 9 May 2006 @ 14:39, by Nulah Sassoon
In the ancient plays, intrinsic to the classical plot outlined by Aristotle in his Poetics, an investigation into the Art of Poetics, he defined as a key component of an gripping play, the denouement, (in addition to the famous three Unities, place, time and action). This can be described as the moment when the fate of chief character, or hero, changes from one of self destruction to self fulfilment, even if it involves his death, it will be deemed by Fate (Karma) to have released the spirit from previously conspiring forces onto its own journey toward spiritual, actual or real glory, fitting to the notion of hero, and even tragic hero: one generally considered by the audience to be good and fitting to all known circumstances, even if perhaps perplexing.
Another way to consider this duration of a life’s events is to think of the first half of the play’s hero as a victim of circumstance until such moment as the point arrives when he and his karma tip the scales for him to become the survivor and hero of the circumstances, having worked out, or realised sufficient to change or alter the course of events or karma allowing the resurrection of body, mind and soul.
In a yogic saga, seen over many years, when a noticeable change takes place suddenly a perspective is provided with which to compare that which took place say over 7 years hence in comparison to that which now appears to be taking place anew. My own yogic saga has taken on such a change. Whereas previously in all my efforts, my body felt to be a victim to all the aches, pains and pressures of the disciplines followed, the body now appears to be controlling the process of breathing and posture with the instantaneous realisation of the release or effect taking place. This is an immediate fully conscious awareness of the result or effect each posture achieves in the fine tuning process of creating a fully functioning physical body.
If this is the denouement of a yogic saga, the moment when victim turns survivor, which equals the mid point of the play (roughly speaking according to Aristotle) then there will be another 7 years’ of yogic practice and pleasant adventure ahead as controller of the body to achieve the full quota of body/mind functioning able to be allotted to my particular constitution. Of course it could just be concerning the mind/spirit too or equally body/spirit.
This is not to suggest in any way at all that there is great expertise in the completing of the disciplines, just the opposite is the case actually, but that a level of awareness has been reached in whatever physical discipline done to the mind/body conjunction, actually taken place, or realised.
I would equate this with Ahimsa, or the practice of complete non violence, as the body is no longer victim to the various erroneous actions it was previously submitted albeit unwittingly by the mind/life conjuction, but controller of the actions and thoughts towards a useful, helpful, lifeful purpose which nothing else can demonstrate more vividly than a complete retreat from serious health problems in full conscious awareness.
It is not through wishing or will alone, but the will to action the process consistently.
This too surely requires a sensitive memory for connectivity of the most vital aspects of the saga to be known to the mind/body in order for a change to take place. And to be truly an effective demonstration of non violence, is to have the acute awareness and knowledge of moving towards full health, actually and really. For Violence can in no way go towards full proper health. We are not talking temporary health, or surgery here.
Taking the dramatic Trilogy analogy further, is not all that one needs an audience as in the dramatisation of a play for the measure of achievement to be realised. It is rather, inversely, a measure of the tremendous importance (equivalent to an audience of 15,000 admiring success) that such a realisation is on the molecular make up of the body can be, indicating a scale of importance of such an achievement say, inwardly silently.
The act of non-violence is usually perceived as an action outside of oneself, the unfortunate ant lying hidden underneath a leaf when stood on quite by mistake. This perspective puts the whole notion into the realm of the ridiculous and with little credence. Whereas if the notion is applied within, to oneself, as attempted to describe above, it is a fully meaningful ideal promising fulfilment to its own end with complete credibility without compromise.
For the last few weeks in yoga class, we have been reading and considering the whole notion of Ahimsa, Non-violence. It was not described as has been here, and so I believe this may be a logical extension of the class discussion due to personal experience, and it is this I attempt to describe.
Being related to the turning point in a play where fate for the protagonist changes for the better, a sharing for others seems significant.
Further still, It rather begs the question concerning the judgement of non-violence in others. Is one in a real position to do this, or is the position as so often taken up, quite rightly, a quite superficial one? Because the primary application, to be fully accountable and credible is in first place to be applied oneself, and the harm meted on a daily basis against our own bodies (and minds and/or spirits) as described.
Going even further in the analysis, one could say that the victim mode is generally to be seen as the Gothic one, (hair shirts and whips, walking on kness up stony aisles of vast dark cathedrals) and the survivor mode seen as the Classical one, Olympics laurel wreaths overcoming bodily constraints and creating the most clear perception in an honest and level headed manner requiring proven skill and mind/body coordination to achieve, repeatedly (in replication - the scientific requisite)
Of course, the world and all on earth will never all choose the one against the other for themselves each rightly or wrongly, and each will by natural option see themselves somewhere between the two, or one or the other, and not necessarily correctly, for the following of disciplines brings out deeper truths about ourselves.
When however, several follow a similar discipline they would be able to exchange meaningful words about progressing such a discipline. And here is the role of a homogenous religion, one which can by virtue of its strange dogma actually incorporate the needs both of the Gothic and the Classic, and which may even and probably will oscillate on some time scale within each individual in their own life spans.
The entire issue appears complex and interesting regarding the insistence of the many for the state of non-violence to be persued within the realms of credibility.
NSR
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