By Swami Satrupananda
You are great. Yes, you. Repeat out loud to yourself, “I am Great!” I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. Put some breath into it, and don’t forget the exclamation point. Enthusiastically repeat out loud, “I am GREAT!”
It’s not the things you do, the people you know or the places you go that make you great. You’re great because you’re a human being. The yoga sages tell us that you are not merely great but greatness itself. You have greatness hidden within you right now. You already are greatness. You merely need to discover it. When you find your greatness, you find your you-ness.
You know this to be true. I can prove it to you. When you are not feeling great, you notice and do something about it. When your body hurts you slow down, get a massage or do some yoga poses. When you’re sad, you look for something to make you happy. You call a friend, read an uplifting book or repeat mantra. In contrast, when you’re feeling great you don’t say, “Hmmm… something isn’t right here. I should feel bad.” It’s natural for you to feel great in your body, mind and heart.
My teacher, Swami Nirmalananda, describes our inherent greatness this way:
You feel most like yourself when you are shining with light. When your eyes twinkle, when your heart overflows, when your words have a melody hidden in them, and when your actions show your generous and loving nature – you feel so natural. You feel like yourself.
You’ve had many of these experiences before. You were glowing on your graduation and/or wedding day. Your eyes twinkle when you look at someone you love. Your heart has overflowed with love for others many times. When you speak about something dear to you, your words flow like a smooth waltz. You have done so many good things for others out of the kindness of your heart. In these moments, you are living from your greatness. It’s a sneak peek of your future.
Before yoga, one of my favorite ways to get a sneak peek into my greatness was volunteering. I remember volunteering for my high school to serve a meal for the homeless. I showed up and poured myself into the tasks at hand. I put together cheese sandwiches with so much care and attention. My heart overflowed as I ensured that everyone was offered a hot beverage. I glowed as I helped with cleaning up. As I left that day, there was a joyful skip in my walk. While I was giving that day, I was the one who received the most. I got to experience my greatness.
Yoga’s guarantee of your greatness is not limited to certain events in your life. Yoga says you’ll glow everyday of your life. Your eyes will twinkle when you look at everyone. Your words will have a melody hidden in them even while reading a legal document. All your actions will show your generous and loving nature. You will be your greatness all the time and pour it into everything you do.
To discover your greatness, you must turn your attention inward to explore the depths of your being. With your first look inward, you’ll probably find your mind. You need to go deeper than your mind to find your you-ness. You discover the beingness that is being you. Yoga has many names for the you-ness, the greatness, that you are. One of them is Shiva, the Ultimate Reality being you, everyone and everything.
Now the question is: how do you get beyond your mind? Yoga uses your mind to get beyond your mind. It’s a nifty trick. You apply your mind to the repetition of a mantra. Specifically, an enlivened mantra passed down from a lineage of yoga masters. They repeated the mantra and discovered their own greatness. They’ve given us the mantra so that we can do the same. Now your job is first to receive the mantra from an authorized teacher, then to use it.
As you repeat more mantra, you will realize your inherent greatness. When you discover your greatness, you discover you. Being your greatness is so natural.
Repeat out loud “I am GREAT!”
Repeat out loud “I am Greatness-Itself!”
Discover and be your own greatness.