Maybe it’s because in this land, we are what we do. Our identity is very tied up in what we do and who we do it for.
We pity the baristas making our coffee because in the American dream, being the master is to be able to buy that 4 dollar cup of coffee, "I’m not your bitch, working in the fields."
Top dog.
Alpha female.
The one who calls the shots.
Even if I'm the one pouring the espresso shots, my secret self-preserving mantra is, "you’re not the boss of me."
In the land where capitalism is king, there's an underlying equation to our actions; service means doing "something for nothing." There's an implicit idea that we're performing a thankless task, something no one else wants to do. We need to to suck it up and just do it, clean the toilet bowl, do the grunt work, don't look to be thanked.
Top dog.
Alpha female.
The one who calls the shots.
Even if I'm the one pouring the espresso shots, my secret self-preserving mantra is, "you’re not the boss of me."
In the land where capitalism is king, there's an underlying equation to our actions; service means doing "something for nothing." There's an implicit idea that we're performing a thankless task, something no one else wants to do. We need to to suck it up and just do it, clean the toilet bowl, do the grunt work, don't look to be thanked.
It's difficult to posture service or devotion without that underlying sense of superiority. Sure honey, I’ll get you a glass of water while I'm up, but you know, I’m doing you a favor.
Service this side of the pond is so often construed as servility, on that interior psychological landscape just one town south of abasement, right before you hit debasement.
The Emperor's New Clothes
To cut us Westerners some slack, the whole concept of devotion is a hard one to grasp. Especially if we recognize how difficult it is to identify deeply embedded cultural biases at work. Our DNA was baked in the Judeo-Christian sorting approach to life: reality and non-reality; sin and virtue; worthiness and annihilation; master and servant.
We can abandon the pews, adopt new names, but when it comes to changing behavior and the thoughts that source our actions, it's hard not to just take one binary system and superimpose it on the new path that calls us.
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| ©Moshe Arzt, 1990 |
To cut us Westerners some slack, the whole concept of devotion is a hard one to grasp. Especially if we recognize how difficult it is to identify deeply embedded cultural biases at work. Our DNA was baked in the Judeo-Christian sorting approach to life: reality and non-reality; sin and virtue; worthiness and annihilation; master and servant.
We can abandon the pews, adopt new names, but when it comes to changing behavior and the thoughts that source our actions, it's hard not to just take one binary system and superimpose it on the new path that calls us.
The teachings of yoga point out that this dilemma is just another symptom of the human condition. We're in the grips of the malas: those sneaky little shrinkings that enclose the individual soul and veil the eyes' perceptions: I am separate, I am different, I am the doer.
Slapped behind those little suckers, it's no wonder we may try to cultivate devotion (the noun) and service (the verb) as if we were putting on a set of clothes or striking a pose.
It's no wonder we may think that becoming free or masterful means excelling, clearing the obstacle course of existence with a perfect 10 from the judges on high, and in record time, no less.
Slapped behind those little suckers, it's no wonder we may try to cultivate devotion (the noun) and service (the verb) as if we were putting on a set of clothes or striking a pose.
It's no wonder we may think that becoming free or masterful means excelling, clearing the obstacle course of existence with a perfect 10 from the judges on high, and in record time, no less.
Note #3: Hanuman is a Master... or Dominion in service of the tribe
In the Hanuman stories, he figures as a master, with the biceps to match. Son of the wind, he is the supreme brahmachari. Unlike the eunuch who can keep the maidens safe because he's been stripped of the ability to act on impulse, Hanuman's choice is to direct his energies to service: he is the master of his senses and desires.
In the Hanuman stories, he figures as a master, with the biceps to match. Son of the wind, he is the supreme brahmachari. Unlike the eunuch who can keep the maidens safe because he's been stripped of the ability to act on impulse, Hanuman's choice is to direct his energies to service: he is the master of his senses and desires.
When a sacred herb is required, Hanuman goes and uproots the mountain and transports it whole to heal Ram's wounded brother. He directs his powers to the need at hand without political jockeying or second-guessing. His divine DNA already provides him with the material for dominion; his sadhana is about acting, not analyzing.
Daughter of a shrink that I am, it's challenging to drop the idea that endless analysis can provide a resolution. [Yoga 101: the mind can never make up its own mind.]
This goes back to my discussion with my scholar friend about apnaapan, which as it turns out, is a Hindi word. As he explained to me, it’s oneness -- as in a lack of differentiation between yours and mine. Apnaapan is a kind of assertion of the tribe. As my friend explained it to me, it’s like that implicit acknowledgment that yes, Lila can be a pill, but she’s our pill. Recognition without judgment: she’s my Lila. You are in my tribe.
It's an instant antidote to doership, and passport out of the treacherous territory of the ego.
Oneness would be that state in which the cataloguing of difference and weighing of value ceases to occupy center stage. To love or serve unconditionally is to do just that: abandon conditions and judgments; drop the polarities while maneuvering (skillfully, like Hanuman, perhaps because dominion is borne of service) within them.
I have actually felt this joyous kind of state, moving with the flow: mind and body and heart in sweet and easeful harmony. Contemplating Hanuman reminds me it is possible.
Daughter of a shrink that I am, it's challenging to drop the idea that endless analysis can provide a resolution. [Yoga 101: the mind can never make up its own mind.]
This goes back to my discussion with my scholar friend about apnaapan, which as it turns out, is a Hindi word. As he explained to me, it’s oneness -- as in a lack of differentiation between yours and mine. Apnaapan is a kind of assertion of the tribe. As my friend explained it to me, it’s like that implicit acknowledgment that yes, Lila can be a pill, but she’s our pill. Recognition without judgment: she’s my Lila. You are in my tribe.
It's an instant antidote to doership, and passport out of the treacherous territory of the ego.
I have actually felt this joyous kind of state, moving with the flow: mind and body and heart in sweet and easeful harmony. Contemplating Hanuman reminds me it is possible.
Hanuman’s service or devotion to Ram –and Sita since they come as a matched set– is part of his nature. There’s no option, really, because they are his and he is theirs. There is no question to ask or attitude to cultivate or apply.
It just is.
