“Why do you do that anyway?”
If you live as long as I have in the world of spirituality and contemplative practices you’re going to run into skeptics. I cannot count the number of times people who, when I tell them what I teach, have looked at me and said, astonished, “Yoga has a philosophy? What is it? Like chill out?” I cannot count the number of times someone has all-but scoffed when I explain that setting aside some time each day to turn inward does as much for the world around us as it does for the one pausing for a little introspection.
Which is all to say that I view it as part of my work to lovingly convince more of the world that however you choose to practice – to get to know your deepest self, to connect with a higher power, to quiet the churn of your mind so you can access your highest priorities, brightest hopes and most exciting dreams – is valuable to the rest of us. Each time you turn inward, you change the world for the better.
The evolution of one part causes the evolution of the whole
I love the way French Jesuit, scientist and teacher, Teilhard de Chardin, connected our own individual evolution with the continuing evolution of our universe:
“A thought, a material improvement, a unique nuance of human love, the enchanting complexity of a smile or a glance – the spiritual success of the universe is bound up with the release of every possible energy in it.”
In short, even though we’re miniscule bits of the whole of life, we matter. Every single thing we do matters. Which is inspiring and a little daunting. It is also a very good reason to keep practicing.
It means that when we sit on a prayer cushion and send thoughts of loving-kindness to the person who is currently driving us crazy, it matters. It means that when we unroll a yoga mat and move and stretch and fold and twist to center ourselves on all that is good within us and around us, it matters. It means that when we sit at our desk to read something inspiring and then allow our pens to unpack its meaning in our life, it matters.
All of this – and the other innumerable, unnoticed, imperceptible, sometimes secret ways that people take a beat to connect to their deepest self, which in turn connects them to something greater than themselves – matters and is absolutely worth it.
When we change, the people we interact with change
The most obvious explanation is that our practices change us. And by changing us, they affect every single person that we’re in relationship with. And, because we have affected them, we will also affect every single person that they’re in relationship with. And so it goes, like the Butterfly Effect, a ripple of goodness sweeping person by person around the world.
That’s pretty wonderful in and of itself, but there’s more.
Every single tiny thing that we do helps
I imagine it this way. Each time we practice whatever we practice, we release a little, fragile bubble of clarity or love or goodness. A burst of positive energy. This tiny bubble floats up to join all the other bubbles of momentary goodness in the universe released by all the other people practicing in this world. It joins them and builds the force for goodness and light and love so that it could be strong enough to nudge the evolution of our universe in that direction.
If Teilhard was right (and I hope and pray that he was), then we are not only a tiny part of the whole, but the unthinkably immense whole needs us. We – all of us – impact the evolution of the universe itself. And, therefore, every single, tiny, imperceptible and unnoticed thing that we do to brighten this world matters very, very much.
So, whatever it is that you do, whatever it is that is your practice, keep it up. You are making the world a better place.
“We serve to complete the work of creation even by the humblest work of our hands [and hearts].” – Teilhard de Chardin
Photo cred to the talented Bill Ecklund
In sutra 1.23, Patanjali invites us to completely surrender to the knowledge that we are an integral part of the pattern of the universe. Yes, we are infinitesimally tiny. And, also, yes, we are integral – we are necessary, we matter. Without us and the impact of our thoughts, words, and actions, the universe would be incomplete.