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I went back to sleep and skipped the morning satsang, woke with sunlight shining on frost all
around me. Now afer my morningly yoga and feast, I sit shirtless in the gorgeously hot sun,
procrastinating the inevitable round of karma yoga (sanding the deck) before I leave this place.
me in sanding mode
I was thinking during this morning's yoga that maybe my wanting the yoga without the
philosophy is like doing the yoga exercises without the mental focus. Performing the asanas
without steadying and quieting my mind seems pretty absurd; maybe it's just as absurd to do the
hatha yoga without the positive thinking stuff.
This morning the instructor said "imagine your mind just saying 'aaaahhhhhh' all the time." No
nattering, no chatter, just a smooth aaahhhhh. Yeah, tempting, but if that aaaahhhhh comes at the
expense of all human achievement....... It's all so damn confusing.
I guess an interesting question to ask is why they want to teach this stuff? Why open their doors
and their hard work to the anonymous public? Maybe at best it's out of good nature, a desire to
serve and that human instinct to share and even evangelize the things we've found to be truly
great. Another possibility is it's just the philosophy perpetuating itself through reproduction.
Christianity has a great reproductive mechanism -- the edict that you have to convert new souls
to the dogma. Maybe Sivananda is similarly reproducing, inculcating new recruits with the
philosophy of the yogi.
There's 5 parts to this teaching:
- Right Relaxation
- Right Breathing
- Right Exercise
- Right Diet
- Right Thinking
It's a shame that I only have a problem with one of them, but it might disqualify me from the
whole practice. Or maybe I just have to go back to city yoga, where I drop into a yoga center for
two hours (and they're damn lucky to get even that), then I leave to maybe go get drunk.
Maybe if they just gave us more time before slamming us with the philosophy. I've noticed yoga
seems naturally to give rise to certain emotions and thoughts, such as honesty and cleanliness and
vegetarianism. Yoga makes me want to floss my teeth, and it makes me completely unable to lie.
And I think maybe the "Right Thinking" stuff sprang from those natural yoga thoughts. But now
they're pushing the thoughts before I have them naturally, and I'm no more elevated than your
average Christian scoundrel receiving Christ on Sunday.
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Human achievement is rather confusing,eh?,(aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh).
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that makes you an honorary member of the Yin/Yang Yoga Gang, a group of rascals who lived in Berkeley in the early 80s, attending weekly yoga classes at the Yoga Room, and going out for pizza and beer afterward
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well, see,it's all in how ya look at it...fer'n'stance if you see a diff between "surrender" and "human achievement" - as if that's such a big deal n'all - then POW! dere it is: dat ole dualistic demon wagging it's behind at ya.
Onna nudder hand, if you don't think "surrender" vs "achievement", "clean" vs "unclean", "right" thinking vs "wrong" thinking, "no" thinking vs thinking then it don't matter if you sand the deck, screw the unattractive swami, eat pork, Jesus or your next door neighbor.
Just let it be as it is and stop getting stuck on imagining all dese made up values: relax, fer chirss sake!
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well, see,it's all in how ya look at it...fer'n'stance if you see a diff between "surrender" and "human achievement" - as if that's such a big deal n'all - then POW! dere it is: dat ole dualistic demon Habituated Thinking wagging it's nasty wrinkled behind at ya.
Onna nudder hand, if you don't think "surrender" vs "achievement", "clean" vs "unclean", "right" thinking vs "wrong" thinking, "no" thinking vs thinking then it don't matter if you sand the deck, screw the unattractive swami, eat pork, Jesus or your next door neighbor.
Just let it be as it is and stop getting stuck on imagining all dese made up values: relax, fer chirss sake!
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i agree, relax. remember all those millions of years and all those souls and entities that have passed through the same the same thoughts as yourself?? don't worry about exact answers, because those always turn out to be the ones that kill the most people.
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Perhaps that sat sang stomping swami.. needs to practice the art of right timing no ? It's all in the timing.. there is no rush.. not if the message is in synch with the subltle effects of the Yoga practice itself. you bring up a very good point..
I disagree with the idea that these are "made up values" just by reading your observations so far I can see that you have pondered deeply.. Cynicism is a tough habit to shake.. it keeps the fear of the unbearable at a giggling breath's distance..
I have lived like an artistic libertine for half a century.. and now, weary of the emptiness I feel after consuming the pot of gold over and over, in every way my senses cared to consume it, I wish for nothing more than a regularity of life which offers meanin , a healthy body and a happy heart. Stick oround old soul..
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"Not all people are clever," said Kamala.
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the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom...
now, weary of libertinage, the wisdom of emptiness
propels "you", compells "you"...the needle wobbles as it spins down the thread...health and happiness like sickness and sorrow:reflections in the mirror...
the nature of mind cannot be altered, achieved or eliminated; it is like celestial space...naturally present and self-perfected...abide in the state of total relaxation, without correction or alteration, just as it is, one achieves realizaton...
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FIND THE ANSWER:The JESUSYOGA
Project at: www.jesusyoga.com
James Michael Murtagh,M.S.Ed.
Third Order of St. Francis
FOUNDER - CHECK IT OUT!!!
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its always gonna be hard for people who think to much....
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