rose by Sydney SolisPsychologist Erich Fromm has a wonderful book called "To Have or To Be." Its essential question is, who are you without what you have? In today's consumer society, consumption covers up feelings of anxiety and alienation. Fame and status give people a false sense of self. But what if you have none of that? What if you let all that go and give it all away? In yoga, aparigraha, non-attachment, is key. This time of year, with the dying of the sun toward the solstice, offers us a perfect time to let go.

I attend Buddhist meditation Wednesday nights here in DeLand. Morris Sekiyo Sullivan, Sensei, told this story. People were beginning to notice a man who wandered in the woods. All the man ever said was, "What bliss! What bliss!" People said he used to be a king. What was he doing now? They told the Buddha, who said, "Bring this man here and we will ask him why he is always saying this." So the man came before him and said, "I used to be a king. I had so much stuff, palaces, gold. But people were always trying to steal it or kill me for it. I was constantly worried about it, trying to protect it, living in fear if I lost it. Finally I gave it all away and become a wandering monk. I am free! I am free of all that! What bliss! What bliss!"

I was baptized Catholic, but never followed the Church. Pope Francis, who hails from my beloved Argentina, has inspired me.  His focus on humility, serving the poor and fighting for economic justice have always been guidelines in my life  and what I think Christ's life and mission were all about. Jesus has some good stories too!

Luke 12:16-21 Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is the compulsory giving of a portion of one's wealth to charity. It bestows the quality of sacrifice and rids one of selfishness, greed and vanity.  It asks the giver to also look at the amount of wealth a person is withholding, rather than at what the person is giving with pride. The Prophet Mohammad gave to charity, fearless of poverty. A study in the United Kingdom revealed that Muslims were the most charitable of all religious groups. Even if one is poor, one is encouraged to give in Islamic faith. The Prophet once said that a person should try to give even half a date-fruit in charity if possible. And if one is even unable to do that, one should speak kind words to others — for that is also a charity.
Giving away gifts to the people and what one owns was central to the Potlatch ceremonies of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, which included feasting, storytelling, dancing and giving away gifts to all in attendance. Wealthy chiefs gave away all their possessions to the people, as the exterior wealth represented the great spiritual wealth they had inside and that they were capable of recreating that wealth again. It was a redistribution and reciprocity of wealth. This great institution gave chiefs great respect and honor. Status was gained by how much one could give away rather than what one could hoard. The greatest in society was the one most generous. Canada banned the Potlatch in 1885 as later did the United States. Capitalist Europeans and governments felt the Potlatch was a threat. They didn't want people giving away things to others. They wanted people to buy things and hoard private wealth.
There is a Jewish story of a man who came upon a golden fish. The fish told the man to keep it in his house and it would produce three gold coins every day from his mouth for him to keep. But he could only use the coins and leave his house if he tossed the fish back into the water and let it go free. The man became miserly, keeping the fish in his house, daily having the fish produce the three gold coins from its mouth, but always staying inside, never spending the gold because he never let the fish return to the waters.
I have noticed that things come and go in this life. Just like the Hindu story of a saint who was sitting in meditation, and a follower gifted him a blanket. He gazed at the blanket and gave thanks to the man, but went on meditating. Soon a thief stole the blanket. But the monk was unmoved from meditation, watching the appearing and disappearing of things.

 

I have gained and lost many times in my life. I have experienced amazing joy and happiness doing things and using things. But then they disappear a lot. I get used to it. I strive for equal-mindedness as a yogini. It has not been easy, as I admit failure many times, but ultimately my practice and the suffering has brought me liberation through non-attachment, aparigraha. The suffering has lead to faith, shraddha. The faith that things will arise again just as they have disappeared.  Life is eternal. For things just keep working out, miraculously even, even when things looked deperate. Things arise and disappear. Arise and disappear. I find faith in the present moment and abundance everywhere, regardless of my bank account. I work to live as simply as possible.  I am so grateful. I am grateful to all who have helped me, and I feel such love. I find freedom and great joy in giving my time, things and funds away to help others. There is no greater gift that to serve; no greater joy out of love for humanity. And ultimately the only thing you can teach in kids yoga is that which you practice yourself.

That is what this joyous season is about, as the daylight declines, the winter solstice approaches, asking us to die to the old and prepare for the everlasting life within that is present within us all - in love. To serve the poor, the hungry, the sick. The seva of yoga inspires me always to live in freedom, gratitude and in love.

 

OM SHANTI - Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays - Happy Winter Solstice - PEACE ON EARTH.

 

I am so grateful for the patrons, trainees and supporters of Storytime Yoga® for Kids, whose purchases make the following donations possible.

Storytime Yoga® for Kids and the Mythic Yoga Studio LLC joyously support the following organizations this season:

• Foothills United Way to Benefit Colorado Flood victims - All profits from  The Peddler's Dream Kids Yoga DVD sales from this website went to this organization.

• The Women's Coalition of St. Croix - provides advocacy, programs and services to end all forms of violence and oppression by promoting equality for all. In Memory of Frank Q. Solis.

• The Virgin Islands Humane Education Learning Center - to sponsor a puppet -making workshop to teach children resolution for conflict and bullying. In memory of Frank Q. Solis, Sergeant Pepe and Stranger.

• Haiti Girls Write - My teacher Laura Simm's fabulous work with story in Haiti, educating girls to write and tell their stories and find the joy within.

• Funds to develop a community garden at the Whim Garden Consul for the Elderly Public Housing in Frederiksted, St. Croix, USVI, where my dear friend Antonio now resides. He taught me everything I needed to know about being wealthy - it is found in the spirit, in the garden and in the love of thy neighbor.

• Mother Jones Magazine - for continued support in excellent investigative journalism for economic and social justice.

OM SHANTI.

SYDNEY SOLIS