Dear readers, it’s been a good long time since I wrote anything. The amazing truth is that I was living in the wilds of Alaska. The whole darn state is the “wilds of Alaska” if you ask me, especially when you can come face-to-face with a bear (like I did) in the Capital City of Juneau! Now, near end of 2023, and after a long, long 18 months out there, I am back in the lower 48. Somehow, I’m still alive and I mean to act properly and get back to blogging regularly. Okay, okay. Perhaps, I have never been very regular about blogging, (for many good reasons having absolutely nothing to do with procrastination, right?), yet it seems like now is a good time to jump back in and get some momentum going.
My teacher once stated that if we were fully enlightened beings, we would see that we are, in fact, unimaginably beautiful. The good news is that studying Jane Austen’s art and Bhakti-yoga make it much easier to rediscover the self. This process is easy and only requires that we have a little ingenuity (intelligence). Jane said she didn’t write for “such dull elves that have not a great deal of ingenuity themselves.”
Bhakti means a practice by which we reconnect with our source and by this practice, we gain ingenuity-bonus! Krishna promises to help us with the intelligence needed to be successful on this path.
By connecting with our source, we also connect with self, just as when we see the sun, we see everything. Then we get that elusive thing called happiness -and peace. Don’t forget about peace. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna states that without peace, who can be happy? Despite what we see in advertisements, a peaceful and happy life is a life that is rational, rather than an endless list of frenetic challenges and extreme risk -taking. Why do we feel this need to be ‘extreme’ and ignore danger…and earn Darwin Awards! Happiness is already there within us and is easily discoverable by self-knowledge, which develops as our spiritual consciousness develops. Of course “consumer society” diverts us from this information and leaves us, instead, shopping for things (to fill the emptiness). Yet, we are never satisfied by things. Without self knowledge we find ourselves engaged in impulsive and mindless behaviors (such as retail therapy). Believe me, I’ve been there. Of course society demands some level of external “polish” and perhaps even the socially desirable ‘accomplishments’ as they were called back, in Jane Austen’s time. Yet self knowledge is the best and most powerful force for having a great life. Mansfield Park is a Jane Austen novel that directly addresses these issues.
In Mansfield Park, we find a family in various states of willful unawareness and practiced helplessness. No one helps anyone else. The ‘literary’ monster, Mrs. Norris, obsesses over saving a few shillings, here and there, yet is oblivious to saving her niece, Maria, who becomes so narcissistic from her aunt’s endless flattery that she believes that she has no faults. Mr. Crawford is yet another narcissist who ends up losing his chance to get the woman that he, “rationally and passionately” loved. The most tragic character is Maria, whose vanity leaves her vulnerable to Henry’s poisonous attentions, which mislead her into developing a strong ‘attachment’ (ie, she falls for) Henry, who has no honorable intentions towards her. Her fall from the pinnacle of society could not be more public, or excruciating. Her cousin, the timid Fanny Price, unexpectedly finds herself the next in line for Henry’s attentions (and machinations). She is launched into at least as much danger (with much more pressure placed on her to capitulate to Crawford’s proposals), yet she is able to withstand his charismatic and persuasive charms. Mansfield Park showcases every nook and corner of today’s collective narcissism. Amazingly, many readers fall for Henry Crawford (like moths to a flame) despite Jane Austen making it perfectly clear that he is the epitome of insincerity in a lover. Jane Austen expects her readers to have a THINK about what Henry is doing to the women in this novel. Wherever Henry (and his sister) prowl around, looking for a hookup, no one walks away thinking that it is, “better” to have loved and lost. People get hurt. Jane makes this clear. The point is, that there are consequences to loving stupidly.
So how do we avoid being duped by our own vanity? We wallow in a culture that tells us to believe that we are flawless, while social media pretends that the inner self doesn’t exist. We are constantly given the message of placing importance on the physical body, yet we are “giving up the substance for shadow” as we have no idea how beautiful we already are (as spiritual beings). The only ‘cure’ is to reconnect with ourselves and our real spiritual identity. Bhakti-Yoga practice satisfies and reveals our inner self through the rediscovery of the Source of our existence. Jane Austen actually used the word, “meditation” in her novels, and her heroines often retreat to their rooms for that purpose. Interestingly, special rooms were built in the homes (of the rich usually). These room were called ‘closets‘–which were made for the purpose of allowing the owner the luxury of just being alone. Back in the Regency era, people actually valued time spent alone and in meditative contemplation. They were aware that sitting quietly or walking in nature helped to calm the mind. What Jane’s heroines were doing when they engaged in a few moments of meditation then, is something that many thousands of people are doing today…and if we do this practice daily, it bestows what we all desire, namely focus and serenity. Perhaps this sounds too good to be true yet science backs it up. I love science and will be inserting as much science-based information as possible so keep clicking on those links. Bhakti-yoga is also a spiritual science that is based in eastern wisdom.
As for what kind of perks come with Jane and Bhakti-yoga practice, yes there are indeed concrete benefits for the brain. One way to boost our consciousness is a good Jane Austen binge-reading session. My 10 year binge was amazingly therapeutic. Science (seriously) agrees. According to one Stanford study, our brain under the influence of Jane Austen is a brain in therapy. Who knew? Well, someone must have known because her novels were even used as therapy for shell-shocked soldiers of WWI and even that ultimate tough-guy, Winston Churchill was a fan. Beside all this, many intellectuals, philosophers and science-minded readers of her novels admit to finding great comfort in her depictions of a moral universe, because it portrays reality in a way that ‘makes sense.’ Some of us remember when the world used to make sense. Ah, nostagia!
The really good news is that you can begin from wherever you are at right now and can access what Jane called self-knowledge, or as it is called today, self-realization, through an easy metaphysical process called bhakti-yoga. I am still trying to learn the luxury of, ‘sleeping’ on decisions. Sometimes our worst choices can be based on emotional, financial and physical impulses. We can save ourselves from such impulses simply by the practice of meditation on our Source (there are many names for God, and my favorite is the Sanskrit name, Krishna, which means, “all-attractive”). Otherwise, there are many cheaters who are on the lookout for fools (or someone having a weak moment and acting impulsively).
Click here to watch an excellent lecture on the philosophy of yoga given by my mentor and the founder of Krishna West, HD Goswami. As HD Goswami explains, the basis of bhakti is clearly explained in the wisdom-text from India, known as the Bhagavad-gita, or The Song of God (order here). In the Gita, we are invited to venture into a reawakening of self through devotion. To act from the deepest pure love is actually the highest form of yoga or connection with our source. In the Gita, one is assured of ‘swift’ deliverance from material suffering by infusing all actions and offerings with devotion. In this way we can gradually reawaken our eternal relationship with the original source of our existence. This a beautiful and powerfully effective process and we are sharing it freely with all. As my teacher explains:
“The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit root Yuj which means to link with, or combine. Bhakti-yoga means to connect to the Supreme by means of loving devotional service.” –H.D. Goswami
- Buy Bhagavad-Gita here!From Barnes & Noble
- Get Jane Austen’s Complete Novels here! From Amazon.com
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