Who's Your Puppet? Who's Puppet Are You? That is the Question.

Day 35 of  108 Days of intense self-study of my Life Play. I'm not rating it yet, but I'm guessing it's probably rated about the same as everyone else's at certain times of their lives and so, I think we can all relate.


I'm on Chapter 6 of The Bhagavad Gita and it is as if each chapter follows the lessons my life is offering me for growth in any given week.  The following is my self study challenge this week inspired by the Gita.


A short summery of chapter six as it resonates with me: Through Meditation one learns to calm an agitated mind in order to keep outside experiences from swaying us from knowing ourselves completely and loving ourselves fully. When we truly know and love ourselves, we are no longer bothered by other people's view of who they think we are AND we no longer try and fit people into roles we want them to play in our story of life because we no longer live in a story of illusion, but rather in a story of truth, seeing all sentient beings as sparks of the Divine and having equal regard for all, be they elephants, rats, Saintly beings or the worst kind of criminal. We also learn not to be elated by good fortune or depressed by the bad, rather, looking inward towards self realization and seeing those same qualities in others.  

The Great Illusion: All The World's A Stage.....

You can build a stage in your mind and you can assign roles to the people you interact with, who then become actors in your life, rather than allowing them to be the beautiful imperfectly perfect beings they are with their own views and experiences. You can put words in their mouths and create experiences for them that aren't even true without them knowing it.  You can do this all without their permission, but you can not, without their permission make them do or be anything that they do not agree to. If we take the time to know ourselves, we can no longer be played by someone with ill intentions and what once was a person administering a mind-fuck is now seen as a person suffering more than you are.  You can then choose to offer compassion and understanding while refusing to play dress rehearsal with them.


No thank you. I don't like that outfit you picked out for me, it doesn't fit. Those aren't my shoes to fill.


No thank you. I really don't need to create more Drama in my life to feel interesting and to be entertained.


No thank you. I don't have to buy into your script to "see" or "hear" you; we can agree to disagree and I can love you just the same.


No thank you. I won't re-wind and replay those negative words you said about me in my mind because I've checked and they do not resonate within my sacred mind-space.

No thank you. I don't think I will stay in this chapter anymore and our contract is over until a sequel that resonates more harmoniously for us both is written.



But, yes, thank you for allowing me the freedom to be myself. Thank you for telling me I don't need to play by your rules or become something I am not to please you and you do not need to change to please me.  I am pleased by you already because I truly see you, I truly hear you, because within you, I see me and I am not afraid to take a good, close, look because I am my own Stage Manager and I happen to know the story I'm writing has a happy ending. I wish the same for you too.

Best Thing I Learned in 2009

The Veil of illusion was lifted for me in 2009. In fact, before 2009, I'm not even really sure I knew what was meant by "illusion" or the significance of the Veil. I "get" it now. It all comes down to Perception.

What do you see?




Some people see two faces and some people see a vase. Some people see ugly faces, while some people see pretty faces. Is the vase pretty or ugly in your view?


All of my life I have seen myself as generous, kind, loving, and accepting. In fact, I would say I have been all of those things as I live my life, teach my yoga classes, and run my yoga studio. I am proud of who I am and what I have done for others. It seems, however, some people may view me as something contrary to my own view. Others may actually perceive me as a fake, aloof, or even ugly. I am not certain how my actions can be so skewed in someone else's view, but indeed they can and have been. While 2009 slapped me a few times in the face and kicked me even more times in the stomach with this other "reality" that was out there, I simply would never have believed someone could view me as anything other than generous, kind, loving, and accepting.

While speaking to my teacher, he explained to me how my actions and my intentions may be viewed by others and how some people would rather view me negatively, especially if it meant they could get out of paying some Karmic debt they thought they owed me. Apparently being kind actually can mean you are trying to get something from someone in some people's view, being Generous can look like a form of control, being loving can come off as fake, and being accepting comes off as a lie to others (In other words, how can anyone possibly accept someone just as they are?). Perception all depends on the person and their life experience.

I have always believed that my looks do not match up to my inner most feelings. Kind of like this poster (This may be an extreme example, but I feel the perception some people have about me is in EXTREME opposition to what I truly have going on inside of me):
















So, while I have learned that all of the world actually is an illusion and we must all try and see through the Veils we have created and placed upon ourselves and others, what is truly important is this: