Armageddon

Q: We hear the word "Armageddon" when there is strife in the Middle East such as the war now raging between Israel and the militias of Lebanon. What does “Armageddon” mean?

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Sitting on pins and needles has become a habit of late, especially since we invaded Iraq over three years ago. There is civil war in Iraq and Afghanistan is falling apart. However, it is when Israel gets directly involved that we shutter. In the back of our minds arise Armageddon and right-wing Christian interpretations of the metaphors in the Books of Daniel and Revelations. According to these interpretations the actions we witness now are indications of the end times.

As Yogis we know that if enough people subscribe to those interpretations then we may well bring about a fiery end of the world. Our thoughts are powerful and if we become so involved in those thoughts we are likely to bring them to fruition.

There is no record that President Reagan’s Secretary of Interior, James Watt, ever stated that the environment was of no consequence since Jesus soon second arrival will make all that moot. There are right-wing evangelicals who do subscribe to such a notion and see it as their duty to hasten these end times. It is perplexing how this qualifies as a matter of faith when if these were true interpretations why do they not have faith in God’s timing?

Like Yoga, Christianity is not a means to run from the world. Although many yogis hide out in studios we are called to the active not passive deed of non-violence. Similarly, Christians are called to total engagement with the world through the action of love and in Christianity God is love. God is the act of love.

The notion of floating away looks pleasing to one who wishes not to engage in this world, but this being whisked away by means of this interpretation of rapture is especially cruel because of the havoc that follows. Believers celebrate and those left behind can only wish for death in a world of torment.

Look at it another way. Maybe, love is Armageddon. How love obliterates our habitual living patterns may seem like Armageddon. The act of love is the end times of the “need” to settle old scores. It elevates us out of the muck of ideology and raises us out of the violence we commit to others and ourselves.

The Beatles got it right. “All you need is love.” However, they erred in following that line with, “It’s easy.” It is simple, but it is definitely not easy. With love you release the old fights and learn the hard, life-long lessons of forgiveness. With love you include your enemy. Yet, this rapture from the reincarnating of our hatred over and again lifts us into the spaciousness of love. It delivers us from cyclical living.

So with such a promise why do many people opt for a horrid, fiery end to millions in “left-behind” interpretations of Armageddon? These interpretations are convoluted, certainly not simple, but, sadly, they are easier.

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A: According to Wikipedia Armageddon is mentioned once in the New Testament (Rev 16:16) and may refer to Har Megido (הר מגידו) or Mountain of Megiddo. There is the valley plain of Megiddo in northern Israel near Haifa where missiles launched from the Hezbollah in Lebanon landed last week. However, there is no mountain of Megiddo.
The Book of Revelations has many translations throughout history, its difficulty evident upon reading. Martin Luther did not particularly like the book and 4th Century bishop, St. John Chrysostom did not wish it added to the canonical New Testament because its difficulty in interpretation was ripe for abuse.

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Tapas: The Root of Discipline

Tapas appears in the second limb of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (pa-TAN-ja-lee). The second limb is called “niyama” or “observances.” In English. tapas means “heat” or “burning” such as seen in the smelting of metals. This heat burns off impurities.

Through the 2000 plus years of this text’s existence commentators have translated tapas as “austerities” and “mortification” (lit. “putting the flesh to death.”) The more neutral term is “discipline.” All of the terms is some form, however extreme or not, of doing without for the sake of a spiritual practice. It is meant to loosen our attachments and purify the body and mind.

Throughout history religious practitioners have abstain from particular activities, mostly concerning the flesh, to enhance their spiritual life. Some have been mild or acceptable such as Hindu Swamis and Christian monks who denounce all material goods and forgo sexual activity to focus only on the spiritual. Some have been extreme with serving penance by whipping or starving themselves. Indian renunciates have stood on one leg for a long period of time to detach from sensations. Sir Thomas Becket (1118 – 1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, wore a hairshirt under his garments to live a life of itchy discomfort.

In Yoga there is a strong sense of “ahimsa” or non-violence which should counter extremes of self-mortification. Many of the contemporary translators read tapas as the discipline of a Hatha practice as the heat generated from the postures indeed helps one rid the body of impurities.

There are many disciplines that can enhance the life of the Yogi that need not be austere and they are no less sobering. Building heat may be taken literally but taking “tapas” metaphorically can deepen the burning more than an intense practice on the mat. One needs to ask, what impurities are we burning off?

Yes, from the point of view of attachments, tapas may be viewed as austerity, but view it from a different angle and tapas shines brighter than a Hatha practice and is certainly more powerful, and sometimes even itchier, than a hairshirt. This perspective of tapas is the very ground of a Hatha practice and if we make it the root of all our actions it will help us create a more fruitful life. This discipline is the life-long cultivation of love.

This is not a mere passive proclamation of love, but the action of love for self and others. It is the act of love in the New Testament which states that “God is love,” and continues to state that living in God’s love entails love for your brother. (I John 4:16 ff) It is not a love you call then proceed to discriminate between gays and lesbians or judge people who are different from you. It is a life predicated on the service to others. It is a life dedicated to helping others move through suffering. In its most intense form it is a life which works to “love your enemy,” and it calls for a life to engage in the difficult task of loving one’s self.

Stepping onto the mat is an act of self-love as we honor the structures and energies of our bodies, all the while respecting the past decisions we made about the body. Stilling the mind in meditation is an act of self-love as we open the mind and not leave it to reincarnate our fears and anxieties. From true self-love sprouts love and reverence for others. Even Jesus said “Love your neighbor as yourself.” One can not love another more than one loves oneself.

What more difficult discipline than to train your mind on love? In a world hell-bent on breaking your heart, how easy is it to direct the mind to the heart, not protecting it, but projecting it out into the world? How easy is it to not run and hide in the cramp, cozy quarters of fear and anxiety?

So what is tapas of this nature burning off? Yes, medical tests have shown that growing a life in the heart increases the immune system which fights the impurities of the body. But the heat of love burns away the bigger inessentials and places everything in a larger perspective. Love is tapas at its root as it burns off the ego (asmita) and all its rigid armor; strengthening us from deeper within and freeing us into the spaciousness of life.

The Great Secret

a Re-Write By John Hawkins
(to be read out loud)

There were these two young people, teenagers actually, a male and a female, and they lived in this immense beautiful garden. This garden had an exceptionally accomplished Gardener, who tended the garden day and night. He loved the kids so much that he told them they could have anything in the garden they wanted,/ anything except the fruit of this one tree, that is; the tree that stood in the middle of the garden.

All around the tree were plants with incredible yield of fruit and vegetables to salve anyone’s palette. There were pears. There were peaches and jackfruit, nectarines and oranges. There were bushes and vines, with blueberries and strawberries as far-r-r as the eye could see. The kids were wanting of nothing.

One day the two young people were looking at that particular tree,/ the tree in the middle of the garden. As the two kids looked on a thought slithered up into their minds. “So you can eat anything here, right?”

“Oh, no.no,no.” said the kids. “We cannot eat of this tree in front of us.”

The thought then began to wrap itself around the tree, or more accurately/ the image of the tree now firmly planted in these kid’s minds. “What’s the Great Secret about this tree that the gardener would want it only for himself?”

The kids continued to listen to that sneaky thought as it lengthen its tale, its story of what the secret of the tree could mean, inching itself around ever nuance of the tree’s image. Pretty soon, all that was in their minds was this tree. So they plucked the fruit and ate.

The male spoke in true male fashion, “If the Gardener asks I’ll just say I wanted it and ate it. What of it?” he said as he pulled up on his britches/ only to realize he wasn’t wearing any. In fact, he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Nor was the female. Neither liked what they saw in themselves.

The thought that had slithered and wrapped and coiled within their brains now struck -- in the form of judgment. So, they stitched together large leaves and adorn themselves thinking that they could hide what they judged not to like.

It was just about then the Gardener came walking through like he always did in the cool of the day. He saw them and realized what had happened, but asked anyway, “Have you eaten of that tree?!!?”

The male spoke first, and in true male fashion said, “It was her idea!”
“What am I to do with you?” said the Gardener.

The Gardener was puzzled. You see, disobedience was not his concerned. That could be easily remedied. The two children he loved so much failed to see the immense garden around them, as they were standing and staring only at that one tree. They banished themselves; -- exiling themselves from a rich sampling of all the earth could provide and only for that one tree.

To this day ….. the image of that tree still burns within all our minds. And you know what this Great Secret is; -- the secret around the tree?

The Great Secret is: -- We are all -- still standing -- in the garden.

©1999 John R. Hawkins

Ahimsa

Ahimsa (non-violence) is the base of Yoga. It is not passivity, but an action of love. When one practices non-violence one is practicing Yoga. Mahatma Gandhi and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led movements based on non-violence. People who lead movements are not the only ones who have an effect on the lives of others. Personal acts of non-violence ripple through humanity regardless of the press they receive.

On Thursday, March 24, Desmond T. Doss of Piedmont, Alabama, died. Doss is the first of two conscientious objectors in United States history to receive the Medal of Honor. The 87-year-old was a Seventh Day Adventist opposed to killing.

During the Second World War Doss was drafted but obtained conscientious objector status because of his religious principles. He declined to bear arms but he served in the Pacific theater as a combat medic on Guam, the Philippines and Okinawa.

In Okinawa Doss found himself in the battle for a 400-foot-high ridge. As the Americans were driven off the ridge, wounded soldiers were stranded on top. Doss remained with the wounded, refusing to seek cover. He carried them, one by one, lowering each man to safety below the ridge. All of this while under fire. Doss was the last down and was not harmed in the battle. Over fifty lives were saved through his action of non-violence.

In subsequent battles Doss was wounded, once treating himself so that other medics would not have to be exposed to enemy fire. He never bore arms keeping true to his beliefs in non-violence. You can read about Doss in his New York Times obituary.

In present times Yogis are searching for ways to practice non-violence. Our two wars have become tiring to the American people. Over seventy percent of the military personnel in Iraq now say we should pull out within a year.

If the growing anti-war movement does not evolve into an actual peace movement it will forever remain a mere reaction to President Bush’s war.

My belief in Providence leads me to the conviction that there was a reason Yoga boomed in the 1990s and continues to grow today. We are here to help open the world to peace. Finding peace within ourselves is the first step. Private Doss found his peace. He withstood harassment from fellow soldiers and saved lives in the face of intense enemy fire. What ways large or small can each of us do to grow peace in our world?

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John