Skill in Action: Transforming Yoga Practice and Philosophy into Lived Experience

We are living through a period of time of increasing uncertainty and causing collective overwhelm. It has taken a toll on all of us and there is a general sense of collective exhaustion and yet the human spirit adapts and perseveres. How can we meet the existential challenges that we are facing with vitality, creativity, and perhaps even optimism? How do we rise up in times of uncertainty and chaos? If we submit to the alternative of overwhelm, distraction, and numbing, we will not be able to meet this moment with the skill that it requires, but we will continue to perpetuate systems of oppression and inequity that have been embedded within our psyche for centuries. However, if we choose to cultivate inner strength and courage through clear eyed approaches, we will strengthen our resolve and bolster our endurance to stay steady and resourced for the hard work ahead.

The Skill in Action retreat will orbit around the teaching stemming from the Bhagavadgītā (c. fifth century BCE to second century CE),which is a hallmark of Indian philosophy. It assembles the many ideas that had been forming in the centuries preceding it and that had become their own legitimate praxis and philosophy. The Bhagavadgïtā is a discourse between a student and a teacher and was defining yoga in various ways. The story begins by highlighting the human experience of an inner conflict, the experience of overwhelming uncertainty obstructing one’s judgement.

The text acknowledged that there were already many different approaches to yoga practice. Some emphasized meditation (dhyāna) and knowledge (jñāna), while others focused on breath restraint, yet others on devotion, and as we find in the Bhagavadgītā, a path of action is highlighted. The Bhagavadgītā advocates for a full engagement with life while embodying yogic ideals. This was most likely a radical idea for its time as it was challenging previous norms and emphasized  a more accessible action oriented method for the householder who was neither a priest nor ascetic.

The Bhagavadgītā exemplifies the painful reality of taking action that is accompanied by uncertainty, confusion, fear, contradiction, and can sometimes be in conflict with our ethical values. What is the right thing to do? The fear that arises from such a dilemma often immobilizes and spirals us further into despondency and inaction. However, such conflicts offer growth as they represent an opportunity of self-transcendence and transformation as it shows that transformation arises when we relinquish parts of ourselves that we may deeply identify with, but that ultimately hold us back. This text is a call to the spiritual warrior archetype who combines strength with sensitivity to defend truth, justice, and others who are unable to defend themselves through the non-violent actions of love, compassion, cooperation, and courage.

Participants of the retreat are not required to read nor have knowledge of the Bhagavadgītā. The text will be referred to during the retreat, but context will be provided. If participants would like to read the text, Eknath Easwaran’s translation is recommended. For scholars of Sanskrit, a more precise translation would be Winthrop Sargeant’s, “The Bhagavad Gītā,“ Foreword by Huston Smith and Editor Preface by Christopher Key Chapple. Although the latter would be more accurate, the former is arguably more accessible to the modern reader.

Easwaran, Eknath. The Bhagavad Gita. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press, 2007.

Sargeant, Winthrop and Christopher Chapple. The Bhagavad Gītā. Albany: State University of New York

Press, 2009.

You may view the schedule here