A Lesson From Enlighten Up -- Where Are You Looking?

In my last post, I spoke about the forthcoming documentary, Enlighten Up! As luck would have it, a reader, Elise, interviewed the filmmaker -- Kate Churchill -- and posted the interview link in the comments section of this blog. You can check out the interview in its entirety here.

I enjoyed reading the interview and hearing Kate's thoughts on yoga and what she discovered in the making of the film. One part of the interview, in particular, stood out for me:

"And it was funny because in a way...this is the thing about enlightenment, because nobody really defines what it is. As long as you're looking for an "it"... I think in the west we get really attached to 'what classes can we take' and 'what movies can we buy' and 'which cleanses can we do' in order to become like 'more at peace' or this or that. Whereas through the course of making and editing this movie where I really had to constantly look at what was personally driving me forward. I had to start to realize that "wow I was so busy looking for it everywhere else". There was this really great guru that we met toward the end that kind of strips away looking everywhere else and keeps bringing it back to us. But even when we met him at the time I was like 'well if this guy is really good, lets figure out who else is out there'. I didn't allow myself to stop and say 'this is the guy for me'...So it's that sense of keep finding better and better. I think you just have to drop your expectations and just be open to learning from someone and figure out what it is for you specifically what works..."

Well, I could discuss this at length, but I won't. I just had to laugh at her very real observation of our tendency to look outside of ourselves and to look for better rather than be content with what we have. I certainly have found myself doing that on one occasion or another. Even now as I concentrate on one teacher, I sometimes find myself feeling pulled towards different, more, better. Hmmmm...is that the American way? I think that Kate hits the nail on the head to the solution to it all when she talks about looking for an "it" which is typically something outside of us. The question she asks herself is one we should all ask ourselves:

What's personally driving me forward?

Food for thought.

Namaste!