chapter 5 - Where is Yoga?

Yoga is in our life every moment. In fact it is life itself.
 

Life is not outside us. It is the perceptive cognitive intellectual thinking mind within us. Without the perceptive cognitive intellectual thinking mind powered by the life force Prana, or energy, life does not exist. Existence of life comes from the function of the physical body and the selfless impermanent modification of the mind.

Yoga is not just within the two hours session that we are attending for performing some Yoga Asana and Pranayama and relaxation practice.

It is how we think, understand, feel, act and react, and how we deal with the agreeable and disagreeable thoughts, sensations, feelings and emotions every moment in everyday life.

Being in the present moment, letting go of the past, and letting go of the anticipations/expectations towards the future, constantly self purifying and becoming self independent.

Being the master of the body and mind and the senses, being the conqueror of our own limited impermanent selfless life existence, developing openness of the mind, and keep purifying the mind constantly.

Learn to be equanimous and be happy regardless of the impermanent conditions of the physical body and the impermanent conditions and situations in the surrounding environment, free from impurities, detached from duality, and having unconditional calmness and peacefulness in the mind, is Yoga.

To be in peace is not necessarily has to be secluded from other living beings, running away from the world, or changing/escaping the law of nature. The hard or challenging condition and situation that we are facing every moment in life, dealing with selfless impermanent changes, is where we can practice letting go, purify ourselves and unfold the wisdom in us. However, dispassion and renunciation is highly important for the minds to be purifying the mind to be free from the influence of egoism effectively.

Wisdom is always there, unchanging and ever existing. It is currently being hidden by impurities (the veil of ignorance). Once the mind is purified, the veil of ignorance will be gone, and wisdom is unveiled. We will see the world differently because the way how the mind perceives and understands everything has changed.

When there is wisdom, there will be no fear at all.

Learn to live in harmony with the world of diversity, and learn to live in peace along with all the undesirable and unpleasant frustrations, difficulties and obstacles in life.

Knowing the nature of selflessness and impermanence in all and everything, and accepting ourselves as we are from moment to moment by understanding the law of nature and respecting the ever-changing phenomena.

The fundamental practice of Yoga is the cultivation of self control, self-discipline and the internal and external purification of the body and mind (Yama and Niyama), where within the modifications of the mind is the place for self transformation to be happening.

We are living in a routine of getting up everyday, go to school or work place, study, work or play, feeling happy or unhappy, laugh and cry, eat and drink, going to the toilet, seeing, hearing, talking, interacting, having fears and worries most of the time, having some dreams, ambitions, aspirations and desires waiting to be achieved, and go to sleep at the end of the day, and repeating all these until the moment our body and mind stop functioning, and life comes to an end.

Although all these habitual routines looked like small little things, or seemed like normal in life, these are the places where we can learn about our true nature, what we really are or what is 'I' (what the mind thinks and believes as 'I'), and to transcend the inevitable suffering existing along with the existence of a selfless impermanent life existence.

But this is not the end of selfless impermanent existence of names and forms because all kinds of names and forms that are selfless continuously arising, changing and passing away even after the disintegration of this particular selfless physical body or any particular selfless name and form, where countless names and forms continuously arising, changing and passing away, powered by the selfless supportive elements and energy, governed by the nature's law of cause and effect. Realize selflessness, where there's no 'I' or any particular individual permanent identity existing in any names and forms of sentient living beings or non-sentient objects to be going through impermanent changes, but merely all kinds of selfless names and forms arising, changing and passing away impermanently under the influence of cause and effect.

Inquire towards the truth of everything under an open, quiet and pure mind, including all the teachings of yoga and/or other kinds of teachings and beliefs, without blind-believing, blind-following, blind-practicing, blind-propagating, blind-agreeing/disagreeing.

All these are the practice of Yoga, and will lead us towards the realization of Yoga.