a. God as portrayed by many of the people in India. On Monday, I’d listened to the sermon from the weekend and it seems my pastor was getting this same type of message from God. His sermon was mainly directed toward other Christian denominations who worship Jesus, but it was very much in line with where I was struggling. He’d basically explained that it isn’t so much “how” we honor God, but more the condition of our heart as we do so. While he didn’t broaden the sermon to discuss other non-Christian religions, he did make several comments that were in line with my thoughts on this subject. There are over 7 billion people in the world. When we look around, no 2 are alike. As we look at nature, there are 8.7 million species that inhabit the world. Yet, people find it so hard to believe that the same God who created all this diversity would have created different paths to find Him and have relationship with Him.
Logic tells me, that the way doesn’t really matter… whether you light candles on an altar and chant in song to God, or whether you kneel in a pew, or bow facing the East or Mecca, or sit quietly in silent contemplation on who God is, or dance around a fire, or beat a drum and play flutes…. None of this is what is important. What is important is your desire to know, honor, and love God with your thoughts, and actions on a moment to moment basis. In a nutshell, I’ve come to my conclusion that my discomfort around the chanting has more to do with my own mental programming and knowledge, than it does with anything else. For me, I don’t happen to know God as “Ganesha” or any of the other names by which the Hindus do and so it doesn’t feel as heartfelt for me to try to pretend I’m something I am not. It’s similar to knowing the same person as someone else… you happen to call this person by his childhood nickname, let’s say “Billy.” When you are out with Billy, you run into one of Billy’s friends and he happens to call your friend Billy, “William” to which “Billy” responds kindly. There is no offense taken by “Billy” because he has been called “William,” but when you try to call him “William” it feels foreign and foolish to you. I think it just may be the same with God.
God created everything, gives life to everything, and therefore exists within everything. It is us that feels the need to “own” God and impose our own belief about who he is and what He should be called, based on what we feel comfortable with. When we ask for guidance and understanding, we are sure to receive. I had to bring myself back to one of my earlier writings, “The Devil is in the Details” and ground myself in love. While I don’t plan to alter the way I honor God and what feels good in my spirit, I certainly don’t need to have rigidity around experiencing the way others worship. Knowing that all of us in the room are heart-centered and sincere in our intention to connect with a higher power is enough for me to embrace the sacredness of the moment surrounded by chanting and a desire for connection. I’m grateful for the experience that allowed me to take a step back and assess my beliefs as well as the feelings that arose for me because of them. I’m blessed for the ability to untangle God from religion… truth from dogma.
What are your thoughts? Have you ever questioned your beliefs? Have you ever felt uncomfortable when immersed in an experience that was not familiar? What did that feel like? How did you work through it?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.