Flexing your "Courage Muscle"

In my adolescence, I entertained this moral dilemma – if I had lived as a German citizen during World War II, would I have gone along with the masses or stood up against the Nazi machinery either overtly or by some form of subterfuge? 

 Perhaps my predilection was not so uncommon - like many of my generation, I was brought up in the shadow of WWII. My Father’s family spent most of the war in a German work camp after their home was confiscated by the Nazi’s along with those of millions of other non-Jewish Poles. My Father revered his Mother, my Babcha.  He often described her as taking food from her own plate to feed him and his brothers and displaying humor, love and strength under the most trying of circumstances. I always wondered whether if tested, I would be able to live up to her example. 

 Of course, you don’t need to look far in time or place to find opportunities to overcome fear and delusion. If we can describe courage as trying to act in accordance with the values of your higher-self regardless of feeling fear, pain, and uncertain of the outcome – we are really describing the human condition  We are born into this world unsure of what will happen from one moment to the next. While we may not view ourselves as having a choice in the matter, living itself takes courage!  

 Supreme acts of courage or sacrifice are usually preceded by many small acts that are not as evident. Without working out your 'courage muscle' in smaller efforts, it may be hard to make the larger sacrifices, if you are called to do so. An extreme example of this is the Buddhist Monks who immolated themselves as a protest against the Vietnamese War - these men were adepts at sensory withdrawal from years of practice prior to these acts. Reading about the lives of saints, we see a common thread in that these individuals are so aligned with God/Goddess energy that they were able to freely help others despite their own (perhaps) painful physical existence.

 As Householder Yogi’s, we build our courage muscles, or will to align ourselves with the Divine, by deeply following the Yamas, or restraints urged in the first step of Yoga. Living up to the concepts of non-violence, moderation, non-stealing, non-attachment and truthfulness in our materialistic society takes courage indeed! This identifying with the senses is certainly not a new problem for humanity. 

In the opening of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is caught in a predicament brought on by his reluctance to wage war on his close relatives. We might read this as Arjuna's inability to restrain his senses. (After all, what closer relations do we have?) He cries to Krishna, "My limbs are weakened, my mouth is parching, my body trembles…my brain is whirling round and round…” as he realizes that he cannot serve two masters - 'truth' and 'sensory perception' - faithfully. 

 As Krishna lays out the system of Yoga to Arjuna, he is illumined as to his true nature, which exists separately from material existence. "Not wounded by weapons, not burned by fire, not dried by the wind, not wetted by water: Such is the Atman…"   

Looking at courage from this viewpoint, we see that courageous acts are a conscious negation of pandering to the senses and realization of the transitory nature of physical existence. The fireman running into a burning building to save a child is the essence of non-attachment.  He is willing to put his own comfort and security at risk for another. He also practices moderation by being properly prepared for the job by training and equipment. For we yogi's and yogini's, there is the timeless wisdom of the yogic path to prepare us for whatever turns out to be our 'burning building.'  Like Arjuna, when presented with our own fear and uncertainty, we can only turn inward and confront that which is keeping us from fulfilling the promise and destiny of the Yamas.   

 As to me, I am working on having the courage to consistently say what I really feel (truthfulness) in a kind way (non-violence) instead of trying to merge with what others want to hear. Not exactly a burning building or a work camp, but it’s where I am ‘at’ right now. I hope that I can honor the sacrifices my Babcha made by making these smaller efforts and in doing so, be prepared for any larger tasks that may come my way.