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Archarya Lorunna Jansen Van Vuuren explains how developing self-awareness and inner trust can awaken the necessary courage to help change both our lives and our karma

Your husband just broke your favourite serving dish. He dropped it and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Now, you can react to this in two different ways: one will be positive and the other negative.But what has this got to do with courage? We all think we know what courage is, but how often do we really apply it? By virtue of what it means i.e. to be brave and bold, we are often required to tap into it. I believe that courage is the one virtue that stands before all others. It is not however without pitfalls. We should be aware when we use it and when we are applying it from an egotistical point, and when it comes from a place of wholeness.

There is an obvious kind of courage that is applied to the self in times of adversity or illness. In these cases you sometimes have to dig deep to find the will to continue, and this digging takes courage. You can also be required to apply it in life situations (like removing a spider, if you are in fear of it), but more importantly, we need to apply it to mind and spirit. Courage has a direct relationship with spirit. You are not born with courage, life coaxes it into being. The practice of moral goodness can only come about with the application of courage. Courage is mostly required though when we have to take a good hard look at our selves.

Overcoming Fear
To understand the nature of our courage, we must understand that directly opposed to courage is doubt, self-doubt. Self-doubt has its roots in fear, and mostly in “what if”. We often do things in the moment for self-gratification, things we know that can potentially be harmful to us. We need to be aware of this and have the courage to say “no” to ourselves. Self-doubt forms a large part of our tendency for negative thinking. Negative thought patterns not only requires awareness in the moment, but also courage on a momentary basis to deal with it. If not dealt with at the moment of awareness, the mind will fall back to behaviour that is familiar. It takes a couple of weeks for a new behaviour pattern to be formed, so courage is needed to persevere in order to exact the benefits of change.

Can we change karma with courage? For me the answer is a resounding “yes”. When you learn to tap into your courage, you are also tapping into your vulnerability. This becomes the measure that you are tapping into courage from a non egotistical place, a place where you are humbled in the moment and you expect no payoffs or dividends. When applying courage from this place the Universe usually honours you unexpectedly and surprisingly so.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the virtue required of Arjuna is courage, and the foundation of that courage is insight. This very insight translates into self-awareness. Often in life, we are required to just turn the other cheek and this can only come about when you are aware that you should not attach yourself, mentally and emotionally, to the situation, and walking away takes courage, as it goes against the ego that seeks excitement. In the Bhagavad Gita Chapter Two, a description follows as to how man goes to ruin. Anywhere along the process however, should a stilling of the mind happen, it will be followed by wisdom and courage and the situation can be changed. It reads: “The man dwelling on sense-objects develops attachment for them; from attachment springs up desire, and from desire (unfulfilled) ensues anger. From anger arises infatuation; from infatuation, confusion of memory; from confusion of memory, loss of reason; from loss of reason one goes to complete ruin”.

Qualities of Nature
The progress of the above process is also determined by factors such as which Guna (the three qualities of nature): Raja, Sattva or Tamas is operational at the moment. The force of rajas is active, stimulating, agitating and gives rise to emotional fluctuations, like love and hate. The force of sattva is neutral, balancing and observing, and allows us to evolve in consciousness. The force of tamas is passive and sustains previous activity and is the cause of emotional clinging and stagnation. As the description of the process indicates, it would appear that a person under the spell of the process would be rajisic, so the level of intervention requires more than just ordinary awareness.

Here is the crux of the issue: lets say you are in a heated argument, which would decidedly be a Rajisic state, and you are at the level of confusion of memory, what would still the mind and cause you to pause in that moment? It can only happen with the intervention of cosmic forces of beneficence. How do we call these forces into play in our lives’? For one thing it has to happen on the level of trust and belief, but even more importantly you have to live a Dharmic life, this is living according to the laws of truth, that not only govern the universe but your very existence.

State of Grace
When courage comes from a true place, we are also notably aware of the state of grace we are in, and this emboldens us to go ahead. Actually we are all always in a state of grace, it is only our lack of awareness that makes us feel removed from it. Grace is found in stillness and humility, and is profound in its power. Awareness and trust equals courage. Trust in what? Trust that the state of grace will prevail. This is a deep inner knowingness that transcends the mind and often is not dependent upon a decision. What better way to lose your life, should it be required, because it would be in total service of your higher self. We know this instinctively and that is why we have heroes in this world.

Challenging Karma
Seva or service is advocated in order to change your karma; however when service is rendered with resentment or attachment of some sort it serves no purpose. Often we are required to do things we don’t really have the time or inclination for, and instead of saying, “no” in order to honour the moment and it’s requirement, we go ahead and do it anyway.  A brief definition in the Bhagavad Gita is: “Do your duty in the moment in full awareness, only as required of you, with no attachment and in total surrender”. Trying to live your life according to this definition on a daily basis requires courage. Trust me, you will fail at this every day, and every day you will try again, and sometimes it will feel as if the Universe is especially testing you. No doubt you will want to throw in the towel, and then it takes courage to try again the next moment. The magic is that through adversity, our awareness grows and our personalities are shaped.

This is where we become aware of learnt and often unwholesome behaviour. When we then consciously try and change it, time and time again, one day we get it right. This effectively changes karma, because once the change takes place, it is one more thing you can let go of. Karma is mostly created by our attachments, some of them conscious and some subconscious, and then some go even further back. It is because the effects of karma are often so subtle that we don’t pick up on it, until it has some significant repercussion and then we see it clearly in retrospect.

Awakening Courage
So in order to reduce the time line, awareness in the moment is required, and to elicit this awareness takes an inner courage to let go of the world outside of you and turn inward. This is meditation in action. This is where Patanjali tries to take us, this is the devotion to the self, and from the word “go” you need to employ your courage.

Considering the opening statement, if you were attached to the serving dish, then you will probably react in anger. If the forces of beneficence are prevalent in that moment, you will realize the transience of the object, and you will let it go and surrender to the situation as it is in the moment. And so, maybe not immediately, you will move from a state of active agitation (raja) to a state of self-control (sattva). Having awareness of this play of Prakriti (primal nature), and allowing it to manifest in the moment takes courage, as the mind would rather cling to the familiar.

Archarya Lorunna Jansen Van Vuuren has been a qualified teacher since 1986. She found yoga in the early eighties and was taught the ISHTA System by Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger. Archarya Lorunna has studied Sanskrit and Vedanta and is also a qualified hypnotherapist. She runs the Mana Centre in Mulbarton. For more information visit www.manacentre.co.za or email lorunna@telkomsa.net