Virya is a Sanskrit word that is most often used in spiritual circles to refer to the energetic push or effort it takes a person to progress spiritually. This week, I found a curious new definition for the term virya, it was defined as “the power to go there.” Not just the power to go, but the power to go there. I’m struck by how few people I’ve met who have the power to go there. Going there, is rather auspicious after all, and Thoreau put it well saying, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Most men and women are content to go to predictable places. Most believe the hype around them about who they are, what they should pursue, and what will make them happy. Yet once in a while there comes along someone willing to go to a place that’s uncomfortable, unchartered and wild. Others don’t seem to have a choice in the matter, they just can’t ignore the dynamic reverberation of shakti (primordial cosmic energy of creation) moving through them. They feel compelled to move in a certain direction.
Joseph seemed to have a strong connection with shakti — that wild creative force of the universe – and the results of his actions were complex. Creativity and wild inspiration, left unchecked isn’t always pretty. Joseph was unquestionably dynamic, leaving behind in the wake of his death: questions, possible evidence of mental instability, a trail of ugly mistakes and more than a fair share of pain and hurt. I can see why he chose the image of a rough stone rolling to describe himself. He also left a legacy that I find stunning and beautiful. He left behind the efforts of an attempt to create his own Utopia, a world where we are all linked and sealed together in interconnectedness, a place where all are cared for, where all are safe, both in this life and in the imagined hereafter. He believed in Zion, for better or worse.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise to me, that perhaps the greatest legacy he left, is the Mormon community as it exists today. The Mormon people on the whole are: kind, honest, generous, fun, reliable, well-intentioned, and inclusive. They have a sense of community like no other I’ve ever experienced. The Mormon doctrines have morphed over the years, social structures and families have changed — no doubt the Mormon world is dramatically different than it was in Joseph’s day. Yet we – modern Mormons — ride the outer waves of Joseph’s original shakti. It was that strong. It was the proverbial capture of lightning in a bottle.
Friday night I had the pleasure of being in the presence of Richard Bushman, another such dynamic person. I was struck by his focus and energy, and at 79 years old, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. He has been inexhaustible in his work as a historian and his expertise showed throughout his presentation on the topic of Joseph and Emma. It was apparent how thoroughly he knows their life stories and how he holds deep affection for the founder of his church.
It was his testimony at the end though, that really struck me as being real and profound and full of strength. Someone asked him how he works, so he began to explain his process of gathering information, some of it very unflattering, and being willing to sit with it. In essence, what he was saying was that he wasn’t afraid to go there.
He was willing to put in the effort to go to that place of open-minded curiosity about a man he loved and revered, and take a second more comprehensive, look at this Joseph. He was willing to sit with the unflattering and questionable material that he found and the possibility that perhaps Joseph was more multi-dimensional and human than he previously knew. He shared that after he sat with his findings and discoveries, the rest of the pieces of his work started to flow through him.
Sounds like shakti, doesn’t it? It was the best damn testimony I’ve heard in years. Virya and shakti from the pulpit of the Oakland Stake Center on the temple grounds. Inspiring. Honest. Refreshing.
And there you have it, two men whose lives and dharmas are interwoven through the Mormon narrative. Two men who weren’t afraid to go there. Maybe my approach to life is a bit too haphazard, but this kind of voracious courage and effort is something I totally admire, opening up to life rather than shutting it off. It’s this part of Joseph Smith and Richard Bushman that I understand. More than ever, I feel inspired to go there.
Where is there for you? Do you feel as if you have the power it takes to go there?
This couldn’t have come at a better time, Laurie. I am about 200 pages into Rough Stone Rolling right now. I tried to read it when it first came out, but it’s so dense . . . I tried to slog my way through it, but gave up. So I’m giving it another shot right now. It is absolutely fascinating. I am learning a lot.
Virya and shakti were present in both Smith and Young, but notably absent in their successors in office, and, perhaps inevitably so, since the institutions that are formed to promote and fullfill the visions offered by people like this cannot themselves sustain these forces, but must restrain them in their efforts to capture and then perpetuate their founders’ views. I like what you are suggesting here: the creative act itself is far more important than the results of any single creation. In my mind, to attempt to capture any creative result is to deny an open canon, one of Mormonism’s greatest strengths.
Such an interesting point, and one that, to my mind, intersects with the Mormon scriptural warning against those who are ‘ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth’. At what point do you cash in the chips, and say that you’re willing to stick with your winnings to that point?
Like you, I believe this capital can’t be stored away or invested – but the process and experience of inspiration must take place anew, for each generation. This must be especially true now, as the speed of technology and life accelerates more than ever… we cannot ‘bank’ the inspiration of those who went before – we must build upon their legacy.
Sounds like a fascinating night — I would have loved hearing his presentation and testimony.
I find that I have a similar picture of Joseph Smith and allowing him to be human and complex is a relief, it allows me to appreciate the good, have compassion for his mistakes and still disagree with some of his choices. As such, I’m not rattled by unflattering bits of our history. However, I have to confess that I’m not sure where there is. Sometimes I worry that the fluidity of my current path — inclusive, always seeking, the world market option that Erin described so well in her post last week — doen’t lend itself to the focus and devotion that is required on a spiritual path.
I too would have loved to have been able to attend this event – thanks so much for sharing your feelings about this, Laurie!
Great post. I have found that in my own life and for many others, attempts to AVOID going there become habitual and ultimately harmful and destructive… or at least numbing. Our capacity to sit with things that are uncomfortable I think is related to the quality of our lives.