FTWMI: The McGuffin’s MacGuffin, redux & reprised August 13, 2025
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Abhyasa, Art, Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Hope, Life, Mantra, Meditation, Movies, Music, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Science, Suffering, Tragedy, Vairagya, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: 988, abhiniveśaḥ, Ahimsa, Alfred Hitchcock, Angus MacPhail, antiracism, Ashtavakra Gita, Berlin Wall, Bhagavad Gita, Charles Gounod, Charlotte Chandler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Epictetus, fear, fearless, fearless play, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, hinduism, Ibram X. Kendi, Jack Hawley, James Allardic, Jeff Alexander, klishtaklishta, klişţāklişţāh, Krishna, Leland Poague, MacGuffin, nervous system, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Paul Tillich, Potsdam Conference, Richard Freeman, Seneca, Shantipat, spirituality, Stanley Wilson, Swami J, Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Leitch, Todd McGowan, trauma, Upanishads, Wookiefoot, yama, Yoga Sutra 2.3, Yoga Sutra 2.9
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Many blessings to everyone, everywhere, and especially to anyone observing the Dormition Fast and/or cultivating friendship, peace, freedom, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).
Stay hydrated & be kind, y’all!
For Those Who Missed It: The following was originally posted in 2024. Class details and links have been added.
“Upanishad is the subtler, mystical or yogic teachings of the philosophy and practices leading to the direct experience of the center of consciousness, the absolute reality. ‘Upa’ means ‘near;’ ‘ni’ means ‘down;’ ‘shad’ means ‘to sit.’ Thus, Upanishad is to sit down near the teacher to discuss, learn, practice and experience the means and goals of Yoga sadhana or practices. The Upanishads are also known as Vedanta, which means the end or culmination of the Vedas.”
— quoted from the “Upanishad” page by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati (“Swami J”)
Often translated as “sitting near devotedly,” “Upanishad” is the Sanskrit word assigned to a collection of sacred texts, the earliest of which were compiled (starting) in the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE. The stories within the Upanishads were originally part of an oral tradition and they explain and explore the Vedas (which are more sacred texts). Scholars believe there were originally over 200 Upanishads, with some overlapping material; however, some have been lost. Of the 108 studied and practiced today, ten to twelve (depending on the tradition) are consider “major” and complete. Each one begins and ends with an invocation known as a Shantipat: a path of peace.
We start each practice with the “Teaching Shantipat” and I often bring awareness to the end: “Shanti Shanti Shanthi Om” / “Peace [within us], Peace [all around us], Peace [to and from everything and every one we encounter] With our conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind and on every plane of existence.” The last “Shanthi” is emphatic, drawn out, and sometimes explained as “Peace [because I said so]” or “Peace [because I demand it].”
While the endings are the same, the beginnings of each of the shantipats are different. They are situational. So, today, I bring your awareness to the beginning of the “Teaching Shantipat.”
“May all of us together be protected….”
— quoted from the beginning of the “Teaching Shantipat,” chanted in Sanskrit by Richard Freeman (when we are in the studio)
The beginning of the “Teaching Shantipat.” is interesting (to me), because it is very similar to the beginning of the metta meditation: “May I be safe and protected.”
I find it very interesting that this invocation begins with a desire, a wish, a prayer for safety and protection. You could even think of it as a commitment — similar to ahiṃsā (“non-harming” or “non-violence”), which is the very first yama (external “restraint” or universal commandment) at the beginning of the Yoga Philosophy. The underlying implication to all of this is that there is something — or someone — from which we need to be protected; that there is some danger of which we must be mindful. In other words, it is almost a warning that there is something to fear.
Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. It doesn’t matter if what we perceive turns out not to be a threat; because, the emotion is real. The emotional reaction causes a physiological response: it activates the sympathetic nervous system, which causes a chemical change in the brain and a change in organ function. These changes are designed to protect and ensure survival, causing us to fight or flee or freeze (which is a form of collapse). This can all take place in a blink of an eye and in a heartbeat — even, again, when the perceived threat turns out to not be a threat and/or not a threat to survival. Although the initial reaction can occur in an instant, it takes a while to come down off of the adrenaline high and, depending on the reality and nature of the threat, the effects of the trauma can be life-long.
“It is not that you must be free from fear. The moment you try to free yourself from fear, you create resistance against fear. Resistance in any form does not end fear. What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it, not how to escape from it, not how to resist it.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
Yoga Sūtras 2.3 and 2.9 describe ābhiniveśāḥ (“resistance to loss, fear of death of identity, desire for continuity, clinging to the life of”) as the fifth and final afflicted/dysfunctional thought pattern that leads to suffering. This is consistent with the Ashtavakra Gita, which states “All sorrow comes from fear. / From nothing else. // When you know this, / You become free of it, / And desire melts away.” (AG 11.5) According to the Eastern philosophies, like Yoga and Buddhism, the remedy to fear is wisdom, which is considered to be the opposite of fear.
Wisdom is the ability, knowledge, and skill to respond to a given situation with awareness. Without wisdom, we react as if everything and everyone is a threat to our life, our livelihood, and those we love. We become like a “timid man” who flees because he perceives everything picked up by our senses as a tiger. (AG 18.45) We see this fear-based behavior each and every day, even when we don’t recognize that that is what we are seeing/experiencing. Wisdom, in this case, can also be defined as vidyā (“correct knowledge”) about ourselves and the nature of everything. It gives us the ability to pause, take a breath, and possibly discover that “Just as a coil of rope / Is mistaken for a snake, / So you are mistaken for the world” (AG 1.10) and that “a man without desires is a lion.” (AG 18.46)
“‘Work hard in the world, Arjuna, but for work‘s sake only. You have every right to work but you should not crave the fruits of it. Although no one may deny you the outcomes of your efforts, you can, through determination, refuse to be attached to or affected by the results, whether favorable or unfavorable.
“‘The central points of issue, Arjuna, are desire and lack of inner peace. Desire for the fruits of one‘s actions brings worry about possible failure — the quivering mind I mentioned. When you are preoccupied with end results you pull yourself from the present into an imagined, usually fearful future. Then your anxiety robs your energy and, making matters worse, you lapse into inaction and laziness.’”
— Krishna speaking to Arjuna (2.47) in The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face…. You must do what you think you cannot do.”
— quoted from You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life by Eleanor Roosevelt
This tricky thing about fear is that the mind-intellect can perceive and process things in the past, present, and/or future; which means we may find ourselves having a fear-based reaction to something in the past or something that has not (and may never) happen. This is why fear can prevent us from achieving our goals and desires. It can also cause us to build walls — emotionally, energetically, symbolically, and physically. In fact, construction of the Berlin Wall, which began today on Sunday, August 13, 1961, was at the intersection of a lot of fear.
Remember, during the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II, the Allies decided to split Berlin and the rest of Germany into four different regions controlled by four different nations. The Soviet-controlled areas became the German Democratic Republic (GDR or DDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik), also known as East Germany. The areas controlled by United States, the United Kingdom, and France became the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland), sometimes called Bonn Republic (German: Bonner Republik), and known as West Germany. East and West Berlin, as well as East and West Germany, ended up with vastly different socioeconomic and political cultures. Right off the bat, people on the East side would travel to East Berlin in order to crossover to West Berlin and then, from there, gained access to the rest of the “Free World.” In fact, prior to the wall being constructed approximately 3.5 million people defected from East Berlin — at a rate of about one thousand a day.
The wall did not go up all at once. It started off as a little over 100 miles of barbed wire and fencing put up in the wee hours of that Sunday morning in 1961: 156 km (97 mi) between the western regions and the eastern regions and another 43 km (27 mi) of wire dividing the cities of Berlin. Then a 6-foot tall wall of blocks was constructed, with bunkers. Within nine years, that 6-foot wall of blocks had become a 3.6-meter (11.8-foot) tall wall, with the barbed wire (and guards in the towers). The final wall included 155 km (96 miles) of wall around West Berlin and another 111.9 km (69.5 miles) of barrier between West Berlin and East Germany.
The wall decreased the number of defections; however, it did not completely prevent them. Between 1961 and 1989, when the Berlin Wall “fell,” about 100,000 people attempted to defect and approximately five thousand succeeded. An estimated 136 — 200 people died attempting to escape. Many of the deaths were in and around a gap created between two concrete walls which formed the 27 miles of barrier dividing Berlin. Known as the “death strip,” the gap was full of anti-vehicle trenches, guard dog runs, floodlights, and trip-wire machine guns. It was also overseen by guards in watchtowers who were ordered to shoot on sight.
Remember, although decades had passed, the construction of the Berlin Wall happened in the wake of World War II. People were still processing the trauma caused by the violence of the war and of the Holocaust, which were themselves the source and result of fear.
“However, if the process of non-violence is to be effective in counteracting violence, we must first describe and outline it clearly and methodically. Because violent thoughts always precede a violent act, an act of non-violence will be effective only if it is preceded by non-violent thoughts. Violence is an active phenomenon, whereas non-violence is mistakenly thought to be passive – simply the absence of violence. But passive non-violence has no power to extinguish the fire if violence. Non-violence must be as active as violence itself.”
— commentary on Yoga Sūtra 2.33 from The Practice of the Yoga Sutra: Sadhana Pada by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
“The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist.’ What’s the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an anti-racist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of ‘not racist.’”
— quoted from How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, PhD
When I first heard about Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, who was born in Jamaica, New York City on August 13, 1982, I thought the term “antiracist” was something new. In reality, however, Dr. Kendi recommends and teaches an idea that goes back to the beginning of the yoga philosophy. (NOTE: I’m not saying he’s teaching “yoga,” even though he is working to bring people together. I’m saying that he is teaching ancient wisdom.)
This wisdom is not simply bringing awareness to a situation and neither is it not doing something overtly harmful. It is bringing awareness to what is happening beneath the surface and actively, skillfully, moving in the opposite direction. Again, the premise behind “cultivating the opposites” is that, over time, we neutralize the force of past actions and, as a result, our habits and thoughts change. When our habits and thoughts change, the world changes. Doing this work can be scary — in fact, you may already feel yourself tightening up just at the thought. But, we must remember that being fearless is not the absence of fear, it is how we show up when we experience fear.
“Courage is the strength to do what is right in the face of fear, as the anonymous philosopher tells us. I gain insight into what’s right from antiracist ideas. I gain strength from fear. While many people are fearful of what could happen if they resist, I am fearful of what could happen if I don’t resist, I am fearful of cowardice. Cowardice is the inability to amass the strength to do what is right in the face of fear. And racist power has been terrorizing cowardice into us for generations.”
— quoted from How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, PhD
None of this is about being reckless and putting ourselves (or others) in danger. Neither is it about ignoring reality. Instead, the philosophers and leaders quoted throughout this post encourage us to face our fears. Again, this is not new advice. As noted above, it is the same advice found in ancient texts from India and (as noted below) it is the same advice found in the teachings of the Stoics. In fact, I imagine that if you research all the indigenous and modern cultures in the world, you will find lessons on fear and advice on cultivating fearlessness that is very, very similar.
Furthermore, we have plenty of opportunities to practice studying, observing, learning about, and understanding our fears. We can do it on the mat or the cushion; we can do it as we move through our days; and we can do it when some form of entertainment push our buttons.
“[Spoken: Alfred Hitchcock]
Thus far, this album has provided musical accompaniment to make your passing pleasant
Our next number is designed to drown out the sound of shovels
Music to be buried by
[Music begins]
Of course, your assassin may have made burial unnecessary
So, if you are completely encased in cement
And are teetering on the edge of a pier
Please try not to pay attention to this next number
It is not meant for you
As for the others, if you spend your evenings watching murder instead of doing it yourself
You may recognize this”
— quoted from Track 5, “Alfred Hitchcock Television Theme” on the album Alfred Hitchcock Presents Music to Be Murdered By by Alfred Hitchcock and Jeff Alexander (narration written by James Allardice; “Funeral March Of A Marionette” by Charles Gounod adapted by Jeff Alexander and Stanley Wilson)
Born today in London, today in 1899, Sir Alfred Hitchcock KBE liked to play with fear(s) and push people’s fear buttons. He directed and produced movies like The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927); Blackmail (1929), was the first British “talkie;” The 39 Steps (1935); The Lady Vanishes (1938); Rebecca (1940); Shadow of a Doubt (1943); Strangers on a Train (1951), Dial M for Murder and Rear Window (both released in 1954); Psycho (1960); To Catch a Thief and The Trouble with Harry (both released in 1955); Vertigo (1958); North by Northwest (1959), and The Birds (1963). He was also the producer and host of the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65) and often made cameo appearances in his own movies. Like so many directors and producers, he liked to work with certain people, including Cary Grant and James Stewart (who were each in four movies) and Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly (who were each in three movies).
In addition to having nine of his films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry (as of 2021), Alfred Hitchcock received the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Fellowship in 1971, the American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award in 1979, and was knighted in December of that 1979, just a few months before he died on April 29, 1980. His work also earned him six Academy Awards and an additional 40 Academy Award nominations — including five in the Best Director category.
Despite never winning the Academy Award for Best Director, the “Master of Suspense” did such a good job at manipulating emotional responses that even hearing the music (often composed by Bernard Herrmann), seeing a murder of crows or a rear window, and/or being in the shower can start tightening up the body. His name, voice, and infamous silhouette became so synonymous with his work that they can also activate the fear response. Another common Hitchcockian element was a simple plot device that existed long before he was born. It became more popular and more well-known by a name coined by the screenwriter Angus MacPhail1: MacGuffin (or McGuffin).
“Hitchcock explained how the MacGuffin got its name:
‘Two men are traveling on a train to Scotland. One of them is carrying an odd parcel. The other man says, “What have you there?” and the other answers, “A MacGuffin.”
‘“What’s a MacGuffin?”
‘“It’s a special device designed to trap wild lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
‘“But there aren’t any lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
‘“Then, there is no MacGuffin.”
‘The MacGuffin, you see, is only important if you think it’s important, and that’s my job as a director, to make you think it’s important.’”
— quoted from “II. British Films: Cub Director” in It’s Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock: A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler2
A McGuffin (or MacGuffin) can be anything — or anyone — that people in the movie are seeking. It could be a briefcase (or something inside a suitcase). It could be a jewel-encrusted statuette. It could be $40,000 or, as some people see it, a place in the snow where $920,000 was buried. It could be state secrets. It could be A Girl. While the MacGuffin (or McGuffin) motivates the characters and keeps the plot moving, it is the exact opposite of Checkov’s gun because it is ultimately inconsequential. The characters seem to forget about it or just put it aside. In fact, sometimes it is as if it was never in the story. Other times it is just never revealed to the audience.
A McGuffin (or MacGuffin) should not be confused with a “red herring,” because it is not intended to confuse or misdirect the audience. However, to be clear, Sir Alfred’s movies also include red herrings — sometimes in the form of suspenseful music or shadows that keep the audience primed for something to happen. In other words, the MacGuffin (or McGuffin) motivates the characters and puts them in their situations, while the red herring conditions the audience to fear on command.
“Hitchcock’s example of the MacGuffin emphasizes its impossible status: not only is the object that one [never has], but one cannot even isolate it as an idea. It remains necessarily empty, and yet functions as an engine for the Hitchcockian narrative. The emptiness of the MacGuffin as an object permits spectators to locate their satisfaction in the striving that it unleashes rather than identifying satisfaction with the discovery of its secret.”
— quoted from “The Empty Object” in “27. Hitchcock’s Ethics of Suspense: Psychoanalysis and the Devaluation of the Object” by Todd McGowan (as published in A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock, edited by Thomas Leitch and Leland Poague)
Take a moment to bring your awareness to what happens when you experience fear.
Are you someone who runs away from it… or towards it? Are you someone who likes to be fearless and play? Are you someone who tears down walls and barriers? Or, are you someone who builds walls?
“This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
“Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.”
— quoted from the March 4, 1933, Inaugural Speech by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“What conflicts with the courage of wisdom is desires and fears. The Stoics developed a profound doctrine of anxiety which also reminds us of recent analyses. They discovered that the object of fear is fear itself. ‘Nothing,’ says Seneca, ‘is terrible in things except fear itself.’ And Epictetus says, ‘For it is not death or hardship that is a fearful thing, but the fear of death and hardship.’ Our anxiety puts frightening masks over all men and things. If we strip them of these masks their own countenance appears and the fear they produce disappears. This is true even of death. Since every day a little of our life is taken from us–since we are dying every day–the final hour when we cease to exist does not itself bring death; merely completes the death process. The horrors connected with it are a matter of imagination. They vanish when the mask is taken from the image of death.”
— quoted from “Chapter 1. Being and Courage – Courage and Wisdom: The Stoics” in The Courage To Be (pub. 1952) by Paul Tillich
Please join me today (Wednesday, August 13th) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “08132022 The McGuffin’s MacGuffin”]
NOTES:
1 Angus MacPhail worked with Sir Alfred Hitchcock on Aventure Malgache (1944, uncredited writer); Bon Voyage (1944, writer); Spellbound (1945, writer for adaptation); The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956, uncredited contributing writer); and The Wrong Man (1956, screenwriter). He very briefly worked on the script development for Vertigo, which may be why the movie opens with San Francisco detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (as played by James Stewart) involved in a rooftop chase.2 Alfred Hitchcock used variations of this MacGuffin story on more than one occasion, including during a lecture at Columbia University in New York City (in 1939) and in a series of interviews. In some versions the conclusion was that there were no lions in the Scottish Highlands because the device in the parcel worked.
“We are very afraid of being powerless. But we have the power to look deeply at our fears, and then fear cannot control us. We can transform our fear. Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.”
— quoted from Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm by Thich Nhat Hanh
Extreme heat (and traumatic events) can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, they can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.
If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.
White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.
If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).
Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.
### BE Fearless & PLAY. BE WISE.###
The Last Appointment (a “long lost” Saturday post) June 5, 2023
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Books, Buddhism, Changing Perspectives, Faith, Healing Stories, Health, Hope, Karma, Life, Loss, Meditation, Music, Mysticism, One Hoop, Pain, Peace, Philosophy, Religion, Suffering, Tragedy, Wisdom, Writing, Yoga.Tags: abhiniveśaḥ, Betty Sue Flowers, Bill Moyers, David Grubin, Death, Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner, George Lucas, grief, Hero's Journey, John Mellencamp, Joseph Campbell, Judith Suzanne Davidson Moyers, kriya, Matthew Sanford, R. S. Thomas, Samyama, Savasana, siddhis, yama, Yoga Sutra 2.9, Yoga Sutra 3.16, Yoga Sutra 3.23
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Pardon me as I catch up on some “long lost” posts. It looks like the first Saturday I missed in 2021 was June 5th. So, here is the “long lost” post related to Saturday, June 5th. My apologies for the delay. It is the second of three posts (so far) dedicated to Bill Moyers (and the first of two being posted for the first time). You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email me at myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com. TRIGGER WARNING: This post is a philosophical exploration of death.
In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.
Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.)
“Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.”
– quoted from the poem “Kneeling” by R. S. Thomas
Most physical practices of yoga conclude with Śavāsana (“Seat of the Corpse” or Dead Man’s Pose). I often refer to it as the final pose, even though it’s more like the penultimate pose – if you don’t count the fact that we usually roll over into a “recovery pose” before we sit up and seal in the practice (in which case it’s the third to last pose). I don’t do them often, but I especially appreciate practices where there is more than one moment to lie down and be still. On the flip side, I know people who say they only come for Śavāsana. Then there are those people who habitually skip Śavāsana (not because they can’t lie down on their backs, but because they don’t like the stillness and the silence). How ever you look at it, though, there is symbolism in the practice and so that moment, lying in stillness, is an important part of the practice for several reasons. Some people say it is THE most important part of the practice. It’s a moment to rest and digest what we’ve done/accomplished. It also marks the “death” of our practice. It’s a moment when we let go of everything we’ve done and everything we could have done. It is also, depending on your beliefs, a moment of waiting.
Waiting… for what comes next.
We can get super metaphysical, religious, and/or spiritual about what comes next. Since the Yoga Philosophy comes to us by way of India, we could even get into the fact that – for someone who believes in reincarnation – Śavāsana marks an ending and a beginning. Or, we can just stick to the simplest reality, which is that what comes next is this present moment, right here and right now, or… no more moments (at least as we know them). Those options are a great starting point for meditation. So, bring your awareness to this present moment and, on another existential level, bring your awareness to how you’re engaging the gift that is this present moment.
ATHA [Sanskrit] – Here or Now, often used at the beginning of a story or sacred text, such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sūtras, to indicate an “auspicious moment” and a beginning that is the culmination of previous trainings, teachings, moments, and/or preparation.
Saying that that we call it the “present” (in English), because it is a gift may be one of those trite, pithy sayings that some people are sick of hearing. But, the statement is also a reminder that this time we have been given is not promised. It’s also a reminder that, once it’s gone, we never get it back. There will never be a moment like this exact moment. Even if you do something more than once, it’s never exactly the same – if for no other reason than that you’ve done it before and that, in and of itself, makes things different: your brain is different, your experiences are different. You are different. So, as trite as the statement may be, it can bring awareness to how we spend our time.
In the Yoga Sūtras, Patanjali spent a lot of time talk about how the mind works and how we can work the mind. His treatise can help us understand the sheer power of the mind/brain, the power of the mind-body-spirit connection, and how we can use all of that power to alleviate three-fold suffering (physical, mental, and spiritual). Of course, to really understand how everything comes together, we have to understand the nature of our suffering. So, just as the Buddha would do, Patanjali sketched out a road map to – and away from – suffering. This road map moves through five afflicted/dysfunctional thought patterns, beginning with avidyā (“ignorance”) and leading straight to abhiniveśaḥ (which is often translated as “fear of death/loss”). In truth, that last afflicted/dysfunctional thought pattern is literally a desire for and attachment to this life we are living, even when/though it is a life of suffering. While avidyā is the bedrock of the thoughts and behaviors that lead to suffering, abhiniveśaḥ is the culmination and the fruit. Or, you can think of it as the end.
Yoga Sūtra 2.9: svarasavāhī viduṣo‘pi tathārūḍho’bhiniveśaḥ
– “Fear of death carries its own essence and rides [the consciousness] of even the wise.”
An alternate variation of Yoga Sūtra 2.9: svarasavāhī viduṣo ‘pi samārūḍho ‘bhiniveśaḥ
– “Flowing through its own nature, and established even in the learned, is the clinging to life.”
Ah, yes, Death.
It’s interesting to note that there are (at least) two different variations of this sūtra (in Sanskrit) and that the translations and commentaries from various scholars range from an emphasis on the fear to an emphasis on the clinging/attachment and from an emphasis on death to an emphasis on life. In either case, there are two consistent factors: (1) things change and (2) it is human nature not to like change. The subtext, of course, is that no matter how wise you are; how learned you how are; how rich, powerful, and/or beautiful you are, you have an appointment with Death. We all do. In fact, it doesn’t matter if we have a digital calendar, an analog calendar, or if we just keep events in your head, it is our final appointment.
Ancient philosophers, like Patanjali and the Buddha, are not the only ones who have contemplated this final appointment. Modern philosophers, anthropologists, psychiatrists, and teachers, like those interviewed the 2003 documentary Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality, have also considered our relationship with this final appointment. In fact, the documentary focused on research showing how the very human fear of death manifests as xenophobic behaviors that mirror the two different translations of Yoga Sūtra 2.9. Even subtle reminders, like this blog post, can cause some people to cling to those they love and cause others to lash out (sometimes violently) at those they perceive as being different from them. Overt, violent, and/or unexpected reminders can produce extreme manifestations of these two types of behavior.
Storytellers from many different cultures have played around with the idea that we can escape (or reschedule) death. Every year during Diwali, I tell the story of the clever wife who saves her husband from Yama (in the guise of a snake) by lighting up the bedroom and singing songs and telling stories all night. It is similar to the story of Scheherazade, who tells the king 1,000 stories over 1,001 nights in order to save her own life. Another very popular variation on this theme is the story of a servant (or sometimes it’s a business person or a rich and powerful person) who tries to escape when their in the marketplace and they see Death making a threatening gesture. Only later, the reader learns, Death was just shopping (or, perhaps, there for someone else) and was simply startled because they didn’t expect to the servant until another time… and in another place.
There’s no escaping it. In fact, from the moment we are born and take our first breath, we are on a journey towards death and our last breath. We just don’t know when it’s going to happen. Would you want to know? Would knowing change the way you handled your other “appointments” or the manner in which you engage other people you encounter?
For some, the answer to the first question is absolutely not. Still, there’s no denying that having a time limit, as it were, will change some behaviors. Just thinking about the possibility causes some people to metaphorically stop living and causes others to live each day as if it is their last – even though, in most cases, they “know” that it is not and so there’s a little cognitive dissonance there. For those, however, who would like to know the date and time of their last appointment, there’s a yoga sūtra for that.
Yoga Sūtra 3.23: sopakramaṃ nirupakramaṃ ca karma tatsaṃyamādaparāntajñānamariṣñebhyo vā
– “Karma is of two kinds — soon to come to fruition and late to come to fruition. By making Samyana on these, or by the signs called Arishta, portents, the Yogis know the exact time of separation from their bodies.”
Remember, karma is a Sanskrit word that means “work,” “effort,” or “action.” It refers to everything we think, say, and do, as well everything we experience. Or, more accurately, it refers to everything we thought, said, did, and experienced. Because, unlike kriya – which is similarly translated into English – karma specifically refers to the effect of work/effort/action completed in the past. Hence, we often think of karma as a seed that has been planted. It can take root, it can blossom, and it can grow – regardless of if it results in a fruit tree, a root vegetable, a shade true, a flower, a bush, or an unsightly weed. The key here is to remember that not everything grows the same way and/or at the same rate. Some things are like the Chinese bamboo tree. Other things are like night-blooming jasmine or cherry blossoms.
If we look at the idea of karma from the perspective of reincarnation, then our actions in this lifetime determine our next lifetime. If we look at it through the lens of some Abrahamic religious traditions, then our actions in this lifetime determine if we go to heaven or “hell” or some form of purgatory. More often than not, I tend to look at karma through a more immediate lens – that is to say, how have our past actions determined this present moment and how do our actions in this present moment inform our future moments? According the Yoga Sūtra 3.16, if we apply samyama – the combined force of focus plus concentration plus meditation – to three kinds of changes, we gain knowledge of the past and the future. By that same token, if we apply samyama to certain signs (related to our actions), we will know the exact moment of our death. Again, you could look at this in relation to past lives and reincarnation; however, it is much easier to grasp Patanjali’s intention when we focus on the here and now, this present moment.
Go deeper still and you will find that the things to which we must pay attention are specifically “warning signs.” The instruction in Yoga Sūtra 3.23 is to focus-concentrate-meditate on signs of something bad, calamitous, distressing, wretched, and even evil. In some ways it’s like the ancient version of “if you see something, say something.” So, in the natural world, we could look at things that don’t grow as expected; scavengers that circle around dying prey; flooding; and/or draught. Patanjali, though, was emphasizing contemplation and introspection that leads to how we show up in the world. It’s “when you see something, do something.” In other words, turn inward and notice how some of your thoughts, words, deeds, and experiences are signs and/or roots of demise, decay, suffering, and destruction. Again, turn inward in order to turn outward.
“I’ve always been interested in the relations of mind and body, growing up as I did in a culture that separated them distinctly. In science class we studied the material world, which we expected would someday be understood and predicted down to the last molecule. In philosophy we studied models of reality, based on the rational mind, that took no notice of conditions male and female, sick and well, rich and poor. And then in church we learned that we would someday take off this body as we might a suit of clothes and live as disembodied souls. Yet every day in this divided world of mind and body, our language betrayed our limitations of our categories.”
– quoted from the “Introduction” of Healing and the Mind by Bill Moyers (Editor, Betty Sue Flowers; Executive Editor, David Grubin; Art Research, Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner)
Ideally, we are all living life in a way that reflects our beliefs. The reality, however, is that we sometimes compromise our beliefs because our actions contradict them and/or because our fear of failure – which can manifest in a lot of different ways – freezes us in limbo. It can happen in the most subtle and insidious ways: We hang around someone who is constantly saying, “I don’t know,” (even when they do); then we get in the habit of saying, “I don’t know,” (even when we do); and suddenly we find we have abdicated our own expertise and given up our opportunities. Somehow, being reminded that we have a limited amount of time in these mind-bodies, flips the script. We start thinking about our legacy and how we will be remembered. We start re-aligning our mind-body-spirit and our thoughts, words, and deeds.
Think about it: What would you do (or not do) if you knew you only had a day, a week, a month, or a year or two? Yes, of course, some time would be spent coming to grips with the change in your circumstances – or, really, the change in your awareness of your circumstances. At some point you would go through all, some, or most of the stages of grief – maybe more than once. But, then what? Does knowing how much (or how little) time we have with our mind-body change the way we engage our mind-body? It must, right? I mean, for most people, that sense of urgency creates a shift in priorities. But, when (or how) does the general awareness of our temporal nature change the way we spend our time? When or how do we live as if we are dying? Do we only cherish our lives when we are confronted with death?
Questions about life and death, faith and reason, and the stories we tell about our lives and our beliefs inevitably come up when people talk to Bill Moyers, who was born in Hugo Oklahoma on June 5, 1934. Primarily raised in Marshall, Texas, Bill Moyers is more than a journalist. He is also an ordained minister who served as the 13th White House Press Secretary (working with both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson). Along with his wife, Judith Suzanne Davidson Moyers, he has produced a variety of programming, including Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (filmed on George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, in 1988); The Mythology of Star Wars, with George Lucas (also filmed at Skywalker Ranch, in 1999); Faith and Reason; and Healing and the Mind. He has also produced and facilitated conversations about a wide range of topics, including evil, racism, prayer, democracy, poetry, art, and the experiences of U. S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. His many books include Listening to America: A Traveler Rediscovers His Country, A World of Ideas : Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our Future, A World of Ideas II: Public Opinions from Private Citizens, The Language of Life (which is a conversation with poets), Genesis: A Living Conversation, and the book based on the series Healing and the Mind.
Intimacy and vulnerability are two of the beautiful and amazing attributes found in Bill Moyers work. For example, in the introduction to the book Healing and the Mind, he wrote about the seemingly contradictory things he grew up hearing, his brother’s death, the way his father reacted to his brother’s death, and the way he (Bill Moyers) reacted to his father’s reaction. What he shared highlighted the mind-body connection and explained his own fascination with the power of that connection. His observations and insights can be a jumping off point for anyone who wants to explore their own connection to life, death, healing, living, and dying, as well as their connections to other people.
“All my life I’ve prayed the Lord’s Prayer, but I’ve never prayed, ‘Give me this day my daily bread.’ It is always, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Bread and life are shared realities. They do not happen in isolation.”
– from “Pass the Bread,” baccalaureate address at Hamilton College (20 May 2006), as quoted in “Moyers on Democracy” by Bill Moyers
Lots of people have had different views and philosophies about the best way to live (and even the best way to live while dying). The ancient stoics believed in acknowledging what was, in any given moment; accepting their circumstances; and then making the most of the situation. Modern stoicism has interpreted this to mean that one should stuff down and/or ignore their emotions, but that often leads to mental and emotional instability. On the flip side, old-fashioned stoicism emphasized being content, happy, even joyful (depending on what that means to you in this moment) within a given fate. To be “independently happy,” requires philosophical and emotional stability that supports your through anything. It requires a foundation of faith that can be applied to any situation. On a certain level, it requires a story – a certain kind of “healing story,” as Matthew Sanford calls them,” which is a story that makes sense of every situation within which we find ourselves.
As a society, as communities, and as individuals, we all have stories that bring us comfort, especially in challenging and troubling times, and we use those stories to make sense of the world (especially in challenging and troubling times). Our stories explain why we do the things we do or don’t do the things we don’t do. Our stories are the way our brains create certainty where there is uncertainty, reason when there seems to be no reason. Since most people fear the unknown, and fear can be our strongest (and most motivating) emotion, our stories create something known out of the unknown. Philosophy, religion, science are all different ways that we tell these stories. Sometimes, we even have stories about not having stories – or not believing someone else’s stories.
“When my brother died in 1966, my father began a grieving process that lasted almost twenty-five years. For all that time he suffered from chronic, debilitating headaches. I took him to some of the country’s major medical facilities, but no one could cure him of his pain. At one point during that ongoing search for a help, a doctor tried to teach him that his headaches were somehow related to his grief. But my father persisted in treating his pain exclusively as a medical problem, and the headaches continued to torment him.”
– quoted from the “Introduction” of Healing and the Mind by Bill Moyers (Editor, Betty Sue Flowers; Executive Editor, David Grubin; Art Research, Elizabeth Meryman-Brunner)
The details may be different; however, we ultimately have the same story that moves through the same cycle or journey. It’s the hero’s journey that Joseph Campbell outlined in books like The Hero with a Thousand Faces and that Bill Moyers discussed with him and with George Lucas during visits to Skywalker Ranch. Part of that journey is fear of the unknown and grief over what the hero(ine) has lost by leaving the “Ordinary World” and “Crossing the Threshold” (both coming and going). Another part of the of the journey is the “Apotheosis,” which is a moment of death. This can be a physical death and a period of time where the protagonists “lives in spirit” or it can be the death of one’s ego. It is a divine state of being, a moment infused with knowledge, love, compassion, and bliss – which, through the existential philosophy lens, is the exact opposite of the lives we are currently living… the very state of being to which we cling with all of our being.
Moving beyond the “Apotheosis” results in receiving/earning the “Ultimate Boon” and marks the beginning of the end of the journey. Once we reach this point in our story, it is time to return to the “Ordinary World.” Only, when we return, everything is different; we are different. As Patanjali points out in the Yoga Sūtra 2.20-2.26, once we realize certain things, we cannot un-see them; once we reach a certain point in our practice, we achieve great powers (the siddhis) and attain a previously unexperienced freedom. This freedom is freedom from ignorance and freedom from suffering, which means it is also freedom from fear.
How would you spend your time if you were fearless? How would you live your life? What risks would you take? What risks would not make sense? How would you treat your mind-body and the mind-bodies around you?
Note that while there are certain individuals in society who are described as having no conscience – and, therefore, no fear – these individuals are not concerned with moral and/or ethical consequences. They only focus on cause and effect as it relates to “winning” or besting someone. This is not wholesome, skillful, or functional. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Remember, the hero’s “Ultimate Boon” is not only something that serves the individual who achieves/earns it, it is something that serves their whole community.
“Our very lives depend on the ethics of strangers, and most of us are always strangers to other people.”
– Bill Moyers
Saturday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “06052021 The Last Appointment”]
I normally take a different path on this date (but it is the same journey). Or, click here for my 2022 post “The Journey Continues…”
A Joyful Practice 