Yoga and the Power of Love over hate

FDNY Memorial Wall, Lower Manhattan, September 11, 2024

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This month, I made a trek down to Lower Manhattan on 9/11. I try to go down there each year on this date, when I can. The searing images from 23 years ago of seeing the towers fall as I gazed out of my window in midtown will be with me for the rest of my life. Being down there earlier this month at those two sacred pools which are on the footprints of the twin towers helps me to not forget. Seeing the names of the victims etched into the walls around the pools helps me to remember that these were human beings, sentient beings like you and me. Watching the commemoration ceremony on TV and seeing family members read their names – always with much emotion in their voices – helps me to remember that the loss is still felt deeply by those closest. For me, it’s good to pause on this day, and reflect on how that day’s events can provide lessons for me as I try to live my best life for the rest of my life here on this Earth.

Pema Chödrön shared this story, The Wolf That Wins:

There was a story that was widely circulated a few days after the attacks of September 11, 2001, that illustrates our dilemma. A Native American grandfather was speaking to his grandson about violence and cruelty in the world and how it comes about. He said it was as if two wolves were fighting in his heart. One wolf was vengeful and angry, and the other wolf was understanding and kind. The young man asked his grandfather which wolf would win the fight in his heart. And the grandfather answered, “The one that wins will be the one I choose to feed.”

Clearly, we see many examples currently in the outer world that show the results of people choosing to feed the wolf of vengeance and anger. But as yogis, I think, the important task at hand is to move inward and try to feed our own inner wolves of understanding and kindness. 

Having turned 65 this year and entering into my “re-wirement” years, I can slow down a bit. I’m not chasing money and fame like I was in the 1st and 2nd chapters of my life. When I’m out on the streets, most often I’m not rushing to get somewhere, but rather I can take my time. It's a luxury I wish all beings could have. 

I know that when I am in a hurry and being impatient, that’s when I can easily succumb to feeding the wolf of anger and vengeance. An example of this in my personal life is that my neighborhood in midtown west Manhattan has become crowded and almost a bit dangerous in the last few years. The sidewalks are full of people – and often e-bikes, sadly. On the streets, cars are whizzing by and e-bikes (again) are often going in the wrong direction. You really have to look left and right before you cross the street. It’s gotten to the point that I don’t use my AirPods when I’m out and about so that I can have all my senses available to me to prevent possibly being hit. A few weeks back, I was in a hurry to get home and was making my way through a crosswalk on a green light signal when suddenly a car made a quick right turn through the crosswalk and nearly hit me. I remember in that moment wanting to feed the wolf of anger and vengeance, as that car nearly injured me. And I remember those feelings stayed with me for a few hours that night. 

But here’s the point of my story – I looked inside myself to see what changes I could make so that I would less likely be in a position to want to feed the wolf of anger and vengeance when I’m out there in my little world surrounding me. The awareness that came over me was that I can start by accepting that there are people out there who, when triggered, will cause harm to others. That is their karma that they’ll have to account for it. But for me, I can slow down and move more mindfully through the world, and in so doing I can lessen my feelings of anger and resentment. Walking with more awareness and light I can put myself in a better frame of mind to be able to feed the wolf of understanding and kindness, even as I’m traversing nearby busy Times Square, which some might say is the center of the Universe.

The Buddha’s core ethical teachings were compiled thousands of years ago into a text called the Dhammapada. At this time of year, I always like going back to it to reflect on these particular verses:

"Hatred is never ended by hatred - but by love [this is an eternal rule]"
Dhammapada verse 5

and

Many forget that we here must die,
For those who remember, quarrels end.
Dhammapada verse 6

For me, with each passing year and at this chapter of my life, it becomes much easier to remember that I won’t be around forever and ever. I certainly can’t make any promises to myself or anyone else that in my remaining lifetime all my quarrels will end. But I do often contemplate the need to come to peace with any quarrels within myself. At this point, I look back and think of the mistakes I’ve made, mistakes that were made out of the ignorance of youth, so to speak. Mistakes made while pursuing fame and fortune in my earlier years. And the sheer recognition of those mistakes makes it easier to understand how others can make similar kinds of mistakes. As spiritual beings, we’re all just trying to make some sense of what it means to have a human incarnation. It can either become a trap or be a springboard to more authentic joy and happiness – and humility.

Love evokes for me feelings of light, kindness, and understanding. It’s an ever upward spiral. Hatred evokes feelings of heaviness, anger, and vengeance. It’s a downward spiral.

I realize that you yourself may be in an earlier chapter of your life than I am, and may not have the luxury of time that I have. If I could share my sense of ease with you, I would. At the same time, I wish more than anything for you that you can carve out moments of mindful and expansive awareness in your life. And I hope that these moments can evoke feelings of love for all beings that will help to obliterate some of the hatred that is out there.

In your yoga asana practice, please do remember to feed the wolf of understanding and kindness for your body and its limitations. If you do, you will surely be closer on your way towards Enlightenment.

Finally, I invite you to listen to this very moving song called Dear Hate. I have a feeling it will make love grow within you and spiral you higher and higher.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you feed your wolf of understanding and kindness, ...
May your Love grow to become a powerful force, …
May your Love conquer hate, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere.

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

Light rising above darkness at one of the 9/11 Memorial Pools. Simply put - Love wins.

Almost full moon illuminated the midtown Manhattan skyline on September 16th. For me, it felt like a sign that even amidst all the darkness, there is still hope. Simply put - Love will find a way to pierce through.

Yoga and the Power of Joy

On Sanibel Island this month, watching the birds fishing for food in the morning brought me great Joy!

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Joy seems to be the word-of-the-month! Without getting political 😊, I think it’s important for each of us to cultivate joy. Why? Because it can give us a sense of much needed direction in our lives. 

I shared this story in one of my past yoga e-Letters, but many years ago when I did Julia Cameron’s the Artist’s Way, one exercise asked the question: if you didn’t have to do it perfectly, what would you risk doing? For me, the answer was teaching (gymnastics at the time), and it eventually led me to teaching yoga.

What led me to doing the Artist’s Way in the first place was that I had just left an acting program because it was bringing me no joy whatsoever. In fact, it was a painful experience. Subsequently, in my search for a new acting teacher and program, I came across an acting teacher named Robert McCaskill. I’ll never forget the quote at the top of his page that described his approach: 

“Joy is the Center of the Creative process.”

It has stayed with me ever since. Whatever I pursue, I try to find the joy. And I’ve also come to see that if something is not bringing me joy, then it’s time to move on. Mind you, I’m not talking about the “serial-interest path” whereby one pursues something until one gets bored then moves on to something else. (Sadly, this is all too common in our society.) Rather, I’m talking about the pursuits that brings so much joy ultimately that one is willing to push through the mud and do all the things necessary to feel like a success. For me at various times in my life the list has included doing gymnastics, dancing, acting, teaching, and founding a nonprofit. Each of these pursuits – hard as each has been at times – has also brought me great joy, the kind that no one can take away from me.

We know that there is much happening in the world that is creating the opposite of joy. They include: wars, famine, violent political rhetoric, and greed wreaking havoc on the planet, to name a few things. Things like this must have been happening even in the time of the Buddha, because at the end of a yoga class I took 20+ years ago, the teacher left us with a quote from the Buddha, who taught:

“Learn to live Joyfully through all the world’s sorrows.”

But how you might ask could we possibly do this? The American Buddhist Monk, Pema Chödrön may have the answer. She said:

“Times are difficult globally; awakening is no longer a luxury or an ideal. It’s becoming critical. The earth seems to be beseeching us to connect with joy and discover our innermost essence. This is the best way we can benefit others.”

To me she is saying that it is essential that each of us finds things that spark so much Joy within ourselves that we we’re willing to make “blood, sweat and tear” sacrifices in order to pursue these things further. It’s essential that we find activities that when we’re engaged in doing them time seems to stand still.

Joy’s power is that it points us in the right direction. Joy’s power is that it motivates us. Joy’s power is that it is contagious. Joy’s power is that it makes it easier for us to find common ground with people who see things differently than we do.

Perhaps if more of us experienced the elixir of joy more often, the world might truly be in a better place. We’d lower our guards more often, be less competitive and greedy, and share more of what we have with others. Perhaps more than ever before in history, we have to become beacons of Joy in order to not only save ourselves, but also the entire planet. 

As you practice yoga asanas, consider fanning the flame of joy with each breath you take. Find the joy – rather than the suffering – in each asana (posture) you perform.

I leave you with this poem from Rumi which captured my joy:

"‘This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet."

This makes me remember a moment back in college at Stanford University many years ago when I was in rehearsal for a musical with Ram’s Head Theatrical Society, a student run theatre organization. I distinctly remember doing a Grand Jeté (split leap) across the stage of Memorial Auditorium. And in that moment, I just knew that I had to dance. I leapt so high I remember feeling like I was never going to come back down to Earth. It was such a seminal moment for me that it did eventually lead me to pursuing a career in dance.

So, similarly for you, I hope that in whatever pursuits you are engaged in at this time that you are flying toward your own secret sky and that veils are falling all around you, like they did for me. And like I experienced in that moment 43+ years ago, I hope you are floating on air as you are pursuing what you love doing.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you be creating with much Joy at this time, ...
May your Joy be powerful, …
May your Joy be alleviating some of the sorrows of the world, … both for your benefit and for the benefit of All Beings Everywhere. 

Aloha and Metta,
Paul Keoni Chun

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These are some sights from this past month that brought me great joy upon witnessing them!

At sunrise, the early bird gets the fish ... or in my husband's case, the best pick of the shells that washed up on the beach overnight.

Dive-bombing for breakfast!

A few treasures found on Sanibel from my husband's impressive shell collection! Learn more about shelling on Sanibel Island here.