Mahavakyas - Marleen

If I am That, and you are That and we are all That, it changes the way we relate to each other. None of us are better than another, no matter the amount of posessions we have managed to gather, or the amount of knowledge. No matter who our friends are, the job we have, where or when we were born. Not even how many possessions we have managed to let go, how far we think we've gotten on our spiritual journey. None of that matters. All of us are That, part of unchanging reality and we are all equally important. Within the relationship between the yoga therapist and the client this should manifest as a relationship that is free of hierarchy. The therapist does not impose their greater knowledge by handing it down to the client, the client does not come in supplication. Instead, both of them honor the divine in each other and work together to create a greater sense of That in each other.

Another way being That changes our relationship to each other is the realization that being That transcends the personalities we have built for our selves, the values that we think define us. Values change, personalities change, therefore they are not a part of That. This is immensely helpful to realize when working with people whose values do not closely align with our own, whose personalities rub us the wrong way. Even if certain people are difficult for us to deal with, we can still honor That in them, we can still serve That, because we are That too. It is also freeing to realize that the parts of our own personalities that we carry reluctantly, the stories we tell that we think define us, are not the ball and chain we sometimes believe them to be. They can be worked with or even worked through and they can be let go when they no longer serve us, because, in the end, they are not That.

When we work with people that have experienced trauma, people that are in pain, physically, mentally or emotionally, we will likely have to remind them that they are That to help them foster their own healing process. It so easy to forget that you are That when you are caught in your own pain, and you become your own limitations. Fostering the sense of That in our clients will not only lift their spirits, it is essential for them tho have a sense of being That to overcome the limitations of their bodies and minds. Feeling like they are That, they will be better able to detach themselves from their stories of unwellness by which they define themselves, they can pursue their own path towards wholeness.

Great thoughts, Marleen. I like the use of this Mahavakya to create feelings of equality and to downplay personality factors. I wonder, in your last paragraph, about how you would go about helping a client understand that he or she is 'that'? If they don't come to yoga therapy with that understanding, how would you bring them to it?