A necessary component in achieving happiness is learning to accept everything as it is arising in each moment. This means embracing sorrow when it passes through us.

In the Ramayana (the legendary epic tale composed in ancient India by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki), when Sita is kidnapped by the demon king Ravana, she is greatly pained in that separation from her beloved husband Rama. She cries out, “This body of mine was created only for sorrow.” (Ramayana: A Tale of Gods and Demons by Ranchor Prime, Mandala Publishing, San Rafael, CA, 2001, 2004.)

Yet, throughout all her sorrows, Sita never once stops calling out to Rama in her heart. The symbolic meaning behind this is quite lovely. Bhagavan Das writes, “Sita represents the human soul, captured by the demon of egotism… though she’s held captive in the demon’s garden, the soul never forgets her true husband, Rama — God himself.” Bhagavan Das continues, with the yogic meaning of the story: “God loves the soul more than anything, but he can’t rescue her alone. He needs the help of the son of the wind (Hanuman) — the breath. When God and the breath become allies, they’re able to free the soul. Calming the breath makes the body calm down, and then the mind becomes calm. When the mind is calm, you are able to sense God’s presence in your heart.” (It’s Here Now (Are You?), by Bhagavan Das, Broadway Books, New York, 1997.)

I love that image of the human soul calling out to the Great Soul. When sorrows pass through us, we can practice cultivating the witness by tuning in to that part of ourselves that objectively watches everything as it arises. When we witness and accept sorrow, we can focus on our breathing to calm our body-mind system, and that will help us settle into the Pure Love Energy that is always pulsing within our hearts. The word “yoga” means union, and it is the Union with our own beloved heart that we seek. So, the yogic practice is to watch the sorrows, and then keep returning to the breath and to the heart.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of blue flower by Richard Broderick – CC license