There's nothing wrong with teaching yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) classes without implementing the teachings of yoga about dispassion, renunciation, right discrimination and self-inquiry to free the mind from ignorance, egoism, attachment, identification, desires of craving and aversion, but, it is the responsibility of the yoga teachers for what they deliver to the yoga students, although what the yoga students pick-up and take-in, and how the yoga students progress on the path of yoga, is not the responsibility of the yoga teachers, but it's the responsibility of the yoga students themselves.
When we think we are yoga teachers who teach yoga to other people, there are a few things that we need to question ourselves about teaching yoga.
Do we teach yoga classes that could help the restless minds to be free from worldly attachments, identifications and desires of craving and aversion, and moving the mind away from worldly objects of names and forms to turn the mind inwards for self-introspection, or do we teach yoga classes that promote and encourage worldly attachments, identifications and desires of craving and aversion, and indulging in worldly objects of names and forms?
Are the yoga practice in the yoga classes leading the minds to be free from ignorance, restlessness and impurities, or are the yoga practice in the yoga classes empowering ignorance, restlessness and impurities in the minds?
Are the yoga classes guiding and helping the yoga students to deprive and eliminate their egos, or are the yoga classes flattering or feeding both the egos of the yoga teachers and the yoga students instead?
In many of the yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) classes, whether the teachers are aware or unaware of it, whether intentionally or unintentionally, instead of helping oneself and the yoga students to eliminate egoism, but actually it's feeding and flattering the egoism of oneself and the yoga students.
Teaching yoga (for self-realization) is nothing to do with pleasing the yoga students, to make them feel good about themselves, or to uplift their self-confidence by gratifying their desires of craving and aversion and achieving certain results from the yoga practice. It's also not about the yoga teachers feel good about themselves for making the yoga students feel good about themselves, or when the yoga students make some progression in the yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) class.
The one who feels good about oneself, who needs to feel good about oneself, who needs to have higher self-esteem or self-confidence, who needs motivation, support, encouragement, appreciation, acknowledgment, praise and compliment from other beings to perform actions, to improve, to be confident, to feel happy and meaningful, is the ego.
Yoga practice is mainly to eliminate this ego. Once the ego is eliminated, there is no 'I' existing who would feel bad about oneself, or doesn't feel good about oneself, or suffers from low self-esteem and low confidence, who wants to be pleased, who needs to be motivated, supported, encouraged, appreciated, acknowledged, praised and compliment by some other beings to perform actions, to improve, to feel good, or to be confident, or to be happy and feel meaningful.
Most untrained egoistic minds will appear to be nice and kind if the mind is happy and satisfied when it is getting what it likes and wants, and doesn't get what it doesn't like and doesn't want. But these minds will become hurtful, violent and cruel, and might generate actions and speech that is hurtful or harmful to oneself and others, when the mind is unhappy or dissatisfied when it is not getting what it likes and wants, but it is getting something that it doesn't like and doesn't want.
Yoga practice is not about making the mind happy all the time by gratifying the desires of craving and aversion of the mind, by giving it what it likes and wants, or not giving it what it doesn't like and doesn't want, but, it is training the mind to remain equanimous and kind under any circumstances, so that it doesn't generate actions and speech that is hurtful or harmful to oneself and others when it doesn't get what it likes and wants, or when it is getting something that it doesn't like and doesn't want.
The ego feels flattered and happy when it achieves something that it wants to achieve, and it feels disappointed and unhappy when it doesn't achieve what it wants to achieve.
Whether we are aware, or unaware of it, the physical and mental healing process of the yoga practice happens naturally without the need of any intention or expectation. The one who has attachment, identification, intention and expectation towards the healing process of the body and the mind, is the ego.
The one who could be hurt and feels hurt by something that the mind recognizes as hurtful, and the one needs to be healed from hurt, is the ego and is out of ignorance. When the ego is eliminated and the mind is free from ignorance, there's no one existing to be hurt or feel hurt by something, neither there's hurt or hurt being/mind/heart that needs to be healed.
Are we helping and guiding the yoga students to eliminate the ego and ignorance, or are we feeding and strengthening the ego and ignorance of the yoga students, in the yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) classes?
Om shanti.
When we think we are yoga teachers who teach yoga to other people, there are a few things that we need to question ourselves about teaching yoga.
Do we teach yoga classes that could help the restless minds to be free from worldly attachments, identifications and desires of craving and aversion, and moving the mind away from worldly objects of names and forms to turn the mind inwards for self-introspection, or do we teach yoga classes that promote and encourage worldly attachments, identifications and desires of craving and aversion, and indulging in worldly objects of names and forms?
Are the yoga practice in the yoga classes leading the minds to be free from ignorance, restlessness and impurities, or are the yoga practice in the yoga classes empowering ignorance, restlessness and impurities in the minds?
Are the yoga classes guiding and helping the yoga students to deprive and eliminate their egos, or are the yoga classes flattering or feeding both the egos of the yoga teachers and the yoga students instead?
In many of the yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) classes, whether the teachers are aware or unaware of it, whether intentionally or unintentionally, instead of helping oneself and the yoga students to eliminate egoism, but actually it's feeding and flattering the egoism of oneself and the yoga students.
Teaching yoga (for self-realization) is nothing to do with pleasing the yoga students, to make them feel good about themselves, or to uplift their self-confidence by gratifying their desires of craving and aversion and achieving certain results from the yoga practice. It's also not about the yoga teachers feel good about themselves for making the yoga students feel good about themselves, or when the yoga students make some progression in the yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) class.
The one who feels good about oneself, who needs to feel good about oneself, who needs to have higher self-esteem or self-confidence, who needs motivation, support, encouragement, appreciation, acknowledgment, praise and compliment from other beings to perform actions, to improve, to be confident, to feel happy and meaningful, is the ego.
Yoga practice is mainly to eliminate this ego. Once the ego is eliminated, there is no 'I' existing who would feel bad about oneself, or doesn't feel good about oneself, or suffers from low self-esteem and low confidence, who wants to be pleased, who needs to be motivated, supported, encouraged, appreciated, acknowledged, praised and compliment by some other beings to perform actions, to improve, to feel good, or to be confident, or to be happy and feel meaningful.
Most untrained egoistic minds will appear to be nice and kind if the mind is happy and satisfied when it is getting what it likes and wants, and doesn't get what it doesn't like and doesn't want. But these minds will become hurtful, violent and cruel, and might generate actions and speech that is hurtful or harmful to oneself and others, when the mind is unhappy or dissatisfied when it is not getting what it likes and wants, but it is getting something that it doesn't like and doesn't want.
Yoga practice is not about making the mind happy all the time by gratifying the desires of craving and aversion of the mind, by giving it what it likes and wants, or not giving it what it doesn't like and doesn't want, but, it is training the mind to remain equanimous and kind under any circumstances, so that it doesn't generate actions and speech that is hurtful or harmful to oneself and others when it doesn't get what it likes and wants, or when it is getting something that it doesn't like and doesn't want.
The ego feels flattered and happy when it achieves something that it wants to achieve, and it feels disappointed and unhappy when it doesn't achieve what it wants to achieve.
Whether we are aware, or unaware of it, the physical and mental healing process of the yoga practice happens naturally without the need of any intention or expectation. The one who has attachment, identification, intention and expectation towards the healing process of the body and the mind, is the ego.
The one who could be hurt and feels hurt by something that the mind recognizes as hurtful, and the one needs to be healed from hurt, is the ego and is out of ignorance. When the ego is eliminated and the mind is free from ignorance, there's no one existing to be hurt or feel hurt by something, neither there's hurt or hurt being/mind/heart that needs to be healed.
Are we helping and guiding the yoga students to eliminate the ego and ignorance, or are we feeding and strengthening the ego and ignorance of the yoga students, in the yoga (asana / exercise / fitness) classes?
Om shanti.
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