II

We want to resist the dark night; just like Arjuna, we want to flee. Our every instinct is to avoid discomfort.

But Krishna advises, “No! Go into the heart of the difficulty.” In the Gita, we learn to take our “chariot” into the centre of the conflict. Yoga teaches us how to tolerate the discomfort, without acting or reacting from our small human stories.

In remaining on the field, Arjuna surrenders the need to control life. He surrenders the shattered identity he’s been holding on to, looking instead for shelter in his dear friend Krishna’s yoga teachings. Rather than being a “hero” in his small, imagined story, Arjuna now becomes a seeker, a traveller, at the beginning of his yoga journey.

The first agreement is about saying yes to the spiritual journey as it unfolds. But this is not a one-time agreement. It needs to be renewed continuously. At every step, we can choose to abandon the field.

Arjuna shows us that the first agreement includes three things:

1.     Honour the dark night as a rite of passage.

2.     Trust your inner guide.

3.     Surrender the need to control.

We can’t set out on the journey of the soul unless we believe the journey is worth taking. This begins with an understanding that the dark night of the soul is not a dangerous experience, but a natural, if not necessary, process. It’s a rite of passage, a spiritual initiation.

We drive our “chariots” on the field of life. The chariot is our body. The five horses are our five senses. Although our illusory ego is currently the charioteer, we are not without the presence of Krishna, the Universal Teacher seated in our heart. The Universal Teacher is the intuitive voice of truth guiding us from within.

If we allow Krishna to guide our chariot, rather than the ego, then we’re invincible and unassailable, whatever may happen on the often riotous and turbulent field of life. In other words, if we can guide our chariot by the higher wisdom of yoga, we’re sure to achieve victory and success.

Krishna is Arjuna’s mentor throughout the dark night, his guide, his shaman. Krishna is also Arjuna’s best friend. He’s not some unknown guru. Rather, Arjuna knows he can trust Krishna, and as such hides nothing from him. As Arjuna discovers later in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is also no ordinary person. He is the Soul of the Universe, the Universal Teacher within each of us. Taking shelter of a higher knowledge is known in India as sharanagati, “the way of surrender” or “the way of taking refuge”.

Unlike Arjuna, Emperor Dhritarashtra is closed off to spiritual guidance. He hears the same Bhagavad Gita that Arjuna hears, but it has no effect on him. This is because he never sets off on the yoga journey. He never enters into the first agreement: “Set out on the journey of the soul.” Locked up in his palace in Hastinapura, he is trapped in his egoic story, a false emperor in a false kingdom.

Higher knowledge or wisdom is of no value or purpose if we’re not receptive to it. Just as Arjuna trusts Krishna, who always has his best interests at heart, the Universal Teacher has our best interests at heart. Trusting our inner guide, who manifests in our life in myriad ways and reveals yoga’s secrets to us on our journey of the soul, is an important part of the first agreement. Without such trust, we never truly embark on our yoga journey. This is a voyage into the unknown. Guided by the ancient yoga teachings, we’ll need to surrender the urge to control.