Live in the present, respect the world and life as it is

"Live in the present, respect the world and life as it is, free from craving and aversion, all this is impermanent and it's not 'I'."

Being free from attachment and identification with the selfless function and condition of the physical body and the thinking mind, as well as all the mind perception of names and forms of pleasant/unpleasant life experiences with all kinds of desirable/undesirable relationship with beings and objects, being undetermined by actions and the fruit of actions, respecting the law of nature of cause and effect, transcending the duality of good and bad, positive and negative, right and wrong, happiness and unhappiness, meaningfulness and meaninglessness, success and failure, achievement and non-achievement, praise and condemn, and absence of worldly passionate desire or expectation towards everything to be or not to be in certain way.

The disturbed/hurting mind is being disturbed/hurt by itself being ignorant towards itself. Restlessly being disturbed/determined by the desire of craving and aversion towards past experiences and future anticipation.

Know thyself and be free.

Huge amount of different kinds of yoga and meditation practice, teaching and sharing is nothing, if the mind doesn't work on freeing itself from ignorance and egoism, being determined by the mind perception of a worldly life existence with egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion and expectation towards the world and life to be or not to be in certain way.

Some people don't practice yoga or meditation and don't relate themselves with spirituality or humanity activism, but they are liberated minds being free from ignorance and egoism, performing actions selflessly in discreet without attachment and identification or expectation towards the actions and the fruit of actions, respecting the law of cause and effect, without desire/intention/ambition to change the world and life to be or not to be in certain way, respecting the world and life as it is.

Positive thinking is not freedom

Just as drugs or medicines are useless to those who are free from physical or mental illness, positive thinking is irrelevant to the mind that is free from ignorance and egoism.

Positive thinking is one of the yoga practice to counter negative thinking, but it's not the goal of the yoga practice, as if the mind needs to be thinking in the positive way, to be positive and stay positive, it means that the mind is still not free from being determined by the mind perception of duality under the influence of ignorance.

The mind that is free, perceives all the names and forms as they are, or sees things as they are. Everything is just what it is, neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative. This mind doesn't need to think positively. It doesn't need to practice positive thinking to counter negative thinking as there is no negative thinking. All forms of yoga practice exist as different tools for the ignorant egoistic mind to be free from ignorance and egoism. Any form of yoga practice is useless to the mind that is free from ignorance.

The mind is not free, is due to it is still perceiving all the names and forms under the influence of ignorance and egoism perceiving duality of good and bad, positive and negative, and the mind is being determined by duality, where there's craving/clinging towards the mind perception of the quality of good and positive, and aversion towards the mind perception of the quality of bad and negative, then this mind can practice positive thinking or correct understanding to counter so called negative thinking, or more precisely, ignorant egoistic thinking or corrupted understanding in the mind.

It's like drugs or medicines to counter certain physical or mental illness, positive thinking is just a tool to counter negative/ignorant thinking. It's not freedom if one needs to depend on drugs or medicines all the time, similarly it's not freedom if the mind needs to rely on positive thinking as the mind is still not free from the influence of ignorance and egoism.

Be free.

Hugging and touching?

In this era of the so called modern and highly developed society, most people believe and observe the practice/habit/culture of 'hugging' and 'touching' as a form of showing love, acceptance and friendliness among beings, while they would feel awkward, bad and wrong, or even be offended, if some people don't have or don't observe the practice/habit/culture of hugging and touching.

Many yoga practitioners or spiritual seekers might also think and believe that 'open mind' and 'loving kindness/warmness' means people need to be affectionately hugging and touching one another physically to be showing non-discrimination, non-separateness, non-intimidation, love, acceptance and friendliness towards all beings, while the absence of such hugging and touching is being perceived as 'closed mind' and 'unloving-kindness'/'coldness' that portrays the quality of discrimination, separateness, intimidation, lovelessness, non-acceptance and unfriendliness. Many also believe that the lack of physical hugging or touching by another being is highly detrimental to physical, mental and emotional health. They expect all beings, especially yoga practitioners or spiritual seekers should be constantly and actively hugging and touching all other beings that they come in contact with, to show that they are genuine yoga practitioners or spiritual seekers who embrace loving kindness, who are open minded and compassionate beings, while they would be puzzled by the very few of the yoga practitioners who don't have or don't observe such hugging and touching habit/culture.

For yoga practitioners who truly want to open their mind, is about to be free from being conditioned by such worldly egoistic thinking, belief, values and practice, where the mind understands that 'the existence and non-existence of open mind and compassion' is nothing to do with 'the presence and absence of physical hugging and touching another being', where it's nothing bad and there's nothing wrong with the society having and observing the hugging and touching habit/culture, especially if the minds are pure and desireless, and it's also nothing bad and there's nothing wrong with those who don't have or don't observe the hugging and touching habit/culture either. Accepting all and everyone as they are, even though certain people behave in the way that goes against the thinking, belief, values and practice of the majority of the society.

Hugging and touching or not, doesn't really determine the presence and absence of the quality of 'non-discrimination', 'non-separateness', 'non-intimidation', 'love', 'acceptance' and 'friendliness', while the quality of non-discrimination, non-separateness, non-intimidation, love, acceptance and friendliness aren't necessarily have to be shown/portrayed by physical contact of hugging and touching one another.

Most people would feel rejected, unloved, left-out, depressed, lonely and meaningless upon the absence of physical/mental/emotional interaction of hugging and touching from some other beings. And hence, many people would think and believe that the solution is to be actively giving and receiving affectionate hugs and touches among beings.

It's the ignorant egoistic passionate mind that has attachment and expectation towards the appropriateness and disappropriateness in social behavior and interaction that would feel rejected, unloved, left-out, depressed, lonely, meaningless, piteous or offended upon the absence or the lack of love and affection in the form of hugging and touching from other beings.

Contemplate upon why the ancient teachings/practice of yoga emphasized on the important observation of solitude and seclusion of non-physical/mental/emotional contact and non-physical touching with any other being, where yoga practitioners and spiritual seekers were being advised to observe solitude and seclusion for a prolonged period of time, to free the mind from the worldly habitual passionate desire of craving and clinging towards physical/mental/emotional love and affection, to free the mind from ignorance and egoism, to silent/annihilate the modification of the mind.

One of the common practice/observation in the Ashrams is about none should be physically touching one another regardless of among the same or different gender, especially among the swamis, monks and nuns, and between them and the householders. But, nowadays, in many of the ashrams, even many 'modernized' swamis, monks and nuns also don't observe this practice anymore, and they mingling intimately with one another and the people who come to the ashrams, not to say many of the householders who identify themselves as 'yoga practitioners' or 'yogis'. Many 'yoga teacher training courses' also emphasize on the physical hands on adjustment, where the many graduated 'certified yoga teachers' think and believe that it's what a good and professional yoga teacher should be doing/practicing while teaching classes and while socializing/mingling with the students or the yoga community outside of the classes to develop stronger connection and relationship among one another, with the intention of sharing love.

There's nothing wrong with the worldly egoistic thinking, belief, values and practice that propagates widely about "Everyone needs love, affection, hugs and touches." But that is not yoga practice at all, as that is indeed empowering ignorance and egoism. It's not any different from keep feeding sugary drinks to the children or keep providing drugs to the people to make them feel 'happy and good' from the momentary effects of sugary drinks or drugs, and from the gratification of desires by giving people what they like and want. The yoga practice is to free the mind from ignorance and egoism, to realize selflessness/oneness/non-separateness, where there's absence of the desire of needing/craving/clinging towards physical/mental/emotional love, affection, hugs and touches from other beings. There's no need of developing stronger connection or relationship between 'I' and 'the others' in selflessness/oneness/non-separateness, as connection or relationship doesn't exist in selflessness/oneness/non-separateness. There's neither 'I' nor 'the others'. There's no 'I' existing that needs to be healed by 'spiritual healing hugs and touches'.

A truly 'healthy and compassionate' society exists along with the minds that are free from ignorance and egoism. Everyone can be kind and loving towards one another out of selfless compassion (not necessarily through physical/mental/emotional interaction), not because everyone 'needs' to give and receive love and affection to and from one another through certain action in order to make the egoistic minds feel good, happy, love and meaningful, or not to feel rejected, unloved, left-out, depressed, lonely, meaningless, piteous or offended upon the absence/lack of love and affection through certain physical/mental/emotional interaction with other beings, as the ignorant egoistic minds think and believe that it's so bad and terrible if there's absence/lack of any form of love and affection among one another.

Many passionate minds couldn't understand or agree with this teaching, and that's their freedom of thinking, understanding, action and reaction.

 

Be free.

Truthfulness?

The path of yoga and Buddhism is about realizing the Truth and respecting the Truth as it is, regardless of whether the Truth is being perceived as something pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable, desirable or undesirable to the worldly impure egoistic minds.

Many minds/people like to talk about 'truthfulness' and see it as an important value of life, but then ironically, most minds/people don't welcome and can't handle certain 'truthfulness' or 'the truth' being something that they don't like and don't want. Many people prefer themselves and everyone else to be playing a game of 'untruthfulness/lies/hypocrisy/pretension/acting' in all forms of relationship that would portray "Everything being the way that they like and want, that would appear to be all good and positive and nothing bad and negative", or they would try to ignore, or deny, or hideaway whatever that they don't like and don't want, such as "Don't tell me about it. I don't want to know anything about it." so that they can have 'the peace and harmony' in their lives, in their relationships with their family, relatives and friends. There's plentiful of untruthfulness/lies/secrets/manipulation in all kinds of human's relationship except in the rare ones that are free from the influence of the ego and egoism. Back-biting exists in many relationships as well, where people pretend to be nice to one another in front of everyone, saying only nice and positive things in front of people in order to maintain 'peace and harmony' in the family, work place, friends circle, personal relationship and the society, but then, many minds/people couldn't avoid back-biting behind people's back to express and/or release their frustration, dissatisfaction and disappointment towards what they don't like and disagree with.

The mind can never avoid some kinds of interaction that involve certain 'untruthfulness/lies/hypocrisy/manipulation' dealing with all kinds of human's relationship.

There's nothing wrong with trying to present many different images of certain 'quality' on different occasions that conform to the many different thinking and beliefs of the many different minds/people that one comes in contact with and interacts with, in order to please everyone, to not offending anyone, to not making anyone feel unhappy, dissatisfy, disappointed or upset, to maintain 'peace and harmony', or to be surviving in a competitive world of names and forms, or to gain love, liking, help, support and comfort from others, but that would be supporting and empowering ignorance and egoism in oneself and others, while yoga practice is mainly to free the mind from ignorance and egoism.

The minds that would be disturbed, offended and upset easily by what the minds don't like and disagree with, or what the minds perceive as unpleasant, disagreeable, bad, wrong, negative or inappropriate, is due to ignorance and egoism. None need to be untruthful, hypocrite, lie, pretend or act while being or interacting with other minds that are free from ignorance and egoism, as these minds won't be disturbed nor offended nor upset by all kinds of name and form that are being perceived by the worldly impure egoistic minds as unpleasant, disagreeable, bad, wrong, negative or inappropriate.

In Buddha or Satguru, or any beings that are free from ignorance and egoism, the mind is undetermined and undisturbed by all the selfless impermanent names and forms, being free from the desire of craving and aversion and expectation towards all and everything to be in certain way. All kinds of suffering/unhappiness/painful sorrow/hurts/depression/loneliness/meaninglessness don't exist in them, as there's neither craving for something pleasant and agreeable nor aversion towards something unpleasant and disagreeable. And hence, there's needless of the existence of any other being or family and friends being there to be loving/liking/supporting/helping/comforting them, although they would allow anyone to be kind and friendly supporting or helping them and/or other beings in many ways, while without encouraging or empowering the ignorance and egoism in the beings, but allowing the beings to also realize selflessness and compassion, being free from all kinds of suffering/unhappiness/painful sorrow/hurts/depression/loneliness/meaninglessness, being undetermined and undisturbed by all the pleasant/unpleasant, agreeable/disagreeable, desirable/undesirable names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses, where the need of gaining love, liking, support, help or comfort from some others is absent, and without egoistic intention to be making and accumulating 'family ties and friendships', they can be 'kind' and 'friendly' towards all and everyone unconditionally without discrimination of 'friends or not friends', 'family or not family' and 'good or bad beings', without the need or craving of gaining love, liking, help, support and comfort from others.

Real peace and harmony is unconditional, derived from the absence of ignorance and egoism, being undisturbed by the mind perception of names and forms through the senses that is subject to impermanence and selflessness. It's being free from all kinds of suffering, restlessness and impurities upon the annihilation of ignorance and egoism. 'Peace and harmony' that is subject to the existence and non-existence of certain quality of names and forms, being determined by certain condition and situation that the mind desires, likes and agrees with, that is achieved and needs to be maintained through certain actions, is not real.

Those who are free from being conditioned by worldly thinking and belief would understand this and are free from the sense of loneliness and meaninglessness. Those who are being conditioned strongly by worldly thinking and belief wouldn't or couldn't understand this and would be perceiving the sense of loneliness and meaninglessness from time to time or most of the time. And hence, the importance of renunciation to free the mind from being conditioned by worldly thinking and belief for sincere yoga practitioners.

One can choose to perform certain actions in the world and be engaging in certain forms of relationship and interactive activity with some others selflessly without any attachment, but not because of one thinks and believes that one has to perform such actions in the world and must be engaging in certain forms of relationship and interactive activity, as one would think and feel bad, wrong, negative, meaningless, unhappy or suffering if one doesn't or couldn't perform such actions in the world, or doesn't engage in certain forms of relationship and interactive activity with some others. That is freedom in yoga or Buddhism.