Too Much Technique Not Enough Living

Spirituality
#1

Often times there is an emphasis on perfect technique, or the perfect guru.

With gurus, it seems sometimes that people suffer from the “Good Ole Days” syndrome, as if, the gurus who are no longer here are obviously the best gurus, rather than the one’s that are living and available. Is it possible this same thing occurred during the time of these gurus we so idealize?

To my point. Yogic and spiritual practices are good, but there are so many lifestyle recommendations that, if we would just live practicing those, we would be surprised how much peace we would find.

For example, the yoga sutras talk about the yamas and niyamas. These are not always easy to practice and often take work to master, and we sometimes really mess up trying to perfect them, but even a little success in practicing harmlessness, conservation of vital forces, or non attachment have strong consciousness clearing and raising results.

Yet, instead of working to live to master these foundations for samadhi, we obsess over perfect technique. I’m a musician, and in the musical community there are people who have to have the best $5000.00 instrument or they won’t think they are any good. And there are those who can make a $200.00 instrument sing, because they put their attention on practicing vs. obsessing over the best tool for the job. This is true in spiritual communities too I think, and I don’t understand it, unless its just human nature.

Rather than picking up a book, and seeing that it says, “Meditation is concentration on one’s chosen object or ideal”, and then working to concentrate on one’s chosen object or ideal until it is possible, we go about looking for that magical formula to short cut the path, so we don’t have to do the work of just learning how to concentrate.

There is a wealth of wisdom available to the discerning practitioner, and that wisdom put into action, simply, day by day, would have profound results. Yet, our obsessions with perfect teachers or techniques distract us from the simple fact, that it is our own Self-effort, or lack thereof, that either clarifies or further deludes our understanding.

These are just some thoughts that have been on my mind lately, and am curious if anyone else has had the same thoughts.

#2

Hi, I’m just a relatively inexperienced yoga student, but couldn’t help but reply. Yes, I make similar observations regarding people’s impatience quite often. Partly it is probably human nature to want quick solutions but partly also it is the fast-paced society we live in. Information is so readily at our fingertips, perhaps we tend to beleive that attaining wisdom will be just as fast. On the other hand there is a huge momentum in the spinning wheels of society that we can do very little about. We as yogis, students and teachers alike, are more or less bound to accept at least part of this lifestyle. I think…

Recently, on a yoga retreat, my teacher told us that the behavior of the student used to be considered the teacher’s responsibility, and that it was also considered important that a student only had one teacher. I asked him if also he thought that this was important to only have one teacher (from my own perspective, I was wondering if have to make a choice who to study for). My teacher then replied that in his opinion it is no longer possible for anyone to live like the gurus used to, and that in this modern world it would be better for people to seek council from different teachers.
“Noone can be the guru anymore” he said, a statement I found rather astonishing thinking about his experience as a teacher. In any way, I am happy (and lucky) to have him as one of my teachers.