Here I go...
In today’s Blog, I am going to get naked. I am going to do something that
really makes me uncomfortable but I know it’s going to help other people.
I met an angel recently. Like any real angel, they can’t be seen by
everyone and they are fleeting but leave a powerful impression on you.
This angel gave me more than just assistance, she breathed life into my
spirit and renewed strength in my life and in humanity.
I remember reading in BKS Iyengar’s books about the difficulties of being
a yoga teacher financially. It is a spiritual vocation. Old tradition of yoga
dictates that the teacher shouldn’t even touch money. This type of spiritual
practice is passed on from teacher to student without money. It is done
out of a moral duty and integrity and never meant to be a business. Yoga
teachers lived a life of simplicity and humility. But as Caroline Myss,
medical intuitive and spiritual author tells us, the days of sequestering
yourself in a monastery are over — you can not ask you boss for a
meditation break. We have the responsibility to merge the spiritual with
the mundane. It’s the age of Aquarius where wisdom is poured on all
people and no longer kept hidden. And as a result, we see practices like
yoga becoming apart of the business world and the extinction of spiritual
masters living a sequester life. Now spirituality has become mainstream.
Being a yoga teacher isn’t easy. Being anything isn’t easy. Every job is
difficult. And today as people around the whole world are loosing their
homes to foreclosure, as retirement funds vanquish, as children die from
hunger, I stand with many of you naked and admit I am one of them.
Some of you may be surprised to know that before Suzanne Somers was
a ditsy blond on Three’s Company she was a published author. One of
her books is called Keeping Secrets. Keeping Secrets is an
autobiography of her life as a child of an alcoholic. And what I learned
from the book was that secrets separate people. And there is a
separation between us if I drive around town pretending everything is OK
when at times it’s not. Do we do a service to others when we don’t admit
the truth? Do we do a service to each other when we pretend to be a
flawless cover page model? No we don’t.
I stand here naked in front you to admit that at times I haven’t had money to
eat. At times I have had to give pennies for gas. At times I have been
almost evicted from my apartment and my car repossessed. At times I
have had to beg for help. And yet like all of us we have to show up to work
with a smile.
Today’s economic times have found many of us in a similar situations. I
have heard about 50 year old Malibu residents having their cars
repossessed and thriving business owners living in tents. I am tired of
pretending I am immune to it. Having a lot of pride is helpful in a few
situations in life, but mostly it gets you in trouble. I know that to follow a
creative field like yoga isn’t easy. I know that the term starving artist was
coined for a reason. And I also know that even business professionals
have also found themselves in financial ruin as of late. I am not
complaining, but I wanted to get real and be honest with you my friends
and students. Keeping secrets only separates us and I wanted to come
clean.
The angel I met recently was a friend. I told her I didn’t know if I had money
to get to work and she came over and gave me all she had. She told me
how in the last several months, even with her graduate degree, she has
had to give the gas man pennies, is loosing her home and has cried
herself at night scared of what tomorrow brings. I couldn’t believe it. You
mean I am not the only one? In a town of luxury cars and homes and
beautiful people this was possible? I realized that we both took a chance
to reveal ourselves and we broke our hard ego shells and we were set
free. This angel, my friend, reached out and did whatever she could to
help me. Even with these difficult times, she brought me money. Over the
past months I have asked people with lots of money for a loan and they
have denied me. And I have asked people with a moderate incomes
willingly loan me like they were on the Forbes list. There is an old story
about everything in Heaven being only $1. From a Rolls Royce to a house
on the Mediterranean. Yet the only money we get to spend in Heaven is
the money we gave away hear on Earth.
If you are reading this and you have found yourself in a similar situation at
times I don’t know anything else more important than to let you know that
you are not alone. You are not alone. Those words have comforted so
many souls over the ages. In a town where some of the most wealthy
people in the world live, this is not an easy admission. But i wanted to let
you know that there are people out there who are willing to give their last
dollar to help someone else. I wanted you to know that you are not the only
one. I wanted you to know that angels are real. And i wanted you to see
more of the truth.
I thank my Angel today, yes for the money but most importantly for allowing
me to see that I too am not alone and for letting me see that selfless
compassionate acts of generosity do exist and for that we are as rich as
we can be.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am not alone.
We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are two voices and we are singing.
We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are not alone.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are not alone.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are not alone.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are not alone.
By Don Eaton
