wanting mind

Wanting mind.
By Wendy Grant

I want to be able to do Parsvottanasana.
I wish there was no such thing as a land mine.
I want a knee that can ski.
I don't want anyone in my family to get sick.
I would like to teach yoga in a warm, quiet room.
I want to be on the other side of the fence because I think the grass is greener.

Wants that are selfish, wants that are unselfish, wants that feel like immediate needs, wants that are future aspirations--a diversity of wanting but all with an underlying common root. A discontent with what is, a discontent with the present moment. Every want implies that something must change so that we will be more complete or happier or more satisfied. Wanting, desiring, wishing, longing for, hoping, coveting, hide it behind an assortment of words but they all feed and encourage a sense of lack, of there wasn't enough, there isn't enough, there won't be enough, I'm not good enough. Wanting mind keeps
us going around that hamster wheel of always looking outside of ourselves for satisfaction and never quite getting there. The possibilities for wanting are endless--there will always be more to get and to be. The possibilities of reaching an endpoint of wanting are slim, the possiblities of being dissatisfied infinite. Once the mind is wanting to be somewhere else or to have something else we are blinded to what is--we're seeing more, less, different but not real. It's easy to understand why we want things to be different when we're in pain or in tough times but we actually do the wanting thing when we're sitting amidst riches. Wanting mind obscures the states of simplicity, wholeness, clarity, wisdom and freedom
t h a t a r e a l r e a d y t h e r e . T h e r e i s e n o u g h . I remember a survey that asked people how much more money they needed to make their lives better. Most people thought that 20% more would satisfy them. So person A making $25,000 needed $30,000, person B at $30,000 needed $36,000, person C at $36,000 needed $43,200 and so on and so on. Even people X, Y,Z at $200,000 figure 20% would improve matters. No one seemed to have enough, no one seemed to see that there would never be enough with this attitude. In fact the survey didn't even have room for someone to say 'I have enough, I have all that I need, I have way more than I need or I don't want anymore.'
When you use a pair of binoculars to focus on a distant bird you lose depth of field--everything except that bird is out of focus and blurry. You can no longer see what is close to you and around you. The wanting mind focuses on some distant bird and that kind of focusing needs balancing with a Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana type of focus--not outward, not external but inward, immediate and real. We can chose to feed wanting mind (which makes it hungrier) or not (which weakens it). We can start to follow the path of renunciation, freeing ourselves from desires and attachements. We can switch our attitudes by examining where the wanting mind is coming from, by overriding the conditioning we've been raised with and surrounded by. We can switch from the diminished feeling of poverty among abundance to the exalted freedom of knowing you are enough, have enough and are complete.
Those wants at the beginning of this page? How about rewording them?

I am enjoying the process and lessons of Parsvottanasana.
I will practice Ahimsa today in my immediate world
I rejoice that my knee lets me walk.
Members of my family will travel their own journeys.
I will teach yoga in whatever conditions I find myself in.
No it's not--the grass on both sides is buried under two feet of snow!


	www.yogainfo.ca
		Wanting mind. By Wendy Grant I want to be able to do Parsvottanasana. I wish there was no such thing as a land mine. I want a knee that can ski. I don't want anyone in my family to get sick. I would like to teach yoga in a warm, quiet room. I want to be on the other side of the fence because I think the grass is greener. Wants that are selfish, wants that are unselfish, wants that feel like immediate needs, wants that are future aspirations--a diversity of wanting but all with an underlying common root. A discontent with what is, a discontent with the present moment. Every want implies that something must change so that we will be more complete or happier or more satisfied. Wanting, desiring, wishing, longing for, hoping, coveting, hide it behind an assortment of words but they all feed and encourage a sense of lack, of there wasn't enough, there isn't enough, there won't be enough, I'm not good enough. Wanting mind keeps us going around that hamster wheel of always looking outside of ourselves for satisfaction and never quite getting there. The possibilities for wanting are endless--there will always be more to get and to be. The possibilities of reaching an endpoint of wanting are slim, the possiblities of being dissatisfied infinite. Once the mind is wanting to be somewhere else or to have something else we are blinded to what is--we're seeing more, less, different but not real. It's easy to understand why we want things to be different when we're in pain or in tough times but we actually do the wanting thing when we're sitting amidst riches. Wanting mind obscures the states of simplicity, wholeness, clarity, wisdom and freedom t h a t a r e a l r e a d y t h e r e . T h e r e i s e n o u g h . I remember a survey that asked people how much more money they needed to make their lives better. Most people thought that 20% more would satisfy them. So person A making $25,000 needed $30,000, person B at $30,000 needed $36,000, person C at $36,000 needed $43,200 and so on and so on. Even people X, Y,Z at $200,000 figure 20% would improve matters. No one seemed to have enough, no one seemed to see that there would never be enough with this attitude. In fact the survey didn't even have room for someone to say 'I have enough, I have all that I need, I have way more than I need or I don't want anymore.' When you use a pair of binoculars to focus on a distant bird you lose depth of field--everything except that bird is out of focus and blurry. You can no longer see what is close to you and around you. The wanting mind focuses on some distant bird and that kind of focusing needs balancing with a Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana type of focus--not outward, not external but inward, immediate and real. We can chose to feed wanting mind (which makes it hungrier) or not (which weakens it). We can start to follow the path of renunciation, freeing ourselves from desires and attachements. We can switch our attitudes by examining where the wanting mind is coming from, by overriding the conditioning we've been raised with and surrounded by. We can switch from the diminished feeling of poverty among abundance to the exalted freedom of knowing you are enough, have enough and are complete. Those wants at the beginning of this page? How about rewording them? I am enjoying the process and lessons of Parsvottanasana. I will practice Ahimsa today in my immediate world I rejoice that my knee lets me walk. Members of my family will travel their own journeys. I will teach yoga in whatever conditions I find myself in. No it's not--the grass on both sides is buried under two feet of snow!
	www.yogainfo.ca