Why?

Little children always ask "why?" And each answer you give leads to "but why?" As adults, we still yearn for the answer to the question, "why?" Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do tragedies like the earthquake in Haiti befall a people already enduring poverty and deprivation? Why? Our quest to explain our universe -- to make some sense of love and loss and good and bad -- seems never ending. We look to the universe -- somebody, something, tell me why. This is how religion and philosophy were born. And we need it. We need something -- some framework -- to help us make sense of it all. As Lama Marut says, "it is not the divine that will save you, but your belief in the divine." For me, the divine is the dharma of yoga. Yoga Sutra 2.21 says: "the seen exists for the sake of the Seer." All that we experience, all that we see, are teachings and tests for our higher self. It is how we respond to these experiences that charts our futures. Thus, a tragedy is not only an urgent reminder of how precious life is, but also an opportunity to access our goodness and compassion in the service of others. In the face of love, loss, good or bad, we have to think, "what is the noblest way to respond?" And we yoke ourselves to that higher path. This is yoga.