CHAPTER TWO: FREEDOM FROM STORIES

I’ll start by relating an experience in my life when the circumstances of life were not so “good.” It was a time when it would have been easy to justify the story that I was not “good enough to be happy.”

I was broke and in debt, something I said I would never be. I just had broken up with my girlfriend and now had no place to live. I had just torn my meniscus, a knee injury that would need surgery. So it felt like I had no money, no woman, no home, no mobility… and no prospects for work.

It would have been easy to feel sorry for myself, right? Or that I was failing? It would have been easy to not be happy, I think we can agree on that. And it would have been really easy to think that once I get those things, then it will all be better. It’s an easy recipe for believing that the stories of ourselves are what define us.

Thankfully I had been on this path for many years, studying with my guru for years as well. So, I made my mind up to use this time in my life to establish a love, happiness, and appreciation of my self worth, regardless of how things were “going.” I knew that this was the time to really practice. I mean, should I really not be happy just because I am in debt right now? This doesn’t mean I’m not working on getting projects, or money, or a home or doing physical therapy. Of course I am doing that. But I am not going to wait until everything is better to start being happy, or to start being at peace, or to love myself. In essence I chose that this time in my life was my pilgrimage. I chose that I would use it to learn to give worth to what/who I really am. I chose to NOT buy into the story that the ego and society was telling me. And I chose to jump to a place of calm, peace and happiness… NOW.

In Episode Two

Elle and Fred are really being asked, by Anand, to call in a calm that exists beyond their stories. Elle had just crashed into the mountain due to fear of being hit by another motorcycle. Fred was falling and struggling to ride with any real velocity. So Anand pulls them aside and asks them to call in the calm state now, before they have all the skills of a motorcycle rider. He is very clear that the most important question is if you can be CALM. It is more important than the skills of biking and it is more important than any “Ra Ra Ra, I can do this!” motivational type of thing. He is asking them to transcend the stories that keep them stuck in fear. Elle could say she hasn’t been on gravel before, nor has she witnessed bikes coming at her like that. Sure. True. But it is also a good story to justify fear, instead of jumping into calm. These stories are all too familiar to Anand. He hears them every day from students. So many reasons to stay stuck, in conflict, in their bubbles.

The inner game – spotting the stories we create.

In episode one, a lot was being set up in terms of the riders, the actual adventure and the monsoon rain challenges. The call of a pilgrimage is to burst the bubble, to follow the “aha” moment. Now, in episode two, it is being clearly laid out that the major element of journey is the constant inner practice.

Realizing we have these stories is a key to unlocking their bind on our freedom. Seeing our stories, is part of the inner game. It is very important to realize that we get caught in stories and in archetypal patterns. This could be something like the “Savior” archetype. In this case one might always be seeking validation of self by saving others. And as we will see in Chapter 7, this pattern/archetype can be a cunning device for keeping us from stepping into our power. How? It might sound “nice” or like you are being a “good person” when you save someone. But you can easily use this as a justification for not standing up for what’s right and true. “I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings…” can sound nice, but is it really that different from “I’ve never ridden on gravel before?” Both statements can easily be accepted as true, but they can also be cunning stories that keep us from taking responsibility and stepping into greater power and freedom. As I said, we’ll dive more into this in later chapters. The key is to realize when a story or an archetype is keeping us stuck, when it is keeping us from leaping forward and bursting our bubble.

I also want to be super clear that Anand isn’t saying to take this on as an affirmation. This is real experiential practice. We are constantly being asked, when on motorcycles, to remain calm amidst life and death circumstances. It can’t be me saying to myself “I’m calm,” while I’m really freaking out. No. We need to learn how to bring in the calm, to bring in the love, the courage, before the world tells us we are safe. If you cannot be calm, pull over.

Calling on the Future You – finding that calm.

There are ways to kind of “hack” the stories. Aside from the meditation I give us at the end of the chapter, and from one’s deep practice of meditation, there are ways to help shift our perspective and remember who we really are. In chapter three we will talk about Shiva, his timeless nature, and a mantra to help transcend time. Here, in the spirit of Shiva and transcending time, I want to relate that we can call on the part of us that is already calm in the future. We can call on the future part of us that already knows how to ride and already knows how to be calm.

We have to break free from the linear thinking in order to do this. We can call on the part of us that is already atop the mountain. And I, in my example above, can call upon the man that already knows he is fine, has recovered from surgery, and has a place to live. He says to me “Yes, you can be happy and at ease now. Of course.” In fact, sometimes I ask for the perspective of the “me” who is 95 years old living in the Himalayas. I ask that future me what he thinks of the situation and if I need to freak out. More than usual, he smiles, and says its all fine.

Burning the old stories – The Puja

When we call in the new, when we are present, when we pop bubble, we will naturally burn through old stories. It’s a natural affect. So, I am one to say that sometimes we do not need to trudge through the sub consciousness and know all the details of the old stories… I am one to say that as we call in the new and make the leap, the burning of story occurs naturally.

Yes, sometimes we must go in and burn and bring up the demons, yes. Chapter 3 is all about it in fact. We do these journeys to bring up demons, patterns, and archetypes that we weren’t aware of. Of course this is key, to go look and burn. And sometimes we must simply leap and then watch the wake behind us, which are the ego and its stories going up in smoke!

At the beginning of the ceremony we put a dot on the third eye to bring the focus to the higher self (the third eye is on the forehead between the eyes and known as our center of higher thinking). In Episode 2 we witness the Puja ceremony the night before we leave Rishikesh for the Himalayas. In doing this we are really asking ourselves to surrender the ego, to surrender the stories. We are asking ourselves to be humble. And we are asking ourselves to set intentions from this place of higher being. Otherwise setting intentions, if based in ego, is more like “I want this or that.”

Anand will explain the puja in great detail in the bonus footage. I feel it is quite a treat to share this ceremony with you. To give you access to be with a master, in the foothills of the Himalayas, before embarking on our journey for freedom.

To evolve is to break the story.

Keep looking for the crack in the story. When the crack happens, then the light comes in… This is the discontinuity Anand spoke of when talking about quantum leaps. The break in the story is needed for our evolution. What can break the story and create a crack? Taking pilgrimage. A yoga class. Meditation. Laughter. It could just come, but the mind doesn’t like it and starts to interfere. Do Something different! Take an opposite action to the story of the mind. If the story is of lack, you see the fear, the lack story, then take an action of generosity – go give more than you think you can. This cracks the story, the ego hold.

Dropping the battle inside – dropping the specific stories.

There is often this story of competition with self. There is often the need to prove self to other. There is often the need to seek approval. But realize that these are just stories. As is the story that somehow the world is against us. Realize that there is simply no power in these stories. So why keep them? The key on pilgrimages of great stakes like The Road to Dharma (and your life!) is to realize that the universe is working for me, for you. Embracing that thought and that feeling can actually stop a story from spinning you out. So when a circumstance arises, perhaps we remember that the universe is working for me here. So pause, and get perspective. This is another way to create that crack, that discontinuity. You shift from being a victim of the story, to an evolving being who is looking at circumstance as an opportunity for evolving.

This is why we use the dancer metaphor in Episode 2. The dancer is the dance. You can go look at a piece of art on the wall and the artist doesn’t have to be in that space. But to watch a dance, you must have the dancer present. The dancer is the dance. And we are the path, we are the road to the dharma, and we are the dharma itself. It’s not something we hang on the wall or an accomplishment. And thus you cannot separate the universe from you, it is part of the you that is dancing, so your relationship to it, is your expression of life. You can be in battle with it, you can see it against you, or you can see it working for you, be in love with the universe. The dance is the dancer.

WISDOM BREAKDOWN

THE STORIES THAT BIND US

• Realize we have stories that bind us.

  As Anand says, we have infinite amounts we can make up. He hears so many stories every day.

• We use Stories to stay stuck.

  The story justifies the feeling, the fear, and the bubble. In short, stories try to keep us safe.

• Stories of:
  • Ourselves
  • What’s Possible
  • The world.
• Discontinuity of Story – This is evolution

  The crack in the story. We must arrive to these moments.

  • Examples = take opposite action
  • See the circumstance and world working for you. These break the story’s hold.
• Do not wait. Call upon The Feeling Now.

  We can harness the calm, the peace, and the strength before the outer world can justify it. We can do it before the “story” is there. Thus we are not relying on the outer. We can call upon it now, before it happens. This is breaking the continuity of time.

• The burning of Ego/Story:

  What naturally occurs when we call upon future, when we become something beyond our mind/story is that the old starts to burn away.

THE DANCER IS THE DANCE

• Cannot separate the dance and dancer.

  One and the same.

• Cannot separate the wisdom from how you are being, it’s a dance.
• Dropping inner conflict.

  Easier said than done, but even a conflict with someone else, its still happening in you. You are the dancer.

• The universe is working for you not against you. Get this.
• Then you are dancing with the universe, not against it.

  If you think it’s against you, then so it is. But why do that?

• The dance is the dancer.

CHARACTER VIRTUES & SPECIFIC MOMENTS WE SEE THE TEACHINGS

As a reminder, here are the main virtues/strengths as laid out by the VIA INSTITUTE ON CHARACTER, a global leader in the practice of character, and as seen in the deeply insightful book: POSITIVE PYSCHOLOGY AT THE MOVIES 2. It is a set of virtues that those in the media world and beyond have come to understand make for a better human being, that we would all want to cultivate… and thus would want to show in stories to teach people how to be better people. Lets have a look at the six major virtues and their sub virtues.

• COURAGE: Bravery, Honesty, Perseverance, Zest.
• HUMANITY: Love, Kindness, Social Intelligence
• WISDOM & KNOWLEDGE: Creativity, Curiosity, Judgment, Love of Learning, Perspective
• TRANSCENDENCE: Gratitude, Hope, Humor, Spirituality, Appreciation
• JUSTICE: Teamwork, Fairness, Leadership

  *I personally like the word Inclusivity, which I feel falls in Teamwork and Fairness.

• TEMPERANCE: Forgiveness, Humility, Prudence, Self-Regulation.

JEFF AND JEN vs. RYAN AND KIM

Before I highlight the exact virtues shown by each rider, I want to take some time to dive into the reasons we went into great detail on these two relationships in this episode. Firstly, Jeff and Jen’s journey is a through-line that goes throughout the series, so it is important to understand where they are starting from and track how they change. Jen recently stopped drinking. So the numbing was keeping her from even seeing her stories. But once she stopped and started meditation/yoga, she realized she wasn’t happy.

Now, how much of that unhappiness is a story? Well, that gets unraveled as we go. But it is a starting point and is important for her to know that she and Jeff can’t be together the old way anymore. It is pretty easy to see that their communication is not great, that there is resentment, and both of them need a lot of surrender before any connection can be reignited.

I then specifically highlighted Kim and Ryan’s relationship in this episode to show the example of a marriage that is farther along. Kim is interested in giving Ryan the space to find his own power, his own self. She lets him do this trip alone, even though she would like to go, because it is what he needs. It’s less about whether this is good for them and more about how it’s good for Ryan. In many ways she feels secure in who she is, who Ryan is, and their relationship. There is a lot of trust there. In Chapter Six we dive deeply into the real trust that is needed for relationships to develop. Trust me, Anand doesn’t mince words in Episode 6, and its not an easy thing for Jeff and Jen to stomach.

KIM – YOU GOTTA LOVE’M

• TRANSCENDENCE: Gratitude, Appreciation
• HUMANITY: Love, Social Intelligence, Kindness

A huge part of why Kim and Ryan are successful in relationship is that Kim shows a gratitude for Ryan in general. She has an Appreciation for his path in life that extends beyond the confines of their relationship. And she is supporting that. That is love, that is appreciation, and that is also Social Intelligence. The Kindness is shown in her willingness to show up here at the beginning of the trip and help out not only Ryan, but the female passengers too. Sometimes it’s nice to get some tips from a female friend.

THE PASSENGERS’ TRUST

TEMPERANCE: Humility

Relationship is also a good metaphor for the passengers riding on the back, because they have to surrender and trust. In essence they have to drop the ego and get really Humble. Otherwise they are holding on for dear life and stressing the rider out. And that might lead to trouble; a fall or them asking you to get off. Again, the passengers really must surrender, very Humbly to ride with guys they barely know. This also takes immense courage, as you can imagine. I’ve included Katrina’s clip about how she feels on the back of the bike, along with Kim’s speech to the passengers.

DHARMA WISDOM TALKS by HIMALAYAN MASTER ANAND MEHROTRA

We embraced a Puja ceremony the night before we left Rishikesh for these four sacred peaks of freedom. The ceremony helps set the stage and intention for our journey. As mentioned in the director’s perspective, the Puja ceremony asks us to surrender, to become humble and set a very pure intention going forward.

Anand will explain the Puja in great detail in the bonus footage. I feel it is quite a treat to share this ceremony with you. To give you access to be with a master, in the foothills of the Himalayas, before embarking on a journey for freedom.

In the bonus footage you’ll learn

• What is the Puja ceremony
• Why the third eye, why surrender
• Why do we use the elements
• What is the Arte aspect of the ceremony – unifying light
• The release of the Ego – the coconut.
• And of course you’ll hear the flute from the Pansi (Flute) Baba and the chanting from Mandeep (Enlightened Heart).
• We cut down the ceremony from its full length so that you don’t hear the full 108 rounds of chanting and offering.

MEDITATION/MANTRA: CREATE A CRACK IN THE STORY - LET THE LIGHT IN.

In this audio meditation I’ll guide us through a pranayama and visualization to bring light into our being. When full of light, the ego has less hold, in essence we have cracked its tight grasp. We will begin with Nadi Shodhana alternate nostril breathing, then bring in the Breath of Light. Then when here we will further rewire the brain with a mantra that we are light.

AHAM PRAKASHA

(Ah-HUM Pra KASH ah)

I am the Light. Ahum is “I am.” Prakasha is “The light.”

As you say this mantra, you will really want to allow yourself to be filled with light. You do not need to force it or make the visual happen. Simply allow. Allow yourself to fill with light. It may look or feel however it does. The key is allowing the light in through that crack. Enjoy.