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The Hidden Gift in Catastrophe

Eucatastrophe is a word coined around 1937 by J. R. R. Tolkien, author of "Lord of the Rings." The term refers to a sudden and apparently disastrous turn of events which, despite initial appearances, results in the hero's well-being. Best of all, this stunningly positive resolution comes not from some outside intervention, but from within the existing elements of the disaster! Tolkien formed the word by adding the Greek prefix eu, meaning good, to catastrophe, meaning momentous misfortune. The implications are profound and practical and in perfect harmony with the teaching of Yoga Science that instructs us to include all and exclude none.

Tolkien has given a name to a perennial, and yet perennially doubted, truth: even events that seem unacceptable always hold the potential for benefit. Realizing this can embolden us to let go of and transform the negativity of our perceptions. It can free us to employ detachment, discrimination and clarity to see nurturing and health-affirming possibilities.

Welcoming and examining the unpleasant, however, is not without its challenges. The ego becomes extremely defensive when confronted with this practice because it recognizes a threat to its authority and "wisdom". To avoid the issue, the ego usually employs one of two favorite techniques. It may dwell on the pain and worry excessively, or, in concert with the senses and unconscious mind, the ego may project the memory or imagination of pleasure into the conscious mind. When we have no philosophy of life to guide us, the temptation of pleasure is usually attractive enough to catapult our consciousness into the future or back into the past where our consternation is masked for a brief time. The ego might also suggest a little self-medication--food, sex, sleep, drugs or anger--just enough to keep us from investigating a higher Truth that undercuts the ego's influence.

To let the ego's prejudices go unchallenged, however, keeps us enslaved to the personality's physical, mental and emotional addictions to pleasure and its aversion to pain. In that quagmire of likes and dislikes, the personality fears losing the comfort of the familiar. So we stay where we are and we suffer.

But that need not be the case.

In his "Commentary on 'Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence'," Swami Nijananda teaches that when something injurious or unpleasant comes to us, we can choose to remember what the yogic sages knew: every circumstance--no matter how disturbing at the time--is a manifestation of the Supreme Reality (a.k.a. God), and provides us the perfect opportunity to let go of some limiting attachment so that we might fulfill the unforeseen purpose of our lives. "In that case," Swami Nijananda reminds us, "We must look at our circumstance from the perspective that it has to be good." No matter what we are dealing with--a thought, an emotion, a person, an illness, old age or any other "catastrophic problem", every situation contains the seed of some special blessing.

One of the most challenging aspects of dealing with unwanted events is the fact that the ego and unconscious mind immediately give us an opinionated color commentary based on their limited perspectives. "I was walking down the street and he pushed me," they say, "therefore, he must have intended to hurt me. He's never liked me, and besides, he's a bully." Rather than simply responding to the act, we find ourselves responding to the mind's limited conceptions and perceptions of the act. We forsake discrimination and reinforce our ignorance.

Through the practice of meditation, however, we develop skills that enable us to see that (in this particular case) B does not follow A and C does not follow B, in spite of what we are programmed to believe. In fact, with the skills of detachment and discrimination, you might actually come to another realization altogether: that the man did not push you out of malice at all, but rather only to move you out of the path of an out-of-control automobile veering over the curb and onto the sidewalk.

Eucatastrophes take many forms but always carry great gifts, not only for their heros, but for others as well. One familiar eucatastrophe is recounted in the Biblical story of Joseph. As you might remember, Joseph's jealous brothers sold him into slavery. Years later, after Joseph had become governor of Egypt, the brothers came petitioning for grain during a time of widespread famine. Upon discovering that the governor of Egypt was actually their long-lost brother, they began to cry and beg for Joseph's forgiveness. Joseph's response was not vengeful. Rather, it reflected a profound understanding of the yogic philosophy of trustful surrender to Divine Providence. In modern vernacular, Joseph told them, "There is no need to forgive you, my brothers, for it was not you who sold me into slavery. It was the Lord who sold me into slavery--using you as instruments--so that I could be here today to feed you and all who are hungry."

Another story, closer to home, also underscores the Truth that even tragedy can be the vehicle for grace.

On September 10, 2001, one of our meditation students was working as an elementary school bus driver. That afternoon, as Roger drove through the winding streets of a suburban neighborhood, a small terrier darted under the wheels of the bus and was killed instantly. As you can imagine, pandemonium ensued. The dog had belonged to one of the boys on the bus. When the child realized what had happened, he began to wail inconsolably. His mother, who had been waiting with the family dog at the bus stop, became hysterical as she tried unsuccessfully to comfort her distraught son. In an emotional exchange with Roger, she was angry and abusive. Roger tried to explain that it had been impossible to avoid hitting the dog, but the woman could not hear him. "Look at all the pain and misery you've caused," the woman shrieked. "You killed our dog! My son is hysterical, and my husband's away. Now he'll have to cancel the rest of his business trip and come home."

A few days later Roger received a visit from the child's father. The man told Roger that because the dog was killed, he did indeed have to cancel his business meeting, which was scheduled for 9AM at the World Trade Center on September 11th. Had he not been called home, he would have been inside one of the Towers destroyed on the morning of the infamous terrorist attack. With gratitude, the man apologized to Roger for the family's insensitivity and thanked him for being part of the divine plan that had saved his life.

When we can trust that everything comes to lead us for our highest and greatest good, we still may experience the personality's likes and dislikes (raga/dveshas), anger and resentments, but we no longer have to be enslaved to those restrictive forces. Instead, in the midst of would-be catastrophes we can choose to remain free, calm, content and centered in knowing that the challenging relationship at hand is not beyond our means to creatively deal with, and that it is providing us exactly what we need.

Our inability to trust the intrinsic value of a eucatastrophe rests in the fact that we are thoroughly identified with the body and the limited perspective of the mind. We habitually invest our consciousness in the sense of lack. The notion that "I lack something" is our basic problem, and the more we act on that non-truth, the more insecure and unhappy we feel and the more desperately we seek objects and relationships we hope will make us secure and happy.

Of course those imagined solutions will not work--in part because whenever we fulfill a desire we immediately fear we might lose what we have. We expend our energy chasing rainbows and we inevitably wind up where we started: insecure and unhappy.

Swallowed up again by the sense of lack, we seek compensation. Food, sex, sleep, shopping, the internet, television, gossip, travel, alcohol, drugs, depression, overwork and worry are all employed to hold reality at bay. Is it any wonder that in addition to feeling insecure and unhappy, we're also exhausted?

To understand what led to our present condition and to begin reversing that process, imagine for a moment that you and I are sitting in your living room watching "Gone with the Wind" on television. Once the movie begins, we get caught up in the action and before we know it, we're lost in the imagery, romance and horror of the Civil War. We're so involved in the movie that we identify with Rhett Butler and Scarlet O'Hara completely. We feel their emotions and react physiologically to the circumstances portrayed on the screen.

When a commercial breaks the imagery, we recall immediately that it was all just a movie. Now, not only is the imagery of the movie broken, so too is the emotional bond that held us. The power of the imagery fades away into nothing.

Similarly, when you identify with the mind's habitual loop of thoughts and emotions, you can see nothing but the movie that's projected through the lenses of fear, anger and self-willed desire. As a result, you reimagine the same "catastrophe" again and again. Your thoughts and desires sweep you into one "tragedy" after another--keeping you confused, weak and dependent. As Shakespeare observed, "Thinking makes it so."

But through the practice of Yoga Science as mind-body medicine, you purify the lenses through which you view the world. Slowly, slowly you realize that even though you have a body and mind, you are not the body and you are not the mind. In the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna (our higher Self) reassures Arjuna (the human personality) that "There has never been a time when you and I have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. The same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth and old age. The wise are not deluded by these changes."

To underscore this Truth and to help us eliminate our ignorance, the Compassionate Buddha presented us with the Five Remembrances. Earnest contemplation of the Buddha's words can motivate us to disassociate from the transitory nature of the body and mind, and can prepare us to make discriminating choices that lead us to the summum bonum of life. "Wake up!" the Buddha exhorts us. You lack nothing. You are not insecure, nor are you unhappy. You are essentially spirit having a human experience. You are eternal consciousness, wisdom and bliss (Sat, Chit, Ananda). You do not lack. You are fullness. You are not insecure. You are secure. You are not unhappy. You are happiness Itself. Now, remaining centered in that Truth, go forth and base your outer actions on your own inner intuitive wisdom reflected by the buddhi (conscience). Then you will become the Compassionate Buddha.

The Five Remembrances are: 
1. The body is certain to become old. There is no way for it to escape growing old. 
2. The body is certain to become ill. There is no way for it to escape ill health. 
3. The body is certain to die. There is no way for it to escape death. 
4. Everything and everyone I love is subject to change and death. There is no way to escape separation from them. 
5. My actions are my only true belongings. I am the heir of my actions. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand and the reality which I experience.

Following the Five Remembrances, the Buddha concludes with these words:

"Birth will end in death. Youth will end in old age. Wealth will end in loss. Meetings will end in separation. All things in the material world are impermanent. The Buddhas cannot wash our sins with water. They cannot remove our suffering with their hands. They cannot transfer their insights to us. All they can do is teach the Dharma. I am my own protector."

If we can take these words of the Compassionate Buddha to heart, we'll realize that we are the architects of our own lives and we determine our destinies??--no one else has that power. If we choose to remain coupled to the limited perspective of the personality there will always be problems. But when we willingly forsake old, unreliable habits and yoke ourselves to the perfect wisdom of the higher Self--regardless of whether we call It Christ, Buddha, Allah, HaShem, Atman, Ahura Mazda or Great Spirit--"problems" do not arise. In the fullness and security of our new clarity, a catastrophe is simply transformed into what it really always was: a eucatastrophe.

Sound too far fetched to believe? No problem. Don't believe. Experiment--as a Yoga scientist. The next time the personality thinks itself into a catastrophe, employ a little detachment and examine the situation carefully. Then, base your outer actions on your intuitive inner wisdom and see if you don't experience the trustworthy silver lining of a eucatastrophe. I'm betting you will.

Leonard is a philosopher, educator, author and founder of the American Meditation Institute.

Looking for the Whole Truth

By Linda Johnsen

Fired! I kept staring at the pink slip as if my gaze could dissolve the paper, as if Pam from Human Resources would walk back in and say, "I'm so sorry, Linda, there was a mistake. Of course you're not fired! We're delighted to have you here!"

The drama started several weeks earlier when my roommate suddenly moved out. I was in my early 20s, fresh out of college, and couldn't afford the rent payments alone on my present salary. I had to find a better paying job-fast. An employment agency helped me find a new position, so I regretfully quit my enjoyable but desperately low paying job at the local high school.

When I showed up for the first day of work, Pam met me at the door as I was hanging up my coat. "I have bad news," she said directly. "When Andy hired you to be his new assistant, he didn't realize he was about to be transferred to the St. Louis office. He just got a promotion and he's home packing now. I'm afraid we won't be needing you after all."

I was devastated. For a woman who prides herself on being an exemplary employee, being fired was deeply humiliating. But worse, in one moment I'd gone from not having enough income to pay the rent, to not having any income at all. Panic surged through my body as if Pam had just pumped ice water into my veins.

I called up the employment agency the moment I got home, but they had absolutely no other prospects for me. I couldn't sleep that night. Where do homeless people sleep, I wondered anxiously, since I might soon become one of them. Even with a good blanket, it must get awfully cold out on the street at night.

The next morning I sat by the phone, nervously weighing my options. A friend stopped by to commiserate and suggested, "Why don't you call the medical clinic at the yoga center? They might need help."

"I'm over at the Himalayan Institute center in Glenview all the time," I assured her. "If there were a position available at their clinic, they would have posted a notice." But desperate times call for desperate measures, so with some embarrassment I phoned the Center for Holistic Medicine.

Pat Klein, then manager of the clinic, seemed impatient. "Where have you been? Dr. Ballentine's been waiting for your call. Swami Rama told him a week ago you were going to start working here, and he wants to know when you're coming in!"

My new position at the Himalayan Institute's clinic quickly turned into one of the most fun and fulfilling jobs of my life. Ours was the first holistic medical facility in Midwestern America, and was frequently featured on radio and television. Influential bestsellers, like Dr. Ballentine's classic book Diet and Nutrition, grew out of our work at that clinic.

But for me the most astonishing thing about that experience was that Swami Rama, the spiritual director of the yoga center, knew I was going to offer my services there a week before I did myself. It was almost as if life had deliberately orchestrated my financial crisis-and my firing-in order to push me toward a job I otherwise would never have considered.

In retrospect, I wish I could send a telepathic message back to myself that miserable, sleepless night. "Don't worry! Everything's going to work out better than you can even imagine! You were supposed to get fired! You are being guided to go exactly where you need to be!" Instead I had a major crisis of faith, unable to trust that events were unfolding according to plan.

Learning from Life 

All of us have stories like this. There was the awful divorce that shattered our faith in love, but ultimately taught us to stand on our own two feet. There was the unwanted pregnancy that brought a child who became the light of our lives.

Often the most difficult experiences we go through turn out to be the most meaningful. I have always had a paralyzing fear of public speaking. When my first book was published in 1995, I was sent on a nationwide publicity tour. If I had known I was going to have to lecture, I probably wouldn't have written the book! My comfort zone is behind the scenes, supporting more dynamic personalities who, unlike me, actually enjoy the limelight.

Fortunately, my public talks usually went well. But inwardly, I continued to experience massive terror every time I had to step up to the podium. I couldn't have been more frightened if I was being led before a firing squad! Year after year I was sent out to speak, yet the phobia never abated.

Then six years ago doctors discovered a malignant tumor in my jaw. I received the diagnosis two days before I was scheduled to fly out to lecture at the American Meditation Institute in Averill Park. As I spoke at AMI that weekend, I was overcome with the poignant sense that this was probably the last seminar I would ever give. Suddenly I couldn't believe how foolish I had been, dreading programs like this when I should have been thrilled to have the opportunity to travel around the country talking about topics I loved. Now, if the initial medical assessment was correct, I was unlikely to survive. If I did, it looked like I would never be able to speak normally again, as the surgeons planned to remove much of my upper jaw.

Cancer was an amazing experience-though one I wouldn't wish on anyone else-that taught me what I was still attached to in life, what I was having difficulty letting go of in the face of imminent death. I accelerated my spiritual practice to work on developing more authentic equanimity and nonattachment. I did survive this brush with cancer, obviously, and the doctors managed to create a prosthesis that allows me to speak almost completely normally.

Amazingly, my fear of public speaking has vanished completely. I now love lecturing! While going through cancer treatment was no picnic, I appreciate the lessons that difficult experience taught me. It was a pretty extreme way to cure a debilitating phobia, but it worked quite well!

In the midst of a crisis, it's not always easy to see the gifts the experience is bringing. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. I hear that in the very last moment of life, many people see their entire life flash before their eyes in an instant. Suddenly the overall purpose becomes clear, the lessons are self-evident, and the richness of one's life experience can finally be fully appreciated. As we expand our awareness through yoga practice, we can develop that sense of appreciation in the present moment, without having to wait for a near-death experience to show us the whole truth, the greater good behind the difficulty.

The Purpose in the Pain

From a human perspective, some outcomes truly are cataclysmic. I vividly remember the day one of our doctors lost his little boy. He and his wife found their son lying dead in his crib that terrible morning. The one-year-old was fine when they put him to bed the night before. At that time awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was negligible; physicians had no idea why some seemingly healthy babies simply stopped breathing.

The heartbroken parents turned to one of my spiritual mentors, Pandit Usharbudh Arya, to help them understand. "Why did this happen to us? Why?"

Some people believe this world is an illusion, but one thing I know for a fact is real: pain. Dr. Arya knew better than to use that moment to tell bereaved parents good would come out of the death of their child. I was struck by the wisdom, and the deep compassion, of his reply: "Before the enormity of your grief, I have no answer."

When people are in the throes of profound sorrow, they may hear your words of reassurance as vain platitudes. Sometimes they just have to sit with their pain, digesting the emotion, till they're finally ready to look at the bigger picture. All you can do, as Dr. Arya did, is sit with them in their loss and bewilderment.

This brave couple would go on to take an active role in the burgeoning SIDS movement. Thanks to the efforts of people like them, new parents today are far better educated in preventing potentially fatal respiratory disorders.

In the face of overwhelming pain some traditions, such as early Buddhism, advise us to run. Buddha recognized that as long as we're on this Earth, suffering is inevitable. At first, he taught that the only solution is to flee from life as if we were running from a burning house.

Yoga texts like the Bhagavad Gita, take a different tack. They advise us to see the play of personal, collective, and cosmic karma in the events of our lives. Then mastering our thoughts and emotions with the help of spiritual practice, we should take action in the world to fulfill our duties responsibly, and help alleviate the suffering around us to the best of our ability. In the Gita, Krishna advises us to surrender to God, to love and trust him, and to sincerely try to live in a way that pleases him.

Developing that level of confidence in God's care is fairly easy when things are going our way, but far more challenging when terrible disasters occur. Often we feel that if God really loved us, he would exempt us from suffering. In India however, deities are usually portrayed with multiple arms. Some of their hands are raised in blessing. Others hold weapons like nooses and goads. This is because when we veer off the track, they come after us like shepherds, and drive us back to the spiritual path. (Krishna, you'll remember, is often called Gopala, "cowherd.")

One of my dear friends is a paraplegic. Jay broke his back at age 18 and has spent his entire adult life in a wheelchair. It's hard to imagine anyone with a more legitimate reason to be bitter. Yet his horrible injury has allowed him to collect veteran's benefits all these years. Unburdened by the need to support himself, he has instead devoted himself entirely to spiritual practice. Today he is one of the most wise and spiritually luminous human beings I've ever met.

When I asked Jay how he stays so tranquil in the midst of so much suffering, he told me, "Whatever happens, I just say, 'Thank you, God!'" When we see God's loving care both in the good events in our lives and the bad, we are finally seeing through our life experiences to the greater good just behind them.

We all get fired. I mean to say, at some point in our lives we all walk through the fire. There's no other way to enter the light.

Linda Johnsen, M.S. is a regular contributor to Transformation, author of "Lost Masters: The Sages of Ancient Greece" and seven other books on spiritual life currently available at the AMI bookstore.

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PASSAGES By Bernie Siegel, M.D.

Life is a series of passages. It is a circle of beginnings through which we will all pass more than once. Life is a chance to obtain an education, like school, hopefully not being left back--but advancing through the grades. When you give a report in Heaven on how your life has gone, you are instructed to conclude your report with the words, "The Beginning" and not "The End." Why?? Because when you graduate from school it's a commencement, not a termination, and the Bible ends in a Revelation, not a conclusion. So life is meant to be viewed as a series of beginnings or passages. Whenever we learn something, experience a change or lose something, we actually begin a new life.

We are all here to live and learn, to move up through the grades of life, to acquire wisdom and to pass on what we have learned. We must help to educate everyone and lift the level of consciousness of all beings. So view every curse as a blessing, and keep experiencing new beginnings as you live through life's passages.

My life has been filled with many interesting passages. My very first was my passage through the birth canal into the world. Due to my mother's poor state of health, she was told not to become pregnant because it would be a threat to her own life. Her mother (my grandmother) decided otherwise, however, and had her lie on the couch while she fed her constantly. When my mother gained thirty pounds I was conceived. Next came a multitude of complications of the pregnancy and then prolonged labor with no child appearing. After the doctors told my mother she might not survive a Cesarean Section, my mother tells me, "They reached in and pulled you out."

So my first passage was very traumatic, and I was born an ugly duckling. My mother recalled that "Your father and I wrapped you in kerchiefs and put you in a covered carriage which we hid behind the house so no one would see you and be upset." When I asked my mom why I didn't turn out to be an addict or alcoholic--which infants treated this way do become--she said, "My mother took you, poured oil all over your body and pushed everything back where it belonged." Years later I learned that infants massaged this way gain weight fifty percent faster than infants fed the same amount of food but not touched.

I realize now that if we all had loving grandmothers there wouldn't be any ugly ducklings who'd have to struggle to discover their beauty. So when in doubt, act like a loving grandparent to ease the passages of others. Let your eyes be the mirrors to reflect love and beauty back to others. Remember, when someone you love is present during labor or any other painful situation, the pain experienced is dramatically reduced.

If you really want to help your children, prepare them for the difficult passages which we all must confront. Use my mother's advice: whenever someone you know runs into trouble say, "It was meant to be. God is redirecting you. Something good will come of this." It took me a while to buy that package as a teenager, but I realized many curses did turn into blessings because they redirected my life. This understanding also changed my view of the future; I stopped visualizing the worst when problems arose.

"He who seeks to save his life will lose it, while he who is willing to lose his life will save it," speaks the message of the Bible. "The son of man comes not to be served, but to serve, and to ransom his life for the good of the many." These words speak about the fact that many of us lose our lives to please everyone else. We become what others want, when we should really be choosing to serve and love the world in a way that will make us happy. So once again I'll share my mother's message. Whenever I had a decision to make and asked my mom what to do she said, "Do what will make you happy. But remember, by doing so, you are choosing the passages you will experience in this lifetime."

Now let me conclude with how I know we pass through life more than once. At age four, while sitting on my bed at home, I almost choked to death on some toy parts I had put into my mouth and then aspirated. I had a near death experience, and left my body. I was free of the physical struggle to breathe and it was a fantastic experience. It left me with no fear of death. Then the boy on the bed (me) vomited and all the toys came flying out of his mouth as he began to breathe again. Yes, I was back in my body, mad as hell. I can remember yelling, "Who did that?" and thinking there must be somebody else in charge of the schedule of passages.

I have also had a past life experience spontaneously created when a friend, who heard how busy my schedule and life were, asked me the question, "Why are you living this life?" To make a long story short I saw myself killing someone with a sword when told to do so by my lord. I was acting out of fear that if I did not follow the order, I myself would be killed.

From that life and circumstance I learned the importance of faith and having the right Lord. I also now realize that my love of animals and people stems from that past life. Now I try to make up for my past unskillful action by using a knife in this life to heal people.

I am now convinced that death, and leaving one's body, is not the worst outcome or passage. During a conversation I once had with Noah, I asked him why he didn't argue with God or bargain to save more than just his family and some animals. Noah said that he knew he was being given a raw deal, so to speak, because he was being called upon to go on experiencing all of life's difficulties while everyone else was allowed to begin again with a clean slate and greater wisdom.

So please, enjoy every experience of life, as painful some may be. Utilize your opportunities, burn your candle bright, and don't let it go out before your time. If you want to avoid passing on, remember that the only thing which is immortal and of permanence is love. Love is the bridge between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

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Karma Yoga --- the practice of selfless and skillful action

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