Dear Members

On the plane again - time to collect, reflect and share some thoughts for
the last time this year. Hard on the heels of the Carte Blanche feature
about scientists exploring meditation comes a recent Newsweek article
feature on "The God Gene", the title of a recently published book by a
molecular biologist exploring whether faith is hardwired into our genes.
Funnily enough, the author (Dean Hamer) stumbled onto the topic whilst doing
research on smoking and addiction, and concludes in his book that: "our most
profound feelings of spirituality may be due to little more than an
occasional shot of intoxicating brain chemicals governed by our DNA."! This
startling theory begs Newsweek's following question: "Did humans create
religion from cues sent from above, or did evolution instill in us a sense
of the divine so that we would gather into communities essential to keep the
species going?" Now it would be at best arrogant of anyone to claim to know
the answer to this but I am hoping that many of you will share the
fascination of considering an alternate hypothesis to the one we have
generally accepted, and play a little "What if…?". By getting out of our
comfort zone we stand a greater chance of learning and growing.

Hamer's work focuses on brain chemicals called monoamines which are
manipulated by Prozac and anti-depressants (Did anyone notice the furor
around these in the UK - with claims that over 70% of anti-depressant
prescriptions are inappropriate and could lead to addiction or suicides?).
Monoamines are also affected by substances like peyote, ayahuasca, LSD and
ecstasy - some of which have long been used in religious rituals, as we have
discussed before.

Now is it just that I notice it more or does there seem to be a greater
convergence or at least overlap between science, philosophy and more
esoteric concepts like spirituality and love? I am always careful to
distinguish spirituality from religion - in Hamer's words: "Spirituality is
intensely personal, religion is institutionalised". Macquarie University's
Paul Davies goes further: "Religions represent an attempt to harness innate
spirituality for organisational purposes - not always good". In my mind
religion is about dogma and rules which, as the Newsweek article reveals,
may be the very reason we need that genetic programming - to create order.
Spirituality, though, is experiential, is personal, is free and cannot be
categorized because it is different for different people.

What has this got to do with yoga, you ask. A lot I say. For most people
spirituality does not come easily - it requires hard work, discipline and
continuous effort. In today's world we are more accustomed to instant
gratification, though. Want a new body? - don't change your diet, take
responsibility or start an exercise regime - rather take three of these
tablets and go see a plastic surgeon…

In yoga, though, we learn that the journey and work is where the learning
happens. Just as misfortune and hardship make us stronger as they weave a
richer fabric into our personality, the hard work on the yoga mat is what
teaches us - not the person leading the class or the very flexible people in
the pretzel position.

Science affirms what yogis knew (how? Well, they couldn't necessarily prove
it but they knew). In the same Newsweek article, neuroscientist Andrew
Newberg explains how his research found: "The deeper people descend into
meditation, the more active the frontal lobe and the limbic system become.
The frontal lobe is the seat of concentration and attention; and the limbic
system is where powerful feelings including rapture are processed. At the
same time the parietal lobe at the back of the brain goes dim. It is this
lobe that orients the individual in time and space. Take it off-line and
the boundaries of the self fall away, creating a feeling of being at one
with the universe. Combine that with what's going on in the other two
lobes, and you can put together a profound religious experience".

Here at Moksha we are cautious to steer away from religious association - we
don't see it as being our place, but what this research says is that deep
meditation is fundamentally spiritual. Ashtanga yoga is little more than
deep, breath-centred meditation. Yes, it requires hard work and discipline
and yes, sometimes it becomes monotonous (offering another opportunity to
learn something about how our mind's work) but with benefits like these, who
would be surprised that effort is required?

Hope you have a fantastic and restful festive season and we look forward to
seeing you back, hard at work, in the New Year.

With Love,
Chris and the Moksha team.

PS: As some celebrate the birth of Christ, a newly published interpretation
of the four Gospels of the Bible by a Hindu guru has some startling
assertions. Amongst other things, Paramahansa Yogananda claims that Jesus
spent time in India during his "lost years" between the ages of 13 and 30
during which he studied yoga meditation with great sages. He goes further
to say that the three wise men hailed from India and named him "Isa, or
Lord" in Sanskrit, which later became Jesus in the Bible. "Christ has been
much misinterpreted by the world," Yogananda wrote. "Even the most
elementary principles of his teachings have been desecrated, and their
esoteric depths have been forgotten".
Fascinating reading - check the LA Times online for the full article

" There is only one fundamental question: 'Who am I?' Without knowing
ourselves, nothing has any validity and our thoughts must breed illusion.
The inquiring into our real nature is the whole meaning of existence. All
else is preliminary or superfluous."
~ David Frawley