Yoga and the Art of a Spring A-“Woke”-ning

A rose by any other name is A-“rose” … A rose by another name could be A-“rose”-ning  … or even A-“Woke”-ning?

This past month, Christians celebrated Easter, which commemorates when Christ “rose” from the dead, bringing eternal life to his followers. Christians wear red on Good Friday in honor of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our salvation. Jesus suffered much during his life in hopes that his followers would know freedom from death and deliverance to an eternal life. In a way, from a yoga perspective, he “woke” from the dead to inspire mankind to wake up to our highest realizations and possibilities.

We practice yoga so that we can awaken to our True Nature and ultimately see the interconnectedness of all beings. Seems like a worthy endeavor to me. And ultimately a harmless one. But the path toward that higher realization can be fraught with fear and turning away as we are confronted with seeing the not-so-good parts of ourselves. Yet by sitting and viewing those parts with the least amount of judgement and self-loathing as possible, we can traverse to the other side, to that state of yoga or union.

The term “staying woke” derived from the African-American Vernacular English. Sadly, to me, “woke” has become, IMHO, misused, mis-characterized, and demonized in the current political discourse.

Recently, I listened to the African-American writer Thomas Chatterton Williams interviewed by Margaret Hoover on Firing Line. When asked what “woke” meant to him, he described it this way:

Be conscious, be aware … don’t be asleep when there’s inequality in society … don’t sleepwalk through life and do your part to contribute to a status quo that is less than it could be … do your part ….

The Hollywood actor and Stanford graduate, Sterling K. Brown, referred to “woke” in the commencement speech he gave to the Stanford Class of 2018. Stanford Magazine recounted his speech. Here are some highlights of the article that caught my attention:

Calling upon his freshman-year focus on philosophy, Brown chose quotes from his “big three,” Socrates, Plato and Lao Tzu, to share with the graduates.

Brown chose the Socrates quote, “An unexamined life is not worth living,” to prompt graduates to, in Brown’s words, “stay woke.”

From Plato, Brown chose this quote: “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” He told the graduates that it is their birthright and responsibility to shine.

From the author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, Brown offered this quote as it related to his journey as a Stanford student: “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”

“When I feel fear, as uncomfortable as it may be, I know I’m in the right place. Whether you’re 22, or 42, never allow fear to keep you from expanding your definition of self.” 
—Sterling K. Brown

Personally, I think it’s sad that people have become afraid of the possibility of becoming more enlightened, more “woke”. Yet, the compassionate side of me can understand. Becoming more “woke” can be a scary thing, and it's far easier to put the parts of life we don’t want to see into a closet in our mind and try to keep them there.

In his early life, the Buddha was shielded from seeing the ugly parts of life by being kept in the palace and only being exposed to the beautiful, pleasurable and happy parts of life. But when he finally left the palace and saw the suffering that existed out in the “real” world, it led him to seek a path toward the end of suffering. He finally arrived under the bodhi tree and sat in meditation for 49 days with the intention of finding supreme enlightenment. By the time he arrived to the bodhi tree, he had already witnessed many ugly parts to life, and while sitting under the tree, his mind was assaulted with desire and temptation. Yet, he persisted in “staying” with the feelings and ultimately “woke” up to his True Nature, to a state of Nirvana.

So, the Buddha’s journey and ultimate achievements can give us the courage to “see” life as it is, which might be far different than we want it to be. But ultimately, we practice yoga not only to stretch our bodies but also to stretch our awareness to what it could be if we’re willing to open up and witness all of life, exactly as it is. We practice with the aspiration to lessen the duality of the haves and the have-nots, and to see more of the non-duality that exists beyond that when we “stay woke” to the common threads that connect all of us.

The African American writer, Richard Wright, said:

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.

If we close ourselves off from knowing about the injustices that go on in the world and only seek personal material gain, we might find that while our bodies won’t starve, our soul may.

Thich Nhat Hanh said:

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

I hope that you can stay with your yoga and meditation practices long enough build the muscle of an ever-deepening awareness. And I hope that muscle is so strong that it helps you not shy away from witnessing some of the deep injustices coursing through our living planet. I hope the light of awareness shines upon you long enough that you are truly transformed, and that it spreads out to those nearest and dearest to you until, because of your courage, the whole world is transformed.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May yoga help you to be just a bit more “woke,” …
May your incremental steps towards being “woke” somehow affect someone near to you and spread out from there to ALL Beings everywhere. 

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Spring A-"Woke"-ning