A Letter from The President
I recently wrote a post on my Facebook Page. It turned out to be one of my more popular posts. The post was about love and drama. Here it is.
“Loving one another is not very exciting, quite boring really. There’s simply no drama in it. And, so many people would rather have drama then love. Anger is very compelling. So too is fear. There is so much to be angry at, so much to be afraid of. We can spend our lives arguing, fighting, debating and exacting revenge. We can spend our lives running, scared, and imagining the worst. Now, that’s exciting! Yes, it really is. It compels the mind and attracts others with similar feelings to us. What would the mind do without all these dramas? Love. Simply love. Be kind and have faith. It will all be alright.”
Of course, love is very fulfilling. It is truly the highest goal of life. True love is less “exciting” than it is “blissful”. True love is unconditional. It is complete and total acceptance of another person. There is no drama of the fear of revealing one’s faults. There is no drama around judging and the resulting anger that germinates from its seeds. There is no fear of losing the other person. There is no jealousy as there is complete and total trust. There is simply no drama.
Most people seem to prefer drama, because drama creates a level of excitement that is easier to relate to than bliss. Bliss is abstract. It’s an ideal. It’s a goal that requires tremendous personal transformation to achieve. This is the transformation cultivated by the deeper, inner practices of Yoga. It’s a journey that for most people, takes many lifetimes to achieve. Even yogis walking the path, attract drama into their lives. This is natural, as sustained “bliss” only comes toward the end of the journey. It is why most Vedic teachers, including the Buddha, share that “life is suffering”. This refers to the ordinary life in which we are attached to the drama of time, its impermanence and in conflict with what we perceive to be “external”.
The goal of Ayurveda and Yoga is to live the extraordinary life. This is the conscious journey toward transcending the ego, the sense of separation. It’s the journey that ends in oneness or “union”. This is the meaning of the word “yoga”. Along the way, the job of Ayurveda is to give us guidance and to support us when we fall and bruise ourselves physically and emotionally, an inevitable outcome of engaging the drama.
May each person strive to reach the highest summit. May each walk gently and with great amusement. May each offer those they pass on the journey a hand and lift them up. See you at the top in the clear skies of love, light and bliss.
Om Shanti, Dr. Marc Halpern
President: California College of Ayurveda
Author: Healing Your Life; Lessons on the Path of Ayurveda
Author: Yoga Nidra and Self Healing