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How does asana practice teach us about non-attachment? Sometimes we can easily observe ourselves getting stuck somewhere within the flow of postures, either in a place that the mind finds pleasant and doesn't want to move on from, or in a place that the m...
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Infinite consciousness is like an ocean, and our body/mind is like a glass which has been filled with the water and then set back into the ocean. The water (consciousness) within the glass and without it are exactly the same.
We experience suffering beca...
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This week, I invite you to witness and label the following three aspects of desire (kama), the prime emotion:
1) the desire to get more of something pleasant
2) the desire to become something
3) the desire to get rid of something unpleasant
You may be...
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Tantric yoga recognizes nine different categories of emotional "tastes," or rasas, each of which has its own particular experiential qualities, as well as biochemical aspects. They are:
1. Shingara: love and appreciation for beauty, aesthetic sentiment, ...
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The rasas, like all phenomena, can be categorized according to the three gunas, or constituents of nature (Prakriti).
As a refresher, the gunas are:
Sattvas: light Rajas: activity, passion Tamas: darkness, heaviness, inertia
All phenomena is some combi...
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Meditation is, in the simplest of definitions, concentration. The Yoga Sutras describe three levels:
1) being able to concentrate on a single point.
2) being able to concentrate on a single point consistently over time.
3) being able to concentrate o...
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Intuition--direct knowing--is a function of vijnanamaya kosha, and more subtle and powerful than the "thinking" mind. It lives closer to the Atman, that part of our being that is One with everything, and as such has access to the deeper connections of l...
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There is a part of us which is a still, silent witness, watching everything that we experience. The witness is called buddhi, and what it watches most closely is the screen of the mind, manas. All the impressions stored in the deep unconscious mind (citta...
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Contemplation has three stages:
1) listening to the teachings2) reflecting on the teachings3) contemplating the teachings
This week, sit with these lovely verses and reflect upon them:
http://www.swamij.com/shankara-atma-shatakam.htm...
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A review of the issue of obstacles and their removal, courtesy of Swami J, can be found here....
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Reality, consciousness, is singular and unified. The human mind, when it encounters the one Reality, immediately begins to split it into pairs of opposites--pleasure and pain, gain and loss, joy and sorrow, praise and disgrace--and then choose (grasp onto...
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Pranayama is the expansion of life force. Some tools we use are, of course, breathing, as well as the locks (bandhas) and mudras (gestures). But in a broader sense, pranayama invites us to become more mindful of how we use our energy....
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http://www.buddhadharma.org/EightVerses/...
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As we contemplate the new topic, fulfillment, we might consider this as a possible working definition:
Fulfillment: a deep peace that makes up feel truly resolved that we can move forward from here.
Fortunately, yoga offers an assortment of complimentar...
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Contemplation is part of the path of jnana yoga, the path of knowledge. It's main teachings are called the "sadhana chatushtaya," the four means of salvation, which include the "shatsampat," six virtues. These practices create a solid foundation for conte...
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The invocation to Ganesha and a brief explanation of Sanskrit chanting can be found here.
The meter is slightly different than that which we are learning in class, but the pronunciation and translation are both excellent.
Enjoy!...
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This week, continue to observe the play of desires and the resulting emotional states.
You may begin to notice that, regardless of the desire or its object, there is a tendency to immediately turn the outcome into a part of oneself, defining oneself thro...
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The Yoga Sutras say the following about the practice of asana:
Asana is a steady and comfortable posture.
Asana is mastered by lessening the natural tendencies for restlessness and meditating on the Infinite.
Thereafter, one is undisturbed by the...
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Traditionally, lovingkindness and compassion meditation includes the following practice:
Extending the wish for happiness, health, safety and ease to:
myself
a beloved friend
a neutral person
a difficult person
all living beings
A guided medit...
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How we conceptualize time can help or hinder us along on our path. One way to think of time is as linear, a forward progression toward a distant point in the future. This concept creates a sense of my past being behind me and my future in front. The exper...