Bhavana

When our peace is out of balance, turn the world upside down!

How to embody the qualities you value and be the best expression of yourself.

Sutra 2.33 is a follow up to the introduction of the yamas and niyamas — the yogic code of ethics for how we treat others and what qualities we promote in ourselves. When we find ourselves out of alignment with these ethical principles and filled with disquieting thoughts or feelings, this sutra directs us to cultivate the opposite attitude. In layman’s terms, when we are thinking thoughts that don’t bring out the best in us, manifest a new feeling that does. When our peace is out of balance, turn the world upside down! This sutra is all about how to embody the qualities you value and be the best expression of yourself.

Sutra 2.33 is especially poignant for this full moon since it coincides with a full lunar eclipse. The idea of the sutra is all about letting the good eclipse the challenging.

Vitarkabadhane pratipaksabhavavanam

A bhavana is a feeling or emotion and its root means ‘to be.’ Creating a bhavana is more than a simple positive affirmation. A bhavana takes a step closer to manifesting a feeling within and allowing the feeling to bubble up to the surface. By creating a different emotion, we elicit a different chemical reaction and establish a new thought pattern. The process of bhavana literally creates, or reinforces, neural pathways in our brain that move our tendencies and attitudes towards peace. We are rewiring and reimagining our self. It is a powerful practice that is simple and effective.

Personal Disturbances

There are several ways to eclipse harmful thoughts with helpful ones. When we feel jealous, bring up the feeling of contentment. When we feel shameful, bring up confidence or courage. Remember a time or a place when we felt content, compassionate, or confident. See the situation, imagine it, or borrow it from watching another person, movie, or book. We can visualize what our body looks like in the new state of being. What is our body language, our tone of voice, our speech pattern? How do we act and interact with those around us? Breathe the emotion into our body and allow it to fill us up. Notice what part of the brain is stimulated. The bhavana practice is about simulating the helpful attitude as best as we can.

Negative Reactions to Others

When we notice negative connotations towards people or places we can reverse it by adding some beauty. Imagine the place with butterflies all around. If you love quilts, envision your favorite quilts on the wall or a beautiful waterfall. Visualize a person who challenges you with a humorous or beautiful addition; add flowers over their heart, fairy wings on their back, a rainbow halo, or see them laughing a large belly laugh with their head rolling back. Any practice repeated regularly will function as an eclipse, slowly concealing the old perception with a new one. It is surprising how not only our energy changes, but the vibration of the person or place will also begin to notably change.

Overall Peace

We can also focus on a deity or idea to embody. One of my favorite ways to shift out of negativity is the practice of loving kindness. It begins with filling ourselves and progresses as we advance out into the world. We practice each aspect with bhavana, filling ourselves with the emotion until it is real.

May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be well. May I be filled with peace and ease. May I be happy.

It may take several practices before we can wholeheartedly feel this loving kindness for ourselves. Once we can tap into the part of our brain that feels these emotions and can fill up and embody the feelings, then we can expand the practice. First to someone we love (may _________ be filled with loving kindness, may ________ be well), then to someone we don’t have much feeling about. Next we cultivate these same feelings towards someone we don’t like or have strong feelings against. Have patience and wait for the feeling to really persist. Finally, we can send these feelings to all beings when we truly mean it, even those with whom we disagree or who challenge us. This practice is truly amazing! As my own personal practice of loving kindness expanded from a few weeks of cultivating the personal feeling to slowly building to encompass the whole world, I could feel myself emanating love. Throughout my meditations I could feel my smile growing larger and larger, my heart exploding with love, and my whole being resonating with loving kindness.

“Imagination lets us find our way into those possibilities. By training the imagination, harnessing its power, we can use it for creating beauty and truth in our world. Then our acts of transformative imagination become genuine acts of power. They can change our inner state, for sure. But they can also change the world.” – Sally Kempton

I hope you are filled with peace.

Be the best version of yourself!

Turn any negative attitudes upside down.

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