Comments on: How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat?

By: How can you have your meat if you don’t eat any pudding? | Heavy Metta

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:49:48 +0000

[...] was so stoked to have something to post that I left most of the good bits off of this post, making it pseudo-controversial and sparking some good comments and conversation. It’s hard [...]

By: Linds

Linds — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:25:37 +0000

“The power of the imposed will is unsustainable; the power of the authentic will is undeniable” – Sjanz, 2009.
…
Woah.
Tucking that one in my pocket for a rainy day. Amazing.

And so true. When effort marries desire, the two create authentic selfhood. Yow! That is some powerful stuff.

To Make:
Unite 1 part “sthira”(effort) with equal parts “sukha” (ease) for a healthy and nutritious asana smorg. Balance this with 7 parts-limbs, throw in a dash of spiral /loop magicks. Mix it all in a big bowl of the 3 A’s (Alignment, Attitude and Action) and spice with Desire to taste. Drop the ego. Bake in the Tapas of practice until it is juuuuuusssst right.

Smells good already – now we’re cooking!

By: Natasha

Natasha — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:14:00 +0000

Sjanz, I totally agree with everything you just said, of course, and I love your explication of will power. I need to meditate on that a while. Now I’m sort of seeing all these self-development and self-realization things going on in my own life as the development of an authentic will power, which I really like. The “imposed will,” as you so aptly put it, that so many authority figures tried to instill in me (and, let’s be honest, that I subconsciously tried to instill in myself in their stead, later in life) is absolutely antithetical to authenticity. Hmm, maybe I should write that down somewhere.

This conversation reminds me of similar issues with the term “work ethic.” I’d like to reclaim both phrases from my nation’s puritanical forebears!

By: einajs

einajs — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:37:12 +0000

Oh and: This blog is objectively pro-”going Whitman”.

By: einajs

einajs — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:31:08 +0000

Natasha, totally, and I was thinking about that after I posted…that due to my somewhat lazy writing this could be interpreted as “Do whatever you like even if it’s totally life-denying and harmful”. I came to the conclusion that practice is more like stripping away the limiting beliefs about ourselves so we can clearly hear the most authentic voice [the one that says go off the BC or whatever] without all the static in the way, because without that the multitudes sit around the boardroom and jockey for position. For THAT you do need monstrous discipline, and I think that’s what’s actually being asked of us when the dowdy virtues are invoked: a relentless pursuit of the authentic highest self. It’s just that most teachers and philosophies have interpreted that discipline as stifling the self. I really should have made this post twice as long and meandering. That’s the ticket!

The phrase “will power” is the crux of it. “Will” means you WANT to, yes? The power of the imposed will is unsustainable; the power of the authentic will is undeniable. People are smart, and do what they want; if they choose unwisely, it’s generally because they lack information or there are some unexamined beliefs there [Mickey D's is the only food I can afford/Salad is for wimps/I can't do yoga because I'm not flexible &c.] Subjectively it may indeed FEEL like an imposition but if you remind yourself of the power of conscious choice ["will power"] you can connect to more resources than just “Playtime’s over, Baconator”. You know all those studies about how you can’t just replace somebody’s steak with kale and brown rice…you have to give them something they want MORE than the steak?

Eric, splendid

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:45:21 +0000

Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.

(William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell)

By: Natasha

Natasha — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:36:47 +0000

This is the kind of thing where I have to go all Walt Whitman and point out that we are large and contain multitudes. I think we should listen to our inner natures, and our bodies, and such, for sho, but WHICH inner nature, KWIM? There are so many competing interests using different aspects of our brains all the time (even science says so, now!) Back in the times when I was super depressed (damn you, birth control pills!) my dominant inner voice kept telling me that the best thing for me was to lie in bed in a dark room, listening to the same song over and over and crying. Um, WRONG! (Fortunately, the inner voice telling me to ditch the pills eventually won out!) And you have to make allowances for, yes, when some people eat plenty o’ junk food it just creates a self-fulfilling addiction that will eventually need to be broken with some sort of will power, you know? To some degree, I think that the modern world forces situations upon us for which our intuitions did not evolve and are not prepared.

But then, of course I AGREE with you so much (especially about pickles and circadian rhythms.) Being forced to do physical activity that I hated when I was a kid and teenager screwed me up but good, and I’m just now coming out of it and beginning to actually LOVE certain kinds of physical activity again.

I think it’s just the old middle way, AGAIN. We have to find our balance on the seesaw of self-discipline vs. going with the flow. We can use either one in a way that reinforces our dysfunction, OR that enhances our functionality and makes us more complete people. A lot of experimentation, mindfulness, and willingness to change one’s mind helps, I think.