Dealing With The Gatekeepers At The Threshold Of Your Yoga Practice

My kriya yoga practice has been deepening and taking me on a journey I could never have imagined. Like any journey I have met with resistance from my mind inside, and the world outside, especially as a I surrender more fully to the guidance of my guru. I recognise that all those who would discourage me from the path are doing so with their mind, and mirror the workings of the resistance within my own mind.

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"You can enter yoga, or the path of yoga, only when you are totally frustrated with your own mind as it is. If you are still hoping that you can gain something through your mind, yoga is not for you."

Osho

As you embark upon your spiritual journey, you may come across the same thing, especially if you are being called to the guidance of a guru. People in your life may fear for your choice because they are not informed of it, projecting their own experiences or doubts upon you, possibly because of news items they read about cult leaders. They may simply want you to follow their path, to fulfill some desire of their own. I realised for me that I was attracting these people, or remembering the words of these people, because I had a fear of being manipulated again. Having grown up in, and subsequently having walked away from a religion, I had no plan of being manipulated by another, but had walked from one teacher to the next, finding only disappointment. As I have released these fears from within, through my yoga practice, I have realised that this is my guru, and I can trust the wisdom and guidance he offers, recognising that the true power lies within me. 


         'It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.'

                                                            - Bagavad Gita

It also helps me to surrender more fully, when I remember the prayers I was offering at the time I attracted my guru in to my life. I had prayed daily to know God for some time, and in time my guru revealed himself. Other gurus had shown up, but none had drawn me in the same way, and I trusted the feeling I had. I recommend you trust yourself in this too. Whoever you have attracted as a guru is here to serve you and you have a journey ahead with them. Discernment is needed of course. As I began to commit more to knowing my guru, others attempted to discourage me from the path, believing they had found a better path, and that I should walk it. 

Remember, each person who offers discouragement or criticism, is there to challenge your commitment. Every hero faces the gatekeeper at the crossing of the first threshold of their adventure, the one who would warn them from continuing on the adventure. Maybe they do have something valid to share, which you should listen to. When faced with this, go meditate, go practice your discipline, and know your truth for yourself.

"Through practice, I've come to see that the deepest source of my misery is not wanting things to be the way they are. Not wanting myself to be the way I am. Not wanting the world to be the way it is. Not wanting others to be the way they are. Whenever I'm suffering, I find this war with reality to be at the heart of the problem. 

- Stephen Cope

Nobody can judge your path unless they have walked it. Only you know of the experiences you have had in the depths of your meditation. You have had your own experience with God. Those who judge the path have likely not had the depth of experience with it, or simply it is not for them. They may be bang on track on their path to God, or they may be addicted to the power of the mind. I know I was, and that is what I am detoxing from as I go through this transition in my life. 

The great ones all say that beyond the mind lies the true gift of yoga and I like the sound of that, because my mind has not solved as many challenges in my life as it would like to believe.