"Do things that will make you happy" is not yoga practice

There's nothing wrong with "Do things that will make you happy", just that it is not yoga practice.

The one who needs to do or achieve something that it thinks will make it happy in order to be happy, is the ego. This happiness coming from doing or achieving something that will make the egoistic mind happy, is impermanent. It's everyone's freedom whether people choose to enjoy impermanent conditional happiness, or people wish to realize unconditional peace and happiness.

At one moment people celebrate and be happy about something that they desire, like, and agree with, at another moment people mourn and suffer about the same thing that has changed into something that they don't desire, dislike, and disagree with.

Yoga is the realization of selflessness, being free from egoism, or the ego, or the idea of 'I' and the desires that deriving from 'I'.

By feeding the egoistic desires or the fulfillment of the desires of 'I' might give the egoistic mind momentary happy feelings and satisfactory, but it doesn't take away the unhappiness or dissatisfaction that derived from unfulfilled desires and losing the possessed happiness and satisfactory.

Yoga practice is to stop feeding the ego and its desires.

Be free from the ego, there's no need to rely or depend on any impermanent qualities of names and forms (objects, experiences, actions, results, possessions, love, kindness, sympathy, empathy, agreement, knowledge, intelligence, acknowledgements, supports, family ties, connections, relationships, companionship, conditions, abilities, achievements, identities, status, and etc) to be happy and feel meaningful, or not.

The selfless being doesn't need to find happiness or be happy and feel meaningful. One is happy as it is.

 

All and everything are neither meaningful nor meaningless.

Looking for yoga?

It's common that people who are interested in yoga and have the desire to learn and practice yoga in order to know what yoga really is about, they will try to go to a 'place', or 'school', or 'ashram', or 'person', where they think and expect that it would deliver them what they are looking for. Some people might found what they were looking for. But for some others, they are disappointed as they couldn't find what they are looking for.

It is not whether a particular place, or school, or ashram, or person, has the power or quality to make people 'see' or 'find' yoga, or not. People might go to the same place, or same school, or same ashram, or same person, and some would 'find' yoga there, while others couldn't. This is due to whether our minds are being opened, or not.

Yoga could be 'found' or 'seen' in anywhere and everywhere, but, if we try to look for yoga in a particular place, or school, or ashram, or person, most likely we will be disappointed, because the mind is not opened. But, when we let go of any expectation towards 'finding yoga' in a particular place, school, ashram, or person, and stop trying to look for yoga in a particular place, school, ashram, or person, but, just allowing our minds to be open and observe what is going on in our own minds, in this present, from moment to moment, observing all the impermanent changes of the states of mind, actions and reactions, thoughts and feelings that ceaselessly coming and going which are not in the control of 'I' of how 'I' would like it to be, we will start to 'see' yoga here and there, anywhere and everywhere. There's no separation from yoga. There's no 'I' am looking for 'yoga', or, 'I' found 'yoga'.

The eyes serve as a tool to 'see' lots of names and forms of different shapes and colours, but it can't 'see' itself. And yet, it was never being separated from itself.

What your mind thinks and believes is not important, so as what other minds think and believe...

In the worldly thinking and belief, especially in personal growth and empowerment, a person should have or develop a strong personal identity about ‘This is who you are’ and ‘Your thinking and belief, your background, your nationality, your gender, your religion, your family and friends and relatives, your social network, your dreams or aspirations, your profession, your achievements, all your actions and the result of your actions, are what make you who you are, and so, this is your unique personal identity and you should let the world know this is who you are. You should be proud of your thinking and belief, your actions and the result of your actions, and all those qualities that make you for being who you are. You are a very unique individual. You are very important and you deserve the best. You should do your best to make the world, or your family and friends, or your country, or your teachers, or other people to be proud of you and gain their respect towards you. You should defend your personal identity and the rights of your personal identity. You should not lose your personal identity.’

In yoga, what you think is your thinking and belief, your background, your nationality, your gender, your religion, your family and friends and relatives, your social network, your dreams or aspirations, your profession, your achievements, all your actions and the result of your actions, or whatever you think is your identity, are not who you are.

Be free from egoism, identification, and conditioned worldly ideas.

Yoga is the realization of selflessness beyond the function/modification of the mind and the mind perception of qualities of names and forms. What your mind thinks and believes is truly not important, so as what other minds think and believe.

There’s no need to defend anything. There’s no fear of losing anything. There’s no need to gain respect for anything. There’s no need to be proud of anything. There’s no need to be ashamed or regret for anything. There’s no need to be upset or depressed about anything.

It doesn’t mean that one must make sure that everything in life is all good and agreeable, but one can choose to move away from or let go something that doesn’t worth to be wasting one’s energy and effort, that is not in one’s control to be the way that one would like it to be.

Be free.

Feedback for yoga teachers?

There's nothing abnormal or wrong for the 'yoga students' to provide feedback to the 'yoga teachers' who conduct the 'yoga classes' for them to learn and practice yoga, and it's normal for the 'yoga teachers' who conduct the 'yoga classes' would appreciate feedback from the 'yoga students' as part of the worldly thinking or ideas about ways to improve or evolve.

Just that it's moving away from the teachings and practice of yoga about eliminating the egoism. This is part of the plays of egoism. It actually 'holds back' the mind from going beyond the perception of duality. It empowers attachment and identification with qualities of names and forms, as well as attachment and identification with the actions and the result of the actions.

A 'yoga teacher' who 'teaches' yoga to other beings should be able to be aware of the modification of one's mind and the actions and reactions, without attachment and identification with all these names and forms. There's no attachment or expectation towards one's action of teaching yoga to other beings and the results or consequences of the action of teaching. The 'yoga teacher' allows the 'yoga students' to develop awareness towards the modification of their own minds, and to act and react in their own way, or to express their thoughts/ideas/suggestions/advice out of their own perspective, or not, towards the process of transmitting or receiving the teachings of yoga to or from other beings.

It's not about - "I know I am a good yoga teacher and I can teach good yoga classes, and so, I don't need any feedback, suggestions or advice on how to be a better yoga teacher to give better yoga classes." or "I don't know whether I am a good yoga teacher, or not. Or whether I teach good yoga classes, or not. I need feedback/suggestion/advice from the students or other people to tell me whether I am good or not good, or how I can improve myself to be better yoga teacher to teach better yoga classes." As yoga really is nothing to do with all these names and forms. One can be identified or acknowledged as a 'very good' yoga teacher who can teach 'very good' yoga classes, but that doesn't mean that this yoga teacher is free from ignorance and egoism, or, vice versa.

This is nothing to do with 'pride' and 'arrogance' or 'humility', 'improvement', 'constant learning', or 'the way how it should be'. Feedback/suggestion/advice coming from minds that are not free from ignorance, egoism, duality and qualities of names and forms, is irrelevant towards one's mind evolution towards selflessness. The minds that are free from ignorance, egoism, duality and qualities of names and forms, don't 'require' or 'provide' feedback/suggestion/advice. As peace and compassion is nothing to do with whether the teacher is a 'good' yoga teacher who teaches 'good' yoga classes, or whether the yoga students are 'good' yoga students who perform their 'yoga practice' or 'yoga poses' 'correctly' and 'perfectly', or not. Just like to be able to let go of attachment, it's just 'let go'. There's no thinking about "how to let go", "how fast or slow to let go", or "one should let go in this way or that way which is the 'good' or 'right' way".

In a 'yoga asana class', whether it's a group class or a private individual class, there are countless mind reactions arise from different states of minds and different physical conditions. At one moment, the mind and the body is at ease with the practice, and in another moment, the mind and the body is not at ease with the practice. And this changes from moment to moment. For the same practice, different minds and different bodies react differently. One might suggest that the practice is too rush or too intense, another might suggest the practice is too slow or too gentle, while another might suggest that the practice is just nice, it's not too rush and not too slow or it's not too intense and not too gentle.

Teaching 'yoga classes' is not about trying to gratify everyone's craving and aversion towards their personal likes and dislikes towards the style, or type, or way of practice, and to adapt to the familiarity or habit of each individual. It's not about trying to be a 'good' yoga teacher to teach 'good' yoga classes to create 'good' yoga students to achieve 'good performances' or 'good results'. It's about doing one's best making use of one's opportunity, ability and knowledge, without attachment and identification towards one's action and the results or consequences of action. It doesn't matter if one's mind or other minds think or judge that 'this action' or 'the result of this action' is 'good' or 'not good'. It's about guiding the students towards the annihilation of ignorance and egoism.

A 'yoga teacher' or 'yoga student' will never be free from ignorance and egoism, if this 'yoga teacher' or 'yoga student' is still 'teaching' and 'learning' yoga according to the 'ways' of the worldly modification/thinking/ideas of the egoistic mind.

There is no egoistic intention or identification of "I am here to teach or share yoga with other beings", not to say, "I am, or I want to be a 'good' yoga teacher who can teach or share 'good' yoga classes to other beings."

Realize the essence of the teachings of yoga about selflessness, non-attachment, non-identification, non-duality, non-separateness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness, and be free.