baby cat, take II

in Detroit, i asked him how to surrender?

his response was to be like a baby cat.

sharon gannon and david life, founders of Jivamukti Yoga, expound on this in their book:

"There are 2 paths to the attainment of Yoga: the path of effort & the path of grace - maryada marga & pushti marga. Marga means path. Maryada describes the soul looking for a system to follow to gain enlightenment, and pushti describes the soul that simply surrenders everything to God.

The difference between maryada marga & pushti marga is illustrated by the old Indian tale of the baby monkey and the baby cat. When a baby monkey becomes separated from his mother, he will race around, swinging through trees looking for her. He is determined to find her. When he does finally find the mother, he grabs her body & holds on for dear life, and the two, united, go swinging through the trees. But when the kitten becomes separated from her mother she stays put. She does not run around looking for her mother. The kitten stays and cries out, "Meow Maaaaaa." The kitten calls until the mother hears her. The mother comes to the kitten, picks her up by the scruff of the neck, and the two go off happily to snuggle.

The monkey is on the maryada marga, the path of effort. The kitten trusts the mother and by chanting her name, continuously gets her to come to the rescue. The kitten is on pushti marga, the path of grace.

Patanjali's 8-limbed system is predominantly a maryada marga, an effortful path, but the last 2 limbs - dhynana (meditation) and samadhi (enlightenment) - cannot be attained through effort. They are the result of grace. Yet is it only through intense effort that we can prepare ourselves to receive such grace."

proufound gratitude to the mother cat that heard my cries and found me.
Jai Guru!
c.