Practicing and Teaching Today: Trading a Safe Place for a Brave Place

(from the both 100 manual)

The Yuga Cycle doctrine tells us that we are now living in the Kali Yuga; the age of darkness, when moral virtue and mental capabilities reach their lowest point in the cycle. The Indian epic The Mahabharata describes the Kali Yuga as the period when the “World Soul” is Black in hue; only one quarter of virtue remains, which slowly dwindles to zero at the end of the Kali Yuga. Men turn to wickedness; disease, lethargy, anger, natural calamities, anguish and fear of scarcity dominate. Penance, sacrifices and religious observances fall into disuse. All creatures degenerate. Change passes over all things, without exception. There is much debate about the exact timeline, but many scholars agree that Kali Yug “will come to an end” in or around 2025.

The Kali Yuga (Iron Age) was preceded by three other Yugas: Satya or Krita Yuga (Golden Age), Treta Yuga (Silver Age) and the Dwapara Yuga (Bronze Age). In the Mahabharata, Hanuman gives the following description of the Yuga Cycle to the Pandava prince Bhima:

"The Krita Yuga was so named because there was but one religion, and all men were saintly: therefore they were not required to perform religious ceremonies … Men neither bought nor sold; there were no poor and no rich; there was no need to labour, because all that men required was obtained by the power of will … The Krita Yuga was without disease; there was no lessening with the years; there was no hatred, or vanity, or evil thought whatsoever; no sorrow, no fear. All mankind could attain to supreme blessedness. The universal soul was White … the identification of self with the universal soul was the whole religion of the Perfect Age. In the Treta Yuga sacrifices began, and the World Soul became Red; virtue lessened a quarter. Mankind sought truth and performed religious ceremonies; they obtained what they desired by giving and by doing. In the Dwapara Yuga the aspect of the World Soul was Yellow: religion lessened one-half. The Veda was divided into four parts, and although some had knowledge of the four Vedas, others knew but three or one. Mind lessened, Truth declined, and there came desire and diseases and calamities; because of these men had to undergo penances. It was a decadent Age by reason of the prevalence of sin.”

The ancient Greeks called these four ages of human civilisation the Age of Gold, Silver, Bronze, and the Age of Iron. 

The Hopi tribe believe that a cycle when human heads and hearts are disconnected (Fourth World of Separation) is followed by an era when they are in harmony (Fifth World of Peace). 

The Lakota believe that the birth of a White Buffalo in 1994 signified a time of great healing and unification around the world. The Pan-American prophecy of the Eagle and Condor speaks of the re-uniting of the tribes through sacred wisdom and power.

 For as much darkness as one might see in the world, there are endless stories of rebirth to explore. These stories are roadmaps for us; from the darkness into the light. 

It is with this hope that the following explorations are offered. We find ourselves in a time of deepest darkness. This is a critical time for humanity, for the Earth and for all life, and our actions now, in every conceivable pocket of the world, are imperative. Amidst the chaos and the darkness, I have hope, and with it I have been called to action. 

As a modern Western woman, teaching Philosophy and Practices from a culture from which I was not born, I, like many Yoga Teachers, face the deeply uncomfortable challenge of taking responsibility for the legacy of colonialism, imperialism and cultural appropriation which continues to oppress, insult and offend. To take this responsibility does not mean admitting that you did this on purpose, or that it’s something that you want, but in order to truly take the seat of the teacher, or Yoga practitioner, this is a layer of hard truth that must be understood. Collectively and individually, it is what we are being called to now, and simply being ‘not racist’ is not enough anymore. We must become actively anti-racist if we are to genuinely progress. 

“My culture is being stripped of its meaning and sold back to me in forms that feel humiliating.”

- Susanna Barkataki

Let me begin by stating that I do not claim to have any answers, however, I am willing to create a space for exploring the questions. It isn’t easy, but I am willing to trade a “safe” place, for a brave place. At first I didn’t want to add my voice, every time that I have almost formed a sentence or shared a thought, the calling to stop adding to the noise has pinned me down. 

Every time I really stop and retreat into stillness, listening and receptivity, the yearning to stay inside the silence is so strong.

And, alongside this yearning I hear a different pulse; urging us, all of us, to act, to speak, to be part of change that is as uncomfortable as it is over-due. To bring our voices to the collective hypocrisies and norms that undermine human decency and any Spiritual goals of One-ness.

Kneeling in deepest humility at the Altar of Wholeness, I offer my same-old-simple prayer:

May we use our privilege for the highest service.

And so, where to begin? Taking responsibility for ourselves means understanding our privilege.

It is my understanding that part of the general resistance to this process stems from the belief that to accept privilege means that you have never encountered hardship, trauma or suffering. And the truth is, of course, we all have encountered suffering, to varying degrees, and we all live with layers of privilege, to varying degrees. Spiritual evolution and maturation occurs in the embodiment of understanding the nature of life as suffering. Accepting that you have privilege does not negate all the ways that you have suffered. Accepting your privilege is truly seeing all the ways in which you have not suffered.

And here we are, collectively highlighting an era of endless oppression, genocide, slavery (subtle and gross), cultural appropriation, colonialism and suffering. Here we are, a generation with two choices – to sit in the discomfort, willing to be part of true change, or else remain silent. There are other options, of course, anchored in shame, greed, hate and desperation, and although they are represented in the whole, they do not even register here in these writings.

Here we are, a generation that will forever remember the collective call to the Altar of Wholeness – each of us, individually, must descend into our own dark places to take part in the collective maturation. This momentum of evolution is asking us to sit in the darkness, the uncertainty, the un-knowing. Silence is not an option, we must choose the discomfort. 

We must bring our deepest courage to take our seats in this transformation.

Returning to the Altar of Wholeness means shaking the structures of everything we have been born into, questioning every belief – to give it all up, along with our perceived safety, and everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve and accumulate.

In this time of murder-in-plain-sight, Trump, robotic bloodshed and rapid climate change, we have reached a collective dark night of the soul. From the wisdom of nature, we know that it is only from that deepest darkness of winter that the new cycle can begin. As we come to (perhaps) the end of the Kali Yug, the invitation is to remember who we are – that we are made of this Earth’s life force energy, that we are not separate from it. In the pain and darkness, stillness and silence are not the answer. We must act, we must be willing to change at the deepest core level.

This is a cycle of great pain, because we are birthing something enormous, and it cannot be done without moving through the fires of transformation. We do it together, by doing the work within ourselves.

I gladly take my seat in this. I take responsibility within the deep discomfort of being a white Australian living on stolen land, trying to actively embrace reconciliation – getting it wrong, making mistakes, showing up. I honour the First Peoples of this Country, and acknowledge the horrendous suffering that they have faced, and continue to face. I will look for ways small and large to contribute to equity, equality, justice, healing and liberation. 

I take my seat in the deep discomfort of being a white woman sharing and teaching the wisdom and practices of a culture to which I do not belong by birth. A culture that has been murdered, exploited and robbed by colonialism, a culture that has not benefited from the multi-billion-dollar Wellness Industry that claims all that suits it and turns its back on everything else.

It is only in taking my seat in the discomfort that I can truly take responsibility for myself, and all that I represent, and actively be part of a long over-due global transformation.

I have been on this path for a long while, and whilst I do not have the answers I am willing to create spaces that harbour the questions, and the listening that is being called forth. I am dedicated to continuing education on racism, cultural appropriation and colonialism, and, I am dedicated to my path of practicing, learning and sharing Yoga, because at its core it is a path of true union. I don't believe the solution is for me to stop sharing Yoga. On the contrary, I am dedicated to teaching Yoga that is humble, respectful and inclusive, and I am committed to guiding Yoga Teachers to be part of movement away from selfishness, greed and cultural appropriation. As Susanna Barkataki says:

"I see a world where Yoga unites us all and excludes no one." 

And,

"Yoga means liberation from every construct, including that of race, gender, time, space, location and even in History itself.”

And so we sit together in the discomfort now, because as sincere seekers on the Spiritual Path we understand that the most dark and difficult challenges present the biggest opportunities for growth, and that now that the veil has been lifted, to not actively cultivate change is not only spiritual bypass, but a subtle form of racism in itself.

I have sat long hours with how to progress, with respect to all, and in my own truth and integrity. The answer is clearly not to be silent, and, I believe, that the Yoga to which I have devoted my entire adult life does not want me now to turn away from it, to give in. The calling now is to be sure that we are practicing and teaching Yoga that is truly Yoga – a practice that brings connection, a practice that is inclusive to all bodies, cultures, colours, sexualities, genders, abilities, income levels. A practice that doesn’t create any feelings of separation or not belonging, and a practice that always respectfully honours the roots from which it came.