No one can force the mind to be open, to be unattached, to be inquiring towards the truth of everything, as what the teachings and practice of yoga and Buddhism is about.
It has to be coming from the mind itself be willing to open up, to practice non-attachment, and to perform inquiry towards the truth of things, instead of the mind only wants to come in contact with the names and forms that the mind perceives, recognizes, judges and believes as 'good', 'right' and 'positive' that the mind likes and agrees with, and pushing away/denying/doesn't want to come in contact with the names and forms that the mind perceives, recognizes, judges and believes as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative' that the mind doesn't like and doesn't agree with.
Even many of the yoga teachers who teach about Positive Thinking and Mind Purification also refuse to be open, to practice non-attachment, to inquire the truth of everything, including whatever their minds perceive, recognize, judge and believe as 'good or bad', 'right or wrong' and 'positive or negative', that they either like or dislike, agree or disagree with, where they themselves practice while teaching and advising their students to also practice "Keeping the mind away from coming in contact with all the disagreeable things that I think and believe is bad, wrong and negative", without inquiring towards the truth of what their minds believe as 'good', 'bad', 'right', 'wrong', 'positive', or 'negative' based on their particular social/cultural/spiritual/religious thinking, belief, values and practice.
It's everyone's freedom whether they want to be open, to practice non-attachment and to inquire the truth of everything, or not.
There's neither right nor wrong if the yoga teachers and the yoga practitioners who think and believe they love yoga very much, that they are practicing yoga everyday, but they choose to be conditioned and limited by their existing thinking and belief to judge and categorize everything into 'good or bad', 'right or wrong', and 'positive or negative', and only want to come in contact with what they labelled as 'good', 'right' and 'positive', while have intense aversion towards what they labelled as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative', thinking and believing that Mind Purification means only having the 'good', 'right' and 'positive' thoughts in their minds and only allow the 'good', 'right' and 'positive' things to come to their awareness and mind perception of their life existence, and thinking and believing that the coming in contact with the 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative' things will pollute, or contaminate, or ruin their minds, and hence, they do their best to push away anything that their minds labelled as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative', not to say, to confront and inquire the truth of all those things.
Mind purification is not at all about occupying the mind with what the worldly thinking and belief labelled as 'good', 'right' and 'positive' thoughts, feelings, emotions and perception of names and forms, of what the mind perceives through the senses, of what the mind comes in contact with, of what the mind experiences in life, and keeping the mind 'away from' or 'void' of coming in contact with, or experiencing, or perceiving what the worldly thinking and belief labelled as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative' thoughts, feelings, emotions and perception of names and forms through the senses of what the mind sees, hears, smells, tastes, senses/feels and thinks.
"No, no, no! I do not want to come in contact with, or see, or hear, or smell, or taste, or feel, or think of anything that is bad, wrong and negative!" This is the reaction of many of the minds under their understanding about 'positive thinking' and 'mind purification', upon coming in contact with something that their minds dislike and disagree with, that they think and believe as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative'. Again, that's their freedom of understanding and reaction. It's neither right nor wrong. It's just that the minds are not free, even after many years practicing and/or teaching all kinds of 'yoga practice' and attaining all kinds of health and fitness benefit from the yoga practice.
Mind purification is about removing the veil of ignorance and egoism, of all kinds of incorrect/corrupted understanding, thinking and belief, to allow the mind to see or know the truth of things as it is, where all the names and forms are just what they are. They are neither 'good' nor 'bad', neither 'right' nor 'wrong', and neither 'positive' nor 'negative'.
Upon seeing/knowing the truth of things as it is, the mind is being aware of all kinds of mind perception of names and forms, without attachment, identification, association, judgement, craving, aversion or expectation. Allowing all the names and forms being there as they are, coming and going, arising and passing away. All are nothing but impermanent and selfless changes.
The mind that is free from ignorance and egoism doesn't need to think positively, or stay positive, or be optimistic. It doesn't need to push away anything that the ignorant egoistic mind perceives and judges as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative'.
That's why the practice of non-attachment is the upmost important fundamental practice. It allows all the other practices to be happening.
Without knowing what is non-attachment, the mind cannot perform inquiry of inquiring towards the truth of everything, and will be influenced, affected, determined and disturbed naturally/autonomously by all the ignorant egoistic actions and reactions upon coming in contact with the objects of name and form of all the mind perception of names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses selflessly and ceaselessly.
Before the mind knows what is non-attachment, the mind is closed being conditioned and limited by the existing worldly social/cultural/spiritual/religious thinking, belief, values and practice. It never come across the thought of "How true is it about all the thinking, belief, values and practice in my mind, about all my likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements towards everything that I believe and judge as 'good or bad', 'right or wrong', and 'positive or negative', based on those thinking, belief, values and practice, that make me feel disturbed, unhappy, frustrated, irritated, dissatisfied, disappointed, hurt by or even hating the things that my belief and judgement categorized as 'bad', 'wrong' and 'negative'?"
Upon the practice of non-attachment towards all kinds of existing thinking, belief, values and practice in the mind, the mind starts to be open.
Then naturally, the practice of non-identification towards the existing thinking, belief, values and practice takes place.
The non-attachment and non-identification will allow the mind to stand as a third party or witness towards all these existing thinking, belief, values and practice in the mind.
Then the practice of non-judgment takes place, to allow the mind to inquire the truth of all the perceived names and forms, and the reaction of agreements and disagreements coming from the mind towards everything that the mind comes in contact with, without judgment based on the existing thinking, belief, values and practice in the mind.
Then the mind will start to see the truth of everything, that they are just what they are, neither 'good or bad', nor 'right or wrong', nor 'positive or negative'.
Then non-craving, non-aversion and non-expectation comes into the practice naturally, where the mind will stop craving/clinging/longing/grasping towards what it used to think and believe as something 'good', 'right' and 'positive', stop aversion/rejecting/denying/pushing away/hating towards what it used to think and believe as something 'bad', 'wrong', and 'negative', and stop expecting everything and everyone has to be or not to be in certain way according to those existing thinking, belief, values and practice in the mind. The mind will stop interfering with all the others who have different thinking, beliefs, values and practices, and isn't interested to convert or change others to also adopt one's particular thinking, belief, values and practice.
The world will have more peace and harmony if everyone is free from such ignorance and egoism. The world is full of unrest, disharmony, discrimination, oppression, fear and hatred because out of ignorance and egoism, everyone are interfering with some others who have different thinking, beliefs, values and practices from oneself, and trying to convert or change all the others to also adopt one's particular thinking, belief, values and practice. People are also easily feel disturbed, offended, insulted and hurt by other people's expression of thoughts, actions and speech that they dislike and disagree with, as they expect other people to behave or not behaving in certain way based on their particular thinking, belief, values and practice, and to show 'respect' in certain way towards their thinking, belief, values and practice.
When the mind has gone through such self-transformation, this mind won't be influenced, affected, determined or disturbed by all the different impermanent qualities of name and form that the mind perceives through the senses selflessly and ceaselessly.
This mind, being free from ignorance and egoism, being free from incorrect/corrupted understanding, being unconditioned by any particular worldly social/cultural/spiritual/religious thinking and belief to analyze and judge everything and everyone, will have peace, without denying or pushing away all the so called 'bad, wrong and negative' elements coming and going in the mind, without being determined or disturbed by all the so called 'bad, wrong and negative' things and happenings in the world, allowing all kinds of different thinking, beliefs, values and practices being existing in the world as they are, without discrimination towards all the others who are being different from one another from the appearance but all are the one same nature beyond all the names and forms that are subject to impermanence and selflessness, and being at peace unconditionally regardless of all kinds of pleasant/unpleasant, desirable/undesirable, agreeable/disagreeable, enjoyable/non-enjoyable experiences while performing selfless compassionate actions in the world for oneself and/or others.
Out of ignorance, people might have fear and worry towards, "If there's no discrimination about what is good, bad, right, wrong, positive and negative, then the world will be in chaos and people would just behave as they like without consideration, if there's no such belief and judgement about what is good and bad, right and wrong, positive and negative, about how people should and shouldn't behave."
If people's minds are free from ignorance and egoism, they won't be performing ignorant egoistic actions and reactions out of ignorance, egoism and impurities.
If people's minds are functioning under the influence of ignorance and egoism, then even though there's discrimination of what is good, bad, right, wrong, positive and negative, about how people should and shouldn't behave according to any particular thinking, belief, values and practice, people would still be performing ignorant egoistic actions and reactions out of ignorance, egoism and impurities of anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, hurt, dissatisfaction, disappointment, irritation, frustration, offensiveness, defensiveness, pride, arrogance, painful sorrow, fear and worry, and either wittingly or unwittingly, intentionally or unintentionally, hurting themselves and/or others.
There are so many people believe in certain belief in the world, but did it ever stop people from behaving ignorantly? Nope. Because whether the mind is free or not free from ignorance and egoism is nothing to do with any particular thinking, belief, values and practice. Ignorance and egoism exist in all kinds of people with different social/cultural/religious/spiritual thinking, beliefs, values and practices, regardless of whether people believe or disbelieve in 'God existence', whether people have or don't have a religious or spiritual practice, or what type of religion or spirituality that people have, or whether people are well educated, knowledgeable and intelligent, or not.
It's about whether the mind is free from ignorance and egoism, or not, that determining whether the mind will be peaceful unconditionally, and be free from generating ignorant egoistic actions and reactions that hurt oneself and/or others in the world, or not.
Those who are free from ignorance and egoism don't even need to have self-awareness and self-control to stop oneself from performing actions and reactions out of ignorance, egoism and impurities, as the mind is free from ignorance, egoism and impurities.
The practice of self-awareness and self-control exists for those who are not free from ignorance, egoism and impurities yet, but at least they have self-awareness and self-control towards one's ignorant egoistic actions and reactions that would hurt oneself and/or others.
While all the majority human beings who are not free from ignorance, egoism and impurities, as well as without self-awareness or self-control over their actions and reactions, either wittingly or unwittingly, would still be performing ignorant egoistic actions and reactions out of ignorance, egoism and impurities that would hurt themselves and/or others, even when there's 'discrimination' of 'right and wrong', 'good and bad', or 'positive and negative' about how people should or shouldn't behave under the many social/cultural/spiritual/religious thinking, beliefs, values and practices, as well as the existence of many laws and orders in the world that serve the idea of 'monitoring' and 'controlling' everyone's behavior to be or not to be in certain way.
Contemplate and be free.
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