Reliable Sources

In the last couple years, I have been studying Somatic Experiencing® and Vedic chanting and this has meant connecting with teachers. After a long time of finding myself usually in the role of teacher (which I do enjoy), it has been really nice to be in the role of student. I appreciate having someone I trust and who is clear, sharing information with me and helping me see things. And, at the same time, I am painfully aware of teaching all kinds of things over the years that I later came to think were untrue or unimportant or would have taught differently.

In sutra 1.6, Patanjali lists the five mind movements: pramana (valid knowledge), viparyaya (misperception), vikalpa (imagination), nidra (sleep) and smrti (memory). Then in sutra 1.7, he describes valid knowledge, pratyakshanumanagamah pramanani. It comes from direct perception, inference or a reliable source. As I’ve been sitting with this, I’ve gotten a little discouraged—valid knowledge seems hard to come by! I think our whole yoga practice is aimed at trying to help us see things more the way they are. In the mean time, reliable sources seem important. And I have to keep in mind that even if a teacher or text gives me really good information, I may misinterpret what I think I hear. That’s in addition to the fact that any human, even one who is evolved and wise, is still subject to their own misperceptions.

So I guess we just have to think of increasing our valid knowledge as a process of getting closer and closer to the truth or clarity. Maybe the one piece of valid knowledge we can have is the fact that mostly we don’t have it. And we should choose our sources carefully.

Let’s end with a little story.  For years, I mean YEARS, I have identified myself as kapha. If you are unfamiliar with Ayurveda, the ancient medical tradition from India, there are three constitutional types and one is kapha (it’s not even important at the moment what that means). And then in the last six months since I’ve changed my diet pretty significantly, I’ve been becoming more aware of my pitta-ness (pitta is another of the three constitutions). I was talking with Trish Foss (a great Ayurvedic practitioner) a few weeks ago and she commented on the fact that I seem very pitta, but she had heard me self-describe as kapha. I told her I’d been noticing that and she sort of non-chalantly said, “Maybe you’re pitta with a kapha imbalance.” And that seemed like a little light bulb. I was having some direct experience and then had information from a reliable source and I think I got closer to the truth. And now I’m going to hold it lightly—it seems righter than what I thought I knew before, but I can guess that my understanding will likely change again.

For more info about therapy and yoga with me: www.seattlesomatictherapy.com