Creative Morality

"That, in fact, is an advance of morality--when I begin to sense my moral blindness."

~from "And the Moral of the Story Is..." aired February 17

This radio show, aired last night on Canadian NPR, examines the nature of the link between morality and mysticism. A neurologist, a professor, a Catholic priest, and Ojai teacher Willem Zwart are the guest speakers. They address whether examining our own social conditioning and becoming aware of our physiological addiction to certainty may help us find a "creative morality" rather than needing to rely on extremely faulty sets of rules.

Willem is the Nietzsche and Krishnamurti expert. Pretty impressive. Willem asked me - are you sure you want to put this on your yoga blog? I am. Need I say more than the fact that Krishnamurti taught Erich Schiffmann, who taught Kira, who teaches Zen Muffin and French Toast? (I don't know of any yoga teacher who has appropriated Nietzsche, but maybe I will be the first because he knows a thing or two worth sharing.) Krishnamurti points towards a state of clear seeing, in which, by freeing our minds from conditioning we naturally respond to every moment intelligently, responsibly, and with love.

Yoga happens to help a lot of people, including myself, to free ourselves and let go of addictive beliefs. With each breath, we hopefully come more fully into the present moment and leave behind rigid preconceptions. But it's only one of thousands of ways.

Willem comes on at around 34 minutes if you must skip straight to our local Ojai celebrity!