MORNING FOR BODHISATTVAS Body, Heart and Mind

WEEK 3: SAMANTABHADRA’S BODY OF BRIGHT FUNCTION

REALIZING SOMATIC ARCHETYPAL QUALITIES, inspired by Taigen Leighton’s Faces of Compassion

SHOSAN VICTORIA AUSTIN CIYT, YA, IAYT Fall 2020

BENEFICIAL ACTION

Universally Worthy Universal Good Shining Practice These are some traditional names for Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, who carries a wish-fulfilling gem and rides a six-tusked elephant, representing the six Paramitas or perfections. This is a Bodhisattva archetype exemplifying beneficial, joyful action. In this yoga session, we will use yoga poses to cultivate physical attitudes that inspire the qualities of Samantabhadra’s 10 Great Vows.

Gassho is a characteristic of vow, which is often used to embody shining practice. In gassho, we build a physical attitude of appreciation for the Buddha manifesting in front of us, who- or whatever it may be. 1-3 DEVOTED AWAKENING, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & OFFERING We explore how to embody humility and heartfelt gratitude, as we hold awakening front and foremost.

UTTANASANA STAGES:

• Give yourself a high enough hand support to “come as you are.” Walk back until the heels are under the buttocks. Stay in this stage for several breaths, offering up any stiffness in the service of awakening.

• Support your ability to breathe easily in the pose by extending the chest away from the lower abdomen. Devote yourself to — and appreciate — unforced awakening of the backs of the legs by decreasing the height of the hand support while maintaining openness in the chest.

• Place the hands or forearms behind the legs. With calm, open breathing, appreciate and acknowledge the awakening that has come. Stay several breaths, with balance and composure.

Abbess Zenkei Blanche Hartman, Inconceivable Joy, said that practicing the stages of helped her feel natural and awake in zazen. 4 REALISM & AVOWAL

Once we devote, acknowledge, and offer ourselves up to awakening, we are ready for the 4th vow: purification through realistic avowal of limitations. We carry emotional content in the chest from the past. Can we build postural support to fully avow what we carry?

ADHOMUKHA SVANASANA:

• Support the hands at a comfortable height. Walk back till the feet are behind the hips.

• (Not shown) Press the palms down and lift the fingers up. Bend the legs, stand on the toes, and lift the buttocks and heels high to straighten the arms fully and to bring the shoulder blades to the back of the chest. This supports the chest to be tall, wide, and deep. Adjust the height of the hands if necessary to create these actions.

• Maintaining the support and openness of the chest, take the thighs back, bring the heels down, and stay.

• Maintain the actions while gradually decreasing the support, while respecting the limitations. 5 REJOICING IN THE VIRTUES OF OTHERS

In class, we took a time out to observe stages in a third standing forward bend. Next I bent my elbows and put my head on the floor (not pictured). At 7:45 in the morning, many of the students found this difficult to do.

PRASARITA PADOTTANASANA, STAGE 1:

• Place your hands on a support high enough to bend forward with legs wide apart and feet facing forward. The back is concave and the chest is open. Stay several breaths.

• (Extra credit) Place the heels of the hands in line with the toes, shoulder width apart. Bend the elbows and place the crown of the head on the floor. If the person next to you can do this and you cannot as yet, do your best, and be happy for them. 6 & 7 REQUESTING BUDDHA’S GUIDANCE & PRESENCE

How do we establish clear view of a path to an action that till now might have seemed to be beyond our capacity?

PRASARITA PADOTTANASANA, HEAD ON FLOOR

• Create confidence, alertness, and expansiveness with legs wide, hands on hips, and a lifted chest. The gaze is slightly up. Keep in mind that you are about to do something that may require the help of the Buddha to do.

• Maintaining the openness of the chest, release the palms to the floor, even if the legs have to bend to make this action appropriate for you.

• Walk the hands forward, even if the legs bend and the buttocks come forward. Place the crown of the head on or close to the floor.

• Now gradually learn to center the buttocks over the heels, straighten the legs, and walk the hands and head back, maintaining clarity and respect for your physical abilities.

• Your understanding of your abilities may have clarified or changed. ?

PLAY

UTTANASANA

• See how the first pose of the day may have changed.

• You may be able to put your hands on the floor, or find a different sense of meaning in the pose. 8 STUDY PATH TO EXPRESS IT

Each vow includes all the others. Devotion, appreciation, acknowledgement, and request are all part of effective expression. Here we study the way to do an action, to effectively express the action with balance and composure.

ARDHA CHANDRASANA LEARNING INDEPENDENCE

• Do Utthita . Use a block under the hand if necessary.

• Choose a distance of 1”, 2” or 3” from the wall to explore independence in balance.

• Enter slowly and with presence in each stage — bending the leg, placing the hand in front of the little toe side of the foot, shifting the weight to the foot of the bent leg by raising the heel of the straight leg, shifting the bent leg buttock over the heel.

• When the straight leg becomes light, lift it higher than the hip, and balance. Stay a few breaths.

• Exit slowly, reversing the steps and staying a few breaths in each step. 9 & 10 BENEFITING BEINGS, DEDICATING THE MERIT Seeing, appreciating, and encouraging practice in multiplicity is part of Samantabhadra’s great practice and vow. SUPPORTED SETUBANDHA

• Lie flat on the floor with the legs bent.

• Take weight on the heels and the outer upper arms to lift the buttocks and place a block under the sacrum.

• If you use a flat or medium height block, place it width-wise. If you use a tall block, place it lengthwise under the sacrum.

• Once in position, remove glasses. If appropriate, straighten the legs and stay 5-10 minutes.

• On the in-breath, accept with gratitude the feeling of life and embodiment flowing in. On the out-breath, return it with gratitude and dedication.

• Lift the buttocks, remove the block, and rest. On arising, sit for a few minutes.