Being conditioned by egoistic thinking pattern unwittingly

The minds can still be functioning under the influence of conditional egoistic thinking pattern to behave, judge, expect, aspire, act and react, unwittingly, even if the minds have 'good' intention to be supporting and upholding 'good' values/practice/behavior, and believe in performing 'good' actions and standing up for protecting 'goodness and righteousness' in the world.

Yoga practice is to free the mind from conditional egoistic thinking pattern that most minds are unaware of, while thinking and believing that those thinking and beliefs are the important values of humanity.

Yoga practitioners can perform self-introspection to find out whether one's mind is being conditioned by egoistic thinking pattern unwittingly, by asking oneself these questions, as most minds are unaware of itself is being conditioned to think and believe in such way, to behave, judge, expect, aspire, act and react.

- Is there a strong sense of belonging towards a particular name and form of family/relationship/friendship/social group/community/country/nationality/ethnicity/culture/religion/school/spirituality/profession/politic/any form of practice and etc, and one would do one's best to uphold and protect that particular name and form that the mind thinks and believes, 'This is where I belong, that I am being proud of being part of it, and I have the duty and responsibility to do my best to be protecting it from being hurt, damaged or destroyed by what I think and believe as negativity, badness and wrongfulness', or I don't know where I belong and it's important for me to be in searching for something/somewhere that I belonged to, that can give me the sense of belonging?

- Does the mind thinks and believes that patriotism and loyalty towards something/somewhere that one belonged to, is a great value or quality that everyone should be cherished and be proud of, where 'Betrayal of any kind is something terribly wrong and unforgivable, and those who commit any form of betrayal must be condemned and punished accordingly'?

- Does the mind thinks and believes that there are certain things/objects/lives that it likes and agrees with, that it understands as something important and appreciates very much shouldn't be subject to 'impermanent changes' and don't deserve 'extinction'?

Not that patriotism and loyalty or upholding something that one's mind thinks and believes is 'good and righteous' is something bad or wrong, but it promotes 'separateness' and 'discrimination' where it doesn't allow the mind to go beyond the conditional thinking pattern that hinders the mind from realizing selflessness, oneness, non-separateness, namelessness, formlessness and attributelessness, which is the ultimate goal of yoga. Similarly, there's nothing wrong with showing great appreciation towards something that the mind perceives as important, lovable and agreeable, but the intense attachment towards something that the mind thinks and believes is important, lovable and agreeable, and not allowing everything being what they are, where everything will change and disappear, is what hinders the mind from realizing 'yoga', or be free from ignorance and suffering.

Patriotism/Loyalty and the sense of belonging or the need to find where one belonged to don't exist in selflessness. Due to ignorance and egoism, many yoga practitioners are still being conditioned by such egoistic thinking pattern, where they think and believe that they belong to certain 'yoga lineage', or 'yoga family', or 'yoga community'. Similarly, the minds that are free from ignorance and egoism can be appreciating all the lovable and agreeable names and forms, but without attachment and are able to respect the law of nature (impermanence and selflessness) as it is, and be able to let them go, in peace.

Patriotism/loyalty and self-righteousness is not yoga practice. Yoga practitioners must work cautiously and diligently to free the mind from such egoistic thinking/belief/values/practice in order to free the mind from ignorance and egoism, to realize selflessness/oneness/non-separateness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness, that leads the mind towards right discrimination towards the truth of everything and non-discrimination towards all the different qualities of names and forms that co-existing in this space, which all are subject to impermanence and selflessness.

Letting go?

If there's no attachment, there's needless of letting go.

If there's attachment towards either something pleasant or unpleasant, enjoyable or painful, then know that everything is impermanent.

If one knows what is non-attachment towards what is pleasant and enjoyable, then one can fully appreciate and enjoy what is pleasant and enjoyable, but will be able to let it go in peace when impermanence strikes. If there's attachment and one doesn't know how to let go, then there will be dissatisfaction, disappointment, unhappiness, hurts or painful sorrow upon losing what one likes very much, that is pleasant and enjoyable. And there's nothing wrong with that, just that one needs to know that even those dissatisfaction, disappointment, unhappiness, hurts or painful sorrow are also impermanent.

When one is holding onto something unpleasant or painful, and one cannot withstand the unpleasantness or pain, one can choose to let go of it, by putting it down without hurting it, without regret of letting go something that one likes very much, but it's unpleasant and painful. A lot of time, most people would just react spontaneously if they dislike the unpleasantness or pain, or couldn't forbear the unpleasantness or pain, and would be throwing away immediately whatever that appears to be unpleasant or painful to oneself, and cause damages to that either wittingly or unwittingly.

There's nothing wrong if one decided to continuously holding onto something that one likes very much even though it's unpleasant or painful, but then, one must also accept the consequences of that and endure all the unpleasantness or pain due to unwilling to let go something that appears to be unpleasant or painful to oneself, without expectation towards this unpleasantness or pain will change or disappear, but allowing the changes to be what they are, not necessarily the way that one would like it to be.

It's everyone's freedom for whether they want to let go, and be free, or they don't want to let go, and accept the consequences of one's action and decision of not letting go.

Be free.

It's not 'our world', if we truly love the world

The world doesn't belong to anyone. The world is fine as it is and it doesn't need anyone to protect it if nobody/no community claim ownership/possessiveness/authorization towards the world and desire the world to be and not to be in certain way according to their particular thinking and belief, values and practice, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, or aspiration and expectation towards a world the way that they prefer, that they claimed as "Our world."

Many people like to propagate and say, "The world is ours." and then, "We love our world and we have responsibility towards looking after our world." and then, "We want our world to be like this and not like that." and then follow with, "Protect our world from what we believe as badness and wrongfulness. Get rid of those who are 'bad' and 'wrong', who are 'obstructing' our desire of making our world perfectly the way that it should be."

Just like in all the love relationships among people. Many people don't know what is love when they think they fall in love with someone that they think and believe they love very much, but end up hurting themselves and the one whom they think and believe they love very much. Similarly, we keep hurting the world, when we think and believe we love the world very much, but we don't really know what is love.

We think and believe that we love the person in the relationship with us, but out of ignorance and egoism, there's possessiveness and desire towards the relationship and the person in the relationship with us to be and not to be in certain way, and when the relationship or the person in the relationship with us is not being the way that we expect or desire it to be, but it's being the way that we don't like and don't desire, we will feel disappointed, hurt and angry, and in order to 'protect' the relationship from becoming the way that we don't like and don't desire, we would do something that hurt ourselves and those whom we think we love very much and those whom we think are responsible for 'disturbing' or 'destroying' the relationship that we love very much. And the more we try to 'control' the relationship or the person in the relationship with us to be the way that we desire it to be, we keep hurting the relationship and the person in the relationship with us, whether intentionally or unintentionally, wittingly or unwittingly.

When we claim ownership/possessiveness/authorization towards the world, we don't allow the world being what it is, but we want to 'control' the world to be the way that we desire it to be, and we want to 'protect' the world from being the way that we don't like and don't desire, we are actually 'hurting' the world in the process of making 'our world' the way that we desire, the way that we think how it should be.

When we truly love someone, we love them as they are and we let them go, without claiming ownership/possessiveness/control towards them to be the way that we would like them to be. Allowing them to be what they are, to love us, or not, to be in a relationship with us, or not.

If we truly love the world, even if we think we have good intention, we stop claiming ownership/possessiveness/authorization towards the world to be "Our world." and stop desiring/aspiring/expecting, "We want our world to be like this and not like that." but allowing the world to be what it is.

It's not 'our world'. It's just the world that selflessly allowing all and everything being here.

When human beings stop claiming ownership/possessiveness/authorization towards the world, it doesn't mean that everyone would be hurting the world intentionally, or wouldn't be doing something beneficial for the world out of compassion. While those who claim ownership/possessiveness/authorization towards the world and expect the world to be in certain way according to their aspiration and desire of a world that they prefer, would be hurting the world whether wittingly or unwittingly, by protecting what they like and desire while fighting against what they don't like and don't desire.

Anyway, the world will still be what it is, according to the law of nature (cause and effect), with or without many egoistic minds trying to take control over the world to be theirs and desiring a world the way that they like it to be. And the world doesn't have an ego to be bothered about it.

How to break free from fear towards letting go certain thinking and belief?

There's no comment/judgment towards any thinking and belief as true or untrue. Learn to see things as they are. Need not judging or categorizing everything into 'this' or 'that'. Everything is just what it is. Neither good nor bad. Neither right nor wrong. All are impermanent and selfless. Whatever being perceived through the mind in this worldly life existence of names and forms, are all subject to impermanence and selflessness, including all kinds of thinking, beliefs, values and practices.

All kinds of thinking and belief existing for their own reason, for the minds that are under the influence of egoism and impurities to hang onto, to have a sense of direction, while navigating their way in the worldly life existence that is subject to uncertainty, impermanence and selflessness.

It's all about whether the mind is free from egoistic attachment and identification, or not. It's not about which thinking and belief is true or untrue, or which is truer and better than all the others.

Asians are bound by Asian cultural thinking and belief, but are not being bound by the western cultural thinking and belief to live life and behave in certain way. Westerners are bound by the western cultural thinking and belief, but are not being bound by the Asian cultural thinking and belief to live life and behave in certain way. Though both can respect each other's different ways of life and behavior due to the influence of different cultural thinking and belief.

The mind took up and attached onto Christianity or Hinduism thinking and belief and practice, and identifying itself as a 'Christian' or 'Hindu', or as a 'follower' of 'Christianity' or 'Hinduism'. Christians are bound by Christianity thinking and belief and practice, but are not being bound by the Hinduism thinking and belief and practice. Hindus are bound by Hinduism thinking and belief and practice, but are not being bound by Christianity thinking and belief and practice.

Christians have no fear of 'not following' Hinduism thinking and belief and practice at all, but there's fear of 'unfollow' Christianity thinking and belief and practice, fear of sin and punishment and 'The hell for (bad) Christians'. Hindus have no fear of 'not following' Christianity thinking and belief and practice at all, but there's fear of 'unfollow' Hinduism thinking and belief and practice, fear of sin and punishment and 'The hell for (bad) Hindus'. Though both can respect each other's different way of thinking and belief and practice, and their respective 'Hell for their (bad) followers'.

Without taking up or without attachment and identification towards any particular thinking and belief and practice, there's no binding by any thinking and belief and practice, and there's no need of 'unfollow' any thinking and belief and practice, as there's no particular thinking and belief and practice that need to be 'unfollowed'. What is fear of 'unfollow' any thinking and belief and practice?

Those who were never being exposed to or never picked up any particular thinking and belief and practice, or those who have no attachment and identification towards any particular thinking and belief and practice are not being bound by any particular thinking and belief and practice, to live life and behave in certain way. The notion of 'unfollowing' or 'letting go' or 'abandoning' certain thinking and belief and practice doesn't exist at all. Though one can respect all the others with their particular thinking and belief and practice, to live life and behave in certain way, as most egoistic minds/people need to hang onto certain thinking and belief to have a sense of direction in life, but it's unnecessarily for the minds that are free from ignorance and egoism.

Looking for yoga school or yoga teacher training course?

Imperfection exists in all and everything including different yoga schools or yoga teacher training courses and the people involving in running the yoga schools and yoga courses.

With an open mind, without expectation, be ready to inquire the truth of everything, including all the teachings and practice presented by the yoga school or in the yoga teacher training course, and without regret towards one's decision of choosing the particular yoga school or yoga teacher training course.

Dealing with all the pros and cons or imperfections existing in the yoga school or the yoga teacher training course with an open mind, and be able to make decision without regret, is indeed the practice.

Follow one's conscience towards finding which lineage of yoga that one would like to explore and experience. It's okay if one finds that after experiencing a particular lineage of yoga, one realizes it doesn't suit oneself. If so, be open to experience some other kind of lineage of yoga, until one finds the most suitable one. In the end, it's not about which lineage of yoga or yoga school that is the best among all, but it's whether the mind is being unattached towards and unidentified with the particular lineage of yoga, the yoga school, the teachers, the yoga teacher training course, and all the desirable/undesirable or agreeable/disagreeable experiences.

Above all, it's not about getting the best 'Internationally recognized yoga teacher certification affiliated with such and such yoga alliance/organization' from the best yoga school and yoga teacher, but it's about being open-minded upon coming in contact with the different kinds of teachings and practice from the different lineage of yoga, to be purifying and quieting the mind, inquire towards the truth of all the teachings, and the truth of 'I' or 'who am I/what is the ego', realizing selflessness/egolessness, be free from ignorance, egoism, impurities, restlessness and suffering.

Attending many yoga teacher training courses in certain yoga schools and attaining many yoga teacher certifications and teaching many hours of yoga classes doesn't determine whether the mind is free from ignorance, egoism, impurities, restlessness and suffering, or not.

In the end, one will realize the greatest teacher and the greatest 'yoga course' is the mind itself upon being rendered pure and quiet through the different kinds of persevered practice, being unattached towards and undisturbed by all the mind perception of names and forms or the activities/modification of the mind, of all the agreeable/disagreeable, pleasant/unpleasant, desirable/undesirable experiences, and be able to see the truth of things as it is, be free from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance.

Those who are free from ignorance and egoism don't need to attend yoga teacher training course or attain 'Internationally recognized yoga teacher certification' to be peaceful and compassionate, or to disseminate the knowledge of yoga to those who are in need of the teachings and practice to be free from ignorance and egoism.

The 'real' Guru/teacher is the one without a 'certificate'/'recognition', without a 'school'/'ashram' and without giving 'certification'/'recognition' to anyone.

Loving kindness?

Many people who think and believe themselves are 'unselfish kind and loving beings' would react and feel disturbed or angered or hurt by other people's behavior that they perceive or acknowledge as 'selfish', 'unkind', 'unloving', 'disturbing', 'hurtful', 'bad', or 'wrong', and they would express their 'concern' by expecting these 'unkind and unloving beings' would somehow be criticized or punished for being unkind and unloving, or be disciplined or trained to be (more) kind and loving.

But, 'loving kindness' is about how one's mind behaves or reacts with 'loving kindness' towards other people's behavior that one's mind dislikes and disagrees with, that one's mind perceives and acknowledges as 'selfish', 'unkind', 'unloving', 'disturbing', 'hurtful', 'bad', or 'wrong', without being disturbed or angered or hurt by other people's behavior that one's mind dislikes and disagrees with, without expectation towards how other people should and shouldn't behave according to one's particular thinking and belief, understanding that all forms of 'unkind' and 'unloving' behavior as well as one's mind's reaction of being disturbed, angered and hurt by other people's 'selfish', 'unkind' and 'unloving' behavior and the expectation towards how other people should or shouldn't behave according to one's particular thinking and belief, are all deriving from ignorance.

Loving kindness is really not about "How human beings should behave in the way that is loving and kind" or "Other people whom one's mind thinks and believes as unkind and unloving need to be (more) kind and loving" at all, but it's about "This mind being kind and loving, where this mind understands towards ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, of egoistic actions and reactions, and how this mind reacts with loving kindness towards other people's unloving and unkind actions and reactions under the influence of ignorance. Being undisturbed and unhurt by all the disagreeable/undesirable/unpleasant names and forms or experiences that the mind perceives through the senses. Without expectation towards other beings should or shouldn't behave in certain way. Without expectation towards the world must be in certain way, or not to be in certain way."

When the mind is disturbed, angered and hurt by other people's unloving unkind actions and reactions, loving kindness is absent in this mind as well, then how could this mind criticize other minds for being unloving and unkind, and expect other minds to be loving and kind?

Non-attachment and dispassion is true loving kindness, but somehow this observation is being perceived and acknowledged by the world of egoistic minds as a form of 'lack of loving kindness', 'unconcern', 'uncaring', 'selfish' and 'wrong'.

It's everyone's freedom for what they think and believe, for how they act and react. In yoga, it's never about 'how the others behave', but it's about 'how this mind behaves'.

Contemplate on this, and be free.

Respecting the law of nature and accepting the consequences of actions as it is

It's everyone's freedom for what they think and believe, desire and don't desire.

The yoga practitioners go beyond all the thinking and beliefs, free from desire and don't desire.

The law of nature and the consequences of actions are not necessarily the way that one would like it to be, or the way that one thinks and believes how it should be. But if one knows how to respect the law of nature as it is and accepting the consequences of actions being what they are, without attachment or identification, without craving or aversion, without judgment or expectation, then this mind will be fearless, or fear doesn't arise or present in this mind.

Unattached towards the condition of the world. Unattached towards the worldly life existence of all kinds of relationship and experience. Unattached towards all actions and the consequences of actions.

The impure egoistic minds that are being conditioned by worldly thinking and belief to analyze and judge about everything, to desire and don't desire certain quality of names and forms to be here or shouldn't be here, would have difficulty understanding and practicing the essential teachings and practice of yoga about the annihilation of egoism and silencing the modification of the mind, about the observation of dispassion, renunciation, silence, solitude and seclusion, about selflessness, oneness, non-separateness, namelessness, formlessness and attributelessness, about "The world is unreal", about transcending the mind perception of a restless worldly life existence of impermanence and selflessness. The impure egoistic minds would analyze and think, "This is absurd, wrong and madness."

So what, if someone can hold the breath for a very long time, or be able to do many acrobatic actions with the strong and flexible physical body, or accumulating and memorizing all kinds of information or knowledge about many things in this world through listening, watching, reading, researching, experiencing and studying about everything, or being intelligent and creative inventing many new things and higher technologies, or enjoying a higher quality of healthy and comfortable living, or has been travelling all over the world experiencing many different things and activities, or can perform to entertain many people, or is the greatest champion of certain competition, but the mind doesn't know Thyself, where the mind is restless/peaceless being attached onto and identifying with the quality of names and forms of the function of the body and mind as 'I', attaching onto its actions and the fruit/result of its actions, swaying between satisfaction and dissatisfaction/disappointment being determined by the gratification and non-gratification of the desire of craving and aversion, being the slave of the modification of the mind, of egoism and impurities, of selfless impermanent state of the mind and physical condition, of passionate feelings and emotions arising and passing away, being disturbed and determined by the mind perception of names and forms through the senses, of pleasant/unpleasant, desirable/undesirable and agreeable/disagreeable life experiences or encountering, being bound by the expectation towards life and the world to be and not to be in certain way based on certain thinking and belief, craving for and clinging onto love, relationship, friendship, connection, interaction and the sense of meaningfulness, being drowned in aversion and tension of dissatisfaction, fear and worry towards life and the world being the way that the mind doesn't desire it to be, or the way that the mind thinks and believes it shouldn't be, constantly judging oneself and others being good enough or not good enough, to be achieving the life and a world that the mind desires it to be.

Everyone talks about promoting a world of democracy, an idea or a game that everyone learns to play and be engaged with since growing up especially in schools, while at the same time they want to be free from discrimination and oppression. But, discrimination and oppression is indeed the by-product of the idea or game of democracy. The representer of a particular idea/vision/politic/personality that gets the highest votes from the majority support will win and be in power, while all the other minorities who prefer different kind of idea/vision/politic will have to be legally 'bound' and 'oppressed' by the one in power and have to be 'following' and 'respecting' the 'legally binding rules and regulations' under 'that power with particular idea/vision/politic', reluctantly. Discrimination and lack of freedom will always be existing under the game of democracy, whether one agrees or disagrees with it. Some might be having the freedom that they desire, while some others won't be having the freedom that they desire, and vice versa.

The advice from the many Gurus/teachers in the past, "Renounce the society. Stay away from politics."

There's neither right nor wrong. It's everyone's freedom for what they want to do with their life, body and mind.

Be free from craving and aversion towards identification with good or bad quality

None need to be 'good' or 'good enough' to have peace, not to say to be 'perfect'.

Free this mind from egoism of craving towards certain quality of names and forms that the mind would like to possess or be identifying with as 'I'.

Free this mind from egoism of aversion towards certain quality of names and forms that the mind wouldn't like to possess or be identifying with as 'I'.

Accepting the imperfection of all kinds of names and forms as it is.

All the 'perfect' and 'imperfect' qualities of names and forms are impermanent and they are not 'I'. There's needless of the egoistic identification with any quality of names and forms as 'I', or 'I am this/I am not that'.

Be free from aversion towards the acknowledgement of 'being stupid' or 'not smart enough' in learning or doing something in this world. One doesn't need to try very hard to 'not being stupid' or try to 'be smart'.

It's okay sometimes the egoistic mind realizes and acknowledges itself is being stupid or not as smart as one would like oneself to be, and would make certain mistake unwittingly or doesn't understand about something and doesn't know how to do certain things. Whether it's something that the mind perceives or acknowledges as 'perfection' or 'imperfection', 'good' or 'bad', it's impermanent and it's not 'I'. The mind that is free from the idea of 'I' or the ego, has no such 'problem' or 'reaction' towards the quality of names and forms that is impermanent and selfless.

Then even though one is aware of oneself is not as smart as one would like oneself to be or is less smart than many other people, but the understanding of non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation, is already being wiser than many people who are under the influence of ignorance and egoism, who try very hard to 'be smart' or try to 'outsmart' other people in order not to be acknowledged by oneself and others as 'I am stupid' or 'I am not smart enough', or to be acknowledged by oneself and others as 'I am not stupid' or 'I am smart enough', and would be very disappointed, frustrated and unhappy with oneself for being acknowledged as 'being stupid' or 'being not smart enough'.

Be free.

Go beyond all the names and forms including transcendental experiences

During the practice of concentration, not all but most practitioners might experience different kinds of 'transcendental' or subtle experiences of perceiving or seeing certain subtle name and form of light/colour/shape, hearing certain subtle sound, smelling certain subtle smell, tasting certain subtle taste, or feeling certain subtle sensation. Just as the names and forms that manifest as 'dream' in the state of dreaming, all these are merely some 'side-effects' that may or may not arise during the state of concentration, sometimes are pleasant and sometimes are unpleasant, as part of the manifestation of the different Gunas/elements that are predominant at that time, influenced by the accumulated imprints in the mind, which all are also subject to impermanence and selflessness.

If there's attachment and identification towards all these 'experiences', where the mind thinks and believes or acknowledges, "I am experiencing all these transcendental names and forms. I am perceiving a different reality. I am improving in my practice. I am enlightened, or I must be very near to enlightenment." and there's sense of pride and craving towards all these experiences, then this 'transcendental experience' has become an obstacle for the mind to transcend itself.

All these names and forms are part of the play or manifestation of the modification of the mind (both conscious and sub-concious, gross and subtle). It can serve as 'a focus point' to keep the mind in the present, or it can become 'an obstacle' if there's attachment and identification coming from the impure egoistic habit of the mind towards all these names and forms that arise during the practice of concentration.

The path of yoga and meditation is all about annihilating the modification of the mind of egoism and impurities under the influence of ignorance, neither attaching towards/clinging onto or running away from the mind perception of 'this reality' or 'this existence', nor looking forward to be perceiving 'another reality' that is different from 'this reality' or to be experiencing 'another existence' that is different from 'this existence'.

In meditation, it's beyond 'concentration' and all that manifest in the state of concentration (perception of different reality), beyond all kinds of names and forms and qualities/attributes, or Gunas/elements.

Stand as a witness towards the modification of the mind perceiving all kinds of names and forms. The dispassionate minds forgo all kinds of 'magnificent show/play/manifestation' of lights, colours, shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, whether gross/subtle/transcendental. While the passionate minds unwittingly 'falling in love with' and 'chasing after' all kinds of agreeable/desirable/incredible/magnificent names and forms.

There's neither attachment towards what the mind thinks is or is not 'transcendental experience'. Transcending even the 'experience' of meditation or absorption into silence/Samadhi. There's neither "I am meditating" or "I am experiencing silence" or "I am entering Samadhi". Who is there to experience 'this or that' in selflessness/oneness/non-separateness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness? Even when the mind thinks and believes that it is seeing/hearing/feeling/experiencing what it thinks and believes is 'God' or even 'Devil', let it passed too.

There's neither craving towards 'higher realm/transition' or 'heaven' nor aversion towards 'lower realm/transition' or 'hell'. Just annihilating/silencing the modification of the mind.

Need not be disturbed or frustrated or hurt by the ignorance of others

There are so many ignorant actions/reactions/behavior and their consequences existing in this world deriving from people/human beings with the mind functioning under the influence of ignorance and the by-products of it, of egoism and impurities, wittingly or unwittingly.

There's nothing wrong and it's common that people who 'love' the world are being disturbed or frustrated or hurt by the ignorance of others. Everyone has the freedom to react and feel the way that they want to react and feel. But this is unnecessarily for the mind that is free from ignorance and egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment and expectation, even if this mind would like to do one's best to maintain or uphold 'goodness' and 'rightfulness' in the world and to protect the world from 'badness' or 'wrongfulness' as much as possible, according to what the mind believes as 'good' and 'right', and vice versa.

Those who have no attachment towards this world or the mind perception of an impermanent and selfless life existence of names and forms, are not being disturbed or frustrated or hurt by the ignorance of others and the consequences of that, as there's no need of such reaction.

One lives in the present as it is, constantly adjusting and adapting to any situation and condition, performing necessary actions, being fearless/worryless towards unforeseen circumstances that arise whether due to the law of nature or the ignorance of human beings, and respecting the world being what it is.

Everyone lives in the world, and yet, the world doesn't belong to anyone. But due to ignorance and survival instinct that born out of ignorance, most people/human beings (either by oneself or by group) claim ownership and authorization towards certain territory in the world or the entire world, and desire to make that part of the world or the entire world to be the way that they would like it to be, and would discriminate and fight against those who desire the world to be the way that is different from what they desire, or those who appear to be non-cooperative/non-supportive in gratifying their desire of building a world that they prefer, or those who stand in their way obstructing their desire/ambition/aspiration of controlling the world to be in certain way that they desire.

The ones who are free from ignorance neither desire nor don't desire the world to be in certain way, respecting the world being what it is, evolves as it is, and respecting the law of nature to be what it is.

The law of nature will always be what it is, and nothing can alter or stop the law of nature being what it is, not even 'God' will be interfering with the law of nature, for those who believe in 'God' existence, regardless of what they think 'God' is. Even the 'God' that comes with certain names and forms is also subject to the law of nature. Only minds/human beings under the influence of ignorance would think and believe that they are so great and powerful to be defeating the law of nature to gratify all their desires the way that they want it to be, or to control the world to be the way that they desire it to be.

It's not about fighting against ignorant beings or other people's ignorant thinking/belief/action/reaction/behavior/values/practice that the mind thinks and believes as 'bad' and 'wrong', but it's working diligently to free this mind from ignorance.

Just do good without desiring or expecting or controlling the world to be good the way that the minds think and believe how it should be.

Ignorance and how to be free from ignorance

Most minds/people don't like to be related to 'ignorance' or what they understood as 'being stupid' or 'lack of knowledge'. But 'ignorance' in the teachings of yoga and Buddhism is not about 'being stupid' or 'lack of knowledge'. As many of those who are not 'stupid' at all, who are very smart and intelligent and knowledgeable are not necessarily free from the veil of ignorance.

People would like to think and believe and be acknowledged by oneself and others as somebody who is nothing to do with 'ignorance', or 'I am not ignorant', which they think and believe that they are smart and intelligent enough, and are highly educated and knowledgeable enough to not be related to 'ignorance'. They think and believe that only those whom they think and believe are somehow less smart or less intelligent than them, and are less educated or less knowledgeable than them are most probably related to ignorance, where they understood 'ignorance' as something to do with 'bad/negative' genetic inheritance, improper brain development, influence from bad surrounding environment, lack of knowledge/skill/talent, uneducated or insufficiency of education, incompetency, being lazy or demotivated to learn and acquire knowledge, being stupid, or lack of social interaction and connection, or lack of stimulation, or inability to comprehend something or solve problem, and so on.

'Ignorance' in the teachings of yoga and Buddhism is about the mind being ignorant towards or 'not knowing' the truth of names and forms/existence/suffering, or 'not knowing' Thyself or the misidentification with the mind and the modification of the mind perceiving a worldly life existence of names and forms that is subject to impermanence and selflessness as 'I', or 'not knowing' who/what is the 'I' that the minds identifying/acknowledging as who 'I' am, as an individual being possessing certain quality of names and forms that distinguishing oneself from all the others that are not 'I', or 'not knowing' who/what is the 'God' or what are the 'gods' that many minds have been believing in and praying to, or 'not knowing' the truth of all the social/cultural/spiritual beliefs and practice that have been passing down from generation to generation that influencing how the minds think, act, react, feel, judge, expect, behave and live life in certain way.

Many minds believe in certain beliefs just because it's propagated by their ancestors, parents, teachers, leaders, favorite famous people, idols, friends, philosophers, or particular social/cultural/spiritual/religious background, and there's great fear of 'letting go' those beliefs and practice, being afraid of 'sin', or 'bad happening'/'punishment' might happen to them or their life or their loved ones, if they cease believing in/respecting/following/propagating those beliefs and practice to think, behave and live life. And it has to come from the mind itself realizing the truth of all those beliefs and practice. It's not hard to inquire the truth, but most minds reluctant to inquire the truth of the existing beliefs and practice in their minds or lives, and it's unthinkable for them to question the truth of their beliefs and practice, as it means that they are 'disrespecting'/'offending' those 'sacred' beliefs and practice for inquiring into the truth of it, which is 'sinful' and 'punishable' according to those beliefs and practice.

Being talented/skillful/knowledgeable in certain things or many things doesn't guarantee that the mind is free from ignorance, where the mind is being disturbed/offended/hurt/disappointed/dissatisfied/angry/frustrated/hating/fearful/intimidated/insulted/humiliated/bullied by names and forms that the mind perceives/recognizes as bad, wrong, negative, unpleasant, undesirable, undeserving, disappointing, frustrating, intimidating or hurtful, and out of these impurities, it might generate actions and speech that might cause further consequences to oneself and/or others.

The minds that are not free from ignorance might be unwittingly 'following' a set of 'rules and regulations of certain social/cultural/religious/spiritual belief and practice' to live life and behave in certain way, and might be proud of having a specific type of food consumption of what they eat and don't eat for certain spiritual/cultural/religious/environmental/ethical/health/personal reason, and they could be expecting the others (as human beings) should also be following the similar rules and regulations to live life and behave, as well as following their specific type of food consumption, or else, it will be mocked/criticized by them as 'bad' and 'wrong', or 'sinful' way of life and behavior and food consumption.

The ignorant impure egoistic mind unwittingly perceiving/experiencing a personal reality of a worldly life existence that consists of 'I' and everything that 'I' perceive/experience/know/acknowledge that the thinking mind refers as 'this is me and my life experiences' with all and everything that directly/indirectly relate to 'I' and 'my life', and perceives/experiences all kinds of duality derived from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance, and generate attachment and desire of craving and aversion towards the perceived reality of duality, not knowing Thyself or the truth of a worldly life existence of names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses, not knowing impermanence and selflessness of the mind perception of a worldly life existence, constantly being disturbed and determined very much by the mind perception of pleasant/unpleasant, agreeable/disagreeable, desirable/undesirable names and forms or life experiences, being restless swaying between satisfaction and dissatisfaction, happiness and unhappiness, pleasurable enjoyment and painful sorrow determined by the gratification and non-gratification of the desire of craving and aversion, ceaselessly.

Transcending this restlessness of ignorance, silencing the mind, annihilating the modification of the mind of restless countless births and deaths nurtured by egoism, desires and impurities, is the ultimate goal of yoga and meditation practice. Any other forms of benefits/effects derived from the regular yoga and meditation practice are just some momentary side-effects of better health/fitness condition and pleasant good feelings that are impermanent.

It's everyone's freedom for how/what they think, believe, act, react, feel, behave, live life, consume and desire, or not. There's nothing wrong if people just want to live a particular lifestyle in accordance to certain belief and practice, and do some yoga exercises to attain better health/fitness condition and pleasant good feelings, even if they are momentary and perishable.

The minds that are ignorant towards ignorance, or thinking and believing that oneself is void of ignorance due to one's intelligence, talent, skill, education, knowledge, ability or achievement in certain things, would not be interested in yoga practice of dispassion, renunciation, silence, seclusion and solitude for mind purification, self-discipline, self-inquiry and self-realization.

Renunciation is not about abandoning existing worldly duty and responsibility to be in a monastery/forest/cave to be full time monk or nun, but it's renouncing or letting go worldly social/cultural/spiritual/religious thinking and belief, values and practice, to open the mind to allow the mind to see things as they are, regardless of living among the society or away from the society. If the mind is not opened, then even if living away from the society, but the mind is still very much being conditioned by the worldly thinking and belief, values and practice to perceive, think, analyze and judge towards everything, and couldn't allow the mind to see things as they are, even after many years of performing yoga and meditation practice, and getting all kinds of momentary effect/benefit from that.

For those who want to know Thyself or inquire the truth of names and forms, who are aware of ignorance, who have intense yearning for liberation from restlessness of the impermanent and selfless modification of the mind, they can practice yoga of mind purification, self-discipline, self-inquiry and self-realization. The journey might appear to be long, hard and unpleasant due to the 'stubborn' veil of ignorance, but be determined to keep disciplining, purifying and silencing the restless impure egoistic modification of the mind.

Compassion, the absence of egoism

Compassion is not a feeling or sentiment or quality as what most minds understand what it is. As 'feeling', or 'sentiment', or 'quality' is part of the names and forms that are subject to impermanence. While compassion is not a name and form that is subject to impermanence.

Neither being sympathetic or empathetic or forgiving is what compassion is about. Forgiveness is irrelevant in compassion, as there's no hurts existing under the presence of compassion. If compassion present in the mind (upon the absence of egoism), this mind won't be hurt or disturbed or offended by anything. It's when compassion is absent in the mind due to ignorance and egoism, this mind constantly perceives/feels hurt or disturbed or offended by something that the mind recognizes as bad, wrong, disagreeable, negative and unpleasant. While being sympathetic or empathetic towards certain names and forms that the minds recognized/categorized/perceived as 'sympathy/empathy deserving' has nothing to do with compassion, as in compassion, there's no discrimination of whether something is being sympathy/empathy deserving, or not.

Compassion is the absence of egoism, and vice versa.

Compassion is not something (feeling/sentiment/quality) to be acquired/developed/possessed through learning, training, achieving, sacrificing, or becoming. It's the nature of all kinds of names and forms (living beings and non-living objects). Without compassion, there's nothing.

Compassion is what allowing all beings and objects being forming/disintegrating, existing and changing, arising and passing away as they are, allowing nature to be what it is, allowing all the names and forms to change as it is, without grasping, without attachment, without expectation, without desire of craving and aversion, without judgment, without discrimination, without intentional interference to control everything to be in certain way.

What allows the breaths coming and going and eventually stop coming and going, what allows food to be existing and be transformed into energy giving life to all beings, intentionlessly, is compassion.

It's egoism born out of ignorance that generate the veil that prevent all beings from realizing its nature of compassion, where the minds don't/couldn't think, act, react or behave compassionately, or selflessly (absence of the idea of 'I' and egoism).

Beings/minds that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism cannot be compassionate even though they would want to be compassionate while thinking and believing that they are 'compassionate beings'.

Although there might be many people talk about, support and propagate 'love and compassion' in the world, but compassion will always be absent under the presence of egoism. Compassion is never about empowering the ego by giving the ego what it wants and don't give the ego what it doesn't want to gratify its desires of craving and aversion in order to make the ego feels satisfied and happy or not making the ego feels dissatisfied and unhappy. A lot of time, the ego will react with great dissatisfaction and unhappiness towards what is truly compassionate. For many worldly minded people, non-compassionate actions are often being perceived as 'something agreeable, good and positive' while real compassionate actions are often being perceived as 'something disagreeable, bad and negative'. Such as disciplining the mind is a very unpleasant and painful process for the egoistic impure passionate minds, but it's great compassion to discipline and purify the mind to free the mind from ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, to be free from the consequences of ignorance.

Without any intention to be compassionate, and without any identification as 'compassionate beings', all and everyone is naturally the embodiment of compassion upon the absence of egoism, knowing all and everything is impermanent and selfless. There's neither craving/clinging towards love/goodness/positiveness/meaningfulness nor aversion towards loveless/badness/negativeness/meaninglessness.

As long as egoism prevail in the thinking mind, where there is attachment/clinging towards love and/or compassion of "Life or the world is bad, wrong and meaningless without love and compassion." where there's identification of "I am a loving compassionate being/We are loving compassionate beings." and there's desire and expectation of "We all need to cultivate love and compassion. Everyone should be loving and compassionate towards one another." there will always be impurities of pride, dissatisfaction, disappointment, frustration, anger, hurts, offensiveness, fear and worry over-powering the mind while being disturbed by all the others that appear to be 'loveless and non-compassionate', and trying to interfere with all the others to control/change/influence them to become 'loving and compassionate' the way that they think and believe how it should be, in order to create a world of love and compassion that the minds desire and expect the world should be like.

Not that having a loving and compassionate community in the world is wrong or bad, but the presence of egoism where there's an egoistic notion/idea/existence desiring and expecting or demanding the world to be 'the way that I think and believe how it should be (loving and compassionate)' is no freedom at all.

There's absence of egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment and expectation in compassion, where actions are being performed without the desire or expectation to influence/change/control the world to be something that is not what it is, but allowing the world to evolve as it is, not necessarily the way that 'the ego' thinks and believes and desires how it should be.

The difference between love and compassion

Question - What's the difference between (passionate feeling of) love and compassion (selflessness)?

One doesn't necessarily must have passionate feeling of love towards all and everyone for enabling one to be compassionate and kind towards all and everyone, or not to be hurtful and unkind towards all and everyone.

Having lots of passionate feeling of love towards certain beings or objects doesn't necessarily mean that one will be compassionate and kind, or wouldn't be unkind and hurtful towards all and everyone.

Without feelings of love towards anyone or anything doesn't necessarily mean that one isn't compassionate or couldn't be compassionate, or one will be unkind to others, or one wouldn't be kind to others.

Under the presence of compassion, one can be compassionate and be kind to all and everyone, and won't be hurtful and unkind to anyone or anything, even though one doesn't have passionate feeling of love towards certain beings or objects.

Under the absence of compassion, one even can be hurtful and unkind towards certain beings or objects that one loves out of ungratified desires and impurities of dissatisfaction, disappointment, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, feelings of hurt, offensiveness, defensiveness, fear and worry, either intentionally or unintentionally, not to say one could be hurtful and unkind towards certain beings and objects that one doesn't love or disagrees with, intentionally.

Even though compassion can be present or absent due to the presence or absence of ignorance, but compassion is always there, never appear or disappear, regardless of whether the mind is free or not free from ignorance, where compassion is 'unveiled' upon the absence of ignorance and compassion is 'hidden' under the presence of ignorance.

Passionate feeling of love is influenced and determined by desire of craving and aversion, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements towards the different quality of names and forms, and is conditioned by impermanence and will change, while compassion is unconditioned by desire of craving and aversion, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, beyond all the qualities of names and forms, and it doesn't change, neither increase nor decrease.

The sun, the earth, the water, the air and the space don't have passionate feeling of love towards all and everything for them to be there supporting all and everything to be here, selflessly, intentionlessly and ceaselessly.

Contemplate on this and realize selfless/intentionless/ceaseless compassion. Be free from attachment/craving/clinging towards conditional passionate love deriving from ignorance and egoism.

Love?

The minds that haven't realize unconditional desireless dispassionate love or compassion of selflessness/oneness/non-separateness, would keep hurting oneself and others, whether wittingly or unwittingly, even when everyone thinks and believes that one loves oneself/others and others love oneself, or everyone desires/hopes for a loving community where everyone would be loving and kind to one another.

The 'problems' that people relate to 'insufficient of love/touch/hug', or 'loveless', or 'unloved', or 'loneliness' has nothing to do with the absence/non-existence/insufficiency of 'I love you', 'You love me', 'We love each other', 'Developing a loving community', or 'I love myself'.

It's whether the mind realizing unconditional desireless dispassionate love or compassion, beyond quality of names and forms, of selflessness/oneness/non-separateness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness, free from desire and passion, free from ignorance, egoism, impurities, restlessness and suffering, or not.

'I love you', 'You love me', 'We love each other', 'Developing a loving community', or 'I love myself' present/exist only in duality or separateness under the veil of ignorance. They don't mean anything and don't exist in selflessness/oneness/non-separateness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness.

The presence/existence/acknowledgement of 'I love you', 'You love me', 'We love each other', 'Developing a loving community', or 'I love myself' without realizing unconditional love or compassion of selflessness/oneness/non-separateness doesn't guarantee that one doesn't hurt oneself or others out of ungratified desires/expectations, dissatisfaction, disappointment, defensiveness, offensiveness, pride, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, hurt, guilt, regret, grief, sorrow, fear and worry deriving from ignorance and egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, expectation, judgment/action/reaction based on certain worldly social/cultural/religious/spiritual thinking/belief/values/practice.

Even without the presence/existence/acknowledgement of 'I love you', 'You love me', 'We love each other', 'Developing a loving community', or 'I love myself', but one doesn't hurt oneself and others if the mind realizes selfless/nameless/formless/attributeless/desireless unconditional love or compassion, being free from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance - Egoism, impurities, restlessness and suffering.

Neither there is the idea/identification/acknowledgement/presence/existence/attribute of 'I am compassionate', or 'I love you unconditionally', or 'I love all compassionately', or 'Developing a compassionate community', or 'I am being kind and compassionate towards myself' in oneness/non-separateness/selflessness.

'Building/developing a loving community' is unnecessary when the minds are free from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance, realizing compassion of selflessness/oneness/non-separateness, where none would hurt oneself or others, where there's absence of the desire to give love and receive love, to attain/feel love, goodness, righteousness, positiveness and meaningfulness, to avoid lovelessness, badness, wrongfulness, negativeness and meaninglessness.

Just like drugs/medicines are useless/needless if there's absence of sickness/injury. But still, some people hang onto drugs/medicines using them as a pleasurable enjoyment.

Desireless and dispassion leads to the realization of selfless compassion is LIBERATION in yoga/Buddhism, but it would be perceived by most passionate minds that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism as 'lovelessness', or 'meaninglessness', or 'joylessness', or 'selfishness', or 'inhuman', or 'wrong and negative'. And hence, the idea of "Everyone needs love/Everyone needs to love one another/Everyone needs to give love and receive love/Without love, life is meaningless" is widely propagated in the world and empowering the passionate desire for love in everyone that directly/indirectly bring along the consequences of all kinds of suffering/'problems of humanity' deriving from ungratified desires (lack of love, loveless, not enough love, unloved, not the love the way that it should be). That's their freedom of thinking, belief, action and reaction. Out of love towards what they love, people would hurt anyone/anything that would hurt what they love. Out of desire/aspiration/intention/expectation for achieving/building/developing a world that they desire, that complies to their certain ideal of a world of 'all good/positive/happiness and nothing bad/negative/unhappiness', people would strive to achieve what they want to achieve and eliminate any obstructions/obstacles in their way to achieve their 'desire', at all costs.

The sun doesn't think and feel 'I love you' or 'I am compassionate' and hence it gives light and heat and energy to the world ceaselessly.

The immune system in the body doesn't think and feel 'I love you' or 'I am compassionate' and hence it protects the physical body from potential health risks until it breaks down.

The heart and the lungs don't think and feel 'I love you' or 'I am compassionate' and hence they keep working all day all night giving life to and maintaining life of this physical body until they ceased functioning.

The plants don't think and feel 'I love you' or 'I am compassionate' and hence they turn into food or nutrients or energy for the physical body to consume to be surviving.

'Bondage of desire and passionate love' is being perceived as something 'meaningful, right, good and positive' while 'Liberation of desireless and dispassion' is being perceived as something 'meaningless, wrong, bad and negative' for the worldly minded society, including many 'yoga enthusiasts'.

Opening the mind by freeing the mind from being conditioned by certain worldly social/cultural/religious/spiritual thinking/belief/values/practice to allow the mind to inquire the truth of everything, to see the root cause of all kinds of suffering or 'problems of humanity' - Ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, is what yoga and meditation practice is about.

There's nothing wrong with the idea of 'I love you', 'You love me', 'We love each other', 'Developing a loving community', or 'I love myself' existing in the world, and there's nothing wrong either without any of these ideas present/existing under the manifestation of compassion, or selfless unconditional love.

If the mind insists on thinking and believing that "Without the idea/presence/existence/acknowledgement/propagation of 'I love you', 'You love me', 'We love each other', 'Developing a loving community', or 'I love myself' in the world in life, it would be so bad, wrong, negative, terrible, sad, piteous, meaningless and joyless," then this mind is being ignorant towards itself is being conditioned by worldly social/cultural/religious/spiritual thinking/belief/values/practice, even if one has been 'learning'/'studying'/'practicing'/'teaching' yoga for some time or a long time.

"We need to give and show love to people and tell people 'I love you' so that they'll know they are loved (by others/by so many people), so that they will feel love and have love, so that we can build/develop a loving community that love one another." That's widely propagated in the world, for the sake of love.

In yoga or Buddhism, that's not freedom at all.

In yoga, the greatest gift is giving dhamma/wisdom that allow people to reflect/inquire the truth of everything and realize selflessness and compassion, be free from ignorance and egoism, be free from the suffering from endless passionate desire for love, or craving/longing for love and clinging onto love.

Do not blind-believing, blind-following, blind-practicing, blind-propagating, or blind-agreeing/disagreeing.

Be opened. Inquire. Reflect. Contemplate. Realize.

Realize unconditional selfless intentionless desireless dispassionate compassion.

Yearning for liberation / Longing for freedom / Survival instinct

Longing for freedom or yearning for liberation is a basic instinct that exists in all beings of different names and forms that are subject to impermanence and selflessness. It's related to survival instinct of to be free from, or to be protected from, or to avoid hunger, thirst, injury, illness, weakness, loneliness, meaninglessness, pain, unpleasantness, sorrow, suffering, aging, decaying, death, the unknown, lacking, ceased existing, extinction or non-existence, as much as possible. Survival instinct gives rise to the desire of grasping/holding onto life and relationships as well as the desire to procreate/reproduce/multiply, which also give rise to fear, worry, dissatisfaction, disappointment, frustration, anger, jealousy, painful sorrow and so on, where the mind is unwittingly restless and peaceless, or 'not free', which also leads to the longing for freedom/liberation from restlessness/peacelessness.

All minds (the projector/perceiver of a worldly life existence that is subject to impermanence and selflessness) that are under the influence of ignorance are longing for freedom or liberation (from the 'undesirable/unwanted experiences' of a worldly life of uncertainty that the minds perceive/recognize as unpleasantness, bad, wrong, unhappiness, negativity, poverty, difficulty, hardship, failure, ungratified desire, painful suffering, meaninglessness, aloneness, separation from the loved ones, or coming in contact with the hated ones), where most minds acknowledging but not knowing why the sense of 'being not free' or 'being limited/restricted/bound by something' is always there, either consciously or subconsciously, even when all kinds of worldly desire are being gratified, or everything in life seems to be 'all good and nothing bad'.

Most minds aren't interested to 'know thyself' or to 'be free from ignorance' even though they might be fighting for freedom of thinking, belief, practice, living, way of life, education, movement, rights, action and speech in the world, as either they are ignorant towards ignorance, or they don't feel the need/importance for that until great suffering/disappointment/painful sorrow arise, while some minds are initiated and be determined to 'know thyself', to 'be free from ignorance', as they are aware of ignorance and the by-products of ignorance.

Yoga of self-inquiry and self-realization is to free the mind from such ignorance. Ignorance is the root cause of all suffering/doubt/fear/limitation/bondage, and hence, there's the 'need' or 'longing' for freedom/liberation, to be free/liberated from ignorance. Ignorance is the source of all kinds of 'bondage'. Ignorance is not what most people think as 'lack of knowledge' or 'unintelligent' or 'lazy/unwilling to learn'. Ignorance exists even in the highly knowledgeable or intelligent or righteous minds/people/beings where the minds are determined and influenced by impurities and egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment, expectation, agreements/disagreements based on certain cultural/religious teachings, beliefs, values and practice.

The mind that is free from ignorance, is void of 'bondage' being free from attachment, or grasping, or longing. It doesn't need to be free or be liberated from anything, as it is free, as what it is. It's ignorance that gives rise to attachment/grasping/longing that give rise to all kinds of suffering/disappointment/painful sorrow and the sense of 'being not free' (bondage), which give rise to the longing for freedom or the yearning for liberation.

As long as the mind is functioning under the influence of ignorance and perceives/experiences 'suffering' due to ignorance, there's the 'need', or 'urgency', or 'importance' to free or liberate the mind from ignorance, as the mind keeps generating actions that would 'hurt' oneself and others, whether wittingly or unwittingly, due to ignorance and the by-product of ignorance. Upon the annihilation of ignorance, there's neither suffering nor the end of suffering. There's neither 'hurts' nor 'the need to be healed from hurts'. That's compassion and freedom.

Those who are interested to free the mind from ignorance can contemplate on this -

Whatever the mind believes or disbelieves, desires or doesn't desire, agrees or disagrees with, it's all part of the modification of the mind.

There are all kinds of different culture having their own teachings, beliefs, values and practice, that are different from one another among all the different cultures in the world.

Just like all the different religions also have their own way of teachings, beliefs, values and practice.

It isn't about which one is true/false or better than the others, and it doesn't matter whether the mind believes or disbelieves in 'God existence' or 'self-existence', but it's about going beyond all kinds of teachings, beliefs, values and practice, to allow the mind to see the truth of 'the mind perception of a worldly life existence of uncertainty that is subject to impermanence and selflessness'.

All kinds of teachings, beliefs, values and practice have their own purpose serving the many minds of different temperament and characteristic to 'live life and behave in certain way' and 'have certain goal/direction in a worldly life of uncertainty', that allows most minds to continuously living/existing under certain 'purpose/meaning' by constantly striving to perform actions and reaping the fruit of actions, to attain the sense of purpose, well-being, love, accomplishment and satisfaction in personal and universal achievements, that would produce constant improvements/innovations which give rise to the sense of motivation, liveliness and meaningfulness to 'life existence'. Just like most people need to live life 'passionately and actively', continuously, or else, life would appear to be 'meaningless, empty and lifeless' for them.

There's neither good nor bad in all these different kinds of worldly cultural/religious teachings, beliefs, values and practice, just that the minds are not free, being conditioned/limited/bound to think, expect, judge, act and react in certain way. The mind is 'limited' or 'not free', being bound by the modification of the mind under the influence of ignorance, being bound by all kinds of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, expectation, judgment, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements based on certain cultural/religious teachings, beliefs, values and practice. And there's great aversion and fear towards 'going beyond' or 'letting go' all those teachings, beliefs, values and practice.

Whatever being perceived by the mind as 'positive' or 'negative', 'good' or 'bad', 'right' or 'wrong', 'meaningful' or 'meaningless', 'belief' or 'disbelief', 'agreeable' or 'disagreeable', 'pleasurable enjoyment' or 'painful suffering' and so on, is in the mind, from the mind. Suffering arise and pass away in the mind, from the mind. Countless births and deaths of countless thoughts of different states arise and pass away in the mind, from the mind. And there's nothing wrong with different minds perceive/judge things differently based on different teachings, beliefs, values and practice, just that it's not the truth of names and forms. There's nothing wrong with whether the mind thinks and believes "Be positive. Be optimistic. Everything is good. Nothing is bad." or "This is positive/good/right/meaningful. That is negative/bad/wrong/meaningless." or "I have so much love and support from so many people/beings. (My) Life is so good and meaningful." or "I don't have any love and support from anyone. (My) Life is so sad and meaningless." or "Life is wonderful/painful. The world is good/bad." Just that it's not the truth.

Do not blind-believing, blind-following, blind-practicing, blind-propagating, blind-agreeing/disagreeing about anything.

Those who know, they don't need to think positive, or be optimistic, or feel meaningful, or receive love, or fight for freedom, or attain peace. They are free as it is.

Contemplate, reflect, inquire, and realize.

The mind is being bound by endless desires

Endless desires constantly arising and passing away in the impure egoistic mind, where there's an acting self cognition in the mind generates attachment or grasps onto these desires, and ceaseless actions are being performed to gratify/materialize all these desires, unwittingly being bound by or being the slave of endless desires and the ceaseless effort to be chasing after the gratification of all desires.

When one is alive, "I want to be this and that."
"I want to do this and that."
"I want to be happy."
"I want to be successful."
"I want to be positive and strong."
"I want to be healthy."
"I want to be somebody. I don't want to be nobody."
"I want to be a man. I don't want to be a woman."
"I want to be a woman. I don't want to be a man."
"I want to be famous."
And then,
When one dies,
"I want to be this or that."
"I want to be an angel."
"I want to be in heaven."
"I want to be a star."
"I want to be a tree."
"I want to be a cat/dog/fish/bird."
"I want to be a man. I don't want to be in a woman's body."
"I want to be a woman. I don't want to be in a man's body."
"I want to be remembered."

There's never ending of desire to be 'somebody' or 'something' that one is not.

And everybody are being brought up in the society being encouraged or empowered to be 'somebody' that is not what one is. Very few just be, without attaching onto any names and forms to be 'somebody'. From all those identifications as 'somebody with certain names and forms', one identifies strongly as this is 'I'/'who I am'.

One doesn't need to be 'somebody' or 'anybody' or 'nobody'. One doesn't even need to be 'me' whom one thinks and believes that is 'who/what I am'.

One is just what one is. And whatever one is, it's mere manifestation of the impermanent and selfless modification of the mind born out of ignorance, influenced by cause and effect and powered by Prana/energy and fed by endless desires. One could be very/less successful and might be 'wearing' many 'name tags' of different 'names and forms' in this life existence of a selfless body and thinking mind, but none of these names and forms is 'I'. There's no 'I' existing to be identifying as 'somebody', of this or that, of good or bad.

Go beyond the manifestation of the mind perception of a selfless worldly life existence of names and forms that is subject to impermanence, and realize oneness, selflessness, namelessness, formlessness, attributelessness, birthlessness, deathlessness.

There's no distinction or separateness of this consciousness and that consciousness, or lower consciousness and higher consciousness, or pure and impure consciousness, or individual consciousness and universal consciousness. One doesn't become that. All is that.

One who realizes this, is desireless/fearless/worryless/lonelyless. Desireless is the way to cut off delivering the 'fuel' that feeds the wheel of birth and death.

Want to learn and practice yoga?

Yoga practice is preparing the mind for self-inquiry, inquire towards "What is yoga?", or "The truth of names and forms.", "What is life/worldly life existence?", "What is suffering/the cause of suffering?", or "Who am 'I', or who/what is this 'I' or self cognition/self-existence/self-identity/individual being?"

People could be talking about yoga according to what the Yoga Scripture stated about yoga - "Yoga is the union of the individual consciousness and the universal consciousness." or, "Yoga is the suspension of the modification of the mind." but without direct experience of knowing Thyself, or knowing Yoga.

When people identify and introduce themselves as "I am an experienced yoga practitioner/yoga teacher", or "I have learned/studied/practiced yoga for how many years under such and such Guru/teacher/school", or "I am 200/500 hours certified yoga teacher." it only shows that they don't really know what is 'yoga'. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with being ignorant towards many things under the influence of ignorance. If human beings can be free from ignorance easily, there won't be so much ignorance and the consequences of ignorance in this world.

The realization of selflessness/'I'-lessness/egolessness, or non-duality/oneness/non-separateness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness/birthlessness/deathlessness, has nothing to do with whether one had been practicing 'yoga' for how long and how much, or whether one had attended 'yoga teacher training courses' and attained certain 'Internationally recognized/affiliated yoga teacher certification/qualification', or whether one is educated and can converse, read and write in certain language, or not.

Most of the time, when people talk about 'yoga', that they are practicing yoga, that they love yoga, they are talking about the 'yoga' as a form of exercise consists of positions/movements/breath control/concentration/relaxation that gives many physical and mental health benefits, that can help to improve physical and mental health and fitness condition, or talking about some kinds of 'energy channels/centres cleansing technique', or 'sound/vibration/mystical/mantra/energy healing' practice or 'energy exchange', or 'love sharing and hugging', or 'yogic diet', or 'clean eating', or 'organic living', or 'yogic lifestyle', or 'yogic attires and accessories', or 'yoga mats/blocks/straps/cushions/etc'.

When people visualize 'someone practicing yoga', most people would think of someone on a 'yoga mat' wearing certain brand of 'yoga attire' holding a particular 'yoga posture' or doing a set of yoga movements consist of different 'yoga postures' or 'stretches' with or without some yoga accessories such as block and strap, or doing some 'breathing exercises', 'chanting/praying/clapping/dancing/singing with music', or 'meditating in a cross-legged sitting posture holding a particular hand gesture' with incense burning or meditative music background in an out of the world beautiful and peaceful environment, or a group of people happily chatting, cooking and eating 'organic produce', or something to do with 'positive thinking/empowerment'/'relaxation and de-stress methods'/'healthy lifestyle'/'the sense of happiness or meaningfulness', or even, visualizing people with certain appearance such like 'tattooed body', 'dreadlocks' and 'smoking pot'. Just like what people see in the 'yoga videos'/'TV documentary on yoga or yogi'/'yoga posters/advertisements/arts', or in the 'yoga classes' in the 'yoga centres', or on the streets of certain famous 'cities of yoga' in India.

We often hear many 'yoga practitioners' say, "I didn't practice yoga for some time because life was too busy in the past few years/months/weeks/days and I didn't have enough space for the yoga practice. Now that I have more free time and free space, I want to start practicing yoga again." It shows that they have no idea what is yoga and yoga practice even though they might have been doing some 'yoga practice' either by themselves or attending 'yoga classes' for some time.

Yoga and yoga practice is unlimited by name and form, time, space and causation.

Then there are also many 'yoga competitions' that are about 'how good/well one performs some 'yoga postures' or 'yoga movements'. "This person performs the postures/movements better than the others, this person endowed with the strength/the flexibility/the techniques/the artistic/the creativity/the grace/the flow/the endurance/the focus/the effort, and so, this person is the best 'yogi' and the champion/winner of this 'yoga competition'." There are also many 'yoga events', 'yoga festivals', 'yoga shows/performances/demonstrations', or 'yoga international day', and etc.

All these 'names and forms' don't determined that one is practicing yoga, or one knows yoga, or one is a yogi. Those who truly practice yoga, or who know yoga, there's no such idea/identification of "I know yoga", "I practice yoga for how long for how regular", "I meditate for how many years for how many hours/times per day", "I can hold my breath for how long", "I am a yogi", "I am a yoga teacher", "I am a 200/500 hours certified yoga teacher", "I participate in such and such yoga events/festivals/courses/yoga competitions", "I am celebrating yoga international day", "I am a champion of yoga", "I am the best yogi", "This is how a yogi looks like", "Yoga is so good", or "I love yoga."

If someone thinks one knows something about yoga but doesn't really know what is yoga, and wants to approach a teacher asking to be learning and practicing yoga under this teacher, one must 'empty' thyself of what one thinks who/what one is, of what one thinks one had learned/practiced/experienced/known/achieved. Actually, just by 'emptying' thyself, or abandoning the 'self-identification with such and such quality of names and forms', one has already opened the 'door' of yoga, even without a teacher's guidance.

Life is uncertain and Death is certain

Life is uncertain, but death is certain.

Death is a great teacher of life existence. The healthiest, the strongest, the happiest, the wealthiest, the kindest, the greatest, the most intelligent and knowledgeable, the most talented, successful and famous, or the most loved and respected, will also have to bow down to DEATH.

There's no guarantee about anything in this worldly life existence of uncertainty, but for sure, death will come one day, sooner or later, regardless of whether it's natural cause or unnatural cause, intentional or unintentional, expected or unexpected, slowly or instantly, wittingly or unwittingly, having none/few/many friends, having an easy life or difficult life, being ignorant or wise, have done none/few/many good actions or bad actions, have been good or bad/right or wrong/positive or negative/happy or unhappy/healthy or unhealthy. Everyone is dying immediately following the moment of birth, but most people either don't realize this or they trying to be positive and hope for the best. Death is not a bad or negative thing at all.

"Tribute to my big brother who had lived a difficult but great honest life, who was content and generous, who was forbearing and forgiving, who had been smiling through all the hardships, who had delivered all his duties and responsibilities as a great son, a great brother, a great husband and a great friend to many beings, who had been sacrificed greatly to be looking after our family during the difficult time, and looking after our beloved bedridden father unconditionally for many years until he left the world. And now, my big brother had left this world without any painful suffering but with a smile on his face on the 30th of June 2019. Thank you brother."

Vairagya and Mumukshutva - dispassion and intense yearning for liberation

Mumukshutva is the intense yearning for liberation transcending the wheel of births and deaths of conditional impermanent and selfless worldly life existence of inevitable physical/mental/emotional restlessness and suffering powered by ignorance and egoism.

It's the objective or goal of all forms of yoga practice and meditation. Many years of performing yoga practice and meditation without Vairagya and Mumukshutva, but enjoying and indulging in the momentary goodness of yoga and meditation practice and the pleasant fruit of 'good karma' deriving from 'good actions', is like gathering and keeping accumulated pure and clean food in a 'bottomless' and contaminated container.

Vairagya (dispassion) and Mumukshutva are the two sides of a coin. They co-exist together as one. It's the 'under current' that pulls/leads the mind towards liberation.

Ignorance and egoism and worldly passionate desire/love/attachment/clinging is the 'under current' that generates/powers the whirlpool of Samsara, where the mind attaching onto/'loving and enjoying' the wheel of births and deaths of countless worldly transitions of names and forms that is subject to impermanence and selflessness, where the mind gets lost in the boundless desires of craving and aversion, seeking love, pleasure, goodness, righteousness, kindness, comfort, satisfaction, meaningfulness, sense of purpose, conditional freedom and limited good condition in the modification of the mind perception of an impermanent and selfless worldly life existence of names and forms, of worldly physical/mental/emotional/sensual activities/interactions/enjoyments/relationships/community support while unwittingly 'indulging in' the momentary physical/mental/emotional/sensual satisfaction and pleasure deriving from the gratification of the passionate desires, ignorantly mistaking egoistic passionate love/attachment/sympathy/empathy/clinging/charity/sacrifice as compassion.

Worldly people, including many yoga practitioners and yoga teachers who think they love yoga very much that they find yoga is something very meaningful and see themselves practicing yoga and teaching yoga to other people as the meaning/purpose of their life existence, would mistake Vairagya and Mumukshutva as a form of 'negative thinking/behavior', or 'depression', or 'madness'. That shows how great is the power of ignorance.

"Neither charity, nor sacrifice, nor fame, nor fasting, nor begetting a good son, nor control of breath, nor victory over the enemy, nor the society of friends, nor Siddhis like Anima can stand in comparison with realisation of the Self.

You may cross the sea by walking or float in the air or support on hands the great mountain Maha Meru or drink poison like milk or eat fire like fried grains or fly in the sky or stand on fire or break iron or get wealth by the power of magic ointment. Yet can all these give you liberation?

You can become a king or Indra or a Sannyasin. You can stun others by Mantra-sakti or aim accurately or know the past, present and the future.

You can reduce anger by destroying lust or eradicating greed. Yet can all these help you in the attainment of liberation?

You might have conquered pride, delusion and envy. You might have dwelt in Brahma-loka or Vaikuntha-loka or Kailasa. Yet can all these stand in comparison with liberation? He is fit for liberation who regards all these as nothing.

You took bath in the Ganga, you did all the sixteen kinds of charity. You did crores of Japa. What is the use of all these things if you do not attain Self-realisation?

Can you acquire eternal bliss and supreme peace from the attainment of vast erudition or from possession of immense wealth or from the enjoyment of beautiful young ladies? No. The supreme undying bliss can be obtained only by realisation of the Self.

Who is wife? Who is son? Who are you? Wherefrom did you come? How wonderful is this Samsara? How are you related to one another? Think deeply on these matters.

Who are you? Who am I? Wherefrom have we come? Who is mother? Who is father? Think deeply on all these. Leave off this world which is a dream and seek the eternal.

Vairagya is the rein by which the uncontrollable mind is restrained. Ripe Vairagya is intense attachment to Atman bliss and strong dispassion for anything other than Atman.

If one considers even the position and happiness of Brahma as the dung of a cow, then only he has developed a real lasting Vairagya. Temporary fleeting dispassion is not Vairagya. It will not help the aspirant in the attainment of Self-realisation.

It is common to have dispassion for some particular objects by some cause or other. But by having dispassion for all objects at all times, one will get knowledge of the Self. You may get Atma-Jnana soon by the grace of the Guru, by devotion to him, and by practice of what he instructs."

- Swami Sivananda

Meaning / Purpose of life existence?

Most minds look for the 'meaning/purpose of life existence' in certain qualities of names and forms, of worldly affairs, actions, activities, interactions, relationships, achievements, objects, conditions, quality of life, contributions, selfless service, and etc.

"Find something or do something in life that make you feel meaningful that give you the sense of purpose of life existence, so that life wouldn't be meaningless and purposeless." That's what many people think and believe and propagate. People are suffering from 'meaninglessness' or 'loneliness' because they try to find the 'meaning/purpose of life' in the worldly names and forms (conditions/relationships/actions/activities/experiences/achievements) that are limited by impermanence and selflessness, that are perishable.

There's nothing wrong with the minds finding 'meaning' or 'purpose' of life existence in certain qualities of names and forms, of worldly affairs, actions, activities, interactions, relationships, achievements, objects, conditions, quality of life, contributions, selfless service, and etc. Especially when there's no attachment towards all the perishable qualities of names and forms that give the mind the sense of 'meaning' or 'purpose' of life existence.

Those who practice yoga or Buddhism, they don't seek the 'meaning' or 'purpose' of life existence in anything that is subject to impermanence and selflessness, that is perishable. Even 'life', or 'life existence', or anything that is existing or related to this 'life existence', including the physical body and the modification of the mind, all actions and the fruit of actions, and the 'yoga practice' and the result of the 'yoga practice', regardless of 'good' or 'bad' qualities and 'positive' or 'negative' elements, are all subject to impermanence and selflessness.

For those who practice yoga or Buddhism, the very basic inquiry is to look into the physical body and the modification of the mind to see the truth of impermanence and selflessness of the existence and function of the physical body and the mind, that allows the mind to drop off the attachment and identification towards the physical body and the mind perception of names and forms and the related worldly life existence, as the basic foundation that leads the mind towards Self-realization, realizing selflessness/egolessness/'I'-lessness/oneness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness.

The physical body needs constant maintenance, to be fed from time to time to be functioning/existing/surviving, while generating/disposing many by-products at the same time, and constantly balancing between physical/mental activities and rest. When it didn't get fed enough, it will feed on itself ('eating' itself), withdrawing energy, liquid, minerals and nutrients from the body itself to feed itself to be continuing functioning/existing/surviving. If the energy supply stopped for more than a certain period of time, when it no longer can function/survive by 'eating' itself, the body will stop functioning and decomposing, or 'death'. There's nothing good or bad, positive or negative, happiness or unhappiness, meaningfulness or meaninglessness, purposefulness or purposelessness about the birth and death of the physical body (of oneself and others), and all those impermanent changes of growth, decaying, aging, deteriorating and illness/injury/pain/discomfort in between birth and death. It's the same as the modification of the mind perceiving all the names and forms of a life existence through the senses via the sense organs of the physical body, that rely on Prana/energy/food/oxygen/water/nutrients/minerals supply to be functioning, constantly changing selflessly under the influence of all kinds of inputs/elements/Gunas/cause and effect.

Once the mind goes beyond the attachment and identification towards the selfless and impermanent function/existence of the physical body and the modification of the mind, then all kinds of 'pleasant/unpleasant' relationships/experiences/possessions/qualities of names and forms are just being what they are, neither meaningful nor meaningless, neither purposeful nor purposeless. There's need not finding/having a 'meaning/purpose of life existence' in the worldly life and all that exist in it. Though one can 'cherish' all the good and happy moments/experiences with all and everyone that one loves and appreciates, but without clinging onto or labeling 'this and that' as meaningful or 'this and that' as the purpose of (my) life existence. It's like watching 'the loved ones' or 'the precious ones' passing away one by one, while being aware of this is the truth of all existence of names and forms that are impermanent and selfless. It's just whether the mind can make use of 'this' and 'now', the perception of a worldly life existence in this present moment to transcend 'itself', or 'the thought current of a worldly existence of names and forms/objects of the senses', or 'the ignorance towards itself'.

One just makes use the physical body, the thinking mind, the knowledge, the learning, the education, the skills, the talents, the conditions and the opportunities to be doing something for oneself and others. Without the need of the 'meaning/purpose of life existence'.

Above all, the one that needs to have the 'meaning/purpose of life existence' to feel good and meaningful to be existing, is the ego.

Ego, more than self-esteem, self-worth, pride and arrogance

In the world, 'ego' is mostly being interpreted as the quality of a prideful ambitious overly confident high self-esteemed and self-centered person who thinks and believes oneself possesses certain qualities or achievements that one and others would be proud of and should deserve respect, appreciation, acknowledgement, or glorification.

When people say, "He/She has a big/bad ego," usually it refers to this is a proud and arrogant self-centered, self-obsessed, or overly confident and ambitious person that boasts and glorifies about one's contributions or achievements.

When people say, "He/She doesn't have an ego or he/she has a small/good ego," usually it refers to this is a down to earth, humble and unselfish person, who keeps quiet about one's contributions and achievements.

'Ego', is more than the reflection of self-esteem, self-worth, pride and arrogance of a person under the teachings of yoga and Buddhism. It's not a quality to reflect whether a person is being arrogant and self-centered or being humble and non self-centered.

'Ego', is an idea of 'I' derived from ignorance and exists in the form of a continuous stream of thought-current in the thinking mind, that feeds on egoism, attached onto and identifies with certain qualities of names and forms to be existing as an individual being experiencing life, either enjoying pleasant/desirable/agreeable/joyful experiences or suffering unpleasant/undesirable/disagreeable/painful experiences, identifies as 'the perceiver that perceives/experiences/thinks/feels' and 'the perceived names and forms of perceptions/experiences/thinking/feelings' as well as 'the performer of actions' and 'the receiver of the fruit of actions', who desires and doesn't desire, who agrees and disagrees, who fights and protects, who enjoys and suffers. It appears to be existing and real due to ignorance.

The ego exists and identifies/acknowledges itself as 'I am good' or 'I am bad', 'I know' or 'I don't know', 'I am confident' and 'I am not confident', 'I like, agree and desire' or 'I don't like, don't agree and don't desire', 'I deserve' or 'I don't deserve', 'I am proud' or 'I am humble', 'I am happy' or 'I am unhappy', 'I am positive' or 'I am negative', 'I am meaningful' and 'I am meaningless', 'I enjoy' or 'I suffer', 'I am selfish' or 'I am unselfish', 'I am highly confident, ambitious and self-centered' or 'I am non confident, non ambitious and non self-centered', and etc.

The end of yoga or Buddhism practice, is upon the annihilation of the modification of the mind or restless thought-currents, when the veil of ignorance vanished, where the mind sees itself as it is, attaining Self-realization, or knowing thyself, or knowing who 'I' am, where the annihilation of the ego/the idea of 'I', or the realization of selflessness/egolessness/'I'lessness takes place, transcending 'the wheel of births and deaths of the egoistic impure consciousness powered by ignorance and the by-products of ignorance that generates ceaseless cause and effect/good and bad karma that feeds the loop of births and deaths of ignorance and the by-products of that', 'returning' to oneness, non-separateness, namelessness, formlessness, attributelessness, birthlessness, deathlessness, void of/untouched by cause and effect/good or bad karma/merits and virtues.

It's not about trying to be as 'good' as possible, where a 'soul/mind' will be judged as a 'good or bad soul/mind' upon the death of the physical body based on accumulated virtues and merits or good/bad karma, either to be sent to 'heaven' or 'hell' or 'somewhere in between', or to be reborn into respective higher or lower realm of beings experiencing life existence via the mind perceiving pleasant/unpleasant names and forms through the senses that are all subject to impermanence and selflessness, to be continuously 'ignorantly'/'helplessly'/'unwittingly' generating further ceaseless good/bad actions along with the consequences of actions, or cause and effect, or good/bad karma, that keeps fueling the wheel of restless births and deaths (restless transitions of life existence reaping the fruit of good/bad actions) that is subject to impermanence and selflessness, regardless of good or bad, desirable or undesirable, enjoyable or sufferable transitions.

Forgo the momentary 'pleasantness', 'happiness', 'meaningfulness' or 'goodness' of a conditional fleeting worldly life existence of restless selfless transitions. Even so called 'heaven' or 'higher realms' are impermanent transitions reaping the fruit of 'good' actions. It's not liberation at all. Know thyself, the beginningless and endless infinite silent witness of all impermanent and selfless transitions.

The ego constant acts and reacts to create a condition or a world that 'I' desires, based on the endless desire of craving (What I want) and aversion (What I don't want). The silent witness neither act or react nor there's an 'I' aspiring/desiring to create a condition or a world that 'I' desires. There's neither "I will be or I am missing all the people of family and friends, or names and forms of the objects of the senses/qualities/conditions/things/actions/enjoyments/pets/places/realms/world that I love very much." where only the very few dispassionate ones can go beyond all the worldly connections/relationships/names and forms transcending all kinds of worldly social/cultural/spiritual/religious thinking and belief, actions and achievements (the fruit of actions).

"The knowledge of the Self, or Self-realization, or the annihilation of the mind, or Samadhi, is the only way to be free from the wheel of births and deaths." as taught by Swami Sivananda.

Nothing but selfless impermanent changes of names and forms

What is here?

This is what's going on in the mind and how the body functions while asleep, or this is what the mind perceives through the senses and how the body functions while awake, or this is what's going on in deep sleep, or this is beyond the function of the physical body and the modification of the mind (beyond the three states of sleep, awake and deep sleep) - Turiya. Constant selfless changes of names and forms arising/passing away or forming/deforming are happening according to the law of nature/cause and effect, selflessly, intentionlessly, in the awaking state, sleep state and deep sleep state, but not in Turiya, which is nameless, formless, attributeless, birthless, deathless, beginningless, endless, or mindless/void of modification of the mind/beyond the three states of the mind of the selfless and impermanent worldly life existence.

Upon the annihilation of the modification of the mind that come along with intellect, egoism and memory storage of mind modification/activities consciously and subconsciously, there is nothing here but selfless impermanent changes of names and forms. There's neither 'past' nor 'future', neither 'I' nor 'not I', neither 'good' nor bad', neither 'right' nor 'wrong', neither 'positive' nor 'negative', neither 'meaningful' nor 'meaningless', neither 'enjoyable' nor 'non-enjoyable', neither 'desirable' nor 'non-desirable', neither 'agreeable' nor 'non-agreeable', neither 'attaching' nor 'detaching'. There's no family or not family, friends or not friends, contribution or non-contribution, being selfish or being unselfish, there's no father, no mother, no son, no daughter, no partner, no relatives, no suffering, no end of suffering, or all kinds of separateness and duality, where this is disagreed/rejected/disliked/condemned by many worldly egoistic minds/people as all these names and forms are what they think they are, where they exist as 'somebody' who has an individual self-existence/self-identity that possesses all those names and forms, that has a family/ancestor background and personal relationships with all and everything.

Human beings of higher evolution being endowed with an intellectual egoistic thinking mind that ceaselessly perceive, act and react, desire and don't desire towards the mind perception of names and forms through the senses and processing all kinds of mind perception of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, feelings/emotions/thoughts/imagination/memories/connections/relationships/interactions under the veil of ignorance, that give rise to the idea of 'I', or the ego, that exists merely as a stream of continuous thought-current/though-wave, being there asserting/identifying as 'I', attaching, grasping, discriminating, asserting, liking, disliking, agreeing, disagreeing, aspiring, desiring, craving, longing, learning, knowing, remembering, forgetting, creating, building, connecting, mingling, socializing, interacting, procreating, accumulating, possessing, boring, fulfilling, accomplishing, exciting, enjoying, worrying, frustrating, dissatisfying, disappointing, regretting, hurting, saddening, grieving, sorrowing, depressing, suffering, and so on, reacting towards the names and forms/experiences that the mind perceives/experiences through the senses as well as reacting towards the names and forms/experiences that were being stored as memory, that keep flashing back in the mind in the only existence, NOW, while in-searching for satisfaction, meaningfulness, joy and happiness in the worldly life of impermanent names and forms/self-identity/relationships/achievements/enjoyments/conditions.

The mango tree exists selflessly, and from it, many fruits of mango are being produced selflessly, which possibly reproducing many other mango trees selflessly, that also possibly produce many more fruits of mango, selflessly. The mango tree and the fruits of mango are existing, changing and cease existing, or extinct due to the law of nature/cause and effect, selflessly. Even so, the mango tree and all other kinds of plant also have the selfless survival instinct of surviving and reproducing. Similarly, there is the selfless survival instinct in all living beings of humans, animals, birds, insects, fish and etc, not to say when the human's mind is functioning under the veil of ignorance and an idea of 'I', or the ego, rejecting extinction or non-existence, craving/longing for continuous or prolonged existence. Due to ignorance, living beings in search for continuous or prolonged existence of a self-identity in the physical body and the thinking mind attaching to the quality of names and forms (relationships/activities/achievements/possessions/conditions) that are all selfless and impermanent, and hence, fear, dissatisfaction, meaninglessness and suffering arise in these living beings.

There are constant selfless and restless actions happening as part of the existence and function of the physical body and the thinking faculty that rely on nature providing energy/food/air/water/nutrients/minerals to be existing and functioning, going through forming, growing, balancing, fueling, burning fuel, refueling, hydrating, dehydrating, rehydrating, digesting, nurturing, regenerating, repairing, shitting, peeing, warming, cooling, sweating, decaying, aging, strengthening, weakening, restrengthening, sleeping, dreaming, awaking, perceiving, living, dying, and eventually stop functioning and decompose/deforming. Inevitably restless due to the existence and function of the physical body and the acting/reacting thinking faculty.

Only the minds that are aware of this restlessness would forgo being the slave of ignorance, egoism and restlessness, of pleasure/satisfaction and meaning/purpose seeking through the senses in the impermanent names and forms of a selfless worldly life existence which lead to ceaseless actions/reactions and consequences of actions, or cause and effect, or karma, that power/fuel the wheel/loop of births and deaths, and hence, there arise the intense yearning for liberation from all that, to be determined to attain Self-realization regardless of intense difficulty and obstacle.

Freeing the mind from ignorance and egoism, transcending the three states of the mind of countless births and deaths of restlessness, realize nameless, formless, attributeless, birthless, deathless, beginningless, endless Turiya, or Atman.