Life is Good
“Life is good” the t-shirt says. Indeed, this was a tenet of Tantra Yoga that I learned 25 years ago in my yoga training. There were 3 tenets actually:
1 – All life is divine consciousness. – Everything of this earth, sky, cosmos, etc is of the stuff of God, the Divine, cosmic energy, Life Force, interconnectedness – choose the language which most resonates for you.
2- Consciousness is inherently good.
3 – Consciousness manifests through vibration.
I see Tenet #1 as having been proven. You may not believe in God, but, if nothing else, the pandemic has certainly shown us that we are all connected in ways we may not always be conscious. You can ascribe that connection to God or to a supply chain or to an eco-system, or you can do your best to disconnect that connection, but we can only disconnect for so long before something reminds us of our connection.
Tenet #3 has also been scientifically proven. “Vibration in quantum physics means that everything is energy. We are beings that vibrate at certain frequencies.” (Medium.com) Modern science has caught up to the ancient Yogis who intuited this wisdom through their meditations.
I want to focus on #2 for the moment. To ascribe the value judgement Good or Bad requires a certain leap of faith. To say Life is Good brings the inevitable argument – what about murder, war, pollution, racism, to say nothing of the destruction of tornadoes, tsunamis, etc? Surely no one can argue that these things are good.
To say Life is Good does not mean everything that happens is good. We have free will which means that many people act from a place of misunderstanding the inherent goodness and interconnection of life. And the ripple effects from those actions branch out in ways we cannot possibly understand. I claim no special knowledge of why bad things happen to good people or why tornadoes can be so destructive. My only answer is to suggest that the singular, undifferentiated energy that brings about life is inherently good, even if it gets tied up in untraceable ways with destructive forces. A simple (albeit unsatisfying) example of this is a wildfire. Forests can thrive with intermittent fires that clear away scrub and allow for new growth. But we cannot argue that the fires of recent years are good for humans living on this earth.
These 3 tenets were pillars in the school of Yoga in which I am certified. We used the phrase “look for the good” as a way of seeing beyond the crappy things that happen to see the goodness of life force behind them; to hearten ourselves when we were down; to rebuild our faith in acting in ways that served goodness in the world.
When that school started to unravel in 2012, this slogan came under attack. “Look for the Good” was outed as code for not seeing manipulation and unethical behavior that was front and center. This was a valid argument and was a necessary consideration. Humans have a negative bias; we attribute greater weight to negative experiences than positive ones. Historically, this has helped us survive. The ability to imagine horrible things happening has helped us to avoid them. And yet, would we not prefer to dwell in a more positive landscape whenever possible? Can we give the negative bias the small bit of real estate in our beings that it deserves, and save some valued space for imagining better outcomes?
Perhaps “Life is Good” is an empty slogan designed to spiritually whitewash or gloss over anything bad. Or perhaps it is a challenge. When we see evil, or bad behavior, can we imagine what caused the initial turning away from goodness? Can we send love from a healthy distance even while acting to fight injustice? Can we still act in ways that assume life is good at its very core?
On our Yoga mats, in our bodies, our own world microcosms, can we recognize the reason for some tight muscles? Have we been holding up our guards unnecessarily, deflecting connection for fear of infection or confrontation? To be sure, that has served us over the last two years to some extent, but can we make guarding a conscious choice instead of an energy-depleting and unconscious habit?
Yoga can help build the physical and mental strength we need to be true to ourselves which includes letting down our guards enough to recognize when those guards are truly necessary. For indeed, sometimes they are. Sometimes even those with the best intentions can hurt us. But if we try on the belief that life is good, perhaps we can rebound from those wounds with some perspective.